Li Longji was lying on the soft and spacious bed with the chubby Yang Yuhuan in his arms. His hand was gently stroking Yang Yuhuan's tender arm as the corners of his mouth curled up slightly. He looked at the fairytale-like snow outside the window with satisfaction.
Lying in this warm and comfortable environment, hugging a delicate beauty and watching the moving scenery, this was a feeling that ordinary people could not enjoy. Before the invention of the train, even the emperor, Li Longji, could not enjoy this feeling. But now, he could enjoy it at any time.
This time, he patrolled Luoyang for three days. On the surface, it was to inspect the work and show the importance of Luoyang as the ruler of a country. But in reality, it was to enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way. Although there were many beautiful scenes in the imperial palace, the scale was too small and it was easy to get tired of looking at them. On the other hand, the beautiful scenery along the way was not only magnificent but also infinitely changing. Moreover, it was constantly moving and the carriage was very comfortable. As a result, the feeling of enjoying the beautiful scenery was a million times different.
If looking at the scenery in the imperial palace was like looking at a beautiful landscape painting, then sitting in the train and looking at the scenery outside the window was like admiring the entire country. The feeling was completely incomparable.
This also made Li Longji understand why Emperor Yang of Sui wanted to ride the dragon boat down south. It was because standing on the tall dragon boat and looking at the scenery on both sides of the canal slowly receding could give rise to an indescribable feeling of joy. It made one feel that they were the ruler of the entire country.
"Saburo, going out of the palace to play is better than staying in the palace. In the future, you should go out more often."
Yang Yuhuan also fell in love with traveling, especially the process of riding the train. It was her greatest enjoyment.
Li Longji smiled and pointed at the pure white snow outside the window. He softly said, "Ah Man, it's snowing so heavily outside. We really want to go down and make a snowman to play with!"
"Since Saburo likes it, then order the train to stop. We'll go down and make a snowman. After that, we'll go to Luoyang."
Yang Yuhuan said with a smile.
Li Longji smiled and waved his hand. "Ah Man, this train isn't a carriage that can stop at will. If it stops abruptly, the train behind it will crash into it and overturn. We have already arranged for it to stop temporarily at the train station outside Weinan County. At that time, we will go down to take a look at the wheat planted there. Ah Man can bring the palace maids and eunuchs to play with snowmen in the snow. However, we only have an hour. After an hour, the train will depart again."
"Weinan County, wheat? Won't the wheat freeze to death in such a cold day? "
Yang Yuhuan asked doubtfully.
"We're not too sure about this. The last time we toured Luoyang, we asked Assistant Minister Li to research crops that can grow in winter. This way, Guanzhong would be able to produce two seasons of grain in a year. In the end, Assistant Minister Li recommended wheat, so we ordered the transfer of wheat seeds from the national treasury and ordered all the counties to try farming. Weinan County is the most active and planted the most wheat. We're passing by this time, so of course, we have to take a look."
Li Longji chose Weinan County to inspect the growth of wheat mainly because he was passing by. If the train didn't pass by Weinan County, he wouldn't have come all the way to inspect it.
"Saburo, how far is Weinan County? Are we almost there? "
Yang Yuhuan looked out the window, looking for traces of wheat. However, all she could see was a thick layer of snow. Even if there was wheat, it must have been covered by the snow.
"Haha! Do you see the mountain outside? We arrived at Weinan County not long after we passed by this mountain. We should be there soon. "
Li Longji's memory wasn't bad. He remembered clearly the places he passed by a few months ago. Moreover, the last time he passed by here, he was discussing the plowing machine with Ang Lee, so he had a deeper impression of it.
Soon, the train started to slow down and finally stopped.
Because it was arranged in advance, all the officials in Weinan County were waiting at the train station. When they saw the Emperor's private train stop, they respectfully bowed and waited for the Emperor's admonishment.
"Saburo, it's cold outside. Put on this fox fur coat!"
The moment the door opened, Yang Yuhuan felt a bone-piercing chill. She hurriedly draped the fox fur coat over Li Longji. This old man was all she could rely on. If he fell ill or died, her happy life would be over.
