sometimes,

Qian Qianyi couldn't help but wonder how Zhang Haogu, a young man who was barely in his thirties, had so much experience, so many means, and was so courageous.

Considering that I have just entered the cabinet at this age, if it were not for the need for balance between the two parties in the court, I estimate that I may not be able to join the cabinet in this life.

Look at Zhang Haogu again. How old was he when he entered the court, and how old was he when he entered the cabinet?

Within a few years, he was already the chief minister of the dynasty.

The gap between this person and other people is sometimes bigger than anything else.

The emperor's sincere explanation is still in his ears. As one of the leaders of the Southern Scholars and a member of the Donglin Party, he is destined to be impossible to join the New Party, otherwise the emperor would not let him go in the first place.

However, he is now being forced by the folks, gentry and wealthy people behind him to cooperate with the New Party. What can he do?

After leaving Wenyuan Pavilion and looking at the three-story attic behind him, Qian Qianyi sighed and took the reply he got from Zhang Haogu to find those fellow Jiangsu and Zhejiang people.

As for the fact that Qian Qianyi stayed alone to talk to Zhang Haogu after the cabinet meeting, the news got out for some reason, and there were divergent opinions for a while.

Although Qian Qianyi quickly said that he was just discussing state affairs with Zhang Haogu, who would believe it?

Even if Qian Qianyi gave an explanation, people are still willing to speculate on the ins and outs of the matter based on their own guesses, especially when there are rumors that Prime Minister Zhang once bluntly said that everyone is not an outsider, which makes people speculate about Qian Qianyi's current relationship with

What is the situation with Zhang Haogu?

Is the Donglin Party in the South going to negotiate with the New Party in the North?

Or is it that the Donglin Party is planning to defect to the new party now that it can no longer survive?

These public opinions have caused an uproar, but to the cabinet bosses, it is really not a big deal. These things will not affect the power of the cabinet.

Moreover, Qian Qianyi knew his identity very well, so he went straight to Zhu Youxiao to explain that he wanted to be a loyal minister, and it was best to be a solitary minister. Trying not to get involved with the New Party would be victory.

In the Wuying Hall, Qian Qianyi was a little nervous sitting on the soft bench. He was not Zhang Haogu, who had been trusted by Zhu Youxiao for ten years and still held the position of first assistant firmly.

After all, Qian Qianyi sometimes sadly suspected that even if he was begging for a corpse, Zhang Haogu might still be sitting in the position of chief minister.

Therefore, he needs Zhu Youxiao's trust very much. In this situation, Zhu Youxiao's trust is his life-saving talisman.

Zhu Youxiao looked at a recently published folk book with a very indifferent expression: "I trust Prime Minister Qian. I never care about the rumors among the people. What Prime Minister Qian does is for the country and the people, and there is no need to ask for help."

What did I say?"

"Just go back and do your best, Mr. Qian."

Hearing what Zhu Youxiao said, Qian Qianyi stood up quickly and said, "I'm leaving."

Zhu Youxiao nodded slightly: "Wei Banban, send me some money."

Eunuch Wei said with a smile: "Mr. Qian, please."

After Eunuch Wei sent Qian Qianyi to the door, he whispered: "Your Majesty is very happy that Prime Minister Qian came here today. Prime Minister Qian, you must continue to be loyal to the emperor and the country after you return."

Qian Qianyi's body shook violently, and he said quickly: "Please Wei Banban tell your majesty that I will do my best and die."

After Qian Qianyi left, the smile on Eunuch Wei's face also disappeared. Thinking of the disdain in Qian Qianyi's eyes that he tried to hide just now, the disgust of a scholar looking down on eunuchs, Eunuch Wei spat disdainfully: "

Bah! Nothing is worthy of thinking about Master Zhang's position, if not..."

With that said, Eunuch Wei shut his mouth and turned back to resume his life.

