Dominate the Country

"Woo woo..."

Next to a well with a depth of 20 to 30 meters, a steam engine much larger than a cow sat there, spewing white smoke and making a huge noise.

Chen Ming watched from a distance from the steam engine. This steam engine was operated by a French technician because it was made in France. At this time, the real industrial steam engine had not yet been launched. Although the current steam engine was also the largest kinetic energy steam engine with cylinder and condensing cylinder separated by Watt's recent improvement, it was far from enough to lead the industrial revolution. Moreover, this thing was not kept secret, and it was easy and simple for the French to make it.

So this thing has not received much attention from the British, the French, and the whole of Europe.

Chen Ming was far away, and the important officials around him were also far away. This steam engine using high-temperature and high-pressure steam has greatly improved its efficiency. But this steam engine is much more dangerous than the early vacuum steam engine. In history, the explosion of boilers and machines caused many major accidents, and safety valves were born as a result.

The French led two teams to add water and coal to the steam engine.

Surrounded by a large group of high-ranking military and political officials of the Fu Han Army, as well as businessmen. Chen Ming told them a few days ago that he hoped that the steam engine he brought back from Europe this time could be improved to the maximum extent, so that it could be universally used, and replace human and animal power one day in the future, and promote the development of production efficiency to the greatest extent!

Chen Ming's "pretentious" words were also recorded by Newton in his diary, and later became a proof of Chen Ming's "far-sightedness and vision" in the historical community. It also became one of the ironclad evidences of Chen Ming's "greatness"!

Today, this huge steam engine was finally assembled.

"Water is coming out, it's really coming out..."

The people around Chen Ming shouted, a well of 20 to 30 meters deep. Although this machine looks scary, it is really powerful. Chen Ming originally said that it could be used to pump out the accumulated water in the coal mine, which is obviously possible.

The water output from the outlet is very large, and it can be seen that this steam engine is more than enough, twenty to thirty meters, forty to fifty meters...

"If Watt is brought back..."

Chen Ming's dirty thoughts reappeared in his heart. It's not that he is mean, but it's because Watt's significance to the steam engine is too great. The steam engine is the key to the first industrial revolution. But Chen Ming himself can't bear to part with Watt's steam engine. Now that this thing is to be invented as scheduled, Chen Ming is fully confident that he can promote it faster, on a larger scale and more quickly than the British.

If Chen Han has deep roots in Europe, it would be great to be able to kidnap Watt to China without anyone knowing and without hurting his name.

Because as far as Chen Ming remembers, Watt's transformation of the steam engine can continue until the last decade of this century...

Unfortunately, this is all delusion.

In Wuhan, Chen Ming waited until the steam engine was assembled and successfully pumped water from a deep well before he could safely carry a large number of equipment, materials and Newton and others back to Lushan.

Unlike the rush when he came, Chen Ming took more than twice as long on the way back. The assembled steam engine was placed on a six-horse cart as a whole.

It snowed again in Henan.

Chen Ming came to Wuhan in the snow and returned to Lushan in the snow. After this trip, he can rest for a while.

Wait until next spring...

The New Year's Day is here, and the entire Xiaonangou is guarded by 3,000 soldiers of the Royal Guard Brigade.

It is another year of ancestor worship. This year, the scale of Chen's ancestor worship is larger and more grand. There is no need to say more about the reason. Everyone knows that the Fu Han Army will move the capital next year, and at most the year after next, Chen Han will be emperor, and then the formal Northern Expedition will begin.

So this year, the people who came to Xiaonangou to worship their ancestors are no longer the original Chen family's direct lineage and a few close relatives and important officials, but have expanded to many people. In terms of blood relationship and official position, Chen Gang is included.

Therefore, this year's guard brigade came with 3,000 people at once, plus the guards around Chen Hui and Chen Ming, and the 1,000 people dispatched by the guard brigade, the guarding was strict and meticulous.

Chen Hui was in the lead, Chen Ming was half a body behind, and a group of Chen's relatives and ministers kowtowed to the ancestral tablets.

