At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 688, Running Project
June 55, 9th year of the Han calendar, Chang'an City.

"Chang'an is ahead, slow down and don't get into an accident!" Han Anguo, the censor of Chenjun County, was sitting in a jeep-like driveway.

After the military parade last year, Han Anguo was awarded the title of Earl for his public service. According to his merits, he could have been promoted to General of the Central Army at the very least. However, Han Anguo understood that the Han Dynasty dominated the world and had no enemies at all, so it would be extremely difficult for him to develop in the army.

Han Anguo was a man of both civil and military talents. He was not only a military officer, but also a learned scholar. He studied "Han Feizi" and was a disciple of the Legalists. He simply became a civil servant and with the help of the Legalists, became the county censor of Chen County, the industrial core of the Han Dynasty.

Tie Zhu, who was driving, smiled confidently, "Don't worry, Censor Han. Even if you don't believe in my driving skills, you should believe in the strength of our Chenjun Machinery Factory. We have traveled thousands of miles without any problems, and there will be no problems in Chang'an. Besides, if I don't show off like this, who would know about our new car in Chenjun?"

The emperor said that a new technological revolution has arrived. As a city that benefited from the first technological revolution, Chenjun naturally would not be willing to be outdone.

The construction of the Chenjun thermal power plant and power grid was extremely quick and rapid. Electrification has become the new infrastructure standard for the Chenjun Industrial Zone. Chenjun was the first industrial county in the Han Dynasty to have electricity in every county. The electrification transformation of Chenjun was not inferior to that of Chang'an City.

In terms of the two technology trees of electric vehicles and internal combustion engines, Changan City chose electric vehicles. In recent years, it has been concentrating manpower and material resources on the research and development of new batteries with high efficiency and long range.

Chen County summoned the masters, and after discussion and research, they chose the internal combustion engine. Because Chen County had higher mechanical technology, including production technology for trains, tractors, and steam cars, and had accumulated rich experience in mechanical manufacturing over the past decades, it was easy to build an internal combustion locomotive with Chen County's technical level.

After several years of improvements, last year Chen County established the first automobile factory in the Han Dynasty and built the first assembly line for manufacturing automobiles. More than 2800 cars were produced that year. Some of these cars were sold to wealthy businessmen in Chen County, some to Han officials in Chen County, and some to master craftsmen in Chen County. The opinions of these people were then listened to.

Most of these opinions acknowledge that Chenjun’s cars are better than the steam cars manufactured by the Han Dynasty in recent years, whether in terms of range, noise, or even pollution.

The Han Dynasty's tractor and steam car have been around for more than ten years, but they have never replaced horse-drawn carriages. Why?
Because steam locomotives were too noisy, the pollution from a chimney was too serious, and they had to be refueled with coal all the time, and their practicality was not as good as that of horse-drawn carriages, the vast majority of Han families bought horse-drawn or ox-drawn carriages.

Of course, although Chenjun's automobiles defeated steam vehicles and tractors, they still had the enemy of Changan trams. What they didn't expect was that after several years of research, the craftsmen of Changan had not increased the range of trams much, and instead found a fatal flaw, that is, in winter, the battery capacity would be reduced by one-third to one-half. The tram, which already had a short range, was even worse than a bicycle in winter.

Chen Jun's side watched as their competitors chose the wrong technology tree and electric vehicles have not been commercialized. What else can they say? Of course, they have to seize the market immediately.

As a result, the newly established Chenjun Automobile Factory produced 5000 cars in October this year alone. All those who have used them said that they were good, and the company was in complete shortage of supply.

As the number of automobiles produced increased, the craftsmen of Chen County began to formulate technical standards and processes for large-scale industrial production. Automobiles have many more parts than horse-drawn carriages, and their precision is much higher. If Chen County can gain the support of the court and promote its own standards, then it will be extremely wealthy.

Of course, Chen Jun also has hidden worries. As far as they know, their biggest competitor, Changan City, is obsessed with electric vehicles. The number of patents applied for this year has exceeded 1000. In the short term, Changan will not be their enemy, but that may not be the case in the long term.

At the same time, Linzi County also has some factories. Although they are still handicraft products, they produced less than 500 cars last year, but this year the number has increased to . If this number increases further, it will reach the threshold of industrialized production and become a competitor of Chen County.

