Faced with Zhu Jingyuan's request to apply separately, Zou Bingtai was a little surprised, but he quickly understood the reason.
Then he sighed in his heart, His Highness's thoughts are really far-reaching.
It’s just that the premise of all this is that the experiment can be successful, otherwise it will just be a mess:
"His Highness has thought very carefully, so today we will patent the two solutions first. Your Highness will come back after the experiment is successful."
"Thank you Da Sikong."
Zhu Jingyuan smiled and nodded his thanks again, and then Zhu Jingyuan immediately considered that the Ministry of Industry also played a role in the "invention" of the airplane.
I only provided the ideas and direction. The specific design and production of the aircraft itself were completed by the craftsmen of the Ministry of Engineering.
Under the principle of "invent first", the inventor must create a physical object before applying for a patent. If considered according to this idea, the Ministry of Industry can even be regarded as the main inventor.
Moreover, if Mr. Zou had not given him any reminders and help, he would probably not have been able to obtain the patent for this aircraft.
In addition, the Ministry of Industry is also the competent authority for industry and patents, and I will inevitably have to deal with them in the future.
Therefore, after Zhu Jingyuan carefully considered it, he took the initiative to benefit from the ownership of the patent and distributed part of it to the Ministry of Industry.
Although even if he has it all to himself, the other party should not embarrass his grandson in the future.
But if you share the patent proceeds with the other party, you can bind the competent authority as a collaborator.
In the future, whether it is going through industrial procedures or applying for and combating patent infringement, the Ministry of Industry will be more proactive and cooperative.
So Zhu Jingyuan expressed his thoughts in a few words:
“Without the help of Da Sikong and the great engineers from the Ministry of Industry, I would not have been able to complete the design and experiments by myself.
"So the airplane should be regarded as a joint invention of both of us, and the profits should be shared with the Ministry of Industry."
Zou Bingtai immediately waved his hand with a smile:
"Your Highness is really too humble. The Ministry of Industry is just testing a large number of projects that are already being tested and adding new plans.
“For the Ministry of Industry to share profits with private inventors, both declaration and appraisal are much more troublesome than private individuals, and the collection of payments into accounts is another set of procedures.
"Moreover, hasn't this experiment been successful yet? Does His Highness now feel that this experiment will definitely succeed?
“In fact, most of the craftsmen in the engineering department don’t really approve of fixed wings, and some even compare them to perpetual motion machines.
"The reason has been stated by His Highness himself. Taking off without waving the wings is like flying a kite, but this patent requires that it can take off without wind..."
Zhu Jingyuan suddenly felt helpless. It seemed that the old man had started talking to him and started to express his inner thoughts.
Although he said it euphemistically, using the name of most of the craftsmen in the Ministry of Industry, in his heart, he probably did not think that fixed-wing aircraft could be successful.
In fact, this was also the case in history. Later generations took it for granted when they saw an airplane taking off, but people at the time couldn't understand it because the wings of fixed-wing airplanes didn't move.
After the Wright brothers' experiment appeared in the newspapers, many people still took it for granted that it was fake news to create a stunt, including the U.S. Army...
Master Zou obviously didn't want to go through a very complicated administrative approval, declaration and registration process for something as simple as this.
But Zhu Jingyuan felt that he should give it if he could.
Otherwise, if you make a lot of money in the future, most people in the Ministry of Industry will feel uncomfortable, and you will have to deal with them frequently in the future.
So Zhu Jingyuan continued to insist:
"Da Sikong, even if the Ministry of Industry does not cooperate specifically, this experiment was completed by both of us, so at least 30% of the profit must be given to the Ministry of Industry."
Zou Shangshu was obviously taken aback when he heard this, then he moved his body slightly and tugged at his fingers to reason:
"It seems that His Highness is really very confident in his idea. Let's not talk about whether the experiment will succeed or not. Your Highness, please listen to me tell you about the aircraft itself.
“Has Your Highness ever thought about what other parts are left on a fixed-wing flying machine besides the wings and rudders designed by Your Highness?
“A minimal gasoline engine plus two propellers, and then just a few steel pipes and wheels as a frame.
