The autumn harvest went very smoothly. Under the command and dispatch of officials at all levels of the Tang dynasty, the common people's autumn harvest was not disturbed at all. Moreover, they received a lot of help from the imperial court. All the departments gave the green light to the autumn harvest and regarded it as their top priority.
The weather was also very helpful. In these few days of the autumn harvest, the sun was shining brightly every day, which was undoubtedly a great advantage for the autumn harvest.
Because the two tax laws had been implemented, the imperial court's land tax collection had increased by many times compared to last year. The national treasury was suddenly filled by a lot, which made Li Longji very happy. Once again, he praised Ang Lee, who proposed the two tax laws, in front of all the officials.
After the national treasury was filled, Li Longji had enough confidence to lay the railway to the surrendered city and Yumen Pass. After he proposed the idea, it was unanimously approved by all the officials.
After all, after this period of experience and inspection, especially when Ang Lee used the train to transport tens of thousands of laborers from Luoyang to Chang 'an in only two days, the officials were greatly shocked. This made them firmly believe that as long as there was a railway, the transportation situation of the Tang dynasty would undergo earth-shaking changes.
Of course, there were also some officials and aristocratic families who saw the huge benefits that the railway could bring and were thinking about how to share the benefits of the railway.
When Li Longji proposed to build a railway operation department, all the officials were extremely supportive and fought with each other. This was especially so for the officials from the Ministry of Works. They had contributed the most to the construction of the railway, so they requested to bring the railway operation department under the Ministry of Works. Other officials also volunteered to work in the railway operation department.
However, to everyone's disappointment, Li Longji proposed to build a railway and put it under the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Gao Lishi would be the railway director, Yu Chaoen would be the deputy, and the rest of the railway officials would be under him. Moreover, talents from the Ministry of Works and the R&D Center would be transferred to the railway.
Upon hearing Li Longji's arrangements, all of the officials were stunned. The high-ranking officials from the Ministry of Works were even more exaggerated, their faces immediately turning green. A few of the remonstrating officials were even prepared to bang their heads against the pillars in the hall.
"Your Majesty, you can't do that. The Ministry of Internal Affairs is only responsible for the affairs of the palace. How can it be responsible for the operation of the railway? I think that it would be safer for the railway to fall under the Ministry of Works."
"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is responsible for the operation of the railway. This absolutely cannot happen."
"Your Majesty, please reconsider. You can't do that."
Soon, all the ministers in the hall were kneeling.
Everything was as Li Longji had expected. However, seeing so many ministers opposing him, Li Longji was still very angry. He hated it when others disobeyed him.
"We know that you are all worried about the Tang dynasty. You are worried that these people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs are not capable enough and will mess up the operation of the railway. However, we can guarantee that the Ministry of Internal Affairs will be able to handle the operation of the railway well. If they really do not handle it well and make a mess of the railway, there is no need for all of you to kneel and plead. We will deal with the person responsible and reestablish the railway operation department."
In the end, Li Longji still made some concessions and gave the ministers some hope. He made them feel that they still had a chance in the future. After all, in the hearts of many of the officials, the eunuchs from the Ministry of Internal Affairs would definitely not be able to do anything. When the time came, the railway system would still be theirs.
However, there were still a few remonstrating officials who refused to give up. They insisted that the railway should not fall under the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This was not in line with the ancestral system. Li Longji was so angry that he made a move. He demoted these people to the railway and let them see the ability of the eunuchs from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. At the same time, he let them supervise the officials of the railway.
These remonstrating officials were very noble and proud. They did not believe that the eunuchs had the ability to manage such a complicated railway operation system. Therefore, they accepted the edict against their will and were prepared to watch the show of these eunuchs. Then, they would use even fiercer words to remonstrate with the emperor.
With Li Longji's concession, the temporary railway was officially established. As for whether it could be stabilized, it would naturally depend on the ability and means of Yu Chaoen and the other eunuchs.
Of course, this was even more inseparable from Ang Lee's help. After all, railway operation and dispatch were very complicated, and Ang Lee had a better understanding of these things. He could formulate safe and reliable operation rules and regulations to ensure the sound operation of the railway system.
As soon as Li Longji's temporary appointment was issued, Yu Chaoen hurriedly rushed to the research and development center to find Ang Lee. Firstly, he wanted to thank him, and secondly, he wanted to ask for Ang Lee's help.
