In mid-December, twenty miles southeast of Dengzhou, Lujiao Village.

The village does not produce antlers for deer, but because in ancient times there was a large army stationed here, and the village was surrounded by antlers and horses, hence the name.

At this time, there were more than 300 households in Lujiao Village, and it was a large village in the surrounding area. It's just that because Antler Village is far away from the official road, there are not many outsiders on weekdays.

But that changed two months ago.

After the shogunate's budget meeting, Li Congyan ordered a major construction project around the village, first building a road connecting the official road, and then building a workshop to the east and west of the village.

After a month of construction, the two workshops were quickly completed, and then officials from the Industrial Department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs entered Lujiao Village with money, food and supplies, and began to recruit craftsmen and manpower in the village. The villagers of Lujiao Village responded positively, and most of the people in the village were tied to these two workshops, which not only allowed them to earn a considerable monthly salary, but also took care of their family's farmland, killing two birds with one stone.

The villagers of Lujiao Village are highly motivated, and the two workshops are also put into production quickly, but Li Congyan did not carry out publicity this time, from October to December, for two months, most of the businessmen in Dengzhou did not know about the existence of these two workshops.

Until this night, Li Congyan, accompanied by Wu Conghan and Li Sisheng, braved the cold wind to come to Lujiao Village.

At this time, Lujiao Village was crowded, and the village was leading a group of villagers to clean the surrounding roads, and two bonfires were lit at the entrance of the village, lighting up most of the night sky.

In addition to the villagers of Lujiao Village, dozens of heads and children of merchant families from all over Dengzhou also rushed here to greet Li Congyan and his party at the entrance of the village.

"Li Thorn History!"

With a high singing, all the merchants and the villagers of Lujiao Village stepped forward to salute, and Li Congyan turned over and dismounted, smiling and saluting everyone in return.

"You're all here! It's cold tonight, you've worked hard! ”

"It's not hard, it's not hard!"

"Li Tingshi is too polite."

A group of businessmen greeted each other politely, Li Congyan looked at the people present, and said to Li Sisheng: "It's too cold tonight, let's start now, don't let you wait too long in the cold wind." ”

"Whoa!"

I saw Li Sisheng with two entourages riding away directly, just when the merchants were puzzled, suddenly there was a sound of axles, and everyone followed the voice, only to see Li Sisheng himself driving a beautifully decorated four-wheeled carriage and stopped steadily in front of everyone.

"Li Tingshi, this is ......"

Li Congyan said with a smile: "I invited you here tonight for two sharp weapons to make money!" ”

"A weapon for making money?"

"That's right! This new type of carriage was the first piece. ”

A merchant asked, "May I ask Li Tingshi, apart from the fact that this carriage is four-wheeled, what else is special about it?" ”

"Naturally!"

Li Congyan said with a smile: "Everyone! You are all big and wealthy families, and you naturally have to travel in a carriage on weekdays. It's just that the carriages you ride in on weekdays are all two-wheeled, not only are the carriages narrow and unstable, but also very uncomfortable to ride. ”

"However, the new carriage produced by our industrial department is different, this new carriage is designed and improved by me, and the wheels of the carriage are made of eucommia glue, which is directly vulcanized on the rim to make a solid tire. After the new horse-drawn carriage is replaced with this kind of tire, the vibration and noise during driving are much reduced, and the comfort is greatly improved. You will not get tired of going out in a new carriage, no matter how long the journey is! ”

"But if you think that this is all there is to this new carriage, you are mistaken. The best thing about our new carriage is the wheel structure. ”

"You are well-informed, you should all know that nine out of ten horse-drawn carriages today are two-wheeled. This is because today's four-wheeled carriages simply assemble four wheels into the frame, and the two front wheels cannot be rotated from side to side. This four-wheeled carriage is ok to travel on straight roads. However, once turning, it is necessary to use more animals to pull hard to complete the steering, which is naturally not as practical as the two-wheeled carriage with flexible steering. Therefore, four-wheeled wagons were extremely rare at this time, and four-wheeled manned carriages only appeared on ceremonial occasions, and no one rode at all on weekdays. ”

"But the stability, comfort and carrying capacity of the new four-wheeled carriage produced by our industrial division are incomparable to the two-wheeled carriage. You may ask, how does this new four-wheeled carriage turn? ”

"Actually, this problem is not difficult at all, you only need to install the first two wheels of the carriage on one frame, the rear two wheels on the other, and the front and rear frames are connected by a vertical shaft. It's actually a combination of two two-wheelers. ”

"I see!"

