Chapter 2 Cars, all about cars
The morning in America is not like the still ancient China, the fresh air has been replaced by the pungent smell of smoke, there are no crisp cockcrows and barking dogs, only the rumbling machines and the clanging horse-drawn carriages, in the thriving New York of America, even the small noise is enough to let people experience its prosperity.
Zhang Yusheng, who had slept for less than seven hours, got up as usual and started his day by washing up. However, to his surprise, Zhang Yu was nowhere to be found in the room, but it wasn't difficult to find him in the one-bedroom apartment. He was soon spotted in the living room, busy with a pile of documents. Of course, Zhang Yu also knew someone had arrived.
"How can you get up on time every day, why do your biological clock adjust so early? People not only need to have a career, but also need to have a body. The body is the capital of revolution, if you keep working like this, by the time New China is established, you will be almost ready to rest in peace. By the way, what's for breakfast today, I'll go get it from the cafeteria."
"You don't seem to have washed up yet!" Zhang Yu muttered, then buried his head and started working. And Zhang Yusheng, who realized his huge mistake, could only hastily rush to the bathroom.
After several days of familiarization, Zhang Yu had a preliminary understanding of his brother's career. Zhang Yusheng provided him with a considerable number of file reports, but after flipping through them for a long time, he found that the difficulties mentioned in the reports were basically all technical ones. The AsiaMei company was still just a small-scale company, and most of its employees were Chinese, with their main business being garment design, manufacturing, and sales. Although their sales performance was not bad, they had never been able to compare with the two brothers' careers, after all, it's impossible to change the fate of a nation by just making a few shirts and suits!
So, all the problems have returned to a distant point, that is, industrial technology. What feudal China lacked was not people, but advanced education, a complete industrial system, and parties with scale and fighting spirit. Zhang Yu and others couldn't manage other things, but they could establish themselves in the United States and develop certain industrial technologies with the help of corresponding forces to take root in their home country later. However, the situation in the United States was not great either. The rise of the United States came from seizing huge war profits from two world wars, using war to stimulate the continuous expansion of capital, which in turn drove the rapid development of industrial strength and scientific education. Nevertheless, at the beginning of the 20th century, adventurers and speculators in the United States far outnumbered scientists and intellectuals. The strength of the world's number one economy was mainly supported by a large number of oil tycoons, steel tycoons, and other trust monopolies.
"Petroleum, steel, cement, coal, automobiles, ships, airplanes, chemicals... the impoverished and blank Chinese land needs everything to be constructed and developed." Zhang Yu leaned against his chin, staring out the window at the thick black smoke in a daze. In America, a country with a relatively complete industrial system, every industry already had its own trust enterprise, Rockefeller's wealth was enviable, but his Standard Oil Company made Zhang Yu even more envious. If he really wanted to choose an industry that could satisfy his desire for development and profit in the US, while also driving the entire industrial chain when he returned home, Zhang Yu thought again and again, still believing that his brother's choice was correct.
The reason is simple, although the profit margin of aircraft manufacturing is higher, the technological content is too high, and even if all people on the planet cooperate in this era, it may not be possible to make rapid progress in the aviation industry to meet the requirements for civil aviation operations. Only then can huge profits be obtained. Therefore, the first thing to give up was airplanes. Oil, coal, cement, etc. are extremely traditional industries, and it is very simple to establish a highly efficient and energy-saving large-scale energy enterprise. Moreover, no trust would want someone sleeping next to them, and although the cake is huge, one person eating it is still the best. After careful consideration, only the automobile manufacturing industry was left as a realistic and profitable option.
The reason for this idea is that looking at the whole world, the well-known automobile companies that emerged in later generations were mostly still in their most primitive state. Mercedes had just completed its transition from three wheels to four wheels, while Ford was studying the flow production line of slaughtering cattle in a slaughterhouse to see if it could be applied to car manufacturing. General Motors and Volvo did not even know whether their founders had convinced themselves to start making cars or not. The entire global automobile industry was almost a blank slate.
In a new field, all competition starts from the same starting line, and no one is destined to be the winner. Therefore, as long as there is enough ability and speed, it is possible to quickly occupy the commanding heights of automobile production and sales, and become the leader in this blank industry.
Having figured out this link, Zhang Yu finally made up his mind to do a good job and make some achievements. He then opened the plan book given to him by Zhang Yusheng. Before that, he only took a look at the report about the industrial status of other countries, especially the United States, which was handed over to him by Zhang Yusheng. From this moment on, Zhang Yu officially embarked on the road of preparation for the automotive manufacturing industry with his elder brother.
