Chapter 233: Blessings in the World (Third update, please subscribe)

The most profitable business is definitely technological monopoly.

The seemingly insignificant new technology can bring unimaginable wealth.

Of course, some technologies will not only bring wealth, but also reputation.

For example - electric light!

Electric light!

This is definitely a surprise!

It can even be said to be the biggest surprise in 1865!

Maybe other people don’t know what the invention of the electric light means, but Zhu Xianhai knows.

In the past, people used oil lamps and candles for lighting, which broke through the darkness, but still failed to completely liberate humans from the constraints of the night. Only with the birth of generators can humans use various electric lights to illuminate the world and turn night into day.

The electric light dispels the darkness and brings light to mankind!

The invention of the electric light is definitely worth writing about!

Of course, it is definitely the favorite of capitalists - before electric lights, even the most black-hearted capitalists would order a shutdown when it got dark, because continuing production under the dim light of oil lamps was not only dangerous, but also extremely inefficient and prone to fire.

But with the advent of electric light, everything changed.

With electric lights, workers have good fortune - even in the dead of night, under the bright incandescent lights, workers can operate equipment and carry out production normally.

Electric light…it’s definitely a blessing!

However, this blessing came a little early!

Looking at the bright light bulb in front of him, Zhu Xianhai sighed in his heart for a long time - blessings have come!

Nanhua brought the workers, no, it should be said that it brought the blessings of migrant workers into this world.

"Is this Henry Goebbels' invention?"

Henry Goebbels has arrived at South China!

It is said that he was the real inventor of the electric light. Historically, Henry Goebbels won the patent after years of litigation with Edison over the invention of the electric light - after his death, Edison eventually bought the patent from Goebbels' impoverished widow.

But what about now?

Henry Goebbels came to Nanhua with his invention of the electric light.

"It's true that he invented the light bulb, but my lord, he only invented the light bulb. Our laboratory invented the switch. With the switch..."

As if to show off, Zhao Can pulled the rope, and with a crisp "click", the light went out.

"Without this switch, it is very difficult to control the light. It took us almost half a year to invent this pull-cord switch."

Half a year...

Zhu Xianhai began to wonder, why didn't you tell me earlier? We know the principle of this kind of pull-cord switch, and it is very simple. But what made him even more gratified was that it was invented by the Chinese technicians in the laboratory. In other words, Nanhua's laboratory now has a certain "research and development capability".

Don’t underestimate these small switches and lamp holders, but they are definitely groundbreaking inventions! It is their appearance that made the popularization of electric lights possible!

Looking at the ceramic switch box and the ceramic lamp holder, he asked.

"Are these switches and lamp holders made of ceramic?"

"Yes, our laboratory has tested many kinds of materials, but only switch boxes and lamp holders made of ceramic or glass can be mass-produced and insulated to prevent leakage."

Behind this seemingly simple answer, how many laboratory technicians have been researching day and night? How many people have put in the hard work and sweat?

But ceramics... they are the symbol of China!

“How is this light bulb installed?”

Zhu Xianhai looked at the screws on the socket curiously.

"Turning this screw?"

"Yes, my lord, it is very convenient to change the light bulb. There is a plug in the lamp holder. Just loosen the screw, insert it, and then tighten the screw. Anyone can change the light bulb. There is no need for professional workers. This is also our invention. The original invention requires professional workers to replace it."

"Although this is simple, it is still a bit complicated. After all, you still need tools to replace it. Why can't you just replace the plug with a threaded connector?"

Zhu Xianhai said with a smile.

"It's like a coarse-grained screw, about 27 millimeters in diameter, rolled out of copper or iron sheets..."

After directly taking out the famous "E27 interface", Zhu Xianhai completely ignored Zhao Can's surprise and continued speaking.

"This bulb holder can be turned upside down, so that its lighting range is wider..."

The seemingly simple proposal made Zhao Can open his mouth in surprise. Why didn’t they think of this at the beginning?

In fact, these simple suggestions are themselves the crystallization of the wisdom of countless inventors.

Zhu Xianhai nodded with relief.

"It seems that you have already considered mass production."

"Boss, the lights must be produced as soon as possible. I've calculated that if we install lights in the factory, the time to get off work can be postponed to at least after 10 pm, and we won't have to worry about the problem of darkness anymore..."

Look...good fortune is coming!

Zhu Xianhai's eyes narrowed into slits. Now he finally understood why Edison enjoyed so much praise all over the world, because for capitalists, electric lights meant work day and night.

Of course, to put it in a more EQ way, the invention of the electric light expanded the scope of human activities and gained more time to create wealth for society.

“We’ve been working for quite some time.”

Zhu Xianhai shook his head and said.

"In the summer, we work from 6am to 6:30pm every day, excluding lunch time, so workers have to work almost 12 hours a day, which is already the limit of the human body. If the time is longer, fatigue will not only lead to reduced productivity, but also cause injuries to workers. It is better not to work overtime by electric light."

"My lord is kind and righteous. It is a blessing for the people of Nanhua to have such a lord..."

Why does this sound so awkward?

So it seems like it’s a blessing to let people “only” work twelve hours…

It seems to be true.

Isn’t it eight hours?

With a helpless sigh, Zhu Xianhai looked at the light and the battery connected to it and said.

“Now how long will it last?”

"We now have a lifespan of over 600 hours, which is more than 50 percent longer than Henry Goebbels's prototype."

“And what about the cost?”

"The current manufacturing cost is about one yuan per bulb, but as production expands, the cost will definitely drop a lot."

"Well, 600 hours, one dollar per piece, that's about right. We can consider putting it into production."

After thinking about it, Zhu Xianhai said.

"I think we can first connect the electric lights to the company headquarters. I also think the street lights on Zhuque Street can be replaced with electric lights! We will try to light up Zhuque Street with electric lights around the Spring Festival next year."

Zhao Can felt somewhat embarrassed by his lord's suggestion.

"My Lord, lighting up the entire Suzaku Street... I'm afraid this will be a bit difficult."

"Difficult? How do you mean?"

Zhu Xianhai said in surprise.

"Generators. We encountered some problems when manufacturing generators. Currently, our generators can only drive 1,000 lights at most. If it is Suzaku Street, we need to build at least two or three power plants."

"Oh, that's the reason. I'll solve it."

Zhu Xianhai smiled.

This is really not a big deal. After all, in the "mine" that produces "Deville Silver", the high-power generator has been running for several years. It is nothing more than building another generator.

"Oh, by the way, regarding the bamboo used to make carbon filaments, the company can send people to Japan to collect some bamboo for testing. Maybe there will be some unexpected gains."

The most impressive thing about Edison's invention of the electric light is the material used to make the carbon filament. After testing thousands of materials, he chose bamboo filament. Then Edison had to look for the best bamboo in the world to serve as the filament of the electric light. It took him nearly ten years to search all over the world before he found a kind of Japanese bamboo.

In order to find the bamboo, Edison sent dozens of employees who spent ten years, even going deep into the Amazon rainforest. In the end, they collected about 6,000 kinds of bamboo from all over the world. The result was that the carbon filament made of Japanese bamboo was the best, which could last for more than 1,000 hours and achieved the purpose of durability. Until 1908, before the popularization of tungsten filament bulbs, Japanese bamboo had been the main raw material for the production of carbon filaments for electric lamps.

As for the present, of course we should adopt the approach of taking what is available!

(End of this chapter)