I want to be emperor

Chapter 713 The Tractor Appears

But jealousy is useless. If the technology is not up to standard, even if the navy places an order for Tianjin Machinery Company to support them, it will not use the steam engine used by the latest generation of main battleships as a supporting product.

This is a technology verification ship worth millions of Chu Yuan, so you can't mess around.

Hantian, the battleship named after the former capital and now accompanying the capital Hantianfu, to the Great Chu Empire, its symbolic significance is no less than that of the third-class battleships of the Jinling class in the early years.

Jinling-class third-class battleships, since the first ship was launched, and then to various subsequent improvements, a total of more than 50 ships have been built. This third-class battleship with a displacement between [-] tons and [-] tons , became the core battleship of the Great Chu Empire Navy.

The Great Chu Empire Navy also has the same high hopes for the battleship Han Tian, ​​hoping that this battleship with a new technical route can become a model for the navy's new generation of core capital ships.

Under such circumstances, the steam engines used would naturally not be treated as candy and distributed to Tianjin Machinery Company casually... As for Dangtu Machinery Company, the technical level of this company is even worse than that of Tianjin Machinery Company.

In order to support these two manufacturers, the Navy's support orders are generally orders for the modification of old warships or orders for some warship steam engines that are not capital ships.

As for the capital ships, for the time being, all orders from Guangzhou Machinery Company will be used.

There is no way to do this, because the technical level of Guangzhou Machinery Company is much ahead.

As for Tianjin Machinery Company, it has been trying to catch up in recent years, trying to re-establish its own advantages in the field of shipboard steam engines.

I want to enter the train steam engine market in terms of scale, and I also want to further expand the industrial steam engine market.

In the traditional field, they basically cannot compete with Guangzhou Machinery Company, especially in the area of ​​increasing steam pressure.

For the latest generation of high-pressure steam engines from Guangzhou Machinery Company, the steam pressure has generally reached [-] MPa.

Well, this data is not talking about experimental data, but the data of daily steam operation.

However, Tianjin Machinery Company, the current mass-produced high-pressure steam engine, although it is announced to be [-] MPa... But in fact, more power is obtained by sacrificing service life and failure rate.

In fact, according to their internal tests, in order to achieve a relatively good service life and failure rate, the steam pressure should be controlled at around [-] MPa.

But this kind of words must never be said, otherwise it will be slapped in the face by the market!

But customers are not stupid, they will naturally hesitate when they see your service life and failure rate... Under such circumstances, Tianjin Machinery Company can only rely on lower prices in exchange for orders.

Although the performance of my product is not good, but mine is cheap...

There are still many customers who will choose the products of Tianjin Machinery Company because of the cheaper price.

At the same time, Tianjin Machinery Company is also making continuous efforts to improve its technical level.

However, it seems that there is only a gap of [-] MPa, but it is actually very difficult to catch up!
You have to know... the steam pressure of the early low-pressure steam engine was only [-] MPa, and the steam pressure of the first high-pressure steam engine of Guangzhou Machinery Company was only [-] MPa.

That is to say, the steam pressure gap between the early so-called high-pressure steam engine and the low-pressure steam engine is only [-] MPa...

The gap of [-] MPa is already very obvious in high-performance steam engines.

It is not easy to catch up, which involves the comprehensive results of many fields such as materials and finishing and mechanical design.

Besides, the Guangzhou Machinery Company will not sit still and watch you catch up... Their Guangzhou Machinery Company also invests a lot of money in continuous research and development every year... For example, Tianjin Machinery Company learned about Guangzhou through secret channels. Machinery companies are investing a lot of money in the research and development of boiler structures in order to further increase steam pressure and reduce energy consumption, thus increasing power and increasing battery life.

After hearing the news, Tianjin Machinery Company immediately launched the same project in an attempt to improve the boiler.

In the early stage of the development of high-pressure steam engines, it was because of ignoring the research of competitors, which led to the dilemma after entering the era of high-pressure steam engines.