There is also Kuaiji County. Perhaps influenced by them, it actually produced more than 800 cars this year. The key is that they also produced 2000 trams. Kuaiji County is their biggest enemy. Although they have two technology trees and no centralized resources, the cars at this time are still relatively simple, just an engine plus four wheels. As long as resources are invested, it is easy to initially form a vehicle assembly line and standardized parts.

In order to seize the initiative, getting the support of the court is the most important thing, so Chen County sent Tie Zhu, who has a good relationship with the prime minister, and Han Anguo, who has connections with the Han military, to lead a convoy to Chang'an City, hoping to get the support of Prime Minister Chen Lei and the Han military.

In order to let the entire Han Dynasty know about the performance of cars, Han Anguo, the wise representative and outstanding representative of Chenjun, directly took a convoy of more than a dozen cars and sailed thousands of miles from Chenjun to Chang'an City. It was this thousands of miles of sailing that made Han Anguo recognize the new thing of cars.

Chen Jun's convoy entered Chang'an City, which surprised many people in Chang'an City. Although cars were not uncommon in Chang'an City, most of them were laboratory products or handicraft products. A convoy like Tiezhu's, with all of them driving the same cars, was obviously a product of industrialization, which was rare in Chang'an City.

Soon the convoy arrived at the Tianranju Hotel they had booked. After Tiezhu and his group got off the car and checked into the hotel, they gathered together to begin their meeting.

Tie Zhu smiled and said, "Han Yushi, the factory has prepared 10 cars for you. You can contact your former comrades and send all these cars out. If you can get the military to order our cars, you will be a great contributor to Chen County."

Han Anguo said: "This car is better than a tractor. It has fewer accidents, a longer range, and a larger load capacity. It can transport goods and can also pull cannons. If we had this car during the war in the Seleucid Empire two years ago, it would have saved us a lot of trouble."

He was still confident about this task. The efficiency of a car was more than ten times that of a horse-drawn carriage, and the maintenance of a car was much easier than that of a war horse.

Then Tiechui looked at the Chenjun sages and the outstanding representative said, "You are also part of Chenjun. It is your responsibility to promote our Chenjun cars. If you meet sages from other counties, please invite them to ride in our cars. If they want one, it is worth giving it away for free. The factory has prepared 500 cars and has placed them in the warehouse in Changan. Once all are delivered, we will have completed our mission."

"Everyone should know that we are not the only one producing cars. There are several small car factories in Linzi County, and cars have also appeared in Fishery County. Cars and electric cars are developing simultaneously in Kuaiji County. We in Chen County have only gained a short-term advantage. If we cannot quickly expand production and expand the market, by the time others react, it will be a hundred times more difficult for us to occupy the market than it is now."

"I'll understand later!"

The Han Dynasty's carriage and transportation industry is an industry worth hundreds of billions. If this huge industry is seized by their Chen County, it is not impossible for Chen County to become the number one county in the world.

This is a political achievement for Han officials like Han Anguo, and wealth for wise men. Replacing horse-drawn carriages with Chenjun's cars is in the interests of everyone.

Zhuque Street, the widest road in Chang'an City, was now full of horse-drawn carriages. The two-way four-lane road was filled with all kinds of horse-drawn carriages, buses, steam cars and tractors. Seeing these vehicles, Tiezhu's smile became more and more obvious. There were millions of vehicles in the whole Guanzhong area, and these were all their potential customers. He had the idea of ​​replacing them.

However, he felt a little worried when he saw the tram, because the master craftsman of Chen County had told him that the tram had a short range, but a simple mechanical structure and was far more powerful than an internal combustion engine. If Chang'an City could solve the problem of battery capacity, their cars would not be able to compete.

However, these masters believed that it would be very difficult to increase the range of electric vehicles. The Han people knew too little about electricity, but they had studied mechanical dynamics for decades, so their cars had an advantage in this regard.

"Beep!" At the central intersection, a traffic policeman made a gesture to stop traffic, and Tiezhu had no choice but to stop.

At this time, the owner of a carriage next to him opened the window and said in surprise: "The performance of your car is not bad, and the engine doesn't make much noise."

