The news of the Dinghai ship soon reached the ears of Zhu Yuanzhang in the palace.

When Zhu Ying returned to the palace, Zhu Yuanzhang was already waiting.

Naturally, Zhu Ying also rushed to the Qianqing Palace to tell the old man the good news.

"Has it really been built and launched?"

There was some expectation in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes. Although the eunuch had already passed on the news, Zhu Yuanzhang still wanted to hear it from his eldest grandson in person.

Zhu Ying smiled and nodded, "I was watching from the side. It was launched into the water, and the steam engine started to work, without the help of wind. The first steam-powered ironclad ship of the Ming Dynasty was truly built."

"The steam ironclad ship is of great significance. Even if it is just starting up, without the assistance of wind, it will be far superior to other speedboats. This is similar to what my grandson thinks."

"My grandson named this first ship Dinghai Ship, which means that once this ship is launched, all the seas will be stable."

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed when he heard this and said, "Great, what a great Dinghai warship! From now on, our Dinghai warship will definitely be the strongest on the sea."

"Now that we have built the first ship, the rest will be much easier. We will issue an order to the Ministry of Industry to build 300 ships for us before the end of this year."

Zhu Ying was drinking tea and almost spit it out when he heard this.

Three hundred ships, the old man really dares to think so.

"I'm afraid I can't do it." Zhu Ying shook his head.

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned slightly: "Why, it's just 300 ships, can't even this be produced in a hurry?"

The Ming Dynasty had very strong shipbuilding capabilities.

As of now, if we work hard to build them, it is not a big problem to build thousands of ships a year.

There are more than thirty state-owned shipyards controlled by the government alone.

Today, there are hundreds of private shipyards of all sizes.

When necessary, Zhu Yuanzhang could directly requisition private shipyards to build official ships.

Zhu Ying explained: "The steam ironclad ship is very different from an ordinary ship. Although the main body is made of wood, it is similar to our Fuzhou ship and is also quick to build."

"The key to a steam-powered ironclad ship is the steam engine, iron gears, propellers, and outer iron armor."

"Steam engines are much faster to build now. If the Research Department can recruit more apprentices, it won't be a problem to produce ten or so per month. If the molds for the iron gears are made, it won't affect production either."

"The only thing is that the propeller and the iron armor are very troublesome."

"The propellers used in ironclad ships can only be made by masters with superb craftsmanship. After hundreds of forgings, they still need to be polished for a long time. It takes half a month to form them, and they still need to be polished after that."

“Although the iron sheet installation is simpler, it is also a time-consuming and laborious task.”

"Now many craftsmen are out of business. Except for the Beijing Shipyard, other shipyards are difficult to build. They need to come to the Beijing to learn before they can start."

"Even so, my grandson estimates that he will have 30 to 40 ships by the end of the year, which is already very good."

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he immediately understood the difficulty.

Then he nodded and said, "Didn't your eldest grandson set up a craftsman school before? Take advantage of this opportunity to recruit more students and train them, and open more schools."

"After a few years, when there are more people here, the construction will be faster."

"When the time comes, we will build thousands of ships and expand the size of our navy. It is time to expand the territory of our Ming Dynasty as well."

I heard about the territorial issue.

There was a gleam in Zhu Ying's eyes.

In fact, although the Ming Dynasty is now powerful, it has never declared war on other countries to expand its territory.

Rest and recuperation without any excuses is one aspect.

Another aspect is the concept of territory.

In Zhu Yuanzhang's time, or in today's era, the concept of territory is very vague. Even the definition of borders is very vague. After all, without the technological means of later generations, there would be no clear border lines.

From the perspective of the people of the Ming Dynasty today, the Ming Dynasty was much more vast in territory than the Han and Tang Dynasties.

One is population.

During the Han and Tang dynasties, the population peaked at over 60 million.

The current Ming Dynasty had a population of more than 60 million in the early years of Hongwu.

Over the years since Zhu Ying entered the palace, she has continuously absorbed refugees and foreigners, including immigrants from other regions such as Tibet and grasslands. Now, the total number listed in the official household register has exceeded 80 million.

The second is about the definition of territory.

Since the Zhou Dynasty, there has been a saying that all under heaven belongs to the king, and all the people in the world are the king's subjects.

This is why the kings in the Central Plains believed that the entire world belonged to the emperor.

There is a boundary between Yi and Xia here.

That is to say, in the eyes of the emperors of the Central Plains since ancient times, especially Qin Shihuang.

