Due to limitations in cryopreservation technology, King Jura II's head was not packaged and shipped back to Tokyo.

When the news of the victory reached the palace, the ministers were quite excited.

Zhao Huan, however, appeared quite calm.

The muskets and cannons that the Song army was equipped with at the time were basically invincible.

The Song army's meals usually included beef, and all the young men of this generation were strong and robust.

Choryan was just a tiny country, its only value being a stronghold on the overseas front.

The truly valuable ones are the countries in northern India, which together have a massive population.

In this world, money can only be made if there are people.

People are the foundation.

Before the good news arrived from the front, a major event also occurred in Tokyo.

The imperial court spent three whole years and a huge amount of money to build the Beijing-Youzhou Railway before it was finally opened to traffic.

Even now, the people of the Song Dynasty still have many misunderstandings about trains.

Even the ministers in the imperial court couldn't understand why the emperor insisted on building the railway.

This is a huge project, much more difficult than building a house or laying cement roads.

Take that steam train for example; it took the Academy of Sciences a full five years to barely perfect it.

During Xu Churen's administration, the first test railway was basically abandoned.

Only this railway line is now officially open to traffic.

In the eleventh year of the Jingkang era, around November 1st, the north wind was icy cold and the clouds hung low.

Zhao Huan was very happy. He led his civil and military officials to the suburban train station early in the morning.

Along the way, Zhou Chao, the Commissioner of the Three Departments, and Chen Yang, the Vice Chancellor, muttered to each other.

"Master Chen, is the carriage ready?"

"Don't worry, everything is ready. His Majesty the Emperor will see that trains are slower than horse-drawn carriages!"

"I don't know what His Majesty is thinking. Trains are obviously a money-burning thing. Anyone with eyes can see that."

Chen Yang sighed and said, "Since His Majesty is so obsessed with trains, we will not say anything more. We just need to let the carriages and trains compare in real life and we will know."

Many others in the court shared the same thoughts.

So today, everyone's just here to watch the emperor make a fool of himself.

After all, this train was a notoriously unpopular thing in the Song Dynasty.

The train station was still very crudely constructed, and people from Xinghua Trading Company and Tokyo Logistics Company were checking and moving goods at the station.

"this……"

Chen Yang was slightly startled.

Zhou Chao, standing to the side, also showed a slight look of surprise: "How come this train is so much longer than the ones we saw a few years ago?"

Han Gonglian introduced the train to Zhao Huan from the front: "As Your Majesty requested, there are a total of twenty carriages behind here, each connected by iron hooks, with the locomotive at the very front."

"The maximum carrying capacity of a single carriage is 8,000 jin (4,000 catties)."

Zhou Chaoxin's heart skipped a beat, and he couldn't help but lean closer, exclaiming in shock, "Lord Han, you just said that one carriage can transport 8,000 jin of goods?"

"yes."

Zhou Chao gasped.

A horse-drawn carriage can carry 800 catties of goods at most, and a train carriage can be equivalent to 10 horse-drawn carriages!

There are 20 carriages here, which means it's equivalent to 200 horse-drawn carriages!

Zhao Huan asked, "Han Qing, how many years can this railway run?"

"Your Majesty, thirty years is no problem."

"Okay, when do we begin?"

"We can set off once they have finished unloading the goods."

Zhao Huan asked, "Is this rice from Huaxing Trading Company?"

Chen Yang quickly replied, "It's not just Huaxing Trading Company's rice; Zhu's Trading Company's rice is also included."

"How much will these rice sell for per shi (a unit of dry measure) after they are transported to Youzhou?"

"This... Your subject does not know."

Yu Yunwen took over and replied, "Your Majesty, after these rice are transported to Youzhou City, they will be sold for 2 strings of cash per shi (a unit of dry measure)."

How much was it before?

"Last year, our Great Song Dynasty launched a northern expedition against the barbarians. Due to the war, the price of grain rose to four strings of cash per shi (a unit of dry measure). This year, it has returned to three strings of cash. Grain in the north is more expensive than in the Central Plains and the south."

"Our Great Song Dynasty now possesses the Jiulong River, Jiaozhou, and the two lakes. In recent years, the weather has been favorable, and Hebei Road has recovered from the war. The Hebei Plain is also a densely populated area for grain cultivation. The price of grain in Dongjing City has dropped to one shi (a unit of dry measure) and one guan (a unit of currency). Why is it three guan in Youzhou? What is the reason?"

"The Yan-Yun war zone consumes too much grain. The grain supply of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan-Yun mainly depends on the supply from the south. The waterway transport capacity is limited. If the grain price drops further, merchants will not be willing to continue."

"So why are merchants now willing to sell a stone for two strings of cash?"

"Your Majesty, let me tell you, Zhu Qing's Zhu Family Trading Company transported 40,000 jin (400 shi) of grain in one go. To transport 40,000 jin of grain, it would require 50 horse-drawn carts. Each cart carries 8 shi of grain, and each shi of grain sells for 3 guan, so the income would be 24 guan. The income from 50 carts of grain would be 1,200 guan. However, the cost from seeds, planting, harvesting, and loading is 300 guan, and the total transportation cost is 400 guan, bringing the total cost to 700 guan. The Zhu Family Trading Company is cooperating with Zhang's Grain Shop in Youzhou. Zhang's Grain Shop's purchase price for this 40,000 jin of grain is as high as 900 guan, so in the end, they can only earn 300 guan. The money they can earn is indeed not much."

"Moreover, transporting 50 horse-drawn carriages at once is almost impossible; at most, it would be 25. In other words, Zhang's Grain Shop can only earn 150 guan at a time."

After listening to the explanation, it seems that the price of grain in Youzhou Prefecture is indeed reasonable at 3 guan per shi.

Moreover, Li Guang did indeed strictly control the price.

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