At the end of May, the returning fleet finally arrived in the Bay Area, and the news of the gradual outbreak of the plague in the southern continent had reached the heavens.

The stakes are very high, Zhang Yun hardened his head, and came to the balcony on the second floor of Villa No. 1 under the gaze of Concubine Shu's strange eyes.

"Your Majesty, how are you doing today?" Zhang Yun stood a meter behind Wang Xuan and asked softly.

"Premier Lao was worried, and this morning I drank two bowls of porridge, ate a steamed bun, two plates of side dishes, and an egg. The voice came through the white translucent curtains that were as thin as cicada's wings.

Zhang Yun took a step forward, opened the curtain and came to Wang Xuan's side, "Your Majesty is auspicious, Your Majesty is auspicious!"

Listening to the compliments that had not yet arrived, Wang Xuan smiled naturally.

Since his condition improved, he seems to be particularly easy to laugh.

In the past, when he encountered troubles, he would reveal some thoughts in his heart, so that people could judge his mood based on his expression.

Now he can't, as if he has seen through the red dust, seen through everything, as if nothing can make him worry, joy and anger are a color.

"Something, I still have half an hour, or you'll have to wait for tomorrow. ”

Zhang Yun knew His Majesty's recent situation, and now he could wake up for four or five hours a day, and then sleep until the next morning, and now there was still about half an hour to arrive, so he did not hesitate to hand over the aftermath of the letter.

Wang Xuan took the letter and read it carefully.

Zhang Yun was like an invisible man beside him, and he didn't make a sound.

After reading it twice like this, Wang Xuan folded the letter and said casually: "Come on, take the fire and fold it." ”

An internal guard walked in and handed the fire fold to Wang Xuan, who burned the envelope along with the stationery and sprinkled it downstairs.

"The disasters brought by the Semu people to the natives of the Southern Continent are too heavy, even if we drive them out, the sins they have created will still linger for a long time, and they continue to torment this group of simple and hard-working people. In order to save them from fire and water, Ji Xiang should increase his efforts to improve the overall strength of the navy, and one day find the enemy's lair, and make them pay the price of blood. ”

After thinking about it, Zhang Yun still agreed with His Majesty's words.

This pot can't be carried by anyone.

"The minister understands, the third princess...... I also hope that Your Majesty will not blame her, it is the minister who is happy to be greedy when he sees the hunt, so he adjusts it according to His Majesty's notes, and all the mistakes are the fault of the minister, I hope Your Majesty ......"

Zhang Yun was pleading for Wang Hua, but was interrupted by Wang Xuan's wave.

"It's going to be done sooner or later, but I'm afraid that if I take too big a step, I'll hurt myself, so I'm going to delay it for two years. Since you have done it with the momentum of the strike-hard, no one is right or wrong, and Hua'er has already told me about it, I don't blame her, let alone you. ”

Zhang Yun felt better after listening to His Majesty's bland words, and asked for some painless little things before retiring.

On the first day of June, Wang Xuan woke up as usual.

At this time, Chief of Staff Wang Yu had been waiting in the study for a long time.

"Say, south or north. Wang Xuan found a comfortable position to sit down and began to deal with the long-standing backlog of official documents.

Wang Yu was a little hesitant, but after seeing His Majesty's looking up, he said: "It stands to reason that Cao Wang's fleet should come back by the end of April at the latest, but now it's June, and I'm afraid that there will be a change in it!"

The hand that wrote the opinion suddenly stopped, and Wang Xuan raised his head and stared at Wang Yu, "Cao Wang is familiar with the waterway, and he has a warship to escort him, as long as he is not confused, how can Hu Yue people help him?"

Wang Yu said: "This is also the meaning of the post, but after all, being more than a month late always makes people feel uneasy." ”

Wang Xuan frowned, and said, "Have you ever asked Ambassador Hu Yue?"

"Yes, but the other party insisted that our three ships would return after staying for five days, so it was only then that Cao Wang should arrive in the Bay Area at the end of April. ”

Wang Xuan put down his pen, got up and walked slowly to the floor-to-ceiling window.

Now he can't think as quickly as before, he can only judge by feeling, a little more emotional, a little less rational.

Therefore, he is reluctant to think deeply about more complicated things, and his brain hurts.

Cao Wang's matter is not complicated, depending on his feelings, he is either detained or trapped.

It may or may not be from Hu Yue, and he has no way of knowing who fell to the ground, so he said slowly: "Check!"

Hearing this, Wang Yu stood up and saluted, then turned to leave.

Wang Xuan was the only one left in the study, and at this time, his mind was full of dream scenes, and he had long lost the mind to work.

These days in a coma were his most tormenting days, and he discovered a terrible phenomenon, others were dreaming and talking in their dreams, but he was the opposite, only in his dreams would he be awake, and when he woke up, it was more like in a dream, full of gibberish.

He was upside down with a normal person.

At first, he was trapped in his own world.

