"You are from the Gongshu Family!"
Arrester Cao knocked on the door of a shop in the East Market with a few government runners.
Gongshu Hong was stunned for a second, then walked up and nodded. "Yes, we are from the Gongshu Family. What can I do for you?"
"According to the County Magistrate's order, the smelting industry in the eastern and western cities has a great fire hazard. The County Magistrate has written to the imperial court that all the industries with a greater fire hazard will be moved to the Southeast Industrial Park, including the Gongshu Family's smelting business. This is the imperial court's notice. You have three months to move out!" Arrester Cao said as he handed the notice to Gongshu Hong.
"Move out!" Gongshu Hong was stunned.
The Chang 'an Industrial Park plan had been spread in the East Market and the West Market. Strictly speaking, there were many benefits to moving to the Industrial Park. Besides, if they sold their shops in the East Market and the West Market, they could get several times more land and factories and make a lot of money.
Moreover, it was said that the Industrial Park had a brick road, which was as convenient as Chang 'an City!
However, the problem was that the shops of the Gongshu Family belonged to the Taiyuan Wang Family. They were only used by the Gongshu Family, but not owned by the Gongshu Family. Therefore, if the Gongshu Family wanted to move to the Industrial Park, they had to pay for it themselves, which was not a small amount.
That was not all. As soon as Arrester Cao left, Gongshu Lun hurriedly rushed in and said loudly, "Big Brother, bad news! The guards at the city gates of Chang 'an City have forbidden the four-wheeled carriages of the Gongshu family from entering Chang' an City."
"Ah, what happened?" Gongshu Hong was shocked and asked.
"According to the guards at the gates, the County Magistrate has forbidden the four-wheeled carriages of the Gongshu Family from entering because they have damaged the brick road," Gongshu Lun said, gasping for breath.
"What about the four-wheeled carriages of the Mo Family?" Gongshu Hong asked.
Gongshu Lun said, "Brother, did you forget that the Mo Family had announced that all the four-wheeled carriages of the Mo Family would be replaced with new wheels one month ago?"
"A new wheel?" Gongshu Hong suddenly realized that Moton Zhi had expected this situation to happen.
Gongshu Hong was in a terrible fix. He didn't expect the Gongshu family to be hit so hard. First, the iron-smelting business was relocated. Now, there was the problem with the four-wheeled carriage. The two major businesses of the Gongshu family were both devastated.
Among the four-wheeled carriages, the most important technology was the wheel and the shock-absorbing technology. In these two aspects, the Gongshu family was no match for the Mo Family. Moreover, after the appearance of the brick road, the gap between the two families became even bigger. The brick road was like a perfect match for the four-wheeled carriages of Village Mo. It was sturdy, fast, and could carry a lot of weight.
In comparison, the shortcomings of the Gongshu family's four-wheeled carriages were immediately exposed, and their sales plummeted.
Especially after the Mo Family's village directly introduced the free wheel replacement, the reputation of the Gongshu Family's four-wheeled carriage had already dropped to the freezing point. This heavy blow from the Chang 'an County Government directly pushed the Gongshu Family to the edge of the cliff.
"Big Brother, why don't we also change the wheels for free? At most, we can reforge the wheels again. At most, it will take some effort," Gong Shu Lun said angrily.
Gongshu Hong smiled bitterly. "It's not that I don't want to change the wheels of the carriages I sell, but I can't. My Gongshu family can't make new wheels."
"Can't make new wheels?" Gongshu Lun was dumbfounded. He couldn't believe it and said, "Even you can't make new wheels."
Gongshu Hong shook his head and said seriously, "The new wheel has a steel ring inside and a wooden ring outside. The most difficult part is that the wooden ring and the iron ring are tightly fixed together. The Mo Family's village adopted a new structure."
"A new structure?" Gongshu Lun was shocked.
Gongshu Hong took out a finger-long iron rod with a hexagonal iron block at each end and handed it to Gongshu Lun.
"What is this?" Gongshu Lun looked at this strange thing and couldn't help but ask.
"The Mo Family calls it a screw, and the top of one end can be rotated, which is called a nut. When the two ends are tightened together, the two objects can be firmly fixed together," Gongshu Hong explained.
"Screw, what a strange name." Gongshu Lun took out a screw and a nut curiously and put them together. The screw could be tightly sewn together, and the spacing could be freely adjusted according to the size of the object. As a skilled craftsman, Gongshu Lun immediately understood the great value of this thing.
"It is said that Mo Jiazi invented this screw according to the shape of the snail after he saw it in the summer." Gongshu Hong said helplessly.
Gongshu Lun suddenly realized that the top of the screw was very similar to the shape of the snail.
"Mo Jiazi is really lucky. Since you already know the principle of the screw, why can't we make the screw ourselves?" Gongshu Lun frowned and said.
Gongshu Hong shook his head and said, "Although the principle of the screw is simple, the wire-drawing process is extremely complicated. So far, only the Mo Family's village can make it."
The principle of the screw was easy to understand, but the wire-drawing technique of the screw was indeed an extremely precise and high-end technology in this era. The Gongshu Family could only stare at it. Since they couldn't make the screw, they couldn't imitate the new wheel.
Gongshu Lun said with hatred, "This is Mo Jiazi's overt plot. In the whole Tang dynasty, only the Mo Family's village can make the new wheel. The profit of the four-wheeled carriage will be exclusive to the Mo Family."
The news that the imperial court was going to build a large-scale brick road naturally couldn't be hidden from these insightful businessmen. Everyone knew that the four-wheeled carriage would usher in a big boom. Many people were eyeing this fat piece of meat, but they found that the Mo Family's village had an absolute advantage again because of a small screw.
Gongshu Lun kept complaining, but he didn't remember that the four-wheeled carriage business was started by the Mo Family's village. The Gongshu Family only made a fortune by imitating the four-wheeled carriage of the Mo Family's village.
"So what? We are not as skilled as them. Damn it. If I had enough time, it wouldn't be difficult to make the screw. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that the Gongshu Family can't wait until then," Gongshu Hong said helplessly, and suddenly became discouraged. He thought that he had entered Chang 'an City in high spirits, but now he was struggling.
"How about we agree to the conditions of those two families?" Gongshu Lun gritted his teeth and said. He was talking about the Zhangsun Family and the Taiyuan Wang Family.
Hearing this, Gongshu Hong struggled and said, "If we agree to their conditions, we will become their vassal. Moreover, the Gongshu Family is one of the Hundred Schools of Philosophers. If we do that, how can we face our ancestors?"
All the profits of the Gongshu Family's business were taken by the Taiyuan Wang Family and the Gongsun Family. Since the brick road appeared, the Zhangsun Family and the Wang Family had realized the huge potential of the four-wheeled carriage business. Therefore, they intended to swallow the four-wheeled carriage business of the Gongshu Family and make the Gongshu Family their vassal.
The Gongshu Family was also proud and arrogant, so how could they agree? The negotiation between the two parties broke down, and the Gongshu Family was now facing internal and external troubles.
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