A new two-wheeled carriage pulled by a single horse is trotting on the road from Bairen to Piashan. This is a two-wheeled light carriage, the latest product of the vehicle factory, modeled after the Hensmei carriage from the 1860s.
"Dongfeng". Single drive, two seats. Because it is a two-wheel structure, the front car part is omitted. The body structure is simple. It is equipped with single-axle 60-inch 16-spoke hardwood wheels. The axle is made of steel and equipped with ball bearings. Leaf spring shock absorbers
, iron frame, wooden body. Equipped with foldable hood: there are two configurations, luxury sheepskin or cowhide, ordinary oilcloth; equipped with fixed lights and foot-operated turn bell.
One of the main reasons for making Dongfeng prototypes is that some people want to market horse-drawn carriages as luxury goods; another reason is that some senior officials began to feel that riding bicycles to work was not interesting enough, and wanted to build a horse-drawn carriage as a "official vehicle" to show their prestige.
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Li Chiqi knew that using a carriage as a "bus" was a no-brainer at this stage - as far as the most basic element of horses is concerned, Nick couldn't even think of getting a horse in his hands - the horse is now the only one that can be used as a "bus".
The "Second Masters" other than the elders can be allocated for military and agricultural purposes, but are not allowed to be used. As for Si Kaide, Hong Huangnan and others' plan to sell a group of people as sheep in the Ming Dynasty, it is difficult to say whether it will be possible.
There was a market. However, the manufacture of purple electric modified cars, gun carts and ox carts had faded away. He pretended to be confused and expressed his willingness to undertake this trial production task. At the very least, it could be used by Guo Yi, who was about to return to Guangzhou.
In the end, the vehicle factory produced a carriage under the guidance of Hong Huangnan, the former 4S shop owner and now the chief staff officer of the Military Affairs General Logistics Command - Hong Huangnan has a special liking for carriages and has collected countless pictures and information.
Especially the line drawings of various types of carriages which are very rare. Dongfeng's manufacturing mainly relied on the information he provided.
Although Hong Huangnan insisted on calling it Mercedes-Benz, Li Chiqi thought that this name should be reserved for the later luxury models, so he called it "Dongfeng" after "Hongqi".
"Shouldn't Dongfeng be used for ox-carts or heavy-duty horse-drawn carriages?" Hong Huangnan, who was confused when looking at the hand-made "Dongfeng" in the vehicle workshop, said she couldn't understand.
"China's first car was also called Dongfeng, and it was made by hand. Let's use this name to bring good luck to our car."
"It's better to call it Geely." Hong Huangnan said bitterly.
"No matter what it's called, this car looks really good." Li Chiqi said sincerely, "Let's go for a ride! Give it a test drive!"
"We have to find a horse first."
Now all the horses and donkeys in Lingao are in the pasture in the mountains, even the army horses are no exception. They must be returned to the pasture immediately after training. This is Nick's rule, in order to ensure that the horses are fully cared for and get as much as possible
For breeding. Fortunately, Hong Huangnan knew that a batch of trophy horses from Qiongshan had recently been sent to Gaoshanling, so he conveniently intercepted one halfway and declared that he would send it to Gaoshanling himself.
These were a group of Mongolian horses, which were very docile. After Li Chiqi harnessed the horses, he found a driver to drive the cart, and the two of them rode to Piye Mountain.
The road from Bairen to Piye Mountain has completed road hardening and supporting projects. The carriage ran smoothly on the cinder-paved road without feeling bumpy at all. This made Hong Huangnan feel that there is great hope for mass production -
He plans to use this thing to empty the pockets of wealthy people in Guangdong.
Less than 3 to 4 kilometers west from Bairen City, we encountered the first traffic intersection. In the middle of the road, there were horses, watchtowers and sentries. The entire Gaoshanling area is now under the direct control of the Senate.
Green Zone - all the original indigenous villages in this area have been relocated except for Damei Village, which was established by the elders. Aboriginals and naturalized people are not allowed to enter this area without a specially issued "Green Zone Pass"
Area. A company of the security battalion is responsible for guarding this area.
Their carriage passed the first checkpoint smoothly, then the second and third. On the road and on the hillside, soldiers from the guard battalion could be seen patrolling from time to time.
"This place is really heavily guarded!" Hong Huangnan exclaimed in surprise, "It's even more guarded than around Bairen City!" This was his first time going deep into the Gaoshanling area.
"Of course, this is the lifeblood of the Senate." Li Chiqi had participated in the "Prometheus" operation, so he was not surprised by the heavily guarded situation here. Not only is there a pasture, there is a meteorological observatory, and there are plans to
The elders' resort, and more importantly: this is the location of the great library and stc - the archive of the original standard equipment templates.
Hong Huangnan did not understand the true meaning of the lifeblood of the Senate and thought he was talking about horses. He nodded and said: "Animal power is a big bottleneck - it is needed everywhere in the military and agriculture. If you want to sell carriages to the mainland, you have to give them to customers.
Solve the problem of supporting horses. I don’t know how many horses Nick has?”
