The icing on the cake for Lan Gui's life is the good news that the ironclad ship with a displacement of 6,350 tons has been officially completed and handed over to the Royal Navy after several experimental cruises.

One of the most powerful ships in the world today, after nearly six years of hard work by Chinese technicians, finally appeared in the East like a shining rainbow at the end of 1866, and the ironclad ship was named "Regent".

The Regent uses a three-expansion steam engine and a water-tube boiler with a power of 6,300 hp, a speed of 14 knots, and a cruising range of 4,100 nautical miles per 10 knots.

The knot is 1 nautical mile per hour in the sea ship unit, 1 nautical mile = 3.704 miles, and Shanghai is less than 6,000 nautical miles from San Francisco more than 5,000 nautical miles, which means that if the speed of 10 knots is maintained, plus the supply in Guam, the Regent has basically the ability to cross the Pacific Ocean.

The three-expansion steam engine was applied to military ships for the first time, and its heat energy utilization rate was amazing, laying the foundation for ironclad ships to remove sails in one fell swoop.

For the first time, generators were also used on ships, and the Regent was equipped with two generators capable of producing 65 kilowatts, one for the front and one for the front and one for the forerunner, which was about 15,000 candlelight units in luminous intensity candlelight units.

The total weight of the armor of the Regent is 1,243 tons, the armor is 14 inches thick at the waterline, 11 inches under the waterline, and some of the armor is made of high-quality steel.

The main guns are 2 Jinling Krupp 300mm breech heavy guns, 2 Jinling Krupp 155mm stern bow auxiliary guns, 4 Jinling Krupp 75mm guns, 8 57mm Guangzhou rapid-fire guns, and 8 47mm Guangzhou-made rapid-fire guns.

The Regent's firepower is the best in the world, reducing the number of heavy guns, and with a large number of armor-piercing rapid-fire guns, it can be said that the entire mid-19th century after the development direction of the navy, the speed of the gun often determines life and death, the Guangzhou Arsenal focuses on the research and development of rapid-fire guns, the rate of fire can reach 5-7 rounds per minute, 57mm armor-piercing shells and 47mm armor-piercing shells are a deadly threat to the armor of the vast majority of ironclad ships.

At the same time, along with the Regent, there are two frigates with a displacement of about 50 tons, each equipped with 4 cannons and 1 37mm rapid-fire gun, which are mainly used to protect the Regent and prevent enemy boats and submarines from harassing them.

The Regent Pipe Band Li Chengmou, Rear Admiral of the Royal Navy, the former Changsha Band Pipe Band, was brave in the battle with the Russian Far East Fleet, broke the enemy's flagship, and made a first-class meritorious service.

The imperial military system has perfected the military ranks, and the officers are general, lieutenant general, major general, lieutenant, deputy lieutenant, assistant lieutenant, regular military academy, deputy military academy, and cooperative military academy.

Sergeant: Sergeant, Sergeant, Corporal.

Soldiers: Regular, First Class, Second Class.

Sergeant and soldier ranks are used in the regular army, and after the local newly recruited non-commissioned soldier or reserve army or militia enlistment, he will be a second-class soldier after three months of training, and he will be promoted to a first-class soldier after one year of service, and then promoted to a regular soldier after one year.

Nowadays, the empire fully implements the compulsory military service system, and the sergeant is equivalent to a professional soldier, and only excellent conscripts can be promoted to a sergeant without the pain of retirement, and although the Royal Army and Navy have been reorganized, a large number of veterans have been incorporated into the newly expanded regiment as officers, but the Royal Army has several extremely elite main corps, and the soldiers are still all composed of sergeants.

Royal Army, Chief and Deputy Officer and Post Officer, also with the rank of Non-commissioned Officer.

The rank of officer, major general and Zheng Erpin civil official Yu Lu are the same, it can be seen that the pipe belt of the Lord Regent and the pipe belt of the infantry battalion of the Royal Army are completely two heavyweights, of course, the current battalion officer has removed the name of the pipe band, and replaced it with the name of the battalion commander or battalion commander.

The good news of the completion of the Regent was accompanied by the news of Lincoln's assassination in the United States.

Ye Zhao was stunned when he received the telegram, thinking that because of his intervention, the butterfly wings had already fanned the stormy waves on the other side of the ocean, who knew that he would still come.

