A full month has passed since the emperor last set out the strategic roadmap for the Song Dynasty in court.

As the winter months approached in Tokyo, the lake began to freeze over.

Early that morning, Zhao Huan disguised himself and left the palace with great interest.

Tokyo is getting bigger and bigger, and in recent years, people brought in from outside have been joining this world's largest city.

Zhao Huan headed east of the city, his guards being the most skilled soldiers in the army. Although they were simply dressed, they were still equipped with crossbows and horse-slaying swords.

In the morning, the sky had just cleared up for a short while when it started snowing.

This is the first snowfall of the winter, and it melted as soon as it hit the ground.

However, the temperature quickly dropped lower and lower, and less and less snow melted.

Zhao Huan got out of the car at the entrance of a newly built manor.

The manor was built in a low-key manner; it was small and had no special features.

However, when Zhao Huan entered the courtyard, he found the most elite warriors of the Song Dynasty on duty.

Zhao Huan felt as if he were in his own home. He first went into the main hall, where a fire was burning brightly and tables were set up for everyone.

In the lobby, a man was warming himself by the fireplace. He had obviously just arrived, as his hair was wet from the melting snow.

This is an ordinary-looking young man, the kind of young man who would just blend into a crowd and become an ordinary passerby.

When Zhao Huan entered, the young man quickly stood up and bowed to him, saying, "I am Ye Chong, and I greet you, Master Zhao."

"Brother Ye, there's no need for such formalities."

The servants quickly brought out wine and dishes, and the two began to drink the warm wine, while also cooking mutton.

Ye Chong had lived for twenty-three years and had never eaten mutton before. He was immediately captivated by the aroma of the mutton, his mouth watering and unable to stop eating.

Moreover, this was the best wine he had ever tasted in his life.

The lives of the rich are indeed different!

Zhao Huan was somewhat surprised to see that this young man was such a glutton.

It seems this person really did eat very little meat before!

After Ye Chong had eaten and drunk his fill, Zhao Huan said to Shao Chengzhang, who was standing to the side, "Pour Brother Ye some more wine."

"No, no, no, Master Zhao, I have already had enough to drink and cannot hold my liquor."

Zhao Huan laughed and said, "It's alright, let's drink slowly and talk about things while we drink."

"That's fine! That's fine!"

If anyone knew that Zhao Huan was here, drinking with such a young man, they would be very shocked.

Who exactly is this young man, that he is able to sit alone with the emperor, drinking and discussing philosophy?

"Brother Ye, to be honest, I've asked you to come here so I can do some things for me. As for the money, you'll be well paid!"

As soon as Zhao Huan finished speaking, his men brought up a box. When the box was opened, it was full of paper money.

It's probably around ten thousand strings of cash!

As a poor villager living in Yejiacun, Xuzhou, I probably only saw paper money in Xuzhou city, let alone suddenly seeing so many.

He had personally witnessed wealthy young men from Xuzhou using this item to buy things on the roadside.

This is real, usable money, just like iron coins.

This was the first time Ye Chong had ever seen so much money.

He never imagined that someone could be so rich.

Seeing that Ye Chong's eyes were fixed on him, Zhao Huan remained silent, waiting for Ye Chong to come to his senses.

Ye Chong swallowed the mutton in his mouth, then said nervously, "Sir Zhao, I am just an ordinary craftsman. My family has been craftsmen for generations. I can neither kill nor plunder, nor fight on the battlefield, nor compose poetry. I cannot accept your money!"

"You can afford it! As long as you help me build a steam locomotive, I'll give you ten times, a hundred times that amount of money!"

Ye Chong was slightly taken aback before he came to his senses.

It turns out that this Mr. Zhao was after steam locomotives.

He had heard of steam locomotives; they were said to be vehicles manufactured by the Royal Academy of Sciences that could run on their own without being pulled by horses.

That steam locomotive is currently being sold at the Imperial Trading Company of the Great Song Dynasty. I heard that as soon as it was released, some high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital city of Kaifeng bought it.

But I also heard that there were no steam locomotives on the streets of Tokyo, because they were slower than walking and often broke down, stopping on the road and having to be pushed back.

If a customer buys substandard goods from a shop on a regular basis, they will definitely return them.

However, nowadays, those high-ranking officials and nobles, out of consideration for the Royal Academy of Sciences, are reluctant to return the steam locomotives, so they keep them at home as collectibles.

I heard that this was something the emperor wanted to tinker with. Some people among the common people were talking about it in private, saying that the emperor was just bored out of his mind, spending so much money to make such a useless thing, and they wondered what it would even do.

Within a month, the steam locomotive became a laughing stock.

However, the steam engine was tested and applied to industries such as textiles, mining, and iron smelting.

Furthermore, some trading companies had already begun placing orders quietly, although many people in the general public were unaware of this at the time.

Ye Chong found it strange that this Zhao official was so interested in steam locomotives.

Nobody is optimistic about that thing. As a businessman, shouldn't he focus more on things that are more profitable?

Ye Chong and all the poor people knew that reselling grain in the Song Dynasty was very profitable; at least those grain merchants were making a fortune.

However, Ye Chong did indeed have a way to improve the steam locomotive.

This happened about two weeks ago, not long after Ye Chonggang arrived in Tokyo. He saw a steam locomotive on the street.

He was immediately drawn to the steam locomotive.

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