In the early morning, the sun was shining brightly, and in a corner of the courtyard, the palace maids on the turn of the palace maids began to be busy. Zhang Lihua and the palace maids who were "in the same class" came to a row of fish tanks and carefully changed the water to the fish tank.

Ornamental fish are raised in the palace - golden crucian carp, which are raised in both ponds and tanks.

However, on weekdays, nobles are not in Jiankang, so these ornamental fish are concentrated on the banks of Xuanwu Lake.

Now the nobles live temporarily in Taicheng, so some of the tanks raise golden carp "moved" to the palace for "constant residence".

These fish tanks are open large pottery tanks, half a person tall, and one person holds the tank with both hands, but cannot close the hands, and the capacity is very large, so it takes a long time to change the water.

However, the entire process has "operation rules" and corresponding tools, so it is not difficult to do it step by step.

Among the palace maids who changed the water, there was a rotating man. They saw duckweed on the water surface of the fish tank and a lot of moss on the walls. The golden fish swam around like a small pond, which was quite interesting:

"This fish is so beautiful, is it a crucian carp?"

Zhang Lihua, who was in charge of changing water today, nodded: "Yes, it's just golden carp."

The palace maid is not much older than Zhang Lihua, and she said interestingly: "Golden crucian carp, you can occasionally see red-clothed trolls in the river in Suyu, and they look like they look."

Zhang Lihua heard the accent of the other party speaking, and knew that the other party was probably from Suyu, Huaibei, and smiled and said, "The turtle is the ancient name of crucian carp, and the turtle carp is mentioned in "Shu Yizhi".

"Also, golden carp carp occasionally appears in many places. There are red-scale fish on the side of Kuanglu Mountain in Xunyang, Jiangzhou, and they were discovered during the Jin Dynasty."

The palace maids were busy changing water while listening to Zhang Lihua’s story about the origin of “Golden Crucian carp”. As they listened, they couldn’t help but get immersed.

Common crucian carp are white scales and have darker backs. Golden crucian carp, such as red scale fish and red squid, are actually aliens among crucian carp, with yellow and red body, which is regarded as auspicious.

But Zhang Lihua said that this is not auspiciousness, but a fish with a slight change in color. The reason why this kind of fish is rare is that the color is too bright and easy to be seen by waterfowl and big fish, and then prey on it. Very few people can grow up.

The descendants of golden carp are likely to be red and yellow, but it is difficult to grow up in the wild.

Then, collect golden crucian carp as much as possible and raise them artificially. These golden crucian carp will not be preyed by waterfowl or big fish in the fish pond, and will grow up and then reproduce offspring.

Remove the normal-colored fish from their offspring, and after several generations, these fish will be red and yellow golden crucian carp.

Because the golden crucian carp raised in the tank has a small space for movement than the pond, it does not require swimming hard to catch insects in the water to eat. Therefore, the fish fins and tails will become weak and wide, and the body will also become short and fat.

If the daily light received by the fish tank is properly controlled, it will affect the light and darkness of the color of the golden carp.

Over time, after the golden crucian carp raised in the tank breeds for several generations, the appearance will be different from that of the golden crucian carp raised in the pond.

The water in several fish tanks was replaced one by one. The palace maids listened to Zhang Lihua's explanation of the golden carp and listened with relish: "Lihua, you know so much!"

"I heard that many wealthy families raise golden carp, which are raised in ponds. The golden carp in the tank is convenient to watch, but not easy to raise."

"You have to ask Shaofu Temple to send someone to educate me to keep it for a long time..."

Zhang Lihua smiled and didn't say much. She didn't understand these things at first. She only knew about the emperor when he was free.

She looked at the golden carp slowly swimming in the fish tank, and felt pleasing to the eye. Then, as required, she brought the glass fish tank, filled the water, and put the aquatic plants, carefully snatched the golden carp from the pottery tank and put it into the glass fish tank.

The glass fish tank is transparent all over, and the golden carp swimming in it makes it look more and more beautiful.

Zhang Lihua said that the fish tank was placed on the cart, the net cover was covered, and then the cart was pushed into the bedroom.

The palace maid who followed her to push the cart was the one who asked questions at the beginning. Looking at the glass fish tank that looked like crystal, she asked curiously: "Why should I put the net cover at the entrance of the tank?"

Zhang Lihua replied: "Because it is transparent everywhere in the glass tank, the fish are easily frightened and then jump out. If the fish jump out without the net cover, it will easily die."

The two of them walked into the bedroom and placed the glass fish tank in the prescribed position, but saw several models of sailboats next to them.

The palace maid became curious: "Isn't this a new type of sea boat? I often berthed in Huaikou, and even arrived in Huaiyin. I have seen it."

"Have you seen it? This is a four-masted sea ship, and it is also available in Huaiyin?" Zhang Lihua was surprised. "This kind of ship is the latest sea ship, using horizontal sails and vertical sails, and it is walking very fast."

"Lihua, do you understand this too?"

"Yeah..." Zhang Lihua nodded. The emperor had explained in detail to her when he was fiddling with these ship models.

For example, the difference between horizontal sails and vertical sails, the difference between sea and river ships, etc.

