In the end, we still failed to reach Mount Vesu. It’s not that we couldn’t reach our destination within the time limit, but that because someone else was driving, everyone was having too much fun driving and drove on the wrong road...
Some people may have a small navigation map in their eyes, but others may not.
So I randomly found a hill with a wide view, took out the prepared food, and continued the unfinished discussion while eating.
Although it is not yet finished, in fact, with the addition of a strong collaborator, everyone has a new understanding of cars, so most of the results that Ruan Wenyue and Lin had discussed before had to be overturned.
Ruan Wenyue didn't have much opinion on this. After joining Kaweigong and understanding the military value of the car, everyone's calculations were a bit bigger than before. Except for one heartless person.
However, Lin still emphasized during the discussion that the performance of the cars we ride in now is not the performance of the cars that can be built in the future. If ordinary materials are used to make cars, when the strength of the materials is far inferior, the parameters in all aspects will inevitably decline seriously.
But no matter how severe the decline is, even if only one-tenth of the performance is left, it is still much better than the transportation methods that ordinary people can use. Simply put, it's still profitable. Don't look at the fact that there are still people in the Duke's Guard who can catch up with the top speed of a car in second gear. Even if the knights and horses of the Guard are not one in ten thousand, they are elite men and cannot be compared to those that ordinary people can come into contact with.
And the reason why someone proposed to bring a grand duke into their business after French Saint Babak Abnahan suggested it was because he did not show the same attitude as in the past, always wanting to respect the nobles and stay away from them when doing business. This is because in addition to the fixed purchase cost of a car, there are also subsequent consumption costs.
In this aspect, using the power in the magic stone is not as good as digging for oil and refining it. After all, the former has many uses in Lost Lands, and magic stones are in short supply in many places, but oil is not. If we hope that people who are relatively at the bottom of society can afford a car, then the cost of continued consumption cannot be too high.
Someone has calculated it. According to the current prices of magic stones and oil, the consumption of a car per kilometer is very different. Magic stones are much more valuable, and they are several times more expensive. The cost of oil is almost all in transportation. In the known oil-producing areas, the Goblin Autonomous Castle Lebapu in the Gwana Empire, even if it is given away for free, it is still despised.
Secondly, refining petroleum can produce many useful products, and these products may also find their use in Lost Lands in the future. It’s not bad to do some research first and make some technical reserves.
In order to refine oil and set up gas stations in the future, these things will require the help of some powerful people. In these matters, in the holy city of Estali, Ruan Wenyue of the Gialong Chamber of Commerce is far inferior to the energy of Kawei Gong.
However, Duke Kawei seems to be a little dissatisfied with these beautiful prospects. During the chat, he would come to the side of the vehicle from time to time, looking here and there. This happened several times, but no one took it seriously.
Suddenly he took out his long sword, and a shock wave caught everyone off guard. The car that was hit by the blast swayed for a few times, and then returned to calm. There is an obvious depression where the middle sword is, but that's all. The entire car is still structurally sound.
Of course everyone was startled by the sudden convulsion of the Grand Duke. I wonder what the original thoughts of this long-famous great swordsman were. When he saw that he couldn't cut through the car, he seemed to be more energetic, accumulating strength and preparing to use more powerful moves.
Lin hurriedly ran to the Grand Duke, waved his hand and said: "Be merciful, be merciful, Grand Duke. If you want to test the defense, wait until we get back and test again. If the car is damaged now, we will have no choice but to test it." Walking home.”
...Well, it’s a very real question. So Kawei Gong put away his weapons.
Lin continued at this time: "And after we switch to ordinary materials in the future, just because the car can withstand the power of your sword today does not mean that it will be able to in the future."
After pondering for a while, Duke Kawei said: "What if I said I wanted this car."
Frightened by the sudden convulsion of this noble man, Lin said with a helpless smile: "This is just a trial car. Many parts have not yet been finalized, and there is no magic attached. What is the use of it?" Suddenly thought of the rich man Lin asked tentatively: "Does the Grand Duke want a customized car with the same level of protection, and no matter the cost?"
"Yes, yes! That's it! What you discussed before was how to use ordinary materials instead, and find ways to make the cost lower, so that the selling price is lower and more people can afford it. But if the performance is as good as this one Compared with cars, if there is too much difference, why would people who can afford it buy those lame products?"
...This is the world in the eyes of rich people, how is it different from the world in the eyes of poor people?
Somehow, someone feels frustrated.
It's just that rich people care about poverty. Duke Kawei naturally asked: "How about, can you make the customized car you mentioned?"
