The most arrogant in history

In fact, there is a factory that specializes in producing vehicles, which is the military’s craftsman camp.

The horse-drawn carriages, baggage carts and various chariots used in the army were all specially produced.

However, the original production lines and equipment are no longer suitable for producing new vehicles and need to be newly built.

He Tiantian shrugged and said, "Building a new factory will cost money. I wonder where Wu Qiong is..."

“We are self-funded and self-operated.”

Ye Kun waved his hand and said, "I found that our own business, after paying normal taxes, is still very profitable. However, the business handed over to the court for management often fails to achieve the expected profit. I suspect that our managers are just sitting there doing nothing and enriching themselves."

The small daily chemical factory has always been managed by Jiao Nu and is considered Ye Kun's own business.

This business has always been very profitable, with profits of tens of thousands of taels of gold every year.

Ye Kun has his own people, so he can set up another business that specializes in producing new rickshaws and horse-drawn carriages, flatbed carts, and tricycles, and he can also guarantee to make money.

He Tiantian agreed with this proposal and said with a smile: "Your Majesty is right. We can raise funds on our own and be responsible for our own profits and losses, so we don't have to look at Wu Qiong's face. We also have some private money. We can pool it together and set up a factory!"

Ye Kun smiled and said, "Then we will set up a joint-stock factory. I will provide one thousand taels of gold, and you can figure out the rest. At the beginning, we will make one product, and then we can slowly expand the scale and enrich the products."

Pang Jia and Sun Yi also hit it off immediately and invested in financing on the spot.

When the emperor gets things done, he naturally gets the green light all the way.

From buying land to building a factory, Ye Kun doesn't need to worry about anything.

After making preliminary plans for the vehicle manufacturing plant, Ye Kun went to inspect the steam-powered ships.

The design of the ship exceeded Ye Kun's imagination.

The steam engine drives the propeller, which doubles the speed of previous sailing ships.

Moreover, ships travel on water, which is much smoother than cars travel on roads, and the riding experience is very good.

The displacement of the ship has reached more than 10,000 tons, and its carrying capacity is excellent.

This is not even the largest ship.

Ye Kun smiled and said, "Tiantian, now we have a big ship, we can cruise the Grand Canal."

"Your Majesty, are you going on a tour?"

"It's not a patrol, it's an inspection of our ship." Ye Kun nodded and said:

"Our Yongji Canal has been fully opened, from Zhuojun to Luoyang, you know? Let's take some time, take the nine ministers, and run back and forth along the Yongji Canal to see the quality of the Grand Canal and the quality of the ships.

Once the entire route is open to navigation, we can add more ships and increase the canal’s cargo volume.”

In fact, the Yongji Canal has already been fully open to navigation.

The merchant ships passing by were like ants, moving up and down on the river.

The Ministry of Finance and Taxation also made a lot of money from the taxes collected from the Yongji Canal.

Food and grass from Luoyang and the Central Plains also flowed into Zhuo County through the Yongji Canal, completely solving the food supply problem in the north.

However, small civilian merchant ships have poor carrying capacity and slow speed.

Once steam-powered ships are put into use, their efficiency will increase tenfold!

He Tiantian asked, "Our ship is very big, is the canal wide enough?"

Ye Kun laughed: "Do you think our Grand Canal is a small ditch beside your farm? The Grand Canal is just big!"

The Grand Canal was designed with large ships' navigation in mind.

The narrowest part of the river is where the bridge is located, which is more than 20 meters wide.

The largest ship today is less than 18 meters wide.

Moreover, most of the rivers where the bridges are located have double channels and double bridges, which will definitely not hinder navigation.

Ye Kun's tour is also to test the navigability of the Grand Canal to facilitate the design of special canal ships in the future.

Pang Jia and Sun Yi both loved to play, and said with a smile, "Brother Emperor wants to patrol the river, we will drive a big boat for you!"

Ye Kun nodded: "Don't worry, I still need to discuss it with the nine ministers."

