Chapter 824: Ready

"You heard me correctly," Zhao Xu said with a smile.

A train ferry is essentially a vessel with railway tracks laid across its deck.

When a train encounters large rivers like the Jin River or the Jiujiang, the steam locomotive can simply drive directly onto the ferry.

Of course, since steam locomotives are very long, the length of the ferry is limited.

A single ferry cannot carry an entire train.

Therefore, the engine will pull the carriages onto the ferry in batches, then cross the river with the final ferry.

In this contemporary era, in an age where it is impossible to build large bridges over the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, this problem is solved precisely through ferries.

Otherwise, supplies from the North Territory could not be transported to the south, and supplies from the south could not be transported to the north.

Thanks to the steam engine, steam-powered ferries are sufficient to transport the carriages of steam locomotives across the river.

Thus, steam locomotives heading south is no longer a difficult problem.

Thinking of this, he explained it to Zou Rong once more.

Zou Rong's eyes widened; he was first struck with disbelief, then followed by wild joy.

"In that case, this subject is relieved," Zou Rong said with a smile.

Zhao Xu nodded, "The opening of the Yan Jing Railway is only the beginning; I hope the railways planned next can open one after another."

"Yes, Your Highness, this subject will certainly not fail the mission," Zou Rong said decisively.

After chatting more about infrastructure issues, Zhao Xu returned to the Prince's residence with Yang Susu.

Before he could even warm the chair in his bedchamber, Feng'er suddenly reported that Liang Cheng had arrived.

Zhao Xu found it somewhat strange; while heading to the study, he ordered for Liang Cheng to be brought in.

"Your Highness, congratulations." When Zhao Xu arrived at the study, Liang Cheng had also arrived, holding an Imperial Edict in his hands.

Seeing the Imperial Edict, Zhao Xu vaguely guessed what it was and shook his head lightly.

Liang Cheng chuckled twice; he did not read the Imperial Edict aloud, but simply handed it to Zhao Xu.

He was as sharp as a human spirit and naturally knew he could not put on airs in front of Yan Wang.

Zhao Xu took the Imperial Edict.

He unfolded it and scanned it; just as he had guessed, Zhao Heng had officially named him the Crown Prince.

He had been curious at the time what Zhao Heng meant by "very good."

It turned out that after returning from Jinghai, he had already decided on this matter.

Since Zhao Heng arrived in Yancheng, Zhao Xu had never mentioned, nor even hinted at, the matter of the Crown Prince.

After all, to him, this was merely an empty title.

Zhao Heng had therefore been unable to fathom his thoughts and had overlooked the matter.

Now that Zhao Heng had suddenly issued an order to name him Crown Prince, he must have been thoroughly convinced by him in his heart.

If he had been named Crown Prince earlier, he might have just been someone under the eaves, forced to bow his head.

But being named Crown Prince now was truly a willing act.

"Many thanks to Liang Chief Steward for making this trip. Feng'er, take some Silver to reward the Chief Steward," Zhao Xu said.

"No need, the Emperor is still waiting for this old servant to return and report," Liang Kai waved his hands, lifted his hem, and trotted away.

Now, even if he were given a hundred guts, he would not dare to accept Silver from Yan Wang.

"Pfft." Seeing this, Feng'er could not help but laugh.

She then thought of something and said in a coquettish voice, "Congratulations to Your Highness on your promotion to the Eastern Palace."

Zhao Xu shook his head, "I still prefer to be called Yan Wang."

Having said that, he put the Imperial Edict away and placed it in the study for the time being, waiting for a suitable moment to make it public.

"Why?" Feng'er was puzzled, "In the past, Imperial Princes would fight tooth and nail to snatch the title of Crown Prince."

Zhao Xu said, "I just find it troublesome. Promotion to the Eastern Palace requires many tedious formalities. Furthermore, the Great Song has yet to be unified; what use is there in holding this title?"

Feng'er understood and nodded.

Following this, Zhao Xu sent someone to chase Liang Cheng back and told him his intentions.

He had accepted the Imperial Edict, but as for when he, Yan Wang, would transform into the Crown Prince, he would choose the time himself.

Liang Cheng understood and returned to report Zhao Xu's intentions to Zhao Heng.

Regarding this, Zhao Heng naturally had no objections.

It was enough that his intentions had been conveyed.

However, this matter could not be kept under wraps forever; over the next period of time, officials like Liu Fu and Yang Feng came one after another to offer their congratulations.

Even Yang Zhen and Mi Yan, who were far away in Jincheng, made a trip back.

Chang Wei and Ma Han were naturally not content to be left out, so they also returned to Yancheng specifically to offer congratulations.

Since Yan Wang acknowledged Zhao Heng's status and acknowledged the Imperial Court.

They still hoped that Zhao Heng would officially name Zhao Xu as the Crown Prince.

That way, it would be justified and legitimate.

As for when Yan Wang would announce it to the world through the Newspaper, that would be up to his own wishes.

After a month of commotion, the revelry of the Jiangbei officials gradually subsided.

At this time, it had also reached the final stage of delivering the 120,000 Qin-style Rifles.

"Your Highness, tomorrow the final batch, 30,000 Qin-style Rifles, can be delivered to the Prince's Personal Army."

That day, Zhao Xu arrived at the Armory, and Wang Ying immediately came up to greet him.

The Qin-style Rifles had been produced and delivered simultaneously during this period, rather than being stockpiled for a single delivery.

Therefore, 90,000 Qin-style Rifles had already been delivered intermittently.

Among them, fifty thousand were given to the Prince's Personal Army, and forty thousand were given to the Qin Army.

For the final batch of thirty thousand Qin-series Rifles, twenty thousand will go to the Prince's Personal Army, and ten thousand to the Qin Army.

"Mm, the production has finally been completed," Zhao Xu said with a smile.

Wang Ying wiped away sweat, "This is all thanks to Your Highness's Civil-to-Military Conversion policy. It is shameful to say, but the Armory Bureau only produced forty thousand Qin-series Rifles on its own this month; the rest were produced by other Workshops."

"That is normal. How could a single Armory Bureau compare to all the Workshops in Yancheng?" Zhao Xu said.

After thinking for a moment, he continued: "However, since the Civil-to-Military Conversion has already begun, let it continue for a few more months so that the entire army can be equipped with Qin-series Rifles."

If it were in the past, he would never have made such a bold promise.

After all, the Civil-to-Military Conversion has a significant impact on the development of commerce.

But having plundered Dongying and seized the wealth of the Xie Family, the Han Family, and the Wang Family, he suddenly felt wealthy and confident.

This wealth is sufficient to support his production of Qin-series Rifles, as well as Steamships and Sailing Warships.

There were no issues with the delivery of the Qin-series Rifles, and Zhao Xu returned to the Prince's Mansion.

The next day, the orders were sent to the western front along with the Qin-series Rifles.

He ordered Chang Wei and Ma Han to receive the Qin-series Rifles and, after simple training, to take Jian Pass and Zhongling Pass.

This would turn the passive situation into an active one.