Li Longji had slept with Yang Yuhuan last night and had used up a lot of energy. Therefore, he seemed a little tired the whole day. He did not accompany Yang Yuhuan to see the rainbow at Penglai Lake, nor did he attend the gathering of the princes. He just lay alone in his bedroom and rested. Occasionally, he would drink some tea and eat some snacks. He closed his eyes and rested for the whole day.
At this time, he could clearly feel that he was aging. After all, age was not forgiving. His body was getting worse day by day. The pressure on him to sleep with Yang Yuhuan was getting greater and greater.
People were afraid of aging and death. Everyone was like this. No one was exempt. As an emperor, Li Longji could have the whole world, but he could not control his own aging and the scythe of death that was closing in on him step by step. No matter how much he had, it was useless. In the end, all of it would be lost, and he would turn into a pile of yellow soil.
Therefore, the emperor's greatest dream was to be able to live a long life of a hundred years, or even live forever in this world and never die.
Usually, when the emperor was in good health, he would not care too much about immortality. However, once his health deteriorated, he would be very concerned about such things. He would hope that his body could get better and he would never get sick again.
Li Longji did not believe that there was an elixir of immortality in the world. At least, that was the evaluation of history. However, the evaluation of history was not necessarily accurate. According to historical records, Li Longji's health had always been very good. After An Lushan's rebellion, Li Longji fled to Central Sichuan and lost control of the court. In other words, when his body was still relatively healthy, he had already lost power. Therefore, naturally, he did not have the ability to use the power of the country to find the elixir of immortality. If An Lushan's rebellion had been delayed, when Li Longji's health deteriorated, would he have used the power of the country to find the elixir of immortality? This was very likely.
At this moment, Li Longji's body had already shown signs of aging, but it was not very serious. Therefore, he did not have much of a sense of urgency about immortality. He only sighed occasionally.
Just as Li Longji was inquiring about Ang Lee's visit to the palace, a young eunuch walked in.
"Princes, are you having fun?"
Li Longji asked.
"Your Majesty, all the princes are doing well, especially His Highness King Shou. He is much more lively than before and even took the initiative to propose a toast to the other princes."
"What's going on? What happened to King Shou recently?"
Li Longji was quite surprised by his son's abnormal behavior. He felt that something must have happened. Otherwise, there shouldn't be such a big change.
"Your Majesty, King Shou has been the same as before. There's nothing unusual about him, and he hasn't seen any outsiders."
Li Longji frowned and waved his hand, "Leave!"
When the young eunuch went out and turned left, he happened to see Yang Yuhuan standing outside the door. He didn't know if she had just arrived or had been here for a while. Just as he was about to greet her, he was stopped by Yang Yuhuan and signaled for him to leave quickly.
That's right, she had been standing outside the door for a while. Moreover, she also heard a few words of conversation in the room. Because she was a little frightened, she stood outside and didn't dare to enter.
Now, the Emperor didn't know why Li Mao became so lively, but she knew a little. She felt that Li Mao's mood changed after seeing her, so he became more lively than before. As for what this change was, she wasn't completely sure and didn't dare to verify it. No matter how much the Emperor doted on her, he couldn't allow her to have another man in her heart, even if it was her ex-husband, the Emperor's son.
After waiting for a while, Yang Yuhuan quickly entered the room and called Saburo with a smile.
"Man Man, are the three madams satisfied with the rainbow?"
"Of course the rainbow is beautiful, but I didn't go to Saburo today. My three sisters' necks were almost broken. I thought they would go to Saburo halfway."
Yang Yuhuan said. After a pause, she continued, "As soon as they left, Ang Lee came and said that he wanted to check the fountain. It's such a small thing, but the dignified Assistant Minister Li actually came to check in person."
"Nothing is a small matter in the royal family. He has always been so serious. However, the rainbow is nothing. If the Long-distance Voice-transmitting Project really succeeds, it will be really amazing. I can talk to the generals at the border while sitting in my bedroom. It's much faster than sending a letter by horse."