Suppressing the sadness in his heart and the urge to cry, Lin pretended to be strong and said: "Of course you can do it. As long as you have money and materials, you can do it. But I want to set some rules."
"Rules? What rules?" Kaweigong asked.
"The time for me or those Silverbeard dwarves is also time. We have our own things to do, so we can't just be busy building cars all day long. I predict that in the future, this kind of customized vehicle will be produced by me in one year. At most one can be built, but of course it is possible not to build it. However, I will also teach the magicians sent by you the relevant techniques. Then the quantity ratio between the production of customized cars and mass-produced cars is up to you, I just Ask, as long as it’s my benefit.”
"Oh, don't you consider increasing the quantity? Why not sell it if you have the money." Mr. Kawei was a little dissatisfied with such a request.
Lin shook his head and said: "Grand Duke, as far as I know, you are a person who likes weapons and equipment. And those master craftsmen who are good at making powerful weapons can buy their brainchild with just money. Are you here, and you still want to buy whatever is available at any time?"
Rubbing his gray beard, Mr. Kawei had to admit: "That's true. However, their output is not high. The bigger reason is the problem of materials."
"Exactly, this is also the second requirement I want to say. I will issue the material requirements. Of course, I will also provide a list of replacement materials, and the buyer will prepare his own materials. In order to buy all the materials for the trial car, I have almost the same All my income during this period has been included in it. If I had to collect the materials and manufacture it myself, I don’t know how much the cost would increase."
What someone said was half-truth. Because there was another big money maker at the same time, which was the running jacquard machine. However, the purchase of materials this time also made someone discover something that they had not noticed before, that is, the prices of rare and expensive items like magic materials are not fixed, but will fluctuate depending on the supply and the length of transportation distance. .
In the past, no matter it was the Great Sage's Tower era, the Five-linked Cities era, or the period of wandering, I bought magic materials almost everywhere I went. I would like to see which items were in stock locally at a good price at that time. Treat it as making friends with those chamber of commerce managers. Because they are all purchased once, there is little concern about price fluctuations.
And when I need to use it later, I always make plans based on what materials I have at hand. Sometimes you can't use something that is too good, and there are no other substitutes due to characteristics issues, so you have to bite the bullet and use it. Just like when repairing the airship Sid, the strength of many materials is above the requirements of the components. Strictly speaking, it is a waste.
But the Ginbeard dwarves are a little stubborn in what they do. For components with certain specifications, they must use certain grades of materials. They are so persistent that they don't know how to adapt. And such persistence will make them focus on buying certain magic materials on the market.
After buying the items from the Holy City, we commissioned the Chamber of Commerce to transport them from other places. When other chambers of commerce have finished buying, they will focus on the unused raw materials in stock of certain people, and the chamber of commerce managers will coordinate and ask the other party to distribute some. In this case, of course, you have to spend an extra amount of money to make it possible for the other party to part with you.
Sometimes people from other chambers of commerce know that there is a large demand for the materials they have, so they raise the price to make more profits.
In short, this kind of behavior in the shopping mall is almost the same as saying: 'I am a fat sheep'. So if you want to help customers make customized cars and estimate the cost of materials in the selling price, there is a high chance that you will lose money in the end. Among other things, someone thought of a way for the buyer and the chamber of commerce to collude, so that it would be easy to cheat the manufacturer in a sale that includes the price of materials.
So this kind of trouble can be left to those who want to customize their cars. Anyway, this kind of person is either rich or noble. If he had a smaller net worth, he wouldn't be able to buy all the materials to customize a car. Of course, there would be no possibility of credit or overstock. It's better to just collect the wages yourself, and it's easier and less troublesome.
And the people present are all people who have access to this level, and of course they know what someone's concerns are. Just like those master craftsmen who make weapons, sometimes they are willing to take action, but it does not necessarily depend on friendship, or the person who wants to buy the weapons has enough money. It's just because a piece of rare material makes their hands itchy.
Therefore, in order to customize a car, the buyer must bring his own materials, which is not an unacceptable requirement in Midland.
"The second point is that I will choose customers. Because these customized cars can be said to be a display of my top technology. If someone wants to imitate, the best choice is of course these customized cars, not what we will do in the future. Those ordinary vehicles that we built. I don’t want to go to the trouble of building a future competitor.”
Everyone nodded in agreement with this rule. In someone's plan, no one can tie him up and engage in exclusive business. But they also don't want too many competitors to join this new industry and divide the profits.
