Prince of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 623
Gao Ming's sentence "If you are ugly, you need to read more", immediately stunned Cheng Yaojin and made everyone in the carriage laugh.

Especially Changsun Wuji, who smiled the most happily.

"Haha... His Royal Highness is right... You are so right, hahahaha..."

As expected of a nephew, so caring!

Except for Changsun Wuji, the others also laughed happily. After all, the people present were all old colleagues, and the target was Cheng Yaojin, a good-for-nothing hobbit, so they didn't care too much when they laughed.

And Cheng Yaojin also laughed out loud after a brief astonishment.

"Haha, my old Cheng's nickname is A Chou, His Royal Highness is right, hehe...hehehehe..."

Cheng Yaojin was willing to laugh at himself, which caused everyone to laugh again, and even Li Shimin couldn't speak.

With such a small episode, the rest of the journey became much more relaxed, and everyone in the carriage had a lot of smiles on their faces along the way.

The black soon darkened, and the stewardesses in the rear compartment of the train lit the lanterns, and then sent the lanterns to the compartments where the civil and military officials were located through the passage at the junction of the compartments.

At the same time, the snacks and fruits bought in Luoyang at noon were distributed to each compartment.

Li Shimin's compartment also got snacks and fruits, and it was the most and the most exquisite, after all, his status was there.

After the flight attendant left, Li Shimin picked up a piece of snack and took a bite, then looked back at Gao Ming.

"It's pitch black outside, is it okay for the train to run so fast?"

"Haha, don't worry about that!"

As soon as his words fell, Gao Ming suddenly laughed.

"The train runs along the rails, and the route is fixed, and each section of the rails is patrolled by the local carriage station. If there is a problem, it will issue a warning in advance!"

"Well, that's fine!"

Hearing Gao Ming's words, Li Shimin nodded in satisfaction.

"The train is the most important weapon of the country, and it has a great relationship. They must be taken care of carefully. If there is something wrong, I will destroy their nine clans!"

"..."

Ma Dan, so angry?

When Li Shimin said this, Gao Ming didn't know how to respond, but fortunately Changsun Wuji came out in time to make a rescue.

"Your Majesty, after returning to Chang'an, the old minister will immediately ask Zhongshu Sheng to pass on your oral order to set up a new railway department to manage and maintain this railway track, so as to relieve Your Majesty's worries!"

As soon as his words fell, several other ministers also nodded.

"Duke Zhao is thoughtful, and the old minister seconded his proposal!"

"The old minister agrees!"

"And the old minister..."

In this way, before the morning court the next day, a group of people finalized the establishment of a new department, leaving Gao Ming stunned.

"Damn, the biggest advantage of this feudal centralization is probably efficiency, right? Since that's the case, why don't I tell my own plan, anyway, I'll say it early and say it later, so I can save trouble going back!"

Thinking of this, he immediately opened his mouth to Li Shimin and other ministers.

"Father, and uncles, I actually have an idea. If there is something immature in my idea, please correct me!"

Hearing his words, Li Shimin nodded immediately, "Well, just say what you have!"

"That's right, I plan to use the train to carry people and goods, and charge a certain amount of transportation fee, and the transportation fee will be settled with treasury bills!" Gao Ming said.

"Use treasury bills?" Hearing his words, Li Shimin frowned immediately, then looked at him again, "Why use treasury bills?"

"Because I plan to completely replace copper coins and silver taels with banknotes!"

Having said that, Gao Ming's expression also became serious.

"Now people have a high degree of recognition of treasury bills and use them as currency. This is a good thing. It has greatly slowed down the brass shortage in our Tang Dynasty, and what we have to do is to maintain its value. , This is the so-called 'credit economy'!"

"Huh?" Hearing Gao Ming's words, Li Shimin's expression changed immediately, "That's a good idea, let's continue!"

"Yes!"

Seeing that Li Shimin seemed to be moved, Gao Ming immediately expressed all his thoughts.

"The train will become a necessity for Datang's travel in the future. As long as the treasury bill is linked to it, its value can be stabilized to a large extent, which will also facilitate the issuance of small denomination banknotes in the future!"

Having said that, he immediately grinned.

"My next idea is to issue four banknotes of [-], [-], [-], and [-]. At that time, the copper coins will only be used for small transactions!"

"Linking treasury bills to trains, the old minister thinks that His Royal Highness is feasible!"

After Gao Ming finished speaking, Changsun Wuji who was standing next to him nodded immediately.

"Because it's a long way from Chang'an to Taiyuan, it takes nearly a month even by horse-drawn carriage, and it's even slower to take a sedan chair or walk, which not only takes a lot of time, but also costs a lot, and the train is fast. It’s stable, everyone will definitely want to take the train!”

As soon as he said this, it seemed that the chatterbox had opened up, and the ministers around him also started to talk about it.

"Yeah, last time I went to Luoyang from Chang'an, and I spent two pennies in two days on the way!"

"The last time I accompanied my wife back to Taiyuan Mansion to visit relatives, I brought a maid with me, and spent ten pennies along the way!"

"I won't talk about spending money. The main reason is that the bumps along the road are unbearable. Military generals wield knives and guns all day long, and their bodies are strong. We civil servants can't bear it!"

"Hey, what are you talking about? Is it possible that our generals like bumps? There is no way!"

"It's just..."

Listening to everyone's discussion, Gao Ming laughed again, and when everyone's discussion became quieter, he opened his mouth again.

"Uncles, you all feel the same way, so why don't the people feel the same way? That's why I plan to use trains for transportation, transporting people and goods, which is convenient for the people and enriches the national treasury. Why don't you discuss how much to charge now? The money is right."

"The prince's words are justified!" As soon as Gao Ming said this, all the ministers agreed, and then began to discuss the issue of fees.

But this time it was all civil servants who opened their mouths to discuss, and generals like Cheng Yaojin and Li Ji kept silent.

After more than an hour, the civil servants finally discussed the results, and then Changsun Wuji, as a representative, reported to Li Shimin and Gao Ming.

"Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness, we feel that you should take this train according to your status. Gentlemen take it first, farmers second, craftsmen last, and businessmen last. Don't mess it up!"

clever:"……"

Ma Dan, let you discuss the charges, but you have come out with a "squatting of scholars, farmers, businessmen and commerce", and you are making trouble, right?
Although he was a little upset, Gao Ming also knew that under the strict hierarchical system of this era, no matter what he had to do, he had to be divided into three, six, or nine grades.

This is already a deep-seated thing, and it's useless to say it, so he didn't say it at all, anyway, the other party will say what should be said sooner or later.

Sure enough, after talking about the order of riding, Changsun Wuji started talking about the fare.

"This fee should also be collected according to the burden of the person. The nobles pay one per person, the peasants two, the craftsmen three, and the merchants..."

"That can't be done!"

This time, before Changsun Wuji finished speaking, Gao Ming objected directly.

"Scholars, farmers, businessmen, and businessmen are all citizens of the Tang Dynasty. There is a priority for riding qualifications, but business is business after all. It's not okay to favor one or the other. Let's listen to my thoughts!"

(End of this chapter)