After Chen Hui became king, the Han Palace did not change much. The ancestral ancestral hall in Xiaonangou was changed to the ancestral temple, renovated and expanded many times. At that time, there were too many uncertainties in the future of Chen Han, and Chen Hui was unwilling to move the ancestral tablets in the deep mountains to nearby. But now the overall situation has been determined. When Chen Hui becomes emperor, this place will really be separated, and some tablets will be moved to the Taimiao that has been built in Nanjing.

And this ancestral temple has once again become the Chen family's ancestral hall.

Although when the ancestral hall became the ancestral temple, many tablets had been moved to the side room, and there were many side rooms.

The Chen family was originally a clan. When they moved to Lushan after conquering Chenzhou in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, they also brought their family tree and tablets. In the first year of Chen Ming's time travel, when he was worshipping his ancestors, he looked at the tablets on the stage, which were densely packed, just like some scenes in TV dramas in his previous life that highlighted the deep hatred. Chen Ming was really chilled.

Now I'm used to it.

The main hall of the ancestral temple now enshrines the tablets of the most direct lineage, including Chen Ming's grandfather, great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather, etc.

The footsteps creaked in the snow. The snow had stopped, but the snow in many places on the mountain was still white and holy. In the daytime, looking from Xiaonangou, the mountaintop not far away was white, which reminded Chen Ming of the scene when he first came to Xiaonangou.

At that time, he didn't expect that the "rebellion" would proceed so quickly...

After a hasty but very formal worship of the ancestors, a group of people hurried back to Lushan in the dark.

One carriage after another, two or three miles in front and back.

Both sides of the carriage were full of Fu Han soldiers, and there were sentry points along the way. There were even more secret sentries on the mountain, which were not worth having soldiers.

In the carriage where Chen Ming's family of three were riding, little Chen Ding had already fallen asleep in a daze. Li Xiaomei still entered the annual rhythm of "missing relatives during every festival". Chen Ming now really felt that the Li family was over.

Otherwise, they should have come out long ago? The entire Southern Kingdom is under the Fu Han Army, what else do they have to worry about?

At dawn, they returned to Lushan, and it was no wonder that Chen Han had been building bridges and paving roads continuously in the past few years.

Chen Ming and his family didn't have time to return to the Prince's Mansion. They changed their robes in a side room of the Han Palace and joined Liu Wanyun who had been waiting there.

This year's ceremony, Chen Ming only brought Liu Wanyun with him except Li Xiaomei.

He took his seat, blew the whip, praised the "line-up", played music, and Chen Hui took his seat. All the ministers and foreign envoys stood in awe, yes, foreign envoys, although there was only one envoy from the Zheng Lord and one envoy from the Joseon Dynasty who didn't even have a king. Chen Ming led all the ministers to perform the five bows and three kowtows ceremony.

Well, three kneelings and nine kowtows are for worshiping the sky.

The current Chen Han's court worship etiquette is a mixture of Tang, Song and Ming. For those who don't kowtow normally, a "bowing" is enough. The current five bows and three kowtows belong to the Ming Dynasty, and when the ministers of the Ming Dynasty went to court to see the emperor, it was obviously not enough to just "bow".

"Uh, cough, cough, cough..."

Chen Hui, who got up to go to the toilet, was actually tired again. Not only did she feel weak physically, but her throat and eyes were also itchy. Chen Er held a bowl of steamed pears with Sichuan Fritillary and rock sugar, looking at Chen Hui with worried eyes. This is the second time. Last year, when Chen Hui came back from Xiaonangou, she had a minor illness. At that time, the current Crown Princess was also sick. As a result, it was found that the Crown Princess was pregnant.

This year, the Crown Princess led the ladies and relatives to pay tribute to the Queen and the Queen Mother, and she was in high spirits. Although Chen Er was serving Chen Hui, the other ear was always paying attention to the backyard. Now it was afternoon, and the Crown Princess was also rosy and talking and laughing.