He knew that without Ang Lee's full help, he would definitely not be able to manage the railway operation department. And if this happened, not only would he lose everything, but he would also be severely punished by Li Longji. His ending might be very tragic.
After all, the imperial edict was issued by Li Longji in front of him. He had also sternly warned him that he must operate the railway well and win face for the emperor. Otherwise, the consequences would be very serious. And this was also equivalent to telling him that the real railway director, Gao Lishi, was only in name. He was the actual highest leader of the railway.
"Assistant Minister Li, Assistant Minister Li …"
After Yu Chaoen saw Ang Lee, he ran over, panting.
"Yu Shi, no, you should change your name now, right?"
Seeing that Yu Chaoen was travel-worn, Ang Lee asked with a smile.
"Hehe, Assistant Minister Li, you can call me whatever you want. Xiaonu is His Majesty's servant."
Yu Chaoen chuckled and lowered his status. After a pause, he said, "Thank you, Assistant Minister Li. His Majesty has already established the temporary railway administration and appointed Xiaonu as the temporary railway deputy director. I will be in charge of the operation of the railway."
"Haha! Then congratulations, Yu Tieling. Congratulations, congratulations. "
"Assistant Minister Li, Xiaonu doesn't know much about the operation of the railway. Although His Majesty has arranged many officials for Xiaonu, these officials probably don't know much about it. I still need Assistant Minister Li's help. If I don't do it well, His Majesty will definitely not let Xiaonu off easily."
Yu Chaoen said worriedly.
Ang Lee smiled faintly and took out the rules and regulations for the operation of the railway, as well as logistical maintenance, locomotive maintenance, various ticket prices, and so on. He handed them all to Yu Chaoen and said softly, "Yu Tieling, these are the key to the operation of the railway. If you follow these rules, there will be no problems with the operation of the railway."
After Yu Chaoen took them and skimmed through them, a trace of joy appeared on his face. He was clever and could naturally see that the strategy written by Ang Lee was very suitable for the operation of the railway. He immediately beamed with joy and said, "Thank you, Assistant Minister Li. Xiaonu will do his best to get things done. I won't let Assistant Minister Li down."
"Yu Tieling, these rules are dead, but people are alive. There will definitely be people who don't follow the rules and even deliberately stir up trouble. For those who don't follow the rules and deliberately stir up trouble, I only need one word: Yu Tieling, you can't be soft-hearted!"
Ang Lee said and made a killing gesture. Ang Lee couldn't be more familiar with these disabled eunuchs. These guys were very perverted. It would be much easier for them to kill people than for them to save people.
"Assistant Minister Li, don't worry. Xiaonu understands that many people are against the railway being classified as the Internal Servants Province. They will definitely take action. But the Internal Servants Province is not full of mediocre people. As long as the rules are set first, whoever dares to violate them will be killed."
Yu Chaoen revealed a sinister smile.
"Oh right, Yu Tieling, although this system is good, it has to be presented to His Majesty first and let His Majesty know these rules and regulations. Then, Yu Tieling can kill anyone who violates them without any scruples."
Ang Lee reminded Xiaonu.
In fact, promoting the railway was a happy thing. Ang Lee didn't want to shed blood, but the other modes of transportation in the Tang dynasty couldn't be compared with the railway. The profit of the railway operation was so great that it was like a huge treasure bowl. Everyone wanted to own it. For the stability of the Tang dynasty, of course, it was best for the Emperor to control this treasure bowl himself. It was undoubtedly the best way to let the eunuchs supervise it.
But there would definitely be many people who were unwilling to accept it and would try to get a share of it. Therefore, it was inevitable that they would tamper with the operation of the railway and sabotage it. In this way, the Emperor would take back the eunuchs to be in charge of the railway and let the officials from the aristocratic families be in charge of the operation of the railway.
In order to keep the railway firmly in the hands of the Emperor and prevent the huge profits of the railway from being nibbled away by the aristocratic families, Ang Lee had to help Yu Chaoen so that these selfish aristocratic families couldn't get any benefits from the railway.
Yu Chaoen was smart and clever, and he wasn't a good person. Ang Lee was very relieved to let him be in charge of the operation of the railway. At least, he was much better than those people from the aristocratic families.