Li Longji immediately thought of the Long-distance Voice-transmitting Project. It was obvious that he was quite looking forward to it.
"Long-distance Voice-transmitting Project, this is too mysterious. But if it can really be done, it will be very convenient."
Yang Yuhuan said.
"Haha! Yes! Once this project is really realized, it will have an immeasurable effect on the Tang dynasty! When Ang Lee told me a few days ago, I just told a few ministers casually. As a result, all the people in Quan An know about it. Many ministers are thinking about what to do after this project is realized. In the past few days, I have received no less than a hundred memorials about the Long-distance Voice-transmitting Project. More memorials are being sent to the palace. My eyes are almost dazzled. Look, there are so many memorials in my bedroom. "
Li Longji said helplessly as he reached out and patted the pile of memorials beside him.
Yang Yuhuan casually picked up a memorial and asked jokingly, "Saburo, can I read these? If you can, I can read them to you. "
"Concubines can't interfere in politics. Have you forgotten?"
Li Longji said seriously. Then, he laughed and said, "Haha! It's not a big deal. There's no need to read it. Just tell me what it means after reading it. "
Yang Yuhuan opened it and read it. When she saw the signature, she said, "Saburo, this is a memorial from Yu Chaoen of the Railway Bureau. He also learned to write memorials like the ministers. It doesn't look like he wrote it! He must have asked someone to write it for him. "
"Asked someone to write it for him? Humph, this is the crime of deceiving the emperor. By the way, this servant hasn't come to the palace to report to me for many days. He is very busy! "
Li Longji didn't really blame him. He just said some harsh words casually. After a pause, he said, "What did Yu Chaoen write? What did he think of the Thousand Mile Sound Transmission? "
Yang Yuhuan smiled and said, "Saburo, Yu Chaoen's first half of the content was crying. He said that his work in the Railway Bureau was too hard. There weren't enough trains on the main lines. Many merchants were about to eat him. The second half was interesting. He said that if the Thousand Mile Sound Transmission plan was successful, he would equip every station with such equipment. In this way, the efficiency of dispatching trains would be increased by many times. The speed would also be further increased. It would greatly alleviate the problem of insufficient railway capacity and reduce the dissatisfaction of the merchants. The whole thing was written very well."
"Humph, this Yu Chaoen found a good scholar! But the better the scholar, the more he will be exposed! "
Li Longji said mockingly. He said, "It is normal that the railway capacity can't keep up. In the past, the merchants used to transport all their goods by horse carriages. Now, they have to use trains. How can it be enough? We can only slowly increase the number of trains. However, what is written in it is very reasonable. If we can communicate in time, the efficiency of dispatching trains will be greatly increased. It will indeed play a big role."
"Saburo, do you really believe that the Thousand Mile Sound Transmission plan will succeed?"
Yang Yuhuan still felt that it was a little unbelievable.
Li Longji replied confidently, "I believe in Li An. Since he can make a train, it's not difficult for him to transmit his voice from ten thousand miles away. However, he said that it would take at least a year. We can't be anxious. We have to wait slowly."
