The Flang Mechs kneeling on the deck of the warship looked terrified. The sabers and axes of the Ming soldiers hung above their heads.
They could clearly feel their lives slipping away.
Who said that the Great Ming Navy was in decline? Who was it?
She really wanted to kick him into the sea and feed him to the fish!
This was called the withering of the Internet Water Army? How could your family have such fierce cannons and such a huge warship?
……
Qi Jingtong was currently standing on the Franc warship and inspecting it for a while. He seemed to be in deep thought.
"Anyone who understands the language of the foreign devils, help this general ask about the nautical map and the geographical coordinates of their country and the pirates along the way.”
"I understand. I'll ask!"
Qi Jingtong nodded and then started to fumble around with the Franc Machine Cannon.
"Let's see how many shots we can fire."
Just now, when the Franc Mechs fired a few shots, Qi Jingtong still saw the power in them.
Even though they didn't have the Great Ming Cannon's precision, their firing speed was a little faster than the Great Ming Cannon.
"Men! He brought this cannon to the Northern Zhili Ministry of Works and let them fix it.”
"Yes, sir!"
After Qi Jingtong finished giving his instructions, he looked around the deck and realized that these warships all had one thing in common-
The wooden planks that had been corroded by the seawater were more or less full of holes.
He was deep in thought. If one day, the Ming Navy sailed far away, could they withstand the wind and frost on the sea?
……
North Zhili.
Palace of Heavenly Purity.
Zhu Youtang looked at the good news brought back by Qi Jingtong and was very satisfied.
Zhu Youtang spent nearly 20 million taels of silver on the construction of the southeast coastal defense.
He would feel pain even if he spent this sum of money.
However, now that he saw the Ming Dynasty's victory in the first battle, and the fact that they had defeated the number one sea power, the Franc machine, he felt somewhat comforted.
" Cannon shooting technique…"
Zhu Youtang muttered to himself and said to Zhang Min,"Let Assistant Minister Zeng enter the palace to see Zhen!"
After a while.
Zeng Jian, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Works, came over.
"Greetings, Your Majesty. Congratulations on the victory of the Ming Dynasty!”
The dark clouds that had been floating on Zhu Youtang's head for many days had now dissipated.
"Get up," Zhu Youtang smiled.
"Assistant Minister Zeng, Qi Jingtong handed over a few Franc cannons for me. Take them back to the Ministry of Works and open them up. Let the craftsmen polish them. How can we improve the firing speed and range of Great Ming's cannons?”
Zeng Jian cupped his fists and said,"I will obey your orders!"”
He could not help but secretly look at Zhu Youtang, who was still thinking.
The Emperor was not satisfied with the victory of this battle. Instead, he was absorbing the other party's strengths and increasing his own strength.
Good, good!
This is the breadth of mind and boldness that I, the Son of Heaven, should have!
Zhu Youtang thought for a while and said to Zeng Jian,"Wooden ships are still not presentable. Although the Ming Navy is strong enough, I am still not satisfied.”
"Can you build me an iron ship?”
What?
Zeng Jian was a little confused for a moment and carefully said,""Your Majesty, are you serious?"
Zhu Youtang frowned.”
"But…but…" Zeng Jian scratched his head.”
Zhu Youtang nodded." Men, forge an iron fist for Assistant Minister Zeng. I'll reward you with it. Go back and eat slowly. See how much you can eat!"”
What?
Assistant Minister Zeng was stunned again.
"Alright, go down. Eat more. Your health is more important.”
……
After Zeng Jian left, Zhu Youzhen walked towards Renshou Palace with his hands behind his back.
It was almost the end of the year.
In the last batch of more than twenty beautiful women who entered the palace, only two were favored by Zhu Youtang.
The others were all anxious.
However, the emperor was too busy recently and no one dared to disturb him. They could only plead with Empress Dowager Zhou.
"Imperial grandson, is the front court still busy recently?”
Zhu Youtang poured tea for Empress Dowager Zhou and said,"It's alright. It's rare for me to be free."
Empress Dowager Zhou gave a 'en' sound,"There is no end to the political affairs. The imperial grandson cannot collapse."”
"Thank you Imperial Grandmother, your grandson understands.”
Empress Dowager Zhou secretly glanced at Zhu Youtang and wanted to say something but stopped.
Zhu Youtang didn't know whether to laugh or cry." Imperial Grandmother, if you have something to say, say it. Why are you hiding it from me?"”
Empress Dowager Zhou took a breath,"Emperor, do you think our harem is lacking something?"”
"What?"
Empress Dowager Zhou said,"Lord of the harem."”
Zhu Youtang nodded." I neglected it. It is indeed time to find a suitable candidate."”
Empress Dowager Zhou continued," There is no hurry. The most important thing is for imperial grandson to favor a few more concubines. Consort Ning and Consort De are also fine. Consort Ning has good skills and imperial grandson, you are busy with government affairs. After you rest, let Consort Ning serve you.”
"Alright!"
Zhu Youtang nodded.
He roughly knew that it should be some of the beautiful women in the harem who had come to plead for mercy through Imperial Grandmother.
This was understandable.
Those beautiful women had been in the palace for a year. Other than Ning Yan and Zhang Qin, whose status had risen, the rest were no different from ordinary palace maids if they were not spoiled.
If a few more years passed, he would probably be sent out of the palace.
They couldn't accept this!
Zhu Youtang left Renshou Palace and returned to Yangxin Hall.
He was about to go to sleep, but after thinking about it, he said to Zhang Min,"Let Chen Hong arrange for someone to serve him.”
"I'll go now."”
Zhu Youtang flipped the board again. However, these beautiful women were lacking, so it was more than enough for them to be concubines.
If they were to be the mother of the world, they would more or less be unworthy of their positions.
After he was done, Zhu Youtang said,"Let Concubine Ning come over."
It was not that he wanted to sleep with her, but that he wanted Ning Yan to relieve his stress.
He also wanted to test Ning Yan's attitude towards the position of empress.
……
The Left Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Works, Zeng Jian, returned to the mansion with the iron bowl.
"What is the meaning behind the emperor's gift of this iron bowl?”
Zeng Jian had been thinking about it all day and was puzzled.
"Hiss! Could it be that this old master is a good-for-nothing?"
Zeng Jian shivered and rubbed his fat cheeks."This old man can indeed eat, but it can't be so unbearable in the emperor's heart, right?”
He returned home with a sigh.
"Use a metal bowl to scoop rice for this old man tonight!”
He didn't dare to not do what the Emperor ordered.
After finishing the tasteless meal.
A servant girl came to clean up.
"Don't touch the iron bowl! This old man personally washed it!"
Zeng Jian fetched a bucket of water and threw the iron bowl in. Then, he was stunned.
The iron bowl floated on the water.
Zeng Jian seemed to understand something. His eyes widened and he slapped himself hard."This old man is really a good-for-nothing! Who said iron couldn't float on water?”
"Hiss! No wonder the emperor wanted to build the Ming iron ship! There's a lot to be done!"
Zeng Jian's lips were trembling. He picked up the iron bowl that Zhu Youtang had given him and ran back to the Ministry of Works like a madman.
"Don't lower your value! Ask the military craftsman to come and see me! Hurry up!"
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