One morning at the end of February in the eighteenth year of Xingqian, the wind was howling and the cold wind was biting, and even in February, there were still snowflakes fluttering in the sky.

Winters in the north are always so long.

But even when the temperature gauge was set at a low temperature of minus 10 bottoms, there were still two men in navy blue woolen coats walking along the breakwater of Dagu Wharf. Although they wore the same style of tweed, the hats on their heads were different, one wearing a navy hat and the other a fur hat. Because of their good looks, everyone can see the relationship between these two young people at a glance.

They are brothers.

It's just that not many people know that they are half-brothers.

The breakwater of Dagu Wharf has been like this for the past ten years, for many people, this breakwater is new, after all, this is a new thing that appeared ten years ago, more than ten years ago, the navy paid to build the breakwater, making it a reserve port for the navy, a small port base.

However, private ships also enter here, although in many cases, private boats often sail directly into the Haihe River and reach Tianjin, but in winter, those ships can stay in Dagu Harbor. And if the sea ship does not have a steam engine, it can only enter the port of Dagu.

Because of this, although Dagu Port is a port built by the Navy, it is now a dual-use port, but there are always more civilian ships than warships, but even so, this port still brings huge benefits to the government, after all, Dagu Port is the only and most important port in Beizhili.

Because it is only a harbor, there are very few warships in the port, only a few small patrol ships, and if it is not a fortress on the shore, it is difficult to make people think that it is a military port. However, from the breakwater, you can still see the artillery fort at the fortress.

The two brothers came to the end of the breakwater, they stood under the lighthouse, staring into the distance, looking at the sea in the distance, looking at the sailing ships on the sea, no one took the initiative to speak, just stood there, let the sea breeze blow, and people just looked at the sea.

"Next month, Pell will be born."

After a long silence, Zhu Hejia looked into the distance and said.

"Well, I know, that's why I'm here, I think, before I leave, meet my big brother."

Zhu Heyu had a smile on his face, Pei'er is the crown princess, if she gives birth to a son, then he, the second prince, will go overseas to the country.

Everything is covered by the "Emperor Ming Succession Law", and no one can violate this law. Of course, even so, in the succession ranking of the throne that the Zongren Mansion has lined up this year, he Zhu Heyu is still the third heir to the throne of the Ming Dynasty.

In order to avoid the occurrence of changes that may occur during the change of the throne such as Yeongjong and Sejong, the father specially ordered someone to formulate the "Emperor Ming Imperial Succession Law", and whenever a new son of the clan is born, the Zongrenfu will rewrite the order of succession and inform the world of it, so that anyone can consult it.

This kind of order of succession to the throne determined by law directly prevented the "Tumubao Change", the minister persuaded the queen mother on the grounds of "exempting the lord from suspicion of the country" and established Zhu Qiyu as the emperor, which led to a turbulent situation on the throne. After all, it is only the ministers who are "suspicious", the people will not doubt, and the world will not doubt it, and the so-called doubters are precisely those ministers, who are just using this to seek power.

After all, according to the provisions of the inheritance law, those who dare to suggest that those who go against the order will be punished by the nine clans, in other words, no matter what the circumstances, the Ming Dynasty will strictly abide by this order of inheritance. And Zhu Heyu, the former second heir, will also become the third heir in line because of the birth of the imperial grandson.

However, he never longed for that throne, after all, compared to the throne that can only be inherited after dozens of years, for the prince, the temptation to be the king of a country is greater.

Moreover, unlike the so-called "ruthlessness of the heavenly family" in the old days, Zhu Hejia and Zhu Heyu's relationship is extremely close, after all, their mother and concubine are friends themselves, and under the deliberate guidance of their father, although they are half-brothers, because they have lived together since childhood, their feelings are far better than that of brothers.

"The Kingdom of Jin is far from here......"

Zhu Hejia looked at his younger brother beside him, and his tone was a little reluctant.

"After you and I separate this time, maybe ......"

With his eyes drooping slightly, Zhu and Jiaqiang endured the reluctance in their hearts.

"There will be no more time to see each other in this life."

