I want to be emperor

Chapter 674 Type 21 Steam Locomotive

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After the No.17 high-pressure steam engine prototype has been successfully running for more than half a day, the news has reached the senior management of Guangzhou Machinery Company, which is responsible for the research and development of high-pressure steam engines.

In the evening of the same day, a group of executives from Guangzhou Machinery Company came to the laboratory.

At this time, the high-pressure steam engine they dreamed of was running on the test console in front of them.

A high-ranking official who doesn't know much about technology and is in charge of management on weekdays looked at this steam engine and couldn't help but sigh: "This steam engine is so small, it can have more than 30 horsepower? Its volume is at most comparable to what we are currently working on. The four-horsepower small steam engine produced is about the same size!"

A high-level production manager with some technical skills next to him said: "This is the advantage of the high-pressure steam engine, which can double or even dozens of times the power within a limited volume!"

"Not only is it small in size, but it's also light in weight!"

"This is the future. Do you think that if such a steam engine is put on the market, those factories will have to go crazy!"

"Yes, especially those mining companies, they have long wanted to use steam engines instead of mules and horses to transport ore!"

"Last year, the Huai'an Mining Company built a steam locomotive to transport coal mines, but because the steam engine was too heavy, it couldn't even drive itself, let alone transport a large amount of goods. Their pig-iron rails are crushed!"

"If you want to build a steam locomotive, a high-pressure steam engine is the only solution. Those low-pressure steam engines are not acceptable!"

"Yes, not only the railway is the only choice, but also the ship. The navy also has a great deal of interest in high-pressure steam engines. They have been trying to install steam engines on warships. Didn't the Pearl River Have you ever conducted a loading test? Although the steam engine was installed, it is too heavy and too big, and the horsepower is too small, so it cannot be used at all.”

"If this high-pressure steam engine can be used stably, we can contact the navy for a while and try to get a few big orders!"

While the executives of these companies were discussing the NO.17 high-pressure steam engine that was being tested, the technology research and development team was also busy.

They are constantly recording various test data.

At this time, the NO.17 test prototype has been running for more than nine hours from [-]:[-] a.m. to [-]:[-] a.m., and it is very close to reaching their expected goal of the second stage.

As long as it can achieve stable operation for twelve hours, it means that the research and development of high-pressure steam engines has made great progress.

Its core engine has reached a barely usable level, and they can carry out further research and development around this core engine in the future to further increase the stable use time, and at the same time carry out other developments around the core engine, such as designing multi-cylinder methods, Get more horsepower in a small package.

For example, expand or reduce the volume of the cylinder to obtain steam engines of different powers.

At the same time, you can continue to adjust the steam pressure of the steam engine to test the service life under various pressures.

Then a series of designs such as boilers, pipelines, and traditional systems can be optimized in a targeted manner.

And all of this requires the core machine to meet the design requirements before the next step can be started.

When many systems are integrated, it is a complete steam engine.

As for now... that's just a single core machine, and the tests mainly focus on core components such as cylinders, pistons, boilers, pipes, and connections.

And this NO.17 prototype did not disappoint them. That night, the NO.17 high-pressure steam engine prototype successfully completed the [-]-hour life test.

In the past twelve hours, there have been no failures, let alone fatal failures.

When the test was successfully completed and the NO.17 steam engine finally stopped the flywheel that had been spinning for twelve hours, all the executives of the company gave applause to the R&D team.

Not just applause, but also various rewards cashed on the spot.

Its core research team of more than 20 people has received cash rewards ranging from three to four hundred to as many as thousands of cash checks.

This is just the beginning. If the follow-up integration and development goes well, when the first commercially available high-pressure steam engine is designed and produced, the entire design team will receive more generous rewards and share the benefits of its multiple patents. patent fees.

This is what Guangzhou Machinery Company has promised a long time ago. As long as it can produce results, there will be great rewards.

There are promotions and salary increases, cash rewards, equity incentives, and patent dividends.

Otherwise, it would be impossible for Guangzhou Machinery Company to recruit people from all over the country, or even to the Royal Institute of Technology, and finally form the country's leading high-pressure steam engine research and development team.

If you don't give enough treatment, why should they work so hard to develop high-pressure steam engines for you.

These days, there are very few top scientific research talents who have received many years of new education, and it is difficult to hire any of them, not to mention that many people are not willing to go to work in enterprises, even government-run enterprises. .

These top scientific research talents are generally more inclined to stay and teach in government-run institutions of higher learning, and their teaching positions are serious in-service officials...

To have a status and status, the salary is not bad, and the research funding is not lacking.

Even if they don't stay in school to teach, they are more inclined to go to the large official research institutes, such as the Great Chu Empire Steel Research Institute, Physics Research Institute, Chemistry Research Institute, Gun Research Institute, Ship Research Institute, etc. ' at the beginning, directly under the official research institute under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry.

It is also doing research, but doing research in front of an official is much better than doing research in an enterprise!
If he can make outstanding achievements, maybe he can be knighted.

In addition, there are many people who do not engage in research work, but will go to the imperial examination to become officials...

