The most arrogant in history

Chapter 668: Mailing a living person.

Ye Kun rolled his eyes: "You are well-informed. However, the nine ministries opposed it at the beginning, but now they no longer oppose it because they see that the railway is really convenient, comparable to the Grand Canal."

The first railway has been in operation for two years and has now turned a profit.

Sang Buzhi and others, as well as other officials from Zhuo County, often took the train to go south to work.

With the improvement of train performance and the scientific management of railways, the advantages are gradually emerging.

Therefore, Sang Buzhi and others all agreed and strongly supported the southern extension of the railway.

Wen Axiu said: "Your Majesty, it is better to build an east-west canal than to build a railway in Hanzhong Plain. The cost of building a canal here is much lower than that of building a railway."

Ye Kun thought about it, nodded and smiled: "Yes, why am I so obsessed with the railway and never thought of building a canal here?"

The Hanzhong Plain, sandwiched between the Qinling Mountains and the Daba Mountains, is the source of the Han River and has no shortage of water resources.

The terrain is high in the west and low in the east, so building a canal is not very difficult.

Compared with the thousands of miles long Grand Canal, the Hanzhong East-West Canal is only two hundred miles long, and many waterways are already in place.

Only a small number of laborers are needed to complete the construction of the canal.

The 200-mile canal may not seem long, but in ancient times it would have saved a lot of social wealth.

Wen Axiu suggested again: "The Hanzhong East-West Canal is only a small project. It can be handled by the local people in Hanzhong without notifying the nine ministries. The local water conservancy and transportation experts in Hanzhong should also be able to complete the surveying and planning."

Ye Kun smiled and said, "Very good. I will discuss this with the governor of Hanzhong when the time comes."

Today's Hanzhong is directly under the jurisdiction of the imperial court.

The prefect Ye Shoucheng is Ye Qingyang’s nephew and came from the Ministry of Water Resources.

The garrison general Feng Youtie was originally a subordinate of Wang Meng and was also considered one of Ye Kun's own men.

Last time, Ye Qingyang's family was almost wiped out because of the canal corruption case, but it did not affect the career of Hanzhong prefect Ye Shoucheng.

Because he was in Hanzhong, far away from the Grand Canal.

The next morning, Ye Shoucheng and Feng Youtie led their troops to welcome them.

Ye Kun criticized: "Why did you bring so many soldiers to pick me up?"

Feng Youtie said with a smile, "Your Majesty, these soldiers also want to see your holy face, so they come to greet you and protect you. Besides, they are not fighting now, so they are bored and it's time to take them out for a walk, otherwise they won't be able to ride horses."

"You guys are really good at talking."

Ye Kun smiled and ordered Feng Youtie and Ye Shoucheng to follow him and chat with him.

Ye Shoucheng and Feng Youtie, one civil and one military, governed Hanzhong very well.

This place has good geographical conditions and is a land of fish and rice.

Fifteen years have passed since Ye Kun occupied Hanzhong.

In the past fifteen years, Hanzhong's population has doubled, and now the total population is close to 300,000.

Of course, most of them are children.

Ye Kun understood the people's livelihood and was quite satisfied. He asked:

"Hanzhong is bordered by the Qinling Mountains to the north and the Daba Mountains to the south. To go north to Guanzhong, one must cross the Qinling Mountains; to go south to Yizhou, one must cross the Daba Mountains. When we sent troops to Guanzhong to attack Longshang and Chang'an, it was very difficult to transport food and fodder.

After I took control of the Central Plains, the garrison here stopped fighting and has been repairing roads. How is the road condition now?"

Feng Youtie replied: "Your Majesty, rest assured. I have not fought in these years and have not achieved anything, but I have led the soldiers and local civilians to repair and expand the ancient roads and straighten them. Of course, this is also inseparable from the technical support and planning of the Ministry of Water Resources and Transportation.

Moreover, Governor Ye Shoucheng was a former water conservancy and transportation expert, and played a huge role.”

Ye Shoucheng smiled and said, "I just talked a lot. The fighting on the front line is all thanks to General Feng."

