The development of the bicycle went much smoother than expected.
Previously, Tang En was most troubled by the production technology of the tires and bearings. However, one of these two technical problems had been solved long ago, while the other one was immediately solved by the technical team led by Nokia.
The processing technology of the bearings had long been used in dwarf engineering. Previously, they had restored the semi-finished steam battle tanks and used a large number of ball bearings. The production technology was already in place, but the processing technology was not high.
The problem of the processing technology was also successfully solved with Tang En's participation. The processing technology, which was originally at the millimeter level, was instantly upgraded to the micron level. The nearly thousandfold increase in precision allowed the bearing's lifespan and efficiency to increase by many times.
The production technology of the tires was also successfully solved by the witty dwarves. This group of little fellows who loved to study were always full of enthusiasm for new technology and new things. If they were on Earth, each of them would at least have the title of a big name with the title of an academician.
Of course, the appearance of the tires was not just for the bicycles. The first to enjoy the benefits was Ellington's carriage. After seeing the stability and speed of the carriage after the tires were modified, the next day, the entrance of the Tang Engineering Research Institute was crowded with people requesting to modify the carriage.
The modified carriage did not disappoint them. Whether it was the shock absorber spring, the rubber cushion, or the new bearings and tires, after these things were installed, the carriage seemed to have undergone a complete makeover. It was completely different.
The originally stiff trembling became soft and gentle. Even the potholed gravel road was who knows how many times more comfortable. The most exciting thing was running on the asphalt road. The speed was at least 50% higher than before! Due to the improvement of the bearing technology, the friction and resistance were reduced. The consumption of the horses was also reduced. Therefore, the transportation speed and distance per unit of time was greatly improved. At the same time, the consumption of the horses' fodder was also reduced by a lot!
In other words, the cost of the modified carriage could be recovered after a few trips. The rest was to enjoy the various benefits brought by the new technology.
Spurred by this, there was a trend of pursuing new technology in Ellington.
In just a few days, bicycles began to appear on the streets and alleys of Ellington.
The first batch of bicycles was not sold. Instead, they were distributed to the personnel who needed to run back and forth to deliver messages and transport light items. Of course, it was not easy to teach them how to ride bicycles.
Adults had a strong sense of self-awareness. As long as they received a little training, they would be able to grasp the knack of it very quickly. However, children …
"Wuwu — — Big Brother, don't let go — —"
Elijah gripped the handle of the car tightly and begged Tang En to not let go.
"Trust me, I'll be supporting you from behind. Just focus on riding."
Tang En kept encouraging Elijah. Of course, he was using the method that parents used to teach bicycles back on Earth …
"I, I got it … I'll try …"
Fiona, who was passing by on her bicycle, had a complicated expression on her face when she saw this scene.
If she had known this would happen, she would have pretended to be stupid …
After the first bicycle was taken off the assembly line, Tang En tried it. Then, Fiona wanted to try, but Tang En laughed at her. In the end, Fiona was angry and learned how to ride in minutes. She even proudly showed off to Elsa and Tina.
Now that she saw Tang En teaching Elijah how to ride, Fiona realized that she was a complete idiot.
She won her face, but lost her life …
The appearance of bicycles greatly ignited the enthusiasm of the residents of Ellington. It was the first time they had seen such a purely mechanical means of transportation. What? A carriage? Sorry, but a carriage also needs to be pulled by Malay …
With only two wheels, chains, and pedals, after a clever combination, it could move forward at a very fast speed. Moreover, it could control the direction by itself. It was simply too convenient for short distance travel!
Especially when the tires moved forward on the asphalt road, the feeling of being controlled by oneself was simply too good!
Therefore, after the second batch of bicycles was taken off the assembly line, it immediately caused a rush to buy them in Ellington.
The price of a bicycle was only ten gold coins.
What? Too expensive!?
Then you must be a lazy person!
Even during Hogg's reign, ten gold coins was only three months' worth of savings. Not to mention the three months after Lord Twain took office, the bold and decisive reforms had greatly increased everyone's income. Now, they could earn a few gold coins in a month's work. If they worked a little harder and worked overtime to plant some cash crops for Lord Twain, or did some part-time work, it would not be a problem for them to earn more than ten gold coins a month!
Using a month's income to buy something that was developed by the Lord, something that even the nobles in the Imperial Capital did not have, was it not worth it?
It was simply too worth it!