Ye Zhao couldn't help but regret slightly, and did not remind Lincoln to be careful of the assassination of the southern slave masters. After all, he still admires Lincoln. But how could Lincoln not know that the Southern forces hated him to the core? It also involved some big financiers who were extremely dissatisfied with Lincoln's new monetary policy of revoking the right to issue banknotes from private banks.

The first snow made the entire Jingshi like an ice carved jade sculpture, white and covered with a thick velvet coat.

In the East Warm Pavilion of the Heart Cultivation Palace, the earth dragon is burning hot, and Li Xiaocun is arguing fiercely with Zhou Jingshan indoors, and Li Jianchen is silent.

Ye Zhao sat on the Minghuang throne and slowly tasted tea. At the kang table, the matchmaker listened to the debate between the two.

Having just finalized with the Americans the itinerary of the Regent's visit to San Francisco next spring, Li Xiaocun and Zhou Jingshan are now arguing whether there is any danger for the emperor to go to San Francisco to meet secretly with the leaders of the Republican Party and the Ming Cooking Party in the United States.

Actually, it should be said that it is not necessary, but Zhou Jingshan, who is strongly opposed, can only use security issues as an excuse, and it can't be said that the emperor's move is inappropriate, right?

Hearing Li Xiaocun talk about the domestic situation in the United States again, Zhou Jingshan interrupted him and said: "I am already familiar with the partisan dispute in the United States, and I will not bother to explain it. The United States and our country are separated by a vast ocean, it is the land of the far west, the sea is high and the waves are dangerous, the civil strife has subsided, and the political situation is even more chaotic, the emperor wants to meet with the Americans, all he needs to do is to note his minister, who do you want to see, it is rumored that China is going to meet the emperor, the emperor has a body of ten thousand gold, why should he be in danger? ”

Ye Zhao smiled slightly when he heard this, the situation in Western countries, now Mo said that the auxiliary political officials of the empire are the people who like to read newspapers, and they also have a general understanding of them, and they have long been different from more than ten years ago.

Lincoln was assassinated, and Johnson, a Republican from the South, became the president of the United States, and he adopted a compromise policy toward the southern states, disagreed with the mainstream of the Republican Party, and became the first president in American history to be impeached by Congress, and his attitude towards China was also extremely ambiguous.

The reason is that when he competed with Lincoln for the party's presidential nomination, the Chinese supported Lincoln in the newspapers and added many points to Lincoln.

However, for this reason, Ye Zhao could only sigh, but it was actually Johnson's own delusion, or in other words, the typical self just made an excuse for himself.

Another important reason for Johnson's ambiguous attitude towards China is that he is negotiating with the Russians to buy Alaska, and the Russians are cold and obviously have little affection for the pro-China American political axe, and the Russians propose that the precondition for the negotiations is that the United States postpone the upcoming treaty with China on mutual most-favored-nation status, and support the chamber of commerce led by Russian businessmen to resist China's barbaric behavior of "suppressing free trade and severely punishing tobacco traders."

Naturally, these matters should be discussed with US dignitaries.

Since the beginning of this century, Chinese laborers have been trafficked to the United States one after another, and after the Taiping Rebellion, the number of Chinese laborers going to the United States, Australia, and Nanyang has increased exponentially, and many of them are no longer piglets, but voluntarily go to the United States to flee.

As the center of the American Gold Rush, San Francisco is also a gathering place for Chinese laborers, and the construction of the Western Railroad in the United States is also indispensable for Chinese laborers.

Today's Americans generally have a condescending and kind attitude towards Chinese laborers, calling them model immigrants in California. In their minds, the Chinese are thrifty, easy to get along with, and law-abiding.

Although China's international status has soared, it is conceivable what kind of education and state of mind these Chinese laborers who traveled across the sea to the United States to seek a living in the early days, and how can the American people who usually come into contact with them have real respect for these new members of society who are willing to take on clumsy jobs?

In any case, Americans are still relatively friendly to Chinese laborers now, but a few years later, with the outbreak of the economic crisis in the United States, the bankruptcy of small enterprises, and the era of monopoly and large enterprises in the free capital economy, millions of white people in this throes could not find jobs, and the Chinese laborers who were willing to take the lowest wage naturally became a thorn in their side and became the main culprit of their unemployment.

