The Empress’s Gigolo

“Alright, enough about the train. Work harder now and reap the fruits of labor in the future. Pleasure comes through toil.” Ren Baqian waved.

“I’m here to show you this epoch-marking product. The tractor!” He reached out and pulled the red cloth away, revealing the red steel monster beneath it!

Well, he hoped that this tractor had the appearance of a beast to make it look more shocking.

However, the machine in front of Ren Baqian looked no different from the brick-towing tractors that ran all over the streets when he was a child and was even simpler. A cover in front covered most of the structure, but the sides were left completely open and all the components inside could be seen.

The driver’s seat was two-thirds of the way from the front of the tractor, making its head look very long.

This tractor was twice as large as those on Earth that had similar specifications. On one hand, since the forging technology in Dayao was relatively weak, it was difficult to reduce the size of the engine.

On the other hand, it was because of the large fuel tank.

Obviously, the usefulness of a large fuel tank was huge in this world.

…

Although Ren Baqian felt that this tractor seemed a little substandard, the crowd still felt very interested by it.

After all, it could be seen from the sides that its internal components were very complex. Plus, it totally gave off a sci-fi vibe.

“What does this do? Mining? Or steelmaking?” the crowd asked as they walked around the tractor.

“Huh, why isn’t this thing sturdy?” Lian Liang held a round shaft above his head and waved it around.

Ren Baqian’s face suddenly turned black as he yelled, “Put it down!”

Even before the demonstration of the tractor was performed, Lian Liang had pulled out the steering wheel.

Fortunately, the steering wheel and the shaft underneath were separated, so the wheel could be mounted by simply snapping it on. However, he didn’t dare to allow this group of people to continue touching it.

Pushing everyone aside, Ren Baqian immediately sat in the tractor and said to the empress, “Let me take you for a ride, Your Majesty!”

She sneered. Did he assume that she didn’t know what a tractor was?

That being said, she was still interested in taking a ride on it.

After all, this was Dayao and not Earth. Also, the entire body of the tractor was labeled with the words “Made in Dayao.”

The empress moved her body slightly and landed in the passenger seat at the back.

“Let’s go.” Ren Baqian looked at the tractor for some time before inserting a Z-shaped metal pipe in its side. He cranked it dozens of times before the tractor began to vibrate.

“Does this thing feel pain?” someone asked.

Ren Baqian then returned to the driver’s seat and stepped on the accelerator.

Tu, tu, tu…

The tractor vibrated as white smoke puffed out from the back. It then slowly moved forward and gradually picked up speed before reaching its top speed of 30 kilometers per hour.

This was followed by exclamations from the commoners at the back.

“This thing is the same as that train and can move on its own.” Tong Zhenye, Tu Wan, and the others pointed their toes lightly and walked at the same speed as the tractor.

“This thing produces less smoke than that.”

“It doesn’t produce that much smoke, but it stinks and is choking.”

“This one can move on the ground!”

Ren Baqian drove the empress around on the tractor while groups of people walked alongside them at the same speed and commented on it.

As she sat in the back, she felt that it vibrated very strongly and was almost incomparable to the cars that she had sat in before. She looked to the side and saw that Lian Liang was looking at her skirt, although he was actually just curiously staring at the tractor.

However, without a word, she leaped into the air with a push of her palm and kicked him more than 20 meters away.

Ren Baqian looked at the crowd around him and winced. He then drove off the cement road and went straight into the turf.

It had just rained, so the ground was already soft. As the tractor ran over it, mud was splashed all over like black rain.

The empress’s first reaction was to grab Tu Wan, who was just standing beside her, and drag her in front. Tu Wan also reached out, grabbed the imperial treasurer, and dragged him in front…

The empress then leaped onto the tractor and kicked Ren Baqian off of it. She stepped on the accelerator like he did and drove it right into a ditch…

Ren Baqian fell to the ground, and his body was covered in mud.

“This is pretty interesting, albeit a little slow.” The empress stood by the ditch and looked at it.

Ren Baqian winced and turned to look at the crowd.

Then, he declared, “Everyone, this is the new product: the tractor.

You can see that this new product is like the train and can run for a long time without manual labor while maintaining the same speed. Its top speed is 30 kilometers per hour, and it will only take three days to travel 720 kilometers from Lan City to Ping City.

On the cement road, an ox cart carrying a load of 750 kilograms would take 10 days.

This tractor can carry a load of 4,000 kilograms, which is five times as much as an ox cart, and will only take three days. Only one person is required to operate it. Just one person and one tractor can achieve what five people and five horned cows can do! It’s also three times faster than an ox cart. It will be able to make three return trips in the same amount of time it takes for an ox cart to make just one.”

Everyone began to exclaim in admiration when Ren Baqian said this.

It was useless to tell them the specifications of the tractor. It was easier for them to understand if he told them how much load it could carry and how much time it could save.

“Besides, the use of these tractors is less dependent on the terrain. Its movements won’t be hindered even in a field or on the muddy roads. In areas without cement roads, the mobility of these tractors won’t be affected. Furthermore, an ox cart can carry 500 kilograms of load under such conditions, whereas tractors can carry about 2,500 kilograms. Their speed is also several times higher than that of ox carts.”

“This is a good thing.” Everyone looked happy when they heard this.

To most people, this thing was more valuable than a train.

“And beyond that, there are also other uses for this tractor, such as plowing land.

A horned cow can plow six acres of land in a day. With supporting equipment, this tractor can plow 60 acres in a day! 10 times that of a horned cow!”

Ge Yihong of the Department of Agriculture and Livestock looked happy at first, but then thought to himself aloud, “This thing is pretty good, but if it takes over all the farm work, what will the people do?”

“Factories! Our factories need a lot of manpower!” Ren Baqian replied without hesitation.

“Forget it—don’t worry about that. This tractor isn’t cheap, right? In fact, only the ministries can afford this thing! Plus, it would depend on whether Minister Tu agrees to it!” Tong Zhenye pointed out the problem directly.

“200 taels!” Ren Baqian quoted a figure that was equivalent to 10 years of income for an ordinary person.

The load capacity and speed of a tractor was several times that of an ox cart. Within a month, a tractor could travel five round trips to the Yun Nation and transport a total of 20 tons of goods. If the return trip was loaded with cargo, it would be a total of 40 tons.

An ox cart could only travel one and a half round trips while carrying a maximum load of 1,500 kilograms.

In fact, over a period of a month, the difference could be dozens of times greater.

In other words, the cost of this tractor could be earned back in a year at most.

The same was true for plowing the land. The tractor’s efficiency at plowing land was equivalent to that of more than 10 men.

Thinking about it this way, the tractor wasn’t really that expensive.

“How much?” Ge Yihong reached out to his ear.

The others couldn’t believe what they heard either.

This thing only costs 200 taels?

Wasn’t the metal used to construct it already worth more than thousands of taels?