In the three months since Tang En took office, the income of Ellington's residents had increased by two to three times. However, after the sudden increase in income, the residents did not have a corresponding way of spending the money. This caused the Lord's Residence to be unable to collect the gold coins. This had always been a problem for Fiona until the launch of the manga and novel a few days ago. Only then did she manage to collect a small portion of the gold coins.
But now, the appearance of the bicycle had finally given them a chance to spend money freely. Thus, the wages that Tang En had just sent out flowed back into the treasury of the Lord's Residence. Fiona's face once again revealed a smile.
Such a money-grubber like Fiona made Tang En shake his head. He even went to talk to her: "Don't worry too much about the gold coins and wealth. Frankly speaking, we are the ruling class. The economy is a tool in our hands. Using wealth to stimulate the residents to produce and create is the real purpose. The increase in income has brought them a rich life, but that's just a facade. The real reason why they are rich is because of the increase in productivity after they actively work."
"I understand the logic, but I just like to see the number of gold coins increase."
Fiona's face had a 'you can fire me if you are not happy' expression. And her eyes clearly felt that Tang En was lying through his teeth. Who in this world did not love gold coins?
Tang En slapped his forehead. It was indeed too early to talk about this with a former noble, and a former noble who was a merchant.
He could not tell Fiona that because productivity determines the production relations, and the economic base determines the superstructure. The contradiction between productivity and production relations, and the contradiction between the economic base and the superstructure must be resolved. Because his ultimate goal was to have the entire population prepare for war against Chaos, so he was making money to better drive the economic situation in the direction he wanted …
Of course, she would not listen. After all, she was a woman. She would only listen to what she wanted to hear. Even if Fiona was the smarter kind, she was still a woman.
Perhaps in her eyes, the ultimate goal of making money should be to enjoy the life of a nouveau riche. Oh, no. She knew that he was a mage … So in her eyes, he was making money to build a mage tower?
Tang En could not help but sigh. Was that his ambition in her eyes?
— No matter what, he should at least build a Tower of Babel, right?
When the economy was active to a certain extent, the emergence of new things was always accompanied by a trend. Just like this trend, it was led by the small newspaper sellers of Tang Daily.
With the gradual expansion of the influence of Tang Daily, the income of the residents of Ellington increased day by day. Half a month after the birth of Tang Daily, a subscription service was launched. The newspaper was delivered to the door every day, and the monthly payment was only an additional 10 silver coins. Although it was a little expensive, some people had begun to enjoy the life of paying for the service.
In the past, the newspaper sellers ran from door to door in the morning to deliver the newspaper. But since the introduction of bicycles, the situation was different.
"Ding Ling Ling ~"
The crisp sound of the bell rang, followed by a "click". A new Tang Daily was placed in the mailbox at the door. When the owner who heard the sound went out, the newspaper seller had already ridden away on his bicycle.
After breakfast, those who needed to go to work pushed their bicycles out.
"I'm going to work. Ding Ling ~ "
After saying goodbye, they met up with other workmates on the road. They chatted and laughed along the way as they rode their bicycles quickly to the factory area where they worked. In just a few days, it had become a new daily routine for many people.
If there were other people from Earth who came to Ellington at this time, they would probably think that they had traveled to the modern world. It could not be helped. Now, except for the different clothing and architectural style, Ellington was too similar to the modern city style.
Whether it was the clean and tidy street layout, the flat asphalt roads, or the street lamps erected on both sides of the street, it was worth mentioning that these street lamps were crystal balls with constant illumination magic, not electric lamps.
The reason why electric lamps were not used was that, on the one hand, Tang En did not know how to extract tungsten. He only knew that bamboo charcoal could be used, but it was obviously not good. Instead of spending so much effort to use Earth's technology, it was better to directly use magic to solve the problem in a simple and violent way.
Constant illumination magic was the temporary solution he found. Because Ellington was still not big, the number of street lamps was barely acceptable. If he continued to expand, he would have to find a way to solve the illumination problem. He could not always stay in the warehouse and constantly illuminate the street lamps. Perhaps the Elves' fluorescent grass would be a good solution. It was environmentally friendly and energy-saving …
If the previous things only subtly affected the lives of the residents of Ellington, then the emergence of bicycles directly changed their lives. The change in the way of travel led to the acceleration of the speed of information transmission, the indirect improvement of work efficiency, and the acceleration of the pace of life.
After holding back for so many years, the residents of Ellington, who had been living in depression for a long time, finally broke out completely with the birth of bicycles in the celebration month of Year 849 of the Order Calendar.
And this kind of explosive power shocked the spies who recently came to Ellington to inquire about the news.
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