I want to be emperor

Chapter 1140 The fiery three-bouncer

In the fifty-third year of Chengshun, in the Xicheng District of Songjiang City, near the suburbs, a store opened amidst the lights and the sound of firecrackers.

In the store, Jiao Tiancheng sent away many friends who came to congratulate him, and then looked back at his newlywed wife Chen Linlin, who was wearing new clothes and her belly was slightly swollen, and a smile appeared on his face involuntarily.

"Linlin, go back first. The shop is full of iron blocks. The noise will be loud later, so I won't give you a shock!"

Chen Linlin hummed softly: "Then I'll go back first."

When he arrived at the door, he stopped a taxi for his wife, and after instructing the driver to drive carefully, he watched his wife go back, and then went to the shop and started working with a few apprentices.

Although his store is open, there is still a lot to do.

This car repair shop can be said to have carried his years of hard work. In the past few years, he invested all the money he saved from working as a driver and even part of the money he saved while taking his wife to work.

It doesn't cost much to rent a shop. Although the shop he rented is quite large, the location is not a prosperous commercial area. Instead, it is close to the suburbs and is on the side of a main road. This kind of place is usually crowded with pedestrians. In fact, there are not many... all the traffic is vehicles.

But... it is precisely because it is close to the main road in the suburbs that he will repair cars here, because many contemporary owners of private vehicles in Songjiang City are high-income groups living in the suburbs... These car owners usually When driving to and from this road, you can easily see the signboard of his car repair shop outside.

After putting up this signboard, passing car owners and drivers will naturally remember it after seeing it too much, and they will come to you when they need car repairs in the future.

This is better than driving in a downtown area.

Moreover, it is expensive to visit a shop in a downtown area, especially for a car repair shop like his, which requires a large shop area, and a shop with a large area is even more expensive.

Unlike the shops outside the main roads near the suburbs, the prices are quite cheap.

The cost of renting a shop is not high, and there is no need to decorate it...a car repair shop, decorations, whatever...just get some.

What really costs a lot of money is the purchase of various tools and equipment. Ordinary tools are nothing, but various mechanical equipment are not cheap.

Even the several major large-scale equipment he purchased were all second-hand goods that had been eliminated, but they were still quite expensive.

In order to open this shop, he and his wife spent nearly a thousand yuan, most of which was spent on purchasing various tools and equipment.

In order to save this money, the couple not only spent all their savings, but also spent a fortune... For this reason, after they got married, they did not go to the suburbs to buy a house like many married middle-class families. Instead of settling down in an apartment, he chose to rent a small two-bedroom apartment in a nearby suburb.

It can be said that he devoted several years of his youth to this store, which also caused his wife Chen Linlin to suffer for several years.

However, after spending a lot of money to open a car repair shop, the business was not good at the beginning.

On the first day of opening, not a single business came to the door.

There was business on the second day. Although it was just a small business of changing tires, Jiao Tiancheng still took the apprentice to get started and quickly changed them.

On the third day, several businesses came to the door, but they were all small businesses. Some common minor car problems could be repaired for only one or two yuan.

As time went by, the car owners or full-time drivers who came and went gradually learned that a new car repair shop had opened here... After all, the huge signboard of Jiao Tiancheng's car repair shop stood directly on the side of the road, and it was several meters tall. The large signboard is so tall that drivers of passing vehicles can see it without looking carefully.

Since then, door-to-door business has gradually increased.

After all, there are actually quite few car repair shops opened by individuals these days. At least Jiao Tiancheng’s Tiancheng Car Repair Shop is the first in the surrounding area... After all, contemporary cars have not been around for a few years, and car repair technology is far behind. It’s far from popular.

When modern cars have problems, they basically seek after-sales maintenance services from the car manufacturers. However, the after-sales services of other car manufacturers are not free. Except for the core large parts that have a certain warranty period, other repairs require payment. And it's extremely expensive.