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Qian said that he will do his best for you until his death." Eunuch Wei said, carefully looking at Zhu Youxiao. He felt more and more that his Majesty was now difficult to predict. As his achievements increased,

As his power grew, the majesty of the emperor who ruled the world became more and more awe-inspiring.

Zhu Youxiao nodded, still turning over the folk papers in his hand: "Jiang and Zhejiang

Those wealthy businessmen are willing to spend 30 billion to build Chi Road for the imperial court, and it is normal for them to have some small thoughts. Master plans to give 30% of the shares of one Chi Road in the north and the south to the gentry in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Wei Banban, what do you think? "

Eunuch Wei was stunned for a moment, then he chuckled and said, "Your Majesty, isn't it difficult for you to be a slave? You, a slave, don't understand this."

Zhu Youxiao put it down and looked at Eunuch Wei who was laughing. He couldn't help laughing and scolding: "You, you, you are really...that's all, let's leave it like this. I know the master's thoughts. This is what the gentry of Jiangsu and Zhejiang are like."

Please submit to the imperial court and submit to me."

Ignore this matter anymore. Zhu Youxiao knows that Zhang Haogu will not take bribes or bend the law. If he wants to be greedy for money, Zhang Haogu has many opportunities and ways to be greedy for money. Money is good for him and Zhang Haogu is really a good person.

Just numbers.

After throwing it away, Zhu Youxiao stood up and stretched: "In the past few days, I have been a little slack. I have been in the palace for a long time and I am a little bored. Wei Banban, get ready. I have been a little lazy these past few days."

I need to get out of the palace and get some fresh air."

Eunuch Wei hurriedly smiled and said, "I will go and prepare now."

What happened in the palace soon reached Zhang Ruitu's ears. After all, the New Party had the largest number of people inside and outside the palace and in the capital. Even if some information was missed, other members of the New Party would write it down.

.

This is also the reason why the north is the base of the New Party and the capital is the base of the New Party. Most of the people here are the New Party, and the Donglin Party members who occupy a minority cannot afford any trouble at all.

After learning that Qian Qianyi went to see Zhu Youxiao alone after the meeting, Zhang Ruitu thought about it: "Does Yuan Fu know about this?"

After a moment, Zhang Ruitu couldn't help but laugh: "It's the same whether you know or not. It doesn't matter whether you know or not."

Zhu Youxiao hoped to balance the power of the new party and the old party. He even allowed to slow down the implementation of the New Deal in the south to a certain extent, giving the old party time to adapt and rebuild its power.

There are also many people in the new party and the old party fighting for their respective factions, interests, and different ideas.

But for Zhang Haogu, these are really not big things. At present, the Ming Dynasty has not yet reached the same level as the north and the south. All the people in the world have enough food and clothing. What's the point of fighting over this?

"Yuan Fu, Shandong has reported that the shipyard in Laizhou has launched a new ship."

Upon hearing the news, Zhang Haogu asked: "Did the steamboat launch?"

Huang Zongxi said: "Yes."

This is good news!

Zhang Haogu couldn't hide his joy. The launch of the steamship meant that the Ming Dynasty would have a huge advantage in the future wave of navigation, exploration and colonization. Steamships and sailboats were completely different concepts.

Although ports around the world are still very simple and cannot provide effective supplies to steamships, the existence of steamships can protect the Ming Dynasty's maritime territory. From this, the Ming Navy can explore and discover again and again,

Until colonies were established everywhere, a complete and effective supply chain was formed, allowing the Ming Navy to freely explore the world.

"It's a good thing. This is a good thing. I want to go to Laizhou to take a look." Zhang Haogu made up his mind. He had to go and check out the launch of this steamship to see what was officially launched in the Ming Dynasty.

What does a steamship look like?

The chief minister of the Ming Dynasty left the capital without any ceremonial guard or any airs. He took his horse and horse and headed for Shandong in a carriage. It was enough for the affairs of the capital to be handled by a few cabinet members.

