India ranks second in the world in arable land, after the United States, with 2.35 billion acres! Rather than going on expeditions to fight the nomadic peoples and the hilly countries of the Middle East, the benefits of capturing the Indian Peninsula are not the same. It would be much better to conquer the Middle East and the Mediterranean coast from there than to go from the Western Regions, where at least food and grass would be supplied from the Indian peninsula.

Everyone nodded slightly, but Yu He was a little worried: "Your Majesty, this Kunlun South Peninsula is tens of thousands of miles away from Daqin, and there are Kunlun high mountains to block it, so it cannot be reached by land. ”

Hearing him say this, Zhang Han continued: "What Doctor Yu Shi said is reasonable, even if our army can capture the Kunlun South Peninsula, how can we occupy it for a long time? It took a long time to transport grain, grass, equipment, and reinforcements by sea, and I am afraid that it will not be sustainable. ”

"It's something that really needs to be carefully considered." I agree.

Their worries are not my worries, the historical lessons of Alexander's expedition to the east cannot but be learned, from the Mediterranean expedition to the Indian Peninsula compared with the Guanzhong expedition in the past, although the distance is not as good, but the mountains and rivers are more obstructive, with the current technical means there is no way to build roads to the past, deep mountains and dense forests can not be conquered by piles of people.

I glanced at Zhao Tuo: "Leave aside the rest for the time being, just talk about the conquest, what does General Zhao think?" ”

Zhao Tuo had been in Lingnan for a long time, and knew best whether the Qin army there could adapt to the local climate, and I hoped that he would say the answer I wanted for himself, and the conquest of the Indian peninsula was not my goal this time.

Zhao Tuo thought about it carefully and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, Lingnan and the Kunlun South Peninsula are basically in line, and the soldiers of Lingnan have adapted to the climate there, and they originally thought that they could make the Lingnan army conquer the Kunlun South Peninsula, but it was just ......."

With a smile on my face, I said slowly, "But it doesn't hurt to say it. ”

Zhao Tuo saw that there was no difference on my face, and continued: "It's just that the emperor ordered 500,000 troops and 300,000 people to conquer Baiyue, and then turned the army into a cantonment and intermarried with local women, hoping to assimilate the Baiyue barbarians. Now more than 20 years have passed, the army has been inextricably linked with the local barbarians, and there are not a few people with many descendants. ”

My eyes narrowed slightly, what Zhao Tuo said was still very reasonable, 800,000 people left in Baiyue to assimilate the local barbarians is one of the great achievements of Yingzheng, if there is no such courage, Baiyue does not know when it will be included in the territory of China.

I waved my hand, "Sit down." ”

Everyone sat down, and I said to Zhao Tuo: "General Zhao, what you said is reasonable. However, 12 warships, even if each warship can accommodate 100 people, but more than 1,000 people, Lingnan has more than 70,000 troops for special battles, and 30,000 people can be dispatched to train water battles, muskets, and copper cannons, 30,000 musketeers, and the help of warships and copper cannons, and it is more than enough to conquer a single Kunlun South Peninsula. ”

Zhao Tuo was stunned for a moment, and said suspiciously: "Your Majesty, there are more than 2,000 soldiers and ministers who are familiar with water warfare, but what are these muskets and copper cannons?" ”

I waved my hand, how can I tell him in detail about this kind of thing, I currently know what these two things look like and how they are used, except for the musket battalion and the three dukes, the rest of the people are locked up in Rewufang, but they just said: "You don't have to ask, I have my own opinions." There was no need for Lingnan to advance to the south, so 30,000 people were dispatched to Panyu to train under the leadership of the partial general Nanshi, and when you returned, I would order the right guard to go with you to read the edict. ”

Zhao Tuo saw that I had already made a decision, how dare I have any different color on my face, and said respectfully: "The minister obeys His Majesty's order!" ”

He also instructed: "The flagship is named Qinnan, the fleet is called the Qinnan Fleet, and a port and lighthouse will be established in Panyu. ”

Li Si was puzzled: "Your Majesty, what is a lighthouse?" ”

I smiled and explained, "You've all seen the Arrow Tower, and the lighthouse is a fire set up on the arrow tower to guide the ships at sea and tell them where the harbor is. The sea is endless, and unlike inland rivers, it is difficult to find a port without a lighthouse. ”

Everyone understood and praised in unison: "Your Majesty is wise! ”

"After this is over, you can go and do other things, the day after tomorrow is the big court, and you have to work hard."

After everyone retreated, I breathed a sigh of relief, the Qin army in the north and the Qin army in Lingnan have been arranged, and then it will be up to us to see if we can advance smoothly.

"Qi Juan, call Yu Jin and Bai Chong."

After a short time, the two of them came together, and after taking a seat, I handed the two of them the drawings I had just drawn: "This thing is called a lighthouse, and it is a building to be built near ports and shipping routes to guide the direction of ships at sea. ”

The drawings were very simple, mainly almost exactly the same as the beacon, and the two of them quickly understood.

Yu Jin arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, this thing is twenty zhang high, and it is on the seaside with strong winds and waves, it must be a brick and stone structure?" ”

I nodded: "That's nature, twenty zhang is not low, the key is to choose the location, if the surrounding is empty, you don't need to deliberately choose a place, but there are many cliffs and mountains on the seaside, so you must build the lighthouse at a high place, otherwise the ship will not notice the lighthouse at sea, because the earth is round, and it is possible that you will not see the lighthouse when you enter the deep sea in the future." ”

Both they and Tai Yue have been exposed to basic astronomy and geography, and now they are able to gradually accept the concept that the earth is a sphere, and can understand what I mean when I say that there is no lighthouse in the deep sea.

Bai Chong was puzzled: "Your Majesty, this lookout, the guard room, and the weather vane can understand it, what does this condenser mean?" And what is the line that connects from the top of the tower? ”

I looked at Yu Jin with a smile and asked, "Yu Jin, you may understand the mystery?" ”

Yu Jin built a telescope, naturally knew the use of the convex lens and the concave lens, but did not understand how this concave lens to achieve concentrating, looking at the drawing on the firelight only to one side, but the glass can be illuminated to both sides, Liang Long embarrassed said: "Your Majesty, forgive the ministers for being stupid, neither of them can see what it is for." ”

I explained to them, "It's a bit of a hassle to make this condenser. Take one or several pieces of glass and splice them into the concave shape in the drawing, coat a layer of tin on the back of the bow, and then apply mercury to form a thin layer of covering, and the front becomes a copper mirror-like mirror, which can achieve concentrating, which can make the fire more concentrated and brighter. ”

"Of course, glass mirrors are not so easy to make, but building a lighthouse is not a short thing, and you still have time to study it slowly. As for the wire connected from the top of the tower, it is made of steel, called a lightning rod, once lightning strikes the lighthouse, the lightning will be transmitted to the earth through the wire, and the lighthouse will not be destroyed. ”

The two of them looked serious, nodded seriously, and said: "The minister understands, after going back, the minister will first make a rough model and present it to His Majesty, and if it is correct, it will be built." ”

The two of them have had the most contact with me, and the knowledge of later generations is also the most learned, and all kinds of strange things have become numb, and now they are accustomed to hearing my commands.