The most arrogant in history

Chapter 592 Rickshaw.

Ye Kun nodded and put Weiwei down: "Weiwei, if you feel uncomfortable in the future, you must tell mother immediately, understand?"

Weiwei threw herself into Jiang Yourong's arms: "I understand, Father."

This little girl has really risen to the top since entering the palace and is more favored than those genuine little princesses.

After lunch, Ye Kun went to visit Xie Baochan, Liu Yuejuan and others, and then arranged a dinner in Fengyi Palace for everyone to have dinner together.

The princes who had been moved out of the palace were also called in to dine together.

And Huang Jingzu is here too.

Ye Kun asked Ye Feng: "Feng'er, during my expedition to the desert, have you asked about the studies of your brothers and sisters at home?"

Ye Feng smiled and said, "I have checked the homework of my brothers outside the palace, once every ten days. They are all doing well and can complete their homework. I can't control the brothers and sisters in the palace, because I can't enter the palace casually."

According to the royal system, adult princes had to live outside the palace and were not allowed to enter the palace without the emperor's order.

Ye Kun nodded: "Are you still studying now?"

"Father, I read every day. Recently, I have been rereading the Salt and Iron Theory and studying the imperial economy."

"You are bragging, you know how to study economics?"

Ye Kun didn't quite believe it, so he asked, "You heard what Wu Qiong said today. The court's finances can still support it for another year. What do you think we should do if the court runs out of money?"

Ye Feng smiled: "Father, didn't you say that we should arrest corrupt officials and confiscate their property?"

"Fixing corrupt officials is not a long-term solution. If an empire wants long-term stability, it must have a sustainable development system."

"That's easy, just increase taxes."

"Nonsense, you are raising taxes arbitrarily. Do you want to force the people to rebel?"

"Father, we will not increase taxes on ordinary people, but on merchants." Ye Feng laughed:

"Our canal tax revenue has increased several times. Most merchants travel through the canal. As long as we control the canal well, tax revenue will continue to flow in.

I suggest setting up a separate canal tax bureau to increase the tax revenue. Also, the railway should be opened to the public to increase the tax revenue. "

Ye Kun asked: "Is there any other way?"

"That means saving money." Ye Feng was confident:

"Half of the court's expenditure is used to pay salaries to officials at all levels. The salaries of some high-ranking officials are shockingly high, hundreds of thousands of coins per month. Cutting these salaries can save a lot."

Hundreds of thousands of coins are actually just a few dozen taels of gold.

Ye Kun smiled bitterly and said, "For these officials, increasing their salaries is very simple. Once their salaries are cut, they will be unhappy."

It is easy to promote high welfare;

Once the benefits are cut, it is like cutting flesh.

Officials at all levels are vested interests and they will not give up their interests easily.

"Then we should use the old method for old employees and the new method for new employees. In short, we should reduce the salaries of officials and not increase them any more."

"It's a good suggestion. We'll discuss it at the Nine Departments Conference the day after tomorrow."

Ye Kun was quite satisfied with the prince's opinion.

No matter what, this child is a thoughtful person and is not the kind of useless prince who would say "why not eat meat?"

After dinner, everyone dispersed.

Ye Kun stayed in Fengyi Palace and talked to Jiang Yourong in private, discussing the marriage of Crown Prince Ye Feng.

The next morning, Ye Kun went to the palace to hold a court meeting.

This Golden Palace is really useless and has not been open for half a year.

Ye Kun usually held meetings in the lobby of the Nine Ministries or the Imperial Study, and did not sit in the Golden Palace.

The court meeting was nothing more than receiving envoys from various countries and handling some overseas affairs.

At ten o'clock in the morning, Ye Kun hurriedly ended the court meeting and went to see the steam-powered car.

The car is stupidly made, but looks solid.

It also has a cab and a carriage, similar to the later Jiefang trucks.

Ye Kun sat in the co-pilot seat and watched Pang Jia operate.

Pang Jia started the steam engine, and the car roared and ran on the road, speeding up and down.

Ye Kun shouted, "Junior brother, slow down, don't overturn the car!"

"Your Majesty, don't worry. I am an experienced driver now!" Pang Jia laughed.

After a circle, Pang Jia stopped the car.

Ye Kun breathed a sigh of relief and got out of the car to check each component.

He Tiantian caught up and introduced, "Your Majesty, we have tested it on the grass and the running speed is not bad. There are also mountains with a slight slope, and we can barely walk. The longest time we ran was one day and one night, and the round trip was nearly a thousand miles, which has exceeded the limit of the carriage."

Ye Kun nodded and said, "Because of the quality of the steel, the load capacity must be controlled. A vehicle with a rated load capacity of 20,000 jin can only be loaded with a maximum of 10,000 jin. Safety must be ensured to extend the service life of the vehicle."

It is not easy to produce a car, so we have to use it sparingly.

The technicians on the side brought rickshaws, bicycles and tricycles.

These are all rubber wheels.

Ye Kun pulled the rickshaw for more than ten feet and felt that it was okay, so he told He Tiantian:

"We need to produce more rickshaws. For example, Zhuo County needs at least a thousand rickshaws. In this way, there will be no more horse-drawn carriages in the inner city, which will improve environmental hygiene, city management, and protect city roads.

From now on, the ministers of the nine ministries can go to work in rickshaws instead of horse-drawn carriages or sedan chairs. "

Transportation in the inner city has always relied on horse-drawn carriages and sedan chairs.

However, horses excreted everywhere, which had a serious impact on hygiene; the sedan chair required four people to carry it, which resulted in a waste of manpower.

This type of rickshaw is the most suitable means of urban transportation.

Pang Jia said with a smile: "Your Majesty, we have bicycles. We can let the nine ministers learn to ride them."

Ye Kun chuckled: "Look at Sang Buyi, Guan Bao and others. They are old and weak. Can they learn to ride a bicycle? What if they break their legs?"

“But a tricycle will do, too!”

"Forget it, let's save some dignity for the adults."

Ye Kun waved his hand and ordered: "Have the factory produce rickshaws immediately. One month later, no carriages carrying people will be allowed to enter the inner city. The exception is official carriages. In the future, all official carriages will also have rubber wheels, otherwise they will not be allowed to enter the inner city."

Start from the inner city and update the means of transportation step by step.

Later, it will be extended to outer cities, the road surface will be updated, and cement roads will be promoted.

He Tiantian asked, “With so many adults in the capital, do we need a thousand rickshaws?”

Ye Kun smiled and said, "There are probably about 500 adults who ride in rickshaws. But we can make more and sell some. We can also train a group of rickshaw drivers in the city, which are equivalent to sedan chair bearers and horsemen, and accept commercial employment."

He Tiantian smiled and said, "If you calculate it this way, I'm afraid three thousand rickshaws won't be enough."

"As long as there's money to be made, we can produce 30,000 cars!"

Ye Kun was very serious: "Every product we design is to benefit the people. If it can't benefit the people, why produce it?"

Sun Yi smiled and said, "Come to think of it, we also need to build a rickshaw production plant."

Ye Kun thought for a while and said: "Let's build a comprehensive production base to produce rickshaws, flatbed carts, bicycles, tricycles... As long as the product quality is good, this business can also make a lot of money."