Zhu Jie is right, in the past two years, although the war has continued, but the war has not entered the Ming Dynasty, after more than ten years of accumulation, it is time to exert force.

The economy of the Ming Dynasty has seen a momentum of rapid growth, and the textile industry, the steel industry, and the coal mining industry have all entered the era of industrial production, and the output is amazing.

In the past year, the output of steel is close to one million tons, and the output of coal has also reached millions of tons, which is nothing after three hundred years, any steel mill and coal mining company has such output, but this is in the seventeenth century, when industrialization was just beginning in the seventeenth century, to be able to come up with such an output, almost has accounted for more than half of the world's total output.

A large amount of steel and coal are in a hurry, and the Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry has already exploded, so much coal and iron, how to digest it?

A book was handed over, and Zhu Jie directly gave a solution, the imperial court purchased, purchased steel, began to make steel rails, prepared to lay railways, stored coal, and prepared trains and steam ships for use, and the problem was solved!

As for the oil fields in Tyumen have also entered large-scale exploitation, and it is reasonable to renovate the road into an asphalt road in the future, in addition to these, steam ships have also begun to enter large-scale production, and the orders of maritime merchants are endless, and the power that steam engines can provide is also getting bigger and bigger, and in three or five years at most, ironclad ships equipped with steam wheels can come out.

Today, the annual financial income of the Ming Empire is more than 160 million silver dollars, which is converted into silver, 80 million taels, and it still maintains a growth rate of more than 10% every year.

What's more, Xu Yifan also came up with a plan to further reduce the number of soldiers, retain 300,000 elite forces, as a force barrier for the Ming Empire, and disband, at least more than 300,000 soldiers, close to 300,000 taels of silver per person per year, save 9 million taels of silver at once, and use 9 million taels of silver to continuously improve equipment and weapons, which is simply a bargain.

At the end of the banquet, Zhu Jie left Xu Yifan, Cha Xuan, Tan Guilin, and Xia Wanchun behind, these people have become the most powerful cornerstone of the empire, as for Sun Chuanting and Gao Jie and others, they are gradually getting older, and their vision and ability are already a little unable to keep up, and they will gradually withdraw from the high-level, which is inevitable.

"Yifan, now that the territory of the Ming Empire is getting bigger and bigger, it is not so easy to manage, what do you think?"

Zhu Jie asked.

Xu Yifan's face turned red and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, if you say this, you should ask Brother Li Yan, he is a master of governing the country, why did you ask me?" This is not what the minister is good at......"

Cha Xuan smiled: "Yes, Your Majesty, our buddies are only in charge of the war, as for the territory down, how to divide it, then it is not up to us." ”

"Liu Sili, open the Kunyu map!"

Zhu Jie commanded.

Liu Sili, who was standing on the side, hurriedly called the little eunuch over, opened the Kunyu map, and hung it on the wall.

"Yifan, your treaty has been signed very well, and our control of the entire world map is basically completed, if there is a fly in the ointment, it is that there is still a powerful country in this world, and we have not defeated ......"

Zhu Jie said.

Xu Yifan was shocked and asked, "Your Majesty, are you talking about the Ottoman Empire?" ”

Zhu Jie nodded and replied: "Yes, it is the Ottoman Empire, which is different from the Western countries, which focus on maritime expansion, invade all parts of the world through powerful navies, occupy huge colonies, and provide a steady stream of wealth for their own homeland; But the Ottoman Empire is different, the Ottoman Empire is somewhat similar to the Tsarist Empire, they focus on land expansion, and in the triangle of Europa, Black Africa and the Eastern world, they occupy a vast territory, densely populated, no less than 30 million people, however, they are strong and powerful, but they are already some foreign powers, sooner or later, we need to stretch our palms to where to go! ”

"Why?"

Xu Yifan was puzzled: "They don't interfere with the well water of our Ming Empire, why do you want to deal with them?" ”

Zhu Jie smiled slightly and replied, "It's very simple, this area they control is very important!" ”

"Crucial?"

Xu Yifan frowned, didn't think too clearly, and didn't know what the emperor meant.

Zhu Jie asked: "Then there is a vast land in Black Africa, why don't you want it anywhere else, just ask for a small piece of land like the Cape of Good Hope?" ”

Xu Yifan replied without thinking: "Your Majesty, although the Cape of Good Hope is small, but the location is very important, there is a strategic point from the West to the South Sea, to the Ming Empire, as long as we control the Cape of Good Hope, then we can block the Western fleet in the Atlantic Ocean at any time, so that they cannot enter the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. ”

"But!"

Zhu Jie smiled a little in one place, and said with a smile: "What if I open an opening for him here?" So that warships and merchant ships can cross over from here......"

Xu Yifan's eyes widened, he looked at Zhu Jie incredulously, and said in shock: "Your Majesty, what do you mean to open an artificial river here?" Bridging the Indian Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean? ”

"What? Is it impossible? ”

Zhu Jie said with a smile.

Xu Yifan and Cha Xuan glanced at each other, and their hearts were shocked, this emperor really dared to think about it......

"This narrow Isthmus of Suez, from the eastern section to the western section, the total length is not more than 400 miles, you see, it is just such a short road, it is because of his existence that the Atlantic sea and the Indian Ocean sea are completely cut off, and the West and the East have to go around the Cape of Good Hope to trade, this back and forth, from the northern end of black Africa to the southern end, and back to the northern end, a whole long voyage of at least 20,000 miles, which has brought great inconvenience to our trade and trade, if a canal is built here, However, it will reduce the cost to the merchants too much, and it will also be convenient for us to control the situation in the world, from the Ming Dynasty to the Western Ocean, the voyage can save at least more than a month......"

"This, such an important place!"

Cha Xuan suddenly realized, understood, and said urgently: "Such an important place, our Ming Empire will never allow him to fall into the hands of others, and he must be snatched up!" Mastering here, the benefits brought to Daming every year are unimaginable! ”

(End of chapter)