Volume 1: Laying the Foundation Chapter 46: The Great Leap Forward Style Development (Part 1)

  PS: Everything has been arranged, today's second update is done! 10,000 words! There's still one more update tonight!

  By the end of 1921, Chen Xiaoxi's "Meihua Laboratory" had successfully developed a new generation of high-quality vacuum tube radios and broadcasting equipment. Soon after, a new generation of record players using new vinyl records, diamond needles, and high-precision motors was launched.

  In addition, the laboratory also pushed out a series of products that included a "combined audio system" specifically for high-income families and social gatherings. The system creatively added an "amplifier", using vacuum electronic tubes to amplify the sound by several or even dozens of times, and then outputting it through large speakers with the latest manufacturing technology, producing a deafening sound.

  This "combination audio system" consisting of two floor-standing large speakers, a new record player, a new electronic tube radio, and a newly invented amplifier caused a revolution in the music industry as soon as it was released. The cheap record discs that can record up to half an hour allow many people to enjoy long symphonies and light music at a very low cost without frequently changing records. With the existence of amplifiers and speakers, even in very large spaces and very noisy venues, the sound played can be transmitted to every corner. This product also creatively developed new interfaces for emerging electric guitars, thereby revolutionarily promoting the development of stage performance equipment ahead of schedule.

  At that time, record companies, film companies and broadcasting companies swarmed in. After listening to the sound effects of broken glass, pistol firing, train whistles, human voice singing, piano solo, violin, guitar singing, black drumming, Chinese guqin and other fragments from Chen Xiaoqi's specially recorded trial audio discs, they all expressed great interest, with some even placing orders early on.

  Chen Xiaoqi also specially demonstrated the 3D audio recording and playback technology that is currently under development. Although it is still in the experimental stage, the distinctly different sound effects produced also shocked everyone present. They can definitely say that the realization of this technology will bring about a revolution in the film and audio-visual industries.

  At the end of 1921, Chen Xiaoqi organized a set of broadcasting equipment and 500 electronic tube radios that had been pre-produced, purchased some crystal radios, added a stack of records he had recorded himself, and several sets of audio systems. He packed everything up and sent it to Shanghai with his new colleague Jin Xueyou who had just joined the company. This trip was so fast-paced and unpredictable, having only stayed in the US for a few months, he would soon be returning home to start new work.

  This time, Jin Xueyou can be said to have returned home in triumph. Compared to the previous time when he had a broken cauldron and sank into the sea, this time he is full of vigor and spirit. Not for anything else, but because this new big boss has high skills and is wealthy and generous. As soon as he took office, he was reused and not only got the position of General Manager of the "Beautiful Trade Company" in the Far East region, but also his salary and benefits are not to be mentioned. The key point is that this time he went to represent the company to cooperate with the famous Shanghai tycoon!

  Think about it, this is like a dream come true! Who are they? They're Huang Jinrong, Du Yuesheng and Zhang Shoulin! Even the mayor of Shanghai can't compare to them! The "barefoot tycoon" Yu Qiaqing has to listen to their orders. Just a few months ago, he was a down-and-out comprador with no way out, but this time he's back with a golden signboard!

  The entourage also included two announcers, a man and a woman, specially selected by Chen Xiaoqi. They were average in appearance but had excellent vocal conditions. The man's voice was thick and clear, with great magnetism, while the woman's voice was sweet and refreshing, like a fine wine that made listeners feel soft all over. These two talents were found through a nationwide search by Chen Xiaoqi and, after several months of personal training, barely qualified to start working. Their Mandarin was also passable.

  They went to Shanghai not only to set up China's first radio station, but also to establish the Shanghai branch of Mei Hua Trading Company and another branch in Qingdao. The location must have been chosen by Zhang Aoling, and the warehouse was not a problem. The radio station had three big shots to deal with, so it shouldn't be too difficult. After all, they were influential not only in the underworld but also in foreign concessions, especially the French concession, where Huang Jinrong was the head of the police.

  Jin Xueyou's trip this time is a heavy responsibility. First, he has to stop in Singapore to visit Mr. Tan Kah Kee on behalf of Chen Xiaqi, who can be said to be the spiritual leader of tens of millions of Southeast Asian Chinese people. It's not just his business achievements, but also his patriotic sentiments that are worthy of being recorded in history as an outstanding figure. Chen Xiaqi has long admired him.

  There are two purposes for this trip. One is to join Mr. Chen in jointly donating funds to establish Xiamen University. Historically, it was this year that Mr. Chen donated $1 million to start the establishment of Xiamen University, and over the next 12 years, he donated a total of $30 million to support university education. This was a historic pioneering effort. Although in his later years, Mr. Chen went bankrupt and could no longer afford to support it, he begged the government to take it over. Throughout his life, Mr. Chen's investment in education totaled over $100 million! This is truly a great deed that will benefit both the present and future generations.

  Now Chen Xiaoqi's family property is more prosperous than Chen Jiageng, and his vision is also longer. Naturally, he wants to take advantage of this good opportunity to cultivate high-level talents, not only to make a name for himself, but also to gain practical benefits. Why not?