Yang Yuhuan smiled and picked up another memorial. After skimming through it briefly, she said with a smile, "Your Majesty, this is a memorial from a veteran at the border called Guo Ziyi. He is quite direct. He wants the imperial court to give them priority to equip them with the Thousand Mile Sound Transmission device. Moreover, he asked for eighty sets. He said that the border is in great need of such equipment, but the plan hasn't succeeded yet? Why did he ask for it directly? Could it be that the news changed after it reached the border? "
"It's not that the news was sent wrongly. This old sly man did it on purpose. Dream on. The research hasn't been completed yet. He asked for eighty sets. If every border is given this many, how much will I have to give? Such a powerful machine must be very precious. It must be used where it is most needed. "
Li Longji immediately understood that Guo Ziyi was planning to make a reservation and demand an exorbitant price. Even if he gave a discount, it would still be a large quantity. He naturally understood the enormous use of this equipment at the border, but there were too many departments and border posts in the Great Tang. If they all demanded an exorbitant price, the quantity would be far from enough. It was just like how the various lines were being fought over, but the increase in quantity was far from enough to satisfy the demand. In fact, the increase in the number of trains could not even offset the increase in the number of goods merchants needed, creating an increasingly pressing situation. Many merchants without any connections or backers were forced to give up on the transportation of goods through the railway lines and switch to the regions without railway lines. There were also some who were forced to sacrifice some of their profits to provide short-distance transportation to merchants with powerful backers in order to support themselves.
The rapid development of transportation would inevitably bring about an increase in wealth, but at the same time, it would also bring about a huge gap between the rich and the poor. Those with ability and resources could quickly become rich, but those without ability and resources would be quite poor. This was something that could not be changed. At most, the imperial court would carry out a certain degree of regulation to ease the further expansion of the gap between the rich and the poor.
People were greedy and insatiable. Many big merchants and aristocratic forces with backers almost monopolized railway transportation so that their goods could get on the train first, so that they could reach the market faster and earn profits for themselves. However, the biggest profit was the railway transportation itself, which was the railway bureau established by the imperial court. This organization was responsible for the operation and management of the railway, as well as collecting transportation fees from merchants and passengers. It was the most profitable department, so many people were staring at this fat piece of meat.
The imperial court controlled the railway in its own hands so that the profits earned by the railway could support the national treasury. This was very beneficial to the imperial court. However, many aristocrats were always thinking about such a big piece of meat. They always wanted to snatch the railway bureau under the control of the imperial court, even if it was just a branch line of transportation, it would be good.
Of course, these aristocrats would not snatch it openly, and they could not snatch it away. They would only secretly sabotage and collect information about the corruption of Yu Chaoen and the other railway bureau personnel. They would also push the blame of the insufficient transportation capacity of the railway bureau to these managers, thinking that it was the corruption and inefficiency of the imperial court that caused the shortage of transportation capacity. If the railway lines could be privately owned, then these problems could be solved better.
For the sake of their own interests, these aristocrats would fight for the benefits of the court. This was a very selfish act. But among them, there were many examples that were true. Yu Chao En and a large number of helpers had embezzled a lot. Even a small stationmaster was filthy rich. This was a fact. The lack of transportation resources seemed to have some connection with their low efficiency.
However, if the railway lines were really privately owned, then the income of the railway would be divided by these aristocrats in the future. The imperial court's treasury would lose a steady supply of wealth, which was naturally very unfavorable for the imperial court of the Tang dynasty.
The greed of the senior management of the railway bureau did cause a certain loss to this enterprise, but the income of the railway system was very high. The imperial court could not hand over such a profitable project to the private management because of some corruption problems. In this way, the imperial court's interests would be taken by the private management. In this way, once the imperial court was in trouble, the consequences would be quite serious.
The lesson of the late Ming Dynasty was already there. Everyone could see that because the imperial court had no money, there was no way to recruit soldiers, and there were constant internal and external troubles. In this way, the country was gradually destroyed. If there was money, such things would not have happened.
It was precisely because of this that, since ancient times, the imperial court was responsible for the monopoly of salt and iron, which were more profitable. Ordinary people were absolutely not allowed to interfere. Otherwise, it would be a very serious crime. The purpose was to fill the treasury. Li Longji obviously understood the importance of the railway's profits. Therefore, although he received a lot of criticism about the corruption and inefficiency of the railway bureau, he was unmoved. He neither arrested Yu Chaoen and the others nor mentioned the privatization of the railway. It was as if he did not see these memorials. It had to be said that the emperor was very smart. He knew what was most important for an empire. He knew best.
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