Chapter 41 The Prologue of the Great Era (Part 1)

"Liu Aiqing, get up." I stood up, carried my hands on my back and said lightly: "This matter is done as soon as possible. I will limit you to three days."

Liu Zhengming immediately looked upright and said respectfully: "I will definitely not humiliate the sage." Then he stood up again: "I will go and handle this at this time."

I waved my hand lightly and said, "Go."

Liu Zhenming bent over and slowly retreated, with a look of gratitude remaining in his eyes.

Back at Yangzhaizhai, I lay on the comfortable Taishi Chair. The weather has begun to warm up so that I can open the window and enjoy the spring breeze blowing slowly outside the window.

As the chair swayed, my mind and body couldn't help but relax. But I was quite worried about Lan Chuqing. It seemed that it had been more than a month since she left the capital. I don't know how she is now? Is she already on the way home?

The Empress came to my Yangzhai. When she saw me lying on the chair, she was stunned. She drank and left the eunuch slaves with her. She walked behind me, put her slender hands on my shoulders and gently kneaded them.

The queen's massage skills are many times better than before, and it is obviously the result of frequent experiments on me. After her skillful hands rubbed her, her muscles and bones suddenly loosened a lot and her spirit was also boosted.

"Your Majesty, I was so fascinated just now. Are you missing Sister Qing'er?" The queen hugged my neck with her hands from behind, and knocked her pretty jaws on my shoulders, and said lightly. Her whole body rested on my back. The faint fragrance pounced on my nose.

"Yes." I let out a gentle breath, held the queen's tenderness and said, "Youhong, you said Qing'er has been there for more than a month, why haven't you seen her come back yet? Could something happen to you on the road, right?"

Puchi. The queen covered her mouth and chuckled, the flowers trembled, and her hair floated on my face with the spring breeze, teasing my nerves.

"Your Majesty, you are concerned about it." The queen stopped smiling and comforted me, "Sister Qing'er's martial arts is considered a top expert in the world. With her martial arts, it is difficult to do anything."

I was really concerned and confused. After thinking about this, I said with confidence: "Haha, queen, have you ever seen a person with white skin, golden or red hair, and tall figure?"

The queen tilted her head and thought about it carefully, "Your Majesty, it seems that there is something on the Shanhai Jing. It belongs to Shanxiao Muke or something?"

"Haha, I'm not talking about the Mountains and Seas." I shaved her nose and said, "Now I've seen such a group of people. The ships they came here are much larger than ours."

"Emperor? Is there really such a person in this world?" The Queen opened her eyes wide and looked at me incredibly and said, "Can it be a monster that came out there?"

I was stunned and explained quickly: "It's not a monster. There are all kinds of races in this world. In addition to those white and red-haired races, there is also a race that is covered with darkness."

"A race covered in darkness?" The queen thought about it carefully and said, "Isn't that the legendary Kunlun slave?"

"Hehe, no matter what it is, the prelude to the great voyage has been opened. In the next ten or twenty years, there will probably be many foreigners in the territory of Dawu?" I said to myself, "I must seize this opportunity and make the Dawu Empire a superpower that dominates the world. Just think that this is playing a game. It is quite interesting to think about it."

"Emperor, I think you will succeed." The queen lay happy on my back and whispered: "I will definitely support the emperor silently behind my back."

"Youhong, it seems that it is getting late." I looked outside, and the stars are already dotted at this moment. Then I smiled and said, "It's time to rest early." As I said that, my hands began to become restless.

The queen naturally knew what I meant, and her cheeks flushed and she whispered: "Your Majesty, you." But her words stopped abruptly, because my lips were tightly sealed.

This night, there were naturally several convoys.

The next morning, the ministers gathered in the Golden Palace. As soon as they went to court, they received more than a dozen copies of them.

Every note mentioned the red-haired devils yesterday. I did not laugh, but put the notes aside. I looked at the ministers majestic: "Who can tell me why the red-haired devils arrived at the pier of the capital? Only then did you and I know about this? If the other party intends to invade, now that the war has begun, the capital will be directly threatened."

All the ministers were speechless, you looked at me, I looked at you.

"Report to the emperor, I have something to report." This person is Duan Hong, the new Minister of War.

"Play it." I waved.

"Our dynasty is in the coastal provinces, and the coastal defense agencies are all led by the local governor." Duan Hong bowed and started to proclaim: "These red-haired devils, after landing in Guangdong, sailed directly along the East China Sea to the Fujian-Zhejiang area. Then, they headed straight from the entrance of the Yangtze River to the capital."