Ye Zhao did not want another Chinese exclusion bill for Chinese workers in the United States.

The Regent's visit to San Francisco was a kind of image display, and Ye Zhao also hoped to talk to American dignitaries about the issue of Chinese labor.

In addition, with the superior institutional guarantee of adapting to this era, the United States is destined to rise without accident, and Ye Zhao also hopes to maintain a good relationship with it.

However, Ye Zhao went to the United States, not to meet Johnson, but to secretly meet with several giants who really affect the political economy of the United States, rather than being carried to the table puppets. In this, it is natural for Wells to match.

Waving his hand to stop the argument between Li Xiaocun and Zhou Jingshan, Ye Zhao smiled and said: "It is said that it is a secret meeting, maybe after arriving in the United States, he will still meet Johnson, and after leaving the United States, he will announce his visit to the United States by telegram." He said to Zhou Jingshan: "It's not that you want to be condescending, I have long wanted to go to the United States to have a look, and I don't know when I miss this opportunity." You should not underestimate the United States, and if you do not take advantage of its political chaos to exert influence on it, it will be difficult to find such a good opportunity in the future. ”

Zhou Jingshan saw that the emperor said this, and he could only swallow the words in his stomach.

Li Xiaocun smiled slightly, in fact, even if the countries of Europa, the maverick Chinese emperor's rhyme has already spread throughout the aristocracy. The Chinese emperor liked private interviews, and even taught as a university professor, and published the books "Periodic Table" and "Outline of Chemistry", which were respected by the world's chemical community as Taishan Beidou, and chemical science has also entered a new stage.

Coupled with the great martial arts of the southern and northern wars, let alone Li Xiaocun, even those aristocratic dignitaries in Europe who heard the anecdotes of the Chinese emperor regarded Ye Zhao as a god.

Li Xiaocun has heard from foreign friends on more than one occasion that some European dignitaries consider the Chinese emperor to be one of the most outstanding monarchs in the history of the East and the West, or even one of them.

Of course, there are also many European aristocrats who think that the Chinese emperor is selling his reputation and reputation, and those chemical theories must be that the Chinese emperor plagiarized the achievements of others, that is, how can there be such a perfect person in the world?

But whether it is admired or slandered, the status of the Chinese emperor in Europe is undoubted, and the mysterious Chinese imperial family, the legendary emperor of the East, is completely in line with the perfect embodiment of the European imperial sentiments. In Europe, it is already difficult for any country to establish a unified Holy Rome, and the rising Eastern Empire also represents a complex.

The Chinese Emperor's mysterious visit to the United States and his final meeting with the President of the United States are the consistent manifestations of the Chinese Emperor's mystery and legend, and they will play a non-negligible role in enhancing the pro-China complex of the American people.

Of course, it is not possible for the Emperor to meet with the President until he leaves the United States, and it is also very good that this visit will be a completely secret meeting.

Li Xiaocun thought and smiled.

Ye Zhao waved his hand again at this time and said: "This matter is so decided, after the annual meeting of the Privy Council, I will set off with the navy, and you must keep this matter a secret." Shanghai to San Francisco, but the trip takes more than a month, at most two months, but it is nothing. ”

Li Xiaocun, Zhou Jingshan, and Li Jianchen hurriedly bowed down to obey the order, this matter was a top secret, as far as a few of them knew, even the rest of the Privy Council members did not know.

Ye Zhao groaned, and said: "It's nothing, you all act in an orderly manner, and you don't need me to talk about it." (A few people hurriedly said that they didn't dare), Ye Zhao glanced at the matchmaker and said, "I'm afraid that the Russians will provoke, so I just fight with it when the time comes." This was also said to the rest of the ministers.

The matchmaker bowed slightly, and said: "I think the Russians are waiting for the railway, and when they build the railway to Novosibirsk City, they will definitely start a war with us, and the railway will have to be repaired for another two years, so it will be safe for a while." ”

Ye Zhao nodded and said, "You can't let it be wishy-washy, I'll take care of it when I come back." With a wave of his hand, several ministers hurriedly retired.

…… At the Privy Council meeting a year ago, according to the two-year rule, the White Imam and the Living Buddha Jebtsundamba also rushed from Xinjiang Province and Outer Mongolia respectively.

