Wild North America 1846

Once foreign troubles are resolved, domestic affairs will be settled.

Looking back on the ups and downs and arduous journey since the fifth anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Richard still finds it difficult to calm down in his heart. If it weren't for the power of the reputation system plug-in, he would not be where he is today.

Without Superman's personal force, Richard could have fought against Lin Zhanyuan, the young leader of the Accord Hall, or he would have been bleeding on the streets at the gunpoint of a killer hired by John Sutter, and there would be no future.

This Kingdom of the Tang Dynasty was a product of sudden emergence. It was rooted in the plains of North America and had inherent deficiencies. It struggled hard in the violent storms that followed, and finally survived and developed into a towering tree.

Without the blessing of the system, without the 800 pairs of bulletproof breastplates produced by the system store, without the skills granted by the system and the high-end equipment produced, Richard would have died countless times in the hail of bullets, let alone other things?

to this day

As the society of the Tang Dynasty entered the track of rapid development and operated in accordance with market principles and the underlying laws of social division of labor, the reputation system's help to the entire kingdom was very small, and in many cases could be ignored.

Richard opened the reputation system panel and browsed, and looked at the progress of the "Thousands of Known Reputation Tasks" list. The number displayed was 7.8355 million/10 million, and the task completion progress was 78.36%, which was not completed.

He sighed softly and immediately closed the system panel.

In today's era where information exchange is not smooth, if you want to complete the "reputation task of tens of millions of people", it is extremely difficult, so you can only take your time and do it slowly.

Nothing else to say

The vast majority of European immigrants who have immigrated to the United States in recent years do not know who "Richard the Devil" was.

There were 4 million black slaves in the southern United States. How many black slaves who could read and write knew about the "Devil King Richard" who shocked North America?

I'm afraid this number is pitifully small. Most of the black slaves didn't know a single character and lived in dire straits and high-intensity labor every day. How could they care about "Richard the Devil"?

The literacy rate of Americans in today's era is pitifully low, not even 1/10. If it were not for the Tang-Mexican War, Richard's prestigious task would have been hovering below 5 million for a long time, and the annual growth rate would be hundreds of thousands.

It looks like less than 1 million.

This number is roughly the average annual population growth of the Tang Kingdom plus some spillover effects.

If we put the time in 2 to 3 years, it will be very difficult to complete this reputation task, but it is not hopeless.

After getting rid of all the distracting thoughts, Richard turned his attention to the pile of documents piled high in the imperial cabinet and began to concentrate on processing them.

Early 1852

After more than a year of preparation, the University of California, invested and built by the Tang Dynasty royal family, began enrolling students at the end of last year. This comprehensive university, located about 10 kilometers west of Fangcaodi, brings together many prestigious students from Europe and the Tang Dynasty Kingdom.

Scholars are the highest institution of learning in the Tang Kingdom today.

A series of institutions such as Chang'an Martial Arts Hall, Los Angeles Institute of Technology, and Taoyuan Administration College were also established successively, forming the preliminary higher education system of the Tang Kingdom.

Among the royal family holding industries, the five most outstanding companies are Texaco Petroleum Company, American River Gold Rush Company, Morenci Mining Company, General Heavy Industries Holdings Company, and Grape Valley Light Industry Company. These five companies have developed into

The industrial giants that affected the economic performance of the Tang Kingdom.

First, let’s talk about the Texaco Oil Company, which was a royal-controlled oil company established after the discovery of rich oil and gas resources in California and North Dakota at the end of 1849.

At the beginning of the company's establishment

It attracted the attention of King Richard, who mobilized elite soldiers and a large amount of funds to promote the development and utilization of resources. He successively imported various oil drilling equipment and three sets of oil refining equipment from Europe, tying and surpassing France in oil development and utilization, and became

An advanced country in the petrochemical industry after Russia and the United Kingdom.

When it first started in 1850, the Texaco Oil Company produced and processed 78 tons of kerosene. Once it was put on the market, it was warmly welcomed and triggered a sales boom for kerosene lamps.

After initial success, 1851 was a prosperous year for Texaco Oil Company.

His Majesty the King personally participated in the research and development of petroleum refining equipment. Domestic steel companies vigorously cooperated with the development of large-scale reactors and other related refining equipment. In May 1851, they achieved great success and the new equipment was successfully put into production.

As an important equipment in petroleum refining, the design of reactors imported from Europe is seriously unreasonable, with small output, poor refining capacity, single separation of petroleum products, and the characteristics of one pot and one pot.

That is, after the petroleum raw materials entering the reaction kettle are refined in one pot, the remaining impurities, such as asphalt, heavy oil, etc., must be removed before proceeding to the next pot.

