Chapter 598: The Leading Industry in the 19th Century (Third update, please subscribe)
Thanks to the efforts of many scholars, Ming Dynasty's technology is advancing with each passing day!
Of course, the most important are Emperor Zhu's "Book of Heaven" and "Divine Artifact". The former is theory and the latter is the real thing.
The two complemented each other and ultimately led to the success of the Ming Dynasty's manufacturing industry.
Many times, a simple physical object plus some technical books can open up a complete industrial chain.
Different from ordinary players, both Ming Dynasty and Emperor Zhu's American Company are real big players. Even if the early technology is primitive, as a leader, as long as they are willing to invest enough capital, they can always get extremely generous returns!
Just like the investment in the car.
The automobile industry of the Ming Dynasty started out by imitating others. The first Qianlima sedan in the mall had a technical level that was roughly the same as that of the early Model T car.
The "Qianlima" that was supposed to roll off the production line in 1879 came to this world through the mall fifteen years earlier and became the starting point of the Ming Dynasty's automobile industry.
In the early days of imitation, its gasoline engine always leaked oil and broke down frequently. But once the development direction was determined, the rest was easy to handle. Through continuous investment, it took two years to finally produce a car with a technical level equivalent to that of the early 20th century.
Relying on this first-mover advantage, the Ming Dynasty's automobile technology level made rapid progress. A No. 0 Qianlima sedan became a 1.5-ton truck and then an armored vehicle.
As for the 12-horsepower gasoline engine used in the Qianlima sedan, it also became the "ancestor engine" of internal combustion engines in the Ming Dynasty and even the world. It was based on that engine that they developed a 150-horsepower high-power engine, which not only became a supporting engine for airships, but was also used on small boats and submarines.
Through continuous research and development, and of course Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang's occasional praise of books and even actual cars and engines, the level of automobile technology in the Ming Dynasty had already been far ahead of the world by 1872.
As for the Maxima Automobile Company, it is also a rising enterprise. As the world's first automobile company, it is destined to continue its glory for a century!
But, it is not large in scale.
Until now, its annual production has not exceeded one thousand vehicles!
Although it has successively launched Jiefang trucks, buses and high-end BMW sedans, the factory's production organization form is still the traditional factory workshop style, with an annual output of no more than a thousand vehicles.
As the sedan sped along the street, an idea flashed through Emperor Zhu's mind.
“Maybe it’s time to develop a real car industry!”
The reason he thought so was not because Eugenie wrote to him again asking for a car, but because the time was almost ripe.
It has been almost ten years since the company started imitating the Maxima in 1864. In the past ten years, the company has already mastered the technology of the Maxima - gasoline engine, constant velocity joint, gear transmission, planetary clutch, spring hydraulic shock absorber, pneumatic tires, etc.
Even the so-called luxurious BMW 101 still does not get rid of these technologies in essence. But from Zhu Xianhai's actual riding experience, this kind of car is still quite comfortable to sit in.
There is no air conditioning, no cold air, no...
But in 1872, when there were cars, why would anyone need a horse-drawn carriage?
Moreover, the importance of the automotive industry chain is self-evident. In another world, even in the 21st century, it is still the most important industry chain in the industrial world! For any country that is industrialized or wants to be industrialized, the automotive industry is a must-fight place.
Moreover, from a military perspective, for any country that wants to build a strong national defense or has strong war potential, the automobile industry itself is part of the national defense industry. Not only can it switch to producing military machines such as tanks, armored vehicles and even aircraft during wartime, its production equipment and supporting factories can also produce various light and heavy weapons.
We don't need to look at other countries, we only need to look at the United States during World War II. The tanks and planes lined up in Ford and General Motors factories directly overwhelmed the Axis powers.
Moreover, the automobile industry is a high value-added industry that can support a relatively high-income working class. Historically, the most fundamental reason why Henry Ford could pay high wages was because the profit from making cars was high!
Of course, the more important reason was that Ford was very greedy - he used the high-profit automobile industry to offer high wages and lure away the best workers in the United States!
As for making cars affordable for auto workers, that is sheer nonsense. The conscience of capitalists can be trusted, even sows can climb trees.
However, this has nothing to do with Emperor Zhu. What is the most important thing to him?
It is the industrial chain driven by the automobile industry that has promoted the industrialization of the Ming Dynasty. Various industries, from mechanical processing to metallurgical industry, to rubber industry, will take off due to the rise of the automobile industry.
A country that produces millions of cars a year must have had extremely abnormal industrial capacity in the 19th century. By developing the automobile industry, Ming's industrial production capacity would quickly surpass France and catch up with or even surpass Britain.
As for the market, Emperor Zhu was not worried. Not to mention foreign countries, even the hundreds of thousands of farms in China would require at least hundreds of thousands of heavy-duty trucks. As for the foreign market, Ming could fully utilize its technological advantages to crush the local automobile manufacturing industries of various countries, just like the American automobile industry before and after World War II.
Why did the American automobile industry remain the dominant industry for a long time until after World War II?
On the one hand, it is because of the advanced technology, and on the other hand, it is because it is really cheap!
As for what the rise of German Volkswagen and Japanese cars depends on?
Of course it’s a cheaper small car!
Let's play the role of the car in Ming Dynasty. Although it is a bit expensive, as long as the production line can be established, the price of the car will definitely continue to drop.
Compared to horse-drawn carriages, cars were even cheaper. At least for ordinary people, cars were faster and did not need to be fed like horses or hired a dedicated driver like horse-drawn carriages.
In fact, historically, the reason why cars became popular in the United States so quickly was because they were cheaper to use than horse-drawn carriages.
After determining the route, Zhu Xianhai muttered to himself.
"It seems that the development of the automobile industry is imminent!"
Then, Emperor Zhu seemed to remember something. He picked up a piece of paper and drew a car.
"Okay, that's it!"
Looking at the familiar car model on the paper, Zhu Xianhai's lips curled up slightly. This shape is so familiar. In another world, this is a classic that has been passed down for nearly a hundred years.
"Okay, this is it... Volkswagen Beetle... From now on, it's Ming Dynasty!"
(End of this chapter)
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