Munitions Empire

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"Dingling! Dingling!" One of the four telephones in front of Tang Mo suddenly rang with a crisp tone.

Tang Mo picked up the handset and put it to his ear, "It's me, what's the matter?"

"In the No. 2 factory assembly workshop, the thing you designed has been manufactured," Mathews' excited voice came through the phone, "It's magnificent! I never thought that one day I'd create something so great!"

"I'm on my way!" Tang Mo hung up the phone immediately.

Then, he grabbed another telephone in front of him, and ordered, "Get ready, we're going to No. 2 factory."

Soon, Tang Mo, who arrived at the No. 2 factory, saw the thing he had been longing for—a car!

This was the world's first car, but because it was directly based on designs provided by Tang Mo, it was already using a more advanced design that was no match for the ancient cars of the olden times.

Right from the start, Tang Mo had established a complete car production line, which was the famous Ford automobile production line.

The car Tang Mo intended to release was the first-generation civilian Model T car. This car was designed completely for the common people, with a simple design and affordable price.

In Tang Mo's original world, the Ford company had achieved tremendous success with this successful design, producing as many as 15 million of these cars, which illustrates the "superiority" of this type of vehicle.

And indeed, it was superior because the design of this car was mature, with a low failure rate, nearly a perfect design for early automobiles.

Of course, it's not all good, because its design is actually vastly different from modern cars, and one could almost say that driving this car actually requires special training.

First, to start this car, one needed to crank the front end with a lever, a design that was actually common in early cars, so it couldn't be said to be a unique feature of the Model T.

If not careful, this lever could even cause injuries by the engine turning over prematurely, so one had to be very careful when starting the car.

Additionally, the Model T's clutch was a three-speed planetary gear, with only two forward gears and one reverse gear, and these three gears were controlled by three separate pedals!

That means, this car actually had four pedals! And none of these four pedals were for the throttle control!

The throttle for this car was next to the steering wheel, controlled by hand! So the control of this car was completely different from that of today's cars.

What's more interesting is that this car could only seat two people, a standard small car, and both its load and speed were quite ordinary.

This car had an engine close to 3 liters with four cylinders, offering 20 horsepower of traction, allowing the car to theoretically zip along at a speed of 70 kilometers per hour.

The engine's fuel consumption per hundred kilometers was around 9 liters, which is actually a rather awkward figure: early gasoline engines were not precisely made and had quite common performance, and the fuel consumption was relatively high compared to modern standards.

The design of this car's fuel tank was also odd; it relied on gravity to get the gasoline into the carburetor, but the position of the tank in the first-generation Model T was designed so low that it couldn't climb hills when low on fuel. If it needed to go uphill when low on fuel, it could only go up in reverse…

So, Tang Mo could only take out subsequent improved design blueprints and relocate the fuel tank between the engine and the driver.

Despite these flaws, the emergence of this type of car indeed resolved Tang Mo's needs for automobiles; he could finally mass-produce cars and allow his troops to move more swiftly.

Also, it would greatly save his time, as cars could effectively fill the gap in the transportation network, allowing him to reach his destinations faster.

And in fact, the greatest advantage of the Ford Model T was the use of the assembly line production method, enabling it to be effortlessly manufactured!

Skilled workers, in combination, could assemble a Ford car in just 10 minutes; it was also material-efficient, all of which met Tang Mo's needs.

As long as the car was cheap enough and production was fast, he could make more money, which he could use to improve his car production line and produce even better cars!

At this moment, the car was not yet aesthetically pleasing, but Tang Mo was certain that if he desired, Mathews and others could create a more luxurious car for him!

Tang Mo had even chosen his favorite model: the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost 1923! He planned to use this car as his first vehicle, as he had no particular affection for the Model T car, a mass-produced model for the general populace.

No matter how good the Model T car was, it was merely a solution to a problem of availability, and he must add some excitement to his life, to create some romantic flair.

The Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost car had a performance so extraordinary that its excellent V6 six-cylinder engine could allow the car to reach speeds over 100 kilometers per hour in 1923.

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What amazed people even more was that, in that era, it could ensure that the car wouldn't break down and could continue to travel at high speeds.