The newly designed reactor has undergone revolutionary improvements. It is no longer a round and bulky equipment like a pot, but has become a round tower. It uses the principle of different boiling points of various components in petroleum to produce various products through heating reactions.

chemical products.

Gasoline, diesel, kerosene, lubricating oil and heavy oil have different boiling points. After being heated at high temperatures, well-defined petroleum products are formed in the high tower-shaped reactor.

After reaching the boiling point, the lightest kerosene is on top, diesel is in the middle, lubricating oil is at the bottom, and the bottom is heavy oil, which is then condensed through pipelines and transported to oil tanks for storage and transportation in barrels.

This kind of petroleum refining equipment is 50 years more advanced than the current ridiculous and cumbersome petroleum refining equipment, and has the prototype of the large-scale petroleum liquefaction equipment of later generations.

The technical principles are the same, but there are process gaps, design gaps and production capacity gaps in petroleum cracking equipment, which require time to slowly settle and polish.

Needless to say

This is when Richard couldn't help but use a cheat and redeemed the drawings of oil production equipment from the late 19th century in the United States from the system store. After in-depth research, he personally guided a group of engineers to develop and produce it.

This set of petrochemical technology equipment is ahead of the world today. Although it is quite similar, its production capacity has been reduced by more than 60% compared to the original petroleum production equipment. There are still many shortcomings that need to be improved in practice in the future.

.

even so

Texaco Petroleum Company has become the most powerful petroleum company with the strongest petroleum production capacity, the most advanced production technology and the most powerful petroleum company in the world due to the putting into production of new petroleum refining equipment.

In June 1851, the first month after the new equipment was put into production, 517 tons of kerosene were produced, exceeding the previous year's output by 650%.

In July, 855 tons of kerosene were produced, increasing production by more than 50%.

In August, 1,220 tons of kerosene were produced, which doubled compared to June.

In September, 1,466 tons of kerosene were produced, another step forward.

In October, monthly kerosene production exceeded 2,000 tons for the first time, reaching 2,063 tons.

In November, 2,189 tons of kerosene were produced, a slight increase.

In December, 2,371 tons of kerosene were produced, and the output continued to increase.

After being put into trial production, the new petroleum refining equipment has been continuously explored, summarized, and improved production processes and methods, and the production capacity has been rapidly improved visible to the naked eye.

The huge increase in production gave kerosene, a product that was in urgent demand, the ability to export, and was quickly sold to the United States and European countries, becoming a new pillar industry of the Tang Kingdom's exports.

The large-scale export of kerosene and lubricating oil products quickly promoted the development of the barrel-making industry in the Tang Dynasty. The strong demand led to the emergence of dozens of hundreds of new barrel-making factories and barrel-making workshops across the country, and also comprehensively promoted the development of barrel-making industries in Seattle, Vancouver and other places.

The northern region, which has extensive forest coverage and is rich in timber, is experiencing economic development.

Shiploads of empty barrels traveled from the north to the south, were filled with kerosene and lubricating oil at the California refinery, and were exported to the United States and European countries, in exchange for large amounts of pounds, francs, and Spanish gold.

Pesos, Marks, Dutch Guilders and Dollars.

In these countries

There is a strong demand for kerosene. As much as you want, the more, the better.

The aristocratic palaces can have brightly lit music every night, the middle-class families can light more kerosene lamps, the male master can have his own quiet moments in the study, the hostess can watch the children playing in the bright living room, and the young master is in another room.

Flirting with the maid.

Thousands of bars in the British Isles don't have to worry about lighting more lights. Families from the lower social classes can also light a lamp at night and have a heart-warming dinner surrounded by warm lights.

And before that

Poor families even have to eat in the dark at night. The sound of chewing in the dark is far from warm.

Human beings' need for light is a hard need in society. In the dark night, only a candlelight can dispel the darkness and make people feel peaceful and warm.

before that

Europeans still use soybean oil or olive oil for lighting, which has a history of thousands of years. In the era of low productivity and no chemical fertilizers, in the era of artificial pressing of soybean oil, soybean oil was destined to be expensive.

Families at the bottom of society cannot afford soybean oil or olive oil, let alone use it for lighting.

The emergence of kerosene, which entered the market at only 1/3 the price of soybean oil and 1/7 the price of olive oil, quickly gained recognition from consumers in Europe and the United States, inspiring the consumption enthusiasm of ordinary families, and sales surged like a rocket.

Lift.

Let's put it this way, as many as there are sales.