This time, Tianjin Machinery Company said that they would not make the same mistake a second time.

Regardless of the future of the research conducted by competitors, they will follow suit.

Then do some unique research by yourself, and it's still confidential research.

It's almost like an arms race...

It doesn't matter whether the thing is good or not, how to use it, but if there are enemies, I want to have them...

The most typical example is the treaty-type heavy cruiser. Everyone shakes their heads when they see this thing, but it is still built in large numbers by various countries.

why?Because the enemy has it, you have to have it too... What if this thing has a special function that is unknown, and if you don't have it at the time, you will be caught blind.

And on the basis of what the enemy has, you also have to have it, and you have to find a way to have something that the enemy doesn't have...

In this way, in the time of war, you have what the enemy has, and you still have what the enemy doesn't have. Isn't this an advantage in equipment!

The fierce competition between Tianjin Machinery Company, Guangzhou Machinery Company and Dangtu Machinery Company is somewhat similar to this kind of arms race.

After discovering that a competitor is researching a new project, no matter what the research is, as long as it is a little bit reliable, just follow the horse and start researching. If you want to win, you will win together, and if you want to lose, you will lose together.

So Tianjin Machinery Company also followed up to study boilers... Of course, they also know that Guangzhou Machinery Company in the south has also learned from them to study multi-expansion structures in recent years.

But...Tianjin Machinery Company's research for many years in advance was not in vain. Before Guangzhou Machinery Company figured out the multi-expansion steam engine, they had almost done the double-expansion steam engine.

And it was first applied on the small steam engine specially developed for Tangshan Machinery Company, but whether it works well or not needs to be tried.

With the completion of various inspections, the technicians finally started the steam engine officially.

This is a rather large steam locomotive. The front of the steam locomotive is a horizontal layout. It has two large cylinders and two small cylinders. This small steam engine is actually two sets of small two-expansion The steam engines are connected in series, which is why there are two large cylinders, two small cylinders and four cylinders.

Behind the steam engine is a completely open cab, which is also the place to add coal, because behind the cab is a small compartment filled with coal.

The entire steam plow machine is actually divided into two parts, the front is the power structure part, that is, the steam engine part, and the rear is a large plowshare structure.

In order to prevent the heavy steam plow from getting stuck in the soft field, two large and wide iron wheels are used, and there are two smaller steering wheels in front.

Just to make the two driving wheels move, in order to make the two steering wheels turn smoothly, Tangshan Machinery Company spent a lot of experience in repeated design, and then developed a complete set of driving system and steering system.

However, the plowshare structure at the back is relatively easy to fix. Tangshan Machinery Company itself has sufficient technical reserves. The power storage plow machine they produced before is also selling well. They have also developed a plow machine with a steam engine cable traction structure before, so in They have good technical advantages on plowshares, and they are the ones with exclusive patents.

As the technicians began to put coal into the combustion chamber and ignite the coal to start the process, the high temperature emitted by the burning coal began to heat the water in the boiler.

As the water temperature rises, high temperature and high pressure water vapor begins to be produced.

These high-temperature and high-pressure water vapors are bound in boilers and steel pipes at this time. If the boiler or steam pipes leak at this time, these high-temperature and high-pressure water vapors can easily cause casualties.

This is why the driver's cab is located at the rear, and the water vapor piping is also far away from the personnel.

In order to avoid casualties caused by such potential steam leakage accidents, some baffles were designed and installed, so that even if steam leakage does occur, the water vapor will leak to the front and sides instead of rushing directly to the rear The driver's cab, thereby protecting the safety of the personnel on the steam engine and the personnel operating the plowshare behind.

By the way, such a huge steam plow requires four people to operate it at the same time to make it move and plow the land.

When the steam pressure reached the point where the steam plow could be driven, the operator started to drive the huge machine slowly.

After the huge machine began to move slowly, the iron wheels hit the concrete floor and made an uncomfortable sound.

