To put it bluntly, Lu Yang is just a thirteen-year-old child, because he has received an education and knows a lot of things, but it is absolutely deceptive to say how amazing the opinion can be.

A thirteen-year-old kid who doesn't even have the right values in life to be able to think of gems as a member of the monetary system, no matter how naïve the idea is, is already a great thing.

With gems with those countries of Central Asia...... And, of course, the Mauryan deal, which is indeed a good option.

By the way, the Mauryan Empire was discovered by the empire last year. It may not be quite right to say this, the upper echelons of the empire have long known that there is a Mauryan Dynasty, but they have not actually made contact, and it was only after the envoys arrived in Central Asia that they actually had contact.

The territory of the Mauryan Empire is very large, and I heard that the population is also very large, but their ethnic structure is very complex, as if there are more than 100 races?

"It's just a hodgepodge of too many tribes to count. The previous monarch still knew how to deal with complex ethnic relations, but by the current monarch Devavaman, the ethnic contradictions and sectarian ~ religious contradictions in the country have become difficult to control. Lu Zhe was talking to Luo Shao and Xiao He.

When an empire discovers a country, it always thinks about what to gain from that country, and the discovery of the Mauryan Empire is naturally no exception.

At present, it is very difficult to send troops to the Mauryan Empire, and the empire has not managed the plateau for nearly twenty years, but only occupies a small territory in the east of the plateau, and the rest of the place is under the control of various plateau Qiang.

The empire's inability to occupy the plateau is not because of how powerful those plateau Qiang are, but because it is difficult for the people of the empire to adapt to the plateau weather, and because they have not found that there are minerals on the plateau that the empire desperately needs. What is the result? It is difficult for the empire to have a desire to occupy urgently.

There are places that are easier to occupy and more abundant, so why go through all the trouble to occupy a difficult place? In the whole empire, only Lu Zhe and Lu Wei held a firm heart to "take back" the plateau, and that was because they had a "great unification" complex, and the others had absolutely no interest in the plateau.

"One country, one nation is enough." When Lu Zhe said this, the background should be matched with the sea of corpses and blood, and piles of corpses taller than the Himalayas. But he smiled: "Too much is trouble." ”

Taiwei Luo shook his head, he will soon be no longer a Taiwei, and will be transferred to the Western Regions to be the governor of everything to protect the mansion.

In fact, it is a common practice to be transferred to other countries after the Imperial Lieutenant leaves office, as if Kuaitong went to the Japanese Islands after leaving office, and now it is Luo Shao's turn to go to the Western Regions.

The Protectorate of the Western Regions is an expedient measure, because the empire does not have the time to unify the occupation of the Western Regions, so it has pulled in some subjugated countries to build an alliance with the empire as the absolute boss.

That's just a transitional existence, and the proposer is Wusun, so the empire is reluctant to agree.

Yes, Wusun married two princesses to the empire, and now they are one of the emperor's concubines. But...... To be honest, the two princesses of different races are not so well treated in the empire, at least not so much, including nobles, officials, and commoners, only the emperor is still treated fairly.

In fact...... Lu Zhe also has a heart to open a harem! The front is struggling, there is no extra effort to collect beauties or anything, waiting for the establishment of the empire is another round of outward exploration, and the leisure does not necessarily increase much.

In recent years, the empire has gradually become less and less eventful, and Lu Zhe's heart, which has suppressed the turmoil for many years, can be regarded as active. In some ways, Lu Yi said that the years when he wanted to collect the world's beauties were caused by Lu Zhe.

"For the good, we can collect. For those who are not needed, we choose to let them accept the torrent of history and go to the inevitable road of elimination. "Lu Zhe is still in Nanling, but he will soon leave for Chang'an. He kept smiling and said, "For example, those monkeys in the South Seas are one of the eliminated species. ”

The second steamship of the Empire had been put into service, still assigned to the South Sea Fleet. The current scale of the Nanyang Fleet is very large, which is due to the current situation of many islands in the Nanyang, and the resources of the Nanyang are really rich, and there are still many natives on each island, unlike the Beiyang Fleet, which only needs to take care of the Japanese islands.

