Chapter 413: Invitation from the Provincial Governor

All the necessary parts for the four-wheeled carriage were actually ready yesterday. Based on the schedule, they were supposed to complete the assembly of the carriage this morning, but the whole manufacturing bureau decided to give Yan Liqiang a surprise. A number of weaponsmiths secretly woke up in the middle of the night to begin assembling the four-wheeled carriage.

Under the everyone’s hopeful and excited gazes, Yan Liqiang felt warm-hearted. With everyone focused on him, Yan Liqiang suppressed his excitement as he walked toward the mysterious and dazzling four-wheeled carriage.

The black finishing elegantly complimented the luxurious four-wheeled carriage. Yan Liqiang walked to the side of the carriage. The glossy black paint finishing on the passenger door reflected his image. He ran his fingers across the door and felt the sturdiness but smooth texture underneath his touch. It was indeed of tactile quality.

The door handle was made of pure silver carved to resemble intertwining vines; it was a simple yet elegant design. The silver handle created a stark contrast to the black-colored passenger compartment door. Underneath the door, there was a wooden footboard with brass lining along its sides. The footboard was for the convenience of passengers getting in or descending from the carriage. It was a very thoughtful design.

Yan Liqiang did not go inside the carriage immediately. He walked around it instead, inspecting the finer details.

The coachman was seated in front of the carriage with the specialized seat. Compared to those two-wheeled carriages where the seating was at a lower position thus contributing to the poor sitting posture of a coachman, the four-wheeled carriage design was much more comfortable. The coachman could sit with his back straight and head held high, displaying the strength and discipline within him.

On both sides of the coachman’s seat, there were two brass lanterns. If one needed to travel during the night, the brass lanterns could be lit to light up the path ahead. The traditional two-wheeled carriages did not have such a feature for there was no proper placeholder for the lanterns.

The front wheels of the carriage were smaller than the rear wheels; this would reduce the turning radius of the carriage, thus making it easier to make a turn. The front wheels were fixed onto an axle and both the front and rear axles were connected together to a sturdy metallic shaft.

On the other side of the carriage was an exotic logo on the right side of the passenger compartment door. The logo was embedded on a metal plate with the size of a fist and it was similar to the Yan Blades logo of a dragon and tiger — a terse outline of a ferocious tiger and soaring dragon with their heads and tails joining together to form a circle. None of the weaponsmiths in the manufacturing bureau understood why Yan Liqiang insisted on affixing the logo on the carriage. Yan Liqiang did not offer any explanation because he knew that when the time came, they would understand the reason behind it.

The luggage compartment was at the back of the four-wheeled carriage and it was separated into two compartments. The first compartment resembled the trunk of a car which had a lid attached to it. Under the lid were sections of various sizes that could be used to store valuable belongings. For added security, a brass lock was installed to the lid and it could be locked with a key. If more luggage needed to be stored, they could be stored on top of the passenger compartment and there was also additional storage space underneath the coachman’s seat.

At this very moment, Yan Liqiang’s heart was filled with amazement and he was astonished by the workmanship of the weaponsmiths from the manufacturing bureau. They had perfectly materialized the sketch and produced a carriage that was of superior fine quality which had greatly exceeded his expectations.

The luxurious aura surrounding the carriage was truly intense. Even the Rolls-Royce that Yan Liqiang sat in his previous life was incomparable to it.

Yan Liqiang nodded his head in approval as he walked around the carriage. He stood beside the door of the passenger compartment and pulled the door handle. With a click, the door opened. He stepped on the footboard and climbed into the carriage gracefully. He turned to Qian Su and beckoned for him to join. Qian Su approached the carriage and entered as well.

The interior of the passenger compartment was spacious, bright, and the floor was laid with well-polished wooden flooring. Two couches faced each other from the front and back of the passenger compartment. Those couches were specially designed by the cobblers and carpenters under Yan Liqiang’s request. The couches were in the form of long wooden benches lined with cushions made of cotton and rough hemp-filled suede. The cushions were extremely comfortable with the right level of stiffness. The space in between the two rows of couches was wide enough for Yan Liqiang to sit with his legs crossed, or he could even lie down like a lazy man.

Sliding windows with stained glass panels were fitted on both sides of the carriage for privacy. The windows were lockable and could slide open to enjoy the beautiful scenery outside the carriage. Organza curtains were installed to let in some sunlight and block-out curtains were also installed which could be closed when needed.

The interior and exterior of the carriage were built to the finest quality. Aside from the quality wood and leather materials, all other accessories and components of the carriage were made from sparkling pure silver and brass.

Inside the carriage, Qian Su sized up the overall structure. Although it was not his first time seeing the interior of the passenger compartment, he was still amazed by its appearance. He began exploring the interior by pulling open the storage compartment underneath the couch. He nodded his head while saying, “We will have no problem storing longbows or swords in here!” Qian Su opened the bigger storage section that was underneath the couch beside him and asked, “What can we store in this? This compartment seems a little too big…”

“We can use this to store some wine!” Yan Liqiang said with a wink. He began tracing his fingers in the air while saying, “Sitting in the carriage, drinking some wine, and enjoying the beautiful scenery outside isn’t such a bad idea at all. We can even make a custom freezer to store ice. Not only can it cool down the carriage during the summer, but we can also enjoy cold sour plum soup while we are on the road. What are your thoughts on this, Uncle Qian?”

Qian Su sighed and smiled wryly, “Although I claimed that I know how to enjoy life, in contrast to you, it feels as if I’ve been living my life for nothing all these years. I really can’t understand what is in your head. How did you even come up with the idea of such a carriage?”

