The rail carriage that is ready to transport Wang Hou back to Feng County is much longer and wider than the ordinary carriage, because this trip, there is no big speed requirement, but the highest requirement for comfort, so Shayang County specially customized two such carriages, and behind them, there are some ordinary carriages. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Your Majesty and the officials are naturally more comfortable, as for those guards, well, then they will be a little more aggrieved. As for the accompanying fire death battalion, they are cavalry, so there is no need to worry about them.

Carrying Wang Hou's soft couch into the second section of the carriage, Wang Hou was placed on the bed by the window, the window was movable, and the baffles were opened to both sides, and the outside scenery was unobstructed.

Shu Chang sat cross-legged on the bed, Wang Hou half leaned on his chest, Wang Yueyao's eyes were red and swollen, sitting sideways, and there were several chairs on the opposite side of the bed, and they were fixed on the ground.

The whole carriage is like a small house that has been decorated with extraordinary luxury, with everything, but the difference is that many things are fixed there.

Since entering the carriage, Wang Hou, who has been languishing, has been in a better spirit, and two strange blushes have appeared on his face, and his eyes have become sharper.

For Shu Chang, this is not a good thing, he knows very well that this is the last return to light after a person's spirit is strongly stimulated.

Naturally, everyone else understands this truth, but in any case, seeing that Wang Hou's spirit is better, everyone is still relieved.

"Prince, geese have left a voice, and people have left a name. Your life is worth it! "The people present, except for Wang Hou, are the oldest in Shuma Xiangnan, and like Wang Hou, they are also the first group of people who fought with the Taiping Army, so naturally they don't have to worry too much about talking.

"Of course it's worth it!" The sound is low, but clear. Wang Hou looked at the crowd: "In the past, Jiang Ziya was still in his eighties, and I had to meet the Lord in sixty, haha, I was much luckier than him." ”

He doted on Wang Yueyao, who was sitting on the edge of the bed: "The old man's body is not done, Yueyao is crying and sad, but I don't know that I am very satisfied in my heart, God has already favored me very much, in the first half of my life, I have done a lot of evil, I want to come to God is also in my eyes, these last ten years, but it gave me the opportunity to atone for my sins, in the past ten years, I asked myself or did a lot of things for the common people in the world, and I wanted to leave a few strokes on the merit book of the king of Hades." I'm very satisfied with my current lifespan. By the way, Your Majesty often says that we cannot determine the length of life, but we can expand the breadth of our life infinitely, and I ask myself, it is not bad. ”

He smirked.

Ma Xiangnan nodded again and again: "The name of the prince is like thunder, and his name will go down in history, that is certain." ”

The door of the carriage was opened, and Fang Dazhi walked in and bowed to everyone: "Your Majesty, everything is ready, is it going to start?" ”

"Let's go!" Qin Feng nodded.

Fang Dazhi probed out the door, waved his hand outside, and then closed the car door.

Immediately, a loud and long horn sounded outside the car.

"Your Majesty, Princes, Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a signal to prepare for departure. The long sound is followed by three short quick sounds, which are activated. Fang Dazhi introduced.

Sure enough, after the long sound, three short horns sounded again, the carriage shook slightly, and slowly moved forward, Wang Hou turned his head to look out the window, and the station was slowly escaping backwards.

"Dazhi, come here, tell the prince about this rail car in detail!" Qin Feng commanded.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Fang Dazhi walked over, looked at Wang Hou, and said, "Prince, our rail car has carried a total of five carriages and transported more than 300 people. Pulled by ten horses. It is expected that it will arrive at its destination in Feng County in two hours. ”

"Two hours?" Wang Hou narrowed his eyes and looked at Fang Dazhi, but there was some surprise in his eyes.

"Prince, that's the case, a rail car, theoretically can be hung with twelve carriages, but for the sake of safety, we generally only hang ten cars, every fifty miles, we have a post station, to replace the horses, of course, that is in the case of full galloping, if the speed is not fast, there is no need to replace."

At this time, the rail car has already left the station, and the speed is naturally getting faster and faster, and the scenery outside the window keeps receding. "Daji, what's the speed right now?"

Fang Dazhi hesitated for a moment, but still decided to say truthfully: "Prince, at the moment, it's only half of the normal speed. Nowadays, there are many improvements in rail cars, and if the speed is too fast, it will inevitably shake and bumpy. ”

"I see, the main thing is to take care of me as a patient." Wang Hou smiled and nodded, he was a well-thought-out figure, as soon as Fang Dazhi opened his mouth, he already understood the meaning. "Daji, go on, I like to hear it."

