Chapter 151 Bicycle
"Just sit down like this, step on these, and hold the front of the carriage steady." Ji Yingying gave a simple instruction, and the Emperor sat down and tried it out. He actually drove it for a while.
[Haha, shocking, right, folks? This is a modern invention; our era still needs further development before we can have something like this.]
Then all the ministers stopped discussing state affairs and lined up to test ride the bikes.
"If I could ride this carriage to the morning court, it would be much faster," Lord Gong began again.
Does he think the Ministry of Works doesn't have enough work already?
"Colleagues, if you want a car, you can. Just give me the money, 100,000 taels of silver per car, and I'll buy them for you."
[Haha... 100,000 taels, I made a profit!]
[You shrewd businessman...] Xiangxiang didn't stop her, since it wasn't a big deal anyway.
"Your Highness, could you please reduce the price? I would like to buy some."
"Your Highness, can we produce it?" Lord Gong started discussing again, and the group chattered away, undeterred by the wind and rain.
"Sure, you can write me a business plan and buy it from me, or you can find a decent person to buy the production rights from me and then run the business yourself."
The Emperor, who was listening nearby, immediately thought her plan was good and said, "It's feasible, it's feasible. This vehicle is very useful. It's fast to ride and can carry people in the back."
"Not only that, have someone bring two baskets, three, and a carrying pole."
Ji Yingying personally demonstrated how to load goods to them.
A carrying pole holds two baskets together, which are then placed on the back seat and tied together with a rope. Another basket can be placed on top to secure it.
"If you're worried about the front of the vehicle tilting up, you can use a bag, a cloth bag will do. Put a little bit of stuff in it and put it here. But then you can't ride it, you can only pull it by hand. This is very suitable for ordinary people, such as when hauling firewood or rice, they don't have to carry it by hand."
At that time, which village could afford a cassava cart? Let alone a horse-drawn cart or a donkey cart.
However, such expensive bicycles won't be distributed to rural areas; they're only for rich people to show off.
“Your Highness, please have pity on us and give us a discount. It’s cold in winter, and we have to get up very early to get to court. With this carriage, we won’t have to get up so early.”
"Don't you have a carriage? It's cold to ride a carriage in this weather!" A carriage is comfortable.
“We don’t have a carriage; we walk to court every day. We have no other livelihood at home and rely entirely on my salary.”
Indeed, many of them are.
"My parents are really something; I had a carriage as soon as I arrived in the capital."
【Ergouzi, you're being silly. Where did your father get a carriage? He always rides in your mother's carriage. As for your carriage, it belongs to the Crown Prince's residence; it was given to you by the Crown Prince, and so did your nanny. Have you forgotten?】
【Oh dear, I almost forgot. It seems the Crown Princess sent it. Okay, I'll give the Crown Princess a bicycle so she can ride it around.】
"Could you make it cheaper?"
When someone asked, the Emperor remained silent, waiting for Ji Yingying to make a decision, knowing full well that Ji Yingying could not tolerate such things.
"this……"
"Your Highness, your carriage is so exquisite; people should know about it."
"Yes, such a beautiful and fast car should be available to the common people, so we can lower the price?"
One hundred thousand taels of silver is an astronomical price. Besides, it's not like she doesn't have blueprints.
"Your Majesty, say something! I don't have the money to give you a discount." Ji Yingying directly pulled the emperor aside, jokingly, this carriage cost her fifty thousand taels.
It's too expensive. If it's too cheap, who will make up the difference?
"Then why don't you have the Ministry of Works do it? Or why don't you try doing business with that minister in the court and get the carriages made?"
This is something that benefits the country and its people, so he won't say much more, lest this little rascal gets stingy.
Good grief, I regret it now, I shouldn't have ridden it.
So what should you do?
What else can I do... Even the emperor doesn't care, he's clearly telling me to pay, but I won't, I don't have any...
The Emperor: ...It's one thing to scold him, but to be so shameless.
"The car is right here. You can borrow it for three days, just three days. Study it carefully, and once you figure it out, it's yours."
Upon hearing this, the Emperor immediately pushed the Ministry of Works forward: "Minister Gong, why don't you hurry back? The Ministry of Rites doesn't have much to do lately. You should assist the Ministry of Works in studying the drawings and writing up the plan."
Influenced by Ji Yingying, they stopped talking about memorials and started calling out plans for anything that needed to be made.
"Yes, Your Majesty, I will go back and investigate immediately."
"You old bastard, you have to pay me back in three days!" Ji Yingying lost all sense of shame and started cursing.
After the truck was driven away, everyone finally felt the cold; after all, it was October, and it was indeed getting cold.
Back in the imperial study, the Emperor said, "My beloved ministers, tomorrow is the imperial examination, you all..."
[So it was to finalize the plan.]
As soon as her voice rang out, the Emperor immediately called out, "Minister Ji, you mustn't slack off tomorrow. Supervise the students entering the examination hall properly."
"Okay," she replied weakly. She felt she couldn't hold on any longer and had to get up early again.
After listening to the Emperor discuss the matter with the examiners, she was released and went to the Dali Temple.
"Lord Gongsun, it's been a long time!"
"No, no..." Lord Gongsun was also flustered. What was this little ancestor doing here?
"You should investigate this gambling den, sir. You might just be solving a major case."
Ji Yingying provided a gambling den to Lord Gongsun, and not long ago Rong Yi also sent over information about the gambling den owner's work, all of which were based on Ji Yingying's thoughts.
"Very well, very well, this is exactly what I was about to investigate..."
"A message from Lord Rongyi?"
Lord Gongsun immediately shook his head, just as he was about to find an excuse, since Rong Yi had instructed him to keep it a secret from Ji Yingying.
Little did he know that before he could even come up with an excuse, Ji Yingying had already found one herself.
"I know you have some resources, so you can decide for yourself."
"Good, good..." After the person left, Lord Gongsun immediately breathed a sigh of relief. He then ordered someone to monitor the gambling den. This was taught by Mu Kaiji: first keep watch, then send people in to investigate and arrest them directly.
Fortunately, he made arrangements early, otherwise the shop owner might have escaped.
It's likely that Ji Yingying's thoughts were overheard by his people, who then sent him a message.
They started surveillance too early and caught him red-handed. Then they searched the house and found the mutilated bodies in the basement, along with... something else in his cooking pot.
It took several days to resolve this matter. In addition, the emperor issued a ban on gambling, decreeing that anyone found gambling dens or engaging in gambling would be arrested and exiled if they were not executed.
…………
The next day, the examiners all knew that she couldn't wake up, so they all sent people to the Ji residence to invite her. Ji Yingying had no choice but to get up, change her clothes, and go to the examination hall.
The examination room was already packed with people, just waiting to be checked in.
"The examiners are here, why won't they let us in?" a student asked.
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