200 taels of silver. Not to mention everyone, even the empress felt that it was incredible.
The tractor weighed 1,300 kilograms, and the metal products alone weighed more than 1,100 kilograms. Not to mention the accompanying rotary tiller.
In Dayao, a steel knife that weighed 10 kilograms cost about 15 taels of silver.
The value of the iron was equivalent to 10 taels of silver, which could be said to be equivalent to two kilograms of steel.
1,100 kilograms of steel and the rotary tiller were worth at least 600 taels of silver.
Not to mention the expensive rubber, the manpower and material resources consumed by the tractor, and the technical content involved.
The merchants of the Yun Nation wouldn't even blink if such a rare thing were to be sold for 2,000 to 3,000 taels of silver.
Although these people didn't understand the cost of research and development, they still knew that rare things were precious.
However, Ren Baqian actually said 200 taels of silver, and everyone almost thought that he was talking about gold.
Ren Baqian spread his hands and said, "There's no other way. You guys can't afford it anyway!"
"Give me 100 of these things first …!" Tong Zhenye rolled his eyes. If they dismantled this thing and sold the iron, they could earn a few hundred taels of silver per tractor.
Ren Baqian rolled his eyes. This old fellow was so cunning that he didn't look like an aboriginal at all.
"Dream on. Don't even think about it."
Even with his eyes closed, he knew what the old fellow was thinking.
In fact, the cost wasn't as high as they thought. The first batch of tractors was mainly used for transportation to and from the Yun Nation. With the improvement of transportation capacity and reduction of wear and tear, the price of iron ore could be further reduced. It was expected that the price would drop by half in a short period of time.
Such a tractor, together with manpower and material resources, would probably cost more than 200 taels of silver.
10,000 tractors would cost more than two million taels of silver.
How long would it take to produce 10,000 tractors? It would be good if they could produce 60 to 70 tractors in a month. With the familiarization of the craftsmen and the application of various assembly lines, the first year's output was expected to be up to 2,000 tractors.
Ren Baqian's requirement was to double the output in the second year and again in the third year.
It would take three years to produce 14,000 tractors. How much change could 14,000 tractors bring to Dayao?
At least 140,000 people could be liberated. How much benefit could these 140,000 people bring to Ren Baqian?
The simplest way was to put 140,000 laborers into the factory, which could produce a large number of products from the production line. This included tractor production, which could be increased again.
If these products were sent to the Yun Nation through the greatly improved transportation capacity, they would be able to make a huge profit.
As for the common people, they could also increase their income through additional factory labor and long-distance transportation, increasing their spending power.
Weren't all the fresh goods in Dayao's market the products of the imperial trading company? Like spices? Like glass products? For example, a series of products that were about to be launched into the market to improve people's livelihood?
The tractor was losing money, but everything else was making high profits.
In this way, a large portion of it would flow back into his pocket.
In the long run, the lives of some of the commoners would improve. Through the factories, they would be able to train a large number of skilled workers. They would also be able to earn back what they had lost through other means, and Dayao would become more prosperous.
Everyone had profited.
Of course, these words were not meant to be said to these people.
"It's fine if I get two for myself, but don't even think about getting more. This is to support a portion of the people, not to let you take advantage of loopholes. "Ren Baqian smiled at everyone. "Her Majesty is willing to use this money to let the people of Dayao live a better life. However, if you have any ill intentions, you will be robbing the money that Her Majesty is using to support the people … As for the consequences …"
There was no need to say the consequences. Everyone immediately understood what Ren Baqian meant.
Her Majesty took out money from the imperial treasury to subsidize the commoners, which was a good deed. However, if they dared to stretch out their hands, Her Majesty could chop off their claws!
Feng Hou, Ge Yihong, and the others lifted the tractor out of the ditch. Ren Baqian inspected it and found that the quality was indeed in line with his requirements. It was sturdy, durable, and durable.
When it fell into the ditch, only the outer shell was slightly damaged, and it could still be driven.
While Tong Zhenye and Qin Chuan were fighting over who should drive this steel monster, the Minister of Justice, Zhuo Yan, had already driven the tractor away. Even though he was driving it crookedly, he quickly understood how to use this thing on this muddy grassland. He easily drove it all the way back to the east gate of Lan City and crashed into the wall.
When Ren Baqian and the others returned, they found that the tractor was half scrapped.
"I stepped on the brake that you mentioned, but it didn't have any effect. Then, I pulled the reins, and this thing fell off." Zhuo Yan threw the steering wheel to Ren Baqian with a rather helpless expression.
Ren Baqian didn't need to think to know that this guy must have stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake.
However, the fact that people in this era liked to pull the reins was still a bit of a headache. Should he add a handbrake to the tractor?
…
He originally wanted to introduce the product in front of the commoners, but the empress snatched it away and drove it into the ditch, causing a delay. Then, Zhuo Yan crashed it into the city wall and it was scrapped. The steel monster naturally didn't cause the sensation that he had expected, but it still became a topic of conversation among the commoners in Lan City.
After all, a steel monster that could only run on its own was still quite a legend.
It was like a wooden ox to ordinary people in ancient times.
The people in the imperial court were full of interest in this new product. According to Ren Baqian, it would only take six days to travel from Lan City to the Yun Nation, which would make it much more convenient to rob them in the future.
Ren Baqian finally didn't have to be so busy in the coming days.
The tractor's production line was designed and built by those scholars, and some physics and chemistry scholars had also begun to touch upon the rules of this world through some of the equipment that he brought back.
The students who had just entered the secondary schools took turns to teach the younger students, which also allowed Ren Baqian to spend a lot of energy at the school.
The Department of Commerce was also very successful. A large number of new products were about to be launched, including a product that Ren Baqian was very interested in — sugar.
This product, which was extremely cheap in modern times, was even more profitable than salt in this world!
What excited Ren Baqian the most was the situation of the sword masters.
In one year and two months, these people, who could at most be considered knowledgeable in this world, had reached the level of university graduates.
The amount of knowledge they absorbed was like a sponge absorbing water endlessly. This kind of learning ability was terrifying, and Ren Baqian was extremely excited.
Most of these sword masters were sent to the laboratory to help the scholars.
It was estimated that in less than two years, there would be a group of local scholars in Dayao.
There were also a few people who were sent back to the school to be teachers. The first batch of highly educated teachers had finally appeared.
It was expected that next year's enrollment would increase several times!
After finishing all of this, Ren Baqian was finally ready to visit Xin Zhe and Lin Qiaole.
However, due to an accident, he couldn't make the trip.
This was because the first batch of adult magazines from Japan had finally appeared on the shelves of the bookstores in Lan City, causing a huge sensation in just three days.
Then, Ren Baqian's leg was broken …
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