Chapter 415: Miracles Will Appear in the World's Sky
Chapter 415: Miracles Will Appear in the World's Sky
"Lao Qi, wait a moment, we don't have to talk about our own people. I want to go see the person who can fly over there first."
Zeppelin smiled slightly, "Your Highness, I also want to go and see who wants to compete with me for the glory of humans flying freely in the sky. Let's go together."
Shao Quanzhong pulled Qi Peilin out and was stopped by a group of experts at the entrance of the test site.
All the experts who came were Germans, and the leader was William Mauser, the technical vice president of Good Fruit Company.
"Your Highness, I heard that you have joined the Allied Powers. So, how will you treat German investors in China? Will you confiscate their property like you did to the French merchants?"
Shao Quanzhong laughed, "You worry too much. We confiscated French property not because we were at war, but because France robbed our Old Summer Palace."
"I will always remember Germany's sincere assistance to China. I will never repay kindness with enmity."
"German and Austrian technical experts in China will continue to be treated as usual in China. If they are on business trips abroad—"
Shao Quanzhong turned around and ordered, "Ren Jun, count the technical personnel and senior technicians who have made significant contributions to the Chinese military. Make a list for me based on the size of their contributions, and I will recommend them for different titles from Viscount to Cloud Cavalry Captain."
"This way they become nobles and automatically possess Qing nationality. Anyone who dares to touch them will be an enemy of China."
"Others who wish to obtain Qing nationality can apply to the government office for approval. Once you have a Chinese hukou, the Huai Army will be your strong backing wherever you go and suffer injustice. Even if investors in China obtain Qing nationality, the tax exemptions they originally enjoyed will remain the same."
"Damn it, whoever dares to bully the Chinese is disrespecting me. I will pursue him to the ends of the earth and take revenge on him."
The German technicians bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Highness, for your patronage."
……
Zeppelin praised, "Your Highness is very generous. I will also apply for Chinese citizenship, so that when I return, I will not be intercepted by the British at sea."
"No, Lao Qi, I welcome you to become a Chinese citizen, but it's too early for you to go back. Look, the airship we made today is only that big. I want a big one that weighs more than 100 tons. You have to help me make it."
Zeppelin shook his head. "Your Highness's request for the design of an airship has always been my dream. Unfortunately, it is impossible to do it now."
"The problem with the airship that the third design team made before I came here was that they only had your rough appearance rendering. It was just a compressed and deformed hot air balloon, and it was difficult to control the direction."
"Also, they made the hydrogen balloon inside a whole piece. Once there is a damage in one part of the balloon, it will be broken, and it will be difficult to ensure that it can float for a long time."
"I have been here for four days, just to make the airbags inside into grids, move the steam engine up, and add a steam propeller for propulsion."
"It was my idea to divide the airbag into compartments, but the most important thing, adding a propeller, was not my idea. In 1784, Blanchard installed a propeller on a hot air balloon and added a rudder at the tail, and used it to cross the English Channel."
"But at that time, it was a hand-cranked propeller, which could not provide more power. Now it has become a steam engine, which is also not enough."
"Steam engines are too heavy, and there is a problem with the thrust-to-weight ratio. If the airship is to be larger, the power required to move forward is huge, so more steam engines need to be put on the airship."
"The steam engine is too heavy. Even if such an airship is built, it will only be a terrifying giant. There will be no extra capacity to carry cargo or people. It is of no practical use."
"We do have lightweight internal combustion engines now, but they have to burn gas and need to be connected to a pipe. They can only be used to power fixed equipment. We can't put huge gas tanks on airships, as that would be even heavier." "So, before a new type of lightweight power machine appears, there will be no airships that can be used in practice."
So that's it, Shao Quanzhong touched the back of his head, thinking that he had taken it for granted. No, I can't just let it go.
Since we all have internal combustion engines——
"Maria, take note. Go back and place an advertisement in major newspapers around the world. I'm offering a reward of 10,000 taels of silver for the design of an internal combustion engine that uses gasoline or diesel instead of coal gas as fuel. If you can make a practical internal combustion engine for an airship, I'll use 100,000 taels of silver to buy the patent."
Qi Peilin had heard about Shao Da Nao's willingness to invest money in developing new high-tech equipment. Today, he personally experienced it and found that the reputation was well-deserved.
"Your Highness, I am a German nobleman and have an obligation to contribute my strength to Germany's war, so I will soon take my leave and return home to join the war."
"But I have a good friend, Croatian engineer David Schwartz, who has done more in-depth research on airships than I do. I can ask him to follow up on your airship research project on my behalf."
"Once your reward has a result, I will definitely rush back to join your research team - but I think that the development of a new power device will probably take at least several years, and it is possible to take more than ten years or even decades. Don't be too impatient."
Shao Quanzhong was a little discouraged. This didn't suit his impatient temper. But what could he do if his skills weren't up to par?
"My Lord, I don't know anything about airships. But I wonder, since you are talking about an internal combustion engine burning gas, why must the gas be placed in a heavy tank? I think it would be the same if it was placed in a balloon and floated in the sky? Can it be used in an airship?"
"I'm sorry, I'm just an amateur, please don't take it as an offense."
Maria casually interjected, and Zeppelin suddenly froze and stopped.
Shao Quanzhong didn't know what was going on. Maria translated all the conversations between him and Zeppelin. Maria spoke to Zeppelin alone in German, which Shao Quanzhong couldn't understand at all.
Zeppelin was stunned for a while, then bowed deeply to Maria, "Your Highness, the Grand Duchess, you are truly a genius."
Zeppelin suddenly lost his Junker nobleman manners and grabbed Shao Quanzhong's hand, "Your Highness, I won't leave. I already have a preliminary plan to build a large airship. No matter how big it is, it's really exciting."
"No, I'm not going with you to see some toy-like giant bird. I'm going to go back and design a new airship. Hahaha! A miracle will appear in the sky of the world. Germany can use it to blow London to pieces and become the world hegemon!"
"Shao! Please help me invite David Schultz as well. This is the company he works for. Okay, I'm going back now. I can't waste a moment."
Shao Quanzhong scratched his head, took the business card from Zeppelin, and shook his head as he saw the steady German colonel and count seemed to have gone crazy, jumping towards the design department of the Good Fruit Company.
"Maria, send a telegram to Princess Sissi right now and ask her to help find the engineer on the business card and send him to Hailing by a clipper ship."
Maria was holding a business card and was about to turn around to talk to a guard when she suddenly asked, "Are you still going to do the reward for the internal combustion engine design?"
"Keep going. Even if the airship is not used, hey, there are many other places where it can be used. If there were gasoline and diesel engines, tanks, armored vehicles, and personnel carriers would not be what they are now. And, yes - airplanes!"
Seeing Shao Quanzhong's eyes shining, he seemed to have gone crazy. Maria shook her head and sighed, and went to arrange the distribution of newspapers and advertisements.
(End of this chapter)