“Hahahaha, as long as you like it, we can get the manufacturing bureau to fabricate one unit for you so you can bring your feminine confidant along with you to anywhere you desire!”

Qian Su let out a laugh, “Only you know me the best!”

“Let’s get them to bring the steeds and we’ll go for a few rounds on this carriage!”

“You read my mind….” Qian Su turned away to look outside the window and gave a hand signal. Someone immediately brought over two rhinodrake steeds and hitched them to the frame of the carriage.

It was impressive that even when the steeds were being hitched onto the carriage, the four-wheeled carriage remained still without a slight jerk. This was very different from how two-wheeled carriages operated. Whenever the steed was hitched onto a two-wheeled carriage, the carriage had to be tilted in order to hitch the steed. Furthermore, the frame of the four-wheeled carriage was flexible and lightweight — multiple harnesses could be used together depending on the number of steeds to be hitched. It could handle one steed all the way up to fifteen steeds at a time.

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Two steeds were just perfect for today’s ride!

Once the steeds were hitched, Hu Haihe went up the coachman’s seat and volunteered to be the driver. With a pull of the reins, the four-wheeled carriage began to slowly move across the square. When the steeds turned, the smaller front wheels of the carriage instantaneously turned together with the steeds.

When the crowd saw how the carriage turned, they let out sounds of astonishment.

It was a different feeling for Qian Su and Yan Liqiang who were seated inside the carriage though. The ground was not really smooth. As the carriage moved across the square, the vibration from the motion was transferred to the inside of the carriage. As the vibration passed through the pair of coil springs installed at the bottom of the carriage, the springs dampened and absorbed the shock, reducing the vibration by half so that the passenger compartment of the carriage would remain stable and comfortable. Compared to the cars that Yan Liqiang rode in his previous life, this was still far from ideal. However, compared to the common two-wheeled carriages in this world, the comfort that this four-wheel carriage that was fitted with coil springs could offer was heaven-defying.

After a few rounds, Yan Liqiang requested Hu Haihe to stop the carriage. He alighted the carriage with Qian Su.

“The four-wheeled carriage was built with the effort of everyone here. Don’t just stand there, come over and try it out too!” Yan Liqiang beckoned to all the weaponsmiths that were standing nearby. Immediately, everyone gathered excitedly and started to make a line in accordance to their ranks to experience the comfortable ride on the four-wheel carriage. There was even a long line for those who wanted to experience being a coachman…

The four-wheeled carriage was the fruit of everyone’s efforts. Even the weaponsmiths found it hard to believe that they had produced such an amazing product.

Yan Liqiang and Qian Su stood at the edge of the small square, smiling at the lively scene in front of their eyes.

“How much is the production cost of this carriage?” Yan Liqiang asked Qian Su as he was still smiling and watching the scene.

“We just worked out the sum. The production cost excluding labor charges is seventy-eight taels and seven maces of silver!” Qian Su replied promptly with the figure.

“Hmm, that’s around eighty taels. Not bad, that’s not too far from my estimation. Initially, I thought it would cost around a hundred taels…” Yan Liqiang nodded his head in satisfaction.

Qian Su asked Yan Liqiang, “If you sell the carriage, how much will you be selling it for?”

Yan Liqiang raised his palm…..

Qian Su was stunned, “Five hundred taels?”

“Hahaha, Uncle Qian, you are too kind….”

Qian Su took a deep breath and widened his eyes, “Don’t tell me you want to price it at five thousand taels?”

“Uncle Qian, you need to understand that in this world, there are a lot of people who just simply don’t like cheap stuff. If this unique four-wheeled carriage is sold at a low value, those people will not appreciate it as they think that it does not suit their status. Five thousand taels is just a mere starting price as the actual price tag can go higher if customer chooses to customize the carriage according to their needs!” Yan Liqiang replied with a small smile.

“So how do you intend to sell it?”

“We do not need to market it. We only accept custom orders from customers with status. If they want our carriage, they will need to pay an upfront deposit of five thousand taels of silver. Their orders will be placed in queue. Once the carriage is ready, they can come and collect it….”

“Will this work?” Qian Su stared at Yan Liqiang in disbelief.

Yan Liqiang replied with a confident smile, “Don’t worry Uncle Qian, I assure you that it will work!”

“If…If…we build a hundred units of carriage within a year, that means we can easily earn more than four hundred thousand taels of silver…!”

“Our manufacturing bureau can only produce a hundred units within a year?” Yan Liqiang questioned back. “Based upon my observation from the past two days, there is a lot of optimization potential in the activities in the workshops and courtyards. Just by making some adjustments to the steps and processes to raise the efficiency of our operations, producing three to four hundred units a year will not be a problem at all. I will need Uncle Qian to search for some experts in jewelry and jewelry processing to join our manufacturing bureau in the future…”

“Eh…”

Just when Qian Su was about to ask Yan Liqiang to elaborate on the optimization plan, the captain who guarded the entrance of the manufacturing bureau quickly ran to Yan Liqiang and passed a red invitation card stamped with golden ink. He reported, “Protectorate General, a soldier on a horse came to the entrance of the manufacturing bureau and informed us that he is the bodyguard of the Gan Provincial Governor. He came on an order to deliver an invitation card to you.”

Yan Liqiang was taken aback for a moment. He opened and read the invitation, then laughed as he spoke to Qian Su, “Provincial Governor Lei from Gan Province is now at Pingxi Prefecture for an inspection. He would like to meet me…”