This gave rise to the third-party car repair market, that is, people like Jiao Tiancheng who were self-taught through various channels, or who started their own businesses as after-sales repair engineers in automobile manufacturers, and then evolved into some street car repair shops. shop.

But still not much.

Generally speaking, there is little competition in the contemporary third-party car repair market... Of course, the premise is that you have good skills and can repair it well.

Jiao Tiancheng's skills are quite good. Although he is self-taught, he is diligent and studious, and his understanding is not low. In addition, he used to have several cars from the Sun Mansion as test subjects for him to ponder every day, and he would go to the car every day during his vacation. I worked part-time at a manufacturer's repair shop; I also read through theoretical books on various machinery and automobiles.

Therefore, the technology he has accumulated is pretty good. Some big problems cannot be solved for the time being, but he can basically solve some common problems with cars.

Although the single price of repairing these minor problems is not high, the advantage is that it is done in large quantities and it is done quickly.

Since then, the business in his shop has gradually improved. From time to time, customers will drive over to repair their cars. Sometimes, customers will come and ask him to come to repair their cars. The price of door-to-door car repairs is not cheap. Regardless of whether it is repaired or not, this There is a door-to-door service fee.

I also received several large orders, and the repair price reached more than ten yuan.

Just one month later, Jiao Tiancheng found that he was a little overwhelmed... After all, he was the only one in this car repair shop who knew the technology. As for the three apprentices, they were real apprentices... they couldn't do anything, they could only do some hard work. He is the starting pointer, so basically most of the car repair business has to be done by him personally.

However, although he was very busy, he really made a lot of money... In just the first month of opening, after deducting apprentice salary, material consumption, store rent, taxes and many other costs, he earned about thirty Er Chu Yuan.

This price is actually about the same as his previous job as a driver and repair engineer in the Sun Mansion... and it is even more tiring, as he is busy from morning to night almost every day.

But...this is only the first month.

In the first month, his Tiancheng car repair shop didn't have much reputation. Many car owners or drivers nearby had not really been exposed to it. However, he had already made a profit of more than 30 yuan.

What happens next?

When the surrounding potential customer groups gradually become familiar with this car repair shop, and at the same time, the old customers who have been here will come back to repair their cars... This means that there will be more customers in the future.

On the contrary, I was too busy and had no one under me to help, which limited my income.

For this reason, Jiao Tiancheng paid more attention to training apprentices when he was working. Not only the three apprentices now, he also recruited five apprentices in a row!

Anyway, the wages of apprentices are very low... These apprentices are all here to learn a craft. They are basically young people in their teens or even twenties. It would be nice if they come to learn a craft without charging them tuition. There is no salary at all. Basically, food and accommodation are included, and some pocket money is given.

Of course, the apparent salary of these apprentices is still six or seven yuan, which reaches the local minimum wage level in Songjiang Prefecture... Otherwise it would be illegal, but these apparent wages will also deduct room and board expenses, etc., and the rest will be It's just two or three yuan of pocket money...the actual expenditure cost is quite small.

That's it...all the apprentices were introduced by people they knew, and they were just favors. Without this favor, Jiao Tiancheng wouldn't accept it!

No matter what age you are, it is not easy to learn a skill, let alone contemporary car repair skills.

If you want to become an apprentice and learn car repair skills, it is not something you can do just by thinking about it.

With the addition of five apprentices, there are now eight apprentices.

In addition to doing some unskilled physical work, reception, etc., these eight apprentices are also studying hard. Two or three of them are studying well and are already able to serve Jiao Tiancheng. Not everyone among these eight apprentices can learn it, but as long as two or three can learn it, it can greatly ease Jiao Tiancheng's workload and not be exhausted every day.

Jiao Tiancheng's car repair business is booming. In addition to the low competition and his own good skills, the more important thing is that the number of contemporary cars is rising rapidly.

In the 52nd year of Chengshun, the total production and sales of various types of automobiles, including cars, trucks, buses, tricycles, two-wheelers, tractors and other conventional civilian motor vehicles, had reached 1.5 million.

