Chapter 1245 The Empire’s Great Chemical Industry Era (Second update, please subscribe)
Author: Xiaoyu’s Destiny
Chapter 1245 The Empire’s Great Chemical Industry Era (Second update, please subscribe)
A seemingly inconspicuous invention can bring countless wealth to the inventor, and can make an ordinary person become a millionaire. This is the charm of invention.
The book has its own Yan Ruyu, and the book has its own golden house. The Chinese tradition of rewarding reading was passed down in another form in the Ming Dynasty.
Of course, those inventors will also become legends and become objects of worship and admiration by people. After all, everyone has a common desire for wealth.
Although the indigo invented by Tang Haodong in the 18th year of Shengde may lead to the unemployment of hundreds of thousands of bluegrass farmers and plantation owners around the world, and may destroy the indigo industry in the next few years, for the empire, industrialization
The synthetic indigo industry will not only create tens of thousands of new jobs but also further stimulate the development of the empire's chemical industry, because indigo synthesis consumes large amounts of sulfuric acid, caustic soda, and some ammonia. In the past twenty years, in the
With the help of Emperor Zhu Da's golden finger, the processes of contact sulfuric acid and electrolytic caustic soda, which were originally advanced processes that were developed in the early 20th century, were introduced into the Ming Dynasty. The once expensive sulfuric acid and caustic soda costs were significantly reduced and became cheap.
Materials, but scale effects have not yet been formed, and the huge demand for the indigo industry will stimulate these industries to produce scale effects, thus promoting the overall development of the empire's chemical industry.
"It means that the empire will establish a strong chemical industry. In the past, our chemical industry was strong but not big. This strength was due to our technological leadership, but in terms of scale... it was not possible because the demand was limited.
"
Sometimes industrial production is like this. There must be market demand to expand production and form economies of scale. In fact, the establishment of Ming Dynasty's sulfuric acid, caustic soda and nitric acid industries was entirely based on military demand, from the initial nitroglycerin to bitters.
acid, and even the current production of TNT and smokeless propellants, but military demand has a limited role in promoting the chemical industry.
In the end, stimulation from the civilian market is still needed, and the current artificial synthesis technology of indigo will undoubtedly fundamentally stimulate the development of the chemical industry. The chemical industry... During war, it is not just about explosives!
"But now that there is synthetic indigo, not to mention the hundreds of millions of dollars in the world's annual dye market of hundreds of thousands of tons, the most important thing is the demand for sulfuric acid, caustic soda and ammonia, which will fundamentally promote the empire's growth.
The chemical industry has achieved breakthrough development in scale. With the scale effect, the cost will be further reduced, which will of course also enhance the competitiveness of the empire's other chemical products in the market..."
When mentioning the scale effect of the chemical industry, Emperor Zhu almost laughed out loud. It was not because of the hundreds of millions of yuan market per year, but the meaning behind it, especially the importance of the chemical industry in the war.
Unparalleled.
With sulfuric acid, caustic soda, and nitric acid, it is explosive, gunpowder, propellant, and the most basic raw materials for war. More importantly, Daming's products are cheap!
During the war, raw materials must not only be sufficient, but more importantly, they must be cheap enough. This is the basis for the war to continue.
"What your Majesty said is true. Production scale is the best way to reduce costs. When the scale increases, the costs will naturally come down. When the costs come down, the competitiveness of the empire's products will also increase. Your Majesty, this is thanks to the invention you invented back then.
Otherwise, the cost of the contact production method of sulfuric acid and the electrolysis method of caustic soda would not have dropped so much. In the final analysis, the empire’s developed chemical industry is all due to your Majesty!”
As the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, Sun Siwei flattered him at the right time.
No one will find flattery offensive, and besides, it’s the truth! His Majesty is an inventor. Many of his inventions have benefited the Ming Empire to this day.
"Hey, that's all in the past. Two acids and one alkali are the basis of the chemical industry, but the cost of nitric acid is still too high!"
Isn’t the cost of nitric acid high?
They are all extracted from saltpeter, and now saltpeter is called "white gold"!
White gold!
Another Nobel Prize-winning invention immediately came to Emperor Zhu Da's mind - synthetic ammonia. In this era when synthetic ammonia had not yet been invented, saltpeter, the only source of nitric acid, was expensive. Faced with this agricultural problem,
There is an extremely wide range of chemical raw materials in industrial demand. I don't know how many chemical experts are working hard to synthesize ammonia, but their research has made little progress.
But they made no progress at all. Perhaps for chemists of this era, synthesizing ammonia was a difficult problem.
But for Emperor Zhu Da, the ammonia synthesis process was just a test question in high school chemistry textbooks.
Synthetic ammonia!
Thinking of this, Emperor Zhu Da's eyes couldn't help but light up. This is an era dominated by Chilean saltpeter. Whether it is gunpowder manufacturing or the European fertilizer industry, Chilean saltpeter is inseparable. Of course, it is almost the only source of nitric acid.
It is precisely because of the industrial and agricultural needs of the empire, European countries and the United States that Chilean saltpeter has become a hot commodity in the agricultural fertilizer markets of various countries. Its growing demand for saltpeter has directly contributed to the rise in saltpeter prices, which has also made it
Earned the title of "White Gold".
Before Peru was occupied by the empire, thanks to the production and export of saltpeter, Peru achieved rapid growth in national strength. If the empire had not wiped out the country with a blitzkrieg, it is estimated that with the stimulation of the saltpeter trade, Peru-Bolivia
The Federation may even directly threaten the security of the Empire. Of course, this is also the reason why the Empire used the "Havana Incident" to go to war against it.
After the empire occupied the Secret Federation, the saltpeter industry also drove the development of related industries in the empire. Of course, the empire's advanced industrial level also promoted the current saltpeter production. The current saltpeter production in the empire far exceeds the level of the same period in history.
In the history of another world, the period from 1880 to 1920 was known as the "Saltpeter Age" in Chilean history. The export of Chilean saltpeter drove the country's economic development and even helped them achieve a certain degree of industrialization, especially in the
During World War I, stimulated by the war, the export of Chilean saltpeter even made Chile a lot of money.
However, this golden age ended quickly - then the ammonia synthesis technology invented by Germany ended the "saltpeter age". After the end of World War I, the ammonia synthesis technology invented by Haber was handed over to Britain, France, the United States and other countries as part of the war compensation.
Cheap synthetic ammonia, synthetic nitric acid and other products quickly replaced Chilean saltpeter.
Suddenly, Emperor Zhu Da was stunned.
"Saltpeter!"
"What?"
Sun Siwei looked at His Majesty in surprise,
"I mean saltpeter!"
Emperor Zhu stood up with rare excitement. He looked at Sun Siwei and said.
"Saltpeter, saltpeter is ours! Saltpeter from all over the world!"
Emperor Zhu Da said with some excitement,
"Most of the saltpeter in the world, most of it, is produced in the Atacama Desert. That's our place. We have almost inexhaustible saltpeter resources. But what about the British? What about the Americans? They don't!
"
Emperor Zhu Da said excitedly after slapping his hands hard.
"Yes, they didn't! This, this is our trump card!"
(End of chapter)
This chapter has been completed!