Volume 1: Little Yuanba Chapter 28: Chen Sanwen Stays Up All Night
When I arrived, I saw that several heads were gathered together, thinking about the drawings.
"Why, don't you understand something?" Li Dan asked.
It turns out that everyone didn't understand the role of the middle drive shaft and how the front wheel was connected to it.
Li Dan asked for paper and pen, and explained it with drawings and notes. Later, he simply asked Chen Gang's youngest son Chen Sanwen to carve out all the parts out of cork according to the drawings and assemble them into a chassis.
Li Dan stretched out his hand and turned the steering gear. The transverse gear moved the longitudinal gear on the end of the transmission shaft. The rear wheels followed the direction and turned over. Everyone immediately said "oh" and understood everything.
"Sanlang's idea is so ingenious!" Chen Gang marveled.
He is a forty-year-old man, and the craft of making carriages was passed down from his uncle.
Now his three sons are working with him. Chen Dayong is good at mortise and tenon joints, Chen Shuangji is good at hardware, and the third son, Chen Sanwen, is ingenious, can make and carve, and is an all-rounder.
When Chen Sanwen heard that Li Dan said he learned it from Western books, Chen Sanwen became interested in learning and started asking questions around Li Dan.
"Usually it takes three to five days to build a carriage, but this is the first time I'm doing it, so it may take longer." When Li Dan asked about the time needed, Chen Gang replied.
"It's okay. If you build one or two, I will set off in ten days. If there are five or six, we will set off in thirteen days."
"Thirteen days?" Han An was surprised: "Sanlang, from here to Wannian, it takes at least three days!"
"I know." Li Dan smiled, pointed at the picture and said, "But if everyone takes the bus and leaves, it will be a long time until dawn!" But he immediately said:
"There's no rush. It's okay to have two when you set off. If there are any deficiencies along the way, I'll send someone back to tell you right away. You can make corrections in time so that the next one will be better." He said and glanced at Han An.
Han An understood what he meant and immediately said with a smile: "As soon as I took out the picture, the Chen family and his son saw the benefits. If the young master wants to become a shareholder, they will be happy to ask for it!"
"That's great!" Li Dan was very happy in his heart: "Don't worry, there are a lot of good things in the Western books. When I slowly hand them over to the third brother, we will make a lot of money."
But the brothers will settle the accounts tomorrow. I will ask Mr. Han to come over tomorrow with the contract. Let’s ask a few neighbors to be witnesses and sign a white contract first (a private contract does not have a government certification seal and no tax payment), so that both of us can feel at ease!"
The Chen family and his son were a little worried at first, worried that this little Yuanba would take the opportunity to occupy their workshop. Seeing that he was so smooth and fair, they were half relieved and said yes repeatedly.
When Li Dan arrived home that night, he first went to his aunt to tell her about the manor at White Horse Temple and asked her to make a decision. Xiao Qian heard that it was a pawn property taken over by the temple, so it was not easy for him to chant the Buddha's name and become a monk.
Li Dan frowned and thought, why is it so "difficult" for five bald donkeys to earn the rent of more than 200 acres of land?
Finally, I heard my aunt say: "I think it's enough to ask the temple to transfer the pawn sale contract to us for one hundred and thirty taels, and then give the temple ten shi of rice per year, and add one hundred catties of vegetables, fruits, and fruits as offerings."
Li Dan almost laughed out loud and quickly agreed. He thought that the contract of 300 taels, and the next words of 130 taels are not bad!
Including the sixty-five taels spent to buy the yard, there were still five taels left over the two hundred taels, just in time to buy a donkey cart. It seemed that it was not that easy for the monk to earn money from his aunt.
When he woke up the next day, Li Dan hurriedly went out. On the way, he met Li Suzheng and Li Yan, who had their hands behind their backs, talking under the screen wall of the inner door. Li Dan hurriedly said hello and passed by.
Li Yan wondered: "What is this kid busy with these days? He runs around like a cat without legs every day!"
"Third brother, haven't you heard?" Li Su looked at him with a smile and closed the folding fan in his hand: "Sanlang in our mansion was appointed as the leader of the civilian team, but he is very busy now?"
"Civil husband? Team leader?" Li Yan was stunned for a moment and laughed: "Okay, team leader! Let him go about his business, as long as he doesn't cause trouble!" Li Su smiled after hearing this and looked at Li Dan's back without saying a word.
Li Dan heard his third uncle's laughter behind him, but he didn't intend to care about it.
After this business trip, I brought everyone back safely, and with the credit for catching the thief this time, if I can get to the position of team leader or even higher in the team training, no one can bully me and my aunt.
