Father, I really don’t want to be the emperor

First of all, what surprised Ning Fan the most was of course the 500 cartloads of gold. According to Ergou's estimation, this batch of gold was at least 100,000 kilograms. This was a huge amount of wealth, and Ning Fan didn't even dare to think about it.

The second was what happened to Ergou in Miluo. Ning Fan was stunned when he saw it. He did not expect that Ergou made such a decision without receiving his own destiny, and actually did such an earth-shattering thing.

However, Ning Fan was not angry, because the amount of this batch of gold was really too large, which was enough to solve Ning Fan's urgent needs. With this batch of gold, the development of Dakang would be settled.

Therefore, use this batch of gold to purchase a large amount of food supplies. With a large amount of food, a large amount of labor will be freed up.

Half a month later, Ergou led the Dragon Scale Army on a long journey and finally arrived in Kyoto. On the outskirts of Kyoto, Ning Fan personally welcomed the envoy to Miluo.

"Your Majesty, this trip is a blessing."

After nearly a month of long journey, coupled with injuries on his body, Ergou had lost weight and lost his appearance. Ning Fan couldn't help but feel heartbroken when he saw Ergou's haggard appearance.

"Where's Princess Lolis? Why hasn't she come back?"

Ning Fan looked left and right but saw no sign of Princess Lolis. This made Ning Fan startled and asked quickly.

Seeing Ning Fan's nervous look, Ergou hurriedly said to Ning Fan: "When I passed by Jiangnan two days ago, Princess Lolis said she wanted to go to Jiangzhou to have a look. There was no way, and we couldn't stop her. I can let him go, but please rest assured, Your Majesty, Princess Lolis will definitely return to Kyoto in a few days."

Ning Fan nodded and saw a tall general beside him. This general was Pang Long, the commander of the Jinyi Guards.

Ning Fan knew Pang Long. At this time, Pang Long had lost his appearance, and Ning Fan could no longer recognize him. In addition, his impression of Pang Long was very shallow, and the two parties had only met each other two or three times, so once Even at this time, Ning Fan didn't recognize that this thin man was the once mighty Pang Long.

"Your Majesty, General Pang Long is here to see your Majesty."

The opportunity must not be missed, time will never come again, and there are not many opportunities to meet the Holy Emperor in person. Pang Long felt that he must seize this opportunity and make his presence felt in front of Ning Fan.

"Are you Pang Long?"

Ning Fan looked at the skinny man in front of him in astonishment, almost unable to believe his eyes.

But soon Ning Fan sighed and saw that the two generals Ergou and Pang Long were tortured like this, not to mention the other soldiers in the regiment. It seemed that this trip was indeed something unusual. .

"Everyone has worked hard. Everyone who is alive will receive an extra three years of salary. Those who sacrifice their lives for the country will receive double the pension."

Ning Fan had thought about the matter a long time ago. He didn't need Pang Long to say anything, he just opened his mouth and everyone was overjoyed as soon as he opened his mouth.

Three years' salary is a considerable amount of income for ordinary people, especially for Pang Long. For a general of his level, three years' salary is enough to buy a house in Kyoto. He also I have always wanted to buy a house in Kyoto, but I have never had much money left. Now that I have three years of salary, I can go back and show off to my wife.

So when Ning Fan announced three years' salary, plus twice the pension, all the Jin Yiwei around him beamed with joy and shouted loudly.

One hundred thousand kilograms of gold!

Ning Fan's heart was very complicated when he saw the gold piled up in the treasury. This amount of gold was enough to cover Dakang's total treasury income for two years.

This also made Ning Fan deeply feel that developing the economy is really not as direct and quickest as plundering from outside. Of course, this crazy idea is only fleeting. Ning Fan is not interested in that kind of The behavior of bandits is naturally disdainful.

"Hasn't there been any news from the sea lately?"

For some reason these days, Ning Fan always felt irritable. After Ergou and others returned from Miluo, his ordinary eyes continued to look at the sea.

It's a pity that he is far away in Kyoto, thousands of kilometers away from the coastline of Jiangnan.

Even if there is any news on the coastline, it will not reach Kyoto immediately, so Ning Fan can only worry.

"Your Majesty, the thirty large ships have only set out for a month. On the vast sea, it will take at least half a year for any news to come back."

Seeing Ning Fan's anxious look, Ergou couldn't help but laugh. He had never seen Ning Fan be so glum.

Apart from the fleet at sea, Ning Fan is most concerned about the canal construction situation in the northwest.

Without the interference from the Miluo people, the canal excavation in the northwest is progressing rapidly, with the latest progress being made every day. According to the current progress estimate, the canal can be initially dug in half a year.

Of course, the excavation of the Grand Canal did not entirely rely on labor, but also involved a large amount of explosives and various construction machinery.

In addition to these reasons, there are also ancient river beds that originally existed. These river beds were only silted up by sand. It is not a big deal that the river beds that were once transformed are now being dug up again.

In fact, the main reason why the Northwest Grand Canal was able to be dug within half a year was the existing ancient river ruins.

The new canal only needs to be dug again according to the ruins of the original river, and the sediment can restore the entire original style of the river, so the amount of engineering work will be greatly reduced.

Once the Grand Canal in the northwest is opened to navigation, massive resources from the northwest can be transported to the south of the Yangtze River.

"You mean, it will take half a year for this steam locomotive to be fully operational."

Ning Fan stared at Shen Mengxi.

Naturally, we also know that Ning Fan has been waiting for too long, but the steam engine is a thousand miles away. If it is to really work, the steam engine head really needs to be polished for another half a year.

"Your Majesty's entire steam engine research and development team has now expanded to over a thousand people. These thousands of people are working on this kind of thing day and night. Half a year is short enough."

Shen Mengxi said sincerely.

"Half a year is good. Half a year is too fast. I originally thought it would take another three to five years. If you can really do it in half a year, I will make you a Marquis."

Ning Fan looked at Shen Mengxi with a smile.

Mengxi actually doesn't want to be an official and only wants to do research, but who would refuse to have the official hat on his head become bigger and bigger?

Especially in this era, becoming a prince and becoming a prime minister is almost every man's ultimate dream.