In fact, all the parts of this four-wheeled carriage had been made yesterday. According to the original plan, the assembly was to be completed this morning. However, it was obvious that everyone in the manufacturing bureau had given Yan Liqiang a surprise without telling him. It was estimated that many craftsmen quietly got up in the middle of the night yesterday and assembled this four-wheeled carriage.
Looking at the expectant and joyful eyes around him, Yan Liqiang felt warm in his heart. Under the gaze of everyone, Yan Liqiang suppressed his excitement and walked towards the four-wheeled carriage with some dazzling and mysterious light.
The black carriage was grand and luxurious, exuding a sense of grace and calm. Yan Liqiang walked to the side of the carriage, and his shadow was reflected on the shiny black door panel. Yan Liqiang gently stroked the black door with his fingers, and the door felt solid, delicate and shiny, and very textured.
The sterling silver vine-carved handle is on the door, which looks simple and elegant. The sterling silver handle matches the black door and carriage, with a clear black and white contrast, which is particularly visually impactful. Under the carriage door, there is a hardwood pedal with brass edging for easy getting on and off the carriage, which is very user-friendly and thoughtful.
Yan Liqiang did not go up immediately, but walked around the carriage, carefully looking at every detail on the four-wheeled carriage.
The coachman of the carriage sits in the front of the carriage, where there is a special seat for the coachman. Compared with the low and curled sitting posture of the coachman in a two-wheeled carriage, the position of the coachman on the four-wheeled carriage is very comfortable. He can sit in his seat with his chest out, back straight and head held high. From a sensory point of view, it gives people a feeling of being superior and upright.
On the carriages on both sides of the driver's position, there are two copper lantern lampshades. At night, when people need to travel at night, they can put the lanterns inside the two lampshades to illuminate the road ahead. The lanterns of traditional two-wheeled carriages are just casually placed in front of the carriages without such careful attention to detail.
The two front wheels of the carriage are slightly smaller than the two rear wheels, which makes it easier to turn when running, reduces the turning radius of the carriage, and looks very elegant. The two front wheels are fixed on independent frames, and the front and rear frames are connected together on the chassis of the carriage by a sturdy and flexible metal bogie.
Turning to the other side of the carriage, you can see a strange LOGO in the upper right corner of the carriage door. It is a fist-sized pure silver hollow metal plate inlaid on the carriage. The shape of the metal plate is the same as the dragon and tiger totem trademark of Yan's swords. The simple lines of the tiger and the flying dragon are connected end to tail and circling in a circle. Before, the craftsmen of the manufacturing bureau did not understand why Yan Liqiang insisted on putting such a "signboard" on the car, and Yan Liqiang did not explain it. Anyway, they will understand it when the time comes.
At the rear of the carriage is the luggage compartment, which is divided into two parts. One part is like the trunk of a car, with a lid and a flat space under the lid, which can be used to store valuables. There is a brass lock on the outside of the lid, which can be locked and opened with a key, which ensures its safety and privacy. If there are more gifts, they can be placed on the roof, just under the coachman's seat, which also has a storage space.
At this moment, Yan Liqiang's heart was filled with amazement. He was truly impressed by the craftsmanship of the craftsmen in the manufacturing bureau. Those craftsmen perfectly turned what he drew on paper into real objects. The exquisiteness and detail were far beyond Yan Liqiang's imagination.
The aura and class that this carriage exudes in the eyes of everyone at this moment is so powerful that even the Rolls-Royce that Yan Liqiang rode in his previous life cannot compare to it.
After walking around the carriage, Yan Liqiang nodded repeatedly. Then, he came to the door on one side of the carriage and pulled the pure silver door handle. With a "click", the door of the carriage was opened. He stepped on the pedal under the door and walked into the carriage gracefully. Then he waved to Qian Su, who came over and stepped on the pedal to get on the carriage.
The carriage was spacious and bright, with shiny wooden floors. There were two seats facing each other at the front and back ends of the carriage. Yan Liqiang had leatherworkers and carpenters work together to make those seats. They were wooden benches similar to long chairs, covered with the best suede, and underneath the suede was a mixture of cotton and coarse linen. They were very comfortable to sit on, with the right amount of hardness and softness. The width between the two rows of seats allowed Yan Liqiang to cross his legs or lie down like Ge You in the carriage.
The carriage has two windows on each side of the seats, and the outermost layer of the windows is a mosaic window made of glazed glass. There is a slide rail under the window that can slide back and forth and lock. When it is opened, you can see the scenery outside the carriage, and when it is closed, privacy can be guaranteed. At the same time, inside the glazed mosaic window, there is a layer of light-transmitting gauze and a layer of completely blackout curtain, which can be pulled up as needed.
The carriage is full of exquisiteness. Everywhere that can be touched by hand, in addition to the shiny wood and leather, there are only shiny silver or brass components and decorations.
Qian Su, who was sitting in the carriage, also raised his head and looked around at the structure of the carriage. His eyes were filled with amazement. Even though it was not the first time Qian Su had seen the inside of the carriage, he still could not hide his surprise. Qian Su touched here and there, and even opened the storage compartment under the seat of the carriage, then closed it again and nodded. "You can still put some things here, such as a longbow and a few swords!" Qian Su said, and opened a storage compartment next to his seat that was connected to the carriage. "But what can this movable storage compartment here be used to put? I feel that this compartment seems a bit big..."
"This place can be used to store wine!" Yan Liqiang blinked and gestured with his hands. "Wouldn't it be wonderful to sit in the carriage and drink while looking at the spring and autumn scenery outside? If you want, you can also customize a freezer here to cool down the carriage in the summer. It's no problem to drink iced sour plum soup while sitting in the carriage. What do you think of this, Uncle Qian?"
