Prince Su Shu looked at the three cars sent to the East Palace.
These three cars are painted black, and their shapes are very different from the previous steam engine cars.
He knew that this was the first diesel engine car produced by Longchang, which had caused a lot of commotion recently.
He visually saw that the car was about five meters long, nearly three meters wide, and less than two meters high.
The car looks like a big iron box. It doesn't seem to have as much space as the previous steam engine cars. I don't know whether it will be comfortable to ride in.
Prince Su Shu's face immediately darkened, and he looked at the person delivering the car.
He knew that the royal family did not have the budget to purchase cars. Where did these three cars come from?
Before Prince Su Shu could speak, Wei Zhengfang, the general manager of eunuch procurement for the palace, immediately explained: "Your Highness, this is a gift from the Queen.
The Empress used her private money to buy gifts for His Majesty the Emperor and His Highness the Crown Prince."
Prince Su Shu was relieved when he heard that it was a gift from his mother.
The Wang Medical School under the name of Queen Wang Wenjun is the largest doctor training school in the empire, and it also holds the patent rights for many drugs.
Prince Su Shu didn't even know how much money his mother had. But he knew that his mother looked down upon the tens of thousands of taels of silver coins distributed by the royal family.
These three cars are gifts from the queen mother, and they can be used as they wish without worrying about other problems.
Prince Su Shu happily received the vehicle. He looked at the full-time driver Dong Yunhan and asked: "Old Dong, can you drive this kind of vehicle?"
Dong Yunhan said confidently: "Your Highness, I can drive this new type of vehicle.
When the Longchang vehicle was being tested, I also went there to experience it.
Except for the fact that he needs to relearn gear shifting, the rest of his operations are pretty much the same as those of previous steam engine cars.”
As an officer of the Qilin Guard, Dong Yunhan drove full-time for Prince Su Shu.
When a new car is launched on the market, he must be the first to know how to drive it.
This is what he eats, how can he throw it away so easily.
The bodyguards of the main driver of the Kirin Guard united and mobilized through connections to have them go to the test track of the Longchang to learn how to drive this new type of car.
If they don't become experienced drivers, they won't dare to drive. Once they injure a noble person due to their own reasons, it will be a disaster.
Dong Yunhan was already very familiar with the car in front of him. He first opened the front cover of the car, and the diesel engine was underneath.
He picked up the crank handle beside him and pointed it at the interface in the middle of the diesel engine and shook it vigorously.
The diesel engine rotates at a speed visible to the right eye, and soon the diesel engine makes a banging sound.
A puff of black smoke came out of the exhaust pipe at the rear of the car, and the diesel engine started spinning at high speed.
Dong Yunhan closed the cover and could still hear the banging sound of the diesel engine.
He opened the door of the back seat of the diesel engine and invited: "Your Highness, please get in the car."
Prince Su Shu observed Dong Yunhan's operation and saw that he could start the diesel engine skillfully, and was very satisfied with Dong Yunhan.
The drivers in Qilinweili are learning to drive together, how could Prince Su Shu not know about it?
Even though the driver's official position may not be high, these people must be absolute confidants.
Otherwise, a car accident would occur while driving, which would affect the lives of people like them.
Prince Su Shu must have absolute control over the people around him.
It was precisely because he understood Dong Yunhan's driving skills that he could trust him to drive.
He is truly a novice. Prince Su Shu would not dare to put his life in the hands of a novice.
Prince Su Shu came to the car door. He had to bend down to get into the car.
He didn't know why the Longchang made the car so low. This was a total deduction.
Prince Su Shu sat on the car seat. This seat had springs and sufficient support, so he was not tired at all.
When Dong Yunhan saw Prince Su Shu sitting down, he closed the car door and immediately came to the cab.
Prince Su Shu praised: "This car is pretty quiet, and you can only hear a small diesel engine noise in the car.
The original steam engine was very noisy. It was okay to stay in the car for a short time, but it was a complete torment if you stayed in the car for a long time.
Today's cars can communicate inside the car without being affected too much.
As long as this situation improves, cars will definitely sell well."
Dong Yunhan agreed: "Your Highness, it is indeed the case. If the noise is lower, I will not be disturbed by the noise and can concentrate."
After he finished speaking, he asked: "Your Highness, can you start the car and where is our destination?"
"Let's drive! Take a walk on the street and experience the performance of the car.
Drive safely and don’t be distracted!”
Prince Su Shu did not have a clear goal, so he gave instructions casually.
After Dong Yunhan received the order, he immediately accelerator the car, the diesel engine made a louder noise, and the car began to start slowly.
He operated the car skillfully and drove the vehicle out of the palace.
