By the time the first batch of mechanical clocks were built, it was already more than a month later, approaching the end of the year.
Just like bicycles, people immediately started buying like crazy on the day it went on sale.
It’s just that the quantity is limited, first come first served, and those who come late will just stare!
At the same time, two specially crafted mechanical clocks with carved dragons and phoenixes were delivered to Ying Zheng and Lian Er as New Year gifts.
Ying Zheng was naturally overjoyed to get an exquisite mechanical clock for nothing, and ordered it to be placed in the Qilin Hall.
I glance at it from time to time, and I feel so happy!
He also showed off to many ministers, saying that it was a gift from the prince!
Under the daily gaze, the hour hand turns round and round, and soon it is the New Year's Eve, with lights and colors everywhere!
As in previous years, a banquet was held in the palace, and all Ying Zheng and his family were present, enjoying the New Year's Eve dinner!
On the first day of the new year, Ying Feiyu ordered people to find some treasures in the treasury and personally delivered them to Tongwu Hou Mansion!
After all, he is also his future father-in-law, so he must be treated with courtesy every year!
Then the ministers came to visit the garden with gifts.
Ying Feiyu is the prince, the future emperor, and nothing is more important than building a good relationship with him!
After finally dealing with them all, the New Year has quietly passed away and everything is back to normal!
The Qiang conquest planned years ago was also put on the agenda.
All the food, grass and weapons needed for the expedition have been prepared, and the two armies are ready to set off at any time!
Due to the existence of thermal weapons, there is no need to bring too many troops, only 50,000 troops per route are enough!
"Thank you to His Highness the Crown Prince for your recommendation. This gives us the opportunity to go to the battlefield!"
Han Xin, Cao Shen, Wang Li and others were all wearing armor and bowed their hands in thanks.
If the prince hadn't given them the opportunity to dig them out from the crowd, they might still be buried today.
One is a leading soldier, and the other is a bandit in the mountains. Even those young men will only be complained by their fathers at home for being useless!
But now, they can actually be commanders and lead armies to fight alone.
This is something I couldn’t even imagine before!
"Don't be in a hurry to thank me. I will tell you the ugly things beforehand. If you fail to complete the task, or there are too many casualties, don't come back!"
Ying Feiyu put his hands behind his back and said seriously.
Nowadays, the soldiers of Great Qin are well-equipped and use thermal weapons. If they can lose even this, there will be no use for them!
"Don't worry, Your Highness, we will keep casualties to a minimum!"
Han Xin and Cao Shen both swore their promises.
They can't guarantee zero casualties, but they can still control it to less than a hundred people!
After all, the journey is long and the climate is quite different. If it is not protected, the soldiers will be acclimatized and contract diseases.
"good!"
Ying Feiyu nodded and watched the army board the train.
Before the New Year, the railways from Jiaodong to Longxi and from Xianyang to Nanhai had been repaired. After round-the-clock testing, they have always been very stable and there have been no problems.
This time, the army came in handy to conquer the Qiang.
Each train can carry a thousand people, and a total of fifty trains were used, all heading for Jiaodong County.
After this, there were ten freight trains loaded with grain, grass and baggage!
As for the other team headed to Southwest Yi led by Cao Shen, they did not have such good luck.
There is no suitable train there yet, so I have to rely on walking!
As soon as they left, within a few days, the navy that went to Southeast Asia returned smoothly.
There were also many private ships brought back together!
This time, the navy brought back not only spices, but also a lot of rubber!
The same goes for private ships. As long as it is valuable, as long as there is room on the ship, you can take it back.
The court did not care about gold, silver and jewels, but the spices had to be sold to the court.
Otherwise, there will definitely be unfair prices!
After being sold to the imperial court, it will be dried uniformly by the imperial court and sold according to the population distribution of each county. This can control the price very well, prevent anyone from maliciously lowering the price, and ensure the interests of the people going to sea!
No one else could use the rubber at all, so they must have all been cut off and sold to Little Shota!
In order to increase people's enthusiasm for cutting rubber, the purchase price must not be low!
After having rubber, Ying Feiyu taught Huang Yuan how to refine and use rubber, and asked him to use rubber to make car tires.
Before this, tires were made of Eucommia rubber, which not only wore out quickly, but also had poor shock-absorbing effects.
Now with rubber, this problem can finally be solved!
Huang Yuan had heard about the wonderful uses of rubber before, and now he finally got a large batch, and left happily with the refining method!
Steam tractors are being manufactured in batches, and more and more rubber will be needed in the future, so Ying Feiyu encouraged people to plant rubber trees in Nanyang in newspapers.
In this way, not only will the people have another way to get rich, but it will also solve the problem of low rubber production.
"Have you read the recent newspaper? It says that we people can go to Nanyang to plant rubber trees. As long as we have the ability to manage it, we can have as much land as we want!"
"Yeah, we've seen it too. I've been discussing this matter with your sister-in-law these past two days!"
"Our family is also discussing! According to the current price of rubber, if we plant a large area of rubber in Nanyang, we will definitely make a lot of money every year!"
"Having said that, the newspaper also said that if you plant rubber trees, you have to wait another seven or eight years before you can tap them...!"
The ships that went to Southeast Asia made a lot of money after they came back.
Part of it comes from spices, and part of it is rubber!
The people who saw it were greedy and eager!
There is no way, they can't afford a steamship, and even if they make more money from rubber, they won't be able to reach it!
But since it was published in the newspaper that rubber trees can be planted, people's hearts have become alive again!
The only thing that made them scruple was the distance and the years it took to plant rubber trees!
It will take seven or eight years to see benefits, so how will they meet their food and clothing expenses during these seven or eight years?
After Ying Zheng saw the newspaper, he sent someone to call Ying Feiyu to the imperial study room.
"Don't blame the people for saying that you care about the world. Is this really the case? When good things happen, the people are the first to think of you. Can't you let the imperial court take advantage of it?"
As soon as Ying Feiyu entered the door, without even touching the edge of the chair, he was scolded by Ying Zheng.
He didn't even understand what the scolding was about!
"Father, what are you talking about?"
"Hmph! Pretend! Just pretend, you kid! Do you really think I don't read the newspaper...?"
Ying Zheng frowned, rolled his eyes at him, and continued: "You have done your best to be a good person, and you also promised the people that as long as they go to Nanyang to plant rubber, they can choose the land they want? Why not let the court do such a good thing? If so, Wouldn’t it be better for the imperial court to go to Nanyang and plant a large area of rubber?”
When he said this, it was not that Ying Zheng wanted to compete with the people. He just felt that this boy had good deeds and did not want to think about the court or the royal family. He was a little angry!
To put it bluntly, I’m just jealous!
