Exploring Shangzhou (America) was a plan that had been made for a long time, and the fleet of the Tang Kingdom had been exploring northward for the past twenty years, and its footsteps had reached as far as the Arctic Ocean.

It's just that it's too cold over there, so I just turned around and came back, and no one crossed the strait to go to the legendary Shangzhou.

Today, Wenyi officially organized an expedition to the opposite side of the continent to find the legendary Shang Zhou.

The scale of this fleet is not large, only five ships and more than 600 people, but although the sparrows are small and have all kinds of organs, everyone can be said to have unique skills.

Doctors, cooks, soldiers, merchants, craftsmen...... There are even Taoist priests.

The materials and equipment are also very complete, books, medicines, entertainment measures, etc. are the best, and the most important thing is that there are canned food, which is not known how many times better than the conditions during the European Voyage of Discovery.

But even so, this kind of pioneering expedition is extremely dangerous, and it is not an exaggeration to say that nine deaths are a lifetime.

That's why Wen Yi personally saw them off and erected a monument for them. Regardless of the final outcome, their deeds should be remembered by all Chinese people.

The emperor personally saw them off and erected a monument for them, which is indeed very inspiring. The group of warriors all raised the idea of dying for their confidants, and set out on a long voyage.

Wen Yi stood on the shore and watched them leave. Dozens of warships of the North Sea Fleet escorted them, and hundreds of artillery guns fired in unison to see them off.

Wang An, who had been officially transferred to the North Sea Fleet as a general, said on the side: "Your Majesty, rest assured, the warship will always escort them to Hojo Island (Hokkaido)." ”

"There are also many supply points that we have left on the road for thousands of miles, and we will not encounter any trouble all the way to the Tongzhou Strait."

The Tongzhou Strait is the Bering Strait in the previous life, and it was named the Tongzhou Strait because it connected the two continents.

Previously, the fleet of the Tang Kingdom had already groped for this place, and marked the points on the map where they could get supplies. As long as the expedition team follows the map, they will not have much trouble before crossing the strait.

Wen Yi said: "What I'm worried about is that after they reach the other side, I hope those descendants of Yin Shang will not be too barbaric." ”

Wang An didn't know what to say, he crossed the ocean to contact a group of complete strangers, how dangerous it was to imagine, and he could only pray that they would come back alive.

Fortunately, Wen Yi is not the kind of sentimental person, he recovered quickly, and then turned around in Port Arthur.

Wen Yi said: "How about it, this place is not bad as a fleet base, right?" ”

Wang An complimented: "It's not bad, this is simply the most suitable place for a naval base I have ever seen." Your Majesty has a unique eye......"

Wen Yi interrupted him and said, "Okay, okay, don't be a sycophant, build this place well." It will not only be used as a naval base, but will also become the most important shipbuilding base. ”

"If you can, you need to build a large port to allow merchant ships to dock...... Of course, these are future plans, and they may not be realized for decades. ”

"But as decision-makers, we need to have a long-term vision, and we need to take these things into account when designing and planning ports, so as not to have to toss more in the future."

Wang An said: "Yes, I will follow His Majesty's teachings. ”

Wen Yi asked again, "How many people are there here now?" ”

Wang An said: "Not much, only 15,000 households and less than 50,000 people. However, the Dongning shipyard is going to move here, and there are more than 20,000 people with their families......"

"In addition, the household department has transferred 5,000 households from the south, and the total population can reach about 100,000 in one year."

Wen Yi said: "100,000 people are far from enough, but the world has been in turmoil for many years, the people are not able to make a living, the total population has plummeted, and there is a shortage of people everywhere." ”

Wang An said: "If there is no Your Majesty, I don't know how long this turmoil will last." ”

Wen Yi shook his head with a smile and said, "100,000 people is already the greatest support that the imperial court can give here, and if you want more people, you can only encourage childbearing...... Medical care is a top priority. ”

Wang An said: "This is a matter of the administrative system, and it is difficult for our military to interfere." ”

Wen Yi said: "People can't be suffocated to death by urine, and the military and civilians have forgotten about the fish and water?" The army helps the people to work, and by the way, they popularize health knowledge, and then let the military doctors help the people treat diseases...... It's all possible. ”

"Now that everything is left to be done, we must mobilize all our forces to restore production and population."

Wang An said: "Yes, the minister understands, so he will order." ”

Wen Yi looked up to the sky and sighed: "In the blink of an eye, I am already nearly forty years old, and half of my body has been buried in the ground. ”

……

It is impossible for the population of the world to double dramatically, let alone double, and it will be difficult for hundreds of thousands of people.

