Lin's approach was to recruit the Mages within the Holy City who already had a foundation in Language P and mathematics. Perhaps in terms of loyalty, the recruited newcomers would not be as good as the people cultivated by the two major forces, but the two major forces were already familiar with how to manage talents, so Lin didn't have to worry too much about it. In any case, they were definitely more concerned about the matter of "being in power" than anyone else.
This was also why there was a large-scale recruitment campaign that caused a sensation in the Holy City, as well as all the talents in Lin's mathematics class who were unwilling to develop only in the field of pure mathematics.
Although the mathematical construction of spell models was also one of the application development directions in mathematics class, there was no money to be made before the results were out! As long as one joined the Automobile Manufacturing and Research and Development Center, there would be a fixed salary, and they could also exercise their thinking in various mathematical methods. It could be said that at this stage, it was the most suitable application field for Mages who intended to continue on the path of mathematics.
Those who could occupy a place in the class with limited seats were not Mages who lacked money. But who would complain about having more money? More importantly, the research and development center provided an opportunity to apply what they had learned. Compared to the stink of money, the opportunity was more interesting.
The people who had come to mathematics class for nearly a year were all looking forward to proving that their studies were not useless. After all, since the beginning of the class, no one had been able to completely reconstruct the spell model in a mathematical manner according to what a certain person had done when he first attracted everyone to jump into the pit. But it wasn't that no one had tried, it was just that those who had tried would admit one thing: the path of mathematics was a long way to go.
This didn't mean that the mathematical problems studied by the Automobile Manufacturing and Research and Development Center would be simpler than the reconstruction of spell models. It was because what the center wanted to do had already been verified as feasible. The work of the people who joined was to replace expensive materials with simple materials, standardize the work of magic with industrial methods, and then achieve the purpose of mass production. In short, it was reverse engineering.
And to do this, there was no standard that had to be met to be qualified. Or rather, there were no standards at all.
The experimental car used to prove the feasibility had long been completed, and it was set as the ultimate goal of 100 points. Then, even if the results of the research were only 10 points, it could be officially sold as a commodity. After all, the four wheels could turn, and people or goods could be pulled from one place to another.
It could even be said that some parts required the use of magic materials, and ordinary materials could not be found for the time being. This was also acceptable. At most, the price would increase after it became a commodity.
Under such a premise, there were plenty of people, money, and technology in the automobile manufacturing and R&D center. The time for mass production was quickly put on the agenda.
The first model that was confirmed was not a simplified version of the 1903 Ford Model A on Earth that was no different from a horse carriage. It was a large truck that was partially made of magical materials.
The first batch of customers were not outsiders. They were the two big bosses, Carl Weigong and Ruan Wenyue. Their goal was simple. They wanted to transport the iron ore and other materials from their territories to the manufacturing and R&D center in the Holy City of Estali. There was no reason for them to sell their cars while still using carriages and a large number of civilian workers to transport them.
In order to be able to transport large quantities of goods, the load and horsepower of the truck were not something that could be achieved by ordinary materials at the current stage. As for the engine that used magical materials, it directly used the research results of the silver-bearded dwarves because it was considered a mature process.
Even the silver-bearded dwarves jumped down to help with research and development. Led by veterans, the team responsible for manufacturing the engine was the fastest to learn the new process among all the teams. The silver-bearded dwarves did not work for free. In addition to receiving a salary, the research and transformation of the various parts of the engine was the focus of their attention. For the sake of peace, they were not willing to give up any research opportunities related to the topic.
Another part of the truck that had to use magical materials was the chassis. The R&D center tried to study the technology of welding, of course, they also tried to study the technology of riveting structures. But with the materials and manufacturing technology at the current stage, although the chassis could be used for small vehicles used for carrying people, it could not support the load capacity of a large truck.
The second type of vehicle that was built was a special kind of vehicle – a fuel tank truck. Because the gasoline used by the vehicle needed to be refined, it was not directly added to the tank for use, and gas stations were not everywhere in the Maze. Therefore, whether it was the large truck fleet that transported raw materials, it needed a fuel tank truck to refuel at any time. The R&D center also needed to transport the crude oil back to the refinery for processing.
It was just that the gasoline had to be refined, but it was still cheaper than magic stones. The city where the crude oil was known to be produced was Lebap, but that was only because the goblins had a use for the oil. Lebap was not the only oil producing city in the Guevana Empire. There were also oil wells that could be extracted in the open in Duke Carvey's territory.