"Damn it." I slapped heavily on the dragon throne and said in a deep voice: "Since I know this, why not report it to me earlier? It is better to take precautions in advance."

Duan Hong immediately said calmly: "The ships of the red-haired barbarians are very fast. I just received news from all over the country yesterday. Before I could report the report, the barbarians had arrived at the docks in the suburbs of Beijing."

"Hmph, efficiency, efficiency." I said with a bad face: "The horses on land are faster than ships sailing by sea. Why are they slower?"

Duan Hong also looked embarrassed and said: "Your Majesty, it takes two days to write a document, and it must be reviewed by local departments before it can be sent to the capital. Therefore, this delay is not as fast as the red-haired barbarians."

"I will do this in the future. Duan Hong, let me first talk about the coastal defense work in various seas? How many warships are there at present?" I glanced at him coldly.

"Report to the emperor, our dynasty is currently in Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong, Hebei and other places. There are a total of 150 ships and a total of more than 30,000 naval sergeants." Although Duan Hong had just become the Minister of War, he has always served as the Minister of War, so he naturally has a good understanding of this matter.

"So, how many meters long and how many meters wide are the largest ships in my direction? What kind of firearms are there on the ship?" I asked immediately. Fortunately, there were at least 30,000 naval troops and 150 warships.

"Report to the emperor, the largest ship in our dynasty is about ten feet long and four feet wide." Duan Hong replied respectfully: "The ship has weapons such as crossbows, rockets, and sulphurs."

Alas, bows and arrows and tinders? With these weapons, how can we fight against the powers such as Spain? Fortunately, I have reacted a lot, and it is not too late to develop now. Those tricked guns and cannons can be used to equip those ships and troops. Second, we can imitate them immediately. Third, we can develop the ordnance on that basis. Although the European powers have already had the ability to sail far, they are just starting out, and our dynasty is not much behind them. With a little rectification, we can catch up immediately, or even far exceed them.

"Where is Xu Liang, the Minister of Works?" I immediately opened my eyes and said in a deep voice.

"I am here, please wait for the emperor's order." Xu Liang walked out and after a period of rest, the wound on his thigh had basically healed. But he was still a little lame when walking.

"How is the gravel I ordered you to collect last time?" I looked at him and asked.

"Report to the emperor, after research, we can start to extract refined iron from the stone. However, since the process is very difficult to operate, I guess it will not take until June to cast the sword the emperor wants." Xu Liang said with a serious face.

I stopped and said, "Well, I won't mention this matter for the time being. I ask you, if I ask you to build a large ship about thirty meters long and seven or eight meters wide, can you build it?"

Xu Liang frowned and said quickly: "Report to the emperor, I once built such a large ship more than a hundred years ago. It is called a treasure ship. However, now, the manufacturing process of that ship has been completely lost."

"Xu Liang, I don't want to know if it is lost." I waved my hand to stop him and said, "Since someone could design and manufacture it more than a hundred years ago, then the same is true today. Xu Liang, this matter is left to you. Within three months, a new ship must be designed. That ship must also have a gun hatch. For specific times, I will find you privately."

When Xu Liang heard this, he had to say, "I obey the order."

"In addition, you go to Kamcha near the suburbs of Beijing to find a suitable place." I thought about it again and said, "I want to build a shipyard, and I will go to the largest shipyard."

Originally, I wanted to delay the development of navigation for a while. But now I have to operate in advance. Those Europeans have already started to act. Their ships have sailed to my land and have arrived directly at the capital.

"Duan Hong, please ask your Ministry of War to issue an order immediately. All ships not from this dynasty shall not be docked if they do not conduct inspections and submit documents. In addition, coastal defense must strengthen defense. All coastal defense alarms must be transmitted to the capital at the first time with 600 miles."

Duan Hong's face turned right and immediately replied respectfully: "My minister Duan Hong obeys the order."

I leaned on the golden dragon throne. In my familiar history, the great geographical discovery, the era of navigation was the key to the alternation of strength and weakness of Eastern and Western civilizations. Westerners then used navigation trade as a guise to scatter wealth from all over the world, continuously transported back to their own countries, and vigorously developed their own country's strength and technology.

If I don’t take action, I’m afraid the Great Wu Dynasty will decline from prosperity to decline, and the country’s destiny will decline from then on.
Chapter completed!