"Boom!"
No one had expected that the courier station would become so popular. It almost caused a sensation in the whole country.
Before this, all the officials in the imperial court were not optimistic about the courier station. Even the original driver refused, claiming that he was sick. Only Li Chengqian pushed it.
The reason why they acquiesced was that Li Chengqian was the Crown Prince and wanted to make some achievements. Everyone knew that if they obstructed him, it would only make the future emperor resent them. This was not wise. At least for now, Li Chengqian's position as the Crown Prince was not shaken at all.
Secondly, the courier station was simply a gold-swallowing beast of the imperial court. They spent a lot of money and grain every year to support it, but the effect was not obvious. If Li Chengqian could really make the courier station self-sufficient and save a lot of money for the imperial court, then they could also get a lot of benefits.
Even Li Chengqian did not dare to make a big move at first. He thought that not many people would send letters at first, so he only invested 500 carriages.
However, to everyone's surprise, the courier station's communication was so popular. It was not that there was no need for communication in the Tang Dynasty, but it had been suppressed due to the inconvenience of transportation.
The courier station suddenly began to send letters to the people all over the world, which suddenly opened a gap. Almost all the wanderers who were far away from home picked up paper and pen at the same time to write a letter to their family. Family members who missed their distant relatives also picked up paper and pen.
In the Tang Dynasty, there were more than millions of wanderers who were far away from home. These millions of letters directly poured into the courier station. Only 500 carriages were overloaded and still difficult to turn over.
Fortunately, under Su Dingfang's strong command, he directly transferred the carriages that were originally provided to the officials in the courier station. In the courier station, everyone participated in sorting the letters, which ensured the smooth communication.
In Taiji Palace, Su Dingfang returned and said proudly, "Reporting to Your Highness, I sent ten subordinates to supervise the communication of the courier stations in the Tang Dynasty. It has been nearly two months so far. The preliminary work has been completed. I specially came to report to Your Highness."
"Speak!"
Li Chengqian said anxiously. It had been almost two months. Seeing that Li Shimin was about to return, he had to settle the matter of the relay station before Li Shimin returned.
The other courtiers also perked up and prepared to listen. This was Li Chengqian's first appearance in court, and all the courtiers wanted to take this opportunity to gauge the Crown Prince's ability.
Su Dingfang took a deep breath and said solemnly, "After the people of the world found out about the relay station sending letters, everyone praised it as a benevolent government."
Li Chengqian nodded in satisfaction. The reason why he strongly supported the relay station was because he saw the benefits it would bring to his reputation.
The officials nodded their heads disapprovingly. It was true that the relay station communication was a benevolent policy, but it consumed a lot of manpower and resources. If they could not solve the problem of the expenses of the relay stations in the Tang dynasty, no matter how good the benevolent policy was, it would be useless.
Su Dingfang continued, "So far, the relay station has received a total of one million letters. On average, nearly 50,000 letters are sent to every household in the Tang dynasty every day. Among them, the number of letters sent to and from Chang 'an and Luoyang is about 100,000 on average."
"A total of one million letters, 50,000 letters a day!" When the officials heard this number, they could not help but be shocked. This is not a small number! "
The Minister of Civil Affairs, Dai Zhou, counted with his fingers. 50,000 letters a day meant 1.5 million letters a month. According to the price of one copper coin per letter, it was 1,500 strings of coins. The annual income was nearly 20,000 strings of coins. Although it still could not meet the expenses of the relay station, it could save the imperial court 20,000 strings of coins a year. It was also a great achievement.
"Not only that, but the cost of the urgent construction of the relay station 600 miles away, plus the profits the relay station earns from the delivery of the Mo and Confucian journals. The monthly income of the relay station is at least 2,000 strings of coins," Su Dingfang said proudly.
"2,000 strings of coins! Doesn't that mean that we can earn 24,000 strings of coins a year? "The officials were in an uproar.
The imperial court had only invested 500 carriages and 2,000 wounded soldiers to act as courier, but it actually increased the annual income by 24,000 strings of coins. With these 24,000 strings of coins, the imperial court only needed to allocate a small amount of money each year to maintain the operation of the relay station. This was great news for the imperial court. Even more precious was that the communication of the relay station benefited the common people of the world. In particular, the effect of calming the morale of the army that came from the military was even more important to the officials of the imperial court.
"His Highness the Crown Prince actually succeeded." The officials' expressions immediately became difficult to understand. Who would have thought that Li Chengqian, in less than two months, would manage to accomplish something that even the imperial court would have a headache over?