"This big brother's ambition is really not covered, and the arrogant enthusiasm is not blown!!" The relevant documents were seen by Zhang Yu as seven or eight, after a moment of thought, Zhang Yu was indeed frightened by this big brother's ambition. He had already prepared everything in writing, including the company name and products, how to produce and manage, how to borrow from the development of automobile manufacturing to develop its own strength, how to set up a dense sales network all over the world, and how to launch various products in an orderly manner to capture the maximum profit. In short, except for the name of the car company that made Zhang Yu feel consistent with reality, everything else was a concept of the future.
"Why is it called Asia Motors? It means designed and manufactured by Asians, assembled and produced in the United States!" Zhang Yusheng had just walked in with a package of rice balls when Zhang Yu took them from him with a smile and teased. "And I think your grades must be pretty good, a second-rate university can educate someone as ambitious as you, it's not easy!" As soon as he finished speaking, a dog-not-understanding-baozi was stuffed into the mouth of the starving Zhang Yu.
"You're wrong, just now when I was getting buns in the cafeteria, I suddenly had an epiphany. Why call it a company? Why not call it a group? A group can have many subsidiaries covering a lot of industries. In a capitalist country, as long as you have money, you're the boss. As long as we get the car thing right, other things will be easy to grasp! But before that, we still need to learn how to make cars first!" Zhang Yu Sheng said, and without being polite, he stuffed bun after bun into his mouth. The two people's eating manners seemed like those of a beast.
The automotive industry is indeed a crystallization of an entire industrial system. Tires and fuel, lubricants, etc. involve petrochemical chemistry, power transmission systems involve not only mechanical processing manufacturing, electronic systems, and metallurgical industries, but also the research and development of engine theory involves the quality of higher education. The exterior design of automobiles, the overall layout of the vehicle body, is also a serious dependence on educational foundation. A car that wants to achieve ultra-high profits must have a perfect combination of practicality and luxury, and it is necessary to consider the needs of customers at different times. Buses, trucks, cars, different products have different profit chains. All these problems are not what Zhang Yu and others need to consider now. For them, being able to choose the right path and having the correct development direction is more important than anything else.
"The shortest distance between two points is a straight line." The geometry teacher's words to the students were not just mathematical knowledge, but also a philosophy of life. Both Zhang Yu and others who had received good education naturally understood the philosophical meaning contained in it, and with the correct direction of development, they started from one point along a straight line towards another point, no matter how fast or slow, at least taking one step at a time, and would eventually reach their destination one day. And indeed, they were working hard to move forward.
In 1872, Daimler designed a four-stroke engine. However, the earliest application of the principle of heat engines was actually China's trotting horse lamp, which is also the germ of turbine machines. Unfortunately, the Chinese nation did not develop this principle further. The first heat engine was an internal combustion engine that used gunpowder, proposed by Dutch physicist Huygens in 1680. This type of engine used the explosive combustion of gunpowder to drive a piston and do work. However, this machine only remained theoretical and was never actually built.
The main mechanism of the reciprocating piston internal combustion engine was also invented in China first. Important components such as the cylinder body were first developed by Chinese people, and cannons are the best evidence. Not to mention the reciprocating piston, crank connecting rod mechanism, flywheel, etc., which were all pioneered in our country, but our ancestors did not continue to develop them, so that Zhang Yu and others had to start from scratch again.
From the piston engine to the steam engine, and then to the internal combustion engine, all reflect the progress of European science and the gradual growth of industrial capacity. The Frenchman Carnot, the Germans Mayer and Clausius, the British Grove and Joule, as well as Thomson, proposed and perfected thermodynamics. At the same time, Europe's precision machinery made of steel began to appear, solving the problem of manufacturing precise cylindrical bodies and screws, thus greatly accelerating the development of internal combustion engines. Later, the development of mechanical power entered the fast lane, and in 1860, the Frenchman Reno manufactured the first practical two-stroke, non-compression, electric ignition internal combustion engine.
