Chapter 529 The world is ours
Chapter 529 The world is ours
Hailing, Wen’s Bicycle Factory.
Shao Quanzhong had never been here before. Bicycles were only used once in the earliest days, when fighting against the French colonists in Annan, and later equipped the troops of Feng Zicai and Liu Yongfu.
Then it has always been a civilian product and is not within Shao Quanzhong's sight.
Shao Quanzhong came here to inspect today, and it wasn't to look at bicycles. When he was chatting with Wenxiu last night, Wenxiu mentioned that a mechanic who was responsible for repairing bicycles had made an invention and created a machine that could fly, which was different from airplanes and airships. Shao Quanzhong became interested.
It is said that when people get older, their relationship with their original wife will become better and better, and they will become like family members, chatting with each other whenever they have nothing to do. When you are young, you don’t have time to chat…
Well, the man-made flying machines for repairing bicycles are all made of bicycle parts.
The big guy is supported on the ground by four bicycle wheels, and the two huge propellers on the left and right are placed flat, as if they were installed on enlarged bicycle wheel hubs.
The two large wheels are connected to the engine in front of the driver through belts. The engine is an advanced turbine engine. As the engine starts, the kerosene burns, and the two propellers rotate, this "air bicycle" rises up.
The aircraft didn't fly very high, only three or four meters. It hovered in the air for a while and then had to land because it couldn't fly away and could only hover.
This simple structure seemed too crude to Shao Quanzhong, who was used to Tesla's high-tech designs.
Shao Quanzhong did not underestimate this invention. This is the main theme of inventions in this era. Tesla is abnormal.
The designer, test pilot and bicycle mechanic parked the helicopter, jumped out, touched the back of his head and grinned.
This is a Shandong man, from Jining, named Liu Jintang. Because of his good skills, he came to Hailing to work. Now he is a senior technician, an expert in bicycle repair, and a model worker.
Each of these titles is not for nothing, and there are corresponding bonuses and benefits. So he is in a good financial situation, bought a Mercedes-Benz in Hailing, married a Bulgarian wife, and has spare time to display his intelligence and talents.
Shao Quanzhong patted Liu Jintang on the shoulder and said, "Young man, you have a bright future. I will transfer you to the Hailing Arsenal and assign several PhDs, Masters and other senior technicians to assist you and continue your research for me."
"Try to drive this thing away. It can fly high and drop bombs and fire machine guns. Then I'll give you a big red envelope."
Colleagues around me were envious, this was a big step forward. Some couldn't help but mutter, "What's the use of this thing? It's far inferior to an airplane. Even if the design is successful, can an airship carry more things?"
Shao Quanzhong smiled without saying anything. He could see the purpose of this thing at a glance.
Airplanes can't hover. Airships are large targets, easily shot down, and they fly slowly.
If this thing is done well, it will be a powerful weapon to support infantry. Throwing bombs on the top of the head or using the small missiles that are being developed can hit tanks accurately.
Although Shao Quanzhong had never seen this thing on the battlefield "before", as an emperor born into a warlord family, his greatest ability was that when a new thing appeared, he would immediately figure out how to use it to kill people.
Now he has many talented people under him, but what he lacks is this kind of creativity. Once the window paper is broken, there are plenty of senior talents who can modify this simple thing and turn it into a practical and powerful weapon.
After returning from the bicycle factory, Shao Quanzhong went directly to the East Suburb Government Office Building.
This is the territory of the Zhang brothers, and Shao Quanzhong usually doesn't come here. As an emperor, he is very diligent in government affairs and has devoted all his efforts to the army.
He either invited the generals of the Huai Army and the New Army to drink and build relationships, or figured out how to get new weapons for the army. He never cared about government affairs.
He knew his own limitations and didn't get involved in things he didn't understand. He just focused on getting his hands on guns.
I came here today because there is a summary meeting here. However, last year, Daxia's GDP reached 3 billion taels, ranking first in the world, almost tripling.
Of course, it is also related to territorial expansion, and the output value of the vassal states is included.
The problem is that the British Empire is also a colony of the world, but it has been left far behind by Daxia. The Federation is right behind Daxia, and its income has reached 60% of Daxia, which cannot be underestimated.
"We seized the opportunity when the European war broke out and the great powers had no time to look east, and we achieved great development in the golden decade. In ten years, we covered the distance that the great powers took a hundred years to cover. This is an unprecedented achievement."
"The growth rate of my Qiaoyuan Caiqingtang has never dropped, and the morale of our people has not dropped for ten years. In the next five years, our unified management will continue, and we will strive to reach a new level."
"You guys are responsible for developing the economy and making the country and the people richer, and I'm responsible for going out and grabbing what we deserve. If we continue to work together for another ten years, I guess no one will be able to catch up with us, so don't let up."
There was thunderous applause in the auditorium. Shao Quanzhong's words were simple but to the point. Cheers of "Long live His Majesty" were heard everywhere.
The Chinese are the smartest and most hardworking people in the world. As long as a wise ruler is in power and gives everyone the opportunity to use their intelligence and talents, this kind of leapfrog development will definitely occur.
For example, Shao Quanzhong didn’t know about another miracle we created. We covered the distance that others took 200 years to complete in just 20 years - the world should have been ours.
After coming out of the auditorium, Shao Quanzhong took a walk with Zhang Zhidong, Zhang Siwen and Wang Yongxian, and Wang Yongxian reported.
"Foster father, we exported 10 million people to Japan and the European warring countries, but the population of the core territories has not decreased but increased. The population has grown rapidly in recent years and has exceeded 420 million."
"Our land's carrying capacity is limited. If food production does not increase significantly, we will not be able to feed so many people. We have already started importing food and meat from the Federation and the King of South America."
Zhang Zhidong was very familiar with this problem. "Our fertilizers are not comprehensive now. The most critical nitrogen fertilizer has not been produced yet. In order to maintain the fertility of the land, we can only rotate crops and interplant nitrogen-fixing crops such as soybeans."
"If we can synthesize nitrogen fertilizer artificially, our land will be able to support a billion people."
Shao Quanzhong shrugged like a foreigner, "I know about this. Xiaoxiangya has gathered a group of chemists to form a research team to work on a 'synthetic ammonia' project."
"But I heard from Lorenz's successor Thompson that it is not something that can be developed in the short term. For now, we should just emigrate abroad to expand our influence. King Yi and King Ying both told me that they are short of people, so let's infiltrate there next."
Zhang Zhidong shook his head. "That would conflict with the Federation. Now is not the right time. I suggest that we import food for a few years and save five million men. When the opportunity I mentioned comes, we can immigrate to Southeast Asia and take complete control..."
Five million people including their families make up 20 to 30 million people. The bigwigs of Daxia are planning a large-scale naturalization and immigration operation.
Having more people is an advantage; a few people are talking about happy troubles.
Shao Quanzhong looked up and saw Shao Yuan, the military leader who came to attend the meeting, and nodded at Shao Yuan.
"Igu, come here. I haven't seen you for several months. By the way, where did you take my eldest daughter? Why didn't she come back after going to your hometown with you during the New Year?"
Shao Yuan had a strange look on his face, and he hesitated, "Well - Uncle, you can go back and ask Aunt Xiu'er and you'll know. Well - I still have meat stewing in the pot at home..."
Shao Quanzhong was very surprised to see Shao Yuanfei running away, and a question mark appeared in his head.
(End of this chapter)