When Li Yu returned to Munich, Paul Daimler and Jelinek had not yet left. They were carefully checking the condition of the vehicle, but the Porsche had already left early.
"I didn't expect you were still here." Li Yu said.
"We are about to leave too. Let's go to Vienna together, right?" Paul Daimler said.
"Vienna?" Li Yu said.
"That's right," said Paul Daimler,
"The most important R&D branch of our Daimler company is in Vienna, and the research and development work related to the four-wheel drive system is carried out there." Li Yu had previously agreed to their joint research and development and provided technical support, so he no longer refused. And it’s not too far from Munich, more than 300 kilometers.
"It's another little rally," Li Yu smiled at Lu Bicheng,
“Just in time to see the music city.”
"I know, I was lucky enough to listen to piano music once, and it was quite nice." Lu Bicheng said.
"When I went to Vienna, there was more than just piano." Li Yu said. At this time, Austria belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and was still in the same camp as Germany. Vienna was the city with the second largest German-speaking population after Berlin.
Daimler set up a branch in Vienna because Jelinek had a very wide network of contacts here. He was not only a wealthy businessman, but also an Austrian diplomat and served as the Austrian ambassador to Hungary.
Although it is only a branch, compared with those small car workshops in the United States, the Daimler branch in Vienna is not small in scale and has strong research and development capabilities.
It can be said that the center of the world's automobiles is still in Germany. It's just that when the Ford Model T comes out ten years later, it will hit the German automobile industry hard.
The production efficiency of the assembly line is really terrible. In the United States alone, nearly 400,000 Ford Model T cars can roll off the assembly line in a year.
The annual automobile production in Germany is only 20,000 units. This is the direct crushing of industrialization on the traditional European manual workshop production methods, which can be called a dimensionality reduction blow.
The most important thing is that the assembly line has led to very advantageous car prices in the United States: a Model T car can later be sold for less than 300 US dollars, while a Mercedes-Benz or Daimler sedan of the same period costs at least 1,000 US dollars.
Such a disparity in price and production capacity is not as good as that of Ford, which almost wiped out the German automobile industry.
However, it was precisely because of Ford's strong competition that Mercedes-Benz and Daimler had to merge in 1926, which is today's Mercedes-Benz.
Fortunately, Karl Benz was still alive at that time and was able to witness the historic moment. This four-wheel drive technology is suitable for German cars because the price is relatively high and can support the cost.
Li Yu already had the technical principles in his mind, and it took him a few days to complete the prototype design with Paul Daimler and Maybach.
At the same time, there was good news from Einstein. His application for a propeller shaft differential at the Bern Patent Office was approved.
Maybach said excitedly: "Sir, please let your factory in the United States supply goods as soon as possible. I really want to see what a super car that combines an electronic starting system, an advanced four-wheel drive system, and a transmission shaft differential will look like!" So Li Yu sent a telegram to Buick and Zou Zhou in Detroit, hoping that they would allocate part of their production capacity to Germany.
Zou Zhouye has completed training for the second batch of trainees, and the manpower in the factory has doubled, but it is obviously still far behind.
Fortunately, it is not difficult to recruit people. Now that young people in New York's Chinatown have seen such high incomes from joining Li Yu's factory, they are all working overtime to learn mechanical knowledge.
In order to balance the relationship, Li Yu also asked Buick to recruit some Americans into the workshop, but he required that the best of the best be selected and that female workers be accepted as much as possible.
This is rare in the United States, where discrimination against women at work is currently very common.
Buick couldn't help but sigh: "It's really puzzling to me why this person from the backward Qing Dynasty has such a high level of cultivation!" Of course Li Yu didn't care about such praise, because in his previous life, it was a common thing.
The production speed of radio equipment was still difficult to increase on a large scale, because Tesla was still unable to devote himself wholeheartedly. No matter how busy he was, he had to take his maid to Wardenclyffe Tower to study his wireless power transmission.
Just like a victim of an arranged marriage who was forced to marry with an old lover in mind... There was no other way, so Li Yu could only send another telegram to urge her.
Communication is more professional than automobiles. It is definitely a high-tech industry in the early twentieth century. The training cycle for personnel is much longer, but it is still inseparable from him.
After finishing his work on Maybach and Daimler, Li Yu decided to go to the University of Vienna to meet an old friend. An old friend I've never met.
"Dongdongdong!"
"Please come in."
"Is this Professor Boltzmann?"
"It's me, you are..." Boltzmann looked at the Oriental in front of him and murmured,
"Why, why don't you have braids?" Li Yu said with a smile, "I am Li Yu."
"Ah! Is it really you?!" Boltzmann immediately stood up from his chair. Li Yu said: "It makes people feel more refreshed if they cut off some troublesome threads." Boltzmann confirmed again: "Is it Li Yu, the scientific giant from the Qing Dynasty?"
"It's true." Li Yu said, spreading his hands. Boltzmann came over excitedly and gave him a hug.
"I am so surprised by your sudden visit!" Li Yu said, "It is indeed a bit abrupt. I originally wanted to find a formal opportunity, but it was better to choose a different date. I happened to be in Vienna and came to visit you." Bohr Ziman said: "Sit down quickly!" Then he took out some of Li Yu's papers and books: "I have read your contents carefully. Each of them is a masterpiece." Li Yu said: "Professor has won the award. ." Boltzmann said: "Although I know that modesty is your Chinese tradition, you don't have to be polite to me. If I say it is a masterpiece, it is a masterpiece." Li Yu smiled and said: "Listen to the professor."