"His Highness the Crown Prince is wise!" The officials all congratulated him. Perhaps some of the officials thought that the sudden increase in the volume of communication due to the relay station's recent opening, but everyone knew that in this era where communication was extremely inconvenient, communication could never bypass the relay station. This was definitely an endless source of income.
Li Chengqian also couldn't help but sigh in relief. When he had withstood all the pressure to gamble on the relay station, it was partly because this plan had come from Meton. It had to be known that none of the plans that came from Meton had failed.
In addition, even if this plan failed, he would still be able to gain a good reputation for being a benevolent ruler, so he wouldn't be completely defeated. Fortunately, he had won this gamble. From now on, no one would look down on him, the Crown Prince.
"Court is dismissed!"
Li Chengqian waved his hand and withdrew from Taiji Palace. When he reached a place where the officials couldn't see him, Li Chengqian couldn't help but dance with excitement.
This was his first imperial court performance, and it had ended so perfectly. How could he not be excited?
"Older brother Crown Prince!" Suddenly, a crisp voice interrupted Li Chengqian's excitement.
Li Chengqian immediately awkwardly stopped all his movements and returned to his serious appearance. He turned his head and saw, "So it's younger sister Gao Yang!"
The one waiting for Li Chengqian was Princess Gao Yang. She held a letter in her hand and handed it to Li Chengqian, saying, "I heard that older brother Crown Prince has reformed the relay station, allowing the common people to send letters to their loved ones. This is truly a great fortune for the world. However, older brother Crown Prince only cares about the common people and doesn't remember that Imperial Father has already left the palace for nearly two months. Gao Yang also misses him greatly. Here is a letter that Gao Yang wrote to Imperial Father. I wonder if older brother Crown Prince could send it to Imperial Father. "
Seeing Princess Gao Yang's resentful expression, Li Chengqian couldn't help but feel a headache. He knew that Princess Gao Yang usually had a lot of crafty ideas. Her words now gave Li Chengqian no reason to refuse.
Immediately, Li Chengqian had a bright idea, saying, "Younger sister Gao Yang's words are reasonable. Imperial Father is far away in Mount Jiuhua, so he will definitely miss us. In a moment, I will order the princes and princesses to write a letter to Imperial Father to report on their homework. Imperial Brother will then send a messenger to deliver it. Wouldn't that be the best of both worlds?"
If he only sent a letter to Princess Gao Yang, wouldn't the other princes be dissatisfied? Thus, Li Chengqian simply used the excuse of reporting their homework to have everyone write a letter to Li Shimin. It just so happened that as the crown prince, he had the right to supervise the princes' homework. At the same time, he could also use this opportunity to show Li Shimin the results of the relay station's communication.
"Then many thanks, Brother Crown Prince!" Princess Gao Yang said helplessly.
If he only sent a letter to her, then she would naturally be more favored by Li Shimin. If he sent a letter to a group of princes and princesses, then Li Shimin probably wouldn't even pay attention to her.
When the news that they were going to write a letter to Imperial Father spread, almost all of the princes and princesses were extremely excited and wrote a letter one after another. As for the requests from the concubines in the imperial harem to send a letter, Li Chengqian heartlessly rejected them. As the crown prince of the Eastern Palace, he couldn't have the slightest involvement with the imperial harem. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to clear his name even if he jumped into the Yellow River.
However, this wasn't a problem for the concubines in the imperial harem. She couldn't send a letter, but she could use the hands of her own children.
That night, Zheng Chonghua, who had just entered the palace and didn't have any children, angrily tore the letter he had written to shreds.
The next day, the letters that the princes and princesses handed to Li Chengqian were clearly much heavier than usual. However, Li Chengqian pretended not to see it and handed it without hesitation to the courier who had been waiting for a long time. He ordered, "Use the six-hundred-kilometer urgent stamps."
At present, the eight-hundred-kilometer urgent stamps for the relay stations hadn't been constructed yet, and the six-hundred-kilometer urgent stamps were only being used as a trial run in places with brick roads.
"Yes, Your Highness," the courier said solemnly.
Watching the courier leave, Li Chengqian's eyes immediately became deep. This time, he had pushed for the reform of the relay stations alone and hadn't informed Li Shimin. It was impossible that Li Shimin hadn't heard of it and hadn't stopped it at all. Now, it was time for the father and son to lay their cards on the table.
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