The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Chapter 583

Yang Shen looked at the smug Yang Yiqing with a puzzled expression. All they had asked him was to go to the palace to ask His Majesty what the railway was, so why did Yang Yiqing have such a triumphant look on his face?

Not only Yang Shen, but Xia Yan and Jia Yong also noticed it.

"Look at this, everyone."

As Yang Yiqing spoke, he spread out the blueprints in his hand on the desk.

"Please look, everyone. These are the blueprints for the train."

Yang Yiqing said.

"A train? What's that?"

Yang Shen and the others looked at the blueprints and were completely baffled.

"The story of the train is a long one."

Yang Yiqing took a sip of tea and then recounted to everyone what he had seen and heard at the Southern Garrison Command.

However, it was difficult for Yang Yiqing to accurately describe what he saw to everyone, especially since there was no steam engine in this era. Yang Shen and the others had never seen such a thing before. Even though Yang Yiqing spoke eloquently, they could not form a picture of a steam engine in their minds.

"See this? This steam engine was made by my grandson and his colleagues. And Zhou Hengqi also entrusted them with making this train and rails."

Yang Yiqing finally said those words and immediately felt refreshed.

He was pleased with himself, but Yang Shen and the others, seeing him put on such a grand show, felt incredibly uncomfortable.

Although they couldn't understand what a steam engine was, according to Yang Yiqing, this steam engine could drive the steel monster on the blueprints to run on the rails, and could also carry goods or people. If that were true, it would be a great project that would benefit the country and its people.

"With this, wouldn't it be a piece of cake to transport coal from Shanxi's mines to the capital? And what about the wool products from the grasslands?"

Yang Shen looked at the blueprints in front of him and said.

Upon hearing this, Xia Yan and Jia Yong felt immense regret. Back then, when those vassal kings invested in wool products from the grasslands, they had mocked them for blindly following Zhou Chu's lead. The exorbitant transportation costs alone made their efforts futile.

Now they realized that Zhou Hengqi had thought of getting this thing a long time ago. With this thing, the transportation cost of those wool products would be greatly reduced.

Thinking about all this, both Xia Yan and Jia Yong felt they had lost a lot of money. When they first started investing, they were also eligible to enter the grassland and get a share, but they felt there was no profit to be made, so they didn't do it.

The pastures on the grasslands have already been mostly divided up. Now, want to get involved again? No way.

Yang Tinghe, on the other hand, received the news back in his hometown. He didn't understand these things, but he understood Zhou Chu. In order to show goodwill to Zhou Chu, he secretly offered most of his family property to the emperor, a portion of which was given to Zhou Chu alone, all in order to obtain a share of wool products from the grasslands.

Of course, all of this was discussed through Yang Shen and Zhou Chu. Since Yang Tinghe was so sensible, neither Jiajing nor Zhou Chu intended to make things difficult for him any further. The grasslands were vast and numerous, so it wouldn't hurt to share some with the Yang family.

However, Yang Shen didn't care much about these things. In his opinion, the money in his house was enough for him to spend and for him to drink and have fun.

Therefore, Yang Shen did not react much to this news.

Yang Yiqing, on the other hand, was secretly pleased, because his family had also been allocated a sizable pasture on the grassland, which their servants had been managing for the past two years.

Yang Yiqing and Yang Tinghe shared the same view. They didn't understand these things on the grasslands, nor did they understand business, but they understood Zhou Chu.

It should be noted that Zhou Chu was a merchant by trade. While he might not be the best at business, there were few in the Ming Dynasty who did business better than him.

Yang Yiqing was well aware that Zhou Chu owned countless businesses, and he probably didn't even know how much money Zhou Chu had.

Yang Yiqing is now enjoying both wealth and success. On the one hand, his grandson makes him proud, and on the other hand, the business on the grasslands will likely bring the Yang family considerable profits in the future.

With this business, the Yang family would not have to worry about money for many generations to come.

"I am feeling unwell and would like to go home to rest."

Xia Yan's face turned ugly.

Seeing Yang Yiqing's smug face, Xia Yan felt extremely uncomfortable and naturally did not want to stay in Wenyuan Pavilion any longer.

Fortunately, it was already afternoon, and if there was nothing else, they could go home early.

"Lord Xia, it's not that I'm criticizing you, but you must be mindful of moderation. You're only in your forties, while I'm over seventy and still vigorous. I do know some tonic recipes; I'll write them down for you later."

Seeing Xia Yan's distressed expression, Yang Yiqing felt even more pleased and couldn't help but tease her.

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Excellency, but please don't bother with the prescription. I have already had the doctor write one."

Xia Yan's face grew increasingly grim. More than two years ago, in order to avoid being implicated by Mao Ji, he said in court that he had suffered from health problems. Most officials would not dare to mention this matter and would keep it a secret, but Yang Yiqing did not care about such things. In the past two years, Yang Yiqing had often teased Xia Yan about this matter.

Xia Yan could only grit his teeth and admit it, since it was his own words.

"Lord Xia, please don't rush. Let's draft the votes first, and then you can go home."

Yang Shen, who was standing to the side, said while suppressing a laugh.

With Yang Yiqing's endorsement, the drafting process was quick, and the document passed unanimously. Soon, the imperial edict was sent from the cabinet to the Ministry of Revenue.

The Ministry of Revenue received an imperial edict from Emperor Jiajing, ordering them to allocate funds to build railways from the capital to the south of the Yangtze River, Taiyuan in Jiangxi, and west of Datong.

When the Ministry of Revenue officials received the imperial decree, they were all completely bewildered, having no idea what a railway was.

It wasn't until Jiajing sent the railway blueprints to the Ministry of Revenue that the truth came into being.

The officials of the Ministry of Revenue looked at the railway blueprints. Although they did not understand what they were for, the imperial edict had been drafted and approved by the cabinet, which meant that the project was unanimously approved by the higher authorities.

The officials in the Ministry of Revenue were worried about not having enough projects to spend money on, so why would they have any objections now that a major project had come along?

Officials from the Ministry of Revenue roughly estimated the construction cost per mile of railway based on the blueprints, and then wrote a memorial to the Jiajing Emperor.

After receiving the memorial, Jiajing immediately summoned Zhou Chu to the palace.

"Weighing instrument, this is the cost report from the Ministry of Revenue, take a look."

As Jiajing spoke, he handed the memorial in his hand to Huang Jin, who then handed it to Zhou Chu.

Zhou Chu opened the memorial and took a look.

“The cost is a bit high. The cost of sleepers is not that high, as are these stones and steel. If large-scale iron smelting is carried out, the cost will be compressed again. Your Majesty can send them back and have them recalculate.”

Although Zhou Chu hadn't been in business for many years, he still saw through the trickery at a glance.

The costs quoted by the Ministry of Revenue were higher than those offered by the general public. For large-scale, organized production, the cost would be much lower than that offered by the general public.

The Ministry of Revenue can handle a small amount of oil, but cannot take too much from it.

Upon hearing this, Jiajing immediately understood and handed the memorial to Huang Jin.

"Send it back to the Ministry of Revenue and have them recalculate."