Chapter 193: The Crown Princess is Still Young

Yan Ning read the memorials and quickly understood the current progress of the railway construction.

In order to finish the railway as soon as possible, Yan Ning had put in quite a lot of effort.

The route from the Capital to Yangzhou and then to Lingnan would pass through various cities, so the Minister of Works suggested that each city speed up the production of steel to cast into railway tracks.

In this way, the speed of railway construction would be much faster.

Without having to wait too long, she would be able to go to Yangzhou for fun, and going to Lingnan to eat fruit would also be much more convenient.

At this moment, the Minister of Revenue asked, "These railways will charge a fee, right? How does His Highness plan to set the pricing?"

Yan Ning thought for a moment, "No rush, we'll look at the situation later, and there are still the carriages for transporting goods; it won't be too late to decide once the train is built."

They had already started wanting to set prices, yet the train hadn't even been made yet.

Yan Ning said, "Since we've already spent so much money anyway, and our train isn't finished yet, let's make a few more trains; we should be able to use them on the road."

The Minister of Revenue knew that there was no room for negotiation, so he could only ask, "Your Highness, what is the construction cost of one train?"

Yan Ning thought for a moment, "It's fine, it's cheap, five thousand taels of silver can build one."

The Minister of Revenue breathed a sigh of relief.

He had thought this thing was extremely expensive.

Yan Ning continued to flip through the memorials, which stated that they had already begun digging mountain tunnels and building bridges; in short, the plan was proceeding smoothly.

It was just a bit of a money pit.

Yan Ning had already spread the mirror shops to other cities, and the profits were very objective.

Yan Ning went to check the accounts of the several shops that had been sent over.

Glazed Glass, lamps, and mirrors selling well in ancient times was only natural, after all, they were all fresh things.

What surprised her a little was that the profit from electric fans was actually one-third that of Jianyue Pavilion.

One must know that mirrors in ancient times were rare; a piece the size of a palm cost several hundred taels of silver.

An electric fan was only five taels of silver, and with two replacement batteries, it was only six taels of silver; was the sales volume really that good?

Yan Ning immediately went to the fan factory to see how their production was going.

She saw that the workers were quickly making the plastic, and compared to their initial clumsiness, the waste rate was now very low.

The current problem was that demand exceeded supply.

The electric fans didn't have their own separate shop; the Electric Lamp Shop found a small corner to sell them, and every time they restocked, they were snatched up in less than an hour.

Yan Ning truly hadn't expected that electric fans could sell so well.

But thinking about it, there were quite a few people in the Capital who could afford electric fans, and there were also merchants from other places who wanted to buy the fans away.

Yan Ning gave them some bonuses.

The workers worked even harder.

Seeing that several shops were quite profitable, Yan Ning brought this matter up the next day.

Yan Ning didn't say it in the Court, lest everyone say they disagreed.

However, when Yan Ning was in the Imperial Study, she had originally intended to tell her father, but the Minister of Revenue was there.

Yan Ning then said, "Now that the country is prosperous, tax revenue is high, and the income from several government-run shops is also high, I think many plans can be carried out boldly."

"For example, building Cement Roads."

This time, the Cement Roads she wanted to build in Lingnan would connect every village and town, paving as much as possible.

Lingnan was a good place; she wanted to strengthen the governance of Lingnan and also let Lingnan's good products be sold out.

Yan Ning began to detail the plan for paving roads in Lingnan.

Upon hearing that Cement Roads were to be built in every township and town, Yan Ze nodded repeatedly, feeling that his daughter was right.

It was just that the Minister of Revenue frowned.

It wasn't that the national treasury couldn't afford it, but paving Cement Roads all over Lingnan and covering every township was somewhat whimsical.

The Minister of Revenue asked her with some confusion, "Your Highness, why do you have such a deep obsession with Lingnan? Must you build this road?"

Yan Ning thought to herself, Lingnan was indeed a good place.

Before she transmigrated, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Macau were all such good places.

Moreover, there was another reason: she wanted to develop maritime transport.

Yan Ning replied, "Lingnan is a good place, and the shipbuilding technology is also a bit better, which is convenient for developing shipping."

"And also, now that the Sea Ban has been lifted, in order to prevent Lingnan from colluding with foreign enemies, we must build roads to strengthen the governance of Lingnan."

Upon hearing that it was to strengthen control over Lingnan, the Minister of Revenue immediately agreed.

He even sighed, "Come to think of it, Lingnan doesn't really listen to the orders issued by the central government nowadays. In the past, the common people were not allowed to wear brightly colored clothes, yet those merchants wore clothes more vibrant than the next, with fabrics better than the next; they all say the mountains are high and the Emperor is far away, so no one can manage them."

Yan Ning revealed a small smile, "Once the train is built, it will be convenient for us to go over, and the governance of Lingnan will also be strengthened."

This time, the Minister of Revenue actually suggested that Yan Ning use more money, insisting that the roads in Lingnan must be built well.

In the blink of an eye, the Spring Festival had passed.

During the morning audience, someone brought up the matter of Yan Ning getting married as soon as possible again.

The Vice Minister of Rites said, "Your Majesty, the Crown Princess is now eighteen; it is time to consider getting married sooner."

Yan Ze was full of question marks, "You must have remembered wrong, the Crown Princess is only sixteen now."

The Vice Minister of Rites then said, "Now that the year has passed, His Highness will be seventeen before long, and after the new year, counting by nominal age, it is exactly eighteen years old."

Yan Ze & Yan Ning:...

That was absurd.

Yan Ze said unhappily, "My daughter is only sixteen right now; we will consider marriage after she passes her eighteenth birthday."

Honestly, he even wanted to let Yan Ning wait until the legal marriage age to get married.

But this was ancient times.

After Yan Ze said these words, many people in the Court had objections.

But Yan Ze and Yan Ning held a firm attitude; no one could think of urging them to marry.

A year and a half later.

Yan Ning passed her eighteenth birthday; she did not hold a hair-pinning ceremony, but she did hold a grand celebration for her eighteenth birthday, inviting all the officials of the Court to attend the banquet together.

The banquet was filled with joy.

Who would have thought that early the next morning, these people would start urging marriage again.

"Your Majesty, now that His Highness is eighteen, it is time to properly consider the marriage."

"Your Majesty, it is most important for the Crown Princess to give birth to the Grandson of the Emperor early!"

"Your Highness, you cannot be so willful anymore; the Crown Princess must marry early, otherwise there will be no imperial heir, and the hearts of the people will be unstable!"

Yan Ze was speechless: "What does this have to do with the hearts of the people? The Crown Princess has done many things that benefit the country and the people; how could the hearts of the people be unstable?"

These few ministers were stumped.

Yan Ze frowned and said: "Let me pick an auspicious day and then we shall talk."

At this time, the Minister of Rites said: "Your Majesty, the first day of next month is an auspicious day."

Yan Ning replied to him: "So rushed?"

The Minister of Rites said: "It is not considered rushed; after all, His Highness has long had a marriage contract, the horoscopes have been matched, and after the ancestral rites, the marriage can take place."

Yan Ze insisted on opposing it, "Inappropriate, wait a while longer."

The Minister of Rites was truly puzzled, "Your Majesty, as the Crown Princess, even if she marries, she will not go far; why do you still not want the Crown Princess to marry?"

Yan Ze sighed: "The Crown Princess is still young."

The ministers:???

The Minister of Rites was stunned: "Your Majesty, you say the Crown Princess is still young? The late Emperor already had three sons and one daughter at this age."