Chapter 1025: The King's Little Invention, the "Universal Flying Cart"
Before long, the square in front of the church was crowded with villagers.
Those with livestock drove their carts over, while those without carried large wooden boards to haul the coal.
However, the coal merchant didn't begin distributing the fuel immediately as he usually did.
A chubby young nobleman stepped out from behind a coal wagon, a pleasant smile on his face. He raised a hand for silence. "Greetings, everyone. I am the general manager of the Walsh-Rochefort Coal Company. My name is Rochefort."
Indeed, he rarely visited Meition Village, and even when he did, he only interacted with a few of the local minor gentry.
He was here now because he had a very important piece of business to conduct. Mr. Walsh hadn't been optimistic about this venture and refused to invest, so Rochefort had dipped into his own savings, prepared to take a gamble.
Under the curious gazes of the villagers, several employees of the coal company began unloading piles of iron sheets and rods from the lead wagon.
Rochefort then announced in a loud voice, "This is the latest invention sweeping through Paris, a piece of precision machinery designed personally by our great King!"
Beside him, a brawny attendant picked up a hammer and wrench, skillfully assembling the iron components.
Twenty minutes later, thanks to the attendant's handiwork, an iron wheelbarrow appeared before the crowd.
It stood about seventy centimeters high, with a basin large enough for an adult to sit in with their legs tucked. It featured wrought-iron handles, a steel axle, and a wheel wrapped in cork to absorb shocks.
Well, despite being called a "flying cart," it certainly didn't fly. However, the blueprints really had come from the hand of Louis XVI—or more accurately, Joseph had drafted them, and the King had refined them.
To future generations, it might look like a simple wheelbarrow with no technical merit, but in the eighteenth century, it was a genuine high-tech product.
Of course, Europe had used wooden wheelbarrows for over a millennium, but those were heavy, difficult to push, and highly unreliable—they would start creaking after two or three years and were liable to fall apart after four or five.
In comparison, the iron wheelbarrow held a crushing advantage.
First, it weighed less than half as much as its wooden counterpart—which was admittedly counterintuitive. However, to achieve sufficient strength, wooden carts had to be built extremely thick, which caused their weight to skyrocket.
The iron version only required a frame of about a dozen iron tubes covered in sheet metal to be stronger than any wooden model. While iron was heavier than wood, the smaller amount needed meant the total weight was significantly reduced.
Secondly, the iron wheelbarrow was much easier to maneuver.
This was primarily due to its precision-machined steel axle, lightweight spoked wheel, and a more scientifically designed frame structure.
As for its watertight seal and resistance to woodworms, those benefits were just the beginning.
Oh, and there was one more major advantage: it looked sharp.
With its sharp angles and the metallic sheen of the industrial age, pushing it around made quite the statement.
Such a seemingly simple cart wouldn't reach its mature design in actual history until the 1820s.
However, because of its versatility, it would sweep the globe once mass-produced, becoming a staple for almost every farmer in Europe and America. Even into the twentieth century in the United States, wheelbarrow production remained a major source of profit for the steel industry.
Of course, the late emergence of the iron wheelbarrow was due not only to design factors but also because coal and iron production before the nineteenth century hadn't been sufficient to drive down costs.
But now, with France investing heavily in the coal and iron industries along the Walloon-Rhineland line—and without the massive iron consumption of a railway and train system yet—there was plenty of cheap iron available to manufacture these wheelbarrows.
Rochefort pushed the wheelbarrow back and forth a few times, then invited a farmer from the front row to try it out. Meanwhile, he picked up a wooden ladle with many small holes in the bottom to show the crowd.
"Using this along with the Universal Flying Cart to fertilize your crops can cut your labor time in half!"
The attendant immediately poured several buckets of water into the wheelbarrow's basin.
The watching farmers widened their eyes in surprise—the cart didn't leak! This was utterly unthinkable for a wooden wheelbarrow.
Rochefort used the special ladle to scoop water from the cart and held it up; the water fell evenly through the small holes.
"Imagine this: you're pushing the Universal Flying Cart filled with Stone Fertilizer solution, while your child uses this ladle to fertilize the crops."
"You could finish nearly three acres in a single day, and when you return home at night, you'll still have the energy left for some of those... 'favorite activities' with your wife."
The surrounding farmers immediately began whispering excitedly to one another.
Usually, fertilizing meant hauling heavy wooden buckets of liquid manure and splashing it into the fields ladle by ladle, requiring a trip back to refill every few minutes.
By the end of the day, they could cover less than an acre at most, and they would be absolutely exhausted with aching backs.
By contrast, pushing this beautiful "flying cart" around the field a few times would solve the problem with ease.
It really did seem much more comfortable!
And it wasn't just for fertilizing; it could be used for watering, sowing, harvesting, or even picking up horse manure.
As the farmer who had just tried it nodded and exclaimed, "It's so light," more people stepped forward to give it a push, each nodding in approval.
"Not only is it light, but it moves so easily."
"The handles are more comfortable than the ones on my cart at home."
"I just wonder how much it costs..."
The crowd turned as one to look at Rochefort.
The chubby young man smiled. "It's not expensive. Forty-one francs each."
A collective gasp rippled through the crowd.
Rochefort waved his hand and added, "However, the government is providing a subsidy of seven francs per cart."
"My company is also offering a promotion: if you place an order within the month, you get a ten percent discount."
"So, you only need to pay thirty francs and six sous to own this all-purpose 'flying cart'!"
The people continued to shake their heads.
Given the village's economic situation, most families only had a surplus of about twenty francs a year.
But Rochefort's next words dispelled their final lingering doubts.
"The Agricultural Services Consulting Company will provide a guarantee for loans through the parish bank. With a down payment of just six francs, you can take a 'flying cart' home today."
"Our company also guarantees free repairs for five years if the cart breaks. In fact, as long as you regularly apply anti-rust oil, this cart should easily last you twenty years or more."
Finally, a broad-shouldered farmer hesitantly raised his hand. "Could... could I buy one?"
"Of course!" The chubby man was overjoyed. He gestured to the representative from the Agricultural Services Consulting Company. "Please, register for the loan first."
He then pointed to his attendant. "Lassoutte, assemble a new cart for this gentleman immediately!"
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