I want to be emperor

Chapter 992 Setting Standards
Chengshun 45, this year has not changed much for most ordinary people in the Chu Empire, and there will be no major impact on work and life.

Even though the oil development and refining started last year, and a small amount of kerosene came on the market, announcing that the Chu Empire had officially entered the oil age, it was still inconceivable to most ordinary people.

Even most people don’t even know what kerosene is... because the two major oil companies currently have very limited production capacity for mining, transporting and refining kerosene, and the petroleum products such as kerosene and lubricants they produce are very scarce. , only sold in a few cities, and most of them have never even seen kerosene lamps.

Similarly, this year's electrical technology breakthroughs and the launch of electrification development and construction have shocked the imperial officials and the business community, but they have not been felt by ordinary people. At most, they have read relevant reports in newspapers. That’s all.

But if you want to say that it affects people's actual lives, it is impossible.

Electrification construction is a long process, and early electrification equipment is limited by factors such as technology and cost. It is destined to only be used in industrial fields and special fields such as scientific research and military. For purely civilian use, it will take a long time to popularize.

For example, the biggest scenario for electrification for civilian use is lighting... However, electric lighting requires reliable and low-priced light bulbs. However, with the current basic industrial technology of the Dachu Empire, it is still difficult to manufacture one with good reliability and long service life, while at the same time costing money to produce. Also low light bulb.

Just the process of evacuating a light bulb and then filling the bulb with inert gas in a vacuum environment has stumped countless scientific researchers.

Vacuum technology may be nothing to future generations, but for the Chu Empire, which was still in the transition period between the first industrial revolution and the second industrial revolution in terms of industrial progress, it was really difficult.

This also leads to the fact that although light bulbs are available and can be used, the manufacturing cost is extremely high, the service life is very short, and the overall cost of use is extremely high.

Anyone who uses electric light bulbs for lighting at this time is simply more prodigal than a prodigal... Even for a navy that has always been wealthy and doesn't care about a little money, building warships can easily cost hundreds of thousands or even millions. He said that this thing is too expensive, and he can only barely get a few searchlights for a few battleships. As for the internal lighting of the ships, we have to wait a little longer...

Even basic electric power application equipment such as light bulbs cannot be widely used on a large scale, so there are basically no traces of electric power applications in daily life among the people.

But ordinary people can't feel the arrival of the electric age, which actually doesn't matter... because the main application of electrification has never been for civilian use, although a series of household appliances such as light bulbs are indeed important features of the second industrial revolution.

But the reason why electrification is an important symbol of the second industrial revolution... is not because it allows people to use various household appliances and light bulbs for lighting... but because electrical equipment greatly increases production efficiency, and the use of electrical equipment further It has promoted the advancement of various technologies, especially processing technology, and has led to a substantial increase in productivity.

In the first industrial revolution, mechanized production replaced manual production, and production efficiency was greatly improved.

In the second industrial revolution, electric equipment and internal combustion engine equipment supplemented or even replaced steam engine power. At the same time, some industrial applications of electric equipment once again greatly improved production efficiency.

The improvement of productivity is the core element, and everything else is incidental...or the product of productivity improvement.

The relationship between the two cannot be messed up!
The core of the industrial revolution is the improvement of productivity, not the various products after productivity improvement.

At present, the Chu Empire is in the transition period between the first industrial revolution and the second industrial revolution.

The production system with the steam engine as its core still supports the entire industrial system and social operation of the Dachu Empire.

At the same time, electric power equipment has begun to be used on a small scale, such as telegraphs, and more applications are being launched. At the same time, although Luo Zhixue did not provide strong guidance at the highest level, with the inertia of industrial development, especially in internal combustion engines, Through the self-research and development and technological advancement of some enterprises, the contemporary Chu Empire has actually reached the threshold of the development of internal combustion engines.

Nowadays, Liaodong Hekou Machinery Company, which can only survive through patent licensing and selling steam engine tractor chassis, has fallen to this level.
It was because in the 30s, huge sums of money were invested in the research and development of gas machines for many years...and then failed miserably.

