I want to be emperor

Chapter 1116 Aircraft Industrialization and Radio Breakthrough

The five major automobile companies have launched aircraft strategies one after another. Each of them plans to invest funds in the preliminary layout of aircraft, and the investment scale is not small. Among them, Tangshan Machinery Group Co., Ltd., the parent company of Tangshan Automobile Company, invested millions of yuan to establish the company. Established a wholly-owned subsidiary: Tangshan Aircraft Company.

After Tangshan Machinery Company developed in the early years, it carried out multiple rounds of internal reforms and established the Tangshan Machinery Group Company as a parent company, with wholly-owned subsidiaries Tangshan Automobile Company, Tangshan Agricultural Machinery Company, Tangshan Chemical Company, and Tangshan Power Company. and a number of wholly-owned subsidiaries, and has controlled a number of companies through investment and acquisition, initially completing the layout of the internal combustion engine industry chain.

The main business covers agricultural machinery, military vehicles, passenger cars, trucks, commercial vehicles such as buses and other complete vehicle businesses. In addition to the complete vehicle business, it also has the external sales business of gasoline engines, gearboxes and other parts.

The core support of these businesses is actually gasoline engines... Many businesses of Tangshan Machinery Group Company are conducted around gasoline engines.

Now, entering the aircraft industry is also based on a similar choice... because in their view, everything else about aircraft is not very good... Well, in fact, it is indeed not very good. The real core technology is the engine.

This is indeed true for airplanes. As long as the engine is powerful enough, you can fly into the sky just by lifting bricks!

After the aircraft company was officially established, Tangshan Aircraft Company quickly obtained the full set of aircraft patent authorizations held by the Royal Institute of Technology... This authorization fee was not low. The entire set cost them more than 400,000 yuan, and It also comes with a series of conditions, such as shares of subsequent aircraft sales and so on.

And the Royal Institute of Technology sold five copies of the complete set of aircraft patents at one go... The five major automobile companies have one, and they all have it.

Not only the five major car companies, but also some other large companies intend to enter the aircraft industry, so they are also in contact with the Royal Institute of Technology... However, most of these companies will not directly license a complete set of patents like the five major car companies. arrive.

There is no need...for example, there is no need to obtain the patent for an aerospace engine.

Even if they get the patent authorization for this thing, it is impossible to build it... Without the technical ability, they don't even have many related basic patent authorizations... Because the research and development of aeroengines at the Royal Institute of Technology is based on many These are based on the core basic gasoline engine patents, and many of them are newly developed new technology patents.

Strictly speaking, this is the icing on the cake... If you want to do this, you must first have the technical capabilities of a contemporary top-level gasoline engine... Well, especially if you have the corresponding patents, otherwise you won't be able to do it.

Therefore, although many companies also value the aircraft industry, they have basically avoided the core field of aerospace engines... It's not that they don't want to engage in it, but they really can't do it.

In the field of internal combustion engines in the contemporary Dachu Empire, the technical threshold is very high... In addition to the four major automobile companies, currently only North American automobile companies are wealthy and willing to spend money. With a little bit of luck, you can experiment The so-called self-developed gasoline engine that was barely usable in the laboratory... However, even this cannot be used for commercial use immediately. It will have to wait until some core patents expire in about two or three years before it can be used for commercial use.

Before that, don't count on it... The patent is so stuck that there is no way around it.

This is a North American automobile company that has high hopes from a large number of financial capital and industry leaders. They have spent money desperately and have raised more than 20 million yuan. So far, they are still losing money every year... As for other companies, even more Don't count on it.

I only have a few steel coins in my pocket. Not to mention getting involved in the core field of gasoline engines, I can't even get some minor parts, such as gearboxes, chassis and the like. At most, I can only get some technical thresholds that are not that high. , the research and development of minor parts with patents that are not so stuck.

The contemporary automobile industry is a very typical capital-intensive industry. You can’t continue to play without money...