"We must have one or two hundred horses." Li Chiqi said casually, "We will be at the ranch in a while."
Horseshoe Dede, the road network in the restricted area of Viya Mountain has been formed, with various bridges, road signs and drainage ditches complete. Street trees have also been planted. It is very comfortable for carriages to drive on it. Along the way, there are very few pedestrians on the roadside.
, but from time to time you can see various buildings on the hillside and among the woods.
"I didn't expect the Executive Committee to hide so many things here!" Hong Huangnan was greatly surprised. As the chief logistics officer, he had been to Xihangling when the Xihangling Fort was completed. He didn't expect that it would take more than a year to get here.
It will become so mysterious.
"Haha, you are the chief logistics officer. Don't you know there are many military facilities hidden here?"
"I am an 'unreliable' person. I am just the chief staff officer." Hong Huangnan complained, "There are so many logistics plans organized by me on my desk, many of which are just code names. I simply don't care about them."
I don’t know where the work will be carried out.”
Li Chiqi said: "I don't know the details very well. But the army did set up several secret facilities here."
"It can't be that the atomic bomb is hidden."
"That's not the case."
As he spoke, the carriage arrived at Nick's ranch.
This ranch is just southwest of Tutu Ridge, the main peak of Piye Mountain: there is a small ridge here called Mopan Ridge. Mopan Ridge is made up of two layers of overlapping circular flat-topped ridges, shaped like a Mopan. The mountains here are gentle and the trees are not dense.
After reconstruction, it became a good place for mountain pasture. Now, including several valleys at the foot of the mountain, it has been included in the scope of the pasture.
Li Chiqi said: "We are at Castle Mountain." Then he reminded Hong Huangnan, "When you talk about horses later, you must not use a contemptuous or casual tone."
"I understand, I understand, he is a madman." Hong Huangnan nodded repeatedly and asked, "This place is called Castle Mountain? It seems a bit like it."
"Haha, this is called Mopanling. It's more like a bunker. This is the place known as 'Nick's Castle'. He is the local emperor here."
The carriage stopped in a square in front of the ranch gate. Hong Huangnan got off the car and looked around. The scenery here was beautiful. The winter sun shone on Piye Mountain, and the saplings of the economic forest and windbreak forest newly planted last spring were swaying in the breeze. The white trees were swaying in the breeze.
The mist has just dissipated. Although it is winter, the mountains are still lush with vegetation. On the pastures on the hillside, horses are scattered in twos and threes, grazing and running leisurely. Some mares are even bringing their newly-born foals.
Feed crops that horses like to eat are grown in the valley, the corn has just been harvested, and alfalfa is planted in the fields. Several fermentation towers for fermenting green fodder stand. At the bottom of the hillside are stables with tall pointed roofs. A windmill is slowly turning.
It was turning slowly, and you could vaguely hear the sound of water flowing. Hong Huangnan felt that the scenery here was a bit like a foreign ranch.
A young man wearing a farmer's uniform was stirring something in front of the warehouse. On the ground was a large wooden basin, which seemed to be a mixture of herbs and water. Yang Guogui was guiding beside him: "Mix it vigorously! Otherwise the horse won't be able to eat it!"
Beside them, there were many covered wooden basins and wooden barrels, emitting the smell of herbs and chemicals.
Yang Guogui came here to treat horse diseases. Horses are very delicate and easily suffer from various diseases. Immediately after notifying the ranch of the arrival of a large number of seized horses, Nick invited Yang Guogui to ask him to
Prepare various common horse medicines in advance and prepare to start treating these trophies as soon as the horses arrive.
"This carriage is beautiful enough!" Yang Guogui looked at the Dongfeng carriage, "Where did you get your horses?"
"It's borrowed." Hong Huangnan said, "Qiongshan is repatriating officers and soldiers, and the horses and livestock they surrendered are being organized to be transported to Lingao. I will borrow one to try out the carriage first."
Before the officers and soldiers who "peacefully evacuated" from Qiongshan boarded the ship, they handed over a large amount of loot in accordance with the provisions of the treaty. It was his job as the logistics director and staff officer to organize the transfer.
"Nick is going to get rich now." Yang Baobao said and called out to the boy who was stirring hard, "Shengbao! Go and call your master!"
Sheng Bao hurried over, and soon called Nick over from the stables who was washing the horses. Nick was wearing torn overalls, holding a towel on his head, with grass stems hanging on his head in random directions. His sleeves were rolled up.
The elbows and both arms were red with water.
"What? Just a horse?" Nick was disappointed and asked, "Where did the carriage come from?"
"We will rush to the ranch one by one from tomorrow," Hong Huangnan said, "Don't worry. Not a single horse will be missing."
"I'm very worried!" Nick said, "I'm afraid the people driving the horses rarely have experience in taking care of horses, right?!"
"They were all groomsmen in the past..."
"These grooms only know how to work, but they don't know how to care for the horses!" Nick pulled off the towel on his head and squatted on the ground, "If I had known better, I should have gone there myself!"