Arriving on the street, Dong Yunhan stepped on the clutch and skillfully held the gear lever next to the seat with his right hand.
Only a few clicks of gears were heard, and the car began to speed up.
Prince Su Shu lamented: "The speed of cars has caught up with trains.
Trains also need rails to connect various places. As long as there is a road, cars can pass it, whether it is a cement road or a dirt road.
Diesel engines are really great, and with a car, traveling to various places becomes much more convenient.”
Prince Su Shu experienced the car ride and he was very satisfied with the performance of the car.
The royal family's vehicles all have unique license plates and logos, and he was seen by many people strolling around the streets in his car.
When these people saw the prince riding in a car, they suddenly became more interested in cars.
…………………………
Li Dagou, the owner of Longchang Hao, looked at the sales data of cars and three-wheeled trucks.
The car, which was priced at 9,800 taels of silver coins, has now sold 672 units.
The cheapest models of steam engine cars before the Longchang were sold for more than 10,000 taels of silver coins.
The price of the upgraded car this time does not exceed 10,000 taels of silver coins.
Mainly because of the imperial court’s tax-free policy.
In order to prevent some companies from cheating, the court has certain thresholds for tax exemption.
Li Dagou also realized that with the emergence of diesel engines, various models of cars would soon appear on the market.
Longchang has gained the first-mover advantage, so it must try its best to occupy more markets.
The reason why Longchang Hao sold so many vehicles in a short period of time was mainly because of the relationship with his father-in-law.
The Ministry of Justice purchased 42 vehicles for official use.
At first, Li Daguo just wanted to use the car for official business to show the performance of the car to the outside world.
After all, this is a huge sum of nearly ten thousand taels of silver coins.
Even for relatively wealthy families, if they really decide to spend money, they still need to think carefully.
He thought sales would slowly climb, but who would have thought that he had not yet used his connections to send the car to the palace.
His Royal Highness the Prince has already purchased a car in advance and even openly rides the car on the main avenues of the capital.
This behavior directly caused the sales of cars to soar.
There are so many rich and distinguished people in the capital that some families even purchase multiple cars at once.
They just believed in the vision of Prince Su Shu.
Li Da said happily: "Thank you Prince Su Shu for the advertisement. This kind of publicity is better than any deliberate publicity.
The Longchang car exploded, and there was no problem in repaying the bank loan."
The big stone in Li Daguo's heart was completely removed. The bank is a typical example of giving out umbrellas on sunny days and taking away umbrellas on rainy days.
This kind of official yamen is more powerful than the pawn shops of the old days.
If the money owed to the bank cannot be repaid, the family will not be able to live in peace for generations.
There is no such thing as a bank's debt being wiped out after death.
Li Daguo continued to look at the sales volume of three-wheeled trucks. It was simply terrible. The sales volume so far is in single digits.
There are no individual buyers now. The Logistics Department of the Metropolitan Governor's Office bought three units, the Ministry of People's Welfare bought three units, and the Ministry of Industry bought three units.
After these nine units were sold out, there were no more sales.
The price of a three-wheeled truck was 5,000 taels of silver coins, which was almost half of that of a car, but almost no one cared about this price.
Li Dagou knew immediately that the price must have been set too high.
Every product has a price. If the price is set low, it will be snapped up. If the price is set high, there will definitely be a price but no market.
He immediately asked people to investigate the price that the market would accept.
Li Dagou now opened the collected information.
The price acceptable to the government offices was around one thousand taels of silver coins.
The price acceptable to the common people is around 500 to 700 taels of silver coins.
Li Dagou not only wanted orders from the government, he also wanted a large number of orders from the private sector.
The production cost of a three-wheeled truck is approximately one hundred and thirty-six taels of silver coins. The greater the quantity produced, the lower the cost will be.
Even if he sells it for five hundred taels of silver coins, he can make several times the price.
Li Dagou thought of folk carriages. Horses cost about twenty taels of silver coins. A large freight carriage required at least three horses, which was sixty taels of silver coins.
The carriage of the freight carriage also requires forty taels of silver coins.
The cost of a freight carriage is about one hundred taels of silver coins.
The horses need to be fed with fodder every day, and the three-wheeled trucks need to be refueled.
However, the transportation capacity of three-wheeled trucks is much stronger than that of horse-drawn carriages.
If he can find a way to sell the three-wheeled truck without losing the profits of the Longchang, even if the price is lowered, they will make a lot of money.
This way he can pay off the loan earlier.
Li Daguo thought of a loan. He slapped the table and thought of a solution.
…………………………
There was a long queue in front of Tongzhou Kunbao Automobile Dealership.
Zhang Shan, who had a scar on his face, was queuing up when he discovered that the person queuing in front of him was his fellow villager Wang Wu.
