Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 8: You don’t even know how to use compressed air?
Hunter didn't believe Zheng Yi's statement at all. He snorted coldly, "A mere Chinese dares to claim to understand mechanics. What a joke."

Zheng Yi: “I can’t say I understand it, but if it’s just a general undergraduate field, I think I should still be able to be a teacher and teach it.

On the contrary, you, a Cambridge genius, why did you come to the Far East to work for someone? Are you a graduate or a dropout?

"you……"

This actually hits the nail on the head for Hunter. In this era, Cambridge is actually not as difficult to get into as it is in later generations. After all, even in the UK, there is no universal education. For British citizens with a slightly better-off family background, getting into Cambridge is not a particularly difficult thing.

However, it is a bit difficult to graduate from Cambridge.

It is indeed unlikely that a serious Cambridge graduate would come to Kuala Lumpur, a place they considered to be a wilderness, to work for Li Xiaoshi, a Chinese.

Li Xiaoshi was not some local tyrant in the Far East, he was just an ordinary capitalist.

As the saying goes, don't hit someone in the face, don't expose someone's shortcomings when scolding him. Zheng Yi's seemingly unintentional words actually made Hunter blush and feel as if he was steaming.
If times hadn't changed and he wasn't a noble, he might have taken off his gloves and thrown them to him, inviting him to a duel.

As the host, seeing the two men so hostile upon meeting, Li Xiaoshi immediately tried to smooth things over. He stood between them and said, "Hunter, Brother Zheng, what are you doing? You're both my friends. Academic exchange is a refined affair. Why get so angry?"

As he spoke, he took one of their hands and pulled them into the office.

Even if we have to fight, we shouldn't do it in public. We are all decent people, so don't act disrespectful.

"Hmph! He's just an ordinary mechanic. I don't want to bother with him."

After arriving at the office, Hunter still looked indignant. In fact, the machine that Zheng Yi repaired that day was the one he was responsible for its routine upkeep and maintenance.

If it was just about repairing the machine, Hunter wouldn't have such a big opinion of him, but it's outrageous that this lowly piglet actually dared to say that it was his improper maintenance that caused the machine to keep breaking down?

Do you still dare to say that the machines of their great British Empire are not as good as Germany's Siemens?
Therefore, when he came, he had already made up his mind that today he must let this ignorant piglet know how powerful he is. He must humiliate him and make him apologize to the great British Empire.

"You sharp-tongued fellow, it's a pity you don't know that when it comes to mechanics, if you don't have any real skills, just talking nonsense will make people laugh."

Hunter pulled out a roll of blueprints from his bag and handed it to Zheng Yi, saying, "It's no use just knowing how to repair machines. This is called a mechanical drawing. Can you understand it? Can you recognize what it is?"

As he spoke, Hunter sneered disdainfully.

He's just a Chinese piglet, how could he possibly know...

"A sand casting production line? Oh, you're washing tin sand, right? Brother Li, you also have a river mine."

The mining of tin is very similar to that of gold. Tin ore is dug in the mountains and tin sand is dug in the river. All you have to do is put the tin sand into the machine, mix it with water, and stir it continuously in a long waterway. The heavier tin sand will sink and the lighter sand will be washed away with the water.

The production line couldn't be simpler. In fact, in the early 20th century, almost all production lines were things that could be understood at a glance.

Although his major is chemistry and mechanics is only a minor, this kind of thing is really clear to him at a glance.

This is not even the level of a junior college, but the level of a technical secondary school.

Hunter: “…………”

how is this possible! !
How could he, a Chinese, know about sand washing machines?
You should know that so far, almost all the tin mines in Kuala Lumpur that have been equipped with large machines are in the mines, and there is not a single such machine in the river mines!
If this machine can be put into use, it will be the first sand washing machine in Kuala Lumpur.

How did he, a Chinese, recognize it?