The rest of the religious leaders, [***] and the Panchen Lama are five years of rule, Zhang Jia Living Buddha is now studying the Dharma in Lhasa, and when the Dharma [***] is completed, he will return to Yanjing, the Living Buddha of the Yellow Sect in Inner Mongolia, and has always been with the king.

At this Privy Council meeting, as in previous years, Ye Zhao once again reiterated his territorial claims to Siberia after circulating various economic indicators of the empire, so that all members of the Privy Council were psychologically prepared for an all-out war with Russia.

On the second day, Ye Zhao led all the Privy Council scholars to Tianjin by train to board the Regent.

On the train back to Beijing, Ye Zhao specially ordered the white imam and Jebtsundamba to sit beside him and inquire about religious matters in Xinjiang Province and Outer Mongolia.

Speaking of the railway that Outer Mongolia is preparing to start construction, Ye Zhao said to Jebzundamba: "The tools and sharp weapons in the world can be regarded as a great freedom given to mortals. ”

Jebtsundamba sighed softly and said, "Your Majesty, with the Russian sword, the four departments of Outer Mongolia bear the brunt. ”

Ye Zhao said: "The master is merciful, but I promise you that I will never let the Russians commit murder in my territory." Fighting for Siberia is also a long-term peace and stability plan, otherwise, the Rakshasa people will not die, and sooner or later the disaster will be delayed. ”

Jebtsundamba is combined," the emperor said. ”

Seeing that the white imam kept wanting to speak and stopped, Ye Zhao smiled and said, "Why is the national teacher so difficult to talk about? I told you a long time ago that you can ask me for advice on everything, and my ears are not able to pretend to be comfortable. ”

The white imam stroked his chest and said: "The emperor forgives the sin, the unfilial grandson Afaf arrived in the Jingshi, and said that there is something to bring to the emperor, the old immortal grandson is ridiculously tight, the emperor does not need to pay attention, if she did not force me to swear before Allah, I would not dare to disturb the holy driver." ”

Afaf? Ye Zhao was stunned, and a beautiful Muslim girl in snow clothes appeared in front of him, covering her face with a white veil, revealing only a pair of eyes that were brighter than the stars in the sky.

"Coming to Yanjing?" Ye Zhao immediately knew that he was a little out of shape, in the eyes of these people, he was a little different, and they didn't know where to think of it.

"Ming said to call her to the palace...... Forget it," Ye Zhao waved his hand and said, "Where does she live now?" I'll just ask someone to pick her up. ”

The white imam bowed and said, "Yes, Afaf is staying in the worship temple. ”

Ye Zhao snorted, knowing that the mosque was a mosque, and said, "It turns out that the mosque in the inner city is inlaid with white flags and tofu lane, right?" ”

Returning to the capital, near noon on the second day, Ye Zhao sent Urden, the deputy head of the guard who knew Afaf, to pick up Afaf at the worship temple.

And when he wanted to come to Afaf, he must have been surprised to see that he was taken to a temple, and when he saw Ye Zhao in the meditation room, the surprise in his bright eyes could not be hidden.

This is the Xianliang Temple, also in the original inlaid white flag city, this is the palace of Yunxiang, the thirteenth son of Kangxi, after the death of Yunxiang, respect his last wish to house the temple, because of its proximity to the imperial city, many officials from other provinces in the previous dynasty entered Beijing to report their work and lived here.

Ye Zhao gave 100 silver dollars and won the opportunity to entertain friends with food in the quiet meditation room.

Seeing Afaf enter the meditation room, Ye Zhao smiled and said, "Long time no see, Afaf, hello." "Although I didn't encounter a real danger, but I can also use birth and death to describe the friendship between the two, in this Central Plains civilized place, a place of drunkenness, in Beijing, seeing Afaf, it feels like a world away.

Afaf stroked his chest and bowed slightly: "Hello, Emperor." ”

Ye Zhao smiled, and said in his heart that the white imam bowed when he saw me, this little Muslim was very arrogant.

Ye Zhao beckoned to her and said, "Come, sit down, come to Yanjing City, I have to entertain you well, but I don't know what you taboo, and I'm afraid that Jingshi's return to the hotel will be fake, which will make you feel troubled. ”

Afaf was stunned, her surname was extremely conservative, every time she met this emperor of the Central Plains, she was often disturbed by his messy style of acting and didn't know how to react, walked to the wooden couch, Si Swenwen took off her snow-white little boots, sat cross-legged on the futon opposite, and said: "You don't need to be like this, I brought dry food." ”

Ye Zhao smiled: "Is it a hard steamed bun that can break out teeth?" ”

At this time, Afaf cautiously and cautiously took out a purple brocade bag from the small burden and pushed it in front of Ye Zhao.