It was the world he lived in, where there were friends and family, his parents, brothers and lovers.

For more than a month, he insisted on fast-forwarding eight times to watch a movie, going through his life from beginning to end again, until the first day he came to this world.

That day was also the day when he really woke up, and what he saw was not only the appearance of Qing'er crying when he woke up by the bedside, but also the scene when she entered the door with a wooden basin as a mother.

For more than a month, Wang Xuan saw a lot of confusion and clarity, and it also made him feel more urgent.

Like why he was here in the first place, the bizarre 'dream' life didn't frighten him.

A fish on a chopping board, where there is a qualification to be afraid.

People have left a name and a goose, and now he is no longer the original mentality, and his thoughts have changed, and he has to earn a day.

After Wang Yu left, Wang Xuan stayed quietly alone for a while, and then called Yang Tao.

"Your Majesty looks good today, and if it goes on like this, it will be white and clean again in less than a month. ”

Looking at the stupid big man in front of him, Wang Xuan was crying and laughing, and said, "Go back to your Baicao Town, most of them are immigrants, and you can rest assured that you can pick a child?"

Seeing His Majesty say this, Yang Tao no longer had a hippie smile.

He stiffened his neck and said, "It's not a subordinate to pick a son, and ten hundred herbs are not worth a finger of Your Majesty......"

Wang Xuan was helpless, and said ruthlessly: "What about Yang Wei here, and a group of trustworthy brothers in the country, what are you worried about? Baicao is an important town, and now the foundation is not stable, how can you, the director of the security bureau, leave his post without permission, hurry back, your daughter-in-law in the province is worried." ”

Hearing His Majesty mention his new wife, Yang Tao laughed facelessly and said, "It's tired of being together day and night, so what's the point of being separated for a while." ”

Wang Xuan was so happy that even Qing'er, who came in to add tea to him, was happy.

"Get back in, there's no need for you here. ”

Yang Tao stood up and saluted: "Yes, go back after your job." ”

After saying that, he saluted Qing'er and said, "Concubine Shuniang is hard, you are the greatest lady in the entire kingdom." ”

Qing'er had never heard these nonsense words on weekdays, and said: "There is always no right way to be virtuous with your master." ”

With that, he got up and walked out of the study.

"Retirement. Yang Tao also left.

Wang Xuan said to Yang Wei next to the door: "To activate the second, third, and fourth level intelligence network, I want to know as much external information as possible, and don't make assumptions." ”

Yang Tao answered and walked out of the study.

The auspicious maritime trade business has not been stagnant due to the epidemic in the southern continent, but has grown.

When the sixth wave of supply fleets went south, nearly 10,000 people from other countries who were eager to become naturalized and auspicious were sent to the southern continent.

Most of them traveled alone, and few of them went south with their families, thinking that after gaining a foothold there, they would take their families over and enjoy the blessings.

In addition to the personnel, two more Type 3 steam engines were transported along the way, as well as enough standard muskets to equip two companies.

After all, muskets need to be tested in actual combat, and the Southern Continent is a good place.

The production line of the 404 was halted after the production of 1,200 Type 04 rifles, and the 500 Type 1 rifles in stock were about 1,700 units.

Four hundred new rifles and one hundred old rifles were shipped to the southern continent.

The reason for this combination is that Wang Xuan also wants to see which rifle is more suitable for the current environment.

In addition to people, equipment and guns, the institute also sent nearly 100 researchers to the southern continent, involving various disciplines, including many discipline leaders.

It can be said that the institute has made a lot of money this time, pointing out that these people can be inspired after changing the environment, and suddenly they have enlightenment, so that the research has made a breakthrough.

Less than ten days after the sixth batch of southbound supply fleets departed, the second southbound fleet set off again.

However, this time I went not to the southern continent, but to the uninhabited island and reef located southeast of the central axis of the route.

In addition to an engineer battalion, a squad of great white sharks, ten doctors, and six researchers, there are more than a dozen women from flower boats.

They were the third group of people who were called upon by the government to be relentless, and now they have formed a family with the soldiers of the engineer battalion, and this time they set out with the army on an exception.

Wang Yu thought very simply, the lonely and boring island life, no woman said anything like that.

Besides, with auspicious military discipline, I am not afraid of any chaos.

After all, only ten days away is the Southern Continent.

After the sixth batch of supply ships has finished resting in the southern continent, they will bring natives and grain (specialties) to the transit station, bringing popularity to the local area.

In addition, in order to alleviate the population pressure within the Line of Control in the southern continent, and to make up for the labor shortage caused by the compulsory military system, the returning fleet will bring the natives back to Jixiang in batches.

In addition to making up for the labor vacancies, it can also help them better identify with and learn the auspicious culture, and be proud of being mascots.

After this group of people returns, they will become the seeds of the spread of auspicious civilization, so that auspicious culture will take root in the southern continent.