So, this year there will be no "person" to accompany Chen Hui to get sick, which is even more eye-catching.

Moreover, it was not just Chen Hui who came to Xiaonangou to worship the ancestors this time. How many years younger was Chen Cong than him? Several people of the same generation as him in Pianzhi were older than Chen Hui. The most straightforward ones were Qigong and Jiugong...

Chen Er couldn't help but be anxious. If Chen Hui couldn't stop coughing now, the news that he was "sick from exhaustion" would spread throughout the entire southwest of Henan the next day. He was the King of Han. This would have a huge influence, okay!

"It's okay." Chen Hui took the Chuanbei rock sugar steamed pear from Chen Er's hand, ate it all, but his throat was still itchy. It's not a magic medicine, how could it stop coughing all at once?

So Chen Ming was surprised to find that his father..., could it be that his kidneys were not good? Why did he go to the toilet so frequently?

"Your Highness, the king is sick again."

Chen Ming was startled, and a ball of light was blocked by Chen Ming's drooping eyelids, "Is it serious?"

"Feeling weak all over, coughing."

That means he caught a cold from the wind? But why is it so familiar? Oh, last year, last year...

Chen Ming's mind was spinning rapidly, but his face didn't show it at all, as if the servant who served the wine just now didn't speak in his ear. He raised the wine glass and shouted loudly to the relatives and important ministers around him, drinking non-stop.

When he returned to the prince's mansion at night with a little drunkenness, he lay on the bed. Li Xiaomei fell asleep, but his eyes were still wide open. "I was sick once last year, and I'm sick again this year..."

Don't say that Chen Ming has no conscience. Knowing that his father was sick, he still acted as if nothing had happened. At this time, he was even more calculating his own little abacus. It was really... well. But this matter is very taboo. If it is exposed, it will arouse suspicion and alienate the relationship.

But this news can't really be concealed. It will be exposed before the fifth day of the first lunar month at the latest. Being sick at this time, and reflecting on last year, it is too conspicuous.

But Chen Hui's body doesn't look old. The usual imperial doctors didn't diagnose anything?

If Chen Hui is not in good health..., even if these two illnesses were just coincidences with a small probability, after the influence spread, Chen Ming thought about it for a long time, and finally had to admit that this matter was of great benefit to him.

The news of Chen Hui's illness really spread quickly, on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year. But the reason was not that he was sick due to fatigue from worshiping his ancestors, but because of women. Chen Hui made Zhou, who had just been promoted to concubine, take the blame, and Zhou's concubine position was taken away by the queen mother on the same day. But at least a thin curtain was covered, as for whether it could really block everyone's sight, it was not something that could be said loudly. Even on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, Abu Beka became the first marquis of Chen Han - Sulu Hou, and this news did not suppress the hot article of "Chen Hui is sick again".

But this news deeply stimulated the Korean group. Jin Jizhong stayed in Lushan for several months. Although he frequently "ran to the department" and "tears like a spring", it cannot be denied that Jin Jizhong has gained weight. Ding Zaiyuan also gained weight, and all the people from North Korea who came to Lushan later gained weight.

At the beginning of the New Year, these people were not happy. Seeing that Abu Beka, whose previous status was not even as good as theirs, was suddenly conferred the title of Sulu Lord, and the total area of ​​the so-called Sulu Kingdom did not seem to be much larger than Jeju Island, Jin Jizhong, Ding Zaiyuan and others really wanted to spit on Abu Beka's face. This barbarian is really lucky!

Abu Beka has now found his second goal in life, to learn Chinese as soon as possible, and then closely unite with those Chen Han relatives who are interested in doing business in Nanyang. He can also teach at the Foreign Languages ​​College or the Political College, but it is just a remote elective course.

Both the Foreign Languages ​​College and the Political College have contacted him and are willing to add a Nanyang history course to their respective curriculums. They urgently need someone like Abu Beka who can speak Chinese and is familiar with the history and rise and fall of the indigenous kingdoms in Nanyang to be a teacher. This is a good opportunity to improve his reputation.