He did not seek much, neither did he want to overthrow the dynasty, nor did he seek to be the richest in the world.
How did I come to this era? I don’t know. How can I go back and walk through it again? I don’t know.
What Li Dan knew was the later fashionable saying "living in the moment". Being able to keep his aunt and the whole family safe was the first priority. If he had the chance to bring Meng'er back, these were the two most important things in his heart!
If everything can be done, what else can I ask for? Even if he joins hands with the Han family and the Chen family to do the carriage and horse business, Li Dan goes to the capital just for the convenience of the future.
He thought: Even if he needed one hundred thousand taels of silver to atone for his sin, he would still smash open the red palace door of the Forbidden City to see the emperor and seek pardon for Uncle Chen and his family!
He saw Song Xiaoniu waiting there at the corner gate. The master and the servant went to the carriage house first.
The waiter led them into the backyard and saw someone walking around in the side room, but it was Chen Sanwen who was looking at the bicycle frame prototype (model) he had made on the table.
"Hey, third brother, you got up so early?" Li Dan noticed the bloodshot eyes in his eyes before he spoke, and couldn't help but wonder: "Have you... not slept all night?"
Sanwen chuckled and accepted it as acquiescence. Li Dan stumbled: "Why bother?"
"Aren't you in a hurry? Besides, the faster I can make this small sample, the faster my father and brother can make drawings, select materials, and start sawing, and the construction period can be shortened."
He pointed at the sample: "It's just that I didn't understand one thing. The front and rear pairs of wheels turn together, so it's no problem to move forward or backward.
But you also know that this road is not flat, especially as you go eastward and encounter rugged mountain roads.
Such a large carriage is different from ordinary vehicles. It is quite heavy. With the addition of cargo, when the front and rear are up and down, or the heights of the two sides are different, wouldn't it be more bumpy than a two-wheeled vehicle?
Even if dozens of stones of goods are loaded on it, it will be broken into pieces everywhere. How can people do business? I didn't think about how to solve this problem all night."
As he spoke, he picked up the cargo box that had been prepared next to it and placed it on the frame.
"Hey, look at it this way, isn't this a carriage? I was just wondering what it was doing."
As he spoke, Song Xiaoniu reached out and touched the front wheel. The gear mechanism drove the transmission shaft, and the rear wheels also turned in the same direction.
"Don't touch Maverick, this was done by Chen Sanlang overnight!" Li Dan's words frightened Maverick and made him make a face and quickly put his hands away.
"The third brother is really a sensible person. He can tell the problem at a glance!" Li Dan marveled. It turns out that there are people with great vision in this era.
Chen Sanwen smiled and waved his hand: "Li Sanlang deserves the award. I just watched my father and brother do this since I was a child. I am curious and like to play and figure it out on my own. How can I dare to say that I 'understand'?"
Li Dan smiled. He thought about it for a while, then suddenly reached out to pick up the carriage and looked at its bottom. He leaned over and looked at the frame for a while, and murmured:
"The terrain in the West is flatter than ours. I'm afraid they never thought that China would have so many mountains and rugged roads, so it seems that it cannot be copied and needs to be modified according to China's national conditions."
"Change? How to change?"
Without immediately answering Chen Sanwen's question, Li Dan glanced around the room and saw what seemed to be paper and pen on the table on one side. He immediately ordered Mavericks: "Grind the ink and find a piece of paper to spread out."
When Mavericks went over to perform, he pointed to the bottom of the carriage and the frame and said: "We have to find a way to install a shock absorber between the two."
"Shock absorber?"
"There are four contact points between the carriage and the frame. Regardless of the weight of the carriage, its pressure will be transmitted to these four points."
Li Dan walked to the table, picked up the pen, drew a rectangle, clicked four points and told Chen Sanwen.
Just as he was about to continue, he looked at the paper, frowned, and told Xiao Niu: "Go to the shop to get a knife of good paper, and buy some good pens and ink." Xiao Niu agreed and went out to do it.
Li Dan first started drawing on ready-made paper. He modified the original plan and simplified it by connecting the driver's seat and the front end of the carriage, and then added a shock-absorbing bow-shaped steel plate between the chassis and the axle sleeve.
"You see, each steel plate has a different size and bow force. When it is squeezed from the carriage above or the frame below, the pressure is released layer by layer, so that the purpose of shock absorption can be achieved.
If one such shock absorber is installed at each of the four points, wouldn't it take care of both the front, rear, and left sides?"
"Wonderful!" Chen Sanwen high-fived and shouted, "This solves everything. How did Sanlang think of it?"