Although they have developed a practical gas engine, they have not been able to solve the safety problem of the gas engine, which ultimately led to heavy losses. They have a lot of patented technology for internal combustion engines, but they are on the verge of bankruptcy.

Similar to Liaodong Hekou Machinery Company, there are many other companies that have launched attacks and research in the field of internal combustion engines... and it is also a coincidence that the companies that developed internal combustion engines in the early stage were basically all agricultural machinery companies.

For example, Liaodong Hekou Machinery Company, Hetangshan Machinery Company, and Liaohe Machinery Company were the most glorious agricultural equipment manufacturers in the 30s. Their products accounted for almost 90.00% or more of the entire agricultural machinery market.

These three companies also paid attention to each other. When Liaodong Hekou Machinery Company began to develop gas engines, the other two agricultural machinery companies also invested a lot of resources in the field of internal combustion engines.

As for why these three agricultural machinery giants are the main force in the research and development of internal combustion engines... that's because their products are all kinds of mobile agricultural equipment powered by steam engines, such as various tractors.

Because of the demand for mobile equipment, they wanted to obtain a power equipment that was smaller, lighter, and more efficient than a steam engine. In the scientific research theory at that time, the idea of ​​an internal combustion engine had been proposed and achieved success in the laboratory.

Therefore, these three major agricultural machinery equipment companies invariably launched an impact on the field of internal combustion engines... Among them, Liaodong Hekou Machinery Company invested the most and achieved the biggest breakthroughs... As a result, the gas engine technology it mainly engaged in was delayed in commercial applications. In the end, It brought down the entire enterprise.

The investment intensity of the other two companies was smaller. Although they achieved modest results, they were not dragged down to the point of being heavily in debt and on the verge of bankruptcy. Instead, they maintained stable business operations and were still able to squeeze out funds to invest in the research and development of internal combustion engines every year. …

Generally speaking, the internal combustion engine of the Dachu Empire is still in a state of cutting-edge technology research, and there are still some technical problems that need to be solved before it can be put into practical use.

As for when these technical problems can be solved and the internal combustion engine can be put into practical use, it depends on the intensity of investment and luck.

In scientific research, manpower, material resources and luck are equally important, and both are indispensable.

Electrification and the internal combustion engine are two major symbols of the second industrial revolution. Many official research institutions and enterprises in the Chu Empire are working on them and have achieved certain results, but it will take time to fully apply them.

Therefore, the things that contemporary Chu people have access to in their daily lives are still many achievements of the first industrial revolution.

Factories still use steam engine power on a large scale, and even a small number of old factories in backward areas still use water-powered equipment...

The application of power equipment also requires technical research by electrification companies.

Although the Royal Institute of Technology's technical authorization has authorized the full set of technical data on the new generators and electric motors it has developed, this does not mean that companies can directly produce them after obtaining these technical data.The things produced by the Royal Institute of Technology are purely laboratory products... The prototypes produced are made with the most sophisticated equipment and even labor regardless of cost.

At the same time, since it is only a demonstration prototype, its power is relatively small, so it is difficult to meet the needs of most factories.

In addition, power equipment not only has a generator and a motor, but also requires a complete set of control equipment.

For example, when you want to control the power of a motor, if you directly adjust the output power of the generator... that would be very troublesome.

The large-scale application of electricity is very complicated, and it requires more than just getting generators and motors.

Nowadays, the three major government-run electrical companies and even emerging electrical companies such as private Li's Electric are working hard on research and development, carrying out numerous technical research, and striving to perfect various details as soon as possible with technical materials authorized by the Royal Institute of Technology.

But there is also a problem at this time, that is, if major companies work alone, it will be easy to come up with multiple sets of different power equipment standards, which is not good for the overall electrification promotion of the empire.

Therefore, based on this situation, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the Ministry of Industry, various electrical companies, and the Royal Institute of Technology's Institute of Electromagnetics, which is the source of technology, sat down together to finalize a set of application standards for electrical equipment.