Ye Zhao said: "Aren't you coming to Yanjing City?" As he spoke, he opened the bag and asked, "What is this?" You sent me? ”

Afaf said, "I want to come and see it." Seeing Ye Zhao's casual appearance, he said, "I thought you could guess it, Sister Gul Shayir asked me to bring it to you." ”

Ye Zhao couldn't help but scratch his head a little, the subtext of Afaf was naturally that he had forgotten Sister Gulishayir so quickly.

Flipping through the inner and outer three layers of the brocade bag, there was a wisp of green silk inside, Ye Zhao was stunned, and he couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable in his heart, thinking of Gul Xiayir's tearful appearance, he sighed softly. But after thinking about it, something was wrong, and then I was a little annoyed, Gul Shayer, this girl, needless to say, knows, deliberately makes herself troublesome, I don't know who I learned from, Qingsi flirtation, that means don't forget me, remember me who is lonely.

It is estimated that this girl is still snickering when she cuts her braids, with her surname, she will not be so childlike, and her heart will only be buried in her heart, and she is speeding around the prairie, and the little depression caused by the so-called feelings has long flown away, not to mention, just like that tough look, she doesn't know whether she likes people or not.

This is teasing yourself, right? Ye Zhao thought helplessly.

"Dead girl, don't let me catch you." Ye Zhao muttered, casually threw the "green silk" aside, and caught a glimpse of the dissatisfaction in Afafu's eyes out of the corner of his eye. Thinking about it, Afaf thought that he and Gulshail had a skin-to-skin relationship, but he was so ruthless and unlucky.

Ye Zhaozi will not explain, at this time, the guards sent Zhai dishes, a large plate of Luohan Zhai, two bowls of white rice, and melons and fruits.

The temple is extremely famous in the capital, mushrooms, mushrooms, straw mushrooms, white fungus, elm fungus, yellow fungus, osmanthus fungus, fresh lotus seeds, etc. are cooked, the color and fragrance are complete, the index finger is moved when you smell it, it is smooth and soft to use, and the fragrance is fused.

"It tastes good, right?" Ye Zhao asked with a smile.

Afaf nodded slightly.

Ye Zhao said again: "How did you learn the English books I sent you?" Seeing that she has a talent for language, I once gave her an English study book, and explained to her how to pronounce the phonetic alphabet, but I also know that no one around me speaks English, and there will be no achievements just by relying on this textbook.

Afaf muttered a few words, Ye Zhao took a long time before she understood, she said in English: "Learning, very, difficult." ”

The pronunciation was extremely strange, Ye Zhao wanted to burst into laughter, barely held back, and said: "Since you came to Yanjing, I will live more and send you to the Tongwen Museum for further study, where there are many professors of Chinese." ”

Afaf said, "I'll go back with my grandfather." After a pause, he said, "I'll go back after the train." "Obviously, I am still very curious about the train that Ye Zhao said.

Ye Zhao smiled slightly and said, "I'll take you to sit in a while." "Afaf came on horseback, and he would not have deposited his horse in a city connected to a train, and then changed to a train to come to the capital.

After thinking about it, Ye Zhao said: "But it's not okay to go back, I'll tell Mr. Bai when I go back, leave you to help, you studious surname, put it in the Western Regions, but it will bury you." ”

He also said: "Sensei said the train, now the car can come out, I will take you around tomorrow, and there are photos you took with Hanahime and Iori, I forgot to bring it when I went back to the Western Regions last time, and I will send it to you when I go back." ”

Ye Zhao spoke like a cannonball, and Afaf didn't know how to answer for a while, and asked, "Are Hanahime and Iori okay?" ”

Ye Zhao smiled: "It's all right, I'll take you to see them later." And he said, "Don't talk about it, let's eat." ”

The bamboo shadows outside the window, the wooden table futon in the meditation room, and the conservative and pious Muslim girl eating food, Ye Zhao couldn't help but laugh when he thought about it carefully, and he made a mess by himself, and he could do anything.

(To be continued)