NCCnovel Chapter 108 Carriage Talk
Chapter 108 Carriage Talk
No one had ever thought that a full moon banquet could defeat the consort of the current emperor's legitimate wife.
The next day, the sky was clear and cloudless.
"Where are you going today?"
Fan Xitong, who got up early, saw Zhao Sheng tidying up his clothes. It seemed that there was something on his waist, and it seemed that he was planning to go out.
"I'm planning to go check out the new regiment. It was originally planned to be a cavalry regiment, but now they only have a little over a hundred war horses. I have to find a way to get some."
"I'll go with you, okay?"
Seeing that Zhao Sheng was really going out, the extremely bored Fan Xitong wanted to go out with Zhao Sheng.
"Sure." Seeing Fan Xitong was going, he thought it would be boring to be alone at home: "Would you like to ride a horse, or take a carriage with me?"
"Um, let's go with you. We can take the carriage."
"Okay then, do you need to ask the princess for permission?"
"No, as long as you don't stay out all night, it's fine!"
"Not necessarily. There's a good chance I won't be able to come back at night."
When Fan Xitong heard that there was still uncertainty, he said, "Wait for me and ask the princess for instructions."
Out of habit for many years, in order to prevent people from calling the princess "Madam" in public, he calls everyone "Princess". As a husband, he has to be careful with his words. It is really not easy for a prince consort to live.
Taking advantage of Fan Xitong's absence, he walked to the courtyard in front of the gate of the Princess's Mansion. Ma Biao was already waiting in the gatehouse.
"Captain Ma, bring me another fifty war horses from my personal guards. I selected them for you yesterday. You will be part of the combat team in the future, and you will not be able to do without fast emergency power."
"Prince Consort Zhao, it's not possible for your personal army to be without horses. You go out a lot, so you need some personal soldiers around you."
"Don't say that. Fifty men are enough for me. Besides, we are in the city, so it will be safer. Those of you new troops who don't have horses can go and train in other subjects."
The subjects that Mr. Zhao refers to are routine abilities such as climbing over walls and other special situations.
Outside the gate of the princess's mansion, fifty royal soldiers gathered one after another. The careful Ma Biao discovered that the six-shot rifle was replaced with a short-bore, large-caliber gun with only five bullets.
"My Lord, have your guards changed their equipment?"
Zhao Sheng followed Ma Biao's gaze and saw the guards with wheeled spray guns hanging on their shoulders. He smiled and said:
"This is a shotgun. It's suitable for killing enemies in large-scale close combat. There's almost no chance of them surviving within seven steps."
In this era, Zhao Sheng felt that the gun most likely to cause continuous fire was a wheeled weapon, or a hand-cranked Gatling gun.
Most of them are now handmade, and the barrels are made by hot stamping, which can also handle small-caliber steel pipes. As for large-caliber ones, he is considering making infantry guns or mortars.
When Zhao Sheng looked up information, he found that during the Qing Dynasty, there were red-coated cannons with rear loading, and each cannonball was like carrying a kettle.
This gave him a sudden idea: could he build an infantry gun, that is, a large-scale rifle?
The ammunition and warheads are separate and reassembled before the war.
Due to the war, the sugar in Shigang Village had no profit and all of it was taken by Zhao Sheng for military use.
People like Master Lu often see a white powder added when preparing gunpowder.
Of course, Zhao Sheng is still researching more advanced gunpowder based on local resources.
Fan Xitong walked out of the gate and got on the carriage with envy in his eyes.
After leaving the city, Fan Xitong felt that although the carriage was shaking, it was not like his own carriage. The vibrations made his buttocks hurt so much that he had to put a mattress under the carriage.
"Is your car good, or is the road smooth?"
As soon as Fan Xitong finished speaking, he felt his body shake.
"Forgive me, the road is bad. I'm driving a four-wheeled carriage. I saw the driver in front of me. The pedals are used to control the direction."
Mr. Zhao designed this based on the connecting rod principle. He controls the steering wheel with his left and right feet, and the maximum control is 45 degrees. The effect is very good!
"I don't understand what's going on, but your car is running a lot faster."
Fan Xitong felt envious again. They had just run here from Yanzhou, and they were exhausted, and the road was difficult to travel on.
Even though he is my brother-in-law, I still have to call him the same as them.
"Prince Consort Fan, were you just drunkenly talking yesterday, or were you sincere?"
"Huh?" Fan Xitong was a little confused by Zhao Sheng's nonsensical words.
After a while of reminiscing, he remembered yesterday's drunken words and said with a smile: "I am half drunk and half awake, but they are all true words."
"If the prince consort really wants to do something, I have a suggestion for you."
"Please speak!" Fan Xitong perked up and looked straight at Zhao Sheng.
"I'm planning to set up a transport fleet, a bit like escorting an embassy. It's all box-type escort."
Fan Xitong looked at the carriage, which was two zhang long and seven feet wide, and was protected by wooden boards on all sides. He especially liked the design of the back where people could lie down.
"Tell me, how do you do this?"
Seeing Fan Xitong's excitement, Zhao Sheng said, "For example, Yanzhou now has a canal. The Yanjing Canal can meet the needs, but it only takes several days to make a trip, and the speed may not be as fast as a carriage."
"Well, yes, and then?"
"For the Yanzhou to Jinzhou route, we will definitely go through Dingzhou. That way, if you're going to Shangjing, you can get off. We'll stagger the schedule, aiming to have long-distance buses every two days and short-distance buses every day."
After hearing this, Fan Xitong seemed to understand something. He suppressed his inner doubts and continued to listen to Zhao Sheng's narration.
"So, as we just said, we now have three routes. We can open a route from Luoyang to Shangjing, and we can also open a route from Jinzhou to Chang'an. We'll talk about this later."
Zhao Sheng said this, looked at Fan Xitong seriously, with no doubt on his face, and continued.
"By doing this, we can transport goods from Yanzhou to Dingzhou, and we can also send them to Jinzhou. Because we use a regular bus route, our freight rates are the cheapest. Special car escorts can't beat us."
Fan Xitong nodded in agreement. Seeing that he understood, Zhao Sheng said, "Do you think we can develop some other industries in this area?"
"Yes, this will drive other industries." Fan Xitong thought to himself.
"You don't have to answer me. I'll tell you my idea first. It's to unite the Zhao and Li families of Zhao County, including the Cui family of Qinghe, the Zheng family of Xingyang, and so on."
"When the industry reaches a certain saturation stage, they will need a large number of vehicles and subsequent repair parts. This is also an industry for Dingzhou's future development."
Zhao Sheng said this in one breath and stopped talking. He wanted to see the reaction of the prince consort.
Fan Xitong knew that this was an attitude of waiting for him and also giving him this opportunity.
"I think it's great. Just tell me how to do it, and I'll follow you."
"No, can't you understand something?"
"what?"
"What identity do you intend to come in as?"
"I am who I am, what else can I be..."
"Nimma, how did this prince consort survive until now? He was supposed to be the prime minister's son?"
In fact, the prince consort cannot be blamed for all this. Zhao Sheng's thoughts are thrown over all of a sudden, and inertia can crush people. It doesn't matter whether you are a prince or a prince consort.
After thinking about it, Zhao Sheng organized his words and spoke seriously to Fan Xitong.
"You are representing the royal family's shares. We are so big, we can't do it without the royal family's participation. And you are the only one who can say this, not the princess."