"It's a little bit more, and it's very lazy." Xiao He has the absolute right to speak, and he has dealt with the distribution share of slaves more than once: "In fact, it has been proved that Nanyang slaves are the most useless group, but the grassland slaves can be said to be able to bear hardships and stand hard work, and their physical fitness is also good." ”

In fact, the slaves of the Japanese Islands are also very good, they are short and thin, although they are obedient, they are not of great use, but the grassland slaves who have been subdued are stronger.

"The future empire needs at least five million slaves." When Xiao He, who seems to be elegant, said this, his background should also be matched with the appearance of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, plus a beautiful city construction map of the empire like a mirage. He made serious introductions, such as road construction, mining, and so on, and then said, "Maybe five million is not enough?" ”

"At present, the channels we can obtain slaves have not increased, and the surrounding alien races have basically dried up to kill and catch them." Luo Shao looked distressed and said: "The Nanyang Fleet has found a strait that is suspected to be the same other ocean, but it needs to be further confirmed. ”

Here, once again, history is changed. In history, it has been more than 30 years since the empire discovered the strait, and now it is 14 years after the empire has been discovered, thanks to the progress of the empire's science and technology, at least the development of technology has increased the carrying capacity of ships and can sail for a longer time.

For the navy, the biggest change was the application of the steam engine to the navy. In the past, ships were basically limited by the season, for example, the monsoon season was a good time to sail, and the absence of a monsoon or headwind would be restricted.

In fact, it is possible for boats to use oars, but the effect is not obvious, just look at the situation in the Mediterranean, those civilizations basically use oar technology to build the kind of thin and long boats, and the result is that the wind and waves are a little bigger, and it is tragic.

The ships of the Empire were not of a slender and long style, but were more traditional...... It is also a type of fortune ship that conforms to the historical trend. The slightest difference in any technological item will theoretically lead to branching, and ships obviously fall into this category. Thin, long ships are designed for paddling, not on the Imperial side. In addition, compared to the relatively calm Mediterranean, the South Seas are notoriously windy and rainy seasons.

"When we go into another ocean, we will find new resources." Lu Zhe thought about simply going from land to the coast of the Indian Ocean and then building a shipyard, but that was very unrealistic. Still smiling, he said, "In addition to being able to contact the Mauryan Empire and the Seleucid Empire, you can also find a continent with a lot of black corn!" ”

When I think of black corn, I can't help but think of the word "slave trade". It is by relying on the slave trade that the black corn can be said to have taken root in every land in modern times, and they are really worthy of living in the "cradle of life" of the human race, and the survival rate is estimated to be the strongest among all races, and it is also a race that can best adapt to the environment in various places.

Of course, the black corn is not all the kind of big man full of muscles, that is, the black corn living in the lighthouse country and other European and American countries can keep up with the nutrition, and the black corn in their hometown is mostly the kind of relatives with thin limbs but big stomachs.

Luo Shao and Xiao He didn't have any strange reactions, they had long been accustomed to the emperor being omniscient and omnipotent, and he knew everything about any corner of the world.

"Actually, if it is really a slave, there is a continent across the ocean to the south of us, which is the human race of that continent...... It's a bit of a trick. Lu Zhe is not joking, don't look at the Indians as if they were easily destroyed by the whites, it is just the sense of knowing that the white people finally became the masters of that land, in fact, the number of white people who died at the hands of the Indians was quite a lot. He shook his head: "At least until you look for something in Guam and Hawaii, don't look to the opposite mainland." Focus on those who are close first. ”

In addition, Lu Zhe actually has an inexplicable fear of the American continent, not afraid of the Indians, let alone afraid of the non-existent lighthouse country, but because he is worried that premature immigration will divide the country or nation. Because the North American continent is too big, space, and too rich in resources, if the immigrants pass, the time is short, the immigrants may not have any idea about the resources being sent back to the empire, but when the immigrants take root and take North America as their homeland, they will definitely have opinions on the resources being sent back to the empire again, and when the time comes...... Could it be an alternative version of the "Lobster Soldier Showdown"?