There is one thing the carriage owner didn't mention, which is that the appearance looks simple and clear, and it is very practical. It is not as majestic and domineering as those Changan cars, but it has the Qixi Festival with a lot of demons dancing in its wings.

Chang'an was also the industrial center and technology research and development center of the Han Dynasty, with millions of craftsmen in the city.

There are more master craftsmen from the wealthy class in the city. Under the leadership of Xu Fan and the protection of the system, the craftsmen in Chang'an are more inclined to technological innovation.

Engineers who have no shortage of money, or engineers supported by nobles who have no shortage of money, have developed all kinds of strange-shaped cars and trams in recent years. There are two-wheeled cars, three-wheeled cars, cars with chimneys facing the sky, cars with curved chimneys, and even new-style cars modeled after chariots, with patterns of ferocious beasts such as tigers, lions, and sharks sprayed on them. The main feature is their majesty and domineering appearance. Such cars are extremely popular among young people in Chang'an. They even built a racing track in the suburbs of Chang'an, specifically for displaying the cars they make.

But the practicality of such a car is questionable. It is equipped with too many external accessories, consumes a lot of fuel, is prone to breaking down, and the parts have to be hand-made. It looks cool but not practical.

Tiezhu gave a thumbs up and boasted: "This is a car developed by our Chenjun. The cylinders are polished by the most advanced motors. How can it be compared with cars built by ordinary people?"

The car owner was even more astonished and asked, "A car from Chenjun, has it traveled thousands of miles?" Tiezhu said proudly, "I drove all the way from Chenjun to Chang'an, and it only took me two days to travel thousands of miles."

"Awesome!" The owner gave a thumbs up and said, "Chen Jun's equipment is truly unmatched in the world."

Tie Zhu laughed and said, "Your sandalwood carriage is outdated. In the future, cars will be the main means of transportation in the world."

"Beep!" The traffic policeman in charge made a gesture to go along.

Tiezhu immediately started the car and left.

Liu You, the owner of the carriage, looked at Tiezhu as he left and said, "I never thought that the cars of our country could be manufactured so well. It seems that I should pay more attention to some car stocks."

Chang'an City, Chen Lei's residence.

Tiezhu parked his car. The doorman Chen Cheng saw Tiezhu and said with a smile, "You come to see me again."

This was not the first time Tiezhu came to the Prime Minister's Mansion. Back then, Chen Lei asked Tiezhu to go to a technical school, and he studied for a year before becoming an intermediate blacksmith. However, he did not eventually become a first-line craftsman, but became a salesman. This brought out his talent for socializing, and after a few years he became the head of the sales department.

The Chenjun Steel Plant would send people to visit Chen Lei every year and ask for his guidance on the development of the steel plant. Tiezhu also often came to the Prime Minister's Mansion. After a few visits, the people in the Prime Minister's Mansion also got to know Tiezhu.

Tiezhu took out a cigarette and handed it over, saying with a smile, "Brother Cheng."

Chen Cheng took the cigarette and said with a smile: "Chenjun's Baiyun cigarette has a pure taste."

Tiezhu asked, "Is the factory director here?"

Chen Cheng said: "My master is still handling official business in the Prime Minister's Mansion at this time. It is difficult for him to come back before eight o'clock."

Tiezhu said: "Then I will wait here for the factory director."

Chen Cheng frowned and asked, "What happened this time?"

Tiezhu immediately said, "Official business, is it official business?"

After saying that, Tiezhu pointed at the car he drove over and said, "This is a BMW developed by Chenjun. In the past, people said that the Ferghana BMW could travel a thousand miles a day, but that was an exaggeration. This car can really travel a thousand miles a day. Now Chenjun has set up a new car manufacturing plant."

Then he said proudly, "I am the sales manager of the factory. Now our factory can sell several thousand such cars a year, and next year we plan to double the production of cars to 15000. This time I came to Chang'an City to ask the factory director to promote our Chenjun car standards."

Then he approached Chen Cheng and whispered, "This is a big business. If it's done well, it can replace the Han Dynasty's horse-drawn carriages and even grab a portion of the short-distance freight market. This is a market worth hundreds of billions. If we can capture it, Chen County can be rich for at least ten years."