During this journey, we arrived in Shandong Province. Prefectures and counties along the way received news in advance and came to greet them. Zhang Haogu also stopped briefly to look at the development of various prefectures and counties in Shandong.

After encouraging these officials, big and small, Zhang Haogu set off again, heading straight to Laizhou.

After arriving in Caizhou and meeting with the officials of Laizhou Prefecture, Zhang Haogu also saw the steamship parked in the port in Laizhou Bay.

Speaking of which, Zhang Haogu was a little disappointed when he first saw this steamship.

Because this steamship still has not shed the outline of a sailing warship, its only praiseworthy thing should be the steam turbine used for its power.

Although covered with iron armor,

But it still maintains a considerable amount of wooden structure. The interior is still mostly made of wood, and there are also masts and sails. The side gun layout is still used.

Looking at the nervous look of the director of the shipyard nearby, Zhang Haogu still praised with a smile: "This ship can be called a giant ship, it is really extraordinary."

This is really not what Zhang Haogu said randomly.

This ship was obviously designed and built after a treasure ship. Its length was a full 45 feet, 140 meters long. Considering navigation and combat, its width was also 45 meters.

While the Wanliu treasure ship was only about 3,000 tons, this large ship equipped with steam turbines and covered with iron armor weighed more than 8,000 tons. It was a veritable behemoth!

Looking at the dragon flag and the mountain and river sun and moon flags hanging on this big ship, you can feel the power and power coming towards you.

Even though it is still a hybrid of sail and steam, the power of this big ship is not comparable to that of ordinary sail warships.

"Yuansuke, on this ship, we have installed a total of twenty-eight three-thousand-jin guns and sixteen five-thousand-jin guns. Its firepower is definitely not comparable to that of ordinary large ships. This ship alone can be a deterrent."

An army."

The factory director kept praising the power of this steamship. It has twenty-eight three-thousand-pound general cannons and sixteen five-thousand-pound general cannons. It can fire chain bullets, explosive bullets, solid bullets, etc.

etc., and it can also be equipped with various types of firearms, such as fire dragon bullets, long snake array-breaking arrows, etc. It can be said to be full of martial virtue.

Sometimes Zhang Haogu is shocked by the imagination of these boatmen and scientific researchers.

According to the director of the factory, they had observed several drills of the New Army and were very satisfied with the power of these firearms: the Fire Dragon Bomb, the Long Snake Breaking Arrow, the Leopards Running Arrow and the Hundred Tigers Running Arrow.

And because the ship they built was large enough and could be equipped with sufficient firearms, considering one against ten and various situations, they were afraid that the warship would not have enough firepower, so they first installed three-thousand-jin and five-thousand-jin cannons, and then mounted them on

The slots on the front and rear decks and both sides can be used to directly place heavy shield-breaking firearms such as the Long Snake Formation-Breaking Arrow. The ship even carries a large number of Fire Dragon Bombs for sailors to operate.

This is truly a big ship armed as a hedgehog. No matter what kind of siege it faces, this big ship can fire sufficient firepower from all directions.

After encouraging the shipyard craftsmen for their hard work and efforts as usual, Zhang Haogu looked at the big ship in front of him and had some ideas for the navy's next development.

The current naval battles are still mainly based on boarding battles and close-range naval battles. The artillery on both sides fires solid bullets, chain bullets, hot bombs and other artillery shells to break the cabins of enemy warships and crush the masts for destruction.

The firepower of this ship's equipment is designed to sink the opponent directly.

Taking into account today's industrial development and technology, this kind of firepower is more suitable for the current naval battle situation than any full-heavy artillery. This is a warship that can defeat all surrounding naval forces, and it is a force that can create a generation difference and crush children.

Looking at the Ming navy generals and craftsmen around him, Zhang Haogu pondered for a moment and said: "This ship is undoubtedly excellent. It is a large ship that can be compared with the treasure ships that sailed to the West during the Chengzu period. There is no doubt about it.
To be continued...