With granular smokeless gunpowder and colloidal explosives, Fang Xiaoyu immediately ordered the weapons factory in Tongjiang Mansion to replace the bullets and shell charges, and at the same time passed this formula to the Wild Continent, asking them to put it into production immediately, and the new machine gun that had just been modified according to the Vickers machine gun was also named by Fang Xiaoyu as the Type 90 heavy machine gun and began to be put into trial production in small batches. As for the bullet manufacturing plant of Lanting Villa, which was used exclusively for sale, black powder continued to be used.

With these two charges and the new cannon steel made by the steel mill relying on the new steel process formula that Xiaofeng had just researched, the new artillery in the artillery laboratory began to be tested, and at the same time, Fang Xiaoyu began to ask Einstein's laboratory to study high-power electric motors, so as to replace the mechanical rotation system used in the warship gun emplacements with electric systems in the future.

Time flies quickly, and in the blink of an eye, another year has passed, the Chinese Territory and the Army of the Wild Continent have basically completed the rearmament, and the first five cruisers named by Fang Xiaoyu as 'Tongjiang' class cruisers have begun to serve one after another, due to the lack of sailors, Fang Xiaoyu not only transferred a large number of merchant sailors but also borrowed some people from the Imperial Navy.

Zhang Si, Sun Xiaohu, and several other young people who studied at the Naval Academy for two years served as captains of various ships after graduation, and the Chinese Territorial Fleet was initially established.

Although the personnel experience is very poor, Fang Xiaoyu spares no effort in investing in the navy, and each ship has been training and sailing in the open sea all year round. Actual combat shooting was often carried out, and the cost of shells and barrel replacement made East China often complain.

The fleet of the Chinese Collar does cost a little more, but the return on such a large investment is also very rich, and the technical and tactical level of the naval soldiers has been rapidly improved.

In addition to the five cruisers, three shallow gunboats for coastal defense also joined the active service, and were organized as the reserve fleet of the Chinese Consulate, training sailors for the main fleet, and on the other hand, they were responsible for anti-smuggling and defense duties, and of course they often joined the cruiser's live-fire artillery exercises.

In January 892 of the Taiyuan calendar, the three ironclad ships built for the imperial navy completed the most resounding sea trials and joined the active service, in order to show the strength and deter the increasingly rampant Japanese navy, Xiahou Min led the imperial first fleet with three ironclad ships as the main force, plus the two previously purchased waist gun room ironclad ships and fifteen large wooden three-masted warships surrounded by forty-three wooden clippers to conduct an actual combat exercise on the high seas.

The huge bodies, huge main guns, and speeds of up to fifteen knots of the three new ironclad ships made the eyes of the naval attachés from all over the world who came to visit the world shine brightly.

The military attache of the Yaman Empire's embassy who came to visit called it "the first-class ironclad ship in the world", and even the observers of the Saar Empire had to admit that none of the warships of the Saar Empire's navy were its opponents.

After receiving the news that the new ironclad ship of the Lanfang Empire had entered service, the Japanese Navy immediately restrained its usual arrogance a lot, and at the same time urged Bai Laoyi to complete the construction of the new ironclad ship as soon as possible.

Three months later, the restless Saar Empire and the Nantes Empire simultaneously announced the expansion of the Eastern Continental Fleet in the Strait of Malacca, sending four of the newest ironclad ships there, bringing the number of ironclad ships of the Eastern Continental Fleet of the two countries to more than fifteen for the first time, bringing the total to seventeen.

The reaction of the two major naval powers made Xiahou Min find himself a little reckless, and actually let the Saar Empire and the Nantes Empire regard themselves as great enemies, in order to ensure safety, Xiahou Min had to take the empire's strongest First Fleet to be stationed in Quanzhou Port in Jiuhua County in case of accidents.

All the five ironclad ships were brought over, and at the same time, Xiahou Min gritted his teeth and placed an order for five new ironclad ships for Fang Xiaoyu's shipyard again to strengthen his strength.

At this time, Fang Xiaoyu was sitting comfortably on the recliner while listening to the work report of the East China Trip, while eating the grapes that Elena peeled for him. has been a bodyguard by Fang Xiaoyu's side for nearly five years, and the relationship between Elena and Fang Xiaoyu has become closer and closer, from not liking to talk at the beginning to almost becoming Fang Xiaoyu's full-time nanny.

Hua Dongxing looked at Elena, who was still carefully peeling the grape skin, and didn't say anything, he believed that Fang Xiaoyu was measured, after all, his two fiancées were the two daughters of the Xia family, and they couldn't be offended easily.

