Chapter 17 The Marching Chess Craze

In any case, the marching chess craze in Danyang was completely ignited after the battle between the Forbidden Army and the Ye Family Joint Team. From the next day on, the limited three sets of large-scale strategy game rooms in Yi Zhan Lou (Strategy Battle Tower) were fully booked. And those who registered to participate in this competition were no longer a ragtag bunch of people. Those marching chess enthusiasts who were interested in this event spontaneously organized themselves and formed teams of various sizes. Through the previous three games, everyone understood how complex and challenging it was to participate in this competition. The personnel required to operate a command team should not be too few, but not so many that they could be called "institutionally bloated." The twelve-person setup of the Ye Family Joint Team and the eight-person combination of the Forbidden Army were widely accepted.

Naturally, being interested in marching chess and the large-scale strategy gameplay, and wanting to participate in it, was one thing, but being able to form a team with some combat effectiveness was another. The simplest way for enthusiasts and those who were keenly interested in this activity to form teams and establish leaders for each team was to compete directly in marching chess. As a result, the chess tables in the hall of Yi Zhan Lou and the private rooms used for two-player battles were also overflowing.

Membership system? Ye Tao never imagined that the three thousand metal membership cards that he originally thought were sufficient would be used up in just a few days. Although the membership cards were not valuable, merely registering a name and address was enough to receive one, it suddenly became a symbol of urgent love for marching chess. And the rights to reserve chess tables, private rooms, and even the large-scale strategy game rooms that only members could register for, suddenly made these members the central figures among marching chess enthusiasts.

The sales situation of Yi Zhan Small Shop also became hot with this craze. Yi Zhan Lou was indeed a good place to make friends through chess, but since a seat was hard to come by, playing games at home with friends was a helpless choice. Although the large-scale strategy gameplay required a large number of items, including a large pile of chess pieces and models representing terrain and buildings, in addition, at least three rooms had to be vacated for the opposing sides and the staff to perform intermediate calculations and other tasks for the two sides' battles. Even those staff members had to have considerable mathematical knowledge, at least being able to perform four mixed operations without error. Listing all the required conditions, it was really not something ordinary families could afford. However, Danyang was, after all, Danyang. Like any capital city, there were many rich people and纨绔子弟 (wan ku zi di, good-for-nothing sons of rich families), and Danyang was no exception. Moreover, marching chess, especially the large-scale strategy gameplay, was definitely not something that would lead to decadence. Sets of items were sold one after another. If Ye Tao hadn't hoarded some goods in advance, he might have really sold out.

Teams began to use the homes of members who had purchased complete sets of chess pieces and related items as activity centers, dividing into sides A and B to compete against each other, and also assessing the abilities of members to select personnel who were suitable for participating in formal battles in terms of ability and personality, so as to avoid embarrassing themselves in Yi Zhan Lou when playing against other teams. Large-scale strategy game rooms were established in some people's homes, greatly dispersing the pressure on the few game rooms in Yi Zhan Lou, but also invisibly highlighting the authority of the battle records of all the battles in Yi Zhan Lou.

In the "exercises" conducted at home, the opposing sides could have full play, but there were many乌龙 (wulong, screw-ups) incidents caused by the staff, especially the players who doubled as staff. Substituting the wrong formula was only a minor problem. There were countless cases of inverting the data of the two sides, making mistakes in the feedback data, and making mistakes in the elements of the types of soldiers. As for errors occurring during the four mixed operations, it happened almost every minute in the entire Danyang. Under this chaos, Ye Tao was not very sure about the fairness of the formulas he had designed, and the idea of waiting for someone to propose modifications to the formulas seemed unlikely to appear in the short term. On the contrary, the demand for Ye Tao to come up with some calculation methods that would make it less prone to problems was accumulating every moment.

"Having fun?" In the Ye Family Workshop, Tan Wei Xin looked at the flustered Ye Tao sarcastically, "Father of the game industry, how glorious."