When he said this, his eyes were slightly red, and he almost burst into tears, although he had been prepared for all this for a long time, but the thought that from now on, he would never see his brother again, his heart was naturally extremely uncomfortable.

"Isn't it like we're going to have to wait another two years?"

Zhu Heyu grinned.

"Sixteen years old to seal the country, twenty to the country, I am only eighteen, I have to prepare for another two years, big brother, don't blame me for pulling people everywhere, what I lack most is people ......"

It seemed that he was joking at the same time, but Zhu Heyu's tone became a little low at the end.

"Hey, to be honest, I'm really reluctant to be here. Especially...... Alas, big brother, do you think that my nephew will remember me in the future? In his eyes, will I just be the king of Jin? And not his uncle? Because he doesn't have any impression at all......"

Thinking that his nephew might not remember him, Zhu Heyu's heart was full of mixed feelings.

"How could I not remember you, I will tell him, and, in the future, perhaps, he can make a boat to go to the Jin Kingdom, after all, as a royal child, it is also natural to inspect Zhuxia."

Three years ago, Zhu Heyu, as the crown prince, went to Nantianmen on behalf of his father to inspect the southernmost territory of the empire, and by the way visited Qin, Zhou, Gui and other Xia. In the future, his son will fulfill the same responsibility. He's going to go farther afield.

"Well, in that case, I'm going to build my iron ship as soon as possible,"

"Iron ships?"

Looking at his younger brother in surprise, Zhu Hejia's tone was a little puzzled.

"Well, I've built an iron ship, and it's going to use a new three-expansion steam engine, and it's got propellers, and I estimate that it might be going at more than 14 knots, and most importantly, it's made of iron plates."

After saying this, Zhu Heyu said with a wink.

"Perhaps, my ship can defeat a fleet, after all, its planks are made of iron!"

"And whose fleet are you going to defeat?"

Looking at his younger brother, Zhu Hejia asked with a smile.

"On the Xinxia side, there is no fleet for you to defeat, compared to the fleet, what you need now is an immigration ship, a large immigration ship, to send as many immigrants as possible to the Jin Kingdom, it is right, as for the sea power, ......"

Shaking his head, Zhu Hejia pointed to several small patrols in the harbor, and then said.

"The Royal Navy, there are dozens of mothballed cruisers, although they are more than ten years old, but they are used for sea cruises, but there is no problem, and the price is cheap, at least until the population of the Jin Kingdom exceeds 1 million, there is no need to consider the power of the sea, after all, the Jin Kingdom has no need to expand, instead of establishing a sea power, it is better to expand the fleet as much as possible and send as many immigrants as possible to the Jin Kingdom......"

As a naval officer, Zhu Hejia naturally knew the usefulness of the naval fleet, and the navy was offensive.

"Heyu, you remember that your father once said that the navy is offensive and based on the defensive navy, there is no future, and if the Ming wants to get more land in this era, it must build a strong navy, and the size of our navy is the sum of the navies of European countries, which means that the fleet of the royal navy can provide protection for all the feudal states, you only need to provide ports, in this case, the development of the navy in Zhuxia is undoubtedly a waste, just like the Qin State and the Zhou State, At most, there are a few armed merchant ships, in fact, just in case, in case the natives make trouble, they can leave by boat, that's all......"

Thinking of the feudal states in the South Seas and learning about the responsibilities of their naval fleets, Zhu Hejia couldn't help but shake his head and sigh lightly.

"However, even so, their fleet is extremely powerful in front of the natives, an invincible force."

"Big brother, I spent a lot of money!"

Realizing that his fleet was useless, Zhu Heyu said a little depressed.

"Actually, I don't have any interest in the fleet, I just like it."

It's because he likes it that he is willing to spend a lot of money to build a fleet, even if he hasn't thought about building a fleet at all.

"I just want to build one for fun, after all, the steam engine, the iron armor, the propeller, these are really interesting."

Zhu Hejia, who understands his younger brother's character, knows that he is only interested in those technologies, as for warships? But I just like it. Said with a smile.

"But what you need now is an immigration boat, so let's tell your father about it, and let your father buy it at your father's expense, and maybe you can make some money."