He asked in surprise: "Wang Wu, you didn't go to the noble's house in the capital to drive a car, and you still claim to be from the capital.
Why are you returning to Tongzhou in despair now? Have you always looked down on this place?"
Wang Wu heard a familiar voice and turned around to see Zhang Shan, a man from the village.
He saw Zhang Shan also queuing up in front of Kunbao Car Dealer. They were all destitute people from the end of the world.
The anger in his heart immediately dropped, and he said helplessly: "Nobles in the capital don't ride in carriages now, they think carriages are embarrassing.
Somehow, a commercial bank launched a loan called a car loan. You only need to pay one-tenth of the car purchase price to drive the car home.
Originally it was a car that the top nobles could afford, but now ordinary nobles can also afford it.
The nobles either learn to drive themselves or choose smart young people to become drivers.
I'm an old guy trying my best to learn to drive, but the noble people don't believe in my skills.
The nobles in the capital have basically eliminated carriage travel, and I, a carriage driver, have lost my livelihood.
Fortunately, I learned how to drive. I heard that three-wheeled trucks are very popular now and you only need fifty taels of silver coins to drive the truck home.
I’m going to buy a three-wheeled truck to run around. I haven’t been fooling around in the capital in vain these past few years, and I’ve also made some connections.”
Zhang Shan's eyes widened, and the expression on his face was slightly ferocious. He smiled and said: "Wang Wu, you idiot, you think you can drive a three-wheeled truck home with only fifty taels of silver coins.
What kind of beautiful thing are you thinking about? If such a beautiful thing really exists, it can still leave us with muddy legs.
The full price of the three-wheeled truck only costs 550 taels of silver coins.
If you choose to get a loan from a commercial bank, you will have to pay back a total of 900 taels for a twenty-year loan, which is equivalent to an extra 350 taels of silver coins, which is almost half a car.
You can't default on the bank's money. Even if you die before you pay back the money, your children and grandchildren will repay the debt together, and you must pay back the money."
Wang Wu sighed: "I know, but I can't get the money.
Without a loan, I wouldn't even be able to buy a three-wheel truck."
He looked at Zhang Shan and asked, "Old Zhang, haven't you been doing business at the train station?
Tongzhou is a freight hub. The railway station transports a large amount of goods, and you haul the goods to the capital.
This is hard work, but there is work every day, why don’t you come here to buy a car.”
Zhang Shan stamped his foot vigorously and said angrily: "Because of the three-wheeled trucks, the carriages around the capital have basically been eliminated.
A three-wheeled truck can pull more than ten tons at a time, while a horse-drawn carriage can only pull two or three tons.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Even if a three-wheeled truck is fully loaded, it can run faster than a train. If a freight carriage is fully loaded, it can only walk slightly faster than a person.
A horse-drawn carriage can only pull two jobs a day, but a three-wheeled wagon can pull ten jobs.
Those people with three-wheel trucks, in order to steal business from us, directly discounted the delivery price by 30%, and they still made a profit.
You are the shopkeeper, and you are willing to hire someone who is cheap and fast.
Still willing to hire someone with high price and slow speed.
The most critical point is that the horses pulling the freight carriages must be fed fine feed, which costs at least seventeen cents of fodder every day.
A three-wheeled truck only costs 5 cents extra for gas, which is completely incomparable to the cost.
The carriages around the capital have basically been eliminated, and the elimination of carriages in other places is a foregone conclusion.
I can only choose to sell the carriage when the price of carriages has not dropped in other places.
Use the money from selling the carriage to buy a three-wheeled car.
Now that I drive a three-wheeled car, I don’t have to worry about business at Tongzhou Railway Station.”
Zhang Shan was also upset because he had just said so much to Wang Wu.
Starting from his grandfather's generation, he drove carriages for the landlords. In his generation, he encountered the change of dynasties and had his own carriage.
Zhang Shan didn't expect that times would change so quickly, and the horse-drawn carriage would be obsolete before he was completely old.
They heard the shout from the owner of Kunbao Automobile Dealer in front of them.
"Fifty taels, only fifty taels, take it home in a three-wheeled truck.
Fifty taels can't buy a freight carriage, but you can buy a three-wheeled truck. The quantity is limited, so hurry up and buy it.
As long as you buy a three-wheeled truck, the dealer will teach you how to drive for free until the church."
Zhang Shan waited for a long time and finally he was in line.
He took out the silver coins, threw them directly on the table, and shouted excitedly: "I want a three-wheeled truck. If the carriage is eliminated, the coachman cannot be eliminated."
He pressed his fingerprint on the loan deed, and the three-wheel truck next to him will belong to him forever.