Chapter 228: The beginning of the conquest of the sea

As Su Morer said, Empress Changsun summoned Li Yin the next day and told Li Yin her plan to return to Chang'an, and the next day she left Yizhou City under the **** of the imperial guards. The mother of the country, do things simply and neatly.

At the gate of the city, Li Yin showed a very reluctance expression, and his words showed reluctance, but was directly exposed by Empress Changsun, "Stop acting, I know you want me to go back to Chang'an, and I can do whatever I want without restraint. "

"The queen mother misunderstood the minister." Li Yin was ashamed and ashamed like a thief who was exposed in broad daylight.

Empress Changsun didn't intend to continue to struggle with this issue. When her children grow up, no one likes elders watching in front of her. She is also a person who has experienced it, so she said: "I really didn't expect such a big change in Yizhou. The idea of ​​Women's University That's right, you have to pay attention to it, after a few years, when my son grows up, I will let her come to Yizhou to study, and when the time comes, you, brother, remember to take good care of your younger sister."

"Huh?" Li Yin was stunned. What Empress Changsun said today was more thrilling than the last, but he couldn't say anything, so he said, "That's natural."

Then Empress Changsun held Cui Yingying's hand, as if looking at her own children, and said in a doting tone: "Thanks to Yingying's care during this time, if you have any difficulties in the future, just tell the queen mother, the mother will definitely help your."

Cui Yingying smiled sweetly: "Thank you, Queen Mother." She looked very cute.

The two women talked to each other, and they started talking again. Li Yin, who was standing on the side, was anxious, and another ten minutes passed, and Empress Changsun finally finished her explanation, and then got into the carriage.

"The sons and ministers send off the queen respectfully!" Li Yin said respectfully, leading a group of officials.

As soon as the voice fell, Empress Changsun's carriage started and headed north along the concrete road in the northern city of Yizhou. Li Yin watched the convoy going away and finally settled his mind, and his mission was finally completed.

The convoy gradually disappeared from sight, and Li Yin's spirit suddenly lifted. The reason why he was in a hurry to send Empress Changsun away just now was because there was a very important event today. After nearly a year of construction, the first batch of twenty steam treasure ships were finally launched. Today is the official sea trial, and Li Yin has waited too long for this day.

Accompanied by her maid, Cui Yingying left, and the officials of the government affairs system also returned to their posts. Li Yin, Zhu Youzhi and Cheng Huailiang looked at each other and smiled. The three mounted their horses and galloped all the way from Yizhou North Gate to Yizhou South door, and proceed to the shipyard on the South River.

At this time, many people have gathered in the shipyard, all of whom are boatmen and technicians from Taoyuan. There are also professional navigators from the Naval Department of the Military Academy, who are responsible for the trial of the treasure ship this time.

"Your Highness!" Li Yin came down from the river bank, and a group of people saluted Li Yin one after another, including Yun Shou and Du Zhiping.

Nanhe Shipyard undertook the construction of ten treasure ships. Now the ten treasure ships are all docked at the port of Nanhe. The huge iron anchor has sunk into the water. The huge hull of 120 meters covers the sky and the sun. These men are seamen trained from the beginning of shipbuilding.

Looking from bottom to top, there are many square openings on one side of the treasure ship. There is a cover on it, and black gun barrels protrude from these holes. The 240 cannons of each treasure ship have all been transferred.

"Go, go up and have a look!" Li Yin looked at the treasure ship moored in the water and was excited and shocked. At the same time, he also felt a deep sense of pride. The history of weak ocean countries will not repeat itself in his time. The Yizhou Navy will be the only overlord on the ocean.

Zhu Youzhi and Qin Huaiyu were dumbfounded. Li Yin called out several times before recovering, and followed Li Yin on the treasure ship.

Arriving on the deck of the treasure ship, Li Yin realized how huge the treasure ship was. In addition to the normal three masts of more than ten meters high, there were four huge chimneys standing in the center of the treasure ship. Each chimney is big enough for one person to surround themselves with. At this time, smoke is coming out. Many people are busy from one end of the ship to the other. There are even people running around on horseback, which shows the wide deck area of ​​the ship.

"Your Highness, is it time for sea trial now?" Yunshou said proudly, this treasure ship was supervised by him personally, can he not feel proud?

Li Yin and the others just looked at everything on the boat for a long time without saying a word. Hearing this, Li Yin said: "Let's start." After finishing speaking, he was ready to disembark.

Qin Huaiyu asked doubtfully, "What are you doing down there?"

Li Yin remembered that many steamships sank during sea trials in history, and he thought it better to be cautious, especially since there were more than 200 cannons on board.

"We'll take the ride after the trial voyage is over, and you come down too." Li Yin said.

Qin Huaiyu didn't know why, but obeyed Li Yin's order and got down from the boat along the wooden boards erected.

Yunshou saw Li Yin and his party go down, and said: "Start sailing!" He understood what Li Yin was worried about, but he couldn't go down, because he wanted to prove to everyone that the boat he built could stand the test.