This is true even for third-party assembly manufacturers... You can buy engines, transmissions, tires and other parts, but how can they be integrated like this? This is not that easy. It also involves a core technology of automobiles, which is chassis research and development.

North American Automobile Company has done a very good job in this regard, so it can achieve great success as an assembly plant.

But there is only one North American automobile company.

Most of the same third-party assembly manufacturers are still half-dead... In addition to North American Automobile Company, Changsha Anlong Automobile Company has made some splash... Relying on their exclusive boat-shaped body appearance patent, they were stunned at the Auto Expo. So much so that the prince even ordered one of their cars.

There is no way, the appearance of their boat-shaped body is really sci-fi compared to contemporary times, and it is also very good-looking... After the prince, many people were attracted by the appearance of their cars and ordered many cars.

During this period, it also attracted the attention of many large capitals and large enterprises, but most of them lost interest after discovering that Anlong Automobile Company indeed had no technical capabilities and only had an empty body shell...

However, the four major automobile companies and the North American Automobile Company are very interested in their boat-shaped body patents and try to invest in the acquisition!

However, several major shareholders of Anlong Automobile Company also knew that this thing was the most valuable in their hands, and at the same time they were jealous of the huge automobile market, so they finally refused to sell the patent.

However, he did not reject it completely, but adopted a patent exchange method. Using this boat-shaped body patent, he exchanged the authorization of some technical patents with the four major automobile companies and North American Automobile Company... Don't count on the core patents of the engine, but other It's still possible.

After exchanging these non-core patents, Anlong Automobile Company continued to purchase core parts, built its own third-rate chassis, and tried every means to create a first-class body appearance model, which actually allowed them to gain a firm foothold in the market!

The annual sales volume has exceeded 8,000 vehicles, and it is heading towards the production and sales capacity of 10,000 vehicles... Although it is far from the four major automobile companies, and even far inferior to the North American automobile companies, it is already considered good among a large number of third-party automobile manufacturers. .

The most important thing is that they actually made a profit, and the profit was very generous...

Why?

Because their R&D investment is very small, the core components are all purchased from the four major automakers, and they do not need to be self-developed at all. Although the chassis technology is barely self-developed, the investment is not large and it is barely usable at a third-rate level.

The only real investment is the exterior design of the car body... but it doesn't cost much to draw a design drawing.

Finally, the most important thing is that they really rely on the appearance to attract the interest of many consumers... Because the appearance is quite sci-fi and even high-end, the price is not cheap, and the profit margin is very high.

As a result, after all this effort, he actually made a lot of profits... which made a large number of struggling third-party car manufacturers and even North American car companies envious.

However, the North American Automobile Company is envious, but they have no intention of following suit... A large group of company executives represented by Song Erniu, and even a large number of shareholders behind them, have never come to a mere assembly plant. Yes, they are here for a truly large-scale integrated automobile manufacturer.

A large automobile manufacturer with self-developed core components and vehicle design and production capabilities...an automobile manufacturer similar to the four major automobile companies.

That's why they invest heavily in research and development in many fields, especially engines and gearboxes... Their company's Songjiang Automobile R&D Center is located in Songjiang. The total number of employees is increasing every year, and now it has reached more than a thousand people.

At the same time, they have established an automotive R&D center in Xinjinshan, North America, with more than a thousand employees.

The entire company has more than 2,000 R&D personnel alone...

With such a huge investment in R&D, the goals they aspire to are also huge.

However, each automobile company has its own way of life. The four major automobile companies are focused on becoming bigger and stronger. North American Automobile Company wants to become the fifth largest automobile company. Anlong Automobile Company is focused on making money. Many other third-party automobile manufacturers They also have their own areas of focus.

Generally speaking, the current automobile industry in the Da Chu Empire is still in a state of flourishing. It is difficult for even the four major automobile manufacturers to completely monopolize the market... even because of their competitors, they have to open up the engine and The sale of core components such as gearboxes... As the same saying goes, if you don't sell it, sell it to others.