During this time, the naval shipyard in the Jixiangwan area has recruited three additional batches of skilled technicians, for which Zhao Shengrui no longer dropped expensive porcelain after obtaining the primary artillery, but burned wood instead.

No one knew where this quirk came from, and he even dismantled his bed and burned it.

The skilled workers of the Great Xia military shipyard were almost half less, and they all ran away secretly.

If there is no mascot in the secret, he will not believe it first.

It's a pity that he always can't grasp the other party's handle, which makes him more and more frustrated every time.

The pride and ambition to develop the first type of artillery was also consumed by a series of blows.

Gao Jin didn't complain much this time, in his opinion, the King of Great Xia had matured a lot, at least learned to be patient, and no longer seemed to be as hot as before, when he couldn't stand any grievances.

People have to learn to grow up.

On 15 June, Wang Xuan arrived at the Hunan Navy Port in a hurry.

A strange-looking, twenty-meter-long, jet-black iron ship with a waterline height of about two meters stopped in the harbor, waving in circles.

"Your Majesty, this is the ironclad ship that we have been studying for nearly half a year, but it looks a little ugly, but it is very solid. Liao Qun, chief engineer of the shipyard, said.

Wang Xuan followed the ladder and got on the boat.

It's a mystical feeling.

Although there is still a wooden deck underfoot, it makes people feel steady, as if they are still stepping on land.

"The hull of this ship is riveted, and more than 200 steel plates of different sizes are shared, which are designed in advance and molded to dock with other steel plates, so that there is also a watertight compartment in the cabin, even if the outer steel plate is destroyed and the lake water backs up, the other side can still maintain the balance of the boat after the water is filled. ”

Liao Qun's words made Wang Xuan very interested, so he asked curiously: "Isn't this ship made of wood as a skeleton and lined with steel plates?"

Liao Qun said with some pride: "This is the same idea, but with the deepening of the design, we gradually found that it may be feasible to use pure steel keel, so after a feasibility analysis, combined with the current molding technology, we decided to give it a try." ”

Wang Xuan didn't interrupt and was very patient as an observer.

"We first built a one-to-one concrete boat, and then the technicians surveyed the site and measured the dimensions of each rivet, not missing even a single rivet. ”

Speaking of this, Liao Qun was a little embarrassed, "We don't have so many arithmetic talents, and we can't calculate those complex data, so we can only use this local method." ”

Wang Xuan didn't laugh, this is a kind of reverse deduction, which can inspire people's thinking the most.

Liao Qun continued: "Once we had the dimensions, we were looking at which parts could be molded in one go on the largest possible scale, and which parts needed to be molded separately considering strength and ease of maintenance and disassembly. After nearly a month of research, analysis and design, and after absorbing the suggestions of the technical personnel of the steel mill and the shipyard, the plan was finally formed. ”

Hearing this, Wang Xuan had nothing to say.

Although the ship is not large, it can represent no less significance than the advent of the first reinforced concrete battleship.

"You've worked hard, can that type 3 steam engine work?"

"Back to Your Majesty, it can be used, but the power is a little insufficient, plus it is all iron lumps, and it can't run fast. Liao Qun's face was full of helplessness.

"Oh, you can't outrun the Type 2 battleship?" Wang Xuan asked curiously.

If such a small body can't even run a Type 2 battleship, what is the meaning of the steam engine, it is not as real as a sail.

"That's not it, we thought we would run twice as fast, but it was only one and a half times as fast. Liao Qun said something embarrassing, and Wang Xuan's face was full of black lines.

A three-cylinder steam engine that is not a high-pressure boiler is only about 5,000 horsepower, and it is not bad to be able to drive such a large lump of iron to run out of five knots.

Compared to sailboats, steamships do not have to rely on wind and currents to move forward, so there are many routes to choose from.

Ordinary sail and manpower paddle steamer warships from the Bay Area to the southern continent take about 20 days to arrive even if they follow the monsoon.

But if it is a steamer, I am afraid that it will arrive in only 15 days, whether there is wind or not, and there is no current.

The key is not to take the wrong road, and the line segment between two points is the shortest.

Thinking of this, Wang Xuan asked: "How many types of steam engines can be installed in this ship?"

Liao Qun opened his mouth and said: "There are only two at most, and the boiler needs to be reduced." ”

Wang Xuan asked again: "Assuming that the boiler is reduced to a suitable size, how many knots can the ship run by two three-cylinder boilers?"

Liao Qun wrote and drew in his notebook for a while, then raised his head and said to Wang Xuan: "The fastest nine sections, after all, the faster you run, the greater the resistance." ”

Wang Xuan agreed with his statement, if he could build a high-pressure boiler, wouldn't he be able to run more than a dozen sections?

It was too beautiful for him to think about.

"Let's go, let's go for a ride. ”

"Okay, let's go for a ride with Your Majesty. ”

Everyone got on board, and with a puff of black smoke coming out, and with a loud whistle, the auspicious first steel battleship set sail.