"So, this four-wheeled carriage is really a good thing!"

"This is invented and improved by Li Tingshi? Li Tingshi is really a talent, admire, admire! ”

With Li Congyan's explanation, a group of businessmen suddenly discussed, and their eyes when they looked at the new carriage became different, and even many businessmen ignored the cold night wind at this time, and directly stepped forward to observe the sample car up close.

And Li Congyan's introduction continued: "And in addition to the bogie, I also added shock absorbers to the carriage. What is a shock absorber? In the past, horse-drawn carriages had two pieces of wood attached to the bottom of the carriage and the axles were tied to them with ropes. The shape of the wood resembles a crawling rabbit, so it is called a rabbit. Fu Rabbit separates the axle from the cabin, which plays a certain role in shock absorption. ”

"However, the shock absorber installed in the new carriage produced by our industrial department is different, and the two bow-shaped thin iron plates are buckled together by skilled craftsmen, and an iron plate shock absorber is completed, and it is used to replace the rabbit, and the effect is immediate!"

After Li Congyan finished speaking, Li Sisheng, who was waiting there, saw the opportunity quickly, and invited a few businessmen to get into the carriage and turn around the dirt road around Lujiao Village a few times.

Li Congyan saw Li Sisheng pulling a few businessmen to run a few laps on the spot, so he said loudly: "Everyone, please see, the carriage of this new carriage is built by the Industrial Division Wood Workshop, which can be described as airtight, and with the small piece of glass produced by the glaze workshop, it can not only transmit light, but also the cold wind in winter can't blow it in!" ”

Next to him, Wu Conghan looked at Li Congyan, who was talking, and said secretly in his heart: "Just rush to the lord with this posture and eloquence, it's strange that these businessmen don't fight to buy it!" But then again, the Lord is really capable of literature and martial arts, even if he is in business, he is far better than me! ”

In fact, where did Wu Conghan know that Li Congyan was used to all kinds of marketing methods in later generations, and today he just used some small strategies, and he has not used big moves.

At this time, a businessman asked loudly: "Dare to ask Li Tingshi, I don't know how much this new carriage costs?" ”

Li Congyan said loudly: "This new carriage is the latest product of the Antler Village Carriage and Horse Factory, and it will open tonight with a big reward, not 10,000, not 5,000, only 3,800!" Because the production is limited, you can buy first served! ”

Li Sisheng laughed directly when he heard this, and coughed several times in a row, and Wu Conghan next to him also tried his best to prevent himself from laughing. The two of them couldn't imagine that in order to increase the income of the shogunate, Li Congyan was like a businessman soliciting business at this time, and he was also very good at it.

"I want two!"

"I want it too, give me three!"

"I want one!"

Many businessmen ordered one after another, and the vehicle factory sold more than 100 new carriages overnight, laughing so much that Li Congyan couldn't close his mouth, Li Sisheng also resisted the urge to laugh, and Li Congyan glanced at each other, and the two nodded tacitly.

This kind of new-style carriage looks very tall, but the manufacturing cost is only more than 300 yuan, and now the price is 3,800 yuan, and it can still be sold so much after a tenfold increase, how can Li Congyan not laugh.

But then again, there is a history of Dengzhou assassination and the current prince soliciting in front of him, where will these businessmen not give face? What's more, this carriage is indeed a good thing, so naturally it will not be sold.

After the businessmen and the officials of the Industrial Department had completed the formalities, Li Sisheng promised that starting tomorrow, the Industrial Department would send people to deliver the new carriages to the people's mansions one after another, and left the addresses of each family.