It was almost impossible to find a completely clean place in the Ye Family Workshop, clean enough for everyone to think it was suitable for the identity of a princess. The sawdust and metal shavings all over the floor of the workshop were only minor problems. Ye Tao, who was very concerned about fire prevention, had extremely strict regulations on the management of sundries in the workshop. Even Ye Tao's own "office" was a mess. Every time they came to the Ye Family Workshop, the maids Si Si and Qiao Er, who knew that the princess could not stand for long, always had the guards put a comfortable chair and soft cushions in the carriage. Ironically, the chair was still produced by the Ye Family Workshop, a genuine "IKEA" product, still produced by the original Yicheng factory.

Sitting in this comfortable chair, Tan Wei Xin noticed Ye Tao writing and drawing on paper, with a melancholy face, as if he had encountered some very difficult problem. He seemed to have no time to pay attention to the princess's sarcasm.

"What's wrong? What's bothering you?" Tan Wei Xin was a little curious about this.

"I've compiled a quick reference manual for some simple formulas, let them use it to cope with it. But what about those things that are a little more complicated? I want to make a simple mechanical function computer, but... it seems very difficult." Ye Tao scratched his head and said.

Tan Wei Xin was very sure that if it were in a comic, she must have a face full of black lines now. When will this guy Ye Tao be able to come up with something simple and easy to understand? Mechanical computer? Tan Wei Xin remembered seeing something like this on TV. It seemed to record the large-scale calculations carried out when China was developing nuclear weapons in the 1950s and 1960s. Under the conditions that were not allowed, a large number of people used mechanical computers to perform calculations and verifications. It was inserted in an entire documentary, and it seemed to be only less than half a minute. She really couldn't imagine what expression she should put on if Ye Tao made a mechanical computer at this time, even if it was a mechanical computer that could only perform simple function operations.

Taking a look at Si Si and Qiao Er, who were standing on the side with blank expressions, Tan Wei Xin asked timidly, "I remember there should be something called a slide rule, or a function rule or something. Isn't that easy to use?"

Ye Tao frowned and said, "But... there are many kinds of formulas. If you want to make a slide rule, wouldn't you have to make a lot of things? Unlike a mechanical computer, you can just make a dial on the side, and basically it's done."

"Bah!" Tan Wei Xin spat and said, "What's done and done?... Besides, what if there are many kinds of function rulers? With a quick reference table, a lot of mistakes will be reduced. You can make the shape and signs of the function ruler more distinct. If you still make a mistake, you're a pig. Many function rulers, anyway, they will all be used, sell them in a package. They asked you to make this thing to sell, take it or leave it."

When they were talking about these purely technical, quite profound things, the two of them didn't pay much attention to whether there were other people present. Because, even if they were present, they wouldn't understand. The terms mechanical computer and function ruler were too unfamiliar to maids like Si Si and Qiao Er. Although they had to learn a lot of things by Tan Wei Xin's side, it did not include addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division beyond the total number of their fingers and toes...

After thinking about it, Ye Tao said, "That's right...". Ye Tao, who was used to pursuing perfect solutions, really didn't think that slide rules could be sold like this.

In less than two days, Yi Zhan Small Shop launched a new product "at the request of many customers": a large-scale strategy calculation ruler set, and a quick reference manual was included with the purchase of the set. Considering the acceptance of this era, Ye Tao finally chose the name calculation ruler instead of function ruler. The calculation ruler set was not sold separately, but for customers who purchased the set, if any of the individual items were lost or damaged, a replacement service could be provided. Speaking of which, it was quite thoughtful. Although the calculation ruler set was worlds apart from cheap, people who had already purchased the entire set of marching chess large-scale strategy gameplay had at least bought one set. Some simply bought three sets, in addition to the staff, they could also allow both sides of the battle to have a general understanding of the possible results before the data was submitted.

The popularity of Yi Zhan Lou soon attracted more curiosity. At a friend's party, Huang Wan asked curiously, "How much did Yi Zhan Lou actually earn? Apart from buying those chess pieces, chessboards, and slide rules, etc., it seems to be very cheap to play chess there. I hope you're not losing money."

