Red River Valley University

This is a beautiful campus located on the bank of the Baixi River, with red walls and tiles in the shade of green trees, eaves and arches, and a building with strong Chinese national characteristics, full of ancient oriental charm.

As a private university, the Earl of Queensland, Li Fushou, personally served as the chairman of the school, and poured a lot of money into the construction of the school, allocating more than 300,000 pounds a year to build this institution of higher learning, and hiring famous professors from all over the world to teach, and the results have been outstanding in the past few years.

Since the appointment of Mr. Ma Xiangbo, a famous educator, as the president of Red River Valley University, the Faculty of Humanities has been newly added to the university, and related majors in history, Chinese literature, archaeology, language, culture and education have been developed one after another, becoming a leader in the liberal arts major of Red Valley University, and a professional signboard with oriental characteristics.

Red Valley University has been focusing on the development of science majors, especially mathematics, physics, chemistry, engine design and manufacturing, ship design and manufacturing, communications and power transmission and transformation and other signature majors are the most famous, each of which has a world-renowned professor who has been hired a lot of money, and the teaching level is quite high.

In a secluded laboratory at the university

There is a small square in front of the three-storey classical building, and a strange-looking car is parked in the stone square, surrounded by a group of scholars and professors, among whom is a tall young man named Li Fushou, who also stands in the crowd to participate in the lively discussion.

"This four-wheeled vehicle with an engine is so ugly, I think it's just a carriage with a steering wheel, oh...... By the way, there's also a smoky diesel engine, which I'm skeptical of its practicality. ”

"This four-wheeler...... Oh, please forgive me, the Earl's new name is called ~ "car", I really don't think it's as comfortable as the carriage, the workmanship is simple and rough, it looks like a mechanical stiff pile, and there are too many things that need to be improved. ”

"I think it's a very interesting machine, because it doesn't have to work on the horses, and I don't have to prepare black beans and forage for it, and I don't have to hire a groom."

"I disagree with you, although you don't need black beans and forage, but diesel engines need to burn diesel, and you have to go to the department store every day with a tin can to buy diesel, which is not a lot of money."

"It's a new thing, anyway, and it's worth studying."

Li Fushou still crossed his arms and looked at the world's first four-wheeled car in front of him with a smile, the maturity is far stronger than the car made by Carl Benz alone, and the reliability and practicality are not the same.

The car still looks like a horse-drawn carriage, with two smaller wheels in the front and two larger wheels in the back, with four seats in the front and two in the rear.

A 0.8-litre lightweight diesel engine is placed at the front of the car, and the power is delivered directly to the two rear wheels through a steel chain, without a clutch or gearbox, and the horn is sounded by an air-pressure copper horn, like a four-wheeled bicycle.

The car is powered by a steel crank on the front, which would have been used for at least a few decades before the starter was invented.

The biggest innovation and highlight is in the steering wheel, the professors of the engine department have designed the horizontal and straight pull arms under the steering wheel through ingenious ideas, and connect them with ball lock pins, these designs are close to the steering principle of later cars, but they have become stupid and clumsy, and they still need to be improved.

"Joe, I think your design is very good, as long as you cover it with a beautiful shell, plus the windshield, I think it is a very eye-catching travel tool, at least those nobles who like to hunt for curiosities are very interested." Li Fushou crossed his arms and made a very pertinent evaluation.

In this day and age

No one could have predicted how popular the automobile would be in later generations, create a huge industrial chain, create huge wealth like a sea of gold and silver, and even become the economic pillar of the world's great powers.

French professor Joe Neville is a middle-aged fat man with round glasses, dressed in coarse cloth overalls, and his hands are stained with oil.

Only when it comes to his own mechanical profession will he open the conversation box and talk endlessly, and the breadth of knowledge is amazing.

"Thank you for your compliment, Your Excellency Lord." Joe Neville's face was a little red, and his expression still looked reserved.

Standing next to him were several Chinese students with the same black hands, assistants to Professor Joe Neville's research group and also senior students in the engine department.

"How did you run this car in your tests?" Li Fushou squatted down and looked at the chassis carefully, and asked out loud.

"Your Excellency, we have experimentally run more than 2,000 miles on this car, found dozens of problems and made improvements, and more improvements are needed in the future." Speaking of cars, Professor Joneville immediately opened the conversation box and began to introduce them endlessly;

"At first, we were completely using the ready-made frame of the horse-drawn carriage and then installing the diesel engine, but soon we had the problem of power output, how to smoothly output the power of the diesel engine to the wheels?

We took inspiration from the bike and designed a solution that uses the chain to deliver power, which solves this problem perfectly.

However, in the process of driving on the road, there were frequent failures, and even the copper oil pipe was broken, and the entire frame was deformed.

To do this, we had to stop and redesign the entire frame.

After working with the professors of the Department of Physics, we designed a new combined frame with "I" beams and "U" beams, which is not only lightweight, but also has strong resistance to twisting and fatigue, which once again solves this obstacle.