Ang Lee spent a lot of effort to summarize various systems, which were naturally incomparable advantages. After reading them, Li Longji greatly appreciated them and told Yu Chaoen to do everything according to Ang Lee's requirements. If there was anyone who violated them, he could kill first and report later.
After the autumn harvest, the Emperor's visit to the Eastern Capital, Luoyang, was put on the agenda. But the Emperor's trip was a big matter, so it needed to be prepared in advance. Therefore, there was half a month to prepare.
Before that, in order to benefit the people of Chang 'an and Luoyang, the passenger and freight trains of the railway had already been in operation. Various rules and regulations were completely implemented according to the system written by Ang Lee.
In order to facilitate the transportation between the capital and the Eastern Capital, the passenger train ran once a day. It was just a train with 20 carriages. Among them, some adjustments were made to the types of carriages. There was one soft sleeper, three soft seats, one dining carriage, two hard sleeper, eight hard seats, and finally, five stable carriages. The total transport capacity was about 1,600 people.
Although people in ancient times rarely walked around and liked to stay at home, Chang 'an and Luoyang were both big cities with many nobles and merchants. If the transportation became more convenient, naturally, many rich young masters would choose to go out to play. It was a very good feeling to take the train to go out for a stroll. Businessmen needed to know the market, so naturally, they needed to go out more. If they wanted to transport large quantities of goods, they also needed the help of the freight train.
And the fact was that after the railway was in operation, many people bought tickets and chose to go out by train. What especially surprised Ang Lee was that the most expensive soft sleeper tickets were always the first to be sold out. Soft seats and hard sleepers were also basically sold out. The occupancy rate of the hard seats and stable carriages was as high as 80%.
In order to improve the safety of transportation, the train was not allowed to run at the highest speed and was not allowed to run at night. Every train left at dawn and arrived at the destination in the evening after sunset. Therefore, if you wanted to take the train, you had to get up early. If you got up late, you would definitely not be able to catch up. Moreover, the earlier you came, the more choices you had, especially the soft sleeper tickets. There were only 24 tickets. If you came a little later, you would not be able to buy it. If you met a few masters in private rooms, you would not be able to buy it.
Of course, because the railway had just started operating, everything had to be done carefully and could not be careless. If everything was stable, there could be two trains a day, one during the day and one at night. In this way, the railway track would not be wasted, but the danger was slightly higher. Moreover, it was dark at night. Every carriage needed to be lit with candles, which was a waste of energy.
The freight train did not have a specific time. As long as the goods needed to be transported totaled more than 50 freight carriages, the train would set off immediately. For safety, the speed of the freight train was slower than that of the passenger train.
Because the price was cheaper and the time needed was shorter, most merchants chose to transport their goods by railway. Therefore, there were at least three freight trains going back and forth every day. The profits were even higher.
However, what Ang Lee was worried about still happened. In order to disrupt the operation of the railway, many people with ulterior motives began to cause all kinds of trouble. For example, they forced their way through the ticket inspection, boarded the train without buying a ticket, bought a hard seat but stayed in the soft seat area, and gave the horses croton seeds in the stable carriages.
These things did not seem big, and moreover, they did not seem to be done deliberately. However, they were all instigated by someone behind the scenes. This brought a lot of trouble to the operation of the railway and caused some chaos.
Fortunately, Ang Lee was prepared. He had prepared various rules and regulations for Yu Chaoen, as well as how to deal with all kinds of problems. It could be said that these small matters were suppressed. The operation of the railway went smoothly. Moreover, it was relatively orderly.
In the Moon Hall of the Right Prime Minister's residence, Li Linfu closed his eyes and rested. Beside him was his trusted aide, Li Zhonglin.
"Alang, several ministers from the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue have come to seek an audience."
A servant walked to the entrance of the Moon Hall and nodded to report.
"I won't see them. Tell them to go back!"
Li Linfu's attitude was very firm. He did not want to see these people at all.
"Yes, Alang."
Li Longji stepped forward and said, "Alang, these are all ministers who support you. Why did you refuse them at the door?"
"It's better to not see them than to see them. Of course, I won't see them. Do you think I don't know why they came? They just want me to put in a word for His Majesty to remove the Ministry of Internal Servants from managing the operation of the railway. "
Li Linfu smiled disdainfully.
Li Zhonglin nodded and frowned. "Alang, it's strange. It's already been five days, but the railway is still running in good order. This Yu Chaoen is quite capable. I underestimated him."
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