He believed that there was only one country and one dynasty in the world, and that was the dynasty he ruled.

Other remote areas are all inhabited by barbarians who refuse to be civilized.

If we have to have a specific definition of the territory, it should be the Central Plains civilization circle.

Any place that has been influenced by the Central Plains civilization can be considered the territory of the dynasty.

The territory directly ruled by the Ming Dynasty today is less than 3.5 million square kilometers, but only Zhu Ying thinks so.

In fact, including Zhu Yuanzhang, all the ministers and scholars did not think so.

For example, the U-Tsang Commandery was equivalent to controlling the entire Tubo and the Western Regions.

For example, the vassal states were all under the direct jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty.

Then there are Annan, Champa, and Goryeo, which were influenced by the Central Plains culture and were all part of the Ming Dynasty's territory.

The same is true for Japan.

The four seas submit and all nations pay homage, that's the truth.

The kings of all other places can only be kings, and only the kings of the Central Plains dynasty can be emperors.

When communicating with the Ming Dynasty, he could only call himself a minister.

Otherwise it would be considered as being unruly.

Including Timur, who also called himself a subject in the correspondence between the empire and the state.

All these countries in Southeast Asia could only call themselves vassals when facing the Ming Dynasty.

What Zhu Yuanzhang meant by expanding the territory now was to expand the influence of the Ming Dynasty to further places.

According to the standards set by Zhu Ying now, the minimum requirement is that everyone must learn Chinese.

"Grandpa is right. We should expand the territory of the Ming Dynasty. After the steam ironclad ships are built, we can avoid most of the risks at sea and reach places that were once difficult to reach by sea. Moreover, the speed is several times faster than before and we can reach them more quickly."

"It may have taken dozens of days in the past, but now it only takes a dozen days. In this way, the people on those islands can already enjoy the king's rule."

Zhu Ying said affirmatively.

Zhu Yuanzhang felt quite excited. After all, he had made lofty ambitions in the past and thought they could not be realized. Unexpectedly, his eldest grandson's steam ironclad ship made the impossible possible.

"Next, my great grandson should supervise the construction and complete it. We should also take some time tomorrow to go and take a good look at this ironclad ship." Zhu Yuanzhang said.

Zhu Ying replied, "My grandson has issued an order. In three days, I will board the ship with you to feel how fast it is."

"The operation of a steam-powered ironclad ship is mainly powered by steam, with sails as a supplement. Therefore, it is more troublesome to operate, so let the navy familiarize themselves with it first."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "Okay, let's do as Da Sun said."

…

When we returned to Kunning Palace, it was almost time for dinner.

For today's dinner, Zhu Ying specifically instructed Guo Zhong to invite all the concubines together.

He wanted to tell all the concubines about the construction of the steam-powered ironclad ship.

Eating is like sleeping.

Whether it was Zhu Yuanzhang or Zhu Ying, they usually ate alone.

Because Zhu Ying was close to Zhu Yuanzhang, he often went to the Qianqing Palace to eat with him.

But with Ye Yueqing, the Crown Princess, it was rare for them to have a meal together in several days.

The first is the etiquette of the palace, and the second is the relationship between the separate dining system.

If Ye Yueqing is in such a situation, it must be even more difficult for the other concubines.

In other words, Zhu Ying was in good health, and there weren't many concubines at the time, so on average one could see Zhu Ying once every few days.

Like the kings of other dynasties, there were tens of thousands of them at most and hundreds at the least.

Compared with the tens of thousands, three thousand beauties in the harem are not enough.

In this case, many of them are just in name only, and they may not even have the chance to sleep with the emperor once in their entire life, or even just once in their entire life.

If you cannot conceive a dragon child, your old age will be miserable.

Nowadays, there is no such concept as a later restaurant.

Zhu Ying called all the concubines to have dinner together in the main hall of Kunning Palace.

It's not that we all eat together at one big table, but everyone has their own place and table.

After Zhu Ying's order was passed down, the eunuchs would notify the Guanglu Temple.

Then you will get a recipe from Guanglu Temple.

Before each concubine comes, a menu will be delivered to her first.

Apart from banquets for ministers in the palace, the family members would not have any big pot meals.

Each concubine can order dishes according to her favorite taste.

This is Guanglu Temple.

Senior chefs would specialize in cooking for a particular member of the royal family.

For example, Zhu Yuanzhang had more than a dozen chefs who cooked only for him.

Zhu Ying is similar.

Ye Yueqing usually has three cooks under his command.