This is a very huge number!

What is even more astonishing is the huge growth of the automobile market. The automobile market in the 52nd year of Chengshun increased by more than 50% compared to the 51st year, directly from one million vehicles to one hundred and fifty. Thousands of vehicles.

Such a huge increase in market capacity not only allows the automobile industry, led by the five major automobile companies, to gain huge revenue, but also supports a series of industries surrounding the automobile industry.

Steel, machinery, rubber, petrochemicals, etc. have all experienced substantial growth.

Even third-party private car repair shops like Jiao Tiancheng have gained enough customers in this environment.

There is not a large enough car pool, so how can there be so many cars for him to repair...

Of course, the reason why Jiao Tiancheng's car repair business is so good is also related to his location in Songjiang City.

Songjiang City is the largest city in the Chu Empire. In addition to the central city, there are also satellite towns composed of many suburbs, covering almost the entire Songjiang Prefecture.

Such a huge city and a huge area brought about the largest car market in the Chu Empire.

Here you can not only see a large number of various cars, but also buses engaged in public passenger transportation, various trucks engaged in cargo transportation, and there are also a lot of tricycles that can pull both passengers and goods, especially There are many such tricycles in suburban areas.

Then there are many tractors used to pull building materials and engineering business.

There are even many niche vehicles such as two-wheeled motorcycles that are considered toys for the rich.

If the entire empire's automobile market is taken as 100%, then Songjiang Prefecture's automobile market can monopolize 30%!

Otherwise, the five major automobile companies would not unanimously regard Songjiang Prefecture as a key market... Not to mention the five major automobile companies, even Changsha Anlong Automobile Company, which is a good third-party independent automobile manufacturer, regards Songjiang Prefecture as a key market. Operate as the most important market.

Every year at the Songjiang Prefecture Automobile Exhibition, the five major automobile companies, together with a number of third-party independent manufacturers such as Anlong Automobile Company, will participate with various models of their own, sell them directly to consumers, and also release their new models. car model.

The huge urban area and the huge demand for cars caused by the huge population, coupled with the very high economic level of Songjiang Prefecture and the large number of high-income groups, are also engaged in commercial transportation business, whether it is cargo transportation or public passenger transportation. They are all quite wealthy.

This has also led to very large car sales in Songjiang Prefecture. Over the years, the number of cars in Songjiang Prefecture has also increased.

The most typical situation is that the number of horse-drawn carriages on the road is decreasing at a very rapid rate, and is replaced by the increase of a large number of cars.

Especially public passenger vehicles and freight vehicles in urban areas... Both types of horse-drawn carriages are decreasing at an alarming rate.

Because as automobile technology gradually matures, prices gradually decline, and maintenance and operation costs gradually decline. For public carriage companies, the operating profits brought by using buses have exceeded the profits brought by continuing to use public carriages. .

The same situation also occurs in the field of freight transportation. Many freight practitioners operated by enterprises or individuals have found that using cars to transport goods is more profitable than using horse-drawn carriages to transport goods.

Not to mention transporting more and faster, cars only need a little gasoline to run, which consumes less than horses in heavy carriages.

Although the initial investment cost of a car is relatively high, a light truck costs hundreds of dollars at a time, and some better ordinary trucks cost thousands of dollars, but the later costs are very low.

After comprehensive calculation, people found that using cars was more cost-effective than using horse-drawn carriages.

Driven by profits, cars have begun to largely replace horse-drawn carriages in the fields of public passenger and freight transportation... It is worth noting that what replaces horse-drawn carriages in quite a few fields is not expensive vehicles such as Type 1 and 5 trucks or large buses. , instead there are some cheap tricycles that cost no more than one or two hundred Chu Yuan, or light trucks that cost no more than three or four hundred Chu Yuan.

As for the one-to-five truck... everyone knows that this thing is very good. The military even directly uses this thing as the main transport vehicle. In addition to transporting goods and pulling people, this parking space can also tow a 75mm field vehicle. As for the cannon... a 15-meter truck like this can run very fast even if it is overloaded with a load of three to four tons... Even if it is overloaded, the braking distance will be longer, making it prone to accidents.