Two years later, French engineer Beau de Rochas proposed the four-stroke cycle principle of equal volume combustion. At this time, converters and open-hearth steelmaking methods had emerged one after another, providing reliable raw materials for internal combustion engine manufacturing - low-carbon steel. Ten years later, German watchmaker Nikolaus August Otto built the first four-stroke coal gas internal combustion engine. Soon after, Otto successfully developed a reciprocating piston four-stroke internal combustion engine with a thermal efficiency of 14%. Later, Otto further increased the thermal efficiency of the internal combustion engine to over 20%. This type of internal combustion engine was the prototype of future gasoline engines. Otto is also known as the "inventor of the four-stroke internal combustion engine". In 1881, engineer Nikolaus August Otto developed a two-cylinder internal combustion engine. Soon after, gasoline engines and diesel engines that relied solely on compression ignition emerged as the dual powers of the future. The latter had a simpler and more practical structure than the former, with better efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
"Gasoline engines are also known as Otto engines, and diesel engines are called Diesel engines. If we want to establish ourselves in the future automotive industry, we must grasp the core technology tightly. The engine is a big chunk, no matter what, we must buy the patents of these two, and the multi-cylinder, multi-stroke, high-power engine will be our competitive trump card in the future. Cars mainly include power system, braking system, transmission system, ignition system, fuel supply system, cooling system, lubrication system, suspension system, steering system, etc. There are many things we need to do." In the office, Zhang Yu and his brother carried out their daily routine discussion as usual.
"What specific requirements are there?" Zhang Yu-sheng looked at Zhang Yu with a serious expression, hoping he could give him something concrete and not some empty words that would leave this liberal arts student confused.
"First, I need a large number of talents, preferably from Germany. Their creativity combined with rigor and fusion will make them as crazy about this work as we are. Moreover, the automobile engine is one of the most demanding industries in the world, second only to watchmaking, requiring intense focus and a responsible research attitude. Of course, their rich experience in mechanical manufacturing is also what we urgently need, and cultivating a large number of processing technology talents will have to rely on them!"
"Secondly, I need a large enough place for research and experimentation. Apart from commercial secrecy reasons, it is mainly to install more production equipment. After the theoretical research is completed, we will have to manufacture prototype models by ourselves to verify the theory. The trial work needed before formal automobile production is not something that can be done in one or two times."
"Thirdly, provide me with a sufficient amount of materials, as long as they are metal materials that have been developed in this era. Whether it's copper or iron, gather them all. The components of the engine require different materials due to differences in usage environment, although I have the conditions to find suitable materials, whether they are appropriate still requires relevant argumentation. Fourthly, I need sufficient funding and manpower."
Zhang Yu's incessant talking was accompanied by Zhang Yusheng's continuous nodding, and before long, half an hour had passed. After finally determining a more detailed course of action, the two people began their respective actions.
Zhang Yu-sheng's first task was to raise a certain amount of start-up capital, and then he began looking for a land brokerage firm to find suitable land near New York. This would not only facilitate the upcoming automotive research work but also be beneficial for large-scale production manufacturing in the future. The required land could not be resolved with just one or two square kilometers, so according to the intermediary company's speed, by the time Zhang Yu-sheng finished collecting materials and processing equipment, the trial site had already been secured. However, it was estimated that the place for mass-producing cars would take more than a month or two to acquire from the vampire-like capitalists.
A few days later, Zhang Yu made an even bigger move, taking Zhang Yusheng back to the spaceship parked in the desert at home. For Zhang Yusheng, this was already Zhang Yu's most direct and thorough revelation, and this move largely eliminated the last layer of defense line in Zhang Yusheng's heart.
"The top is the cockpit, and where we are now is my living quarters. Feel free to look around, most of the cabins below us are cargo holds. I'll take you to see them later." To Zhang Yu, this was just a visit from a friend to his own spaceship. When the spaceship was first built, many classmates and friends had come to visit, but what was different this time was that his friend came from a different world, and he was interested in everything and asked questions about everything.
"This is the legendary Light Brain, right!!" Zhang Yusheng, who had always been guessing wrong about things or principles, saw a keyboard-equipped thing on Zhang Yu's small desk. As a computer enthusiast himself, he guessed that this computer was a Light Brain rather than an ordinary electronic computer. As for why a 30th-century Light Brain would still be equipped with a keyboard, it wasn't something he could understand.
"Ah, I suppose you finally have some sense now. Next, let me show you how to operate this computer. This light brain is one that the logistics company equipped me with. My old friend from when I was in school passed away a long time ago. This computer uses the latest configuration. After I input all my previous materials, there's still almost 8MG left. It even supports fully dynamic 3D games!!"
After finishing, Zhang Yu started the computer and directly manipulated the 3D interface with his hands. In a short while, game characters appeared on the computer screen. Wearing the glasses handed to him by Zhang Yu, these characters looked just like real people and objects, and he found himself in the midst of it all.
