The first year of Xianqing is destined to record the year of the glorious and prosperous era of the Tang Dynasty.

This year, Wu Zetian's third son was born, and Li Zhi gave this little guy high expectations, giving him the name Li Xian, which has the same name as the year name, which is enough to see Li Zhi's love for him.

It was also this year that the original crown prince Li Zhong was deposed, and Wu Zetian's eldest son Li Hong was named the crown prince and announced to the world.

In September of the same year, the Jiangnan Shipyard mobilized craftsmen and more than 5,000 people, and spent six years to complete all the planned shipbuilding - three large treasure ships, 25 medium-sized treasure ships, 50 small treasure ships, and more than 100 horse ships, war ships, water ships, grain ships, and clippers, all of which added up to more than 200 ships.

The sailors who control the ships have expanded from more than 20,000 to more than 30,000 people, and from the beginning of the construction of the ships, the sailors began a two-month training on sea navigation, and it is expected that in December, they will have a combat mission, and the era of exploration will officially begin!

From the end of the fleet construction, Chen Fei was busy. The fleet needs to use a large number of weapons and equipment to go to sea, although the Tang Dynasty has hardly encountered wars in recent years, and the gunpowder warehouse is very sufficient, sufficient to the extent that it cannot be loaded, but once the Age of Exploration is opened in the future, the supply of gunpowder will definitely be tight, so it is now stepping up the configuration.

What's worse is that the formula of gunpowder is hidden from Li Zhi, and no one knows the rest. In other words, the configuration of gunpowder still depends on Chen Fei alone. It had exhausted him.

After thinking about it again, he wanted Li Zhi to make a statement, hoping that his two sons could inherit the formula of gunpowder.

Li Zhi agreed without thinking too much. Originally, gunpowder was invented by Chen Fei, and Lao Tzu passed it on to his son, which is justified. What's more, everyone has come to ask for advice, so you can't even agree to this, right? It's too heartbreaking.

So, during this time, Yu'er and Wen'er stayed in the strange workshop miserably, helping Chen Fei to prepare gunpowder.

However, the reason why he passed on the gunpowder formula to his two sons, Chen Fei thought much more than Li Zhi thought.

The Chen family is now also an upstart in Chang'an City, and if they want to gain a firm foothold in the court in the future, it is obviously not enough to rely on Chen Fei's efforts alone. And the existence of gunpowder can put Chen Fei in a very special position, because the country is inseparable from gunpowder, and Chen Fei is the most trustworthy person, so as long as the reigning emperor is not stupid, he will definitely not do anything to him.

Similarly, Chen Fei's two children inherited the gunpowder formula, which in a sense was equivalent to inheriting his father's special position in the court.

No matter how the direction of the wind changes, as long as they can abide by their duties, there is absolutely no problem in keeping this family business! This is Chen Fei's final consideration.

When Yu'er and Wen'er were pulled by Chen Fei to work as coolies, Chen Fei found Li Zhi with a drawing.

"Your Majesty, please see, this is the latest warehouse designed by the minister, which is specially used to place gunpowder and other weapons, and it is absolutely safe."

Li Zhi took the drawings and looked at them, and sighed lightly, "Zicheng, this warehouse ...... It's strange that I've never seen a house like this before. ”

Of course I haven't seen it, this is a castle that only appeared in the Middle Ages in Western countries!

Although the tough architectural style of the castle is a bit abrupt in the Tang Dynasty, which is known for its elegance, this house has a special purpose, and Chen Fei has his own small abacus, but this small abacus must not be said to Li Zhi, otherwise it will be dragged out and beaten dozens of big boards.

"Your Majesty, although this castle is a little ugly, but it is strong, Your Majesty, please see, such a castle covering an area of twenty acres is almost a small city, and it is a city built specifically for defense, and every design in it is designed to make the castle stronger......"

Chen Fei grinded his mouth for a long time, and Li Zhi finally understood the role of the castle. To put it simply, this is the ultimate military fortress, as long as you send troops to guard the castle, the walls are equipped with cannons, thunderbolts and other weapons, which can almost stop thousands of troops. It's a great way to protect things like thunderbolts.

Li Zhi was moved, the safety of gunpowder was indeed one of the problems that plagued him, not to mention the increase in inventory now, and two warehouses had been built. It is also becoming more and more difficult to manage. And Chen Fei's drawings undoubtedly gave him a good solution to the problem.

"Good! Zicheng, why didn't such a practical castle be taken out earlier? Not only do I have to build the warehouse of Thunderbolt like this, but the treasury and the granary can be built like this! ”

"Forehead......" Chen Fei looked at Li Zhi, not knowing what to say for a while.

"What's wrong? What's the problem? ”

"Your Majesty, the castle can be used to store gunpowder and other dangerous weapons, if you have money and food...... There is no need for this. ”

"Why?" Li Zhi wondered.

"Because ......" Chen Fei came to Li Zhi's side and reported a string of numbers to him. Li Zhi's complexion gradually became strange.

"Zicheng." Li Zhi put down the drawings and rubbed his temples vigorously, "Why do you make every suggestion...... It's all so expensive? ”

Chen Fei was embarrassed, indeed, almost every suggestion he made was costly and laborious, such as an ocean-going fleet, such as a castle.

But ......, "Your Majesty, the ministers are all for the sake of the country!" There is no free lunch, no free breakfast, no free dinner, no cheap goods, there is no return, this is the law that has not changed since ancient times. Moreover, gunpowder weapons are of great importance, and the minister thinks that when a castle is built to ensure the safety of gunpowder, please consider it. ”

"Hey, let's let it go for a while, the autumn tax will not be sent to the treasury until the beginning of spring next year, and the ocean-going fleet will go on an expedition at the end of this year, and now the treasury has allocated a lot of money and grain, I must save some flowers, so as not to encounter anything and make ends meet." Li Zhi leaned lazily back in his chair, looking ...... Well, slightly underdrawn.

Chen Fei expressed his understanding, and he was not in a hurry at this time. But...... He also knows a thing or two about how much money the treasury has. To put it mildly, Li Zhi's treasury is really rich.

After building the ocean-going fleet, and counting the expenses of the last expedition, the treasury still has nine percent of the money and food left! That is to say, the ocean-going fleet and one expedition cost only one percent of the treasury! You can imagine how rich Li Zhi is, right?

As for Li Zhi crying poor or something...... Pure special outfit! Next spring, we must find a way to get him to approve the construction of the castle! Chen Fei thought viciously in his heart!

"Ah yes, last time you said that the target of the first expedition was the Wa Kingdom? I thought about it, the Japanese people seem to be very respectful to us Datang, bow down to the vassals, and they don't have any money and food, so there is no need to attack them, right? ”

Chen Fei glanced at Li Zhi deeply, and sighed lightly: "Your Majesty, you don't understand the nation of the Japanese Kingdom!" ”

………

(End of chapter)