I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 217 Take other people’s path and leave others with no way to go

The full name of the expo is Lighting Supplies and Petroleum Products International Expo.

Last year, Russia's oil production reached 260 million tons, ranking second in the world, second only to the United States.

At present, the uses of petroleum are not widespread enough, and people's understanding of petroleum is not sufficient. Therefore, such an expo is needed to solemnly introduce petroleum as a new energy source to the world.

St. Petersburg was not fully prepared for the exposition and its products were not rich enough.

The addition of George has greatly enriched the Expo's product line.

George was exhibiting not just electric lights, but also petroleum-based internal combustion engines and automobiles.

Although the expo will not be held until next month, many exhibitors and merchants interested in the expo have already arrived in St. Petersburg in advance.

Three days ago, the British Crown Prince and his concubine arrived in St. Petersburg. The Tsar sent a car to take the British Crown Prince and his concubine from the pier to Gatchina Palace, causing a sensation.

George still has a trump card that he hasn't come up with yet.

Vladivostok sent three new RVs last month, and these three RVs have now been sent to the expo site to prepare for display at the expo.

The newspapers in St. Petersburg have been very lively these days. The expo has not officially started yet. The Vladivostok Automobile Factory has received more than 20 orders. The British Crown Prince has been the most generous, ordering ten units including cars and RVs.

This made George's second uncle Julian very sad.

Because the Vladivostok Automobile Factory has just informed him that the production plans for this year and next year are fully booked. If there are more orders, production will not start until the year after next at the earliest.

"Producing a car can earn at least 2000 rubles; the profit of a RV is 8000. If orders are lost due to insufficient production, it will be the biggest crime, so we must increase production and do everything we can to increase production."

Julian was dissatisfied with the inefficiency of the Vladivostok automobile plant.

What is insufficient production?

Russia needs people, land, and resources, and the support given by George is sufficient. In this case, you tell me that production is insufficient!

What has Mikhail been doing all day?

Julian has no respect for his eldest brother.

"In order to improve efficiency, the automobile factory has started working three shifts. Some workers have already collapsed on the production line due to fatigue. The current output is already at its limit."

George was unwilling to exploit the workers, but the enthusiasm of the workers surprised even George.

The Vladivostok Automobile Factory has begun to implement an assembly line system, producing one car every four hours.

Don't be too slow.

George's requirements for the quality of cars are almost demanding.

If automobile technology is not mature enough, it is due to limited objective conditions and is not a problem of the automobile factory.

There is no reason to be lazy when it comes to quality.

It is also a leather seat. Whether the stitching is straight, whether the stitching is even, and whether the color is consistent are the core factors that determine whether the customer likes it or not.

Those who buy cars from the Vladivostok Automobile Factory are all wealthy and aristocratic, and they do not have high requirements for technology. Therefore, the Vladivostok Automobile Factory spends more attention on the interior decoration of the car.

"If the output is not enough, then add more production lines. If one is not enough, add ten. If there are not enough workers, send all the Guardsmen who retired this year to Vladivostok."

Nikolai was very excited. For every car built by the Vladivostok Automobile Factory, it could provide the empire with 100 rubles in tax revenue.

Not all of this tax went to the empire, but the Amur Governorate and the Vladivostok City Government also shared the profits.

Nicholas doesn't really care about taxes or not, that's the task of the finance minister.

The key is that for every car sold by the Vladivostok Automobile Factory, Nikola still makes a profit of 50 rubles.

Don't think it's too little, it's already enough. Nicholas still has 50 more, but George won't take any of it.

George doesn't make money from the car factory.

George's income mainly comes from cosmetics.

Therefore, George kept the profits from the automobile factory and used them for the research and development of new technologies and the expansion of production scale.

It’s not just the car factory.

Almost all factories in Vladivostok follow this pattern.

Of course, George did not directly hand over the money to the factory director for management. Instead, he concentrated the profits from all the factories in Vladivostok to the Siberian Company, which then redistributed them.

If a car factory wants to develop new technologies, it can apply for funds from George.

Siberia Company is only responsible for fund management and does not have project approval authority. The approval authority rests with George.

If George feels that the project proposed by the automobile factory is necessary, then the Siberian Company will provide money and send people to supervise the use of funds.

It is just supervision and has no restrictive power.

Even if the funds applied for by the car factory are allocated by the project research and development team, the Siberian company can only report to George, who will handle it.

George actually doesn't care how the funds are used, he only cares about the results.

For example, Douglas is in charge of the team responsible for developing rubber tires.

In the Siberian company's bills, the Douglas team spends more on wine every month than on raw materials.

If this were replaced by someone else, it would probably start to limit the expenses of the Douglas team.

