In Victoria, Australia, there is a place called Lakefard Smith, which is one of the meccas of steampunkers. Since the fifties of the last century, the largest gathering of steam-powered cars in the southern hemisphere has been held twice a year, and this June is the 93rd edition. From steam-powered cars to steam-powered excavators and tractors, there is a wide range of cars attending steam-powered rallies. At that time, everyone wanted Li Ziqiang to experience it in person, but he watched the video, searched for the schematic, and immediately patted his chest and said that he promised to complete the task and did not need to go in person.

Li Ziqiang put down other things and devoted himself to the work of solving the prime mover over there.

Steam boilers are easy to solve. He searched the Internet and found a small steam boiler with a rated pressure of 1MPa and a saturated outlet steam temperature of 200 degrees.

The boiler steel plate material is GB345R type, which has good mechanical properties, more heat-resistant characteristics, and has certain plasticity and toughness, which is not easy to cause fatigue or fracture. When welding, Li Ziqiang would also be engaged in electric welding, but was stopped by a master Xu.

Master Xu has been involved in the manufacture of boilers and has experience. He said: "This boiler is not small, it is less than two cubic meters. But a boiler is in danger, if it bursts, the high-temperature and high-pressure steam will be sprayed anywhere. Even a toy can kill people. ”

Master Xu's big name is Xu Qianming, and he is 47 years old. As a young apprentice, he learned to be a riveter. Originally, he worked in a boiler factory, but later the boiler factory closed down, and he has been working for the private sector. He has done many types of work, worked as a shearing worker, and also worked as a furnace foreman in a township steelmaking plant. Part-time jobs, unstable jobs, and unstable incomes are the norm.

Later, I heard that Li Ziqiang recruited foreign jishu personnel here, for a long time, the place is still biased, the real jishuhaode, and those who are tired of the family are reluctant to go.

His daughter has been married, and his wife is a staff member of the sub-district office, and her salary is not as high as Wang Shengli's when she got married, but as her salary has continued to rise in recent years, Wang Shengli has been laid off to work, and her income is very unstable. Her temper began to rise, and sometimes she didn't even want to cook dinner for him, and went to square dance regularly. The two of them don't have any feelings anymore. I remember that when Li Ziqiang interviewed him, he specifically asked about his life. Master Xu told him the truth very normally, and Li Ziqiang didn't know how to sigh and said, "There are so many stories like this!" These words stunned Master Xu. What's the story?

In Master Xu's eyes, Boss Li Ziqiang is a good person and a weirdo.

A good guy is one who is especially considerate of workers like him. The factory is very busy now, and Master Xu is busy cutting and grinding every day. In the old factory, it was common to work 11 or 2 hours of overtime, not to mention any overtime pay. But Boss Li never works overtime easily, and if he works overtime urgently, it is really overtime pay. For lunch, the canteen was clean and delicious. Boss Li was kind to every worker and joked with each other like friends.

He is said to be a weirdo because when he interviews everyone, he especially likes to ask about other people's private lives, and he also asks about 20 years ago, is this related to the interview? Also, now every machine factory is worried about not receiving work, our factory has a job and must not do it quickly, he can actually let himself get off the processing line, specifically with him to build a steam-powered car, and also show him the video of the steam-powered car that foreigners are so idle that they are doing pain. Foreigners can do whatever they want if they have money, we have to make a living. But he just said two words: "fun". Let Master Xu play with him. Let's play, it's all up to you anyway.

Master Xu strongly requested that the important position of the boiler be riveted, and the others could be welded. Li Ziqiang saw that he was very serious, so he let him use this labor-intensive and time-consuming method, but it was certainly more impact-resistant than welding. In fact, with high-pressure water pipes, there is not much difference between riveting and welding.

Small boilers are more suitable with semi-round head rivets. Master Wang drilled the nail mouth on the workbench, inserted the rivet, and firmly topped the semi-circular head with the concave circle of the top die. Then the riveting punch of the radial riveting machine is aimed at the rivet, and after making a small knocking sound, it is easily riveted. Master Wang did it very easily, and constantly praised the convenience of the radial riveting machine during the period. You know, he used to use a hammer to knock it.

Radial riveting machines are not advanced equipment and are very cheap. Except for Master Xu's private fiddling, this is probably the first time to use it at work. Li Ziqiang likes to see the workers enjoy the joy of the work process.

In the steam power unit, there is not much room to choose, limited by volume and weight, only horizontal cylinder arrangement and single expansion cylinder can be selected. In addition to the piston and crank connecting rod mechanism and the spool valve distribution mechanism on the steam engine, the rest are relatively simple. In order to save time, Li Ziqiang asked several lathe workers in the factory to help him out of the car and boring it after work, and he paid extra wages.