Then major manufacturers develop and design new products based on these standards, and finally launch them into the market... One advantage of this is that major companies do not have to do everything themselves. They have to develop a complete set of electrical application equipment before they can be launched into the market. market, but you can tackle a certain piece of equipment based on what you are good at.

For example, Songjiang Electric has accumulated considerable technical advantages in the field of generators. They have advantages in developing new generators, but they are slightly inferior in other aspects.

It is no longer 40 or [-] years ago. The overall technology is relatively simple. Any comprehensive company can produce a complete set of industrial equipment on its own. After decades of development, the current Dachu Empire has become very subdivided in the industrial field. .

According to the industrial classification table formulated by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, there are more than 20 major categories alone, such as coal mining and processing, non-ferrous metal mining and processing, other mining and processing, oil mining and smelting, food processing and manufacturing, textile industry, and garment and shoe manufacturing. , leather, wood processing, papermaking, chemical manufacturing, pharmaceutical manufacturing, rubber manufacturing, steel production, general equipment manufacturing, special equipment manufacturing, shipbuilding, carriage manufacturing, train and railway manufacturing, electrical equipment manufacturing, precision instrument manufacturing, metal products, machinery , repair industry, etc...

Each category is subdivided into many categories.

The middle category is further subdivided into subcategories.

So far, the number of industrial classifications created by the Ministry of Industry has reached more than 400... which is very exaggerated.

Even if we compare the industrial classifications of later generations in the 21st century, there are actually only a few major categories such as aerospace, nuclear power, and computer fields.

So don’t underestimate the industrial capabilities of the mid-to-late [-]th century... basically all the industrial classifications that should be there are already there.

In an industrial system that has developed over many years and has become very mature and highly segmented, it is impossible for a company, even a behemoth such as Lee's Steel or Jiangnan Machinery Company, to be able to do everything.

It’s not even possible to expand it a hundred times more...

There are too many industrial categories, and the number of factories and technical personnel required here is very huge.

Even regardless of production capacity issues, just maintaining the operation of a complete Da Chu Empire's industrial system would require at least millions of industrial workers and hundreds of thousands of various engineers and technicians.

This is also the reason why many so-called industrial countries in the original time and space, even in the mid-to-late [-]th century, were missing arms and legs... Small countries with few people, even all kinds of industries in the second industrial revolution, have failed. I can't afford it...

There are hundreds of industrial categories, and they only have so many people, so what can they do!

Therefore, many industrial countries in the original time and space, not to mention complete industries, even countries with most types of industries, basically have a minimum population of tens of millions, such as Persia.

The Persians of later generations were blocked for a long time and had no place to buy, and they were not willing to just lie around and let it rot, so they had no choice but to do everything themselves.

The things produced are a little bit different, but except for a few cutting-edge fields, such as semiconductors, everything else is there.

And what is the basis that supports the Persians to develop most types of industry?Enough population!
If there is not enough population support, then they have college students per capita, but apart from the young and old, there is not enough population to maintain this industrial system, which is useless.

This doesn’t even mention the market.

The industrial system in the Dachu Empire is also diverse and complicated, which means that the promotion and application of electrification cannot be handled by one enterprise or even one or two industries. This requires the entire empire's industry To promote and formulate corresponding standards, each company will then conduct technical research and development of products according to this standard to ensure that the products developed and produced by each company can be applied under the same set of electrification standards.

It’s not that others can’t use what I’ve created, and I can’t use what others have created.

As a result, there is a lot of duplication of construction waste and vicious competition.

It can be said that the electrical equipment application standards formulated by the Imperial Government have greatly promoted research and application in the field of electrification, allowing major companies to concentrate on research and development in one of the fields and quickly launch products to the market.

Soon, Songjiang Electric Company, which has strong technical capabilities, officially announced their new generator product at the Songjiang Machinery Expo.

This is also the first large-scale self-excited DC generator in human history that has practical value and can be used in industrial production or other fields.

(End of this chapter)