Li Xuan's attention to the research on internal combustion engines did not last for a day or two. He even asked the Royal Institute of Technology to start related research on internal combustion engines at the very beginning.
However, in the past many years, due to technical problems, especially problems with basic materials and processing capabilities, research on internal combustion engines has only been superficial.
In fact, various theories are already very mature. Scientists at the Royal Institute of Technology have long come up with theoretical models. In fact, they have conducted research on whether it is a gas engine, a kerosene engine, a gasoline engine or even a diesel engine.
But theory alone is not enough. The most important thing is to complete a specific design, and this design must be producible. Even if it is just done by hand in the laboratory, it must be done.
It is a pity that in the past few years, research related to internal combustion engines has always stayed at the basic research stage, and in the past year, it has been devoted to the research of basic materials.
Because even if they started to use the four-stroke structure proposed by Qian Mu, they found that when the speed was only more than 200 rpm, some core components in the gasoline engine made of existing materials could still support it, but when the speed was increased to 800 rpm,
When it rotates too much, its core structure, especially the piston structure, cannot hold up.
Even though they have tried to optimize the structure and make changes, they still have no way to overcome this problem.
Because this is not a structural design problem, but a material problem.
However, as a large amount of research funds are poured in, and the Royal Institute of Technology has maintained a huge investment in basic materials research, there are many external companies that are also doing research, especially several steel plants that are conducting various research all year round.
Research on basic materials.
In order to solve the material strength problem of multiple core components such as cylinders and pistons, the Royal Institute of Technology and Jiangnan Iron and Steel Works jointly conducted research on new materials.
In order to solve the problem of processing accuracy, the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the Royal Institute of Technology began to research a new generation of high-precision processing equipment.
With the continuous expenditure of funds and the passage of time, many research projects at the Royal Institute of Technology have gradually made some breakthroughs.
In particular, the Department of Materials has developed a variety of high-strength alloy steels, combined with the processing technology specially developed by the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and finally successfully cast various qualified parts.
When these various parts, which cost a huge amount of money and were manufactured under laboratory conditions, were assembled together, the gasoline engine that Li Xuan saw now was formed.
In Li Xuan's view, this gasoline engine prototype is full of classical flavor, and to put it bluntly, it is primitive and backward.
However, Li Xuan doesn't care about this. Being able to make a gasoline engine with current technical means is already a huge progress. Even if this gasoline engine is made in a laboratory, the manufacturing cost is very high and it is difficult to achieve mass production.
If you want to use it to produce civilian cars, it is estimated that not many people can afford it, but it is enough.
After all, technology is always advancing. In the early years, steam engines were difficult and costly to manufacture. But now, after industrial technology has matured, the manufacturing cost of ordinary steam engines has reached an acceptable level.
Besides, as long as the technology is up to par, no matter how expensive the cost is, considering Datang's current complete industrial system, you can always find an industry that can accept such high costs.
For example, in the civilian field, those rich people obviously don't care how much a gasoline car costs. With their spending power, as long as they can show off, they will still sell gasoline cars worth tens of thousands of yuan.
In some industrial fields, as long as it meets their requirements and can bring higher profits to the company, they will still purchase a gasoline engine even if it costs several thousand yuan or even tens of thousands yuan.
Not to mention the military.
The generals in the military have wanted tanks for a long time. In the past, they even dared to build steam tanks, which were complex, troublesome, and extremely expensive. Now that there are better gasoline engines, they are not afraid that they will not build on them.
Gasoline engine tank.
When more is produced and the production technology improves, the cost will naturally come down, and then it will be time for large-scale popularization and application.
Just like the steam engines of the past.
In the early days, steam engines were still extremely expensive, with each one costing several thousand yuan. However, companies in need still actively purchased them, and the navy and shipping companies still purchased them on a large scale.
So, if you don’t worry about the price of a gasoline engine, you just worry that you won’t be able to produce it.
After watching the lightweight gasoline engine in front of him successfully ignite and then start running, Li Xuan nodded slightly: "This thing can be of great use!"
After other people heard what Sheng Tianzi said, they couldn't help but pay more attention to the gasoline engine again.
The senior officials of these empires, whether they were civil or military officials or other representatives of many large domestic manufacturing companies who came with them, actually all know about gasoline engines and their potential.
However, the gasoline engine is a new thing after all, and it is impossible for them to directly put this thing in an important strategic position.
The Tang Empire researched many new things, and numerous inventions were invented almost every day, but not every invention had great industrial value.
However, now Li Xuan's words can be of great use, which is to make these people pay more attention to gasoline engines again.
Especially the general manager of Zhaoqing Machinery Company, who had already made a silent decision in his mind to increase investment in gasoline engines after returning home.
Originally, Zhaoqing Machinery Company was planning to cooperate with the Royal Institute of Technology and invest in building a gasoline engine production plant. However, the expected market size would be relatively small, so the investment amount would also be relatively small. But now, he has decided to invest in a gasoline engine production plant.
Doubled the investment.
This is not to say that he is one-sided to please the Holy Heart, but he knows that it is okay that the Holy Emperor did not say anything. Once the Holy Emperor says that this thing can be of great use, then various departments will definitely take a series of actions, such as
The military will definitely increase research and equipment on gasoline engine-based combat vehicles, Songshan Machinery Company will also increase investment in heavy-duty gasoline engine machinery and equipment, and Zhongyuan Automobile Company will also increase research on automobiles.
All this means that the market potential of gasoline engines will be greater.
Now that the market has grown, Zhaoqing Machinery Company will naturally increase its investment in gasoline engines to satisfy the market.
After briefly glancing at the expressions of the ministers, Li Xuan nodded slightly secretly. This was the effect he wanted!
Tell the ministers that I attach great importance to this thing and cheer me up.
After watching the ignition test run of the gasoline engine, Li Xuan did not stay long and quickly left the Royal Institute of Technology and returned to the palace.
The next day, at the cabinet meeting, a resolution was passed, which was to actively promote new internal combustion engine technologies in some fields in the next few years to promote the industrial and commercial development of the empire and improve people's living standards.
In this case, the Ministry of State-owned Enterprises directly issued documents to a number of relevant subordinate enterprises, requiring each enterprise to cooperate with the internal combustion engine development strategy formulated by the Ministry of State-owned Enterprises.
The Ministry of Transportation also issued a document requiring transportation departments at all levels to pay attention to the application of internal combustion engine technology and promote the development of transportation in the empire.
Even the Ministry of Agriculture issued a document asking its subordinate departments to prepare and come up with a detailed plan to promote internal combustion engine agricultural machinery.
After various policies from above came out, major companies below also took action.
Zhaoqing Machinery Company was the first to take action. After reaching a patent licensing agreement with the Royal Institute of Technology, they announced that they would invest heavily in building a gasoline engine factory to produce various gasoline engines.
However, although Zhaoqing Machinery Company moved quickly, it was still limited. They only built a gasoline engine factory and other parts supply production lines, and their desired layout was upstream.
However, after Zhongyuan Automobile Company also obtained the patent authorization for gasoline engines, before it had time to build its own engine production line, it directly purchased a laboratory-produced gasoline engine prototype from the Royal Institute of Technology at a high price.
Immediately afterwards, the gasoline engine was installed on the car, and the first car in the history of the Tang Dynasty was built!
When this car started running on the streets of Jinling City, it instantly caused a sensation across the country!