"It's just a bird of bliss, what a phoenix!"

In the warm palace of the palace, Yang Qing looked at a group of ministers gathered around the birdcage and said.

This was indeed a bonus.

The Bird of Paradise was actually discovered by the Spanish colonists more than a hundred years ago.

Feathers, of course.

Spanish merchant ships bought them from the natives of the island of New Guinea, and they were still doing so, and then sold them to Europe at high prices to the nobles who liked to decorate themselves with feathers. But there were no living ones, and the merchants deliberately did not bring the living ones to Europe, at most they hollowed out the skins of the birds, and then chopped off their wings and claws, and made up stories that it was a mythical bird that lived in heaven and never fell to the ground......

It's called a gimmick.

I don't know how they explain how they were captured.

But so far it has not been sold to Daming.

After all, it was popular in Europe because the nobles liked to fill their hats with brightly colored feathers.

But who would insert that thing!

"Isn't this really a phoenix?"

Ma Shiying said with some deep eyes.

"It's really not, it's ridiculous that the Phoenix Divine Bird can put a few soldiers in a cage, this is a bird in the rainforest, and there are many of them, and there are not only one color, but also on several islands in the eastern part of the Spice Islands."

Yang Qing said.

Of course, he understands that Ma Shiying wants to create the story of the phoenix coming to the dynasty and shoot the queen's ass.

Empress Daming ascended the throne and immediately came to the court.

What a fitting occasion this is!

But this thing really doesn't work, and if you go to the island of New Guinea and see it everywhere in the future, it will leave a joke.

Since he didn't want to play like this, then Ma Shiying immediately lost interest in the bird of bliss, after all, he was full of sage books, and he was not interested in a bird with beautiful feathers, and some other things that Han Tao's fleet brought back were the ones that really made him and the cabinet ministers pay attention.

"It's just too far!"

Gu Yanwu lay on the map, measured the distance with a ruler and sighed.

Not only him, but all the cabinet ministers, including Ma Shiying, all stared at the large blank space from Daming to Nauru on the map and sighed, saying that they were really a little sad. For these old guys, there is no doubt about the love of guano, this thing has too obvious effect on rice yield, and even has an exaggerated record of increasing the yield by 40%, especially the soil quality of Jiangnan is the most suitable for this thing. The price of rice in Nandu fell all the way to six yuan, in addition to the new crops and the ban on rice and wine, the most important thing was caused by the shipload of guano brought back. In addition, there is a more important reason, that is, the fat tickets of guano have largely solved the financial deficit of the imperial court, especially the large-scale infrastructure construction in recent years, that is, the construction of roads, bridges and dams in various places, and the fat tickets issued to migrant workers.

The latter also like to ask for fat tickets.

Where transportation is convenient, fertilizer is directly received, and the grain that increases production is more important than silver, and where transportation is inconvenient, it is re-sold, after all, guano mining is still government-run, and it is not sold in the market, and the only way to obtain it is fertilizer tickets. Infrastructure that requires a large amount of labor can only be hired when it is no longer possible to forcibly recruit people, and the fat ticket ensures that the peasants all go to these construction sites on their own during the slack time.

Just for the fat ticket.

People don't like to ask for money or money.

But the guano in the East China Sea is almost finished.

There are not many near the Diaoyu Islands, how can they withstand this kind of crazy mining.

Now the slaves such as the white slaves and the Japanese slaves and the Japanese slaves on the Diaoyu Island have all begun to move to Lindao, and then consume their lives on this small island, just like those laborers who were forcibly recruited by the Japanese army during World War II in the original history. They drank bitter water rich in magnesium sulphate, and under the threat of the overseer's bayonet, they dug out guano with shovels and put it in their pockets, waded waist-deep in the water, carried it to the small boat, and poured it onto the big ship, and then fantasized about it......

Actually, it's not a fantasy.

After all, slaves cannot be wasted.

Usually they can change to other positions after working in Lindao for three years, such as going to Hainan Island to dig iron ore or something, although mining is also tiring, but at least it is better than digging guano.

Of course, they have to survive three years.

I have to say that these slaves have become an important force in the construction of the Ming Dynasty, and now the only regret is that the war is over, and there will be no more slaves to be arrested in the future. What to do with these free slaves after they are consumed has become a matter of concern for people of insight in the Ming court, although this seems to be a little wrong, after all, the Ming Dynasty is a state of etiquette. But the problem is that these slaves are so easy to use, they don't even need to be given clothes when they are thrown on the island, they eat sweet potato flour cakes every day, they catch some fish nearby, and they don't even need to supply fresh water, so isn't bitter water fresh water? What's wrong with magnesium sulfate, magnesium sulfate is good for the body......

Well, it's okay to drink less.

After all, the Japanese army also gave this to the laborers.

But the guano in Lindao is also limited!