Fang Xiaoyu squinted his eyes and asked, "How are the preparations for this year's spring sowing work?" Hua Dongxing said: "It's not bad, but our grain output last year was enough for all the 4.3 million people to eat for five years. Soybeans for oil extraction and sugar beets for sugar production are now in high demand. ”

Fang Xiaoyu nodded and said: "It is true that there should be more cash crops, but grain planting should not be less, at least more than half of the land must be planted with grain, and at the same time, it is still the same as last year's planting pattern, one season of rice and one season of winter wheat, potatoes are still planted in the alpine areas of the goblin territory, and corn is still planted in the arid areas of the dwarf territory." ”

Hua Dongxing said strangely: "Young master, why are we planting so much food?" Fang Xiaoyu said with a smile: "Of course it is for sale, I want to comprehensively suppress the price of grain within the empire, not to mention that the Xia family's Loulan County grows cotton for us, but we promised to provide it with affordable grain, but we can't break our promise." ”

Hua Dongxing said: "It is normal to provide food to Loulan County, after all, our newly built textile mills rely on other people's cotton supply. In addition, I also supply a large amount of grain to Tubo County at a low price according to your instructions, but there is still too much grain, and besides, what good will it do us to suppress the price of grain in the empire? ”

Fang Xiaoyu said with a smile: "Who do you say is the largest grain supplier in China?" Huadong replied without hesitation: "Of course, it is the Cheng family, they control forty percent of the country's cultivated land, many of which are high-quality land in the southwest counties and the Central Plains, and the grain production is very high. ”

Fang Xiaoyu said: "That's right, I suppressed the price of grain just to make the Cheng family lose money." As soon as they lost too much, they had to cut their hands and sell slaves to break even. ”

Huadong said: "But what if they buy a lot of grain and hoard it and raise the price? Fang Xiaoyu smiled: "Is my money less?" I can buy grain from Siam and other places and sell it to him, if he buys too much, isn't he afraid that I will copy the old nest of Huitong Money Village like he did back then? "It dawned on me when I traveled to East China.

Fang Xiaoyu said: "Now our industry is getting bigger and bigger, the manpower is getting less and less, and the source of slaves is decreasing day by day, and in the past three months, we have sent less than 100,000 slaves to the Wild Continent. There are a large number of people who are tied to the land, as long as the Cheng family sells slaves, it must be us and the Xia family to take over, and when the time comes, we can lower the price, buy a large number of slaves, and send them to the wild continent for development. ”

Hua Dongxing said with a smile: "Young master is really a good strategy, I'm afraid that the Cheng family will see you selling a lot of grain, and they will definitely be afraid that they will be like back then, and they will definitely not dare to buy it, but they don't want to be your plan in this way." Fang Xiaoyu said with a smile: "This is called the east and west, so that he can't figure it out." ”

Huadong said: "However, grain merchants have always been rich, and the Cheng family is even more wealthy, and if they are suppressed from grain prices, it will not be possible to do it in a year or two." ”

Fang Xiaoyu nodded and said: "I also know that this matter is not easy to be in a hurry, let's take it slowly, and in addition, let Zhao Quan keep an eye on them, and need to guard against the Cheng family's retaliation." ”

While the two were talking, Sun Huaizong walked in and said, "Young Master, El, Anglo, and Browning Hammer are here again. Fang Xiaoyu said: "What are they doing here?" ”

Sun Huaizong said with a smile: "It's not that they want to merge into the Chinese Territory as soon as possible, they are not surprised to see the five prefectures of Tongshan County develop so quickly." ”

Fang Xiaoyu frowned and pondered: "Now merging the entire Northern Subcontinent into it is afraid that it will touch the nerves of the Cossack Empire, what if they come to attack?" We had to find an opportunity to destroy the fleet of the Japanese in order to concentrate on the Cossack Empire. ”

Fang Xiaoyu was saying when a voice sounded from outside the door: "Young master, don't worry, this battle is about to start" Fang Xiaoyu looked up and saw that Zhao Quan was walking into the courtyard.

Hua Dongxing smiled: "You have the longest ears, and you can hear our conversation outside the courtyard." Zhao Quan smiled: "I also just arrived, isn't this here to send information to the young master." ”

Zhao Quan said while handing a piece of information to Fang Xiaoyu: "The Wa Kingdom is mobilizing materials to step up preparations for war, and at the same time, I have also received information that the two new cruisers 'Yoshino' and 'Naniwa' built by the Saar Empire for the Wa Kingdom have set sail and returned to China, and they just passed through the Sinai Canal yesterday and have reached the coast of the Chhanxi Kingdom, and it is estimated that they will be able to return to China within a month." ”

Fang Xiaoyu frowned and said, "Can these two warships really reach a high speed of twenty-three knots?" Zhao Quan said: "According to the information that came back, the 'Yoshino' can be reached, while the 'Naniwa' has only twenty-one knots due to the increase in the caliber of the main gun and the reduction of two boilers. ”

Fang Xiaoyu asked eagerly, "Have you sent back the detailed data of these two warships?" Zhao Quan said: "The main data is available, but it is not very detailed. ”

Fang Xiaoyu said: "Say it quickly." Zhao Quan took out another intelligence report: "These two cruisers belong to the same class, of which the 'Yoshino' has a displacement of 4,267 tons, a speed of 23 knots, four main guns of 152 mm breech guns, and eight secondary guns of 128 mm. The Naniwa had a displacement of 4,119 tons, a speed of 21 knots, four 254-mm guns for the main gun and six 152-mm guns for the secondary guns. In addition, they were armed with torpedoes, which had just been invented by the Saar Empire. ”

"Torpedo?" Listening to Zhao Quan's report, Fang Xiaoyu almost jumped up, he couldn't imagine that the Western Continent had invented a torpedo so quickly, it seemed that the development speed of this world was really fast, which made him, the person who owned the chip, have a sense of urgency.