But this sound is so pleasant to the ears of a group of technicians.

This is the result of their years of struggle, and now they are finally moving.

And if there is no accident, this is actually the first steam engine in the Great Chu Empire that runs independently on the ground after detaching from the rails.

In fact...if the plowshare structure at the back is left behind, this thing is actually a steam locomotive, and it is also the kind of steam tractor that later generations often say.

Tangshan Machinery Co., Ltd. has spent so much time researching such a steam tractor. In fact, it is not just for steam plowing machines. They also want to get involved in other agricultural machinery projects if they can use steam tractors. For example, steam combined Harvester.

The actual application range of steam tractors is very wide. In addition to being used as agricultural machinery, it can actually be used as a means of transportation in special circumstances. In countries such as Britain and the United States, steam tractors are used to haul logs or other various goods. , and was once used as a tractor for heavy artillery.

It's just that the application of these steam locomotives is only a child's play compared with ships and trains, so many people in later generations have never heard of them.

As the technicians controlled the tractor to gradually leave the workshop, and then went to a piece of mud outside, under the watchful eyes of dozens of technicians, the tractor drove into the mud with a plowshare.

After driving into the mud, the speed of the steam engine further decreased, but it still did not stop, but continued to move forward.

Then the plowshare also began to be put down, and it began to rotate under the power of the steam engine.

Ever since, the people present saw such a scene!
The tractor in the front was spraying a faint white mist and slowly advancing, while the plowshares in the rear kept rolling down, and the originally flat muddy ground was turned soft, and ditches were reserved.

This kind of ground is completely ready for direct sowing.

When they saw this, everyone around them applauded unanimously, with smiles on their faces.

After the steam plow machine continued to operate and a large area of ​​land was rummaged, Sun Qi from Tianjin Machinery Company walked up to the wallet and said, "Congratulations, Brother Qian, the steam plow machine has finally been successfully developed. See this steam plow and many more models of steam locomotives brought to market sooner!"

Sun Qi naturally hoped that Tangshan Machinery Company would roll out the market as soon as possible, because this kind of agricultural machinery was equipped with their Tianjin Machinery Company's unique double-expansion steam engine.

The price of this kind of core components is very expensive. To be honest, the steam plow machine produced by Tangshan Machinery Company will not make more money than Tianjin Machinery Company sells steam engines when it enters the market in the future. many.

Therefore, the more Tangshan Machinery Company sells this kind of machinery in the future, the more Tianjin Machinery Company can earn.

In fact, if the technology of tractors and various agricultural machinery is not relatively complicated, and it has been developed by a group of machinery companies such as Tangshan Machinery Company and Hekou Agricultural Machinery Company for many years, and a relatively strict patent network has been built, Tianjin Machinery Company would have to endure it. I can't help but go to the agricultural machinery market in person.

However, being able to be a core component supplier is also very profitable for Tianjin Machinery Company, and the market size will be even larger... because they can not only sell this new type of high-performance steam engine to Tangshan Machinery Company, but also Sold to Hekou Agricultural Machinery Company and other agricultural machinery companies.

They just sell steam engines, but they don't care what the customer is doing with the steam engine.

So after seeing Tangshan Machinery Company's steam plow machine successfully tested, Sun Qi was already thinking about going to Hekou Agricultural Machinery Company in the near future.

Hekou Agricultural Machinery Company also cooperates with Tianjin Machinery Company, and their steam combine harvester is expected to use this small high-performance steam engine from Tianjin Machinery Company.

Now the company's small high-performance steam engine has performed well in the installation test, and Hekou Agricultural Machinery Company will always place an order.

So after the experiment was over, Sun Qi took the train back to Tianjin and stayed in Tianjin for only two days. Soon, he took a group of technicians and two small high-performance steam engines on a plane of the Northern Shipping Company. Sailboat, heading to the mouth of Liaodong Province.