"Big brother, you are so unauthentic, if you let your father know, you will definitely be unhappy if you are so calculating."

Zhu Heyu said with a smile.

"In business, since you have built an ironclad ship, if the performance is indeed very good, then you should sell it for a high price, and if the navy wants to buy it, you must also pay for silver, which is the most basic criterion. It is also what my father wants. ”

Over the years, under the teaching of Zhu Mingzhong, Zhu Hejia did not have the idea of "the emperor sits on the four seas" like the princes in the past, and did not ask the people or the local people to pay tribute because of their preferences, even if those merchants were willing to pay tribute, it was carefully certified, and the title of "royal royal" was exchanged for the tribute of the merchants, and the merchants benefited more from this kind of interest exchange.

"And, I'm sure, the Navy will be willing to pay a premium because it wants to push people to research new technologies on naval vessels."

After all, new technologies mean that they can form an overwhelming advantage over the enemy, and after witnessing a series of overwhelming advantages over the enemy by flintlock guns and firing guns, the navy also hopes to gain some absolute technological superiority.

"Steam engines, propellers, better than paddle wheels, if you go to talk to the navy, you can take the opportunity to ask for a few cruisers at a low price, after all, if there are ironclad steam ships, wooden-hulled sail cruisers will be eliminated, and the navy will definitely be happy to eliminate a batch of warships."

They took a few steps forward, and then Zhu and Jiacai said:

"Heyu, what are you going to do after you arrive in the Jin Kingdom?"

"Well, I don't know very well, but the environment there is very suitable for the development of animal husbandry, and it should be based on raising horses, after all, many places in Nanyang need horses, and it should be like this for the time being."

"It is true that measures should be adapted to local conditions, not because the people are good at farming, they have to farm, some places are not suitable for farming, rice grain is insufficient, you can buy it directly from Nanyang, the rice grain production of the Nanyang feudal countries is very high, and it should be cost-effective to export horses and exchange rice grain for rice grain."

The two chatted while walking, compared to the Central Plains, in addition to a city in the Jin Kingdom, there are hundreds of thousands of immigrants, it can be said that it is a blank, and because of this, Zhu Hejia always wants to know more about his younger brother's future.

"In the summer, when I was cruising through Haizhou, I met my father and discussed your feudal kingdom with my father."

"Oh, so what did you talk about?"

"Father believes that the feudal kingdom of Xinxia will have its own strengths in the future, so I don't need to worry about you, and I believe that you will definitely create a culture there that is not inferior to that of the Ming Dynasty in the future, which is also the intention of dividing the feudal Zhuxia, for the sake of civilization competition."

"How can the Jin Kingdom compete with the Great Ming?"

Zhu Heyu said with a smile.

"How vast the Ming Dynasty is, and what a large population."

"Not now, maybe not in a hundred or two hundred years, but my father said that this kind of competition is not in the competition of national strength, but in the competition of culture, and this kind of cultural competition will not only make the Chinese civilization reproduce the glory of a hundred schools of thought, but also will be conducive to scientific innovation, and the fierce competition will keep us from losing the momentum to move forward."

After a moment of silence, Zhu Hejia glanced at the sea, and then said.

"My father said that if one day, the Ming Dynasty defeats all countries, even if it is to unify the world, then it will inevitably bring a result, that is, it will lose the momentum of progress, just like after the unification of the Qin Dynasty, after the Qin and Han dynasties, we are only faced with the surrounding barbarians, and the development of civilization has fallen into a kind of stagnation, because there is no technological competition between countries, and during the Warring States, this competition is related to the life and death of the country, so ......"

Zhu Hejia glanced at him as he walked, then twisted his head to the side again.

"Internal competition is also competition."

"I know,"

Zhu Heyu paused deliberately.

"Actually, what my father means is definitely not just internal competition, but after two or three hundred years, there will inevitably be annexation and conquest between the Xia...... When Zhou Tianzi divided the world, many feudal countries were also surnamed Ji. ”

After saying this, Zhu Heyu looked into the distance and said.

"Father is worried that someone will suggest you cut the feudal domain in the future, right?"

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