open sea

Chapter 1046
Just as the Wanli Emperor's Ming Empire was an alternation of the old and the new, as a representative of the 'new', this characteristic of Beiyang is the most obvious.

In the vast land of the empire that spanned all the continents of the world, there is no place more strange than Beiyang in Tianjin.

Frightening black smoke is blowing here, a huge swimming monster rises from time to time in the sky, a line of soldiers on the ground wear simple and mighty uniforms and go in and out for training, the sound of gunfire, gunfire and those huge monsters that get angry after eating coal The humming and roaring sounds are mixed together to form a very impactful era picture scroll during the Wanli period.

"Bicycles are not easy to sell, Ye Shuai."

In the lobby of the Beiyang Yamen, Xu Jue picked up the teacup shyly, and complained to Ye Mengxiong while blowing the petals floating in the cup: "We thought this novelty would make people like it, but now [-] bicycles are considered smashed!" I have it in my hand, and I think so...the common people can't afford it, and whoever can afford it doesn't want to serve others, so how can he use his strength to pedal the bicycle."

"I finally met a little prince who was willing to buy it. After falling back and forth seven or eight times, I finally rode comfortably and the chain broke."

Needless to say, seeing Xu Jue's chubby face full of sorrow, Ye Mengxiong felt happy for no reason.

Why?

do not know.

But what Xu Jue said was actually not good news for him.

Daming’s first bicycle was made by Beiyang and sent to the Forbidden City by Xu Jue. The design of the bicycle was sent back from Dadongyang by Chen Mu. There are also canvas saddle bags hanging on both sides. Ye Mengxiong, who knows soldiers, can tell at a glance that this thing was born for the military.

It's not difficult to manufacture. The Ordnance Bureau is basically old-fashioned in making these objects. It's nothing more than using the craftsmanship of making gun barrels to make the frame and welding them together.

Ye Mengxiong raised his hand and said to Xu Jue, "As the governor said, all the difficulties of bicycles lie in the chain."

"Ye Mou told you earlier, don't use these crooked talents. The whole world is waiting for Beiyang to come up with new things. Only you, Dudu Xu, are waiting for Beiyang to come up with novelties and ask you to sell them. You sell these things. Not open."

Ye Mengxiong is persuasive: "Instead of trying to sell the items of the Beiyang Armament Research Institute, the governor, you might as well ask Dr. Li from the Academy of Medical Sciences to prescribe some prescriptions for you to sell. The nourishing prescriptions for yin deficiency and yang fatigue are definitely better than this." Good sale."

Xu Jue is also interesting. In Ye Mengxiong's eyes, Xu Jue is not short of money. On the contrary, he can be regarded as a wealthy official in Beijing. After all, he can hold both Feng Bao and Zhang Juzheng under the feet of the emperor. Not many, he is the most capable person.

Usually it’s pretty normal, most of the time when I come to Beiyang is for business, sometimes I’m a lobbyist for other generals, order some military equipment, ask Ye Mengxiong to make a small opening within the scope allocated by the imperial court, dial a few more guns and other small things Well, Ye Mengxiong is a person who stretches out his hand and doesn't smile. After all, the court also needs Xu Jue's help to speak, and he never loses face.

Sometimes I want some rare objects, for example, I want to make a fine-crafted bird gun or hand gun to give away, and I always bring precious animal bones and jade materials to register, and I never make any excessive demands.

Only this time, the bicycle that Ye Mengxiong sent to the Forbidden City was almost the result of the efforts of the Third Armament Factory of the Ming Dynasty. It cost close to 500 taels to make one bicycle, and Xu Jue asked for twenty bicycles when he came to the door.

The cost of 500 taels is an imaginary number. In fact, the cost of bicycles is not so exaggerated, but it cannot support labor.

The cost of the frame is very low, and there are only five gun barrels. Regardless of tube forming, drilling, welding, etc., it is very easy for Beiyang to make military weapons. The iron sheets and iron shaft parts are made by each household; the high-strength steel sprockets are made by Xuanfu, and the remaining steel spokes and other things are made by Beiyang.

Shipping and man-hours cost the most.

In terms of transportation and working hours, one car was sent to the Forbidden City, and Xu Jue's twenty cars were actually so many.

In the end, before the bicycle was put into normal use, Ye Mengxiong used it to make money on Xu Jue.

"No, Ye Gong don't want to prevaricate Xu with those words." Xu Jue's expression was very strange, not at all like the sullen anger of losing someone outside and coming back to find a place, he raised his hand with a very real and rare force Zuo Huiyan said like a torch: "Bicycles will definitely sell thousands or tens of thousands of bicycles in the future. Xu will definitely not be wrong if he sees this."

"Now the cost is high because Daming has no experience in making such small objects. Casting is not easy, and forging takes a lot of time. It is difficult to rely on new things. Xu knows that Ye Gong's Beiyang, the former fan Xu earned a lot of money from him, right?"

Xu Jue smiled, his eyes almost narrowed into a line, but he was carefree: "Chen Shuai doesn't always like to send some money to others, saying that he encourages research. Xu doesn't have as much money as him, but it's just 1 taels— —I can afford it."

Ye Mengxiong said in his heart: How does Fatty Xu have more confidence in bicycles than me, an important minister of Beiyang?

"It is true that thousands of bicycles will be produced in the future, but they are mainly used to equip the army. Its speed is not slower than horses, and it does not eat grass. Chen Shuai mentioned in his letter that it is of great benefit to marching and fighting. A wholeheartedly encourages research."

"But it's on the market... Xu Dudu also said, this man, if he doesn't serve people, he will serve others. Scholars and peasants, those who have money and status ride horses and sedan chairs, and those who have no money and no status ride donkeys and drive carts. Willing to work hard."

Ye Mengxiong chuckled, and immediately said to Xu Jue: "However, Dudu Xu followed the encouragement of the commander-in-chief, and it has achieved initial results. The chain will break if it can't bear the force. Beiyang has found the reason. It is because of the cast iron pins at the connection of the chain. The strength is not enough to break, so we made a machine that presses the steel sheet into a ring, puts it inside first, and then fixes it with iron pins."

"In this way, the intensity is greatly increased, and it is not bad for the flag army to ride for eighty miles."

As soon as the words fell, Xu Jue applauded and said, "Look, that's right!"

"Just now Ye Shuai said that this car is only used in the army, and the people don't want to use it, but Xu thinks it's not the case. Iron horses are good because they don't eat grass. According to the commander-in-chief, when they are old, they only need to put some oil on them, or they can use them. It’s just mending the wheels, how much money can I spend that year?”

"It's true that scholars ride sedan chairs, warriors ride horses, and even farmers can ride cows and donkeys, but Ye Shuai ignored the workers who gathered in Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Tianjin Wei and Xuanfu!"

"If you raise a donkey, this animal will eat you three thousand catties of fodder a year. The workers have no land, so they can just buy the fodder, not to mention buying the livestock. The fodder alone costs more than three taels a year, including the purchase of livestock. What's more, most of them live in dormitories without stables to raise livestock, and after a year of hard work, they have to spend three months' wages to support donkeys, so don't workers have to go anywhere?"

"If the cost of this bicycle can be reduced to [-] taels or even [-] taels, and it can be used for two or three years, my Ming Dynasty has more than [-] workers today? And there are more and more, Ye Shuai calculates it himself."

As Xu Jue said, he clapped his hands again, picked up his teacup, leaned back and took a sip, and said, "How many iron horses can we sell in the future?"

(End of this chapter)