In December of the 76th year of the Dayao calendar, the royal Geely tractor 4S shop opened in Lan City, and the first batch of 200 tractors officially appeared in front of everyone in the world.
In February of the 77th year of the Dayao calendar, the second batch of 500 tractors was delivered. There were at least 300 tractors going back and forth between Lan City and the Yun Nation, transporting large amounts of iron, food, cloth, salt, and other materials. The monthly transportation volume could reach seven million kilograms.
In the past, this transportation volume required more than 10,000 people and 7,000 fork-horned cows. During this period, countless grains and fodder were consumed. Now, it only required a maximum of 600 people.
This saved more than 95% of manpower and animal power, as well as countless grains and fodder.
What was consumed was biodiesel, which was considered cheap in comparison.
For the first batch of merchants who received the tractors, the caravan originally required at least 30 to 40 vehicles and more than 100 people. Less than 20 of the vehicles were loaded with goods, while the rest were loaded with grains and fodder consumed on the road.
It would take more than 100 people a month to transport 20,000 kilograms of goods back and forth. The personnel expenses alone would cost more than 200 taels of silver, and the grains and fodder consumed on the road were worth nearly 100 taels of silver.
Now, only one tractor and two people were needed to achieve the same transportation volume. The personnel expenses were less than 10 taels of silver, and the so-called biodiesel consumed was about 120 liters, which was worth 20 taels of silver, for a round trip of more than 3,000 kilometers.
In other words, after investing 1,000 taels of silver, the monthly expenses would be less than 90 taels of silver, which was 70% lower than the previous transportation cost of a caravan.
The most important thing was that it saved a lot of manpower and material resources. It was more flexible and fast, and it could transport the required goods to the destination in a short period of time. The value of this was more important than the savings in silver.
Previously, due to the limited transportation volume, they could only transport about 20,000 kilograms of goods at a time. It was difficult for the caravan to turn around, and the risk was great.
In particular, Dayao had a rainy season that lasted for more than five months. If the caravan was trapped somewhere, the losses would be even greater.
Now, they were no longer subject to this restriction and could easily transport goods that were ten times or even dozens of times their original volume.
As a result, the caravan's goods weren't just those that were highly profitable, but there were also many more types of goods.
After all, the market for those high-profit goods was limited. After the market supply and demand reached a balance, they set their sights on other goods.
In just a few months, the prices of many goods in both places had dropped.
In the Yun Nation, the prices of meat, grains, herbs, needles, and thread had dropped. A large number of fork-horned cows, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and other high-yielding crops had caused the prices of beef and grains to drop by 10%.
Sweet potatoes and potatoes, which were both vegetables and grains, had become an important part of the meals of ordinary people in the Yun Nation in a short period of time.
In fact, the merchants of the Yun Nation didn't care much about the profits from selling potatoes and sweet potatoes. A trip of 2,500 catties would result in a profit of two copper coins per catty, which was only 10,000 copper coins, which was close to nine taels of silver.
The profit of ten tractors traveling from Dayao to the Yun Nation was no more than ninety taels.
However, after Ren Baqian expressed his stance in private, those families immediately knew what to do.
The prices of salt, cloth, tea leaves, wine, and ironware in Lan City dropped again.
Although the iron mines were controlled by the Dayao imperial court, there were a lot of ironware in the Yun Nation. Those merchants naturally wouldn't let go of this opportunity.
Even though pots and knives were expensive in the Yun Nation, they couldn't be compared to those in Lan City.
…
"Stop manufacturing rotary plowing pendants and switch to the production of harvesting pendants," Ren Baqian said to his subordinate.
"That thing is quite useful, but it consumes too much fuel," the man replied honestly.
"Well, got it." Ren Baqian nodded.
That's right, it consumed too much fuel.
It was fine if tractors were used for transportation, but the biggest problem arose when they were used in agriculture.
Although tractors could indeed save manpower and could rotate 60 mu of land in a day, the problem of fuel consumption became the biggest problem that restricted the use of tractors.
One mu of land cost three liters of oil and half a tael of silver. 100 mu of land would cost 50 taels of silver. Which commoner could afford it?
It had to be known that a laborer could only do this for 20 days at most.
Could a laborer earn 50 taels of silver a year?
He might not even earn 50 taels of silver a year.
Moreover, there was still sowing, weeding, irrigation, and harvesting.
As a result, after the initial enthusiasm, compared to transportation, which was now favored by everyone, the most important aspect of tractors was agriculture.
Of course, this didn't mean that tractors had no value, but that they were limited by the number of mu of land in Dayao and the price of oil.
The strength of the fork-horned cow and the aboriginals was also a factor.
On Earth, a cow and a strong laborer could only plow about two mu of land in a day with iron plows.
Here, they could plow six mu of land in a day with wooden plows.
In addition, due to the limited number of mu of land, it was difficult for tractors to be used.
To change this situation, one way was to concentrate on farming on a large scale, such as the newly reclaimed fields by the Ministry of Works.
Another way was to lower the price of oil. According to the current price of grain, the price of oil should be limited to about 20 copper coins.
On Earth, one catty of grain cost two to three copper coins, and diesel cost six to seven copper coins, which was twice the price of grain.
Here, grain cost eight to ten copper coins, but diesel cost 400 copper coins per liter, which was 40 times the price of grain. It was considered a sky-high price.
Unfortunately, it was difficult to lower the price of oil in a short period of time. The current price was almost the cost.
They could only wait for the area of land reclamation to expand, the production of high-oil crops such as soybeans to increase, and the technology to produce biodiesel to lower the price of diesel.
This matter couldn't be rushed.
Then, Ren Baqian took a look at the research progress of the new tractor.
This was a new type of tractor with 50 horsepower. It had more horsepower, faster speed, and stronger off-road capabilities.
The research progress wasn't fast. After all, it was limited by current technology and processes. Many of the originally mature technologies couldn't be used and had to be redesigned.
After looking at it for a while, Ren Baqian put down the information and went back to the palace.
Upon entering the Changle Palace, he heard the crisp laughter of a girl.
Along the shade of the trees, he saw a girl rolling around on the lawn with a child wearing a red cloth.
The girl was wearing silk clothes, and her arms and legs were rolled up to her elbows and knees.
Ren Baqian was very familiar with this girl. She was Zhu Hua, a level 9 student with an IQ of 9 and grades of 9.
These days, Ren Baqian got her to take care of Qi Yuqing.
Although Zhu Hua was very wild and not very smart, she actually did a good job.
At least the little fellow was quite happy. Zhu Hua seemed to be having fun as well.
Ren Baqian felt that this was probably because their IQs were on the same level and they had found a kindred spirit.
Looking at the two frolicking around, Ren Baqian felt a sense of accomplishment as a father.
Especially when he saw his daughter grow up happily.
She really grew up.
Looking at Qi Yuqing, who was already one meter tall, Ren Baqian rubbed his chin and pondered. Wasn't she growing a little too fast?
It had only been six months …
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