"Where does the root of the problem come from? As long as we solve the root, everything will be solved!" Li Dan put down his pen and pointed at the explanation:
“The bumps are because the wheel bushings are directly fixed to the chassis, so the unevenness of the ground is directly transmitted to the axles and the carriage through the wheels.
So if there is some kind of design between the wheel axle, the chassis and the carriage, like a quilt to slow down this transmission, wouldn't the bumpy feeling be much less?
This is why when women go out, the coachman always lays furs and quilts in the car!
It’s just a matter of changing the form of this layer of bedding and moving the shock absorbers to the chassis.”
After he finished speaking, he asked: "Do you know what a spring is?" Seeing Chen Sanwen shaking his head, he picked up the sawdust from the ground, wrapped it around the penholder, and then stood the penholder on the table:
"You see, when there is pressure on it, it squeezes downwards. When the pressure disappears, you release it and return to its original position. You can go back and forth in this way.
If this thing is made of thick steel wire, with one end fixed to the carriage and the other end fixed to the underframe, will the people and goods on it feel like they are hanging in the clouds, and will not be too bumpy?"
"Yes, yes!" Chen Sanwen clapped his hands and shouted.
"In this way, there are shock-absorbing devices between the carriage and the chassis, as well as between the chassis and the wheel axle. Even if you are walking on a mountainous road, you will be safe!"
"What an ingenious idea!" The two of them looked back and saw Chen Gang, whose face was red with excitement and his eyes were shining. Behind him stood a smiling Han An.
Chen Gang took a step forward and said, "I had any doubts at first, but now I have no doubts.
Chen Gang admires Li Sanlang for being so talented and teaching him so much. My boss, please pay me your respects to him!"
After saying that, he bowed down. Li Dan returned the bow in a hurry, helped Chen Gang up and said:
"Since Dan cooperates sincerely, there is no reason to hide his personal interests. Don't worry, old shopkeeper, Dan will teach you everything he has. I believe that the three brothers will be able to master it very soon!" Chen Gang bowed again with great joy.
Everyone immediately went to the front and invited three or five neighbors to testify.
The three white deeds brought and copied by Li Dan confirmed the terms, and since then the place has been renamed "Xingyuan Chexing".
Li Dan pressed his fingerprints on behalf of Xiao Qian's family, accounting for 50% of the shares. The Chen family held 35% of the shares, and the remaining 15% belonged to the Han family. Chen Gang and Han An also each pressed their own fingerprints.
After having a drink and giving wedding money to the witnesses, everyone left happily. Chen Sanwen continued to work on revising his demo.
Li Dan left the car dealership and went to the Shanfang Restaurant. He called Liu Hongsheng and said, "How are you? How many people have you gathered?
Sixteen? Okay, call them all and borrow two cars to go to the county government office to load things.
Tell the eldest brother to take the meals for twenty people to the back of the City God's Temple." After that, he took the calf and left first.
Liu Hongsheng didn't know what he was going to carry to the county government, but since Sanlang said it, it should be a good thing.
Seeing that it was almost noon, I hurried to find someone, leaving two or three to help Liu Yuansheng get food, while the others went to the county government in great numbers.
When he came to the door, he saw a lot of weapons, and Song Xiaoniu stood beside him with his mouth closed. Li Dan thanked Xiao, the commander of the barracks, who was walking out and greeted everyone with a smile:
"Don't be stunned, just load it into the car and take it to the City God's Temple. This is all for us!" Everyone cheered, and even the guard guarding the door laughed.
Li Dan was also happy. Although the one hundred and twenty people were still counted as a civilian team in the end, Chief Xiao got two hundred and forty taels of salary. He from Beicheng had already obtained it. This helped Li Dan to establish his authority to some extent.
After he left yesterday, Magistrate Fan persuaded Zhao Jintang to gather the civilians from Nancheng within three days to participate in the patrol at the top of the city.
Li Dan gave Mr. Xiao an idea and said that each of the 120 people should be given a patch in front and behind each person. The word "Fu" is in the front and the word "Yu Gan" is in the back. The black characters on a white background are neater.
There is also momentum.
Mr. Xiao thought it was reasonable, so Li Dan asked him for three words, and planned to go back and find some women to make up for him.
It only costs 300 yuan to buy some white and black cloth. The women give three yuan to each person, so the total is only 700 yuan.
The important thing is that these people are distinguished from ordinary people when they have the skills. Even if they are pulled out, others will know that they are in the team, so that if they encounter bandits, they can distinguish between ourselves and the enemy.