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The snow that had fallen all night stopped in the early morning, but the strong wind remained fierce. The cold in the wind felt like knives, making one’s face ache.
Instructing the palace maids not to disturb Cui Xue’er, Xiao Ming walked alone through the thick snow back to his bedchamber.
Fei Yuer had just woken up at this time. Seeing Xiao Ming return, she smiled and said, “Has Your Majesty had breakfast?”
Xiao Ming shook his head. He found Fei Yuer’s smile strange, as if she had perceived everything from last night. However, the temporary palace was so small, he knew he couldn’t hide it.
Fei Yuer also seemed to tacitly avoid mentioning it. She had Xiaohuan inform the kitchen to prepare two servings of breakfast for the bedchamber. Then she said, “Your Majesty, I have recovered somewhat these past few days. I was thinking of taking a walk to the women’s academy.”
This women’s academy was established by Fei Yuer herself, with the aim of cultivating talented women.
Ever since establishing the women’s academy, Fei Yuer had been very dedicated, always hoping to produce some talented women who could rival men.
“How can that be? You shouldn’t be moving around freely for at least a month, let alone how cold it is outside,” Xiao Ming directly refused.
Fei Yuer said, “Your Majesty, I originally didn’t want to go, but someone sent this this morning.”
With that, Fei Yuer retrieved a model ship and handed it to Xiao Ming.
Taking the model ship, Xiao Ming examined it carefully. It was a purely wooden model ship, but unlike other vessels, this ship actually had a propeller, and there was a steam engine-like object inside the model.
Seeing this, Xiao Ming looked surprised, “Was this made by someone from your women’s academy?”
Fei Yuer shook her head. She said, “Your Majesty used to say that women are just as capable as men, but I think that’s false.”
Xiao Ming looked a bit awkward. He said, “What do you mean?”
“If it were a man, Your Majesty would surely laugh joyfully, instead of being so disbelieving now,” Fei Yuer said. “Your Majesty, don’t forget that everything in this women’s academy is directly copied from Bowen Academy.”
Xiao Ming was startled for a moment. He had to admit that he had never really paid much attention to this women’s academy. After all, for him, the current main force was still male students.
“That was my oversight then. It seems there are indeed exceptionally talented individuals in this women’s academy,” Xiao Ming said with a smile.
Fei Yuer chuckled softly, then said, “To be frank, Your Majesty, the person who made this thing is actually Zhang Liang’s daughter.”
“Zhang Liang’s daughter?” Xiao Ming immediately felt relieved. This Zhang Liang, besides having an eldest son, also had a daughter born to a concubine.
When Zhang Liang was framed, he had his concubine take their daughter and escape. Later, after he made his fortune in Dengzhou, he found his concubine and daughter.
“Both of Zhang Liang’s children seem to have some talent in shipbuilding,” Xiao Ming said.
Fei Yuer actually couldn’t understand this model, but seeing that it contained a steam engine, she found it quite unbelievable, which made her want to investigate further.
Fei Yuer nodded. She said, “Since Your Majesty won’t let me go, then I’ll leave this to Your Majesty.”
“Then the Empress should summon her to the prefectural office to inquire further, and also to avoid the Empress going out.” He found it inconvenient to intervene in the affairs of the women’s academy.
“Yes, Your Majesty, I will have someone call her over now.”
With that, Fei Yuer immediately sent for her.
At this time, Xiao Ming sat down with the steamship model. The advent of the steam engine led to changes in two modes of transportation: the steam locomotive and the steamboat.
For Xiao Ming, the appearance of these two things was natural once steam engine technology matured, so he was not surprised that Zhang Liang’s daughter had come up with this.
After all, many people had now seen steam engines and clearly understood that steam engines could make objects rotate.
After breakfast, half an hour later, an ordinary-looking woman arrived at the bedchamber, led by Xiaohuan.
“Your Majesty, this is Zhang Liang’s daughter, Zhang Qiyun,” Fei Yuer said.
Xiao Ming looked closely. This Zhang Qiyun was somewhat dark-skinned, like Zhang Liang, and their appearances were also somewhat similar.
As Fei Yuer’s words fell, this Zhang Qiyun squinted and looked at Xiao Ming, then bowed and said, “This commoner greets Your Majesty.”
Seeming to realize what Xiao Ming was thinking, Xiao Ming said, “Your Majesty, this Zhang Qiyun has some trouble seeing clearly. She always looks like this when she looks at people, and usually she has to hold books very close to read.”
“Nearsighted, is it?” Xiao Ming almost blurted out. He himself had been nearsighted in modern times and had already noticed it.
Fei Yuer looked confused, while Zhang Qiyun looked at Xiao Ming with renewed curiosity.
Coughing twice to cover his embarrassment, Xiao Ming remembered that he had summoned Zhang Qiyun for the matter of the steamship. The issue of nearsightedness or farsightedness could be discussed later.
So he asked, “Did you make this ship model?”
“Replying to Your Majesty, this commoner did indeed make it,” Zhang Qiyun’s words were a bit stiff.
Xiao Ming nodded. This Zhang Qiyun gave him the impression of an ordinary-looking female academic genius from modern times. He said directly, “Can you make this kind of ship move in water?”
Zhang Qiyun calmly said, “If it couldn’t move, this commoner wouldn’t dare present it to Empress.”
Fei Yuer looked pleased, seemingly happy to have such an excellent student.
After gazing at Zhang Qiyun for a while, Xiao Ming said, “If that’s the case, I will give you a decree. This decree can even make your father cooperate with you in producing this kind of ship. How does that sound?”
Over the past five years, the number of naval warships had reached fifty-two, all of which were traditional sailing warships.
For him, these fifty-two warships were more than enough to fight Goryeo and Japan, but it might be difficult to contend for maritime hegemony with the West.
As the saying goes, “ten years for the army, a hundred years for the navy.” The Great Yu Empire’s navy, also commanding sailing warships, did not possess an advantage at sea and might even be defeated in large-scale naval battles due to a lack of combat experience.
Therefore, he had never considered sailing warships as the main force of the navy. He had always reserved the position of steam warships for the navy.
After the last court session, he was about to participate in the construction of these steam warships, but he didn’t expect Zhang Liang’s daughter to produce a model of a steamship.
“This commoner is merely a woman. How dare I participate in such military and national affairs?” Zhang Qiyun was a bit nervous at this moment. She was very afraid of her father.
Before Xiao Ming could speak, Fei Yuer said crisply, “Don’t be afraid. Since His Majesty has chosen you, it means His Majesty values you greatly. Moreover, you are my student, and I will support you. I expect you to bring honor to the women’s academy, so that the Confucian scholars of Qingzhou Province won’t criticize the women’s academy.”
Zhang Qiyun looked at Xiao Ming, then at Fei Yuer, and her expression gradually became firm.