In just seven months in 1851, the Texaco Oil Company produced more than 10,000 tons (about 70,000 barrels) of kerosene, and its sales reached an astonishing 1.4 million Tang Yuan (note; the value is equivalent to US dollars), and its net profit exceeded

One million Tang Yuan.

on the basis of

Texaco Petroleum Company is ready to go big. It has ordered 4 sets of improved tower petroleum refining equipment from Changan Petroleum Equipment Company. It will reserve the right to purchase 8 more sets of production equipment in the future to further expand production capacity.

This year, Texaco Petroleum Company's production target is to produce more than 100,000 tons of kerosene and make profits of more than 10 million yuan. Production capacity and profits will increase by more than 7 times.

Next year, we will double this year’s growth, maintain a rapid growth rate of 200% to 300%, and fully occupy the European and American refining and chemical markets.

In addition to the main product kerosene, the lubricants and gasoline produced by Texaco Petroleum Company have gradually increased their sales and become one of the indispensable bulk products in the social economy.

Industrialized Britain is the main market for lubricants, with an annual demand of more than 4,500 tons, rising with a steep demand curve, and a market growth rate of more than 200%.

People did not find its application market for gasoline. In its original history, it was dumped into the sea as waste. It was not until the invention of the gasoline engine at the end of this century that gasoline was used on a small scale.

It's different now

As cheap combustion-supporting products, petroleum refineries pour gasoline and diesel onto coal. After thorough mixing, it can help the coal burn more violently and with more firepower.

As an excellent combustion accelerant, the Tang Kingdom developed gasoline stoves, which were widely used in burning wasteland and reclamation in the western frontier.

As an excellent solvent, gasoline is further used in the production of rubber, paint and grease, broadening the scope of use.

In the laboratory of the University of California, the development of a gasoline engine sponsored by Texaco follows the working principle of a steam turbine and is progressing step by step.

In Richard's view, the large amounts of gasoline and diesel that were dumped because they were not used not only polluted the environment, but were also extremely wasteful.

Therefore, by supporting the University of California and Los Angeles Institute of Technology in the research and development of gasoline engines, diesel engines, and marine steam turbines respectively, the industrial development process of this world line will be greatly improved.

actually

Nowadays, on the golden immigration route across the North Pacific, the old steam turbine transport ships used by the Tang Kingdom have added heavy oil tanks to their fuel bunkers.

Its purpose is to add heavy oil when burning coal, which can make the steam turbine operate more efficiently and more powerfully, thus greatly saving coal and cost.

Because heavy oil was so cheap that it was almost free, hundreds of steam ships in the Tang Kingdom were improved and installed with heavy oil tanks at shipyards, and coal-fired boilers were used to burn heavy oil.

Thus

Heavy oil has become the second most popular product after kerosene because it is cheap and large in quantity, suitable for medium and large ships, and can save costs significantly.

As a by-product of refining, lubricating oil ranks third.

The final residue from petroleum refining is petroleum asphalt. This viscous substance was used in road construction hundreds of years ago, so it is not wasted.

In California, the first asphalt road was a 43-kilometer road from the petroleum refinery to the port. After its completion, it was favored for its flatness, durability, high quality and low price, and was widely used in road construction.

According to the Ministry of Transportation plan;

The Tang Kingdom will spend 5 to 10 years hardening and asphalting the country's main roads, which will greatly enhance the transportation capacity of horse-drawn carriages, with an increase of between 50% and 80%.

This virtually adds tens of thousands of horse-drawn carriages for transportation, which plays an immeasurable important role in overall economic development.

Due to the limitations of the times, the Ministry of Transportation has not yet realized the importance of asphalt roads to urban transportation construction. In the cities of the Tang Dynasty, stone roads and dirt roads were still the main ones.

Richard had no intention of reminding him. He believed that with the popularity of asphalt roads across the country, sooner or later, those in the Ministry of Transportation would realize that asphalt roads have incomparable advantages over stone roads.

The brilliant rise of Texaco Petroleum Company caused a devastating blow to the nascent world petrochemical industry. Petroleum refineries in the United Kingdom, France and the United States closed down and went bankrupt, and the entire industry was in trouble.

Compared with the kerosene refining capacity with an annual production capacity of less than 100 tons, the petroleum refining equipment developed by Texaco Petroleum Company of the Tang Dynasty is hundreds of times more efficient, and the corresponding refining costs can be diluted to a minimum.

As a result, the development path of the petroleum refining industry in other countries has been blocked.

The gap is too far, and it’s not even a tiny bit. How can we compete?

It doesn't matter to Britain and France, because they don't have much oil resources in the first place. The little oil field output discovered in the colonies is expensive to refine themselves, so it is better to import a large amount of kerosene.

The United States is in dire straits. It has discovered a large number of oil fields with rich reserves in Texas. However, due to seriously backward technology and high mining and refining costs, it has now become a mess, and almost all of them have ceased operations.