Does China have such high-end products?
Li Xiaoshi's eyes lit up, and he thought to himself that Brother Zheng was indeed not fooling around, so he asked, "Brother Zheng, what do you think of the design of this machine?"

Zheng Yi: "Not very good, to be honest it's pretty bad. Could it be designed by Mr. Hunter? It looks like it's at the level of a technical secondary school at best." Li Xiaoshi: "......"

Do all technical people speak so directly?
Can't you just speak Chinese? Why do you have to say such ugly words in English?
Hunter was completely furious. He ignored Li Xiaoshi's attempts to pull him back and almost pounced on him. His face flushed and his neck thickened as he yelled at Zheng Yi, "Fuck! Fuck! Tell me clearly where the rot is! If you can't explain it, I'm going to duel with you today!"

Zheng Yi didn't panic. He directly took out the blueprint and said, "Did you really make this, Mr. Hunter? I took a quick look and saw that your production line actually requires more than a dozen motors? Is each sanding rod equipped with a dedicated motor to move them? Isn't this... a bit of a waste?"

"What do you know? What do you know? This is the only way to ensure the smooth operation of the foundry. Each module is independent of each other, so it doesn't require too much voltage."

"But according to your design drawings, these motors are connected in series. Wouldn't the resistance be very large?

And since they're connected in series, what's the point of having separate modules? If one breaks, they all break, right? And with so many connected in series, it's likely to break easily."

"You...you...what do you know? This is a foundry. It's located by the river, far from the power plant, and we have to generate our own power. If we connect them in parallel, there are too many loose wires. If they get wet, they're more likely to break, and it could also be a safety hazard."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Yi couldn't help but roll his eyes to the sky.

It is basically certain that Hunter is just a mediocre person. Not to mention any cutting-edge technology, his basic skills are not even up to standard.

"It's not impossible to build a parallel circuit near the river, and besides...why do we have to use electricity?
"Using a motor to drive the joystick—what's the idea? You know this is in the river. Not only will it break easily, but won't it overheat over time? And it consumes a lot of electricity. How many watts of generator do you need?"

"Huh, if it doesn't use electricity, then what do you want to use?"

"Haven't you considered using compressed air?"

"Compressed air? Steam? Humph, kid, this is the electrical age. Steam is an outdated technology from a long time ago."

Zheng Yi: “…………”

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Zheng Yi took out a pen and started drawing on Hunter's design drawing.

"What are you doing! You bastard repairing a machine!"

Zheng Yi calmly asked, "Have you heard of an air compressor, Mr. Hunter?"

"Air... compressor? Isn't that the thing used to inflate car tires?"

"Since it can be used to inflate car tires, why can't it be used to push a sand turning pole? Besides, how many years have you been back to Europe? It's a bit too backward."

Hunter: “…………”

Zheng Yi: "Mr. Li, there's a company in Sweden called Atlas Copco. If I remember correctly, they already have a relatively mature and practical air compressor. If you have any connections, you could ask if you can buy some. Sweden and the UK... I think the relationship is pretty good."

Zheng Yi remembered that compressed air had been widely used during World War II. How many years was there before World War II? So if nothing unexpected happened, this thing should have already existed and was mature.

As he spoke, Zheng Yi removed all the small motors on the design drawing and replaced them with pneumatic valves and connecting air pipes. He even specially drew the mechanical structure of the pneumatic valves and starting rods.

"Look, it's very simple. This is the air pipe. Compressed air blows through the pipe, pushing open this valve, which drives the rod and makes it move. Once the air stops, the valve closes, and the rod swings back. This way, the sand in the water is stirred up."

"Using electricity can save a lot of money. Using gas instead of electricity is not as dangerous and is less likely to break down. That's great. You can give this design to the people at Atlas to see the required cubic size and pressure. Let them make it according to your requirements. They are definitely more professional than me in this area."

On the side, Hunter, who was originally blushing, stopped talking, snatched the design drawing that originally belonged to him, and looked at it very seriously.

(End of this chapter)