Railway and passenger car, these two terms stunned the Shi brothers.
Obviously the characters are recognized separately, but when put together they become different.
Jia Daihua shook his head and showed off: "Yuquan Mountain is only fifty miles away from the capital. If it's a little faster, it's only a day's journey."
"But if they were all turned into railroad tracks and carriages were placed on them, you could reach Yuquan Mountain from Beijing in less than two hours."
"That way, doesn't it mean that when we get up in the morning, we can use Yuquan Mountain Water to rinse our mouths?" Shi Nai was delighted and clapped his hands.
Shi Ding's expression changed, and he was quite worried.
If, as Jia Daihua said, it takes less than two hours to reach Yuquan Mountain from Beijing, it would be the most convenient for the emperor.
Because this means that Beijing can be monitored at any time, which is indistinguishable from being in the Forbidden City.
By then the emperor would be really happy in Yuquan Mountain.
Wait, the emperor doesn’t only want this, right?
Then why do we need to build railway tracks in the capital? It seems that we want ordinary people to ride on them?
There must be a profound meaning in it!
Several people were chatting there and chatting non-stop.
Because he was dressed luxuriously and was riding a horse, the guards did not stop him and allowed him to talk.
At this time, a simple and unpretentious carriage came, followed by a few strong servants, who seemed to have a good reputation.
"Where are these people from?"
The car curtain opened a corner, and a man with a face as elegant as a crown jewel looked at a few people not far away and asked casually.
"I don't know, but looking at their mounts, they are all very handsome. They are not ordinary horses, they should be war horses..."
The steward-looking man on the side bent down.
"Oh? Looking at his evil spirit, he should be a descendant of a noble family, maybe he came back from Liaodong." The man smiled, waved his sleeves, raised the car curtain, and stepped down on the stool.
After saying that, he shook his loose sleeves and walked away slowly like a scholar, looking elegant and easy-going.
"Xue Chongwen, I have met several young masters!"
"I wonder what's wrong with you, Your Excellency?"
If it's okay, don't disturb our chat.
Of course Shi Ding stood up without giving in and returned the salute, his face full of politeness and alienation.
Although he has been in the army for many years, he is still well-informed and has his own way of dealing with it.
"I apologize for the rude intrusion." Xue Chongwen handed over his hand and said sincerely: "I see that some of my brothers are very handsome and are interested in the railway tracks. I have some luck with them, so I would like to get acquainted with you."
"Oh?" Shi Ding was stunned: "I heard that this railway track is undertaken by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Are you an imperial merchant?"
"It's not like the imperial businessman, but he has some connections."
The so-called imperial merchant naturally refers to Zhang Qi, his old father-in-law who worked for the emperor at first. Later, he was promoted successively and became the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Later, the people began to honor merchants who worked for the emperor as emperor merchants.
However, in the court and palace, the term "emperor merchant" was limited to the influence of the emperor's relatives.
In other words, even if you are working for the emperor and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, if you do not have a daughter to enter the palace and marry the emperor, you cannot be called an imperial merchant at all...
Without him, the merchants who deal with the affairs would not have the strength at all, and those with backgrounds would naturally have to consider their daughters.
The Xue family was really related to the emperor.
However, Xue Chongwen's cousin was Bian Yujing, who was favored by the emperor.
As the saying goes, wealth in the mountains has distant relatives. People despised it in every possible way when they were on the Qinhuai River. Now it can be said that it is really fragrant.
Although it was an outer chamber, it was disgraceful after all. The emperor naturally refused to admit it and could only take care of it secretly.
Because of this, the Xue family did not make much progress in official circles, but they were impressive in business.
Under the legal system of voting and salt, the Xue family is eligible to enter the market; they are also involved in iron ore and timber, and the largest markets in the north are naturally the textile industry and the coal mining industry.
"I heard that the Xue family handles most of the silk brocades and brocades given to the female palace officials and eunuchs during the New Year. When it comes to imperial merchants, the same goes for them."
After hearing his detailed introduction, Shi Ding became a little gentler and started to think about making friends.
I heard that Bian Yujing also gave birth to a son, an heir to the royal family.
People's hands and eyes are all-powerful, no matter what the means are, but in the Shaowu Dynasty, no matter how depraved they were, they could not go any further.
After all, he was among the first class. As the son of a viscount, in an era when nobles were everywhere in the capital, he was on par with the Xue family.
They all look like half a bucket of water.
Besides, the Xue family couldn't help but have money and connections, so even the earl couldn't compare.
"Where is that?"
After the introduction by the Shi brothers, Xue Chongwen's eyes lit up and he felt particularly happy.
Although the Xue family is given more points in the officialdom, there are very few people who want to make friends with them. This is extremely uncomfortable for Xue Chongwen who wants to climb into the upper class.
Although he is only a viscount now, he is still an honorable person.
After some exchanges, the relationship became more harmonious, and Xue Chongwen said: "Brother Jia is right, this railway track is going to go from Xishan to Beijing."
"And our Xue family also built an iron factory and allocated 20 to 30% of the pig iron production."
"As for the railway tracks in the city, they will also be built. I heard that when the time comes, people will be allowed to ride on them, as long as they pay."
After popularizing the knowledge of passenger transportation and the next planning of Beijing City, Xue Chongwen knew that going too far was not enough, so he backed away.
The three of them returned home with their horizons widened.
Jia Daihua suddenly saw a strange carriage, which was even more luxurious than his own: "This must be an earl or above."
Suddenly, he walked quickly, his face full of joy.
Sure enough, in the living room, a man in his thirties, wearing a black robe, looked at him running towards him with a smile.
"Uncle Wang——" Jia Dai Hua shouted happily, his voice was extremely clear and loud.
"The dog has grown so tall?"
Wang Chunqing touched his head with emotion on his face.
"Chunqing, you have changed after returning from the northwest this time."
Jia Yan was filled with emotion for a moment, and the jealousy in his heart could not be suppressed.
In Huguang, the two families were neighbors and had known each other for a long time, and they did not fall behind when they were in Nanjing.
Who would have known that someone would be promoted to an earl at the end of the year, while he was still a viscount? It was really uncomfortable.
"I've eaten enough yellow sand in the northwest on this trip, and I can finally come back."
Wang Chunqing touched the scars on his face and said with lingering fear: "Although the killing is happy, the grassland is too big. If you accidentally get lost, you can die of thirst."
"Now that we are all in the capital, we are like a family. We will keep in touch more when the time comes." Jia Yan said with a smile.
"It's a pity that I don't have an aunt, otherwise I would have given birth to a daughter and married it to a dog. How could the Shi family be the first to get there?" Wang Chunqing said with a smile.
"Hey, Uncle Wang, you can give me a daughter-in-law then!" Jia Daihua said casually.
"You kid, you actually dare to advance in seniority——"
ps: Originally I just wanted to borrow the name of a Red Mansion person, but now I’ll just put it all together.