Gao Junshan said: "Supporting the Persian Kingdom in the Great Patriotic War does not need to directly send troops, we can provide them with weapons and funds, and even grain and grass, as long as Abbasid II defuses the offensive of the Ottoman Empire and maintains the existence of his regime, the Sultan Queen Mother, who has just taken power, does not dare to underestimate Abbasid II too much." ”

Cai Zhishan asked suspiciously: "So, what are our interests if we invest so much to support them?" ”

"The stakes are great!" Gao Junshan pulled Cai Zhishan to the front of the nautical chart, "You see, the gold of Nubia, the silver of the Hindu Kush, the copper of Isfahan, and the iron of Central Asia and Sicily, and many other rich precious stones are waiting for us to mine.

"In the fertile valley of the two rivers, wheat, barley, rice, dates and olives are abundant, and horticultural crops are also quite abundant, including dates, olives, plums, peaches, apricots, oranges, apples, watermelons, grapes and all kinds of vegetables, all of which can be used by me.

"In the southern part of the Kingdom of Persia, because of its location in an oasis, dates, cereals, and vegetables are abundant, as well as sheep, horses, and camels are abundant in the desert areas. We can exchange tea, porcelain, silk, and other things that they don't have. In the future, we can also help them extract oil, and we can build our naval base in the Persian Gulf.

"In addition, the cities of Basra, Antioch, Cairo, Alexandria, Kairouan, Samarkand are also important commercial ports for intermediary trade between the East and the West, and we have been stationed in the Persian Gulf, and we have been able to contact these cities and conduct business activities with them. In this way, spices, minerals, dyes, and cane sugar from India and the Malay Archipelago, gemstones from Central Asia, ivory and gold sand from East Africa, honey, yellow wax, furs, and wood from Northern Europe and Rus' will be at my disposal.

"Boran, that's where our interests lie. In addition, if we have a strong military, we can dump our industrial products on them without any scruples, and now that we have the steam engine, the next step is to enter the era of industrial production, and there will be a large number of industrial products that we ourselves will not be able to use. ”

Cai Zhishan said ashamedly: "Your Majesty stands tall and sees far, I can't wait, I can only see the immediate interests, not the long-term vision." ”

Gao Junshan enlightened Cai Zhishan: "The Kingdom of Persia is our outpost to Africa and Europe, as long as we have a naval base in the Persian Gulf, and then build a railway from the capital to our naval base, think about this prospect, our merchant ships can directly reach Africa and European countries without passing through the Strait of Malacca." At that time, as soon as the train sounded, the silver of the whole world would be absorbed by us. ”

Cai Zhishan suddenly opened his mouth and said: "As long as our warships come and go in the Persian Gulf, the entire country in the Persian Gulf will submit to our Chinese Empire." ”

Gao Junshan said with a smile: "Bolan, your vision is still not high enough, our warships are not only in the Persian Gulf, but also in the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Arctic Ocean. ”

Cai Zhishan sighed to himself and said, "Your Majesty is ambitious, admire and admire!" ”

Gao Junshan was full of interest, and he gushed endlessly: "So we have to vigorously develop the navy, now we have Xiangyang-class ships, and Wuchang-class steam engine ships, and we still want to build big ships, even ocean-going giant ships, for what?" In order to go abroad and demonstrate our national strength.

"Now there are several countries in the world, especially Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, which are developing the marine industry on a large scale, what is their purpose? It's a kind of mercantilism, simply put, looting for gold and silver. We can't afford to lag behind them.

"What is the best way to get more gold and silver? In fact, there are only two ways, one is to do business and trade, and the other is to rob violently. Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, what do these countries do when they go abroad and go into the ocean? The first is to do business, the second is to plunder, and if you are not addicted to business, you will plunder. They traveled across the ocean in search of treasure and wealth, and the concept of wealth was very clear, gold and silver.

"You know what? The Netherlands has a nickname called 'Coachman of the Sea', what is a coachman? It's the convoy. The Dutch ran around on the world's oceans, running around transporting goods, earning countless commercial profits. By 1560 the Netherlands had more than 1,000 merchant ships, three times the number of merchant ships at the height of Venice, the most powerful maritime power in medieval Europe. Up to now, the Dutch had more than 5,000 merchant ships, a very large number, and according to the General Affairs Bureau, the Dutch coast was full of harbors, in which countless ships were moored, and the masts were erected there as if they were woods. ”

Cai Zhishan was dumbfounded.

Gao Junshan said: "What should we do? Shouldn't we vigorously develop the navy? If we do not vigorously develop the navy now, we will fall behind, and if we fall behind, we will be beaten. The lessons of history are profound! ”

The lesson of history is profound, and it has no feeling for Cai Zhishan, because he doesn't know what this so-called "historical lesson" refers to, he nodded blankly, it was late at night, and he yawned a few times.

Gao Junshan saw that he was already very tired, so he didn't say any more, he had a lot to say, and in the face of a sleepy insect saying that his lofty ideals were like playing the piano to a cow, so he waved his hand and said to Cai Zhishan: "Let's talk about it tonight, you go and invite Liu Lishun in." ”

Liu Lishun is the boss of the Civil Affairs Yuan, the official worships the auxiliary political and imperial history, and is the direct superior of the Gong Wei Division, which is Gao Junshan's secret agency, in charge of the Imperial Forest Army and the General Affairs Bureau.

Therefore, the content of Gao Junshan's conversation with Liu Lishun was more extensive, involving political, military, economic and other fields, and their exchange of views was also the longest, and the two talked about it until three o'clock in the evening, considering that there were two ministers to be summoned later, so it was decided to talk about their topic in depth the next day.

When Liu Hongru came in, he was already sleepy, Gao Junshan was in high spirits, ignoring that they hadn't slept yet, and when he saw Liu Hongru's mental state, he apologized to Liu Hongru: "I'm very sorry for not taking into account your rest time." ”

Liu Hongru hurriedly cheered up and said: "Your Majesty is working day and night on state affairs, how dare we not work hard?" ”

Gao Junshan self-examined: "I know that you have been busy with state affairs during the day, and I have not thought it through, so you go and call Tian Wenju in, and everyone will exchange ideas briefly, and then go back to sleep." ”

He asked Sun Kewang to make a pot of strong tea and entertained Liu Hongru and Tian Wenju.

Because of time constraints, they only said one thing, that is, on the issue of issuing banknotes, Gao Junshan instructed that the issuance of banknotes should be implemented by banks, and now it will be implemented in Beijing on a trial basis, and then implemented throughout the country.

Because he was too sleepy, Gao Junshan took Liu Hongru and Tian Wen to rest in the imperial dining room.