The setting sun, red as blood, stained Dengzhou City. The faint twilight began to descend.
After Yang Chengye expressed his gratitude, he excitedly led everyone to the provincial office, where a banquet had already been set, waiting for them.
Having traveled six hours by train and spent a considerable amount of time touring the city, ministers and consorts alike were hungry by this time.
Everyone sat down. Faced with the fragrant seafood, they could hardly contain themselves. After Xiao Ming gave the word to begin the feast, the atmosphere immediately grew lively.
Xiao Yi, the little fellow, immediately picked up a king crab from the table and exclaimed, “Imperial Father, look! This crab is so big! I’ve never seen such a big crab before!”
Fei Yuer, seeing the king crab on her table, was also surprised. She said, “Your Majesty, we have eaten a lot of seafood in Dengzhou, but this is the first time I’ve seen such a large king crab.”
Yang Chengye chuckled, “Empress, there are no such crabs in Dengzhou waters. The crab on the table was caught by fishermen who went to the waters north of Japan. If Your Majesty hadn’t already taught the local officials about edible seafood in the sea, they truly wouldn’t have dared to bring it back at the time.”
“North of Japan?” Xiao Ming showed an interested expression. This king crab was entirely red, a typical Hokkaido king crab of contemporary times.
“Yes, Your Majesty. Previously, fishermen dared not leave Dengzhou to fish in Japanese waters. But ever since the imperial family ordered war with Japan, General Yue has been constantly encircling and suppressing Japanese warships at sea. Now, the waters between Japan and Goryeo are very safe. Some bold fishermen have then gone out to sea to fish in Japanese waters. After all, dragging fishing technology now allows fishermen to fish in distant seas, thus allowing them to catch more.”
Xiao Ming had always supported marine fishing. In this era, few realized the importance of marine resources, but he knew.
Compared to the depletion of marine fishery resources in the 21st century, the fishery resources of this era were astonishingly abundant. A few years ago, when Xiao Ming traveled from Jinling Province to the Sanshan Kingdom, he often saw large schools of fish along the way.
Coupled with the nascent scale of the Great Yu Empire’s navy, he could completely squeeze out Goryeo’s and Japan’s fishery resources, turning this benefit over to the common people of the Great Yu Empire.
“Hmm, not bad. For Dengzhou, fishing is an important industry. You must not only develop large fishing boats but also encourage fishermen to fish in distant seas. Wherever the Great Yu Empire navy goes, that is the Great Yu Empire’s fishing ground. If they fail to do so, you will not give them canned fish to eat,” Xiao Ming said with a smile. He didn’t care about having more fishing boats, because the fishing capacity of this era was vastly different from modern times. The entire Dengzhou probably couldn’t even compare to a single modern fishing village.
“Hahaha…” The officials laughed at Xiao Ming’s joke.
Skipping that topic, everyone then formally began to eat.
While eating seafood and discussing the details of Dengzhou’s development, everyone dispersed at around seven in the evening.
The next day, Xiao Ming left Xiao Yi and Fei Yuer in Dengzhou City. He then went to the Dengzhou shipyard with Yang Chengye.
“Your Majesty, these are the latest warships.”
Zhang Liang pointed to twenty brand new warships in the military port. These warships were similar in size to third-rate warships, but had three towering chimneys rising from the middle of their masts.
“Are these warships all using the latest triple-expansion steam engines?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. That’s why these warships need three chimneys, because the warships require more boilers to burn coal. Relatively speaking, the power of these warships is much higher than that of single-chimney warships,” Zhang Liang explained.
Xiao Ming nodded. He naturally understood this principle. Having reached a deal with the Dutch this time, he would need to provide escort during Branden’s return journey to the Netherlands.
So he had to dispatch ten warships to the Netherlands.
As for these ten warships, he did not plan to use steam warships. He would still use sailing warships. These twenty-odd steam warships would fill the void left by those ten warships and be responsible for blockading Japan.
The reason for blockading Japan rather than engaging in full-scale war was Xiao Ming’s own consideration. Now that he controlled the seas, Japan was powerless to invade the Great Yu Empire.
This way, he could concentrate on achieving unification within the Great Yu Empire.
After observing the new warships, Xiao Ming made a plan in his mind. Then he and Zhang Liang went to the First Shipyard and the Second Shipyard.
Compared to the previous purely manual work, the shipyards now echoed with the roar of machinery everywhere. The presence of these machines greatly accelerated the speed of shipbuilding.
“Zhang Liang, I once spoke to you about ironclad warships. Do you think it’s possible to add a layer of iron armor to the outer layer of the warships with the current capabilities of the shipyards?” Xiao Ming asked.
Zhang Liang said, “That is feasible, because steam engine power has given the shipyard the capability for hoisting. However, the production of this iron armor will still need to be handled by the steel mills.”
Xiao Ming nodded. In the Battle of Busan, shells might have been lost. So, they had to be prepared for naval warfare entering the era of explosive shells. After all, European technology was constantly advancing, and industrial capacity was also increasing due to steam engines. This relatively primitive fuse could be replicated with a year or two of research.
Therefore, he now had to build defenses against these explosive shells and maintain an advantage in naval battles. For him, to easily defeat Europe and seize and occupy their colonies, he needed to raise his industrial level to at least that of World War I.
“I will personally oversee the matter of the iron armor. You only need to add a layer of iron armor to the warships.” Xiao Ming said. Zhang Liang’s son had been studying shipbuilding in Qingzhou and had now returned to Dengzhou. This technology should not be a problem for them.
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Zhang Liang wiped the sweat from his forehead. The development of the Great Yu Empire’s technology was simply too fast. Often, just as one technology was mastered, a new one would begin to be implemented.
Being responsible for the construction of the Great Yu Empire’s warships was also not an easy task.
This time, Xiao Ming’s main purpose in coming was to instruct Zhang Liang on this matter. After inspecting the shipyard for a day, he and Yang Chengye returned to Dengzhou.
The next day, he and a group of officials once again came to Dengzhou Station. They would return to Qingzhou City by locomotive.
“Imperial Father, Dengzhou is so much fun! Can I come again in the future?” Xiao Yi, by the window, looked somewhat reluctant to leave. While he was inspecting, the little fellow, led by Fei Yuer and others, had seen the sea and eaten many delicious things.
Rubbing Xiao Yi’s head, he said, “Of course you can, but you must study hard.”
Xiao Yi, hearing this, nodded obediently.
“Woo woo…”
The familiar whistle sounded again. The locomotive began to slowly accelerate. Six hours later, the locomotive arrived in Qingzhou City.
Disembarking from the locomotive, the officials were filled with emotion. They now truly experienced the terrifying transportation capacity of the steam locomotive. With railways, factories would flourish throughout the Great Yu Empire, unhindered by resource limitations.
At this moment, Xiao Ming, having disembarked from the locomotive, turned his gaze southward. The Great Yu Empire’s civil war was also about to begin.