In the past, the place where the black water came out was a dead zone where animals did not go near and plants did not grow. The only use of the black water that could be ignited was as a weapon of war. Therefore, as the Grand Duke of the empire, Duke Carvey dealt with this natural resource by blocking it. Only the goblins who loved to self-destruct had the guts to mine this poisonous and flammable Demon Water.
But when the use of crude oil was discovered, the two big shots started mining at the same time. Duke Carvey, of course, mined the oil wells in his territory. Ruan Wenyue, on the other hand, searched for related resources from areas outside the Guevana Empire and cooperated with the local lords to mine.
Ruan Wenyue's idea was simple. If the vehicle needed oil to move, he could not hand this lifeline to others. It was like fighting a war with soldiers, but if the soldiers did not have food, they would not be able to fight, no matter how strong they were.
Lin could only feel admiration for this intuitive way of doing things. He could see the key to the automobile industry at a glance and had started the energy business in the early stages. His vision was quite accurate.
The distillation equipment for refining the oil was also built in the Holy City of Estali. The reason why they did not set it up in the oil wells and reduced the volume and weight of the crude oil before transporting it to the Holy City was that any processing work out of sight would not be able to be solved immediately if there were any problems.
Lin had already agreed with the two big shots that when the technology matured, they could start a new business wherever they wanted. It was fine as long as they did not give up on the manufacturing and R&D center in the Holy City of Estali. After all, doing so could greatly reduce the waste during the transportation process. But in the early stages, when the technology was not mature, the focus was still on R&D.
That being said, the worst thing about research was that there would be no results. But when the results were out, everyone would want a share of the profits. If the automobile manufacturing and R&D center had made a fortune silently, it would have been fine. But when the two transport teams of Carvey and Ruan Wenyue appeared, they immediately became the focus of everyone's attention.
But because it was in the early stages of development, there were many things that had not been solved, so the cars could not be sold directly to the market. The most troublesome difficulty was the problem of the failure rate. The failure rate of the parts made with magic materials had already been solved after various tests by the silver bearded dwarves and the replacement of more advanced magic materials. But after replacing them with ordinary materials, the research in this area was equivalent to starting from scratch.
In order to deal with the possible failures on the road, the driver must have basic knowledge of machines. At least, they should know how to repair or replace damaged parts. In other words, in the future, the driver must not only have a driver's license, but also an engineer with a car repair license.
In addition to refueling, the scheduled gas station may also have the ability to repair the car to solve the problem of the research and development center not having the ability to repair the car at this stage.
In practical experience, sometimes roadside breakdowns could not be solved by drivers with simple maintenance knowledge. At this time, there were two methods that could be used. If the car could still move, but the engine could not be started, or the transmission system was damaged, then the other vehicles could be used to tow the broken car. The speed might be slowed down, but the broken car could still be towed to the destination.
If the damage of the car was so bad that it could not even move, it was impossible to scrap the car on the spot. At this time, it was necessary to send a maintenance team from the R&D center to the place where the car broke down and directly repair the car in the wild.
The frequency of the car breaking down was quite frequent in the early stages. Even the drivers on the front line and the maintenance staff sent were questioning whether it was necessary to use this kind of machine that was not very reliable at all. Such doubts also made the two big shots who joined the automobile manufacturing industry come to ask a mage who was almost out of it.
Lin did not explain much. He just made a simple statistical chart. The efficiency and cost of the old carriage, and generously regarded the old method as zero risk; the efficiency and cost of the new vehicle, and then calculated the risk cost according to the existing failure situation. When the two sides summed up and looked at the unit transportation cost, the doubts of the big shots were directly thrown out of the sky.
The transportation energy of the truck was too astonishing. To transport the same amount of goods, the number of old carriages and civilian mobilization was more than ten times, and the time taken was also several times more. Not to mention that the transportation mode of the old carriage was not completely without risk.
Secondly, every maintenance was actually a test of the results of the manufacturing, and it would also be the focus of the improvement of the next batch of vehicles. The manufacturing process would improve, and the strength of the materials used would also slowly increase with the accumulation of the alloy process and data. This was most obvious from the analysis of the failure records. As time went by, there was a tendency to reduce the damage caused by non-human factors.
So even if the people on the front line complained, the people in charge of management could just count the transportation volume. As long as their brains were not clipped by the door, it was impossible to go back to the old way. In this situation of internal digestion of the initial production capacity, the automobile manufacturing and R&D center received the first external order. It came from the Jialong Chamber of Commerce, a branch other than Ruan Wenyue ordered ten trucks and a matching tanker.
The reason why this order was considered an external order was because under the leadership of Ruan Wenyue, he ruthlessly extorted a sum of money from his distant relatives. Without hesitation, without mercy, as if he wanted to clear out the accumulated resentment in the past.
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