Zeng Cheng first exchanged a look with Liu Huaiwen and others, then bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I believe that Duke Geng's personal visit is sufficient for the chaotic situation in Tianzhu. How can Your Majesty, the Son of Heaven, easily leave the capital for matters in Tianzhu?"
Liu Huaiwen and other dignitaries also bowed and said, "We concur."
Geng Rui directly cupped his fists and bowed, "Your Majesty, I shall go to Tianzhu and quell the rebellion within three months. If I fail, I shall accept military law!"
Zhu Jinsong, however, shook his head and said, "I am going to Tianzhu not just for the matters of Tianzhu."
Upon hearing Zhu Jinsong's words, Zeng Cheng's face immediately showed a smile of everything being within his grasp. "How about that? Old Zeng didn't misjudge you, did he? You're not going to Tianzhu at all, but to the Ottomans!"
Zhu Jinsong said, "This time when I go to Tianzhu, I don't just plan to go alone, but to bring some Grand Academicians from the Royal Academy to test the effectiveness of the telegraph in Tianzhu."
Zeng Cheng's smile froze. "Your Majesty, the effectiveness of the telegraph can be tested in the capital, or between Jingling and the capital. If that is not enough, you can test it from Guangzhou to Liaodong or even Xin Qin Zhou. Why must you go all the way to Tianzhu to test it?"
"As for the Ottomans, I believe that the butchers from the Right Army Governor's Office are sufficient to handle it. Even if you, Your Majesty, want to chop the Ottoman Sultan into ninety-nine pieces and feed them to the sharks, it is not a problem. But for you to leave the capital so often, this matter..."
Zeng Cheng's words made Zhu Jinsong unable to smile.
Mr. Lu Xun once said, "If you see through it but don't say it, we are still good friends." But for you, Prefect Zeng, to expose my intentions the moment you open your mouth, isn't that a bit too disrespectful?
Besides, I'm just informing you, not asking for your consultation.
Therefore, Zhu Jinsong still slipped away quietly, and he did so with Louis XVI and George III and others, under the guise of training the five benevolent armies in coordinated combat capabilities. xxs
This greatly troubled Zeng Cheng, Zhu Erdan, and other dignitaries.
A dignified Ming Emperor, leaving on a whim, and sneaking away to the remote and impoverished Tianzhu? If anything were to happen, how would the Ming court and the Five Military Governor's Offices explain themselves to the world?
"Immediately, without delay, set off from the capital. No matter what, you must arrive in Tianzhu before my imperial brother."
Zhu Erdan said to Geng Rui with a face full of helplessness, "You are also an old comrade who followed the Emperor from the beginning. You know your imperial brother's character very well."
"If there is nothing going on in Tianzhu, it would be fine. But if someone in Tianzhu offends my imperial brother, perhaps my imperial brother will do something. At that time, you must try to persuade him, understand?"
Geng Rui's face was also filled with helplessness. "I try to persuade His Majesty? Don't you think I can persuade His Majesty with his temper? Let alone me, even you, His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin, how many times did His Majesty beat you when you were young? Everyone within ten miles and eight villages of our Dongshu Town knows about this!"
"Let me not say anything else, just about His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin. When his fiefdom Alaska was renamed Xin Qin Zhou, how did His Majesty deal with you when you went to see him?"
Zhu Erdan's face immediately darkened. "Can we not mention the matter of me being beaten!"
Geng Rui nodded and said, "When you were young, you climbed over people's walls and peeked at young women bathing."
"You stole chickens with His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin."
"Last time we fought, you owed me two hundred artillery shells."
Zhu Erdan snorted, "How about we talk about me being beaten again? However, before we talk about that, I intend to beat you up first!"
Geng Rui quickly stepped back and snorted, "Alright, I have to go to Tianzhu now and don't have time to bicker with you here! As for His Majesty, I will try my best to persuade him, but if I really can't, then you can't blame me."
Zhu Erdan then nodded and said, "Alright, hurry up and go. After all, this matter not only involves my imperial brother, but also George III and Louis XVI. We must not let them make a spectacle of us."
...
Make a spectacle?
Louis XVI and George III had no intention of making a spectacle. Instead, they were so shocked by what they saw that they were speechless.
Ten years ago, Da Ming still needed to import warships from France and England. Even the retired whaling ships from England were on Da Ming's import list.
In just ten years, although Da Ming continued to import warships from Europe, the warship on which Louis XVI and George III were aboard was not imported from England or France, but was manufactured by Da Ming itself.
Of course, if only one warship had been manufactured, Louis XVI and George III would not have been so shocked and bewildered.
But what if most of this ship was made of steel?
This was not as simple as cladding the wooden hull with iron plates.
If it were just a matter of cladding the hull with iron plates, then with the shipbuilding technology of England and France at the time, it was not impossible, it would just take a little more time.
The problem was that most of the warship was made of steel, and there were no traditional oars or sails. In place of the mast, there was a large, black, thick, and long chimney.
Zhu Jinsong happily touched the cannons on the ship and said to Louis XVI and George III, "This warship is named Linyi. Is it not majestic?"
Louis XVI imperceptibly swallowed and gave a thumbs-up, praising, "Indeed, it is majestic and magnificent!"
