For the time being, it wasn't realistic to install telephones in thousands of households.
Apart from that, the installation fee alone wasn't affordable for ordinary people, not to mention the monthly rent and communication fees.
The installation fee was 50 taels of silver, and the monthly rent was one tael of silver. The phone bill was 60 copper coins per five minutes, and it was counted as five minutes if it was less than five minutes.
Ren Baqian knew that this was the trend, and the future wasn't far away. It would be 20 to 30 years at most.
However, for the time being, the main targets of telephones were the court and merchants.
At the same time, there was also public telephones.
Ren Baqian was going to install public telephones throughout Dayao, including the Yun Nation and Tianjing Basin, and use them to collect copper coins.
As for the cables needed to lay telephone lines, Ren Baqian had made a lot of preparations for this.
As early as a year ago, Ren Baqian introduced a new coin, a copper-clad steel alloy coin with a face value equivalent to five copper coins.
Although countless steel rails were used to lay the railways, the price of steel was even higher than that of copper among the people.
In addition, a new decree was issued that no one could refuse to accept the new coin, and those who were reported would be fined or whipped. Therefore, after a little chaos, this exquisite new coin was introduced.
Taking this opportunity, Ren Baqian collected a large number of copper coins from the market and smelted them into cables.
However, there were still a large number of copper coins circulating in the market, and the price of copper coins even rose as he collected a large number of copper coins.
Next, Ren Baqian was going to use the coin-operated telephone to exchange the copper coins on the market for aluminum-magnesium alloy coins and completely replace the old coins with new coins.
There was no other way. Compared to the lack of iron, there was a lack of copper.
At present, the two largest copper mines were in Great Xia, and they were in the north. Ren Baqian wasn't interested in Great Xia, and the location of those two mines determined that Dayao couldn't send troops to directly occupy them.
As for the copper mines in the Yun Nation, the output was still insufficient for Ren Baqian's needs, and the cables were currently the largest copper consumer.
Ren Baqian could only temporarily set his sights on the copper coins in the market to solve this urgent problem.
After demonstrating the telephone to many officials in court, Ren Baqian first gave each official a telephone in their residence, including the installation.
Of course, they still had to pay the monthly rent and communication fees themselves.
After that, under the empress's instructions, the Ministry of Revenue directly ordered 1,000 telephones from Ren Baqian's royal communications company. With the exception of the Yun Nation, all the cities and most of the important departments in the entire Dayao region had telephones.
Taking advantage of the empress's order, Ren Baqian ordered that every department in every city had to install a telephone.
In reality, it was not a lot of money. In total, there were only about three thousand telephones and a few hundred thousand taels of silver.
But he pushed the phone directly to the world.
With this incident, Ren Baqian felt that he and the empress were the greatest examples of collusion between officials and businessmen.
Of course, as soon as the order was given, apart from Tu Wan from the Ministry of Revenue, there was no response from the Yun Nation. However, no one would disrespect the empress on this matter.
Moreover, the importance of the telephone was unparalleled. Its importance and significance were no less than that of the tractor. In fact, they were even greater.
Ren Baqian had officially opened the door to the communication era.
After the demonstration in the imperial court, Ren Baqian got people to lay a telephone line from Lan City to the Yun Nation while he started to promote the project.
At the same time, the recruits from Tianjing Basin were also undergoing intensive training.
After recruiting a large number of laborers from Tianjing Basin to build the new city, Ren Baqian finally began to make use of Tianjing Basin's manpower on a large scale.
Between Lan City and Tianjing Basin, Ren Baqian also built a new city.
The so-called new city was nothing more than a stretch of brick houses and factories without even a fence.
Of course, this was also the standard for future cities. Without walls, not only would it save a lot of manpower and material resources, but it would also facilitate expansion.
At present, this new city was mainly responsible for the production of telephones and electric wires.
Rubber was sent here from the Chen Nation, which saved about seven to eight hundred kilometers compared to sending it to Lan City.
Furthermore, Ren Baqian was already preparing to build a new factory near the Protectorate of the Southeast that would be responsible for processing rubber.
…
"The mist is heavy today, and the country is deep here.
The sound of the beach is more urgent than the autumn, and the air of the gorge is more cloudy.
Looking at the watchtower, the clouds cover the eyes, and the heart is homesick with raindrops.
How can I comfort my loneliness? I depend on the zither of the north. "
"Overflowing with emotion, touching the heart; the sentences are neat and natural! I don't know who wrote this poem, but it's worthy of the name of a famous person! "In a restaurant, a few scholars sat around a table, and one of them clapped his hands and praised.
"It's really not bad! It should be written by Zhao Prince Consort. He's not an aboriginal, so it's not surprising that he could write such a poem in a foreign land. "
"He has a beauty in his arms and great power. I'm afraid he's enjoying it!" Someone chuckled.
"A beauty in his arms? That's not necessarily the case. How could Her Majesty be a warm, fragrant, and soft jade? "Someone looked around and chuckled.
"It's better not to talk about these things," an old man said while paying attention to his surroundings.
If others heard about the emperor in private, they would immediately be in big trouble!
"I've long heard that Zhao Prince Consort is proficient in miscellaneous arts, but I didn't expect him to be proficient in poetry!"
"The way of poetry only cultivates one's temperament and isn't beneficial to governing the country." Someone shook his head. "What do you think about that telephone?"
Everyone was discussing a poem that had been circulating in the city recently.
There was another sentence at the end of the poem.
"Homesickness? Make a call home! "
One poem, one sentence, had brought this new thing, the telephone, directly to the front of everyone.
This poem and this sentence were printed on a piece of paper with a picture of a telephone at the bottom.
On the back of the paper was a brief introduction of the telephone, as well as the locations of the royal telephone service offices in the various cities of the Yun Nation.
As soon as this advertising flyer appeared, it immediately caused an uproar in the entire Yun Nation.
"It's really incredible to be able to use this to communicate from thousands of miles away. I wonder if it's true!" someone said.
"It can't be false. This matter has already spread throughout the Yun Nation. If it's false, then it will become a laughing stock! How could Zhao Prince Consort be so unwise? "
"I heard that the city commander's residence has already ordered the installation of the telephone. Based on the time, it will be installed in five to seven days. We will know the specifics when the time comes. "
"If it's really as described on that piece of paper, this telephone is really amazing. In the future, no matter what happens anywhere, Lan City will immediately know and orders will be issued. It's scary just thinking about it. "
"You guys don't know," a young man said in a low voice, "Do you think this kind of thing only exists? In fact, it has existed for a long time. I heard from my uncle that the city commander once went to the Protectorate of the Northeast for an urgent matter and received a reply within 15 minutes! A few days later, the city commander received the same decree. "
"Even if we don't talk about this, you guys can study the movements of the troops from the Protectorate of the Northeast during the war a few years ago …"
"Stop talking!" someone stopped him. "It's useless to talk about this matter. It's not our place to discuss it. Be careful not to invite trouble!"
"Brother Zhu, you're too careful. This matter can be detected as long as someone has the intention. Do you think you can stop the world from talking about it? "the scholar said disapprovingly.
"However, this telephone is also good for us. In the future, if we go out to travel, it's very convenient to call home and ask about the recent situation."
"That's true!"
"Traveling is just to increase one's knowledge. In the end, it still has to be sold to the imperial family.
Now that the Yun Nation is gone and the examination is also gone, I don't know where we can go! "someone sighed.
As soon as this was said, everyone immediately quieted down.
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