"But you are really brave," Boltzmann picked up the newly published paper on the single-photon interference experiment.
"How dare you call waves into particles! As you say in Chinese, you have the guts to eat what you have eaten."
"It's because he ate the heart of a bear and the courage of a leopard." Li Yu took over.
"Yes! I just took the heart of a bear and the courage of a leopard," Boltzmann obviously wasn't blaming Li Yu, and then said tactfully,
"I am a person who has been around. Publishing some things will cause a lot of criticism. You are so young, and I am very worried that some academic authorities will make unfavorable remarks about you." Li Yu said, "I understand, but science is not something else. If we can’t discover new things, science has no life.”
"You kid!" Boltzmann sighed softly,
"As stubborn as I was when I was young." Li Yu was still very confident and said: "We can't let the seniors rush to the front again."
"It is indeed your young people's world," Boltzmann said.
"But your slightly weird single-photon interference paper reminds me of the time when I published the theory of gas molecules more than 20 years ago." Li Yu said: "At that time, I wanted others to believe in the existence of molecules or atoms. It should be more difficult than it is now to convince everyone of single photons." Boltzmann said: "It is indeed difficult. Everyone doubts me in every possible way, and even attacks and abuses me. But I have always believed that if I bury the gas theory because I don't like it for a while, It will be a tragedy for science; for example, the treatment of the wave theory due to Newton's authority is a lesson." Newton was definitely the top talker in the scientific community during his lifetime. He was an adherent of the particle theory, and many people who denied the wave theory People are on his side.
Of course, with the emergence of Huygens and Yang's double-slit interference, the wave theory won a great victory.
Boltzmann continued: "Although I believe you, if light is a particle, wouldn't science go around in a big circle and go back again? Is Newton really unpredictable?" Li Yu said: "Science is constantly evolving. Growth through trial and error. And admitting mistakes and moving on is also an advantage of human beings." Boltzmann shook his head and said: "I think the only lesson humans have learned in history is that they do not learn lessons." Li Yu He smiled and said, "That makes sense."
"If people sneer at you again, it's a lesson that will not be learned," Boltzmann said.
"I trust you very much, so I don't need to hide it from you. In fact, I am also a weak and small individual fighting against the trend of the times. But I still want to make a contribution within my ability. After all, once my theory is revived, in the future People do not need to reproduce these works." It must be said that Boltzmann's personality charm towards science is extremely strong.
Even if he was criticized by thousands of people, he never backed down. Li Yu said: "The professor really feels like the ancient Greek sages. The ancient Greek theories were buried for thousands of years, and when they were unearthed again, they set off a stormy wave of scientific renaissance. But I don't think we will have to wait that long now." Boltzmann said: "I hope so. I finally see a glimmer of hope in you. It's hard to imagine that we are both in backward countries, but we have the same pursuit. It's a pity that I'm old." Today's Austro-Hungarian Empire also is known as
The "Qing Dynasty on the banks of the Danube" was a typical example of being strong on the outside and cadre on the inside, with many internal contradictions. In modern history, three ancient countries were beaten: the Qing Dynasty, Austria-Hungary and Ottoman Turkey.
To be honest, although Da Qing was beaten the most, looking at the results, the other two were even worse. Austria-Hungary was divided directly into a bunch of countries.
The Ottoman Turkey was beaten to the point where only a little part of Europe was left - Constantinople, which accounted for only 3% of the total area, but still insisted that it was a European country.
In fact, we have to thank many far-sighted politicians in the early Republic of China for their efforts to maintain a unified situation. It was very difficult to achieve such results under such difficult circumstances and is very worthy of respect.
Li Yu said: "Professors must take care of themselves. The big waves in the scientific world have not really arrived yet."
"I am confident now, especially with you as a long-lasting friend," he looked at the many documents on the table.
"Even though I have to face red tape and waste time; I have to endure boring and huge paperwork every day; I have to follow ridiculous etiquette procedures that are more important than specific things; and there is no pension for professors when I retire. But now I have begun to pay attention to it. Regaining confidence in the future of science." Li Yu sighed inwardly, it was really not easy for Mr. Boltzmann.
In fact, he was a somewhat advanced person and was somewhat out of tune with the current era. Perhaps this was also the reason for his long-term mental depression and even suicide.
Li Yu suddenly remembered: "Maybe the professor can ask Mr. Freund for help."
"Freud?" Boltzmann wondered.
"Yes, I remember he is in Vienna." Li Yu said.
"The one who wrote "The Interpretation of Dreams" and studied schizophrenia?" Boltzmann said. Li Yu smiled and said: "It should be said that psychoanalysis is a method of mental treatment."
"Is this...reliable?" Boltzmann said. Psychology today is far less prosperous than later generations, and there are actually even fewer people who believe in psychology.
Li Yu said: "It's so close anyway, it's better to try than to pass." Heart disease still requires heart medicine. Li Yu could only give Boltzmann some comfort, but he didn't know whether he could prevent Boltzmann from committing suicide early. , it happens that with a boss like Freud, it is always good to have an extra layer of protection.