Next, Li Congyan took out another strange-shaped thing, stood on the carriage and held it high, and then said loudly: "Extinguish the bonfire!" ”

The villagers of Lujiao Village, who had been waiting around the two bonfires for a long time, extinguished the flames with sand, and the scene was suddenly pitch black.

The businessmen were startled, if it weren't for the fact that there were many new army soldiers guarding them, everyone would have thought it was a robbery by thieves, but they were still buzzing and shouting at this time.

"Light up!"

As soon as the words ended, one after another the lights came on, and soon the scene was re-illuminated. The businessmen looked at it fixedly, and it turned out to be a strange thing that Li Congyan had lifted in his hand.

"That thing, it's a lamp?"

"What kind of light is that? It's so bright! ”

"Look! The lamp is not afraid of the cold wind, and it will not go out even under the strong wind! ”

A group of businessmen suddenly became interested, and they all saw the value of this strange lamp, and they all asked one after another.

Li Congyan said loudly: "Everyone, please see, this kind of lamp is a horse lamp produced by the Industrial Division Lamp Factory, which is a new type of lamp that can be carried and weatherproof, and can be hung on the horse when riding a horse at night, so it is named horse lantern." ”

"If it is called a horse lamp, then there must be a saddle. The saddle is an iron barrel frame, and there is an oil dish at the lower end to hold the candle from falling, and the thin iron lid is fully sealed to keep the candle from dripping. There are two iron caps at the upper end, and there are gaps in the layers for easy air exit. In the middle is a glass cover, and there is a wire handle, which is not only windproof and rainproof, but also easy to carry......"

Before Li Congyan finished his explanation, a group of businessmen couldn't wait, and they pulled the officials of the Industrial Division to start buying them, and in a blink of an eye, the two thousand horse lanterns prepared by the Industrial Department were sold out. The horse lanterns, which are priced at a high price of 60 yuan, are so popular that even most merchants sell them directly without even asking the price.

Some businessmen who had not bought the lanterns surrounded Li Sisheng and asked if they could order a batch of lanterns in advance.

Li Sisheng smiled and agreed again and again, and ordered someone to record them one by one.

After a while, when the merchants were quiet for a while, Li Congyan said loudly: "I have you all tonight, I will set up a banquet in this Antler Village, there is wine and meat, and you will spend the night with me." Tomorrow, please promote the new carriage and windproof lanterns of the Industrial Division! ”

All the businessmen came down one after another, and together with the village leaders and villagers of Lujiao Village, they surrounded Li Congyan, Wu Conghan, and Li Si into the village. It didn't take long for the wine banquet in the village to begin, and there were constantly wine and food delivered to each room and courtyard, and the sound of staggered planning kept coming, so it was not lively.

During the banquet, Li Sisheng and Wu Conghan sat on both sides of Li Congyan on the left and right, the three of them ate and drank at the village house, and the rest of the merchants were arranged in other rooms.

Wu Conghan said with a smile: "I really admire the Lord, the Lord is even proficient in the art of the Mo family, this new carriage is exquisitely constructed, no wonder it will be sold out overnight!" ”

Li Sisheng said: "Indeed, indeed! Lord, in just this night, the vehicle factory and the lamp factory earned nearly 600,000 yuan! When the Lord wanted to invest the shogunate's only 100,000 kan in the construction of these two workshops, we still opposed it, and it seems that we were short-sighted. With these two sharp weapons, our shogunate will no longer have to worry about money and food. ”

Li Congyan waved his hand with a smile and said: "Tonight's incident is just a formality, although the vehicle factory and the lamp factory will definitely make a lot of money in the future, there will never be tonight's sales again, you must know this." ”

"Whoa!"

"Also, there are too many vacancies for the directors of the workshops of the Industrial Division, and there are too many of them to take care of Director Chen, so they can't be busy!"

Wu Conghan and Li Sisheng looked embarrassed and said, "Lord, no one! ”