The palace maid saw Zhang Lihua listening to a lot of interesting knowledge from the emperor and couldn't help but envy: "Lihua, you are the only one who is the most special in public."

"The emperor is closest to you."

This was heard in Zhang Lihua's heart, and she was happy: Of course I am special, because...

Because I am a golden crucian carp, it is different from you ordinary crucian carp...

The palace maids who were waiting for the inside and outside were waiting for the inside and outside to see that the two of them were talking loudly, so they came over and whispered to remind them.

The emperor and Xiao Jieyu, who had just entered the palace, have not yet risen, so we cannot disturb him.

Zhang Lihua and her companions quickly stopped talking, packed up their things and walked out. As they walked, Zhang Lihua felt a little disappointed.

Concubine Xiao is the nun Xiao, who is the former master of Zhang Lihua. Xiao entered the palace not long ago and was very favored by the emperor. Both of them had to struggle for a long time at night. Sometimes, Zhang Lihua, who was on the night, could hear the movement outside and restlessly.

In the morning, the two of them usually have to struggle, so now we can't disturb you.

When passing through the internal and external partitions, Zhang Lihua heard a "Yeah ah" sound coming from inside. She felt embarrassed: it started again.

Then there is determination: Your Majesty is mine, you can't take it away!

The companion was confused and didn't know what was happening inside.

......

In the afternoon, Li Li and Wu Xiang, who entered the palace to discuss matters, talked about the new sea ship. He used the model to explain to his in-laws where the new sea ship was "new".

"The wind directions in coastal areas vary, so hard sailing ships are popular. Why? Hard sails can make winds on all sides, and can also sail against the wind."

"When we were fishing in Pengli Lake, we had the deepest experience. The soft sailboats of those days were only able to get the speed when they were in the wind, but the soft sailboats could not sail against the wind."

"But, soft sails can be driven, sails can be made very large, stand high, have a lot of driving, and run very fast when you are down the wind. This is a great advantage when you reach the deep sea."

"So, since the sea ship itself is larger and can have three masts and four masts, we can use two types of sails on a large ship..."

"A cloth-made sail is drawn between the bow mast and the first main mast, and a cloth-made sail is also drawn between each main mast, and the main sail is a large cloth-straight sail..."

"In this way, when the wind direction changes, put away the cross sails and sailing on the cross sails, which can have the flexibility of a hard sailboat. If the wind is smooth, you can open the cross sails and reach the high speed of the cross sailboat..."

Wu Xiang is an "old friend" who has shared the joys and sorrows with Li Li for decades. He fished in Pengli Lake together and was very knowledgeable about boats. Of course, he could understand Li Li's explanation.

These new sea ships were not "built ships behind closed doors" in the lake themselves, but were determined by the ship types after continuous experiments and summarizing experiences and lessons in the coastal areas.

The trade fleet run by the imperial court must take on the focal point of maritime trade, so the new sea ship is the foundation.

"So many soft sails require a lot of manpower to operate." Wu Xiang expressed his opinion, "If it is a warship, it is a good thing to have more manpower, and the battle on the board will have the upper hand."

"But for merchant ships, one more person means one more salary, which is an additional cost for ship owners."

Li Li nodded: "Yes, for folk maritime merchants, hard sailing ships are the most suitable for merchant ships. The ships on the Yangtze River are also hard sailing ships."

"However, this kind of ship is suitable for coastal routes and deep-sea routes, and you still have to use soft sailboats,"

"The seasonal deep-sea route has relatively stable wind directions. The soft sailboat with maximum efficiency can walk fast and can complete the journey in a short time. It is very important."

"Just as the advantages of cavalry are fast and easy to come and go, the Clippers that can sail long distances in deep seas are paired with compass and astrology, which are powerful navigation tools."

Speaking of this, Li Li pointed to the golden carp in the glass fish tank next to him:

"To make the golden crucian carp evolve into goldfish, they need to be transferred from dangerous natural waters to comfortable artificial waters."

"In this way, their bodies will become short and fat, and their fins and tails will become soft, weak, graceful, and wide."

"In this way, we are unable to fight with the torrents, unable to chase prey, and unable to get rid of the threat, but this is no big deal for ornamental fish."

"But sailing is the opposite. Our seaships cannot always stay in comfortable offshore waters, day after day, year after year."

"A real sea boat must have a long, strong body and strong sail shape that can challenge the stormy waves of the deep sea and carry out long voyages."

He looked at Wu Xiang: "In our lifetime, we may not see the golden crucian carp turning into goldfish, nor can we see the sea ships in the Central Plains traverse the sea, but we can determine the right direction and form an industry."

"As long as the industry develops a strong interest group, there will be successors and unswervingly moving in this direction."

"Growing golden crucian carp has begun to form an industry now. The golden crucian carp pond has gradually become the standard for wealthy families. More and more people are investing in this industry and are developing rapidly."

"Then, as long as navigation and maritime trade form a large number of interest classes among the government and the people, there will naturally be people who will continue to sail into the depths of the sea and discover a new world."

When Wu Xiang saw Li Li mentioning the "new world" again, he asked curiously: "Your Majesty, is there really a rich and vast new world across the ocean?"

"Yes!" Li Li certainly affirmed, because this is the fact, "Believe me, that's right!"
Chapter completed!