Today's estuary is Liaodong, and it is also the largest industrial area in Northeast China. Relying on the rich coal and iron ore resources along the Liaohe River, Liaodong has established a number of steel factories along the Liaohe River. These steels are finally transported along the Liaohe River. Then transport to the estuary.

Many enterprises on the Hekou side use these steel raw materials for various productions, some of which are sold locally in the northeast region, but more are transported by sea to other provinces for sale.

Because of the good development of local industries, many soybean processing industries, grain processing industries, wood processing industries and so on gathered here later.

Today's Hekou has developed from a remote place in the past to a large-scale comprehensive industrial city, and Gaizhou, which is next door, is also developing very well.

Hekou Agricultural Machinery Company is located here, and its scale and output value are nothing compared to Hekou, not even a medium-sized enterprise.

After all, the overall scale of today's agricultural machinery market is actually small, and it cannot support any large enterprises.

But despite this, Hekou Agricultural Machinery Company has been able to enter the top three in the field of agricultural machinery nationwide.

It is worth mentioning that the top three agricultural machinery companies in the Great Chu Empire are basically concentrated in the Bohai area, that is, the largest Tangshan Machinery Company, the second-ranked Liaohe Machinery Company, and the third-ranked Hekou Agricultural Machinery Company.

Among them, Liaohe Machinery Company, although its agricultural machinery business ranks third in China, is actually not the main business of Liaohe Machinery Company. The main business of Liaohe Machinery Company is the research and development and production of various industrial equipment, especially steel equipment. And mining equipment, and their shipbuilding is also very good, with the largest shipyard in the Bohai Sea region: Northeast Gaizhou Shipyard.

Their agricultural machinery business is just an inconspicuous part of their many businesses.

The reason why the agricultural business of the above three companies can develop is actually because the Northeast region is sparsely populated... A large amount of land to be developed and a shortage of labor force lead to a very high demand for agricultural machinery and equipment in the Northeast region. Big.

If this is changed to those places in the customs where there are many people and little land, there will be no market for these steam plows, combine harvesters and the like... because the agricultural model in the customs is a family-based ultra-miniature farm... No big deal and no need for an expensive harvester.

Even horse farming is impossible... because the cost of horse farming is actually very high. The cost of raising a horse is equivalent to raising four or five people. If horse farming is used at the same time, it can only be cultivated extensively. will result in a decrease in yield.

If the amount of land cultivated is not large, the use of horse farming will starve to death...

In many places in Guan, especially some lands of fish and rice, such as Jiangnan, northern Jiangxi, Huguang and other places, cattle farming is used in these places, and intensive farming is a relatively good farming model.

Under such circumstances, even power-storing threshers and power-storage rocker harvesters are not easy to sell in the customs... However, some human-powered agricultural machinery and equipment can be sold, such as human-powered pedal threshers, which are very popular among many farmers in the customs welcome.

And there is no patent for this thing, and the technology is very simple. Let alone a factory, even a small workshop can do it. These simple basic agricultural machinery are also the main products of the major government-run small machinery and agricultural machinery factories.

This thing is very simple to make, the main components are a roller and a pedal, and the technical content is the bearing.

But you don’t need to make bearings yourself, you just need to find a specialized bearing manufacturer to purchase them.

Therefore, these human-pedal threshers have become popular all over the Chu Empire in just a dozen years and have become good helpers for farmers.

Therefore, looking at the agricultural structure of the Great Chu Empire, the development is actually not balanced.

Mechanized planting has begun in the northeast. It is estimated that steam tractors will be available next year, but many provinces in the north will not even be able to use power harvesters.

In the southern provinces, there is only one human pedal thresher for mechanization... Most of the processes are completed by the farmers themselves.

If it is some poor remote places, some peasant families do not even have cattle and human pedal threshers, and their agricultural production is still in the traditional era.

There is no way to do this. After all, the Great Chu Empire is so huge, and its economic development is also good and bad. It is impossible for the Great Chu Empire to develop all places so well.

(End of this chapter)