The thickness of the guano layer there is limited, basically not more than one zhang, although it can be regarded as a big mine compared to the Diaoyu Islands, but here is five zhang bottomless! The current estimate of Lin Island is that it can be mined for at least 20 years, so this island can be mined for at least 100 years, which is simply a godsend......

But it's 10,000 miles away.

Then this figure made the cabinet ministers sigh at the same time.

"Everyone, be happy, at least we have enough time."

Yang Qing sat there, looking at the tangled expressions on their faces, and said with a very unkind smile.

Of course, he would not tell them that the solution had already been solved, as long as the steam power and propeller technology were solved, all that remained was to build a port along the way. And his steam paddle steamer was actually able to enter the Yangtze River, but in order to cooperate with his railway plan, it was deliberately placed there and waited. Once his railroad plan to drain the landlord's financial resources was completed and the public land law was officially implemented, he could drive the steamships out.

In fact, now he can also make propellers.

It doesn't necessarily have to be a rubber sealing ring or something, the best marine stern shaft is a shaft sleeve made of iron ploughwood, vulcanized rubber must use stainless steel to protect the tail shaft because of sulfur content, and rubber is not resistant to high temperatures, iron pear wood is the best, and it is also the most traditional material.

But there are also some minor troubles.

Because Asian iron pear wood is not suitable.

The marine stern axle iron pear wood sleeve is actually a special wood in South America, and the iron pear wood used in China to make furniture shipbuilding keels is not the same, not to mention the species family, even the eyes are different. In addition to being hard and super corrosion-resistant, the most important thing is that this wood will produce a layer of mucus in the water to form a self-lubricating effect, so even if modern technology is so developed, this wood is still an important material for making tail bushings......

Very expensive, of course.

Of course, the cabinet ministers will not know that the Protector has already had a full set of plans, but in any case, it is still unrealistic to develop guano there at this time, fortunately, there is guano in the South China Sea, and Lindao has given Daming twenty years.

As for twenty years later......

Who knows?

The cabinet ministers left the conservatory with regret, and as soon as they had gone out, Her Majesty stood up, quickly removed her graceful and noble disguise, and eagerly ran to a small pouch which she quickly opened. Then, with excitement, he grabbed a handful of seeds from it and let them fall in his hand, with an expression like a miser counting gold coins......

"Grace, mind you, you're the Empress!"

Yang Qing sat there and said speechlessly.

"Hmph, what can the empress do, didn't you delay eight years to get me done with such a trivial matter?"

The Empress said.

Well, here's her cocoa seed.

The American contingent bribed the Spanish officials in Mexico with a whole ton of high-grade silk fabrics in exchange for this bag of seeds.

But that's not all.

"What is this, how is it the same as a goji berry?"

Her Majesty grabbed the dried fruit in another pocket and said suspiciously.

"I know, the captain said that this thing can be used as medicine, and they just chew this leaf, and many diseases along the way are cured, such as headaches, stomach problems, injuries, etc., they can chew this leaf. And usually chewing can be refreshing, more effective than smoking, but the leaves can't be kept for too long, and they are all bad halfway through, and only these sun-dried seeds are brought back. ”

Her sister said from the side.

"That's good stuff!"

The Empress said with satisfaction.

Then she saw the protector on the side stretch out his hand, and there was a strange smile on his face.

"What's wrong?"

She asked, handing the seed in her hand.

"It's nothing, it looks a little kind!"

Yang Qing said.

He really didn't expect a ton of silk to be exchanged for such a giveaway, but this thing is not a big deal to simply chew leaves, after all, Americans can use it to make a beverage empire. And it is indeed very useful for seafaring crews, at least to avoid their loneliness on long voyages.

"Plant it!"

He said with a sigh.

It is useless for him not to plant, and the next exploration of the Americas will inevitably face it, the Spaniards have long regarded it as an important commodity, and even drank it as tea, and it is impossible for them not to sell it to the Ming pioneers who colonized the Americas. Besides, this thing is not another kind after all, the purification of the latter is very simple, and even no purification can be successful, but this thing must be purified to really show its power, and the technology required for its purification is more complex, and there is no need to worry about its true use being discovered in the short term. Or you can make soda yourself in the future, which is nothing more than adding all kinds of sweet and sour ingredients, and then get some of this, and then lock the recipe to pretend to be mysterious......

"Bring pen and paper!"

The Protector suddenly became interested, and shouted with his sleeves rolled.

The palace maid hurriedly brought him a pen and paper.

"What are you going to write?"

Her Majesty said strangely.

Without raising his head, the Protector quickly wrote out the names on the paper, then slapped the brush on the table and said, "Go and get all these things, and then find a cabinet to lock this piece of paper, and get some seeds for this thing, go and make me a bottle of water for later use, and see that I can make you a good thing." It is said that drinking soda while roasting the heating in this winter is a great joy in life! ”