Qian Su sighed and smiled bitterly, "Although I claim to enjoy life, compared to you, Li Qiang, I feel like I have lived in vain in the first half of my life. I really don't understand what's in your head that you can even think of a carriage like this!"
"Hahaha, if Uncle Qian likes it, we can ask the craftsmen in the manufacturing bureau to make another one right away. Then Uncle Qian can take his confidante and ride around freely in the carriage!"
Qian Su laughed loudly, "Not bad, not bad, you understand me!"
"Let them put the horses on and run two laps!"
"That's exactly what I was thinking..." Qian Su waved outside the window, and immediately someone brought two rhinoceros horses over and drove them onto the carriage.
It is worth mentioning that even when the horses are being driven, the four-wheeled carriage remains stable and motionless, which is completely different from the two-wheeled carriage that needs to be moved when driving and unloading the horses, causing the carriage to tilt forward and backward. At the same time, the harness of the four-wheeled carriage is also movable and very light, and can be flexibly connected with varying numbers of horses using belts. One horse, two horses, three horses, or even four, five, or even ten horses are no problem.
In the current situation, the two horses are a perfect match!
As soon as the horses were harnessed, Hu Haihe volunteered to sit in the front driver's seat. He shook the reins, and the four-wheeled carriage slowly moved on the small square. When the horses pulling the carriage turned, the two smaller front wheels of the four-wheeled carriage also turned flexibly, very lightly.
When they saw the carriage turn, the crowd exclaimed in amazement.
Yan Liqiang and Qian Su had a different feeling sitting in the carriage. The ground of this small square was not actually flat, but after the carriage started moving, the vibration on the ground was transmitted to the carriage. After being filtered and buffered by the two pairs of springs on the chassis frame of the carriage, it was reduced by more than half. In this way, sitting in the carriage felt particularly stable and comfortable. Such stability and comfort were naturally inferior to the sedan that Yan Liqiang sat in his previous life. The two were not on the same level at all. However, compared with the most common two-wheeled carriage in the world, the comfort of this four-wheeled carriage equipped with spring buffer devices was already amazing.
After running a few laps, Yan Liqiang asked Hu Haihe to stop, and he and Qian Su opened the car door and got out.
"This four-wheeled carriage was built by everyone together. Don't just stand there and watch. Come and sit in it and try it out!" Yan Liqiang waved to the craftsmen around him. Suddenly, everyone gathered around excitedly. Everyone began to line up according to their social status to try to experience the comfort of the four-wheeled carriage. Even the driver's seat had a lot of people who wanted to try it out...
This four-wheeled carriage was built by everyone working together, but looking at the final product in front of them, even the few craftsmen who made it could hardly believe that this was something they had made.
Yan Liqiang and Qian Su stood at the edge of the small square, watching the lively and happy scene in front of them with a smile.
"What is the production cost of this carriage?" Yan Liqiang asked Qian Su while watching the lively scene with a smile.
"Excluding labor, the production cost of this carriage we just calculated is 78 taels and 7 qian of silver!" Qian Su quickly gave a number.
"Well, even if it's 80 taels, that's not bad, about what I thought. I originally thought it would take about 100 taels..." Yan Liqiang nodded with satisfaction.
"If you were to sell this carriage, what price would you set, Li Qiang?"
Yan Liqiang stretched out a slap...
Qian Su was stunned. "500 taels?"
"Haha, Uncle Qian, you are still too kind..."
Qian Su took a deep breath and widened his eyes, "Could it be 5,000 taels?"
"Uncle Qian, you have to believe that there are many people in this world who don't like cheap things. If this unique four-wheeled carriage is sold cheaply, they will look down on it and feel that it is not worthy of their status. So the 5,000 taels I mentioned is just the starting price. The subsequent prices can be configured with different things according to the needs of the customers, and may even go up!" Yan Liqiang smiled slightly.
"So how are you going to sell it?"
"We don't need to sell them. We only accept customization from people of status. If they want our carriages, they have to pay 5,000 taels of silver first, and then wait in line. After we build the carriages, they can come and get them..."
"Is this even possible?" Qian Su looked at Yan Liqiang with disbelief.
Yan Liqiang smiled confidently, "Don't worry, Uncle Qian, if I say I can do it, then I can do it!"
"This... this... If we build 100 carriages a year, wouldn't it be easy to make more than 400,000 taels of silver..."
"Can our manufacturing bureau only produce 100 carriages a year?" Yan Liqiang asked, "I have observed these two days and found that many jobs in various workshops and yards have great potential for optimization. As long as we adjust the processing steps and methods, our efficiency will increase exponentially. It will not be a problem for the manufacturing bureau to produce 300 to 400 four-wheeled carriages a year. In the future, I also want Uncle Qian to invite a few craftsmen who are good at jewelry processing to the manufacturing bureau..."
"Well… "
Qian Su was about to ask Yan Liqiang how to make adjustments when a team leader guarding the gate of the manufacturing bureau quickly ran up to Yan Liqiang from a distance and handed him a red card with gold foil, saying, "Sir, a soldier on horseback just came to the gate of the manufacturing bureau. He said he was the guard of the governor of Ganzhou and brought an invitation to you..."
Yan Liqiang was stunned for a moment, then he opened the invitation and laughed, saying to Qian Su, "Ganzhou Governor Lei Sitong came to Pingxi County for an inspection and wanted to see me..."
…
ps: I wish all book lovers a happy Chinese New Year!
Ahem... Ahem... Tiger has something to tell you all here. I'll ask for a few days off from you all. From the second to the fifth day of the Chinese New Year, Tiger will accompany his wife back to her parents' home. He will be back on the sixth day and start updating as normal!
(End of this chapter)