"That's a good question, don't worry about this." Wen Tiren first gave them a word of comfort, and then explained: "The imperial court has decided to build large supply points along the North American route to ensure that ships heading to North America can receive supplies.
In this way, the number of people lost along the way will be minimized."
At this time, the chamberlain at the edge of the screen used a thin stick to mark some red circles that had been circled in advance on the world map to indicate that these places would be the large supply points mentioned by the first assistant.
The setting of these supply points was based on Li Wei's proposal and was decided for the time being. Construction would not officially start until the court would send someone to verify it later.
However, the route proposed by Livy coincided with the route from Vladivostok to the Arctic Ocean in later Russia, and those supply points were basically large ports in later Russia.
Of course, because of the difference in sailing speed and endurance of ships between now and later generations, there are more supply points than at later large ports in Russia.
"If you build large supply points in so many places, many people will die?" Prince Fu asked a little doubtfully.
You can't blame him for having such doubts. A normal person can see that the amount of this project will definitely not be small. If too many people die, it is a question of whether the court can bear it. Don't be halfway through and be unable to bear it.
Stop work midway or reduce the construction of large supply points.
"Prince Fu doesn't need to worry about this. The imperial court is about to abolish all types of death penalty, and all criminals will be exiled to these places to build large supply points. When it is completed, when will they be free again." Wen Tiren replied.
"Is this person enough?" Another clan still had questions.
Although this was an opportunity for those criminals to atone for their sins and start over, he was worried about not having enough people.
"The criminals mentioned by this official will include ordinary criminals, cults, bandits, bandits, and rebel bandits. They will work at different supply points and do some light and heavy work of different levels according to the severity of the crime committed. If there are not enough people,
, then allocate troops from various guards to go there." Wen Tiren easily answered the clan's question.
At this time, the Minister of Punishment also came out to tell these vassal princes and clans how many criminals there had been in the Ming Dynasty in recent years, which gave a strong support to the chief minister's words.
With such a large population in the Ming Dynasty, there will definitely be no shortage of people committing crimes. What's more, those cults, bandits, mountain bandits, and rebel bandits all live together in a den, and they can be caught in large numbers.
No one expected that not long after this happened, the crime rate in the Ming Dynasty dropped sharply. Thanks to the continuous use of prisoners of war to replenish the number, too many guardsmen were not dispatched.
"When will these large supply points be built?" King Tang asked.
As soon as he finished speaking, the voice that answered him came from the other side, and it was not Wen Tiren's words.
"It will be completed as soon as possible. According to preliminary estimates, with the assistance of new building materials such as cement, the construction speed will be much faster than the previous construction speed. It will probably not take more than ten years to complete the large-scale supply point that is almost usable."
The vassal princes and clan members followed the voice and found that the speaker was Xu Guangqi, Minister of Industry.
They had already seen floors paved with cement and houses built with cement, so they had also inquired about cement, a new building material, and knew that what Xu Guangqi said was not false.
The King of Tang looked at Xu Guangqi and asked him: "We are just in North America. There are too many things to rebuild. Can we also use this cement?"
Xu Guangqi did not answer, but looked at Emperor Chongzhen.
Everyone followed Xu Guangqi's gaze and focused their attention on Emperor Chongzhen.
Emperor Chongzhen smiled slightly and said: "You can rest assured that after we go overseas, we will inform you of the cement formula and firing method, and let you use cement for free, but only in your own country."
When the vassal king and his family heard this, they were all very happy and thanked him one after another.
In fact, after discussing this decision several times before, it was decided to provide it to the vassal clan for free. However, this grace to the vassal clan must be expressed by Emperor Chongzhen, so Xu Guangqi did not answer directly.
Wen Tiren waited until all the vassal princes and clans thanked them, and then continued: "Is there any more questions that I need to answer?"
"Does that mean we have to wait until these large supply points are built, in other words, ten years before we can leave for North America?" Zhu Yifan, the crown prince of Prince Leling, asked with a slight frown.
He frowned because it seemed a little long.
Wen Tiren looked at Zhu Yifan, nodded and said: "Exactly, the feudal feudal North America cannot be accomplished overnight. You need to prepare, and the court also needs to prepare. In addition, I don't know if you have discovered anything?"
When all the vassal princes and clans looked at him curiously, Wen Tiren continued: "No one in the palace today is over thirty years old. This is because they have been overseas for a long time."
After Wen Tiren said this, the vassal princes and clans looked at each other. Sure enough, as the chief minister said, they were all young people.
These vassal princes and clans did not know that in fact, the reason why the imperial court recruited them under the age of thirty to participate in this consultation was not only for the reason mentioned by Wen Tiren just now, but also because they were young, energetic, and impulsive, and their horns had not been sharpened.
Peaceful, more ambitious, and more able to accept the feudal overseas policies of feudal kings and clans.
There was a moment of silence in the hall, and then King Tang asked: "North America is so big, but the Ming Dynasty also has many vassal kings. Is there an explanation for who exactly that area belongs to?"
"I have said this before, whoever gets it first will get it. The next thing you have to do is to send a reliable person to go to North America with Li Wei to investigate. Firstly, you can verify whether the imperial court has lied to you.
Second, you can choose your favorite place in advance. After large-scale war, you can go straight to your favorite place to establish a vassal state, saving a lot of time."
When Wen Tiren said this, his mouth was a little dry. Fortunately, according to the advance plan, he almost covered the content.
So, he glanced at Marquis Zhongxing and sent a signal: I'm done here, is there anything you need to add?
After hearing what Wen Tiren said, the princes and clans felt that it was indeed the truth, and they had to send their trusted followers to see it in advance.
They also thought that the imperial court was so focused on considering their overseas affairs, and it seemed that they sincerely hoped that America would become a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty.
At this time, the palace became quiet, and the vassal princes and clans waited for a while, but did not find any relatives wanting to speak. They felt that it was almost done, so they looked at Emperor Chongzhen. It meant that the matter was almost done. Should the meeting be dismissed and let them go back?
get ready.
What the princes and clans did not expect was that Marquis Zhongxing on the side started talking again, and they only heard him say: "It is necessary to remind you princes that there is only one Atlantic Ocean between the east of America and Europe. We can reach America, they
That's okay. Therefore, all princes should also make plans to meet Westerners."
Wen Tiren was a little dizzy after hearing this. He didn't want Zhong Jinwei to say anything, but he ended up telling the truth. If these vassal princes and clans were afraid and retreated, wouldn't a lot of his saliva have been in vain!