After returning to the palace in the evening, Ye Kun had dinner at Xie Baochan's house, visited the children, and talked with Xie Baochan.

Xie Baochan was indeed listless and his smile was forced.

"My queen, are you angry with me?" Ye Kun lifted up Xie Baochan's chin and said with a smile:

"In a few days, I plan to take our new steamer and go to Luoyang along the canal. Let's go out and relax together. After a while, I will accompany you to Chengdu and have a good time!"

"Your Majesty, really?"

Xie Baochan was overjoyed. She hugged Ye Kun's head and kissed him, then said with a smile, "Your Majesty still has me in your heart. You know that I miss home..."

"Silly girl, you have always been in my heart. I don't know how many times I thought of you in my dreams during this expedition to the North Sea."

"emperor……"

Xie Baochan's face flushed like a little girl.

After a tender moment, the two fell asleep in each other's arms.

The next day, Ye Kun got up early and pinched Xie Baochan's nose. "You sleep a little longer. I'm going to the meeting of the Nine Departments. Please ask Sang Buyi for leave. As long as Sang Buyi and others agree, we will go to Luoyang."

Xie Baochan nodded and asked, "What if Sang Buyi disagrees?"

"Then I'll take you away secretly, just like a young couple eloping."

"Haha, this is a good idea." Xie Baochan laughed so hard that his body shook with laughter.

At the meeting of the nine ministries, Ye Kun first reviewed the reports of the nine ministries for the past six months.

It was almost noon when we finished processing it.

"My Lords, let's work overtime today. Let's eat here while we continue the meeting."

Ye Kun ordered someone to bring lunch boxes, one for each person, and continued, "Have you all seen our steamship? Have you ever been on it?"

Everyone nodded: "Technology City arranged it for us. We experienced it once and it was very good."

Ye Kun smiled and said, "I would like to take some time to take you all on a steamship and inspect along the Yongji Canal from Zhuo County to Luoyang. One is to inspect the construction and navigation capacity of the Grand Canal, and the other is to check the quality of the steamship.

This is a short trip, no more than ten days round trip, I hope you will approve it. "

Wu Qiong immediately stood up and said, "Your Majesty, there is nothing wrong with going out, but I have no money."

"I know you don't have any money, so I raised the funds myself."

Ye Kun rolled his eyes and said, "I will take out 1,000 taels of gold myself. It should be enough for a ten-day trip. If you think it's not enough, I will bring some dry food. If you come with me, the food and drink expenses will be on me.

There is no need to receive guests along the way, no need to evacuate civilians and merchant ships, no need to welcome or see off people.”

Everyone laughed and said nothing.

Wu Qiong laughed and said, "Your Majesty, one thousand taels of gold, I don't think it's enough. Your Majesty must bring at least two thousand soldiers when he goes on tour. The food and drink for these two thousand people will cost more than one thousand taels of gold."

"The army has a fixed salary. Even if they stay in the barracks, they still need food and drink. It can't be counted from me."

Ye Kun argued: "I will only cover the extra expenses for the tour. If one thousand taels is not enough, then two thousand taels of gold will do. In short, I will not use a penny from the national treasury."

Wu Qiong shrugged: "Since the emperor has said this, I naturally have to agree. How about this, the emperor gives me the money and I will take care of it."

Ye Kun turned around and told Huang Ye: "Eunuch Huang, give two thousand taels of gold to Lord Wu Qiong later."

Wu Qiong clasped his fists and said, "Your Majesty, don't be angry. If you give us these two thousand taels, our Finance and Taxation Department will have to pay another two thousand taels. Otherwise, this matter will not be completed."

Ye Kun glared: "Then I will give you four thousand taels, and you don't have to pay a penny!"

There are still tens of thousands of taels of gold and hundreds of thousands of taels of silver in Ye Kun's palace.

It's just a ten-day trip, there's no need to be so stingy.

Money makes things easier.

Sang Buyi approved the leave on the spot and said with a smile: "Then on the tenth day of September, we will follow the emperor on his tour. It will also be a holiday for everyone."