  Another goal is to jointly invest with Mr. Chen in purchasing a large number of rubber plantations in Southeast Asia, historically Mr. Chen had established 15,000 acres of rubber plantations, becoming the renowned "Rubber King", but this was far from enough for Chen Xiaoqi, as the demand for natural rubber in the industrial era is almost infinite, and during wartime it becomes impossible to count.

  Southeast Asia is rich in food and mineral resources, which are important strategic resources during wartime. The more you control, the more opportunities you have. Malaysia's tin, oil, and palm oil are all very important strategic resources. If you can take control of some of them earlier, it will be more beneficial for your future endeavors. Although this place is currently within the British sphere of influence, who says that with money, you can't dig out a bit of gold from the pocket of the declining British Empire?

  Apart from meeting Chen Jia Kang, it's all about Shanghai. Jin Xue You is taking on such a heavy task for the first time and looks somewhat nervous, after all, this change has come too quickly, the responsibility is too great, and things are too urgent.

  Putting him aside, Chen Xiaoqi's events came one after another. Just past the New Year of 1922, the heavy machinery research group under "MeiHua Laboratory" launched a series of crawler tractors, from the smallest 50 horsepower to 75 horsepower and then to 100 horsepower large crawler diesel tractors, matching manganese steel tracks and combine harvesters were also released at the same time, but it was just a bubble, compared with other MeiHua products, this one lacked characteristics.

  But this is just the starting point. After a short period of time, R&D work in other departments also made progress, and hydraulic torque converters, planetary gear power shift transmissions, central transmissions, steering clutches and brakes, final drives and walking systems, etc., all achieved initial results, although the efficiency and quality were not satisfactory, but this was still an epoch-making invention.

  The successful development of the hydraulic rotary mechanism enabled Mihua Laboratory to continue launching new engineering machinery, and prototype excavators and cranes were also manufactured. Large-scale road rollers, loaders and other engineering machinery also emerged one after another. These engineering machinery, which adopted high-power diesel engines, hydraulic transmission systems, rigid tracks, rotary mechanisms, and operating mechanisms, brought about a new wave in the market with their innovative technologies.

  Shortly after, the chemical laboratory brought good news. Under the leadership of Chen Xiaoqi, a genius chemical expert, the laboratory made an epoch-making invention - "catalytic cracking" petroleum refining method. Through the fixed-bed reactor invented by the laboratory, under the condition of using silica-alumina as a catalyst, it can greatly improve the production efficiency of the current mainstream thermal cracking method. After absorption, the resulting cracked gas can obtain a large amount of cheap ammonia, and the remaining liquid can be distilled to obtain a large amount of chemical raw materials - propane and butane. These two materials can be processed into key raw materials for acrylic fiber and polybutadiene rubber after further chemical treatment.

  In addition, Chen Xiaoqi also proposed a series of processes and equipment for extracting benzene from coal gas and coal tar, hydrogenating benzene to cyclohexane, then to cyclohexanol, and finally to adipic acid and adipamide. In particular, he proposed the use of nitric acid oxidation of cyclohexanol (obtained by hydrogenation of phenol) to achieve industrial production of adipic acid for the first time, laying the foundation for the production of nylon. Chen Xiaoqi often found it strange that when browsing online, some people could easily produce nylon without explaining how they overcame the fundamental production processes and raw material sourcing issues. In reality, from successfully synthesizing nylon in a laboratory to achieving industrial-scale production, it took five years of verification and four years of preparation. DuPont only fully resolved the raw material problem in 1937, thanks to Carothers' efforts spanning 11 years. How could those people achieve this with just a few clicks?

  In addition, Chen Xiaoqi also released his own method for producing ethylene by high-temperature cracking of propane, which looks almost the same as the method proposed by Linde Air Products Company. However, it should not be forgotten that Chen Xiaoqi knew too much, and he gave out structural diagrams of equipment such as tubular furnaces, bubble towers, and steam towers without verification. He also provided many design drawings for chemical machinery such as fluid transportation machinery, filtration machinery, crushing machinery, breaking machinery, and mixing machinery. In addition, there are also container (groove, tank, pot), separation equipment, heat exchangers, evaporators, crystallization equipment, mass transfer equipment, dryers, adsorption equipment, electrolytic cells, kilns, reactors, and reaction furnaces and other chemical equipment.

  After a large number of things were given out, the whole world was no longer shocked, as an old partner, DuPont had to send a technical team leader to stay in the "MeiHua Laboratory" base for a long time, trying hard to keep up with the laboratory's progress and rhythm, and trying every means to transform its continuous research results into production equipment and process technology, helping Chen Xiaoqi achieve industrialization of chemical machinery and equipment at the fastest speed. How treacherous Chen Xiaoqi is! How could he possibly give such a large piece of fat as chemical equipment and chemical machinery to others?

  Apart from this, Mobil Oil Corporation, attracted by Chen's new petroleum cracking technology, was the first to rush ahead of its sister companies and reached a cooperation agreement with Chen. The annual patent use fee for the entire set of catalytic cracking production technology was as high as $10 million, which was still a price that Chen had to accept under great pressure from others, otherwise he would have at least asked for $20 million or even higher, because who doesn't know how much gold is hidden in oil as the world's number one Rockefeller family?