Chapter 187: All Roll Up

Yan Ning, however, was not as happy as he was.

"Five thousand taels per kilometer is a conservative estimate; we still have to cross mountains and ridges between the Capital and Yangzhou, and when the time comes, we'll have to dig tunnels and build bridges, so who knows what the budget will be then."

As soon as these words were spoken, the Minister of Revenue became filled with worry.

Yan Ning said, "Rest assured, the national treasury will not be empty; I will find a way to make money."

After saying this, Yan Ning left.

Yan Ning went to the Imperial Academy, only to hear a "Bang!" sound; it seemed Yun Shu had caused an explosion while experimenting.

There were no valuables kept in the room, so other than blowing up the table, there were no other losses.

As soon as Yun Shu stepped out the door, sure enough, he saw a group of students poking their heads around there again.

Yun Shu gave a bitter smile, "I blow things up every few days, which really disturbs these students' studies."

Yan Ning pondered for a moment.

This was Yun Shu's office, and no one knew how it had slowly turned into a laboratory.

Inside were all kinds of reagents, as well as some models he had made.

Yan Ning thought it over and said, "I think we can build a laboratory right next to the Imperial Academy; it would be more convenient to get there."

"We should make a larger Research Institute then, so as to avoid trouble with future expansions."

Yan Ning and Yun Shu walked around and felt that the north side of the Imperial Academy was very suitable for building a Research Institute.

Yun Shu frowned, "But there are some houses here."

Yan Ning said with a smile, "What's difficult about that? Wouldn't it be fine to just give them relocation compensation?"

After returning to the palace, Yan Ning began to calculate the accounts; the row of houses on the north side of the Imperial Academy was priced at roughly between fifty and eighty taels.

Since it was relocation, then let's give them three hundred taels of relocation compensation.

For a total of ten households, it would only take three thousand taels of silver.

Yan Ning did not handle this matter personally, but sent Wei Wu to discuss it with them.

Quite a few families happily accepted the three hundred taels and nimbly packed their things to leave.

Wei Wu returned and said to Yan Ning, "Your Highness, eight households have already agreed and are packing their things to leave, but there are still two households that refuse to leave."

He paused and asked hesitantly, "How about we use force?"

Yan Ning frowned, "Using force for relocation seems inappropriate."

Wei Wu was a bit angry, "But their faces clearly show they just want to extort more silver."

Yan Ning stood up, "I will go there myself."

Wei Wu hurriedly followed along.

The first house Yan Ning went to only had an old woman and her grandson; her two sons and daughters-in-law were out working and had not returned.

Yan Ning asked her, "Grandma, three hundred taels of relocation compensation is enough for you to use for a long time; why haven't you moved away yet? Are you used to living here?"

The old woman sighed, "If we could get three hundred taels, that would certainly be good, but we buried some gold and silver underground and have forgotten where it is for the moment..."

Yan Ning understood; the gold and silver jewelry buried underground was likely worth more than these three hundred taels.

Just when it seemed there was no way to relocate, the old woman said to her, "If you are willing to wait a few more days, once we find our things, we will leave."

Yan Ning breathed a sigh of relief; as long as there was a chance, it was fine.

There was one house left; Yan Ning went over to take a look and saw it was a beautiful woman.

Yan Ning asked, "If I give you three hundred taels of resettlement compensation, can you move out of here?"

The beautiful woman sneered, "Of course not. I'm living here just fine, why should I move?"

Yan Ning said, "State your terms."

The beautiful woman smiled, "Three thousand taels, and I'll move immediately."

Wei Wu said, "Since she refuses to move, then let's just forget it; at worst, we'll just build the Research Institute a bit smaller."

Yan Ning turned and left.

As she walked, she said, "Relocation is impossible, but I have thought of a good method; it doesn't matter whether she moves or not."

Wei Wu was confused, so Yan Ning took out paper and a brush to draw it for him to see.

Next to the Imperial Academy, she drew a new building; this building was in the shape of a "U," directly surrounding the woman's house.

Wei Wu's eyes lit up, "It really has to be Your Highness; truly brilliant."

Yan Ning smiled and said nothing; this kind of operation was all too common in her past life.

Just wait for that old woman to find the gold and silver jewelry they buried, and this laboratory building could begin construction.

The next day, Yan Ning received an application.

It requested that Song Yu and Jiang Zhi become Intern Researchers, the reason being that they both helped with the Generator, Electric Lamp, and Electric Fan, and Song Yu had made a suggestion that allowed Yun Shu to finish the Generator so quickly.

Yan Ning naturally agreed, and subsequently took this letter to her father.

At this time, several officials were inside.

Yan Ze looked up, "Why have you come?"

Yan Ning said with a smile, "Yun Shu wrote an application requesting that Song Yu and Jiang Zhi become Intern Researchers; after all, the Generator, Electric Fan, and Electric Lamp all have their contributions."

Yan Ning said these words for these ministers to hear.

Yan Ze only took a look and said, "Since they have merit, then let them become Intern Researchers."

Yan Ze looked at the ministers again, "Do you have any objections?"

Someone wanted to speak but hesitated.

Yan Ze did not give them a chance to speak, "Since there are no objections, then let them be together."

At this point, it was not easy for them to voice opposition.

It was just that several ministers could not help but feel dissatisfied in their hearts.

They studied hard for over ten years, only to break their heads trying to get into the Hanlin Academy, yet two students from the Imperial Academy just became Eighth-Rank Officials like that.

They knew their contributions were great, but they still couldn't help feeling bitter.

Yan Ning smelled the bitterness in the air and said with a smile, "There are thousands of students at the Imperial Academy, and only these two were chosen; they must be very diligent in their daily studies."

The crowd was still a bit bitter.

Song Yu and Jiang Zhi were appointed as Eighth-Rank Officials, and everyone was shocked.

They knew such a day would come sooner or later, but who knew it would be so soon.

Moreover, Yun Shu also became a high-ranking official of the Second Rank.

The students of the Imperial Academy's Liberal Arts Class wrung their hands in regret.

It was all their fault for being bad at Mathematics and only knowing how to recite poetry and books.

Someone said sourly, "So what if they became officials? They are just Researchers without real power."

Another person said, "Stop being bitter; no matter what kind of official it is, it's still an official, and they can still speak before His Majesty."

As for the students of the three Science Classes, they were all deeply moved.

They were much better than those bitter, pedantic scholars of the Liberal Arts Class; as long as they were willing to work hard, perhaps they could also enter the Research Institute in the future.

They were so certain because the Research Institute next door had started construction, and after roughly calculating the size of the Research Institute, they felt that the area of this Research Institute was quite large.

It was about the same size as the Imperial Academy.

The Imperial Academy was a place that could accommodate several thousand students.

Since the Research Institute was built so large, it at least indicated that the Research Institute would recruit many Researchers.

As long as they were willing to work hard, anything was possible.

What Yan Ning did not know was that she had just built a Research Institute casually, thinking that if Yun Shu blew up one room, there would be another.

She did not expect that this would make the students of the Science Classes boil with excitement.

One by one, they were burning the Lamp to study through the night, and their few Physics Books were almost worn out from being flipped through.

When this reached Yan Ning's ears, she was in a very good mood.

These were all future scientific research talents!