He himself was prepared to specialize in the transmission and architecture of the entire car body. At the beginning, he was very ambitious, but after trying the design, he found that it was not ideal, not as simple as he thought, and he was often suspected of taking care of one or the other. I finally understood that turning gears and designing gears are two different things.

So he searched the Internet, and soon the automotive professional talent network fell into his eyes. He checked it above and found a vehicle engineering professional in Changsha, and was very satisfied with his age, 45 years old. After he remitted the money to the talent network, he got the contact information of the talent. A phone call came, and the person promised to come for an interview.

Li Ziqiang was designing the cast steel wheels while waiting for an interview with the talent. In designing the wheels, Li Ziqiang found the confidence, how to make the weight and bearing capacity of the wheels achieve the best ratio? Is it better to fix the spokes or move them? How many spokes work best? Li Ziqiang deduced on the straw paper with great interest.

The process of meeting with talents is full of drama.

"You mean to develop a steam-powered car business?!"

That person regretted a little that he was greedy for trouble, and came in a hurry. Why don't you check what this factory does beforehand? As soon as he sat down, he got up to leave.

Li Ziqiang saw that the man reacted so violently, and regretted that he spoke too directly. Hurriedly and patiently explained. But that person had no intention of listening, and his face was full of disapproving sneers.

"Boss Li, you have the money to play in steam-powered cars, which is your personal hobby. But this can't be considered a career, especially someone else's...... I can accept working abroad, but in today's global informatization, where is there a place where I can't return to China for so long? Still unable to get in touch? I'm a knowledgeable person, and I don't know your true intentions, and I don't want to know, so I can't accept your offer. ”

After speaking, the person politely said zaijian to Li Ziqiang. Li Ziqiang was fired by talents.

But not long after, the peak turned around, and the man called again to say that he had a nephew who liked steam engines, and after listening to his story, he liked Boss Li's concept of steam-powered cars very much...... You don't need money, as long as you can design it with Boss Li. Li Ziqiang was overjoyed and hurriedly welcomed.

The next day the nephew came. His name is Ye Zihong, and he graduated from the Railway Technical School. 35 years old, unmarried, and without a girlfriend. Both parents were from the railway system, so he was admitted to the railway technical school after graduating from junior high school, and in the words of his parents, it is better to have a job in this society than anything else. The results proved that his parents' words were completely correct, and most of his classmates who went to junior high school and high school and college were not as well paid and paid as him. He himself worked in the train depot as a train driver. In his spare time, he made several models of steam engines to sell online.

"And the one who bought this?" Li Ziqiang asked curiously.

"It's okay. Make two a month, and then sell two a month. ”

"You made it entirely yourself?"

"yes, imitating others at first. Later, it was not difficult to try to design it yourself. Some key parts were also processed by someone at first, and later they were able to make them themselves. ”

"How long have you been doing this?"

"When I was a kid, I was fascinated by steam locomotives when I saw them on the railroad."

The conversation between the two became more and more speculative. In Ye Zihong's description and imagination, Li Ziqiang seems to see a picture of the steam engine era.

"Flying in the sky is an airship that uses the Grimm steam engine as the prime mover. Because the Green machine is lightweight, small in size, and does not require much steam pressure, it can also be used as an airplane...... Model engines, of course, methanol engines are more suitable. Giant ships that use large steam turbines as the driving force sail on the sea, and trains that run on the railroad are reciprocating steam engines. Steam-powered forklifts roared on the construction site, and steam-powered armored vehicles rolled on the battlefield.

Countless cars equipped with small steam engines drove from east to west, north and south on the highway, and there were no gas stations, only coal and water stations.

If you don't take into account the cost, you can use machine-made charcoal as fuel. It is several times denser than ordinary charcoal, has a higher calorific value than ordinary coal, and has very little smoke and residue. Every holiday, people drive the car that returns to its original name, to the field to the valley to the seaside, using the car's own mechanism charcoal as fuel, and using the Stirling external combustion engine as the mobile power supply of AC and DC generators, which has high thermal efficiency and easy to move. People listen to songs and watch TV at the same time, and they can also eat various barbecues at the same time...... It's so beautiful. Shijie is so harmonious in the midst of a roar......"

Both of them were instantly immersed in the description.

After a while, Ye Zihong said a little embarrassedly: "It's all my crankiness...... History proves that most steam engines were still obsolete. ”

Li Ziqiang calmly asked something he hadn't expected.

"Are you happy?"

"It's okay. In addition to not having a girlfriend, I have a house, a car and a job...... It's not about happiness or not. ”

"Women in this era care too much about men's appearance and money."

“……”