Now it is not the land that restricts the development of the Tang Kingdom, but the population. The population of the original Yan State was more than 9.5 million, the Jin State was 11 million, and the Tang State was 4.5 million, adding up to only about 25 million people.

It sounds like a lot, but if you look at the size of the country, you can see that there are too few people. On average, it is estimated that there are three or four people per square kilometer, and it is not an exaggeration to say that the land is vast and sparsely populated.

But there is really no way to do this thing about population, it can only be born slowly. Without two or three generations, it is impossible to recover, and it may take a hundred years to break 100 million.

This is also if we ensure that medical conditions reduce the mortality rate from childbirth, otherwise the rate will only be slower.

But on the other hand, there are also advantages to fewer people, and the car is good to turn around. It is much easier to renovate 20 million people than 200 million people.

Wen Yi stayed in Lushun until the end of April, not because of anything important, mainly to wait for Xie Daoyun and his party. According to the plan, they should also arrive in the next few days.

In Lushun, he was not idle these days, and personally participated in the design of a modern military camp. This barracks was not for the docking of wooden sailboats, but for the preparation of future steamships and even ironclads.

The shipyard has also made some new designs that are far ahead of the times, such as several 10,000-ton docks.

In the previous life, 10,000-ton ships were too common, but in this era it is science fiction...... At least ten or twenty years will not be able to build such a large ship.

But Wen Yi still insisted on getting the 10,000-ton dock out, not for anything else, but just to motivate the craftsmen of the shipyard.

Don't be satisfied with the moment, look ahead, see these docks? That's what the next step is for.

The appearance of the 10,000-ton dock has indeed inspired many people, but the most stimulated are the officers and men of the naval division, who can't wait to see what such a ship is like.

It is believed that the craftsmen of the shipyard of the future will often be urged by them.

The team led by Xie Daoyun arrived in Bohai Bay as scheduled, and Wen Yi joined her at sea by boat, and then returned to the northern capital together.

On the way, he could obviously notice that Xie Daoyun had changed a little, and he no longer opened his mouth and closed his mouth about government affairs, but chatted with him about some parents and harem matters.

Although he didn't know what was going on, he liked the change.

Chai Miao naturally came with her, it was impossible for her to go to work with Wen Yuan, there was no such rule. For his granddaughter, Wen Yi likes it from the bottom of his heart.

The little guy has grown up, and she is very good-looking: "This girl looks like Xiao Miao, and she will be beautiful in the future." ”

Chai Miao glanced at the opportunity and said, "Father, Princess Dongning's title is too heavy, I'm afraid she can't afford it." Could you please take back your fate and give her another one? ”

Wen Yi said: "She is the head of the third generation of the Tang Dynasty, that is, women are not allowed to be emperors in the world, otherwise she will be the future emperor, what can she not afford?" Don't listen to those people chewing their tongues. ”

Chai Miao said happily: "Yes, I listen to you." ”

The little girl still recognized her life, and after a while, her mouth opened open, and Wen Yi had to return her to Chai Miao. Immediately, a nurse came to take over and took her away.

When everyone left, Wen Yicai sighed: "Time flies so fast, before we know it, we have all become grandparents." ”

Xie Daoyun also said with deep feelings: "Yes, twenty years have passed in the blink of an eye, and everything you said back then has been fulfilled." ”

Wen Yi said gratefully: "Thanks to your assistance, otherwise it wouldn't have gone so smoothly." ”

Xie Daoyun smiled: "This is what I should do, you are my husband, and it is natural to help you." Besides, I have also been duly rewarded, and now no one in the world envies me. ”

Wen Yi said with a smile: "Not only now, but in the future, future generations will envy us when they mention us." ”

Xie Daoyun said yearningly: "I hope so, I may not be able to help you in my career in the future, I can only help you take care of the harem, don't dislike me." ”

Wen Yi said: "What you said is too modest, you have always been responsible for medical construction, and without you, you would not have your current achievements." ”

"In the future, you will need to worry more about this aspect, and it is not a simple matter to establish a medical system covering nearly 30 million people (including the three kingdoms of the Qin and Liang dynasties)."

Xie Daoyun felt a lot better in his heart, and said: "As long as you are not afraid of other people's opinions, I don't have any opinions." ”

Wen Yi said: "Have we received less criticism along the way? Let them go, history will tell. ”

The couple reached a tacit understanding in a few words, and everything was business as usual. will not change his course just because he won the world, and ask Xie Daoyun to put down everything and return to the harem.

Wen Yi also has a deep plan to do this, if you want to make the world develop better, you must loosen some of the shackles on women.