"How's that, right on time!! Immersive experience watching a big movie feels great, doesn't it? This is my carefully collected treasure!! Evaluate, evaluate." Seeing Zhang Yusheng put on his glasses, Zhang Yu had a mischievous smile as he operated the optical keyboard for a few seconds. In front of Zhang Yusheng's eyes appeared his favorite Japanese movies from university days, and this time it felt like he was sitting on the bed himself, watching the protagonists slowly perform. The realistic feeling made Zhang Yusheng want to reach out and touch the female lead not far away.
"Is the power enough? I hope it can last a bit longer, I haven't watched a big movie in a long time, and this film's shooting technology is too awesome! The audience just needs to think about which angle they want to watch, it's so humanized, it's amazing!!"
After watching for a while, Zhang Yu Sheng still felt that he wanted to figure out why the keyboard still existed, existing on such a high-tech light brain. "How come you're all still using keyboards? Does it have some special use?"
"You're talking about this keyboard? It's just a personal preference, I like to compile smart programs by myself when I have nothing to do. Manual ones can better test my skills, and sometimes the existence of a keyboard can make the owner's life more elegant, just like people in your era who keep some antiques at home." Zhang Yu said, then started packing up his room, with most of the things he was taking away being "small toys" that Zhang Yusheng didn't recognize.
After watching for over ten minutes, Zhang Yu Sheng quickly discovered that even in the technologically advanced 30th century, some human behaviors were still awkward. What changed most was the lead actor's figure and appearance or shouting skills, control of time and so on. When he felt it wasn't interesting anymore, a question suddenly popped up in Zhang Yu Sheng's mind.
"Hey buddy, isn't this a personal computer, or just a brain? Not long ago you told me that you've all entered the pure electronic era, even textbooks are digitized. You've read so many years of books, even if the old machine broke down, shouldn't there be quite a few e-textbooks on this one?"
"Right, how can a memorable youth be easily erased from yesterday's traces? I have downloaded all the ones used in college and required by the school, what color do you want? Is it yellow!! Never mind, let's just focus on starting work."
Zhang Yu, who had finished collecting his things, didn't plan to continue joking around. He put on a pair of glasses and quickly took control of the light brain through voice control and mind control. However, he soon closed the mind control channel. When designing something, it's inevitable that there will be a process of divergent thinking, where you think of one machine and want to execute another. Even with the fastest computing speed, the light brain would quickly become obsolete. Therefore, it's better to control it through specific voice commands.
In front of Zhang Yu Sheng, Zhang Yu opened some apps and started making simple settings. He pulled out the historical text of a virtual reality smart design software he had used before. From then on, all commands were given through dialogue. Zhang Yu Sheng, who was staring blankly by the side, could only watch in a daze as Zhang Yu conversed with the computer. The computer also used standard Mandarin, and the pleasant, gentle female voice made people feel warm and fuzzy inside. What's more surprising is that after each of Zhang Yu's commands were sent out, the lines in the 3D space would change immediately, and the corresponding data on the side would jump up like magic.
Two hours later, Zhang Yu finally stopped, his hair was grabbed a lot, and his scalp was scratched to the limit. The printer next to him had been slowly spitting out sheets of connected drawings. Zhang Yusheng, who was stunned, gradually came back to his senses, but immediately became interested in the printer again.
"Zhang Yu, little brother, this software is much more user-friendly than our CAD! I've seen those mechanical students designing drawings back in the day, it was a nightmare. Just searching for data and setting indicators would take them days. But here, it's all intelligent assistance, massive data support, designers just need to open their mouths and they can get started. They can even pick up individual parts with their hands and 'play' with them. Especially the final demonstration, it's like a production process! From casting to screws, each part is slowly assembled in design order, and finally, it demonstrates the mechanical operation situation to the designer and provides suggestions. These things were unimaginable in our time! Designing a car would require at least hundreds of people working together, from conceptualization to finalizing the drawings, it would take months or even years. But you just finished designing a mini car in one or two hours!!!"
"Don't flatter me, didn't you see that I plagiarized so many classic engine design blueprints just now? Used the masters' classic car layout designs? Tested with software for how many times the overall rationality, and then had to change again?"
"A bookworm can't be called a thief, but rather a borrower!"
"In my opinion, ordinary light weapons no longer pose any threat to your face!" After Zhang Yu's joke, the two quickly accelerated their pace of collecting things. Of course, what Zhang Yusheng valued more was that long string of drawings, and just the design data of the masters' classic engines took up ten minutes of printing time. Having obtained these things, Zhang Yusheng carefully rolled them up like a treasure, categorizing and bundling them into cylinders. Most importantly, the car that Zhang Yu had figured out was carefully placed in his arms.
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