Abu Beka has no idea that the Koreans despise and scorn him. Even if he knew, he would smile slightly.

Sulu cannot be compared with North Korea, which has a large territory and a population of tens of millions. Sulu is a small country in front of North Korea. The more Abu Beka understands China now, the more he feels that he was right to "sell out his country".

This little land and population can be exchanged for a noble marquis, which is simply... indescribable joy. Especially the annual salary of the Sulu Marquis, which is more than his annual income in Sulu. What's more, as a marquis, he has a full 3,000 acres of granted land.

Jin Jizhong and others despise Abu Beka's cowardly performance. Oh, just because of too much external pressure - the Spaniards, the foreigners, they gave up their ancestral foundation. Such unfilial descendants will not be able to see their ancestors even after death. But they don't know that the green people will see the true God after death.

Moreover, these envoys who were loyal to Korea did not know that the news they sent back to Korea as a negative example, hoping to inspire the negative example of the Korean royal family in distress, would have a huge influence on some Korean royal family in the near future, but this influence was precisely what the envoys despised.

Chen Jigong, who had not been seen for a long time, also returned to Lushan this year, and Zhu Zhiwei also went to Lushan with him. The Jiangnan Trading Company he presided over made a very lucrative profit this year. Chen Ming made the decision to let him let go and use the profits he earned at his own discretion.

Zhu Zhiwei ordered ten new Ting ships as new ships for the transport team. Next year, he will increase trade with the islands of the South Seas and strengthen commercial exchanges with Japan. However, Chen Jigong came to Lushan to meet Chen Ming this time to hand in a task to Chen Ming.

Western-style sailing ship?

He had already drawn the drawings of the orthodox Western-style sailing ship. Although the Portuguese did not have an orthodox shipyard for Western-style sailing ships in Macau - no information could be found, as a dock, the necessary repair and maintenance capabilities for ships were still required.

Chen Jigong took advantage of the collapse of the Portuguese's abnormal occupation of Macau and used a large sum of money to pry away a group of shipbuilders and shipbuilders. With these people, it was easy to draw traditional Western-style sailing ship manufacturing drawings.

But Chen Ming soon put forward new requirements for Chen Jigong. He hoped to combine watertight compartments with Western-style sailing ships, and gave a thing called a clipper bow, which made Chen Jigong's head explode.

The shipyard in charge of Chen Jigong launched the first Western-style sailing ship this winter. The tonnage was not large, only about 150 tons. This was just a trial.

Due to the fierce calls from the navy, in addition to the sailing warships that Chen Ming required to be manufactured, fast, agile, and small ships that pursued speed also became another task of Chen Jigong's shipyard.

Because of the existence of rockets, a considerable number of people in the current Fu Han Army Navy have become fans of "fast, agile and small".

Chen Jigong went back to Lushan this time to report on his work and submit his "homework" to Chen Ming.

The combination of the sailing warship - watertight compartments and Western-style sailing ships has been completed. But the clipper bow is still stranded for the time being.

"Your Highness, this clipper bow... is not reliable."

"Have you tested it?" Chen Ming raised his eyebrows. Will the clipper bow... make the ship structure unreliable?

"No. But those foreigners said so as soon as they saw the drawings. They said that if the bow is made into a clipper bow, the speed will definitely be improved, and the overall stability of the hull structure will definitely have a bad impact."

"Experiment. Let's build it and see it first." Chen Ming knew very little about sailing ships. He only knew a rough outline of the famous clipper bow, a simple appearance, and he also knew that a clipper ship crossed the Atlantic in 13 days. In addition, his only impression of this kind of ship, and the deepest impression, is that it is fast!

Chen Ming now has money, people and materials, no matter how good or bad the actual effect is, why not build it and take a walk first. "Don't worry about the money and wood. If that place lacks these two things, you won't be short of them." Chen Ming said generously, as if he had completely forgotten the look of Alexander when he looked at the total military budget for next year.