"We have more good news about industrial development." While Chris was sighing, Des changed the subject and talked about some happy things.
Since Chris left Seris, the pace of construction here has not slowed down. On the contrary, as the machines become more and more sophisticated, the development here is even accelerating.
"General Lawrence went south from the sea and got natural rubber, which provided an opportunity for us to miniaturize internal combustion engines. Our sealing methods were very poor before, but now there are no problems at all." Smith became excited when talking about machinery.
These machines are like his children, and every progress and development makes him, as a "father", very happy. He immerses himself in design every day , sketches out his ideas for improvement, and submits them to the experimental department for verification.
Because of Chris's drawings, most of the time his improvements are correct and effective immediately. As long as the production process can meet the required standards, the technological progress will be immediately presented before our eyes - this is a happy thing, but also a funny thing.
The long, meaningful and interesting trial and error phase for the development researchers was skipped. Chris gave a very precise development direction in terms of both materials and mechanical structure.
Who would have thought that before electricity fully demonstrated its powerful energy advantage, Chris had already described the appearance and material of the electric light bulb? The alchemists in the laboratory only needed to find the material "tungsten" from a pile of ores according to the formula table to make the light bulb directly enter a stage of development close to perfection.
Unless you take the fluorescent lamp behind it or the more advanced and powerful LED lamp, this incandescent lamp is the most advanced lighting device: compared with the previous light bulbs that took decades to develop and correct, not a single second was wasted in its creation process.
Take plastic for example. In fact, plastic has been produced in the laboratory of Ireland Hill for a long time. However, due to the shortage of raw materials, this seemingly avant-garde raw material can only lie in the corner of the laboratory, waiting for the day when it can truly change the world.
"On the other hand, we have already come up with some ideas for the finishing equipment for small internal combustion engines, and we estimate that a prototype will be produced soon... If possible, we will build a car according to the drawings," he said as he introduced the rubber business.
"In fact, for us, the steel frame and shock absorption of the car are very easy. The problem lies in the raw materials such as rubber tires." When Minister Smith thought about seeing a , his face was full of smiles.
"The biggest problem is still the limitation of fuel. Although we are actively stockpiling the gasoline and diesel we produce...we have too little oil, so I am worried about the fuel consumption problem after the internal combustion engine becomes popularized." Des said to Chris.
On the other hand, weapons engineers also talked about internal combustion engines: "With a small internal combustion engine, we can reduce the size of the generator, so that it can be equipped on a train, so that the defensive anti-aircraft artillery train can be loaded with searchlights and generator cars."
Then, the topic naturally turned to oil, which was Gurlo's area of ​​expertise. He said, "The production of the Hanhai oil field has increased. According to the refining method, we can already produce gasoline and diesel...but the output is a bit low, which seems to be a bit far from our expectations."
Des has been leading the purchase of oil, but the results are not significant: "The nearest oil field to us should be in the Higgs Kingdom, but their production technology is too backward. The amount they sell is far from meeting our needs. This is a headache."
Ailan Hill actually only borders three countries now, the Higgs Kingdom, the Grassland Empire and the Alante Empire. Ailan Hill and the Alante Empire are at war, so the road to import kerosene, or oil, from the Alante Empire is blocked.
The kerosene production of the Prairie Empire is basically the same as nothing. Although they also have a small oil field, the production capacity is really better than nothing. Even so, because the relationship between the two countries is good, Ailan Hill still purchases kerosene from the Prairie Empire as much as possible.
After all, the Grassland Empire is now a major consumer of Ireland Hill's industrial products. Apart from meat and furs, the only things left to pay off the debt are some strange minerals and a large amount of human resources.
"The focus is on the Higgs Kingdom, but the price of oil there has been driven up to the sky by us... It's very expensive and the freight is very high. After all, they don't have railways and can only rely on horse-drawn carriages..." Des was a little amused when he mentioned this.
Chris felt extremely painful when he heard this: in an era when there were no oil pipelines and no means of transportation such as tank trucks and tankers, oil had to be transported by horse-drawn carriages in wooden barrels just like transporting red wine. This was truly a frustrating thing.
Chris felt bitter in his mouth when he thought about relying on those wooden barrels that looked like wine barrels, and relying on such means of transportation and a little bit of crude oil to support the industrial development of Ireland Hill
Chris frowned and thought for a moment, then said to Des, "The problem is that we are already at odds with the Holy Demon Empire. It would be irrational to disperse our forces and hastily go to war with the Higgs Kingdom at this time."
He didn't want to fight another war that would disperse his forces and produce no results in a short period of time. What he needed most was to develop peacefully, rather than making enemies everywhere and causing himself a lot of trouble.
After all, the Holy Demon Empire was already enough of a trouble. Chris felt that he was still too anxious. He underestimated the combat power of the Magic Empire and overestimated his own development speed.
In an era when workshops could quickly equip a few cannons, he was confident of conquering the world. But after the war escalated to this scale, he found that supporting a modern war was not something that could be done by relying on a few workshops.
Des nodded and looked at the others: "I don't recommend going to war either, because we are too close to the Holy Demon Empire. Even if we get the oil fields, we won't be able to build them."
As he spoke, he looked at Chris and elaborated on the details: "We have tried to invest in helping them increase their production capacity, but their enthusiasm is really not high. They have a low dependence on kerosene, and their understanding is still at the stage of defensive ignition materials."
"Hasn't the price already gone up? Why are they still unwilling to increase production capacity and make more money?" Chris couldn't understand this. From his point of view, the other party should be willing to increase production capacity.
"The other party is worried that after expanding production capacity, our prices will be reduced accordingly. On the other hand, they are also worried that once they increase their kerosene production capacity, the attitude of the Holy Demon Empire will change." Des explained.
"This is based on the fact that we had not yet gone to war with the Alante Empire. Since we went south to declare war on Alante, their kerosene sales have dropped to 30% of the original amount." He was very sensitive to this kind of trade, and his introduction was simple and objective.
"Now, if they hear that we are at war with the Holy Demon Empire, we probably won't even get a barrel of kerosene." Chris smiled bitterly, then shrugged and said, "Everything still depends on ourselves."
"Indeed, we held a meeting to discuss this matter before your Majesty came back. I think we should still imitate rubber resources to expand our thinking." Des pointed to a simple report from Ferry City and said to Chris: "There are many islands in the sea, most of which are uninhabited. If we can find oil resources on them, then all problems will be solved."
Chris touched his nose, sighed and said, "Do you think you are a god? You can find whatever you need on the island? Lawrence went south before because we knew there must be rubber trees in the south. After all, we know the growth environment of rubber. Dosen is also a major producer of rubber trees. This is an expected harvest."
He paused for a moment before continuing, "But oil is different. It's unpredictable. It may be in the south, north, or east! It's not easy to find."
But at this point, he compromised and said, "But this is indeed an idea. Let's ask Lawrence to pay more attention along the way. If we can find other oil fields, it will certainly be good news for us."
"He has already headed south! After getting the three warships, Lawrence couldn't wait to go out to sea. He now has a fleet, three transport ships and three warships. He no longer has to hide from those Alante navy warships." Des said proudly.
"Even if it's only rubber, we owe the Navy a favor. If General Lawrence comes back, you must prepare three more warships for him!" Chris said after thinking for a while.
"When he comes back, I'll give him a fleet!" Des answered confidently. "Sailing ships are not cheap, but I can afford them! As long as he doesn't ask for ironclad ships, I'll give him as many wooden ships as I can!"
"These days of financial difficulties won't last long. We will soon get more resources...as long as we defeat the Holy Demon Empire!" Chris held the pistol on his waist and imagined the future with confidence.