For example, Li's Power Company, which is not doing well in the vehicle business and urgently needs profits from the engine business to make up for its huge deficit in R&D investment, has been promoting their engines all over the world in the past two years...from Anton Machinery Company to North American Automobile Company, Changsha Anlong Automobile Company is all their sales targets... With Li's Power Company as a troublemaker, the other three companies have to come up with second-rate engines and gearboxes for external sales, whether they like it or not...

You don’t want to sell? This third-party engine and gearbox business was eaten up by Li's Power Company. Then Li's Power Company took the money it earned and turned around and invested in car research and development, and then came up with new cars and competed fiercely with the other three companies. compete.

This money, if you don't make it, the enemy will make it away.

As for Li's Power Company, if they don't sell it... then they can stop investing in R&D. How can they maintain their annual R&D investment of several million if they don't sell engines even though their vehicle sales are low? Even with the support of the parent company of the group, it won't work. Although Li's Steel is a big business, it has already spent tens of millions of dollars on the automobile business. If it continues to throw money into it, it will seriously affect other businesses...

In the final analysis, the automobile business is only one business department of Lee Iron and Steel, and it is not the most important business departments... The most important business departments of Lee Iron and Steel are still shipbuilding and machinery manufacturing represented by general machine tools. .

At present, the one with the fastest growth rate and the greatest prospects is their electrical department. Li's Electric Company has almost a monopoly on the current supply of AC equipment... Even the AC equipment produced by other manufacturers must pay patent fees to them, and they themselves The equipment is in an absolute leading position in technology... The revenue of a subsidiary like Li's Electric Company alone can reach hundreds of millions of yuan every year...

Why so exaggerated?

Because of the large-scale AC power grid construction in the contemporary Dachu Empire, more than 80% of the AC equipment used are their company's equipment, and they can also get a lot of patent fees for the remaining 20%.

In the electrification construction of the Dachu Empire, Li's Electric Company can be said to have eaten the fattest meat, leaving only a few scraps for other electrical companies.

Then Lee Iron and Steel Company has a lot of other businesses, such as steam engine manufacturing. They are doing pretty well in the field of low-end shipboard steam engines, and their market share is increasing year by year.

Compared with many other businesses, although the automotive business has great prospects, it is really expensive to spend money... It is almost impossible to invest millions or tens of millions in R&D every year in other industries. Yes, but in the automotive industry, that is routine!

In this kind of money-burning industry, if they do everything themselves, they will probably have to add tens of millions more... and they may not be able to succeed in a real sense... They still have several strong competitors. Where is the opponent?

Besides, several other car companies, including the up-and-comer North American Automobile Company, all spend investors' money... It doesn't hurt to spend other people's money. They can invest millions in research and development, and invest millions in factory production lines. Acquisitions of industrial chain companies are all massive expenditures without blinking an eye!

As for Li's Steel, they spend their own money foolishly... I feel like they are always at a loss.

In the end, Lee Steel, feeling that it could not hold on any longer, took the initiative to divest itself of Lee Power Company, gave up its wholly-owned holding, and began to introduce other strategic investors and carry out listing financing. After several rounds of financing, the listing was added. In fact, The shares of Li's Power Company held by Lee's Steel Company only amount to about 40%, and they cannot even hold a controlling stake.

You said you are unwilling to give up your controlling stake...You are a fool to be an investor...Everyone knows that Lee Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. is a giant. If you don't give up your controlling stake, or even if your shares don't drop to a certain level, then only a fool will play with you. ...You really think you are here to do charity.

The automobile industry in the contemporary Dachu Empire is relatively complicated... and according to the current situation, the automobile industry is closely related to the aircraft industry...

Therefore, the aircraft industry in the Dachu Empire, to a certain extent, has actually evolved into a continuation of the fierce competition between major automobile companies in the automotive field.

And this continuation is just like the automobile industry, where competition has been extremely fierce from the beginning.

