The continuous drizzle moistened the grass and the bluestone path. The gentle pitter-patter sounded like the earth’s soft hum.
Experiencing this tranquil feeling, Xiao Ming’s heart suddenly found peace.
For these five or six years, he had been busy with state affairs, rarely having such relaxed moments. Now, with his interest piqued, he couldn’t resist. So he said, “This is simple. I will teach you a game that four people can play. This way, you can amuse yourselves in your leisure time.”
Ziyuan, who loved lively activities, clapped her hands and cheered, “What is Your Majesty going to teach us?”
After a moment of thought, Xiao Ming said, “There’s no such thing yet. I will immediately have someone go to the ceramics workshop.”
With that, he summoned Qian Dafu, and then found paper and pen to draw many patterns. Then he had Qian Dafu take these to the ceramics workshop, instructing them to deliver the items.
The next day, the ceramics workshop delivered the items. These were small square tiles, imprinted with various patterns. They were none other than contemporary mahjong tiles.
After breakfast, Lu Luo, Ziyuan, and Cui Xue’er arrived in the bedchamber as arranged. By this time, Xiao Ming had already explained the rules of mahjong to Fei Yuer.
When the three arrived, Xiao Ming introduced the rules to them as well. This time, Xiao Ming used the technology crystal, so the four quickly memorized the rules.
“This is fun!” Ziyuan’s eyes sparkled. She had always loved playing games, and she immediately became deeply engrossed in this one.
Xiao Ming chuckled at this point, “Come, come, come, I’ll play a few rounds with you today. In the future, when you have nothing to do, you can also bring the Empress Dowager along, to keep her from being bored.”
“Your Majesty is absolutely right. One must always seek some entertainment, otherwise, one will always be lost in thought.”
Fei Yuer, Cui Xue’er, and Ziyuan sat down at the table, while Lu Luo stood obediently behind Xiao Ming, kneading his shoulders.
Ziyuan had a mischievous grin. “So, what are you lost in thought about every night?”
Lu Luo’s face immediately flushed crimson. “Sister Ziyuan, you’re bullying me again!”
Fei Yuer pursed her lips and smiled. She looked at Cui Xue’er, who was the most unfamiliar among them. So she said, “Xue’er, Ziyuan is just a feisty one. The two of them are used to playing around. If they accidentally say something wrong, please don’t take it to heart.”
Cui Xue’er nodded gently. She secretly envied the playful banter of Fei Yuer and the other two. At this moment, she also wanted to join in, so she said, “Don’t worry, Empress. We are all sisters. I won’t be angry because of this.”
For a man, the greatest fear was trouble in the inner court. Although he found palace intrigues in modern times interesting, he certainly didn’t want any messy affairs in his own palace.
But seeing Fei Yuer acting like an older sister now, he felt relieved. As long as Fei Yuer could consider the bigger picture, the imperial harem would not be in chaos.
With mahjong in hand, Xiao Ming and the four played, forgetting the time, until Qian Dafu reminded them of lunch. It was then that the five recovered from the fun of playing mahjong.
Because they had just started playing mahjong, the four were somewhat addicted. After lunch, they gathered around the table again to continue their battle. Xiao Ming, being an experienced player, was not particularly disheartened by this.
Leaving the four to play in the bedchamber, he and Qian Dafu went to the Qingzhou shipyard. Now that he was expanding his influence overseas, maintaining maritime hegemony had become extremely important.
If he didn’t have more advanced warships, his maritime rights and interests might suffer challenges from European countries. Therefore, developing more advanced warships was very necessary for him.
Leaving Qingzhou City, Xiao Ming followed the Xiaoqing River to the Qingzhou shipyard. At this moment, a ship belching black smoke in the river attracted Xiao Ming’s attention.
This was a fifth-rate galleon warship. From the center of the warship, a towering column extended, and it was from this column that black smoke continuously billowed.
Zhang Liang and Lin Wentao were both on the galleon, discussing something.
Seeing Xiao Ming arrive, the two disembarked and came before him.
“Your Majesty.”
Zhang Liang and Lin Wentao said simultaneously.
Nodding, Xiao Ming asked, “Is this not one of the earliest galleon warships?”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Zhang Liang responded. He said, “After I saw this steam engine, I felt that we could completely convert the old galleons into warships equipped with both sail for long voyages and steam engine power. Otherwise, building new ones would cost a fortune.”
Xiao Ming nodded. Zhang Liang’s words resonated with him.
In fact, Xiao Ming had been troubled by the constant upgrading of weapons during this period. In just six years, Qingzhou Province’s firearms had evolved from flintlock guns to rifled muskets, and were now about to be upgraded to percussion cap guns.
Such continuous re-equipping had strained the imperial treasury somewhat. However, the upgrading of firearms was one thing, but the re-equipping of warships was a major issue.
A single galleon warship cost hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. He simply could not afford such continuous upgrading.
“Excellent. I came to the shipyard the day before yesterday precisely for this matter. Now that you can convert galleons into steamships, I am relieved,” Xiao Ming said.
Being praised by Xiao Ming, Zhang Liang smiled. He said, “This is simply my duty.”
Nodding, Xiao Ming continued to ask, “Now, how fast can this galleon travel in the water without relying on wind?”
“About eleven knots,” Zhang Liang said.
Lin Wentao said, “Your Majesty, this ship’s speed is already faster than warships that rely solely on wind power.”
“Hmm, that’s good. This will greatly reduce the travel time from Dengzhou to Goryeo, and also give us an advantage in naval battles.”
Xiao Ming said. The ship’s speed was expressed in knots. One knot represented 1.852 kilometers, so eleven knots was 20.372 kilometers, basically twenty kilometers per hour.
Compared to steamships, sailing warships were very dependent on wind speed. Three or four knots was common when the wind was light, but they could also reach eleven or twelve knots when the wind was strong.
However, overall, they were not as stable as steamships, which was why sailing warships were quickly phased out after steamships emerged.
After all, if two such warships met on a calm day, the sailing warship would be utterly defeated.
With an excited expression, he continued, “If this warship conversion is successful, this year you will focus your main efforts on converting warships.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Zhang Liang responded. He then said, “However, this also depends on Lin Wentao being able to provide steam engines in sufficient quantity.”
Lin Wentao immediately made a bitter face. “Now, everyone who sees me asks for a steam engine. Your Majesty, I am truly suffering now.”
As his words fell, the three laughed in unison. Xiao Ming said, “I was just about to look for you to talk about this. Now you can hand over the steam engines to your subordinates. Your most important task now is to continue researching new types of steam engines.”