My Pen Pal Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 85 What a Big Ship
On the first day of July in the fifteenth year of Hongwu, the palace maids and eunuchs witnessed a shocking scene that they would never forget.

Led by His Majesty, all the civil and military officials marched out of the palace in a mighty procession, and the court meeting was not held.

Everyone was full of doubts, not knowing what big event was about to happen.

Yang Siyi followed behind Zhu Yuanzhang's carriage, and at this time he was also confused by Li Min's posture.

Li Min followed Zhu Yuanzhang and whispered something to him. Zhu Yuanzhang's face was full of smiles, and when he talked about something happy, he laughed heartily.

After saying this, Li Min returned to Yang Siyi.

Yang Siyi looked at Li Min in confusion, "Zhiyuan, what on earth are you up to? Why didn't you tell me in advance?"

Li Min seemed very confident and looked mysterious.

"Lord Yang, there is no need to worry. We originally wanted to give the whole court a surprise, but since Zhao Mao and the others jumped out ahead of time, it would be better to announce the surprise in advance."

"Zhiyuan, do you mean...it has been successful?"

Li Min smiled without saying anything. Yang Siyi thought about it and also laughed.

"I'm afraid that by then, the surprise will turn into a shock for some people."

Zhao Mao followed behind, watching Li Min and Yang Siyi talking and laughing, and felt even more angry.

Let’s see what tricks these two are playing!
Sun Yuanliang's face was filled with fear. This time, he risked everything to bring down Yang Siyi. If he succeeded, he would be the new Minister of Revenue. If he failed...

From now on, I am afraid that I will no longer be able to work in the Ministry of Revenue, and it is even more likely that I will be doomed!
"Master Zhao, what should we do now?"

"Why are you panicking? A little impatience can ruin a big plan!"

Zhao Mao glared at Sun Yuanliang and asked, "Can they still turn that two hundred thousand taels into something else?"

"Master Zhao is right!"

Sun Yuanliang bowed hurriedly and retreated behind Zhao Mao.

A group of people followed Zhu Yuanzhang to the dock in a mighty procession.

Today's dock has been widened a lot and is completely different from the past. On one side of the dock are factories and docks.

"Lord Li, what are you doing? Aren't you going to take us to see where the two hundred thousand taels are? Why did you bring His Majesty and all the civil and military officials to this dock?

Could it be that the two hundred thousand taels are here?"

Sun Yuanliang questioned Li Mindao.

Other ministers also shouted.

"Master Li, why did you bring us to this dock?"

"Yes, Lord Li, where is the two hundred thousand taels?"

"Your Majesty, this is too absurd. Please issue an order immediately to arrest these two people!"

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand, signaling the ministers to be quiet, and then said, "Minister Li, you brought my civil and military officials to this dock. Do you need to give everyone an explanation?"

Li Min smiled and said, "Your Majesty, my colleagues, don't be anxious. The fun has just begun. Please follow me."

As he spoke, Li Min led everyone into the factory.

As soon as they entered the factory, the ministers were stunned.

There were tall and spacious workshops, and those huge docks where many ships’ keels were being laid.

At this moment, two words popped up in the minds of all the ministers at the same time: "grand"!
Then, Li Min brought everyone to the launching area of ​​the factory, where they saw an extremely huge and peculiarly shaped ship docked at the pier.

This ship is like a small mountain, and the people standing below seem as small as ants.

What kind of ship is this and why is it so huge?
What is that huge cylinder on the ship, and why is there no sail?

When the busy workers saw Zhu Yuanzhang coming, they ran over and knelt on the ground.

"Long live the Emperor, long live the Emperor!"

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "You are all citizens of the Ming Dynasty. Please stand up quickly."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Li Min pointed at the boat, looked at the ministers, and said loudly: "Everyone, don't you want to know where the two hundred thousand taels went? I can tell you now, the two hundred thousand taels are right in front of you!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the ministers became excited again.

"What? With those two hundred thousand taels, they were able to build such a huge ship?"

"Is this true? How could there be such a strange ship in the world?"

Li Min continued: "This ship is 240 meters long, 35 meters high, and has a full load displacement of over 5,000 tons!"

All the ministers had confused expressions on their faces.

"What does rice mean? How can rice be described by length and height?"

"What does ton mean?"

"What is the full load displacement?"

The ministers were talking about it, but Li Min was laughing in his heart, what a bunch of ignorant guys.

Ever since the Industry Department began using units such as "meters" and "tons", measurement has become much more convenient than before.

"To put it in words you can understand, it is more than seventy feet long, more than ten feet high, and weighs more than fifty thousand stones!"

Now the ministers understood, but they still felt as if they were listening to a fairy tale, with shock all over their faces!

In their impression, the largest ship in the Ming Dynasty today is only about 10,000 shi, and a ship of 50,000 shi is unthinkable.

"However, this is not the most amazing thing about this ship. You may find it strange that this ship has no sails?" Li Min continued.

"Yes, Lord Li, why does this ship have no sails? How can it sail?" Xu Da interrupted without losing the opportunity.

All the ministers nodded, and then looked at Li Min with confusion and curiosity.

"That's because this ship is powered by a steam engine. It doesn't need sails or oars. All it needs is coal to make this big ship sail!"

"Ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous!"

Sun Yuanliang couldn't bear it any longer, so he jumped out and pointed at Li Min and shouted angrily:
"How can there be a boat without oars and sails in this world? This is simply nonsense. Li Min, please stop making excuses for embezzling 200,000 taels of silver. Your Majesty, I beg you to investigate this matter clearly!"

However, as soon as he finished speaking, Sun Yuanliang saw Zhu Yuanzhang looking at him coldly, and the other ministers were also looking at him as if he were a clown.

Sun Yuanliang, is he still being stubborn at this time?

"Since Minister Sun doesn't believe it, it just so happens that now is a good day. It's better to do it now than to wait for a better day. So, Your Majesty and all your colleagues, please come together to test the voyage for this brand new ship of the Ming Dynasty!"

"Lord Li, this is a very good idea! My dear ministers, please come aboard with me."

Despite the clown Sun Yuanliang, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't suppress his excitement at this time.

Although he already knew that the construction of the steamship was going smoothly, he never expected that Li Min would give him such a big surprise!
With this ship, ocean trade can proceed smoothly.

When I think of the Ming Dynasty's fleet galloping across the vast ocean, wherever it went, all foreign countries were shocked by the Ming Dynasty's national strength. That scene is so refreshing.

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(End of this chapter)