The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Chapter 600

"Grand Secretary Xia, look at how magnanimous Lord Zhou is, repaying evil with kindness. Unlike you, who opposes Lord Zhou at every turn."

Yang Yiqing couldn't help but tease from the side.

"Yes, Elder Xia, your health really needs some proper care, otherwise your wife will have some complaints."

Yang Shen, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but tease him.

Xia Yan listened to the two teasing each other, her face turning red, but she couldn't think of any rebuttal.

Especially Yang Shen, who is usually such a rigid and serious person, actually said such a thing at this moment.

"Yang Yongxiu, you're usually so serious, why are you acting so outrageously today?"

Xia Yan dared not refute Yang Yiqing. Yang Yiqing was superior to Xia Yan in terms of age, seniority, and official position. Moreover, Yang Yiqing was over seventy years old, an age when one could do as one pleases without overstepping the bounds. He could say whatever he wanted, and Xia Yan really could not criticize him.

After holding it in for a long time, Xia Yan could only glare at Yang Shen.

"Your Excellency Xia is mistaken. Everyone has seven emotions and six desires. I am not such a heartless person. I am just a bit serious on weekdays, but I am not like that in private."

Yang Shen smiled.

Since Yang Shen came to understand his own heart, his personality has changed a lot over the years. In the past, Yang Shen was rigid because he was stubborn, but now he is completely different.

The officials nearby laughed when they heard this, and as they chatted and laughed, the four carriages were already full of coal.

"Your Majesty, it can be activated at any time."

Zhou Chu bowed and said.

"Then let's get started."

Jiajing said.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chu led Hai Rui, Shen Lian, and the others onto the locomotive.

Once on the train, Hai Rui and the others skillfully lit the fire and then continuously added charcoal to the boiler. Shen Lian and Da Zhu went to help. After their previous trip, the two had confirmed that there was no danger on the train, so they were not as nervous as they had been the first time.

Soon, with a whistle, the drive shaft connected to the train wheels began to turn slowly but powerfully.

The train whistles sounded one after another, and the train wheels began to move.

It moved extremely slowly at first, much slower than the first time.

But the train wheels were constantly accelerating, and although the acceleration was slow, the speed was constantly increasing.

Seeing that the train had actually pulled the coal in the four carriages, all the officials stood up, eager to witness this spectacular sight and afraid of missing it.

Only Xia Yan looked distressed.

Soon, the train reached its maximum speed, which, although still slow, was faster than the average person walking.

A horse-drawn carriage fully loaded with goods would typically travel at this speed.

However, the carriage could only carry a maximum of about 1,000 catties. Although the weighing results of the coal in these four carriages had not yet been reported, anyone with a discerning eye could roughly calculate that it was at least 400,000 to 500,000 catties.

Upon thinking about this, everyone couldn't help but gasp.

The advent of trains will mean a significant increase in the Ming Dynasty's transportation capacity, especially the railway to Datong. And it's not just the railway to Datong that's being built; construction is also ongoing on the grasslands. The grassland sections are being built by various vassal kings, since those vassal kings all have wool businesses on the grasslands.

But the officials saw more than just that. With railways and trains, the consumption of grain and fodder transported to the grasslands would be minimal, which was an extremely terrifying prospect.

Before this, during major battles, many armies claimed to have hundreds of thousands of troops, but among these hundreds of thousands, there might only be one or two hundred thousand or even fewer combat troops. The majority were logistics troops. The number of logistics troops was extremely large, and the amount of food they consumed was also extremely terrifying. If a thousand catties of food were transported from the capital, it was considered good if two hundred catties reached the front line. The rest were mostly consumed by the logistics troops.

However, the advent of trains meant that future grain transport would not require many people, and the amount of grain consumed would be negligible, requiring only the burning of coal.

In the past, whether it was the Han Dynasty or the prosperous Tang Dynasty, the reason why they did not continue to expand their territory westward was because of the supply lines. Now, the supply line problem has been completely solved.

"Your Majesty, from now on, our Great Ming's supply lines will never consume such a huge amount of grain again. We can also wage war west of Wuhai."

Minister of War Wang Xian stepped forward, his expression excited.

As the Minister of War, no one understood the importance of supply lines better than him. The territorial expansion of every dynasty had its limits because supply lines could not reach further places.

When the supply line reaches a certain length, the consumption of logistics personnel alone can deplete all the food supplies, making it impossible to reach the front lines.

But the advent of the train completely solved this problem.

"Yes, Your Majesty. Trains transport grain without any consumption, requiring only coal. In this way, our Great Ming can continue to advance westward. Wherever the railway reaches, the Great Ming can conquer. The territory of our Great Ming will surpass all dynasties, far exceeding the Han and Tang dynasties."

The Vice Minister of War was also very excited at this moment, and said.

Not only the two of them, but all the officials of the Ministry of War were very excited at this moment. They all knew very well what the appearance of the train meant: it meant that there was no limit to the expansion of the Ming Dynasty's territory, and it meant that they, as officials of the Ministry of War, might all go down in history.

“That’s not what I heard you say just now. Weren’t you all saying that Zhou Hengqi was too young and too presumptuous?”

Jiajing had just heard what these people were saying, and he had chosen to endure it then, all for this moment of outburst.

The tone of Jiajing’s words was undeniably stern, because Jiajing was determined to speak up for Zhou Chu.

Upon hearing Jiajing's words, all the civil and military officials fell silent and stood up.

"Your Majesty, we confess our crimes!"

The officials bowed in greeting.