Like Zhu Ying's other concubines, each of them had a fixed cook.

In addition to the chef, the number of dishes is also important.

For example, Zhu Yuanzhang had 48 dishes at each meal, while Zhu Ying had 36 dishes.

For example, Ye Yueqing, as the Crown Prince's Consort, had eighteen dishes.

Ordinary concubines also had eight to twelve dishes depending on their rank.

The main hall of Kunning Palace.

When Zhu Ying arrived, Ye Yueqing and other concubines were already in place.

At Zhu Ying's nod.

The eunuchs began to summon the dishes.

There are also some rules for serving the dishes. Zhu Ying's dish is served first, followed by Ye Yueqing's, and then the other concubines' dishes are served at almost the same time.

In fact, the dishes are already prepared.

It has to be said that in the palace, the sense of ritual for eating a meal is very strong.

"Today, I have summoned all the concubines to dine together because I have something good to announce."

"Just today, our Ming Dynasty's capital shipyard successfully built the first steam-powered ironclad ship."

"This steam ironclad ship, in addition to sails, is also powered by a steam engine, making it several times faster than before."

"For example, Na Fei's hometown, Champa, used to take ten days to reach from Fujian with favorable winds, but now with the steam ironclad ships, it only takes two or three days to reach the destination regardless of favorable winds or not."

"There is no need to go to Fujian anymore. We can go directly from the capital. It will only take five or six days in total."

Zhu Ying spoke up.

Many of the concubines were not ordinary people, and the news that the steam ironclad ship was in the palace spread very early.

Ananiya exclaimed: "Then I can go home more often."

Zhu Ying smiled and nodded, "Yes, it will be much more convenient to go to Champa in the future."

Sultana also said: "Chenla is close to Champa. If I go back to Chenla, it will take me one or two more days."

As she spoke, Sultana's eyes sparkled.

She thought of more aspects.

This means that the Ming Dynasty's ruling power will spread completely to the entire Southeast Asian coast.

At the same time, it can also allow his child Zhu Wenzhen to get more support from the Ming Dynasty.

Thinking of this, Sultana asked directly: "Your Highness, is this steam ironclad ship available now? I want to go back to Zhenla to take a look."

Sultana’s character is quite direct.

Zhu Ying shook his head and said, "It's not that fast. We have just built the first one, and it's just for reference."

"If Princess Dan wants to go home to visit her parents, she has to wait until the end of the year, when dozens of ships are built. Then she can go to Zhenla."

At this point, Zhu Ying smiled and said, "You won't be going alone then. Everyone can go out and have some fun together. I should be there too."

With the Steam Armored City, it is much more convenient for Zhu Ying to travel.

First, the speed is fast, and second, the security is also greatly guaranteed.

Hearing that they could go out and play together, everyone's faces became very happy.

No matter at what time, traveling is always a relaxing and enjoyable activity, especially before traveling.

Below, Xu Miaojin and Chen Muyue started chatting.

In terms of relationship, Xu Miaojin and Chen Muyue are obviously better.

We are now discussing what are the fun places in Champa and Chenla.

Ananya chatted with Sultana.

Although Zhao Xiangxi was somewhat happy, she looked a little lonely.

This was because of some previous events between her and Ye Yueqing.

Zhao Xiangxi was not a Goryeo princess, she was only canonized in name only.

Moreover, on the way to Daming, Ye Yueqing once worked as Zhao Xiangxi's maid.

The identity of the Goryeo princess was also seized by Ye Yueqing.

This matter didn't matter in the end, but Zhao Xiangxi still felt a gap in her heart.

Because she was in charge of the Gunpowder Bureau, which was involved in the secrets of firearms, it would be difficult for Zhao Xiangxi to return to China.

In fact, there has been no news from the Fengyang Zhao family until now. Zhao Xiangxi knew that he might have been expelled from the family.

The Japanese princess Xiangzi was quiet.

This is probably due to my personality.

Although there was joy in his eyes, he did not show it.

Ye Yueqing smiled.

When she was under the name of the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce, she had been to many places. Although she was not very old, she was not so eager to travel around.

Being with Zhu Ying is the happiest thing for her now.

Zhu Ying took in all the concubines' expressions.

I felt a little more pity for Zhao Xiangxi and Xiangzi.

Maybe the relationship was a little dull in the past, but after all these years, she was still my concubine, and she had given birth to children with me, so I should love her a little.

At that moment, Zhu Ying raised his glass and said, "This is a great joyous event. Let's drink together."