Everyone was waiting below, looking at the treasure ship where Yunshou was. In the anticipation of everyone, with a high-pitched sound of "Woo...", the huge gray body of the treasure ship began to move.

These ten treasure ships are all lined up in parallel. The treasure ship that Yunshou is on is the first one. After leaving the port, the speed of the treasure ship is getting faster and faster. After a while, it sails into the middle of the river, and then starts to drive south again. , It disappeared from everyone's field of vision in a short while, and the speed was very fast.

Du Zhiping was holding a timer in his hand at this time. This sea trial was not only to test the strength of the hull, but also to test the speed of the steamship.

With the departure of the steam ship, many naval students still discussed, with excited smiles on their faces, they will be the first navy to install the steam treasure ship, and judging from their reactions, the The performance of the treasure ship is obviously satisfactory.

"With this sharp weapon, Your Highness can run across the water without any enemies." Zhu Youzhi said with emotion, "But since the treasure ships have been deployed to the army, what is His Highness's next goal? These steam treasure ships cannot be left here. , It's too wasteful."

Qin Huaiyu is familiar with the land, but knows nothing about the sea, he said: "So what is the next step?"

Li Yin said with a smile: "Of course it is to conquer the sea and sell Yizhou's goods to every corner of the world in exchange for gold, raw materials and various treasures."

Zhu Youzhi was thoughtful, "Could it be the colonization that His Highness said?"

"That's right, the next step is to colonize and turn the ocean into our inland river." Li Yin's heart was full of excitement, and his fighting spirit was high.

Qin Huaiyu and Zhu Youzhi both showed fascination when they heard the words, and began to talk to Li Yin about the specific meaning of colonization.

While chatting, many people began to cheer, Li Yin turned his head and looked, it turned out that the treasure ship came back, and the speed of returning was faster than the speed of leaving just now.

Docking smoothly on the shore, Yunshou got off the treasure ship with excitement on his face, "Your Highness, the steam treasure ship has returned from a successful trial voyage."

Li Yin patted him heavily on the shoulder, and said to Yunshou and Du Zhiping: "You are all great heroes in Yizhou, and your names will surely be recorded in the annals of history."

Yun Shou and Du Zhiping looked at each other with great joy.

Du Pingzhi said: "Without the support of Your Highness, we would not be able to get to where we are today. These are what we should do." Then he said: "Your Highness, I have estimated that the speed of the steamship has come out."

"How much is it?" Li Yin asked eagerly.

"Sixty miles per hour." Du Zhiping said excitedly.

Zhu Youzhi and Qin Huaiyu were bewildered when they heard this number, but Li Min understood that this is already a remarkable number, because the fastest container ship in the world is only at a speed of 24 knots. Ninety miles an hour.

Li Yin nodded and praised, "That's right, I'm very satisfied. Let's hand over the treasure ships to the navy and Tang Chamber of Commerce now!" These treasure ships have reached the standard of eighteenth-century ocean warships no matter how they are said. Now, Li Yin can't force it too much, because this can already be said to be a miracle.

After Li Yin finished speaking, Zhu Youzhi shouted to a group of naval students: "Sun Dongxu, Xia Guangyi, Shi Zhen!"

"Here!" The three students trotted over when they heard the order. These people are the best among the students of the Admiralty. Their ancestors all worked at sea and were in charge of ocean transportation. The elders set off from Yizhou, went to Guangzhou, and then arrived in Persia by sea from Guangzhou. Later, the military academy recruited students. They heard that there was a navy specialized in sailing, so they signed up.

Looking at the three of them, Li Yin said: "You are in charge of the handover ceremony with the shipyard. After the ceremony, gather at the Military Academy. My king has a task for you."

"Yes!" The three gave a military salute to Li Yin.

Li Yin didn't want to participate in the remaining trivial matters, because he was already brewing new things, and he summoned the crew of the shipyard to praise them, and Li Yin went to other shipyards, because the treasure ships were built in three shipyards. The largest shipyard and two other shipyards were responsible for the construction of the remaining ten treasure ships, and they were also completed at the same time. Sun Dongxu and the others were also assigned by Li Yin to three shipyards to take over the treasure ships.

After the sea trial ceremony was over, Li Yin, Zhu Youzhi and others returned to the military academy, and they went directly to the combat command room of the academy. Inside were all kinds of maps that Li Yin bought from Hyundai, and some Yizhou sand table models .

Zhu Youzhi and Qin Huaiyu sat in the combat command room and looked at Li Yin puzzled. They didn't understand what Li Yin was going to do. In fact, what Li Yin thought was very simple. Yizhou is suitable for land defense, but it is definitely not suitable for establishing here. Naval base, then the emerging Yizhou Navy needs to open up a real deep-water port.

Spreading a map on the table, Li Yin called both of them over, and said, "Didn't you ask what the navy will do next? Now tell you, we will build a deep-water naval port here next."

Zhu Youzhi and Qin Huaiyu looked at the place where Li Yin's finger was pointing. It was a small island on the sea adjacent to Datang, and there were two words under Li Yin's finger—Ryukyu.