In fact, Kangxi was as jealous as the royal family members in the imperial city.
Kangxi knew early on that Yinreng had sent people out to look for rubber trees. At first, he thought it was some kind of crop, because rubber trees are plants, and the biggest use of plants is to be eaten or used as medicine.
However, after searching for two years and finally finding it, Yinreng took the rubber to the Imperial Household Department.
At first, Kangxi had some expectations for what Yinreng would make. However, after seeing the ugliness of the bicycle and Yinreng's clumsiness when learning to ride it, Kangxi lost interest in bicycles.
Yinreng spent two years just to create such an ugly thing that was unsightly and useless. Kangxi's first feeling was disappointment.
Later, when Yinreng left Beijing, Kangxi heard that Yin'er was riding a sophisticated gadget around the city all day long, so he didn't take it seriously.
Look at him and see if he has never seen a bicycle before?
How can such an extremely ugly thing be called exquisite?
What a bunch of country bumpkins who have never seen the world!
Kangxi had been complaining about this in his heart for a short while when he was slapped in the face by his own son.
Yinzhen had only been hanging around in the imperial city for three or four days when his uncles, aunts, brothers and cousins all smelled the scent and came to his door.
However, in order to make the most of the rare commodity, he simply said that the bicycle was designed by the prince's second brother, and because the materials were scarce, there was only one such bicycle in the entire capital.
In other words, even if they want to buy it, they have to have it.
So the elders from each family came with high hopes but left disappointed.
But this made the troublemaker in their family unhappy.
At this time, the Qing Dynasty had just ended years of war, so there were not many princes and dukes with high titles in the family, but most of the old lords in the family were still alive.
The old feudal lords don't want to talk to you at length, they only have mandatory requirements -
"Since it was built by the Crown Prince, why don't you just ask him to build another one? If that doesn't work, we can just buy one!"
The four words "spend money to buy" are said with absolute certainty, this is how confident Old Feng Jun is about his family's wealth!
But can that bicycle be bought with money?
The Ninth Prince said that there is only one such car in the entire Qing Dynasty. Where can they buy it?
But the old lords would not listen to any of this. They only saw the expectation in their grandson's eyes.
They were forced into a corner by the old lady at home, so they formed a group and went to the palace to beg Kangxi.
The prince has gone to Weihaiwei. If that doesn't work, the emperor can ask the prince to make another batch of bicycles and ship them back to the capital.
They pay for all expenses!
After Kangxi heard their purpose, he was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. These people treated such an ugly object as a treasure.
But facing more than ten expectant faces, Kangxi could not say anything to discourage him, so he sent someone to call Yinzhen and brought the ugly thing into the palace.
Only when the painted bicycle appeared before him did Kangxi understand why those people praised it so much.
The car before him was completely different from the ugly thing he remembered.
Kangxi felt angry as if he had been tricked.
However, his anger disappeared soon after. When Yinreng made it, he also invited him to see it in person. Otherwise, why would he be disgusted?
The one in Yin'er's hand looks good, but the craftsmen in the Imperial Household Department have experience in making bicycles, so he can just ask someone else to make one.
Kangxi had all the plans in place, but after asking the director of the Imperial Household Department, he could no longer laugh.
Yinreng actually took away all the rubber, the main raw material of tires, without leaving any residue.
This bastard thing!
Kangxi was angry and didn't care about the royal family. He asked Yinzhen directly when the rubber could be shipped back to Kyoto.
Yinzhen replied that he would have to wait at least another eight or nine months.
As early as when the caravan returned a few years ago, he had already inquired about the location of the rubber production area and knew that the place was very far away from the Qing Dynasty. Even though they had had experience there once, it would take nearly half a year to make another trip there.
When the royal family heard how difficult it was to obtain rubber, they began to develop a strong interest in bicycles.
This is human nature. The harder something is to get, the more you want it.
Kangxi naturally thought of asking Yinreng to make a few bicycles in Weihaiwei and send them back to the capital, but the idea was stopped by Yinreng as soon as he came up with it.
"My second brother said that the rubber was reserved for use on warships."
Emperor Kangxi had no choice but to put on a helpless look in front of the room full of royal relatives.
Seeing this, the royal family members knew that they would not be able to get the bicycle today, so they begged Kangxi to promise that he would sell the bicycles to them first after the rubber was shipped back next time.
As for why it was "sold" instead of "rewarded", it was because these royal family members knew the situation clearly and no one dared to take advantage of the Ninth Prince for nothing.
After the royal family members left, Yinzhen also wanted to have someone carry his bicycle and run away, but how could Kangxi give him the chance?
This unique item in the world must be used by him!
As for the first one made by Yinreng, Kangxi subconsciously ignored it.
The subsequent result was that Yinzhen not only brought the bicycle in, he also became the teacher who taught Kangxi how to ride a bicycle.
From that day on, Yinzhen's figure disappeared from the imperial city, but a rumor arose instead:
The ninth prince's bicycle was taken away by the emperor.
Once the news got out, the bicycle, which had only been in the imperial city for five or six days, became a treasure that was passed down by word of mouth among the top nobles.
While everyone outside was discussing this matter, Yinzhen hid in the house and laughed secretly.
The celebrity effect that my second brother mentioned is indeed extraordinary.
In fact, from the very beginning, Yinreng had decided to let Kangxi become the "spokesperson".
But he also knew that if he gave the bicycle directly to Kangxi, Kangxi would definitely not take it seriously. Even if the news that Kangxi could ride a bicycle spread, the people below would ignore it as a joke.
But if Kangxi had taken the bicycle in front of the royal family, the publicity effect would have been incomparable.
This is why Yinzhen only wandered around the imperial city for half a month.
Because only the royal family dared to come to Kangxi, and the noble families only dared to go to Yinzhen.
After doing this, every time a bicycle is produced, it will be fought over by the royal family. After a few years, when the technology is mature, the market for it among the nobles in the capital will be saturated.
By then, bicycles can be sold to ordinary people.
After Yinzhen learned this marketing method, every time he came up with a new thing, he would ask his brothers to use it first, giving him free advertising.
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