Li Longji, who gently draped the fox fur coat over himself, still felt an incomparable chill the moment he stepped out of the train. He tightened the fox fur coat around himself.
"Greetings to Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty."
All the officials in Weinan County knelt in the snow and paid their respects to Li Longji.
"Tianhan, you may all rise!"
Li Longji waved his hand and allowed the officials to rise. He praised them for obeying the imperial court's edict and strongly recommending the planting of wheat. Then, he naturally suggested to inspect the growth of the wheat.
Actually, to make it easier for the Emperor to inspect the wheat, the officials in Weinan County had chosen to plant the experimental wheat beside the train station and on both sides of the train path.
It was just that Li Longji couldn't see it because of the heavy snow.
"Your Majesty, there is wheat under the snow. I will dig up the snow now."
The county magistrate of Weinan County personally bent down and led a few subordinates to dig up the snow covering the wheat, allowing the fragile wheat sprouts to see the light of day again.
"Haha! They are indeed wheat sprouts. They have already grown so big. "
Li Longji personally pulled up a wheat sprout and carefully observed it. The fresh wheat sprouts didn't show any signs of frostbite. Evidently, Ang Lee was right. Wheat wasn't afraid of the cold, let alone being frozen.
Of course, this wasn't the coldest time yet. If the temperature continued to drop, would the wheat sprouts get frostbite? This could only be proven through practice.
"Assistant Minister Li, looks like you were right. These wheat sprouts can indeed withstand the harsh winter weather. Look at how well they are growing."
Li Longji handed the wheat sprouts to Ang Lee in a good mood.
"Your Majesty, it's all thanks to this heavy snow. If it wasn't for the snow, these wheat sprouts would at least have some frostbite on their leaves. This way, although they won't freeze to death, it will affect their growth and next year's harvest."
Ang Lee said seriously.
"Yes! Heavy snow indicates a good harvest. I know this principle. Next, we will have to see how much we can harvest during next year's spring plowing. "
Li Longji also understood that practice was the only way to test the truth. Whether it was cost-effective to plant wheat could only be determined during next year's spring plowing.
In order to make sure that all the wheat sprouts were growing well, Li Longji inspected many places and covered the exposed wheat sprouts with snow to prevent them from being frostbitten by the cold air.
After that, Li Longji listened to the report of the county magistrate of Weinan County. Then, he asked Ang Lee about the progress of the production of the plowers and water pumps, as well as when they would be able to produce a harvester, the results of harvesting, and other technological issues.
It was obvious that Li Longji attached great importance to agriculture and technology. After all, agriculture was the foundation of a country, and technology could increase agricultural output and reduce labor.
Just as Li Longji was inspecting the wheat, Yang Yuhuan led a dozen palace maids and eunuchs to build a snowman near the train station. In order to make these snowmen look more like humans, Yang Yuhuan draped the clothes she didn't wear over them. She even took off the jewelry on her head and inserted it into the snowman's head.
"Ah Man, are you building a snowman for yourself?"
Li Longji had the officials board the train while he led a few eunuchs to Yang Yuhuan, who was building a snowman.
"Saburo, look, does it look like me?"
"Yes, very much so. It's time for us to set off. Let's leave this snowman here! I hope we can still see it when we return. "
Li Longji said with a smile.
After everyone boarded the train, it set off again, heading towards Luoyang without stopping.
Because they had been delayed for an hour in Weinan County, and the winter days were shorter, they were destined not to reach Luoyang before sunset. However, it wasn't very important that the night curfew couldn't stop the Emperor. Moreover, riding the train at night gave a different feeling.
Sure enough, the train still hadn't reached Luoyang even after sunset. However, it wasn't far from Luoyang. It was only an hour's journey.
Although the sun had set, the ground was already covered in snow. Therefore, only a small amount of light was needed to keep the outside world from being too dark.
The hazy scenery had a unique beauty that wasn't inferior to the scenery during the day. At least, Li Longji liked this feeling very much.
Half an hour after sunset, the train arrived at Luoyang Railway Station and stopped steadily.
All the officials in Dongdu came to welcome the Emperor. Of course, the city gates were wide open. How could there be a night curfew when the Emperor was here?