So don't be surprised when you see a person who studies theoretical physics goes to the imperial examination to become an official, this is the characteristic of Dachu!
This is also the situation caused by the very special official position tradition in the Huaxia region. People are always more inclined to be officials, especially if they can't get up and down in their studies, they can't go on academically, or they can't get a middle-level and high-level official status through academics. Most of the students, usually take the second step and go to take the ordinary imperial examinations to start from the grassroots.

However, no matter whether they take the academic path or the administrative path, they are all for an official status, for the glory and wealth.

This point must be made clear!

Similarly, this is also an important reason why the Great Chu Empire has cultivated a large number of scientific talents in just a dozen years.

If you learn mathematics, physics and chemistry well, you can be an official...

In other words, you can become an official only if you learn mathematics, physics and chemistry well... After all, even if it is an ordinary imperial examination, you have to test the general content of mathematics, physics and chemistry.

Only by studying mathematics, physics and chemistry can one become an official. This is the reason why so many people work hard to study mathematics, physics and chemistry.

It is also the root cause of the spontaneous, large-scale study of mathematics, physics and chemistry among the people.

Luo Zhixue did not do too many messy things to promote the education of new subjects such as mathematics, physics and chemistry. Strictly speaking, Luo Zhixue only did one thing: include science content in the imperial examination!
Then, the non-governmental students, and even the parents of the students, rushed to find teaching materials and teachers to learn mathematics, physics and chemistry.

The whole scene is similar to that when the students of the Ming Dynasty all went to study stereotyped essays.

In the past, students studied stereotyped writing, and now students study mathematics, physics and chemistry...the purpose is also highly consistent: to become an official!

As for promoting the development of science and technology, doing research is just incidental to most ordinary students...

It's just that even if many people become officials, what they do is to do research in the laboratory.

This kind of system will actually bring about many problems, but that is all for the future.

Now, Luo Zhixue needs a large number of fast-track scientific and technical personnel to conduct various researches, as well as a large number of administrative officials who understand basic scientific knowledge.

After all, you can't let a person who only understands stereotyped Chinese become a county magistrate, isn't it... I don't want you to study steam engines, but you have to know what a steam engine is... Otherwise, why are you in the jurisdiction? Develop the agricultural, industrial and commercial economy and lead the people to live a good life.

Luo Zhixue also requires ordinary officials to have a certain level of scientific knowledge, at least to know some basics.

And for some more professional positions, some officials with professional background are even more needed, such as officials in the Ministry of Industry.

It's nonsense for you to let an official who doesn't even know the principle of smelting be an official of the smelting department... It's not professional.

If you let a person who can't even calculate the accounts correctly and knows nothing about the financial and economic system become an official in the fields of taxation and finance, it would be even more nonsense.

Many official positions in the Great Chu Empire have certain professional requirements, and not everyone can be employed.

This also further led to the high demand for these professionals in the officialdom, and further promoted the emergence of the social concept that only by learning mathematics, physics and chemistry well can one become an official.

In this way, a large number of new talents have emerged in the education system of the Great Chu Empire in the past ten years.

However, most of these so-called talents are ordinary people, not top talents, and there is no need for big companies like Guangzhou Machinery Company to spend a lot of money to poach and retain people.

Those who really made Guangzhou Machinery Company pay a certain price to poach and retain them were all top talents, especially the seven or eight talents from the Royal Institute of Technology.

If you want them to leave the Royal Institute of Technology and then work in Guangzhou Machinery Company, even if Guangzhou Machinery Company is a government-run enterprise, you can transfer them from the research institute of Royal Institute of Technology to Guangzhou Machinery through the operation of the Ministry of Industry. Companies, and thus keep their official treatment.

But it's still not easy, after all, if you don't give enough attraction, why do you want to give up your noble teaching and research position in the Royal Institute of Technology, and go to a company to work hard for you?Because of your big face?

It is not easy for government-run enterprises directly under the Ministry of Industry to attract top talents. As for purely private enterprises, it is even more difficult. There is basically no other way except to rely on money!
And the huge efforts of Guangzhou Machinery Company in the past have finally paid off now.

After the NO.17 high-pressure steam engine prototype finished testing, the technical team conducted a detailed inspection of the prototype, found some minor problems, and then made targeted improvements, and soon manufactured three more prototypes, namely NO.18, NO.19 and NO.20.

After the prototype was built in the laboratory, it was quickly tested continuously.

After a series of routine tests, the performance data in all aspects have reached the design indicators, and then it is time to start the limit test.

The NO.18 prototype continued to run for a full day before malfunctioning, and it was a small fault on the interface, not a fault in the core components such as the cylinder, piston, boiler, etc. After troubleshooting, the test continued...It has been running for five years. It took a few days for this steam engine to have a problem.

It is worth noting that the continuous operation of the NO.18 prototype has always been maintained at a pressure of [-] MPa. This pressure is actually a critical value... In actual commercial use, such a large power output is often not needed , then the actual working conditions do not need to reach this pressure data, maybe [-] MPa is enough.