In November of the 1950s, Tangshan Aircraft Company announced that they had completed the design of the first-generation aeroengine and had entered the prototype manufacturing stage; at the same time, the research and development of the first-generation aircraft was also coming to an end. An aircraft manufactured in Tangshan is expected to make its official first flight in February of the following year.

Several other competitors did not dare to fall behind...Songjiang Aircraft Manufacturing Company, a subsidiary of Songhe Automobile Company, directly exhibited the prototype they were working on at the Songjiang Machinery Expo a few days later, which also made the public the first time I saw the true face of the aircraft in public. The promotional materials said that this aircraft can reach a speed of more than 100 kilometers per hour, making it the fastest aircraft in modern times.

Liaodong Machinery Company is slower, but they also announced their large aircraft plan in December. According to their external publicity, this aircraft will be a twin-engine aircraft. They claim that this aircraft can be used at once It can carry at least 20 passengers on flights of thousands of kilometers.

Lee Dynamics also released their new aircraft development plans.

Even North American Automobile Company announced their aircraft development plan in San Francisco... However, due to patent restrictions on gasoline engines, they will not be able to manufacture and commercialize their own aero engines within the next two years.

Just when these car companies were developing airplanes... Another big news came from the Royal Institute of Technology that shocked the world.

After years of research and development and testing, their wireless telegraph system finally achieved success. On February 13, 1952, the Royal Institute of Technology Radio Laboratory successfully completed the first radio transmission and reception test in human history. Although it was only five kilometers away, it was still considered a huge success.

Based on this success, just one month later, the Royal Institute of Technology Radio Laboratory completed a radio communication test between Jinling City and Zhenjiang through improved equipment... This time the signal transmission was huge, reaching more than 70 kilometers.

While this news has attracted widespread attention from the outside world, it has also attracted the attention of the empire's senior officials, especially the royal family!

Because wireless telegraphy, compared to the current wired telegraph, played a more important role in maintaining the empire's global rule.

At this stage, wired telegraphy is actually quite troublesome to carry out long-distance information communication. Once there is a problem with the telegraph line, the transmission will not be possible.

There were also other restrictions, that is, messages could only be transmitted from telegraph station to telegraph station, and telegraph stations could not be moved.

And these will lead to many fatal flaws in the military field... Because the army is mobile when performing tasks, and the situation is constantly changing, wired telegraphy is still difficult to meet the military's instant communication needs.

For example, a naval warship floating on the sea cannot send and receive information in a timely manner and communicate with the naval base.

But wireless telegraphy completely solved this problem!

Radio spreads directly and in time, without being restricted by telegraph stations. Jinling City can directly receive radio information sent back from America, Europe and other places.

At the same time, if radio equipment is installed on the ship, the naval headquarters on the shore can communicate with the warship in a timely manner. If something happens, the warship in the vast sea can be mobilized to the corresponding location at any time.

And these all play a huge strategic role in the Chu Empire's maintenance of global dominance!

For the contemporary empire, the most prominent and most useful role of radio is not in commercial applications... although this thing is also very good in commercial applications.

But for the high-ranking officials of the empire, the core role of both wired and wireless telegraphs was to maintain their rule.

This is specifically reflected in the timely information communication and military mobilization between Jinling City and overseas places, which greatly increases Jinling's ability to control and respond to changes in situations around the world.

With radio, once there is a rebellion or other situation in an overseas indigenous country or administrative territory, Jinling can quickly learn the relevant information, and promptly mobilize overseas fleets, army garrison troops, etc. through radio to suppress it!

Of course, wireless telegraphy also has many shortcomings such as poor anti-interference ability and poor confidentiality. After the wireless telegram is sent out, the radio waves float in the air, and anyone can use the wireless telegraph machine to receive the information and then decipher it.

Therefore, in practical applications, important information transmission must also be used in conjunction with wired telegraphy.

But in any case, the technological breakthrough of wireless telegraphy also gave the Chu Empire a great weapon to maintain global dominance.

At least in the future, when a problem occurs somewhere overseas and suppression is needed, Luo Zhixue will be able to ask: "Where is our battleship formation?"