George not only ignored it, but also specially approved the purchase of better champagne from France as a reward for the Douglas team, because Douglas' team successfully developed pneumatic tires last month.

With a boss like this, it is understandable that the technology of the Vladivostok Automobile Factory has advanced by leaps and bounds.

Dalem and Maybach didn't understand.

Daimler and Maybach came to St. Petersburg last month with the car they developed, ready to make a splash in St. Petersburg.

So Dailem and Maybach and their main investor Emil Jelinek saw the cars produced by the Vladivostok Automobile Factory at Gatchina Palace. Jelinek is the Austrian consul in Nice, France. He is very interested in cars. He invested in Daimler and Maybach companies.

In 1882, Daimler and Maybach set up a factory in Konstatt, a suburb of Stuttgart, and began manufacturing gasoline engines.

In 1883, they built the first Daimler horizontal engine.

In 1884, a vertical engine with better performance was launched, and the German patent was obtained on April 1885, 4.

In 1885, Dailem's factory produced the world's first motorcycle.

Last year, the first Daimler car was built at Daimler's factory and tested by Maybach.

For a long time, Dalem and Maybach believed that their biggest rival was Karl Benz of Baden-Württemberg.

Even Jelinek didn't expect that their biggest competitor actually came from the distant Far East——

Can't say the same.

The cars of Daimler and Maybach are not at the same level as the cars of the Vladivostok Automobile Factory, and there is basically no competition.

Just now, Jelinek ordered a car produced by the Vladivostok Automobile Factory from the Siberian Company's office in St. Petersburg.

“If I pay more, can I get my car earlier?”

Jelinek really likes cars and can’t wait.

Jelinek was fascinated by the car after Ekaterina brought it to France last year.

Considering that he had been funding research on Dailem and Maybach, Jelinek did not place an order at the time.

After seeing the royal version of the car at Gatchina Palace, Jelinek couldn't bear it anymore. Although the price of 1 rubles was a bit expensive, Jelinek didn't mind paying more.

"No, not at all. Your order will be produced after the order of Archduke Carol of Romania. The order of Archduke Carol is preceded by Prince Albert's order."

The staff member's words left Jelinek both heartbroken and reassured.

Okay, the previous orders are for the King of Romania and the Crown Prince of England.

Looking at it this way, Jelinek began to worry about whether he would become a victim of queue jumping.

probably not.

Those who are willing to spend 1 rubles to buy a car for fun are all respectable and decent people, and they cannot do such unqualified things as jumping in line.

The Vladivostok Automobile Plant also does not allow queue jumping.

Even if the British Crown Prince orders, production will not be scheduled in advance.

This gave Jelinek a sudden sense of accomplishment.

So what about the king.

So what about the Crown Prince.

As long as I don't act quickly.

Then I must get the car first.

As for the research on Dalem and Maybach——

That’s all, that’s all, it’s all investment anyway, and there are always losses and gains.

Although the investment in Dalem and Maybach was in vain, at least experience was gained.

The rule of thumb is to avoid the investment track of the damn Yurievsky Super Duke.

You are strong and you are awesome, why don't I just hide from you?

Dailem and Maybach did not give up. They hoped to get an engine from the Vladivostok Automobile Factory and take it apart for research to see if it infringed on their patents.

"Forget it, look at your cars, and then look at the cars from the Vladivostok Automobile Factory, it feels like primitive people came to modern times——"

Jelinek couldn't bear to be harsh, but the psychological gap was really too big.

The cars of Daimler and Maybach installed a vertical engine named "Standing Bell" on a carriage. They were very primitive in terms of technology and structure.

The clock is an air-cooled engine with 1/4 horsepower and a maximum speed of 600 rpm.

Jelinek didn't know how powerful the Vladivostok car's engine was. It must be more than 1/4 horsepower, otherwise it wouldn't be able to drive such a large, heavy, and luxurious car.

If that's the case, then what's there to worry about?

Dalem and Maybach can only be thankful that they also brought riding two-wheelers.

A rider two-wheeler is a motorcycle.

Dailem and Maybach have not been to the expo yet and do not know that the Vladivostok Automobile Factory actually has motorcycles at the exhibition.

Daiham and Maybach motorcycles use carriage wheels.

The motorcycles produced by the Vladivostok Automobile Factory use the same wheels as cars, which are special tires.

Fortunately, the Vladivostok Automobile Factory did not go so far as to use the artillery barrel ejection device on motorcycles.

Otherwise, Dalem and Maybach would be so ashamed that they would commit suicide.

George had no idea that the products of the Vladivostok Automobile Factory had brought such great humiliation to Daimler and Maybach.

He doesn't care if he knows.

(End of this chapter)