Tan Wei Xin immediately turned her head away, covered her mouth and laughed secretly, while Ye Tao began to talk about other things, which aroused everyone's curiosity. Ye Tao, who was not too taboo about profits, couldn't resist everyone and finally revealed a number that surprised everyone. In less than a month, excluding Yi Zhan Small Shop, Yi Zhan Lou's profit was a full 100,000 taels...

"Indeed, they are not big money. Everyone puts it in their hands, in their pockets, and even when they take it out to spend, they don't care too much, but there are so many people." Ye Tao scratched his head and said helplessly, "The rental of chess tables and chess pieces is just a small expense. But the tickets for the lecture hall, if you stay in Yi Zhan Lou for a long time, you have to drink tea and eat, right? Although there are many restaurants and teahouses around, there are also many people who are so absorbed in playing that they lie on the chess table for a whole day. When it's time to close every day, they are reluctant to leave even when we coax them. The revenue in this area is quite considerable. Those who are not so crazy also like the open-air tea seats on the small square outside. There seem to be quite a lot of people sitting there chatting and drinking tea. As long as the weather is good, it is difficult to find an empty seat during the day now."

So business can be done like this. Unexpectedly, this seemingly inconspicuous business, the little expenses that everyone doesn't care about, can form such an amazing income under the accumulation of sand into a tower. The number of businesses in Danyang that can reach this figure of 100,000 taels of silver a month is less than three. And Yi Zhan Lou is about to explosively occupy such a seat.

"Next month, the Emperor will marry Princess Bai Lian as his concubine. If Danyang is lively, I'm afraid Yi Zhan Lou's business will not be so good." Ye Tao looked at everyone's surprised and envious expressions, and smiled, said.

"The Emperor's wedding, even if it's to take care of the face of the Chun Nan Kingdom, is only for two or three days. Although everyone present is on the list of invited guests, it will be at most one day, what impact can it have?" Chi Yun's younger brother, Chi Lei, had been playing with them recently, and said very bluntly: "It's not like a big funeral, the whole city is not allowed to entertain for a month."

Um... Tan Wei Xin hummed unhappily, then picked up the teacup, deliberately rubbing the lid against the rim of the cup to make a sound.

Chi Lei suddenly realized that he had said something very taboo, and quickly slapped himself and said, "Ignorance is bliss, ignorance is bliss..."

Everyone laughed, Huang Wan and others were more familiar with Tan Wei Xin than Chi Lei, and knew that Tan Wei Xin actually didn't have so many taboos. Even half of the taboo jokes circulating in the circle came from her. It's just that she probably had some trick up her sleeve again. Everyone quietly waited for Tan Wei Xin's next statement.

"Telling Father to chop off your head is a bit severe, what do you think would happen if I told your father what you just said?" Tan Wei Xin said with a sneer.

"Your Highness, please don't. If I tell my father, I'll get another good beating. I've already had one this month. If I have another one, I'll lose half my life." Chi Lei quickly begged for mercy.

"Oh... is that so." Tan Wei Xin waved her hand generously and said, "Then help me with something. This matter will be over, and I won't mention it again."

Chi Lei quickly said, "Please give me your orders, Your Highness."

...He was easily extorted by Tan Wei Xin again. In fact, with Tan Wei Xin's identity, if she really asked these friends to help her with something, everyone would not be able to refuse anyway. However, Tan Wei Xin rarely did this. She didn't like to use her position as a princess to ask others to do anything, but she always found opportunities to blackmail them. Perhaps they were not big things, but after spending some time together, everyone understood that Her Highness was really good at blackmailing...

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Sorry, I have something to go out, I didn't have time to update, I dragged it to now, this long chapter, barely compensate for the lack of one chapter today

By the way, let me explain the issue of the golden ratio. When I first set it up, I didn't intend to refer to any dynasty. If you look carefully, I hinted when I wrote IKEA that the ratio of gold to silver is only about 1:6. Do you think 100,000 gold is not exaggerated like this? However, considering that too many people are not used to this ratio, I will consider modifying it, but in this case, all the chapters involving money need to be adjusted, so I won't move it for the time being, and wait for all the revisions in the future~