Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology - Chapter 1116

Chapter 1116: Li Jian’s new chapter and Ming

Being a landlord, he might not know much about other things, but he was extremely proficient at socialising. Even if the person was almost a stranger, someone he had only met once or twice, he would step forward with a smile, greet them warmly, and say hello cordially. And even if he didn’t actually know the person, he would introduce himself and try to learn a little about them. More friends = more benefits was his motto.

Within half an hour of Lu Gao entering the courtyard, he had greeted everyone and came to an understanding that all the people here were landlords who owned farmland of at least 500 mu (~82 acres), so the curiosity in his heart grew, with his eyes flickering with anticipation.

“Thank you, gentlemen, for giving me face and coming to the banquet.”

Finally, the person who invited them all was here, Li Jian. Looking at the man, their eyebrows were raised. What they saw was not an old man of 40 years of age, but a middle-aged man who looked to be in his early 30s, wearing the clothing of Western Heaven, making him look like an immortal descending from the mountain.

“Where, where? When someone like you calls, Brother Li, how could a younger brother like me not come immediately?”

Li Jian did a namaskar with gratitude. “Haha, thank you.”

Everyone else woke up from their thoughts and came forward to greet one by one.

“Still, I have to thank everyone for accepting my invitation. I owe you all a great deal of gratitude.”

“So in the spirit of welcoming you all, let me take a shot,” he said and gulped down the cup of alcohol with a squint.

Looking at this, everyone laughed.

Lu Gao couldn’t help but be surprised when looking at Li Jian. Even if he was basically a foreigner in the eyes of people like him, he actually managed to bridge the gap so quickly.

The banter continued for a long time at the banquet table until finally the banquet ended and Li Jian had to stand up and explain why he invited everyone to a feast.

All the people looked up in curiosity.

“All of you are my brothers, so I’ll get straight to the point. I have a few units of tractors in my hand, and I want to show them to you to see if any one of you are interested.”

Hearing the statement, everyone showed a look of enlightenment, but no one was surprised. Given that they were not served alcohol during the banquet and it was only used at the beginning as a custom, they understood that a business deal was going to be discussed.

Lu Gao blinked his eyes curiously, “Brother Li, this tractor you talk of, is it a machine from the Bharatiya Empire?”

Li Jian nodded with a smile, “Yes, it is an invention from the Bharatiya Empire.”

As soon as he confirmed it was a machine from the Bharatiya Empire, a barrage of questions came his way, leaving him speechless.

“Is it the magical metal monster of the Bharatiya Empire that carries people without horses pulling it?”

“Oh, I heard that the Bharatiya Empire has metal dragons carrying people. Is this tractor related to it?”

“I heard the metal dragons eat people. Is it true?”

Finally, Li Jian raised his hand and waved to calm the people down.

“Friends, the tractor I have in my hands, or the machines you describe, are not metal monsters. They are inventions made by the people of the Bharatiya Empire.”

“Now I simply have sought you all out in order to see if any one of you will be interested in purchasing a tractor for your fields.”

Hearing this, Lu Gao’s ears suddenly perked up, “For the fields? Does that mean the tractor you are talking about can help in the field work?”

Li Jian let out a sigh of relief in his heart. Finally, he was getting to the main topic. “Yes, it can help you plough the field 10 times faster than the oxen, and it doesn’t even need to rest.”

“In fact, I can give you all a demonstration. Please follow me.”

The people were shocked when they heard that the tractor can plough the field 10 times faster, and that too without oxen. Many people were unwilling to believe that it was possible, but since the rich man from the Southeast was willing to show them the so-called tractor, they stayed silent and followed along.

Entering the backyard of the courtyard house, a large chunk of metal with four wheels was sitting on the ground. Everyone looked at it with confusion and curiosity.

Li Jian stood beside it and introduced, “This is the tractor I was talking about. This exact model is called Indraprastha Karshik, made by a group of engineers from the Engineers Guild of Indraprastha, which is the agricultural capital of the Bharatiya Empire.”

“It is powered by a Balwan 4th generation T series engine capable of….” He was about to explain the torque numbers and other specifications, but looking at his audience, who were looking at him with clueless expressions, he understood that they had no idea what the specifications meant. So he changed his mind and took the direct approach.

“With these blades,” he bent down and showed the plough attached directly to the frame of the tractor, “the tractor can plough the land easily without any rest, and it works no matter the time, be it day or night, as long as you are willing to run it.”

Even before the people could ask him to show it, Li Jian took the initiative to get on the tractor. He started to fiddle with some parts while he explained what he was doing.

“The tractor basically needs two things: coal and water.”

“I put the coal here, and water is already filled in the boiler here.”

He pointed in each step of the way and finally lit the fire.

He turned around and slit in a quick advertisement. “I have opened a dealership in Guangzhou, and I will be responsible for teaching the people how to drive this tractor. It’s quite simple; no need to feel that it is too complicated. Also, since the fuel is coal and water, it is cheap to operate as well. You will have to bring the tractor to service every 100 hours of operation, but I will give you one year of free service.”

“Oh… one more thing, you have to use coal mixed with oil, or you have to use coke as the solid fuel, but those are not big problems either, since both are available in Guangzhou in large quantities.”

The needle in the gauge hit the red mark, and Li Jian pointed at it with a smile. “Looks like the pressure and temperature have reached the necessary levels.”

“Pay attention, friends.”

The next moment, steam began to pour out from the tractor, causing Lu Gao and others to gasp, but their surprise was only the beginning, because the next moment, the tractor actually moved forward on its own.

Audible gasps could be heard as the audience’s eyes bulged like saucers. It was like they were witnessing black magic and sorcery. Was this the immortal artefact of an earth immortal? Some people thought

“Oh, ancestor, look behind it!”

Soon someone noticed that as the tractor moved forward, it left a trail of topsoil being turned over like a shark knife slicing through butter.

Lu Gao was shocked. In his mind, he began to calculate how long it would take the oxen to turn over the soil in the backyard, from what he could see it was over 30 mu (5 acres), and he came to the conclusion that it would at least take two or three days. But now, right before his eyes, a whole line had been tilled, and the tractor showed no sign of stopping. Does that mean the whole farm can be tilled in a single day?

“I have to get this,” he firmly decided in his mind.

And he was not the only one. His companions felt the same. The biggest dream of a landlord is not to oppress the slaves but to make as much money as possible. So now, if someone came to them and handed them a divine weapon that could cut down their dependence on slaves and oxen, why would they not be happy?

Throughout history, the slaves held the productivity. That was why landowners across the world could be seen oppressing the peasants and slaves in order to extract more out of the land. But when a way is shown for the same landlords to earn more while not having to keep the slaves in the first place, who would refuse?

The demonstration seemed to have worked more than he had anticipated. By the time he came back to the group riding the tractor, the landowners swarmed him, asking about the price and how to purchase the tractor.

In this way, all 20 tractors he had in the warehouse were sold out, and he received even more orders.

He had finally opened up a new path for his family.