Therefore, although the nominal load of a 15-ton truck is 1.5 tons, few people use it as an ordinary truck. They use it as a medium-sized truck. Some ruthless people even dare to pull a 5-6-ton truck directly. The goods are on their way.

But this thing is good, but it's also expensive... Even a one- to five-year truck after multiple price cuts, the standard model now costs more than a thousand yuan, which is more expensive than ordinary high-end cars.

With the large-scale sales volume these days, most people buy mid-range cars for only four to five hundred yuan, and high-end cars for only seven or eight hundred yuan... Cars with thousands of yuan are all luxury cars.

But trucks with a price of 1,500 Yuan or above are all beggar's models...those with less configuration and more power are priced at 1,500 Yuan and up.

Therefore, although the No. 15 truck has a great reputation, its actual sales volume is not very large, and there are not many of them among the public.

The most popular ones are the light trucks that cost 450 Chu Yuan, and the even cheaper regular tricycles that can be bought for 100 Chu Yuan or 200 Chu Yuan... Especially the tricycles are the most popular.

Since Liaodong Automobile Company launched the first-generation three-wheeled vehicle on the market, it has been quickly sold all over the country due to its cheap and easy-to-use characteristics...Then the five major automobile companies also quickly followed suit, each launching its own three-wheeled vehicle.

The engines of tricycles have gradually been upgraded from the single-cylinder engines used in early motorcycles to dual-cylinders. There are even automobile companies launching so-called heavy-duty cargo tricycles equipped with four-cylinder engines.

Driven by the five major automobile companies, various three-wheeled vehicles quickly appeared on the market, and then greatly occupied the market... and then became the largest automobile category in terms of production and sales in the contemporary automobile industry!

The most produced and sold products in modern times are not trucks or cars, but all kinds of messy three-wheelers.

Even Luo Zhixue himself did not expect that after more than ten years of promoting the automobile industry, the largest production and sales volume was not cars or trucks, but Sanbengzi, which was so inconspicuous at the beginning that Luo Zhixue did not pay much attention to it!

To be honest, this does not meet his expectations for the explosion of the automobile industry. How should I put it? From the perspective of his senses and cognition of future generations, the traffic jam caused by the cars all over the street was a scene of the prosperous times;

But the traffic jams caused by the three-bouncers all over the streets are from Southeast Asia and India... They are a symbol of backwardness and ignorance.

Just imagining the messy scene with Santengzi everywhere on the streets of Jinling makes Luo Zhixue feel bad...

However, these personal senses of Luo Zhixue are just personal senses. In fact, the rise of tricycles is in line with the industrial foundation and economic level of the contemporary Chu Empire...

As a production tool, the three-bengzi, which costs more than one hundred yuan, can attract customers and goods, and is very adaptable to roads. Not to mention various suburban roads, it can also be used on some small dirt roads in rural areas. That's why production and sales are so good.

Nowadays, various tricycles have widely appeared in suburban and rural areas, and are used as public passenger vehicles and freight vehicles in rural areas.

Many people buy a tricycle and use it to travel to villages, counties or towns, soliciting customers on a daily basis, and occasionally transporting goods to make money.

Just relying on such a tricycle to attract customers and goods is enough to support the family and support the children to go to school.

So...even though the various tricycles produced by the Great Chu Empire today are very simple and look a bit out of place, in the vast rural areas, they are a tool for many local people to get rich. At the same time, they also greatly facilitate the daily travel of rural residents, the transportation of industrial products, and the transportation of local agricultural and forestry specialties.

Tricycles are cheap, easy to use, and have low barriers to entry. As a production tool, they can also help ordinary people support their families and even make a fortune. This is why the production and sales of tricycles are so popular in the contemporary empire, far more popular than cars and trucks.

This thing is really useful!

(End of this chapter)