"So, even if this experiment is really successful, it is His Highness's two ideas, the wing shape and the control method, that have played an absolute leading role in the project.
"His Highness went out to hire two engineering college students to do the work, and then went to the market to buy materials and tools. I estimate that thirty or fifty silver dollars can solve the problem.
"Your Highness is really willing to give away 30% of the profits from the flying machine patent that you are very confident in for a mere thirty or fifty silver dollars?"
Zhu Jingyuan sighed secretly. It seemed that the other party really didn't want to go through the process for such an uncertain matter. After thinking about it for a while, he said:
"In this case, we won't sign any agreement. If the experiment is really successful, I will use 10% of the patent proceeds every year to organize an aviation industry association.
“The mission of the Aviation Industry Association is to promote and promote the development of the aviation industry and to serve as a communication platform for manufacturers and researchers.
“Relevant organizations are affiliated with the Ministry of Industry, and corresponding funds are handed over to the Ministry of Industry for management and used to organize activities of industry associations.
"The Ministry of Industry should no longer be able to shirk this responsibility of promoting industrial and technological development, right?"
Zou Bingtai's beard trembled, he nodded slowly and helplessly and said:
"Okay - Your Highness has already mentioned this, so I can only accept it, but again, we have to wait until the experiment is successful."
Zhu Jingyuan felt that Mr. Zou still didn't pay much attention to it, and he didn't realize how big the profit was.
This is 10% of the foundation of the entire industry. All aircraft production in the next twenty years will involve this patent.
What's more important is that the Aviation Industry Association, which has not yet revealed its horoscope, has unlimited future prospects.
I wonder if those officials from the Ministry of Industry in the future will be upset by the decision made by the old minister today.
However, since the other party had agreed, Zhu Jingyuan no longer struggled and quickly changed the topic:
"Thank you, Da Sikong. Let's talk about the battleship design next. Dare I ask Da Sikong, does the Ship Department have a design plan for a warship that uses fully equipped main guns for centralized fire control?"
Zhu Jingyuan finally talked about the highlight of today.
The real future of aircraft and tanks will be more than ten or twenty years later, but the future of dreadnoughts is right before our eyes.
Although, with the design, construction, and testing cycle of a capital ship, it cannot be completed within one year no matter how fast it is accelerated.
Therefore, it will definitely be difficult for the newly designed warships to affect the peace talks.
But after the peace negotiations are over, he may not have the power or qualifications to directly interfere in the design and construction of warships.
At the same time, the battleship design using two four-gun large-caliber main guns and several sub-caliber guns was almost a standard design during this period.
The fearless battleship I want is to abandon the fixed sub-caliber artillery and use unified large-caliber main guns.
This model may seem natural in later generations, but it was an extremely radical idea at the time.
Designers from the military and the Ministry of Industry cannot intuitively understand the function of this design until they directly see the effect.
The key is that the cost of capital ships is high and the construction period is long. It is difficult to make up your mind to build them if you don’t realize the role. This makes it easy to fall into an endless loop.
In the history of the British Empire, only one of the first dreadnought ships was built for testing, and the improved version was only built in batches of three.
But in the past, it was normal for traditional battleships to have five or six ships at the first level, and there were even eight or nine ships, and they were built continuously for many years.
From 1892 to 1906, 9 classes were built in 14 years, with a total of 52 traditional capital ships, an average of 3.7 ships per year.
It can be seen that the British Empire Navy at that time was also very cautious in the design of dreadnoughts, just like how everyone treated aircraft carriers in the early days.
Therefore, Zhu Jingyuan feels that if he does not take advantage of the power he has now to forcefully promote the design and construction of dreadnoughts, it may take several years before he can see mass-produced dreadnoughts.
My current forced push can make the Imperial Navy fearless a few years ahead of schedule.
As soon as the dreadnought comes out, all the original warships will be eliminated. The sooner they are completely fearless, the more resources can be saved and combat effectiveness improved.
Therefore, even if it is not needed for the time being, Zhu Jingyuan must propose it as soon as possible.