Ye Kun asked: "Has the Ziwu Dao been completed?"

Feng Youtie was stunned: "Your Majesty, experts from the Ministry of Water Resources and Transportation have inspected the Ziwu Road and believe that it is not suitable to be vigorously developed. Because there are landslides in that area every year. If it is repaired this year, it will still be impossible next year."

"I knew that the Ziwu Dao couldn't be repaired, so I asked you on purpose."

Ye Kun nodded and asked, "How many days does it take to get to Chengdu from Hanzhong?"

"It takes about four days, and you can go all the way there on horseback, or by car."

"That's amazing. The Shu Road is the most difficult. If we can open up the Shu Road, it can be considered a pioneering achievement."

Ye Kun affirmed Hanzhong’s achievements and continued to patrol forward.

There is a post station ahead.

Ye Kun dismounted and learned about the situation at the post station.

The post station was run by a couple with a concubine of a foreign race. They also sold tea, wine, tea eggs, snacks and dry food.

The foreign concubine was obviously a Westerner, with white skin, curly hair and blue eyes.

Ye Kun asked the owner of the post station: "Boss, how long have you been working in this post station?"

All small post stations in the country are officially established, and private contracting is allowed.

This post station is privately contracted and collects incoming and outgoing letters and parcels.

There are special postmen who are responsible for delivering letters.

The boss replied: "My husband and I have been here for seven years."

Ye Kun asked again: "How long will it take for me to send a letter from here to Zhuo County?"

"If you send a letter, it will take a month to reach Zhuo County. Sometimes, it may even take twenty days."

"So fast?" Ye Kun was a little unconvinced.

"Yes, very quickly." Ye Shoucheng introduced:

"We are now implementing a postal reform. Letters are sorted once a day and delivered to Hanzhong by Pegasus postmen. Hanzhong will then classify the letters and send Pegasus postmen to various distribution centers.

If you go to Zhuo County, the letter will be sent from Hanzhong within three days and arrive in Luoyang by fast carriage. From Luoyang, it will go to Zhuo County via the Grand Canal.

But it’s not possible to mail large parcels. We need to wait for a few days in Hanzhong, gather three or five carriages, and set off on a sunny day to send them to Luoyang.”

Ye Kun understood.

The letter is lightweight and is sent by priority mail.

Two Pegasus postmen could carry thousands of letters and reach Luoyang in three or four days at full speed.

Feng Youtie smiled and said, "Your Majesty, our current postal service is really amazing. Every letter can be received. The soldiers under my command often receive letters from home. Moreover, the postage is cheap, only one penny per letter."

Ye Kun smiled and said, "If the road conditions are good, the mail can be delivered faster, so that both the sender and the receiver don't have to wait anxiously. The safety of the mail must be guaranteed, which is also a sign of the court's credibility."

Ye Shoucheng said: "However, some mails are so strange that they cannot be sent by mail. Last year, an old man wanted to mail his daughter-in-law to Luoyang because his son was in Luoyang..."

Everyone laughed.

Wen Axiu couldn't even straighten her back from laughing.

Ye Kun couldn't help but laughed and said, "This is the first time I've heard of mailing a living person..."

As we walked and talked, we entered the city in the evening.

Ye Kun was also a little tired, so after settling Jiang Yourong and others, he went to bed early.

Xie Baochan was the most excited. He asked Huang Ye to find Ye Shoucheng and ask him to send an urgent letter home to inform his brothers in Chengdu and ask them to prepare to welcome him.

Ye Kun woke up the next day and learned about this. He smiled and said, "Princess Bao is too impatient. I am in Hanzhong and plan to stay for a few days to see the changes here."

Before occupying Hanzhong, Ye Kun lived here for several months.

I have some feelings for this place.

Xie Baochan smiled and said, "Your Majesty, I am afraid that my brother is ignorant and neglects your presence, so I am saying hello."

Ye Kun shook his head: "If you want to say hello, we have a car radio here, we can just send a telegram to Chengdu. Why bother sending someone all the way?"