Fu Tang

When Li Zhongyu came back to work, Lu Ji ran directly from the academy to the palace, and said happily, "Your Majesty, the boat you asked me to build has already been built!"

Li Congjia's eyes lit up instantly: "Really? So fast?"

Lu Ji smiled and said, "We have used the latest technology for this ship, which should be much better than the previous Yuan Xi."

Li Congjia asked again: "Is it a steam engine?"

Lu Ji nodded: "We have also improved the steam turbine, maybe it can be used on the Yuanxi."

Li Congjia's first reaction was to ask, "How much money do you need?"

Lu Ji hesitated and said, "A steam turbine needs about 10 taels of silver."

Li Congjia was not very happy after hearing this, but felt a little helpless.

A turbine engine costs 10 taels of silver. To be honest, he can afford the money himself. He can even buy several ships, but the Yuanxi Fleet is different. In addition to the main ship, the Yuanxi Fleet also has [-] or [-] other ships. If the main ship Xi uses a turbine engine, then the other ships must at least have a reduced version. Otherwise, how can they keep up with the speed of the main ship?

The main ship is 10 taels, and the reduced version is at least [-] to [-]. This fleet... is really made of gold, and the current Datang treasury still cannot afford this money. Li Congjia could not afford to pay.

Seeing that Li Congjia was unhappy, Lu Ji said, "Your Majesty, don't be discouraged. This engine should be improved, and at least the cost can be reduced. It just takes time. In fact, the coastal defense power of the Tang Dynasty is already superior to other countries. Don’t be too hasty.”

Li Congjia thought so too, although he didn't know what Europe was like now, but looking at the Principality of Kievan Rus, he knew that it might not be very advanced.

He threw aside the emotions just now, and said: "Since it's done, I'll go and have a look when I find some time. Where are you staying now?"

Lu Ji said, "In the Wei River."

Li Congjia was a little surprised: "Sea ships can also go on the Wei River?"

Lu Ji hesitated before saying, "This ship has been built in the Weishui River from the beginning to the end, and it will have to be transported from the Weishui River to the seaport. Otherwise, such a huge ship cannot be transported to the seaport unless it is disassembled."

Li Congjia didn't ask any more questions. He had already mastered a skill, that is, as long as the subordinates did a good job and the methods used were not out of the ordinary, he would not bother with the rest.

When Lu Ji came here, he hoped that Li Congjia could spare a day to look at the newly built cruise ship, and he withdrew after achieving his goal.

And because of Lu Ji's coming, Li Congjia seemed a little absent-minded this morning, when Shi Xueting came back from his work, he found that there were still many memorials that had been approved in the past, and he couldn't help being a little surprised: "What happened today? "

Li Congjia saw him come back, his eyes lit up, he threw the pen aside and said, "Come here, I have something to tell you."

Shi Xueting sat over and habitually hugged Li Congjia's waist and asked, "What happened?"

Li Congjia looked at him brightly and said, "The boat is ready."

Shi Xueting was a little surprised: "So fast? How long have you been talking?"

Li Congjia calculated carefully and said: "It's been almost a year, but they were actually building boats before, but I added a plug, and my requirements probably made Lu Ji and the others find it challenging."

Shi Xueting smiled and said, "Since it's already done, I guess I can go and have a look?"

Li Congjia nodded vigorously: "Well, it should be almost the same, but I still want them to make a few more."

Shi Xueting was a little surprised: "How many more? Why?"

Is one boat not enough for you?Of course, the essence of Shi Xueting is not to let Li Congjia do it, but to think that he does too much, and it is estimated that someone will say that he is extravagant.

Li Congjia said: "Assembling a fleet, if a ship encounters pirates, it will easily cause problems."

Shi Xueting: ...

I thought of pirates before the ship went to sea, can I think of it better?

But he also caught the point: "Pirates? Do you want to go to the far sea?"

Only then did Li Congjia remember that he had never told Shi Xueting before, of course it wasn't that he didn't, but he didn't say it in too much detail, or that he said it at the time, but the other party didn't take it to heart. Because that might just be an unrealistic dream for two people.

However, Li Congjia wants to work hard to realize this dream.

Thinking of this, he said: "Yes, although I told you before that I wanted to visit famous mountains and rivers, but after thinking about it, we have traveled to many places over the years, and we walked along the coastline before, which can be regarded as a lot. So I thought... why don't we go and see the scenery that we haven't seen before, I once heard that there is a country completely unfamiliar to us on the other side of the ocean, I want to see it."

Shi Xueting couldn't help but gasped: "Across the ocean?"

