“Hahahaha…”
In the government office, Yang Chengye’s laughter was unrestrained and filled with excitement. Under Xiao Ming’s description, he was full of aspirations for the future, and even his desire to enter the cabinet had decreased.
“Your Highness, this official represents the people of Dengzhou to thank Your Highness.” Yang Chengye stopped smiling, his expression devout.
“There’s no need for thanks. I have created the conditions for you, but if you cannot fully utilize them to develop Dengzhou, I will not forgive you then,” Xiao Ming said with a warning in his joking tone.
Yang Chengye nodded, “Your Highness, rest assured, this official guarantees that no officials in Dengzhou’s official circles will take advantage of the situation to seek personal gain or oppress merchants.”
“Hmm, I trust you,” Xiao Ming said lightly.
After instructing Yang Chengye, Xiao Ming’s trip to Dengzhou was basically complete. He did not stay long in Dengzhou and returned to Qingzhou with the Qingzhou army the next day.
The battle of Ryukyu made him realize that his military strength was still too weak. Although the battle of Ryukyu was victorious, in his opinion, Japan alone could tie up most of his troops.
This time he dispatched half of the Qingzhou army, but the Japanese pirates were just a ragtag group of pirates, which could not reflect Japan’s true fighting power.
Moreover, the barbarians he faced were much harder to deal with than Japan. A full-scale war might severely weaken him, so, in addition to the Qingzhou army, he had to arm the armies of other prefectures.
From now on, the armies of various prefectures would be responsible for different battle zones.
After three more days on the road, Xiao Ming returned to Qingzhou City. This time, he had been away for almost a month again.
Although he was very busy, the achievements he made were also good. From then on, Qingzhou would have a continuous source of wealth, which would provide support for him to continue strengthening the army.
The news of Xiao Ming’s return quickly alarmed Pang Yukun. As the chief minister of the enfeoffed state, he was responsible for managing all matters big and small in the state when Xiao Ming was not present.
Despite this, he still had to ask Xiao Ming for instructions on some major issues.
So, before Xiao Ming even returned to the Prince’s Mansion, he was stopped by Pang Yukun on the way. Xiao Ming, helpless, had no choice but to go to the government office with him for a discussion.
“Your Highness, the first round of examinations at Bowen Academy has ended. A total of two hundred and thirty-seven students passed the examination. How should these people’s positions be arranged? Please instruct, Your Highness.”
Pang Yukun was having a headache over this issue. The examination questions were all set by Xiao Ming, with different subjects for different positions. Now, students in political affairs, law, and commerce had all achieved excellent results.
“Two hundred and thirty-seven people?” Xiao Ming was a little surprised. These students of the political affairs academy were really working hard. It seemed that the Great Yu Empire’s emphasis on official positions had not diminished at all for these students. After pondering for a moment, he said, “First, draft a list for me, and also provide me with a copy of the identities and backgrounds of these students.”
“Yes, Your Highness.” Pang Yukun breathed a sigh of relief. Appointing officials was a major matter, and he had always been cautious in his work, not wanting to arouse Xiao Ming’s suspicion in this sensitive matter.
After discussing the Qingzhou examination, Pang Yukun continued, “Your Highness, there is also news from Chang’an. Empress Zhao has given birth to a little prince, and the Emperor is greatly pleased and has declared a general amnesty. It is said that the Second Prince is also within the scope of the amnesty. Although his princely status is not guaranteed, he has been allowed to return to the capital.”
Zhan Xingchang was also in the government office. He observed Xiao Ming’s expression and, seeing that Xiao Ming’s expression was calm, asked, “Your Highness, aren’t you angry at all?”
“What’s there to be angry about? Father Emperor originally didn’t want to deal with the Second Prince like this, but the evidence was conclusive. He only demoted the Second Prince to Bazhou to appease me. Now that Empress Zhao has given birth to a dragon son, he has a good reason to summon the Second Prince back,” Xiao Ming said.
“The Emperor is ultimately the Emperor. His doing this is also to tell Your Highness who is the master of the Great Yu Empire,” Pang Yukun said, narrowing his eyes slightly.
Xiao Ming smiled wryly and shook his head. Pang Yukun saw it very clearly. Emperor Xiaowenxuan was unwilling to demote the Second Prince in the first place. If he had really ruined another prince because of Xiao Ming, his position as Emperor would have been disgraceful.
So, this amnesty for the Second Prince was also to establish his authority before the ministers, telling the court officials that his, Emperor Xiaowenxuan’s, majesty was still inviolable.
“You are very right, but I am not interested in court affairs now. Now that I have opened up the sea routes, the priority is to make the people of the enfeoffed territory prosperous,” Xiao Ming said with a smile.
Upon learning that the sea routes had been opened, Pang Yukun and Zhan Xingchang both smiled. Pang Yukun said, “Since the sea routes are open, this official looks forward to counting silver every day.”
At this point, the three of them laughed simultaneously, full of longing for the future.
As they were talking, someone suddenly walked in from outside. Seeing Xiao Ming, the person hurriedly said, “Your Highness, you’re back.”
“Lin Wentao.” Seeing the person, Xiao Ming smiled.
Pang Yukun then said, “Your Highness, while you were away, this fellow came to the government office every day, asking when Your Highness would return. I don’t know what treasure he has created.”
“This is definitely a treasure. Now the steam engine workshop has produced five steam engines, two of which we have combined with drilling machines, and three have been combined with boring machines, turning into steam drilling machines and steam boring machines,” Lin Wentao said excitedly.
“Steam drilling machine?” Xiao Ming was surprised to hear this. The power of a water-powered drilling machine and a steam-powered drilling machine were not on the same level. He said, “Not bad, not bad. Your steam engine workshop’s efficiency is quite good.”
Lin Wentao immediately smiled and said to Xiao Ming, “Your Highness, would you like to visit the lathe workshop now?”
“Let’s go. This is such a big matter, I naturally want to observe it.” Xiao Ming turned to Pang Yukun and said, “You, as the chief minister, also need to understand what a steam engine is. Let’s go together.”
Pang Yukun was originally not interested in these machines, but ever since he learned that these machines could increase production by hundreds of times, he had no choice but to take them seriously.
Following Lin Wentao to the lathe workshop, at this time, three lathes in the workshop had been replaced by steam engine power, instead of the original water power.
At the connection points of the three drilling machines, there was a small steam engine. One craftsman was responsible for adding fuel to the steam engine, and another craftsman was responsible for constantly monitoring the work of the drilling machine.
Compared to the slow water-powered drilling machine, the steam-powered drilling machine was very fast, and the drill bit rotated at a very even speed.
Xiao Ming asked, “How long does it take for such a drilling machine to drill a gun barrel?”
“It only takes one shichen,” the craftsman replied.
“One shichen per gun barrel, that’s twelve gun barrels a day. Five hundred machines would be six thousand gun barrels a day.” Xiao Ming was shocked in his heart. This was the difference in power.
*In traditional Chinese timekeeping, a “shichen” (时辰) is a period of time, typically two hours long, within a day.