Compared to the T-model cars that would break down at the drop of a hat, the Rolls-Royce was the true essence of an excellent car, the luxurious existence that could truly display Tang Mo's status!

"We've made improvements, and can add 2 more seats to this car, or add a compartment for hauling things," Mathews proudly introduced the direction of improvements for this T-model car, as in his view, Tang Mo was no different from the god of technology.

However, he personally was clearly somewhat dissatisfied with the performance of these cars, "Theoretically, it can haul a C80 field artillery piece, but it can't travel off-road, and can't go very fast either."

"A carriage can't haul a C80 field artillery piece off-road either, and of course, it can't haul a C105 howitzer. But we can use two carriages linked together to haul a C105..." Parker, who was standing by, was a little anxious. Worried that Tang Mo might also be dissatisfied with the performance of these cars, he interjected to explain.

"No worries, we'll soon have cars with even greater horsepower, so don't fret about it!" Tang Mo reassured the somewhat nervous Parker, patting him on the shoulder.

After comforting Parker, Tang Mo then looked at the T-model car in front of him and asked Mathews, "Now we can start to think about it, how much should we sell such a brand-new mode of transportation for?"

"How about 177 Gold Coins per car?" Mathews felt that such a revolutionary design should at least earn twice the profit, no matter what.

The cost to produce this car was around 59 Gold Coins, so selling it for 177 Gold Coins wasn't actually expensive.

After all, this thing was the crystallization of technology! It was the most advanced gasoline engine-driven precision machine of the time! 177 Gold Coins was far cheaper than a steam engine.

"That's why I say, you're alright as a craftsman, but you're lacking a bit as a businessman," Tang Mo said to Mathews with a smile.

Then he looked at Harry who was standing beside him and asked, "What about you? How much do you think this car should sell for?"

"I think, if it's feasible, it's best to sell it for only 80 Gold Coins!" After pondering for a few seconds, Harry then answered Tang Mo's question.

Tang Mo laughed heartily, then nodded and said, "After the first batch is produced, we'll find a way to reduce the costs further, and the final price... 75 Gold Coins!"

Compared to his competitors, his greatest advantage was that he had no research and development costs and wouldn't be taking any detours. He could completely reduce the cost to an unbelievably low level according to his personal preference.

Thus, in certain industries, Tang Mo could, if he wished, forge his own path and leave no room for others to follow.

In the vital manufacturing industry of automobiles, Tang Mo was prepared to do just that—he was going to seize the market with his absolute price advantage and crush those who tried to imitate or catch up!

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By the time his cars were commonplace, his follow-up models would likewise inundate the entire market, leaving no gaps for other rivals.

The reason he was doing this was to delay as much as possible the time his rivals might imitate him, thus giving himself more time to focus on oil and other energy sources, as well as subsequent technological breakthroughs.

Since he had already left his competitors behind in technology, he could use the dual advantages of technology and price to completely seal them within outdated realms.

By the time competitors like Shireck thought about manufacturing rival products, they would despair to find that there was no profit to speak of.

Soon after, they would find themselves in the awkward cycle of it being cheaper to rent than to buy, and cheaper to buy than to build, unable to catch up to Tang Mo for the rest of their lives.

"Selling that cheap?" Mathews was greatly surprised; he had thought Tang Mo would use this new mode of transportation to make a hefty profit.

"Cheap? If someone copies it, I'll immediately sell it for 70 Gold Coins each!" Tang Mo revealed an evil grin, like a man-eating monster.

But his smile quickly became sunny again because the production of the cars was assuredly good news for him.

Thereupon, he walked over to Mathews and patted the Dwarf's shoulder, then patted Parker's shoulder, and then turned to Harry, "Don't be stingy! Once the production capacity increases, I'll give each of you one of these cars!"

While saying this, he also teased Mathews, "...you might need a driver though! Hahaha! I'll find someone to drive for you!"

Speaking of drivers... Wes!" He looked at Wes, who was standing nearby and still sizing up the car, "You might have to learn to drive! I need a driver!"

"Driver?" Wes clearly didn't quite understand the term.

"Chauffeur!" Tang Mo clarified, "It's similar to your current job!"

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