The morning sun at Tianjin Port turned the port golden.

Hundreds of warships and merchant ships sailed into the port in a grand procession.

Masts stood like a forest, and banners fluttered in the wind.

The shore was already crowded with officials and ordinary people who came to welcome them, and the cheers were deafening.

Yun Si stood on the deck of the flagship "Weihai". The sea breeze brushed against his face, taking away the fatigue of the long voyage and leaving behind his refined sharpness.

Behind him, Yuntang excitedly pointed to the shore: "Eighth Brother, look! The Emperor himself has come to welcome us!"

Sure enough, on the high platform of the dock, the Emperor stood with his hands behind his back, dressed in a bright yellow dragon robe, his eyes piercing.

As the fleet docked, Yinzhi led his generals forward and knelt on one knee: "Your subject has fortunately fulfilled his mission and returns to court today to report back!"

Emperor Yongzheng personally helped him up, a rare smile appearing on his face: "Eighth Brother, you've worked hard. This voyage will be a great achievement for generations to come!"

----

Inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City, the achievements of the voyages are on display.

Officials from the Ministry of Works held up the list and recited it aloud:

"The secret method of Indian cotton spinning, one hundred bushels of Siamese rice seeds, and twenty fine Persian horses!"

Emperor Yongzheng ordered the unfolding of a huge "Map of Western Countries", which marked the special products and ports of each country. It was no exaggeration to call it a treasure map.

This was drawn by Eighth Master and the people on the ship during their leisure time.

Tonight, in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the officials lingered, reluctant to leave home, eagerly awaiting the statistics.

After all, this is related to their investment returns.

The happiest time is when you're counting money!

The chanting continued...

"Three French gilded self-ringing clocks, thirty Italian crystal glass mirrors, and one hundred English stainless steel pocket watches!"

The self-ringing clock has intricate gears and plays a melodious tune every hour on the hour.

The glass mirror reflects every detail of a person, even the white hairs at the temples are clearly visible.

Zhang Tingyu looked at the pocket watch, stroked his beard, and exclaimed in amazement: "If this were used for military intelligence transmission, its accuracy would be ten times better than that of a water clock!"

Zhu Shi, the Minister of Revenue, stared intently at the wooden box on the other side—it was filled with gold and silver coins from various European countries, of excellent quality, with intricate patterns cast on the edges.

He grabbed a handful and weighed them in his hand, his face beaming with delight: "Your Majesty, these Western coins contain up to 90% silver. After being melted down and cast, they can be directly added to the national treasury reserves!"

Yongzheng nodded slightly, but his gaze fell on a roll of parchment.

That was the "Global Maritime Trade Map" drawn by the Dutch, which marked the shipping routes and trading ports from the Cape of Good Hope to Malacca, and even recorded the monsoon cycle in detail.

Yunsi stepped forward and explained, "This painting was obtained by exchanging ten bolts of Suzhou embroidery, which allowed Western merchant ships to sail the world freely."

Emperor Yongzheng caressed the blueprint with his fingertips; it was truly a fine piece of art.

The Qing Dynasty did not yet have the capability to sail to Europe.

With this, in the future, as long as the ships and merchant vessels are updated to the latest versions, there will be no fear of losing their way at sea.

The most eye-catching item was a colossal model of England's latest steam engine, with its complex iron-cast boiler and piston structure, which drew admiring glances from the craftsmen.

Yuntang personally demonstrated that after hot water was poured in, the connecting rod actually caused the gear to rotate slowly.

Ma Qi couldn't help but exclaim, "If this machine were installed on a cargo ship, wouldn't it be as easy as walking on flat ground to go upstream?"

The Vice Minister of Works immediately chimed in: "I request that one hundred of these be manufactured for use in mine drainage and loom operation!"

Emperor Yongzheng was shocked. Could this be the Industrial Revolution that Yun'er had been talking about?

As night deepened, the courtiers gathered around the gleaming Western artifacts, whispering excitedly... each one of them dazzled and captivated them.

Taking the opportunity, Yuntang stepped forward and reported: "Your Majesty, this trip has truly broadened my horizons!"

Those Westerners were polite on the surface, but behind the scenes they were constantly trying to find out the strength and weaknesses of our Qing fleet.

The English, in particular, their craftsmen disguised themselves as Lumes and secretly measured the structure of our ship. If it weren't for Lord Lan's vigilance, our secrets would have been stolen!

Yongzheng's eyes narrowed, and he said in a deep voice, "Oh? Tell me more."

Lan Dingyuan stepped forward and added: "Your Majesty, the Western countries are extremely covetous of our dynasty's steam engine and artillery technology."

It was our victory that made us famous, which led them to try every means to steal our technology.

When we were in Lumes, their merchants tried to approach the warships under the guise of trading;

Furthermore, a French missionary, under the guise of teaching mathematics, managed to obtain information about the gunpowder formula.

Yongzheng snorted coldly and tapped his fingertips lightly on the imperial desk: "It seems that I underestimated the ambitions of these red-haired barbarians."

The gunpowder formula was given to him by Yun'er a long time ago when she was improving the musket, but he didn't pay attention to it at the time.

It now appears that the gunpowder of the Qing Dynasty was far superior to that of the West.

He turned to Zhang Tingyu and said, “Tomorrow, issue an order to the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi to strictly investigate any Western spies along the coast; henceforth, all missionaries entering the country must be registered, and any suspicious activity must be immediately reported and detained!”

Zhang Tingyu bowed and replied, "Your subject obeys the decree."

...

Two years earlier, after suffering a defeat, the East India Company had sent spies to infiltrate the Qing Dynasty.

They roamed the streets every day, trying to uncover the secrets of this Eastern empire.

However, the densely packed records of their observations on the parchment in their hands both shocked and broke their hearts.

The prosperity of the Qing Dynasty far exceeded their imagination—they squatted by the edge of the field, watching the farmers harvest the third crop of golden rice;

Potato and corn yields were also incredibly high, yet they could only survive on wheat supplied by the colonies.

Wealthy families are adorned with gold and silver, travel in luxury cars and fine silks, and eat the most delicious food.

What made them even more envious was that an item called "soap" was widely popular among the people, which not only kept the people of the Qing Dynasty clean and presentable, but also effectively prevented the diseases that were rampant in the West.

Whenever this happens, they can't help but touch their arms covered in red rashes—a "disease of uncleanliness" that London doctors are helpless against.

"Sir, you should try this." The restaurant owner pushed a bar of jasmine soap onto the consul's table.

"Use hot water to create lather; it can remove even the most stubborn dirt."

Consul Charles stared at the exquisite pattern on the soap, recalling the festering wound on his wife's back back home.

His Adam's apple bobbed. "How much silver...would this cost?"

...

"This is simply unbelievable!" one of the scouts muttered in disbelief.

"Their warship technology seems to have made another breakthrough, but we can't get a single clue about it!"

Another person sighed, "If this continues, we'll only be able to leave empty-handed."

Left with no other choice, they had to record everything they saw and heard in detail and send it back to China as quickly as possible.