The No.19 prototype was tested for extreme high pressure. They started various tests from [-] MPa, tested the stability at [-] MPa, and tested [-] or even [-] MPa. The stability and service life under the pressure are not bad. Even under the pressure of [-] MPa, this test prototype can still last for more than one hour.

As for the NO.20 prototype, no limit test was carried out, but it was tested as a core machine with other components, especially the traditional structure.

In other words, the No.20 prototype can actually be regarded as a single-cylinder industrial steam engine with a complete structure and can be put into practical use after adding many supporting parts.

After intensive testing of the three prototypes, the high-pressure steam engine technical team of Guangzhou Machinery Company collected a lot of information and further improved the design, and finally entered the design work of the real mass-produced high-pressure steam engine.

This is the No. 21 high-pressure steam engine prototype. This is a horizontal double-cylinder steam engine. The cylinders on both sides are very eye-catching, and it also adopts the exclusive patented technology of Guangzhou Machinery Company 'multi-smoke tube boiler'.

The area of ​​the heat transfer channel is large, and the steam is heated quickly, which can effectively increase the steam pressure and reduce energy consumption, which is a very practical technical progress.

The combination of many advanced technologies has created this steam engine with more than 100 horsepower.

A steam engine with more than 100 horsepower is actually nothing to the current Great Chu Empire.

The large steam engines of the Tianjin Machinery Company are now starting with hundreds of horsepower, and the largest can even reach more than 300 horsepower.

Guangzhou Machinery Company has always focused on small steam engines, pursuing low energy consumption and low cost, but their product line also has large steam engines with hundreds of horses.

It's just that if the previous low-pressure steam engines want to reach more than 100 horsepower, the volume and weight are not so small.

However, the current No. 21 prototype, although it is also very large in the eyes of future people, compared with those low-pressure steam engines with the same horsepower, its volume and weight have been greatly reduced.

If you really want to compare, it may be one tenth.

Why is the high pressure steam engine the future?It is because it can achieve several times or even ten times the output power with the same volume and weight of a low-pressure steam engine!

Prototype No. 21 is the most typical example!

Because of its small size, light weight, and a huge power of more than 100 horsepower, this thing can even be further integrated to make the trains that mining companies dream of... to replace mules and horses to transport all kinds of trains. ore cargo.

The successful test of the No. 21 prototype also opened the curtain for the practical application of the train.

At this time, in addition to selling high-pressure industrial steam engines to various industries, Guangzhou Machinery Company also started another research project, which was also one of the main motivations for their previous research on high-pressure steam engines: trains!
Although it is very profitable to sell high-pressure steam engines directly, if you directly buy integrated steam trains, you will definitely earn more...

In fact, the commercial railways make more money, but they didn't dare to expect this. The commercial railways in the Great Chu Empire have long been naturalized into the Railway Management Office of the Ministry of Communications.

Throughout the empire, commercially operated railways open to the public are under the operation and jurisdiction of the management office, and other institutions or individuals are not allowed to enter the commercial railway field.

Therefore, Guangzhou Machinery Company will definitely not enter the railway construction industry, but they are very interested in the train manufacturing industry.

I have already produced a high-pressure steam engine, and it is not difficult to build a train by the way. Selling a whole set of trains directly can make more money than selling a high-pressure steam engine alone.

Ever since, Guangzhou Machinery Company has been thinking about designing and building a train in the true sense, and then pushing it to the market!

Directly relying on the No. 21 prototype as a prototype, they designed and optimized their first locomotive: the No. 21 steam locomotive.

It is the R&D code name taken from the No. 21 prototype, which also means the 21st year of Chengshun.

Although the train has been designed, the construction of the prototype has not yet started, so they can't wait to find those mining companies to sell it.

To make money, you have to do it early!
The major mining companies are the best customers of the train at this stage, all of them are rich and powerful, and they are willing to spend money on it.

In addition, they were also dispatched to the Railway Management Office, which invested in the construction and subsequent operation of the Songjiang Railway, which will be completed next spring.

Just looking for the trains to sell them in the past, so that they don't use those expensive carriages that can't transport much.

The executives of Guangzhou Machinery Company were very excited when they thought that they could preemptively occupy and even monopolize the unique vast market of trains for several years in the future!
And the market reaction was indeed as violent as they expected!
Guangzhou Iron and Steel Company learned that the Guangzhou Machinery Company next door had developed a high-pressure steam engine and developed a locomotive based on the prototype, and immediately approached the door to buy the locomotive... They used it for iron ore transportation on Qiongzhou Island .

In just a few days, Guangning Mining Company also came to their door. Guangning Mining Company owns the largest anthracite coal mine in the empire, and its various mining areas are also connected to the shipping terminal by railway, because its coal mines are transported hugely. I have long wanted steam engines to replace mules and horses.

No, after hearing the news, I hurried to the door to buy.

For a while, although Guangzhou Machinery Company had not officially announced it to the public, there was already a sensation in the industrial circles of the Empire because of the news of the successful development of high-pressure steam engines and trains!

(End of this chapter)