Xiao He and Luo Shao are full of interest in the continent that the emperor said, and every time they find a virgin land, it represents endless resources that have not yet been developed, resources are equal to benefits, how can they not be impressed? But they are also excited, firstly, because the emperor is reluctant to develop, and secondly, because they ...... It's true that the place close hasn't been eaten and wiped clean, and tossing so far seems to be a bit more than worth the loss?

What did the emperor stay in Nanling for? Isn't it just to wait for confirmation to see if you have really found a strait that can lead to the Indian Ocean?

Now it's really not worth hitting the Indian Ocean coast to build a shipyard or something, and transportation is a big problem in the first place. It is necessary to wait for the smooth flow of sea transportation in the seaports and other industrial facilities over there. In this way, it is really important to find a passable strait, which is the focus of the expansion of the empire in the next fifty years, when the expansion on land is an auxiliary, and the main business is to burn and plunder everywhere from the sea.

In the South China Sea, the steamship that had been put into service was smoking from its chimney, and its huge body was breaking through the waves.

Around the steamship were about twenty other ships, large and small, twelve six-hundred-ton reconnaissance ships and three thousand-two-hundred-ton conventional ships, and the rest were two-thousand-five-hundred-ton supply ships.

By the way, the tonnage of the steamship has reached 5,200 tons, it is a ship very close to modern times, both in terms of appearance and weapons, it is estimated that it is also the largest tonnage ship in the world. She doesn't have a name yet, only the outrageously vulgar "No. 1" as a code name, and the other sister ship that is about to enter service is called "No. 2".

In fact, to put it bluntly, the two steamships are not the final version, they are a kind of experimental warships, and they will find deficiencies according to the actual use situation, and then accumulate experience to develop a new generation of warships.

At this moment, a fleet of about 20 warships and transports was sailing in a northwesterly direction, and to their right was a verdant-looking island, probably the main island of Malaysia in the future?

The islands in this area have long been discovered by the Imperial Navy, and the fleet has also sent people to land, and according to custom, they have erected a boundary monument or something. They have indeed made a boundary monument in every newly discovered land, as long as there is a place where a boundary monument can be buried, and now it is not necessarily occupied, but the establishment of a boundary monument is a sacred and inseparable part of the empire!

"Captain, it seems like we've been circling this area for two months, right?"

"What do you want to say?"

"There is only half a month left for the supply."

"Oh."

They have indeed been around for a few days, mainly thinking that they can pass through somewhere, but waiting for a reconnaissance ship to be sent to reconnoitre, either they cannot allow large ships to pass, or it is a dead end.

Can't let large ships pass through it, is it still called a strait? It should be called a ditch! What they were looking for was a strait that could accommodate dozens of large warships side by side, not a ditch.

They have been looking for the strait for four or five years, but they have not found the strait, but they have found a large number of islands. No matter how come this place has been discovered for a year or two, the supply base that should have been established has already been made, for example, there is a supply base on the nearest bird island (Natuna Island) to them, and it is a matter of a day and a half to turn back, and you are afraid that there will be no supplies?

"Going around, going around, going around, the robes are extremely tired."

"Hmm."

"Otherwise, let's go back, even if it's half a day on Bird Island."

"You can think about it."

There was no anxiety, they had been exploring for four or five years, and seven months ago, a reconnaissance ship encountered bad weather and wanted to take shelter from the shore, and accidentally discovered the existence of the strait. The boys, who don't know whether to say unlucky or lucky, had their ship hit a reef not far from the shore, and had to wait for it to come ashore, but all the sailing records were lost, and the result was that they could only vaguely confirm the approximate sea area, and a new round of exploration was needed.

"One last round, scatter the scout ships, and then the rest of the battleships will stop at the original underground anchor!"

……………………

It's quite tragic, watching "Our Law" and "Let's Cross", I can't stop at all, so ...... Everyone's forgive me! (To be continued.) )