Although he promoted new ideas in the Tang Kingdom, women were still not accepted by the public to come out to work.

For so many years, female officials have mainly concentrated in the medical system and the academic and political system, which is still because Xie Daoyun is in charge of the former, and Shui Liu is in charge of the latter.

If you change the heads of these two departments, you will be back to the original shape in seconds.

So no matter what aspect you think about, Wen Yi will not take back the power in Xie Daoyun's hands, and her identity itself is the best example.

Even the queen herself came out to work, which is a huge encouragement to women and can also silence many conservatives.

And Xie Daoyun and Shui Liu can also support each other, if one side retreats, the remaining party will really fight alone, and the situation will be even worse.

It was another busy job to return to the palace, and it was at this time that Wen Yi knew that Xie Daoyun had also transported the big carp back.

A large boat of more than 20 meters was specially renovated to transport water from the north to Dongning, and after the big carp adapted to the water quality, it was put on the boat to be raised, and then waited until the weather in the north warmed up before setting off to transport it.

Wen Yi didn't like this kind of toss very much, but there was nothing to say about it.

There is a small pond in the Northern Capital Palace, covering an area of five acres, and it is still connected to living water...... As for whether the fish can survive or not, it depends on its own life.

……

The collective migration over there in Dongning and the arrival of the harem family made Wenyi's life lively. At least not every day is work, work, work.

Now after work, he can go to the harem to accompany his wife and children, and his children are all older, and few are willing to let him accompany him, and they all feel uncomfortable playing with him.

But the concubine likes to be with him very much, talk about the wind and snow, and by the way, take advantage of the fact that she can still move now, and do something she loves to do.

Time passed imperceptibly, and soon it was the end of the year, and the relocation of the capital was officially completed. The construction of the northern capital is also nearing completion, and the final sweeping work remains.

100,000 families who migrated from all over the world also moved into it, so that the city finally had the atmosphere of fireworks.

This year, the Tang State did not launch a major war with the outside world, and continued to engage in internal construction and immigration work.

The land reform and two years of recuperation have allowed the people to regain their vitality, and basically every family has two years of surplus food.

And because the Tang State tore down the village walls, relaxed the restrictions on personal freedom, and did not prohibit commercial circulation, a large number of rural bazaars began to form.

The only fly in the ointment is that there are still too few types of commodities, most of which are agricultural products.

The tax department, which has already been established, finally has a place to use.

It's just that they don't go to collect taxes but go to the field to investigate the real situation of private business, so as to set the tax rate in a targeted manner.

As the so-called warehouse is honest and knows etiquette, and the people who have enough food and clothing know honor and disgrace, and the people who have surplus food at home to fill their stomachs have also begun to think about their own clothes.

Although the people were still more accustomed to self-sufficiency, cotton had not yet become popular, and it was a little too late to spin and weave linen at home, so many people moved their minds to buy it.

In this way, a wave of cloth business was also promoted slightly, and a large number of unsalable cotton cloth was emptied of the Tang State Textile Factory.

The canneries jointly run by the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Commerce also launched their products long ago, and sales were not good at first, but as the people gradually became richer, sales began to rise.

But for the people, this is still a luxury, only during the New Year's holidays relatives and friends will buy a little as a gift, and it is the most handy gift.

Sweaters and cotton clothes also sell well, and as mentioned earlier, it was a big problem for ancient people to protect themselves from the cold before cotton was popularized.

Rich families can rely on fur, but what about the poor people? That's really all sorts of things, all kinds of means.

Those who have kapok use kapok, and those who don't have kapok stuff relatively fine velvet grass into their clothes and quilts, and bury themselves in the grass chop when it is too cold in winter.

Don't ask if there are lice or bugs, or if you have allergies, the most important thing is to survive.

And now that the conditions at home have improved, it is natural to want to get a few decent cotton clothes and quilts, and trade and cotton clothes have become the first choice.

Moreover, the imperial court also took advantage of this wave of opportunities to promote cotton to the people, no need for much, each family allocated two or three points of land to plant cotton is enough for the whole family to use, and the rest can be sold for money.

In addition to food and clothing, the house is also a top priority.

In the past, most of the people had no place to stand, and the land where they lived belonged to the landlord, and when people died, they could only be buried in mass graves, and they were not qualified to build houses.

Now that he has his own land and surplus food, he naturally wants to build a house of his own.

In short, the whole country of Tang has entered the vigorous mass production, and everything looks so beautiful.

It's a different story next door.

Although this year is another bumper harvest, Fu Jian can't smile at all.