Hearing this, Chen Cheng also became serious. He was Chen Lei's nephew, and his family members also held various positions in Chen County. His family and Chen County had a relationship of mutual benefit and mutual loss.

Chen Cheng said, "Please drive me around and let me see the effect of this car."

Tiezhu immediately got into the driver's seat and said with a smile, "Brother Chen, you better sit tight!"

That night, Chen Lei took a carriage back to his mansion and saw Tie Zhu in the hall. He first laughed and said, "Why are you here, you monkey?"

Tiezhu said respectfully: "Grandpa Director, I am here to visit you on behalf of the steel plant."

Chen Lei sat down and asked, "How's the sales going?"

Tie Zhu said, "I am now the sales manager of a newly established car factory in Chen County. This year, our car factory produced 5000 cars in the first nine months. Each car sold for 5 coins. This year's output value is expected to exceed million coins."

Chen Lei was surprised and said: "Chen County has found another pillar industry."

Even in today's Han Dynasty, there are not many factories with an annual output value of 500 million, especially the automobile industry, which is a high-profit industry.

Tie Zhu said, "Our factory director Zhou Qiu believes that cars can replace the horse-drawn carriages of the Han Dynasty. He is currently researching a new production line so that the car factory can produce 100,000 cars per year. He also plans to make Chen County the automobile production center of the Han Dynasty through two five-year plans, producing one million cars per year and becoming the automobile production center of the Han Dynasty. This plan has been approved by the county governor, county lieutenant, county censor, and the Chen County Sages Association."

Chen Lei said: "You are very ambitious, do you have a plan?"

Chen Lei was not surprised by this plan. During the five years he served as the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty, he was outstandingly knowledgeable.

None of the local Han officials or the princes of the Han Dynasty did not have earth-shaking plans. For example, two years ago, Han Xu, the Duke of Mobei, united many princes in the desert and proposed a northern canal plan. He planned to dig a canal from the North Sea directly to the Bohai Bay. He proposed that this canal could allow goods from Mobei to enter the sea directly, improve the environment of Mobei, reclaim more land, and revitalize the entire desert economy.

There was also the Shu County governor Guan He. After the Minjiang hydroelectric power station was built, he had a fanatical interest in building power stations. He kept writing letters to state the importance of electricity to the industrial development of the Han Dynasty, saying that it was the blood of industrial development. However, the current growth rate of electricity in the Han Dynasty was far from meeting the needs of the Han Dynasty's industrial development.

These are indeed the facts. Dahan has to build dozens of thermal power stations every year, but it still cannot meet Dahan's industrial demand for electricity. However, Chen Lei never expected that he would propose to cut off the Yangtze River in Sanmenxia and build a Yangtze River dam for power generation to meet Dahan's growing demand for electricity. Chen Lei was stunned.

There is also the newly appointed Duke of Chen, who took a train from Shuzhong directly to Chang'an City last year. Seeing the tunnels among the mountains, he became interested in building tunnels. He wrote to the court, requesting the court to build a railway from Nanzhong to Shuzhong. You must know that Nanzhong is a place with no flat land and is known as 10 mountains. The railway network of the Han Dynasty has connected most of the counties in the mainland. In order to connect Shuzhong, even Zhongnanshan was opened up, but Nanzhong still has only a few simple roads. If you want to build a tunnel in Nanzhong, the cost of building a railway will be unimaginably high, which scared Chen Lei to increase the purchase of tobacco by %.

As for the slightly smaller ones, like Taiyuan County's plan to build canals among the mountains to irrigate the land, Yuyang County's plan to build a large dock in order to compete with Kuaiji County for the northern shipping center, the Railway Bureau's plan to build a high-standard railway to replace steel rails, etc., they are not worth mentioning.

Originally, due to the second scientific and technological revolution, the finances of the Han Dynasty had grown rapidly in the past two years, and his life as the prime minister had become much better. However, soon, the huge infrastructure projects of local Han Dynasty drained up the fiscal surplus.

As prime minister, he was often troubled by the contradiction between the growing desire of local Han officials to reduce their income and the limited finances of the Han Dynasty. He could only suppress the overheated local investment. 90% of the projects reported to him were rejected, and he only examined a few relatively feasible projects.

(End of this chapter)