"Yes, Maharaja. If we gallop with all our strength and change horses in fifty miles, it will only take one hour for us to arrive in Fengxian. With one rail car, we can transport 200,000 catties of grain or more than 2,000 soldiers. Fang Dazhi's expression was a little excited. In the past, this would have taken days. The emergence of rail cars allows us to reach the destination at the fastest speed, and can save us a lot of manpower and material costs. ”

"A great change unseen in a thousand years!" Wang Hou closed his eyes, opened them for a long time, and said with a smile: "In the past, when the army fought, it always had to show up with grain and grass first, and transport ten catties of grain, but there were three or four catties to be consumed on the road, but now with this rail car, these can be saved, Your Majesty, if this rail car is all over my Ming Dynasty, then my Ming Dynasty's thousand-mile territory can become small, the king ordered, and it will be able to reach all parts of the territory in an instant, this fortunate thing is also!" ”

"The prince is wise, that's exactly what he said." Qin Feng said with a smile. "It's just that the rail car has just completed this one, and it is still experimental, and it will take time and money to roll it out on a large scale. This more than 100-mile-long Shafeng line cost 1.5 million taels, and each mile cost an average of 15,000 taels of silver. ”

"It's expensive, but it's worth it." Wang Houdao: "I heard Yueyao say, in fact, the imperial court didn't really invest much money, it was all paid by merchants?" Is it good for such a militaristic weapon to be controlled by businessmen? ”

Qin Feng smiled slightly, the carriage was full of important ministers of the Ming Dynasty, and he was not in danger of leaking secrets, so he said to Wang Hou directly: "Prince, compared with big landlords, I think businessmen are more conducive to the control of the imperial court. Merchants have money, but they are like rootless duckweed, life and death, honor and disgrace are in the hands of the court, unlike big landlords, who have land as roots, and countless people are tied to the ground. ”

Although it was a little subtle, everyone in the carriage could hear it clearly, and naturally understood the meaning of Qin Feng's words. The big landlords have the capital, the ability, and the people who rise up to rebel, but the businessmen are difficult, and even if they have money, it is difficult to succeed. Since the beginning of the Taiping Army, the Ming Dynasty vigorously curbed the annexation of land, and even forcibly stipulated how much land each level of civil and military generals could only own, and the progressive tax rate based on the amount of land also made the big landlords lose the soil for their existence. The annexation of a large amount of land is no longer a profitable business but a money-losing business, so naturally not many people make up their minds on this, and a large amount of accumulated money is invested in business.

The establishment of the Taiping Bank, and the domestic private money bank to the point that it is impossible to survive, now in the world, the flow of gold and silver is less and less, more in a reserve currency exists, the Ming banknote in the market has occupied the mainstream position. The state-run Taiping Bank and the private Changlong Bank control the country's finances, and it is difficult for the big businessmen to escape the supervision of these banks with the capital they own.

In other words, monetary reform put a noose on the heads of these big merchants.

Moreover, although the right to operate these railways was handed over to the operation department composed of merchants, the ownership was to the imperial court, and after fifty years, they had to be returned to the imperial court. At that time, if they still wanted to continue operating, they could only pay the court again. Qin Feng continued, "So the prince can rest assured, no one can pinch the neck of the imperial court." ”

"In this way, as long as all the technologies are mature, the rail car can be rolled out across the country, and since the merchants of Shayang County can build a rail car, the merchants of other counties can naturally build it." Wang Houdao.

"That's true, but they always need to see the future and the money of this rail car." Qin Feng said with a smile: "Prince, as you said, the opening of the rail car will be a great change unseen in a thousand years, from now on, the world will become smaller, the speed of goods circulation will be accelerated, the flow of people will be more frequent, and the distance between each other will be closer." ”

"Okay, okay." Wang Houka laughed: "I am a Ming Dynasty, and I can expect to dominate the world." Shu Chang, Yueyao, you have to remember carefully, the day when the Ming Dynasty ruled the world, you must tell me as soon as possible. I'm waiting in the bottom of my head! ”

"Yes, Daddy!" Wang Yueyao held back her tears.

"The other day you told me that you were going to resign from your official position, there is no need to say anything more." Wang Hou stretched out his thin hands and stroked Wang Yueyao's black hair, "Daming is in ruins, how many things do you have to do now?" You are an important minister of the Ming Dynasty, how can you abolish the public because of private interests? Filial piety is not in death but in life. I already know your filial piety. ”

"Daddy......" Wang Yueyao raised her head, her eyes were hazy with tears.

"After I die, I only allow you to wear filial piety for 49 days, after 77, take off the filial piety, put on the court clothes, and walk into the government office. Everything you do for Daming is filial piety, are you clear? Wang Hou's voice gradually became stern.

Wang Yueyao whimpered and knelt down: "My daughter knows." ”

In the carriage, led by Qin Feng, everyone rushed to the ground towards Wang Houyi.

The world is public, only the king has thick ears.

"Your Majesty, can you run this rail car as fast as possible?" The flush on Wang Hou's face was gradually fading, and he looked at Qin Feng with a pleading look.

"Full speed ahead!" Qin Feng waved his hand resolutely.