George III also nodded repeatedly and praised, "This single warship is enough to make the Da Ming navy traverse the four seas. Even in the prime of the Netherlands, they could not match one-tenth of the Da Ming navy."
Louis XVI glanced at George III and sneered, "A mere Netherlands, which has been defeated by the Da Ming navy several times, what is there to say about its prime? If I remember correctly, your England was also defeated by the Da Ming navy two hundred years ago?"
George III also snorted, "A misunderstanding from more than two hundred years ago, and you bring it up now. Is that meaningful?"
After saying that, George III looked at Zhu Jinsong and said, "Speaking of which, with the skills of those diaper-wearing people in Tianzhu, is it not a bit of overkill to use such an invincible warship against them? It's like using a cleaver to kill a chicken."
Zhu Jinsong chuckled and said, "Using a cleaver to kill a chicken? No, no, no, this warship is not meant to deal with those diaper-wearers."
"To deal with them, Da Ming doesn't even need to dispatch the navy, nor does it need to send the army from the Right Army Governor's Office. It is more than enough to conscript two thousand auxiliary troops from Japan."
"The reason why I specifically brought this ironclad ship is, firstly, to test its performance, and secondly, to find its flaws so that it can be improved in the future."
"As for the third reason... it is naturally prepared for the pirates."
Louis XVI asked blankly, "Pirates?"
Louis XVI and George III both felt that Zhu Jinsong was looking down on people. The sea route from Da Ming to Japan was entirely Da Ming's internal waters, so there were definitely no pirates there.
The waters near the Little Ryukyu, near Qiongzhou, all the way to Da Nang, and even to Old Port and Lanfang, also belonged to Da Ming's internal waters. What kind of pirates would be so tired of being pirates that they would come to Da Ming's waters to court death?
Besides, don't you, Emperor Zhu, know how dominant Da Ming's warships are at sea?
However, Zhu Jinsong replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world, "Of course, it's for the pirates."
"Our ancestors in the Central Plains once said, 'Be prepared and have no regrets.' Although there are no pirates in Da Ming's waters now, it does not mean there will never be any in the future. What if there are pirates one day?"
George III thought to himself, "Isn't this guy trying to fool ghosts by burning French newspapers at the graves?"
After a silent complaint, George III tentatively asked, "By the way, what is the speed of this ship? What is its displacement?"
After looking around, George III continued to ask, "And how many cannons does it carry?"
Zhu Jinsong chuckled and said, "This warship is 95 meters long, 18 meters wide, with a draft of 6 meters. Its displacement is seven thousand five hundred tons, and its full load displacement is eight thousand two hundred tons. It is equipped with twenty-four cannons and has a speed of twenty knots."
George III and Louis XVI were stunned.
What was the most powerful warship in Europe at that time?
It was the "Immaculate Conception" built by Spain twenty years ago. This warship was equipped with one hundred and sixteen cannons and had an astonishing speed of ten knots – yes, ten knots, which was half of Da Ming's "Linyi" warship.
This meant that if the two met at sea and fought, Da Ming's Linyi could kite the Immaculate Conception at will. The Linyi could attack the Immaculate Conception at any time, while the Immaculate Conception could only chase after the Linyi and eat its dust.
As for the Immaculate Conception being equipped with one hundred and sixteen cannons, which was several times more than the twenty-four cannons of the Linyi, when it came to caliber and range...
After witnessing Da Ming's cannons, George III and Louis XVI had long since given up hope for European cannons.
The two were not from the same era. The gap was at least several decades, and it was not easy to catch up.
Furthermore, even if there were more powerful cannons, the Immaculate Conception could not equip them. Generally speaking, the more powerful the cannon, the stronger the recoil, and the higher the requirements for the deck.
Da Ming's warships used a large amount of iron armor, which could offset some of the recoil, but what about the completely wooden Immaculate Conception?
If the cannons were too powerful, they might even tear apart the hull of the Immaculate Conception!
However, Zhu Jinsong had no intention of letting them off the hook. He continued, "The Linyi uses two sets of horizontal four-cylinder reciprocating steam engines and eight circular coal-fired boilers, with a maximum coal capacity of one thousand tons. Currently, there might not be any faster warships on this entire small planet than the Linyi."
Louis XVI quickly interjected, "If there are, I believe it must be a more advanced warship developed by Da Ming. So, if the Linyi is no longer the most advanced warship, can you export it to our France?"
Zhu Jinsong smiled and said, "Of course, but as you said, it must wait until Da Ming develops more advanced warships. As for now, Da Ming's navy has not yet fully equipped ironclads like the Linyi, so it is absolutely impossible to export them."
Louis XVI and George III both nodded, and when they looked at the Linyi again, their eyes were filled with longing.
Louis XVI and George III certainly did not expect Da Ming to agree to export the Linyi warship immediately.
If one were to put themselves in their shoes, if such an advanced warship were developed by England or France, they would also not export it immediately. It would at least be after satisfying their own navy's needs before it was possible.
After walking back and forth on the deck a few times, Louis XVI couldn't help but ask, "You know, the Tsarist Russia is also attacking the Ottomans. If you run into them..."