Greece to roman road

Half a month later, in order to show the importance he attached to the machinery factory in Andros, Constantine personally sent an invitation to a team including Arms Minister Giannis and Transport Minister Kapodistrias to visit Andros. Ross Machine Works.

Andros specially dispatched a convoy to transport a visiting team of more than a dozen people to the machinery factory in the industrial area.

The car that came to meet everyone was a car produced by the Andros Machinery Factory in imitation of the Model T car.

Cars are still a rare and expensive means of transportation in Greece. Therefore, when a huge fleet of more than a dozen T-model cars appeared in front of everyone, their majestic momentum and pomp easily attracted everyone's attention.

The most prominent feature of this car is the boxy cabin. Compared with the cabin, the front of the car is low and narrow, and the body color is black.

"Is this a civilian car produced by Andros Machinery Factory?" Kapodistrias stepped forward curiously and said while looking at it.

The driver sitting in the cab is an employee of Andros Machinery Factory.

In order to let the machinery factory's cars appear in front of high-level government officials, these drivers were all operated by mechanical engineers from the machinery factory.

"Yes, sir, these vehicles have not yet been launched into the market, but they will be soon. They will be our company's flagship product in the next period of time," the driver replied respectfully, holding the steering wheel with both hands.

Although he did not know the identity of the person in front of him who was asking the question, he was wearing a crisp black suit and his blond hair was meticulously combed. He was full of style and had an aura about him. He was obviously a high-ranking official.

"Okay, Mr. Kapodistrias, let's take a ride and experience it. Just observing from the outside can't realize the mystery of this new type of transportation." Constantine opened the rear door in person and pulled the Kapodistrias entered the carriage.

After the two of them were done, Constantine looked around at the interior decoration of the car: Due to the square shape of the car, the space inside the car is very large. Even if two people are sitting in the back seat at the same time, it will not make people feel cramped;

There are black leather seats, and several transparent glass windows are installed on the front, rear, left and right windows, making the car very well-lit.

Although the decoration is not luxurious, it still makes people feel clean and tidy, and the ride is comfortable.

After the car started, more than a dozen cars lined up in a long queue and drove slowly towards the Andros Machinery Factory in the industrial area.

"Your Highness, the cost of such a car should be very expensive. If Andros wants to sell such a car in Greece, I'm afraid the market will be very limited." As the Greek Minister of Transport, Minister Kapodistrias naturally has some questions. The experience of riding in a car.

Cars in this era are real luxuries. People who are not wealthy families cannot afford cars at all.

"Who knows, it depends on how Andros's job goes," Constantine said with a shrug.

Although Ford's Model T cars were historically known for their low prices, Andros Machinery Factory was not as strong as Ford after all.

Greece's industrial level is naturally not as good as the United States, the world's largest industrial country.

Even for the same car, the price and cost are naturally very different.

"If the price is too expensive, it will be extremely difficult to promote such a car. Even the government will not be able to give much support," Capodistrias said to Constantine.

As the Minister of Transport, Kapodistrias naturally understood Crown Prince Constantine's intention of dragging him to the Andros Machinery Factory.

With the promotion and application of electricity, urban transportation in Athens now has trams extending in all directions. However, trams are limited to fixed lines and are inconvenient to promote.

There are still a large number of public carriages on the streets of Athens, providing services to the public.

A large number of horses were running on the streets, which resulted in horse excrement, horse urine and excrement being seen everywhere on the streets of Athens. The smell was stinky and disgusting.

Over the years, the smell of feces and urine persists throughout the city, and people walking on the streets always cover their noses.

The health problems caused by horse-drawn carriages have always been a headache for citizens.

With the invention of the automobile, taxis have now appeared on the streets of London and Paris, replacing some of the uses of horse-drawn carriages.

Constantine took the Minister of Transportation to examine whether the cars produced by the Andros factory could replace the criticized horse-drawn carriages in Athens and find more customers for the machinery factory.

Now looking at Kapodistrias's reaction, it is obvious that he is very satisfied with the performance of the cars produced by the Andros Machinery Factory, but he is now worried about the expenses involved in purchasing a large number of cars to be used as taxis in Athens. Expenses.

Half an hour later, the inspection team arrived at the conference room of Andros Machinery Factory.

"Andros, this is the Minister of Arms, Giannis, and this is the Minister of Transport, Mr. Kapodistrias" Constantine introduced the two to Andros, with a look that you know.

Sure enough, upon hearing their identities, Andros smiled with a smile on his face, shook hands eagerly and said, "Welcome Mr. Giannis and Mr. Kapodistrias to my factory."

After the pleasantries, Giannis, who is a soldier, went straight to the point: "Mr. Andros, the Greek Army is already familiar with the products of Andros Machinery Factory. Now the Greek Army is equipped with a large number of products from the Machinery Factory."

"Our Army's logistics department needs to be equipped with a cargo truck." After saying this, Giannis paused.

"If you can produce a truck that satisfies the military, Mr. Andros, you will definitely be satisfied with the military's order."

Currently, a large number of motorcycles produced by Andros Machinery Factory are in service in the Greek Army.

However, the price of motorcycles is completely incomparable with trucks, and the profits are naturally much smaller.

If we can successfully win the army's truck order, the machinery factory may have a headache due to insufficient production capacity for a long time to come.

Moreover, once such trucks meet the requirements of the military, they can naturally be sold to the market like civilian vehicles.

According to Andros's inference, not only is there a broad market for cars, but there is also considerable demand for trucks in Greek society.

Andros signaled to his assistant, quickly brought a stack of drawings, placed them on the table in the conference room, and introduced to Giannis and several other military technicians: "This is specially developed by our machinery factory for the military. The truck is 2 meters wide, 5 meters wide and 1 meter high."

"The tires are made of rubber and are 21 centimeters wide. Of course, if the army needs it, the truck's tires can be converted into solid rubber tires."

"It has certain off-road performance. There are two people in the cab. In the extreme state, the carriage can load 7 tons of cargo. The 60-horsepower engine gives it plenty of power."

Andros said to the officers: "This can fully satisfy the army's logistics work."

Several junior officers gathered around Giannis and whispered about the design of the Andros Machinery Factory.

"What's its range? How far can it run when it's full of fuel?" an officer asked.

Not only were the citizens fed up with horse-drawn carriages on the streets, but the logistics officers were also fed up with serving the large numbers of mules and horses.

"It is equipped with a large fuel tank. At a speed of 35 kilometers per hour, the range can reach 210 kilometers," Andros replied.

"If there are no problems with these designs, we will soon be able to make prototypes and hand them over to the army for testing." Andros is full of confidence in his company's products.