Chapter 511: A Role Model for the Younger Generations of Our Dynasty

"What are carbon steel, structural steel, alloy steel, spring steel, and rolling bearing steel?" Prince Lu Li Yuanchang's heart moved, as if he was about to grasp something.

"Steel has different properties depending on its carbon content and other metal contents. They are named according to their uses. You'll understand the details when you visit the smelter."

It was New Year's Day, and Su Ying didn't want to waste time giving lectures.

"From what you said, different materials can be added to steel?" Li Yuanchang continued to ask.

"Yes!" Su Ying nodded.

"What are the added materials?" Li Yuanchang asked again.

"Well, Your Highness Prince Lu, I haven't studied the details in depth. If you are interested, we can discuss it slowly later." It was rare for Su Ying to see the young prince talk so much.

"Master Xiao Su, could you please draw another copy of the map you drew yesterday?" Fang Yiai grunted, "My father told me to go out to sea."

"What, your father asked you to go to sea?" Chai Lingwu was surprised, and then burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! Yiai, you're so funny! Do you know where the sea is? And you're going out to sea? Do you think you're going out of town for an outing?"

"Humph, it's true!" Fang Yiai's face flushed.

"I want to go out to sea and make a lot of money! Master Xiao Su, please draw a map and I will plan the route!"

"Brother, please help me get two large sheets of rice paper!" Su Ying remembered the request made by the big boss last night.

Su Boyan went back to the study and got two pieces of white paper.

Once the paper is unfolded, it is about the size of a tabletop. The paper is strong, tough and plain white.

"Hey, where is this paper produced? Why have I never seen it before?" Li Chengqian reached out and touched it, and felt that the paper was not as thin and brittle as the ones he usually touched.

"It was purchased from the Tofulong caravan in Jing County, Xuanzhou." Su Ying held down the top of the paper with a paperweight and used a ruler to mark the paper vertically and horizontally.

Xuan paper originated in the Tang Dynasty and is a traditional Chinese classical paper used for calligraphy and painting.

Its place of production is in Jing County, which is under the jurisdiction of Xuanzhou, hence the name Xuan paper.

Xuan paper is easy to preserve, does not become brittle or fade over time, and is known as the "king of paper" and "millennium-longevity paper."

During the Tianbao period, Xuancheng County had already offered tribute such as paper and pens.

At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, a branch of the Cao family migrated to Xiaoling, Jing County, and began to make Xuan paper using the bark of the Chinese celtis tree as the main raw material.

During the Xuande period of the Ming Dynasty, Xuan paper produced under the supervision of the royal family appeared. It has good ink-absorbing properties, is durable and aging-resistant, and is not easy to change color.

The rice paper in Su Ying's hand at this time was far inferior to that of later generations, and it was not a tribute.

"This paper is good!" The princes present were all accomplished in painting and naturally knew the quality of the paper.

"There's no such high-quality drawing paper in the palace?" Li Yuanchang smacked the rice paper, his eyes revealing his delight.

Li Chengqian, Li Ke and Li Tai were also excited to see the prey, but they were too embarrassed to ask for it.

Paper is like nothing else, especially hard-to-find drawing paper like this.

Su Ying drew the longitude and latitude network, and then began to draw the seven continents, four oceans, etc. Slowly, a world map appeared on the paper.

"Where is our Tang Dynasty?" Li Chengqian looked at the map, and there was no place that looked like the Tang Dynasty.

"Here!" Su Ying used a pen to outline one of the places. "I don't know the current map of our dynasty, so I can only sketch a rough outline."

"Is that all?" everyone exclaimed.

I drew this on the desk with tea last night. I thought it was outrageous then. Now that the drawing is clear, it seems even more outrageous.

"Lord Xiao Su, is the world outside really so vast?" Changle looked at the map and his cognition was greatly shocked.

Taiji Palace is both big and small.

The biggest problem is that I have to walk for a long time every time to get to my mother's Lizheng Hall, my father's Ganlin Hall, and my brother's East Palace.

I got tired of visiting these places when I was very young and seldom went to Chang'an City. I only went to Jiucheng Palace and Yuhua Palace with my parents in the hot summer, but I never went to any farther places.

I heard from my father and brothers that our dynasty has a vast territory. Just to talk about Lingnan, it would take a month to travel there without stopping, and the Western Regions are even farther.

But on this map, the Tang Dynasty is just a small piece.

There is not much land on the map, and the remaining large blank areas are all marked with names, such as the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Arctic Ocean.

"Of course!" Su Ying affirmed.

"Can that big ship sail across the ocean to here? How much food and drink does it need to carry on the ship?" Du He pointed to the location of America on the map and questioned.

His elder brother Du Gou was ordered to go to Dengzhou and Laizhou to suppress pirates. In the study, he saw many warships and sea ship configurations, and had a certain understanding of navigation.

"As long as the ship is big enough and stops for supplies, it can cross the ocean.

With current navigation technology, to get there, you probably have to go through here and then sail along the coastline."

Su Ying pointed at the map from Dengzhou to the Bering Strait, then to Aagaka in America, and then went south along the coastline.

"Will this work?" Du He looked at the map and it seemed that the two continents were indeed closest to each other at the Bering Strait.

"It's possible!" Su Ying was certain that in ancient times, including the Shang Dynasty, people traveled to America from the Bering Strait.

"It's still wild there. Silk, porcelain, and other things shipped there can be exchanged for gold and jewelry. There are several species with extremely high yields there. It takes countless years to return after a trip!"

Everyone was silent, feeling a little scared as they thought about it.

"What about this side? Is it faster to travel by land? Or by water?" Princess Changle asked, pointing to the westernmost part of the Eurasian continent.

"Of course we go by water. As long as the wind and water are favorable, we can arrive in half a year at most.

"If we go by land, we have to cross mountains and ridges. There are no roads in many places, so it might take years to reach the destination," Su Ying replied.

"Where is the Kingdom of Daqin?" Du He asked again.

"Here!" Su Ying pointed to the land near the Persian Gulf.

Traveling by land relies entirely on camels for transportation, and the goods that can be taken away are few, and the person also has to cross the desert.

The cargo capacity is far less than that of large ships, so there are many merchant ships coming from the Persian Gulf in Guangzhou Port and Quanzhou Port.

Du He looked at the map and rolled his eyes. "Yi Ai, do you really want to sail?"

"Well, I'm going to build a fleet, load it with silk, porcelain, sugar, and vermicelli, and go to India and the Arab world to exchange for spices, gold, silver, and jewelry!"

As Fang Yiai spoke, his eyes gleamed with golden light.

"Well, can I take a share?" Du He suggested.

"?" Fang Yiai stared at Du He, trying to see if he was sincere or not. They usually didn't get along well with each other in Hongwenguan.

"Haha, just tell me how much you want to invest. I'll take one tenth of it, and I only want one twentieth of the profit." Du He said.

Fang Yiai is at the greatest risk and is going out to sea himself, so Du He naturally would not take one tenth of the profit.

"Are you serious?" Chai Lingwu scratched his head. "Yiai, how about I join in?"

They are good brothers, and even their mortal enemy Du He has gotten involved. How can he not support his brother?

"Yiai, I'll also join in! I support you in sailing!" Li Tai puffed out his chest.

When your lackey shows up, you have to show some appreciation.

Su Ying gently poked the prince.

"I will also lend a hand! Yiai is a role model for the younger generations of our dynasty! Explore ocean routes for our dynasty!" Li Chengqian said loudly.

These words immediately elevated Fang Yiai's voyage to a higher political level.