Later, we found in the experiment that the steering of the walk-behind tractor greatly affected the feeling of handling, and there was no longer one person in the front row, the huge front wheels not only affected the line of sight but also had difficulty steering, and a strong young man could not operate such a bulky machine for too long, and he would be tired and out of breath for half an hour.

To this end, we designed more than 10 improvement plans, which lasted more than three months of demonstration, and finally completely overturned the original design, adopted a completely innovative steering wheel steering structure, and reduced the front wheels of the car, which solved this problem well.

On this basis

We have adopted the leaf spring and shock absorbing spring scheme of the carriage, which has been moderately optimized, so that the bumps in the vehicle are greatly reduced and the reliability is higher.

We added rubber cushioning to the rigid connection between the diesel engine and the frame to reduce the resonance of parts such as copper tubing, and set a ball lock pin for the steering mechanism, and lubricated it with butter to reduce the wear of the steering mechanism.

We also raised the chimney of the diesel engine so that the black smoke didn't hit the face directly, which was a very painful thing......"

Li Fushou listened carefully to Professor Joe Neville's explanation, and nodded frequently in appreciation.

Unlike Carl Benz, who was tinkering with a car in his home warehouse, this research project, which was commissioned by the Earl of Queensland and allocated a large amount of research funds for in-depth research, the world's first car has a high degree of maturity and strong practicality.

Although the four wheels are small in the front and large in the rear, the most advanced air tires and reinforced wheels in the world are used, and the comfort is greatly improved.

Although there are still many flaws in the whole frame, it is already a great progress for this era, and it cannot be asked for more.

"Joe, the prototype looks great overall, but I always feel that the front and rear wheels are different sizes, which is a bit awkward." Li Fushou stood up and looked at it carefully, and couldn't help but comment; "And this seat is set low in the front and high in the back, which is also related to the high wheels in the rear, which feels unstable when making sharp turns, and the center of gravity is too high, so it is better to change this design to 4 wheels of the same size, which will also save costs."

Li Fushou is the investor and nominal chief designer of the entire automobile project, and this guy is worried about the resounding title of "father of automobiles", and he is not ready to give up this honor in his heart.

Perhaps a hundred years from now, when people remember themselves, they will be called by a long list of golden signs such as great pioneers, founders and guides of Chinese overseas nation-building, politicians, philanthropists, financiers, educators, inventors and practitioners of advanced technology.

What's that...... Don't want capitalists, that's not a good word.

The construction of the world's first hydroelectric power station, the organization of the research and development of a series of new diesel engines, the invention of gas canisters and gas cookers, the invention of air tires and the world's first automobile, these are all shining points worthy of special mention.

Therefore, Li Fushou must make substantial contributions to the research and development of the world's first automobile and control the overall direction.

As for the specific technical details, leave it to the professionals to solve.

Li Fushou was very familiar with cars in his previous life, but he only had meetings to refuel, and he didn't understand the specific mechanical principles and structures, so he had to be a professional.

However, Li Fushou can put forward some very pertinent opinions and make substantial contributions to the improvement of the world's first automobile, which is worthy of the title of chief designer, and the scholars and professors present can prove it, rather than being unworthy of the name.

"Joe, I think you can add a bar to the front of the axle to prevent it from hitting a tree and breaking the engine, which is time-consuming and laborious to repair."

"That...... Also, in the front of the design of two lanterns, must be designed firmly not upside down, huh...... It's a good location so that you can see the road if you want to drive at night. ”

"The horse lamp is just that kind of ordinary kerosene lamp, you design a reflector in the back, and let the light shine on the road in front, right...... It's like a lampshade. ”

"There's also a mirror for it in this place, I call it a rearview mirror, so that you can sit in the car and observe the situation around you, whether there are carriages, pedestrians or children or something, you can see more clearly."

"Joe, your seat is too hard and uncomfortable, I need the kind of seat wrapped in thick sponge, if this kind of car is introduced to the market, it will definitely be bought by rich and idle nobles, I consider using high-quality cowhide sewn seats, with thick sponge inside, it will be more comfortable, don't worry, someone will definitely pay for it."

……

Li Fushou gestured and said for a long time, and the students in the scientific research group on the side took the pen and wrote it down in the notebook, and the words of the earl were more important than the professor, and they will be implemented as the next key improvement.

At this time, a professor came up and said; "Your Excellency, I always feel that this machine is too ugly, and it should be designed by an architect or artist with aesthetic skills, so as to present a noble and elegant style, so as to conform to the unique temperament of the nobles."

"Well, it makes sense that the two major categories of architecture and art are the blanks of the Red River Valley University, and we just took the opportunity of the Red River Valley Cup World Architect Design Award to hire several world-renowned architects as visiting professors, such as Mr. Eiffel, who designed the tower, to build this discipline of the Red River Valley University." Li Fushou very much agreed with this professor's opinion and slapped the board directly.