The sea breeze howled, wrinkling the surface of the sea. After inspecting the Jingtao battleship with the generals, Xiao Ming led the generals to Bishacheng. Standing on Bishacheng, which was located on the mountaintop, he could see the entire Bishacheng area. The shipyard, the mines, the factories, and the roads—this mountain city, which once belonged to Goryeo, was now a part of the Chinese Empire.
Facing the sea, Xiao Ming pointed to the east and said, “Liu Chen, there is another enemy to the east of the Chinese Empire. As the mander of the Pacific Navy, you should know who it is, right?”
Liu Chen’s expression became serious. He said, “The United States.”
Xiao Ming nodded. “That’s right, the United States. The conflict between the two major camps in Europe is almost inevitable, but we cannot let others take this opportunity to profit from it, or everything the Empire has done will bee a wedding dress for others.”
Liu Chen nodded and said, “Your Majesty is absolutely right. When I was in Europe, I often found American merchant ships traveling to France. Many of these merchant ships were selling supplies to France.”
“That’s not surprising. The United States became independent with the support of France, so their relationship with France is naturally good.” Xiao Ming said, “The geographical conditions of this country are exceptionally good, and once it has an opportunity to develop, it will inevitably bee a threat to the Empire in the future. So, from now on, you must start making plans for this.”
With that, Xiao Ming took a nautical chart from Qian Dafu’s hand and pointed to several islands in the Pacific Ocean. He said, “Establish naval bases on these three islands to cooperate with Zhu Sansi in seizing the west coast of North America.” The three places Xiao Ming mentioned were Guam, Midway, and Hawaii in the modern era. By occupying these three places in the vast Pacific Ocean, the Empire’s navy would be able to control the entire Pacific Ocean, which would also be very beneficial for Zhu Sansi to control the west coast.
After a pause, he said, “As for the matters in Europe, leave them to Xie Yuan, the mander of the Atlantic Navy.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Liu Chen responded. Now his dream of controlling the Pacific Ocean as the Pacific mander was finally going to be realized.
After setting the next strategy for the navy, Xiao Ming and the generals took a steam lootive to Youzhou. Since the barbarians were driven out of this land, Youzhou had once again e back to life. There were now many merchants living in Youzhou. Most of these merchants were in the business of selling cattle, sheep, and horses, because in the beginning, Youzhou was developed as a pasture. However, with the development of the Chinese Empire’s industrialization, the grasslands around Youzhou City were now shrinking, and many of the grasslands were turned into factories by merchants. At first, they were meat processing plants, and soon after, more factories were established here. The increase in factories attracted the Empire’s floating population, and in just over a decade, Youzhou became unprecedentedly prosperous. The city of Youzhou now, like Qingzhou, no longer had a plete city wall, and the only remaining city wall was there as a scenic feature.
The special steam lootive stopped in Youzhou City, and Xiao Ming and the generals got off the train. Outside the station, Youzhou officials who had been notified in advance were waiting for their arrival. Recalling some rumors, Liu Chen could not help but ask, “Your Majesty seems to be very interested in Youzhou City. There are many rumors in the Imperial Court that Your Majesty is preparing to move the capital. I wonder if it is true or not.”
Xiao Ming smiled. He said, “There are some people in the Imperial Court who don’t focus on their own work and always like to guess my thoughts when they have nothing to do. But this time, they are right. I do have the idea of moving the capital to Youzhou.”
“Why?” Liu Chen was confused. “In terms of prosperity, Youzhou is not the most suitable place. Why would Your Majesty choose this place for the Imperial capital?”
Xiao Ming showed a helpless expression. This world was, after all, different from his past. Here, Youzhou was just an inconspicuous place. But for Xiao Ming, Youzhou had a different meaning. However, he had another reason for choosing to e here. That was that after all these years of industrial explosion in Qingzhou, the environmental pollution was already very serious, and smog had bee a normal occurrence in Qingzhou City. Although he came from modern times and knew the importance of environmental protection, in an era where they could only burn coal, this seemed to be a luxury. So, for these two reasons, he had the idea of moving the capital.
After simply explaining his thoughts, Liu Chen smiled and said, “I see. pared to Qingzhou’s foggy sky, there are blue skies and white clouds here. And I have always thought that the Imperial Palace in Qingzhou is too small to match Your Majesty’s status. This time, Your Majesty must build a bigger Imperial Palace.”
Xiao Ming smiled upon hearing this. He also wanted to leave some special things for this world, so he said, “I have had this idea for a long time. Let’s call the palace we’re building the Forbidden City.”
While speaking, Xiao Ming and Liu Chen got into a car and headed toward the outskirts of Youzhou. It was then that Liu Chen realized that the Emperor’s visit to Youzhou was not about the capital. Noticing Liu Chen’s expression, he said, “Since you’ve seen the battleship, I must let you see a special weapon for the battleship.”
Liu Chen knew that there was a military factory in Youzhou that specialized in researching and producing naval weapons. He said, “Aren’t the main cannons the main weapon of a battleship?”
“Of course they are, but this one is even more hidden.” Xiao Ming smiled. In fact, this thing was not very mysterious, just the torpedoes used on battleships, but for Liu Chen, this thing was powerful. When they arrived at the military factory, the military factory staff in charge of receiving Xiao Ming were all there. Xiao Ming did not beat around the bush. He said, “I received a phone call saying that you have made a breakthrough in weapons here, so I came to take a look.”
The official in charge of Youzhou’s military industry said excitedly, “Your Majesty, Youzhou’s military industry is divided into two parts, one for the army and one for the navy. The navy’s torpedoes have been pleted. We have successfully used a pressed air engine to drive a single propeller, and through a hydraulic valve, we can control the depth of the torpedo with the horizontal rudder at the tail. Now our torpedoes can be used on warships.”
Liu Chen was dumbfounded. As a bat unit, they were only responsible for fighting. They knew very little about military industry. So, he could understand cannons, but the principle of torpedoes pletely baffled them.
Seeing the expressions on Liu Chen and the generals’ faces, Xiao Ming said, “The purpose of bringing you here this time is for you to understand all your navy’s equipment. Take this opportunity to learn as much as you can. After you go back, you will be receiving brand new warships. If you sink the warships yourselves, I will not let you off.”
The generals all shuddered upon hearing this. They all stepped forward, grabbed the military industrial technicians, and began to ask them questions in detail. Seeing this, Xiao Ming and the military industrial staff walked to another courtyard. This was an equipment research base for the army, and just like the navy, a new weapon of war had also been born here.
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