The most arrogant in history

Ye Kun explained: "It means that the regime is stable, the circulation of banknotes is stable, and prices are stable. At any time and anywhere, the banknotes you carry can be exchanged for goods and used for food and drink. The court guarantees this, which is monetary credit."

"I understand."

Tan Bamao smiled and said, "From the current perspective, our Great Han Empire has been very stable for 10,000 years. This paper currency will definitely be successfully issued!"

"You are flattering me again. I have never seen a dynasty or empire that lasted for ten thousand years."

Ye Kun laughed.

Ye Kun thought it was a miracle that the Han Dynasty could last for two or three hundred years.

Those overseas territories will sooner or later separate from China.

Our mission is not to permanently control overseas, but to replicate the bloodline and culture of the Chinese people and become dominant.

Tan Bamao also laughed: "Godfather works hard day and night, there must be someone to flatter you occasionally and say something happy to you to relax your mood."

Ye Kun smiled and said, "Be careful of Ma Zhao, Sang Buyi and others, they may say you are a flatterer and accuse you of something."

Tan Bamao continued to flatter him: "Even if I am a flatterer, I cannot influence the wisdom of my godfather. Besides, how can they know what we are talking about?"

Ye Kun nodded and smiled: "That's true."

Ye Kun has always had a deep affection for his godson, Tan Bamao.

Ma Zhao, Wu Qiong and others are considered Ye Kun's colleagues.

And Tan Bamao is considered Ye Kun's family member.

Therefore, the position of Zhuo County Governor is not safe for anyone, and Tan Bamao is the most suitable person.

Tan Bamao had followed Ye Kun for nearly twenty years and had learned a lot. He managed Zhuo County in an orderly manner.

They chatted until midnight and then Ye Kun took a break.

The noise from the steam engine is still a bit loud and affects our rest.

When Ye Kun woke up the next day, the steamer had already traveled more than half of the Yongji Canal.

This is still a low-speed cruise. If it were sailing at full speed, we would almost reach Luoyang by now.

Sang Buyi and others came by boat to pay their respects.

Ye Kun boarded the Nine Departments' ship and asked, "My Lords, do you still have any questions about the speed and carrying capacity of steamships?"

Wu Qiong was the best at calculating economic accounts. He clasped his fists and said:

"It turns out that the steamship invented by the emperor is much more powerful than the previous sailing ships. It is really amazing that a thousand-mile canal can be cruised in one day."

Ye Qingyang said: "The carrying capacity of a steamship is ten times that of a sailing ship. Its speed is two to three times that of a sailing ship. Overall, one steamship is equivalent to twenty large sailing ships."

Ye Kun was quite proud: "This is our first generation of steamship, and our technology will be upgraded, and the upgrade speed is very fast. Maybe in one or two years, we will have a more powerful ship. From Zhuojun to Luoyang, it only takes one day and one night."

The total length of the Yongji Canal is about 1,800 miles.

The maximum speed of a steamship is 30 kilometers per hour, which is 720 kilometers per day and night.

If we speed up a little bit and run it once a day, there will be no problem.

Traditional sailboats may take more than ten days to sail against the current and wind.

Sang Buyi smiled and said, "It's just that the cost of steam engines and steamships is too high."

Ye Kun laughed and said, "The development of technology will bring down the cost of manufacturing. Do you remember the first batch of glass mirrors? One inch of mirror is worth one inch of gold, and ordinary people can't afford it. I used a few glass mirrors to empty your private money. But now, ordinary people have glass mirrors in their homes."

The small glass mirror made Ye Kun earn a lot of money.

Until now, glass mirrors are still high-end international commodities on the Silk Road, continuously absorbing wealth from the Western Regions, Central Asia, West Asia and Europe.

In Jiaozhi and the Tianzhu Peninsula in the south, glass mirrors were also used in great quantities, exchanging for huge amounts of gold, silver, copper, other delicacies from land and sea, and ox horns and ivory.

Qin Chou laughed and said, "We bought ten glass mirrors at that time, but there were not enough for our close relatives and friends. The child's aunt didn't get a glass mirror and was so angry that she almost hanged herself! Later, I gritted my teeth and bought twenty more, which cost me one hundred taels of gold.

One hundred taels of gold today can buy two large carts of glass mirrors!"

Everyone laughed.

Wu Qiong laughed and said, "The emperor deliberately made money from us. Soon after, the price of glass mirrors dropped. My wife was at home and regretted it for many days!"

Ye Kun chuckled and said, "Yes, I make money from you just to develop steam engines. In the future, there will be small steam cruise ships. If you have money, you can buy them."

Wu Qiong shrugged and said, "Your Majesty, I won't be fooled this time. I will buy it when you lower the price."

Everyone was laughing so hard that they were falling down.

The big ship was filled with a happy atmosphere.

Ma Zhengyang said: "I have learned over the past few years that once an item becomes popular, people will rush to buy it. At that time, we have no choice but to buy it. If you don't have something that everyone else has, your wife won't let you go.

For example, going to a big theater to watch a play is very fashionable now. Ordinary people who have a little money will go to watch a play to broaden their horizons.”

Speaking of the Grand Theater, Ye Kun asked, "By the way, is our Grand Theater making money now?"

Wu Qiong smiled and said, "The Grand Theater is responsible for its own profits and losses. The tax paid to us every month is about three thousand taels of silver. It is still a long way to go before we can recover our costs. According to the current tax situation, it will take at least five years for us to earn back the money we invested."

Ye Kun said to everyone: "Some things cannot only be judged by economic benefits, but also by social benefits. The Grand Theater is a cultural construction project and has played a great role in promoting Mandarin and Chinese culture.

For example, our primary schools throughout the country do not make money and are always losing money. However, such investment in education is necessary. If the Chinese nation wants to become truly strong, everyone must have access to education and culture.

We don’t make money from middle schools and universities. But over the years, we have trained tens of thousands of talents who are playing a huge role in various industries. Overall, we have made a lot of money.”

From an economic perspective alone, schools, hospitals, nursing homes and orphanages are all bottomless pits of financial investment and are all loss-making businesses.

Even some road and bridge projects, from the current perspective, are not worth the cost.

But if you look further ahead, things will be different.

Guan Bao said seriously: "The Han Kingdom has established so many schools and hospitals. This is the great courage of the emperor. Even if Yao and Shun were reborn, or Dayu was reborn, they would not be able to accomplish such a feat."

Ye Kun looked at He Kangju and asked, "Sir He, your Ministry of Rites is responsible for sacrificial rites, cultural education and health. Do you know what the literacy rate of young people is now? Let's take young people who are getting married as an example. Can you tell us about it?"

He Kangju was stunned, and said thoughtfully: "This... I haven't calculated it. But I guess that the literacy rate of sixteen-year-olds... is about one-tenth."