After entering Luoyang City, Li Longji went directly to Shangyang Palace to rest. Although the train journey was not difficult and not bumpy, he had seen too much scenery along the way. Fatigue was inevitable. Of course, he needed a good day's rest.
The next day, Li Longji stayed in Shangyang Palace for the whole day. He accompanied Yang Yuhuan to make a snowman in the snow and enjoyed the long-lost snowy scenery of Luoyang.
After another day, Li Longji left Shangyang Palace and went to Luoyang for inspection. The first stop of the inspection was the steam shipyard in the direction of Luoyang. This steam ship was very important for the future transportation of the Tang dynasty, so it must be paid enough attention.
As the highest technical talent in the development of the steam ship, Ang Lee must accompany Li Longji. In addition, he was responsible for explaining the relevant knowledge and functions of the steam ship to Li Longji.
"Your Majesty, these are the first batch of steam ships under construction. There are a total of 20 of them and they will be completed in a month."
Ang Lee pointed to the 20 steam ships in the shipyard and introduced them.
"We still have to build more. There is a great demand for steam ships for the transportation of water. We can increase the production appropriately."
Li Longji felt that it was too slow to build more than a hundred ships a year. It was far from meeting the needs of the transportation of water.
"Your Majesty, I also want to build more steam ships, but there are too many things that need to be built and developed. There are more than 30,000 people in the research and development center, which is not enough. There are not many talents in the shipyard. At present, we can only maintain the annual production level of 100 ships."
Ang Lee said very helplessly.
Now, not only was the mechanical equipment outdated, but also the manpower was seriously insufficient. It was too difficult to produce on a large scale, or rather, it was impossible.
"Insufficient manpower? Then I will recruit the people in batches and let them be responsible for the rough work. Is that feasible? "
When Li Longji heard that there was insufficient manpower, he immediately thought of recruiting manpower.
Ang Lee shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, you must not. After next year's spring plowing, the imperial court will recruit laborers to pave the railway. If we recruit laborers in batches to build ships, it will inevitably affect the pave of the railway next year. It will also increase the burden on the people and damage the national strength."
"But didn't Assistant Minister Li say that there is a shortage of manpower? Other than recruiting laborers, I can't think of a better way. "
Li Longji said very helplessly.
"Your Majesty, there is no need to think of a way. In the future, with the popularization of plowing machines, water pumps, and harvesters, there will be no need for so many people to farm. In this way, there will be many people with nothing to do. In order to survive, these people with nothing to do will inevitably fill the ranks of the craftsmen. In this way, there will be no shortage of people to build ships."
Ang Lee said softly.
"Well, Assistant Minister Li is right. The efficiency of plowing machines is dozens of times higher than that of cattle, and the efficiency of water pumps is far higher than that of waterwheels. I think the efficiency of harvesters will not be low either. In this way, once these machines are popularized, there will be no need for so many people to farm, and there will be a great surplus of manpower. However, at present, the land of the Tang dynasty is in the hands of every person. Most of these people only have dozens of mu of land, and I'm afraid that they will not choose to use plowing machines. If they still farm according to the original method, Assistant Minister Li's idea will not be realized."
Li Longji pointed out the loophole in Ang Lee's idea. That was, there were a small number of people who did not cooperate with the national strategy. They used the primitive method to defend their dozens of mu of land, standing aloof from worldly affairs.
"Your Majesty, you can gradually relax the nobles' annexation of land. In this way, all the land will belong to the great nobles, and mechanized production will be guaranteed. A small number of people who lose their land will be servants of the nobles, and most of them will join the ranks of the craftsmen. In this way, all the problems will be solved."
Ang Lee said with a smile.
"Does Assistant Minister Li mean that we should liberalize the sale of land and let everyone buy and sell land freely? Won't this cause unrest? "
Li Longji asked cautiously.
Since ancient times, land had been the lifeblood of the people. If the nobles annexed land on a large scale, it was very likely that a large number of people would instantly lose their ability to survive, and then there would be a large-scale peasant uprising.
"Your Majesty, the sale of land is allowed, but there must be restrictions. Otherwise, it is very likely that the world will be in chaos."
Ang Lee answered seriously.
"Restrictions on the sale of land? How?"
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