No matter how open-minded he was, he never thought that Li Congjia still had such ambitions. The ocean is always unpredictable, and even the most powerful fishermen dare not stay on it for too long. Li Congjia actually wanted to cross the ocean. Is this going to rush to be the son-in-law of Lord Dragon?

Li Congjia smiled happily. It had been a long time since he had seen Shi Xueting lose his composure in such surprise, which gave him a sense of accomplishment.

He touched Shi Xueting's face and said, "Why are you so surprised? When did you see me do something unsure?"

Shi Xueting heheed twice, with a look of contempt on his face, if he is really asked to count... I'm afraid he won't be able to count until tomorrow morning!

Perhaps Li Congjia also felt that it was a bit inappropriate to say so, and quickly changed the way of saying: "I will never risk our two lives."

This Shi Xueting believed it, even if Li Congjia tried his best, he would not drag him along, and vice versa.

So he asked, "How confident are you that this ship will be able to cross the ocean?"

Li Congjia chuckled: "It doesn't matter if you can cross it or not. There are countless small islands in the middle of the sea. You can see that there must be other island countries. If the situation is not suitable, we will come back." , try harder next time, there must always be a goal in life.”

Shi Xueting was helpless: "I thought your goal was to be a wise king."

Li Congjia shook his head: "Mingjun? This is too difficult. Since ancient times, there has been no reference at all for what a Mingjun looks like. What is a Mingjun? There is no definition. As long as I have a clear conscience, people will not think that I am a disaster for the country and the people after a hundred years. That’s it, the rest is up to fate.”

Shi Xueting thought about it for a while, and Li Congjia didn't seem to have done anything to become a wise king, at least compared to his "ancestor" Li Erfeng, he was far behind.

Back then, Li Erfeng tolerated Wei Zheng's arrogance for the sake of fame, and even smothered his own bird to death. He was really happy when he was an emperor who didn't even dare to keep pets?Of course he was unhappy, but in order to be a wise king, Li Erfeng endured it.

If it was for Li Congjia, Shi Xueting felt... who dares to talk about Li Congjia face to face, and Li Congjia would dare face to face when he was not on the absolutely reasonable side.

"Forget it, as long as you are happy." Shi Xueting didn't say anything at all. Although Li Congjia seemed to be in a good mood with a smile every day, but his responsibilities prevented him from really doing what he wanted. A chance for Li Congjia to imagine?

Not even giving in to fantasy, that would be really cruel to Li Congjia.

Li Congjia did not emphasize that this dream will be realized, but said: "Take a look at that ship with me, anyway, it can be regarded as my sea palace anyway, oh, yes, give that ship a name Well, what do you think of using it as the name of the fleet by the way?"

Shi Xueting froze for a moment, then turned to look at Li Congjia: "You really want me to name it?"

Li Congjia nodded: "Yes, this is our fleet."

The country's fleet is named by everyone, even Li Congjia can only go to the final check, let alone Shi Xueting have any say, the fleet of the two of them, of course, must give the naming right to Shi Xueting.

Shi Xueting looked at him deeply, and said after a long while: "I want...to call it Jiating."

After hearing this, Li Congjia smiled and said, "Is it so simple and rude?"

After Shi Xueting finished speaking, he felt a little regretful. If the name of this ship was known to others, his hidden relationship with Li Congjia might be equivalent to being announced.

So he immediately said: "It's better to change it."

Li Congjia waved his hand: "What to change, this one is also very good, the simplest explanation is the happy garden, what a good meaning."

But Shi Xueting was a little worried: "Forget it, let's get another one."

This time it was Li Congjia's turn to insist: "That's all, don't think so much."

Li Congjia knew what Shi Xueting was worried about, but he wasn't worried at all. Now that the princes are married, whoever the emperor gets close to is the emperor's own business, and it won't affect the state affairs.

What's more, Li Congjia never planned to engage in an underground relationship. Sometimes he and Shi Xueting did it quite obviously, but I don't know if everyone has guessed about it.

Li Congjia didn't pull Shi Xueting to make everyone recognize Shi Xueting's status, nor did he intend to change the worldly rules. It was just the naming of a ship, which didn't affect anyone. Those who are smarter will understand that pretending not to know is the best Methods.

Shi Xueting understood what Li Congjia meant, and didn't insist on objecting, but was prepared to see if anyone dared to take the opportunity to make trouble, and he could deal with it later.

After the ship had such a name, Li Congjia became more affectionate towards it, as if... it was his and Shi Xueting's real home.

The imperial palace is good, and the palace is also good, but these all belong to this country, and Li Congjia never felt that these belonged to him.

Even if they want to come to Shi Xueting, they will not feel that this is their home. The house on land, Li Congjia, has not yet decided where to settle down. In fact, even if he really abdicates, he should stay in the palace. If he wants to go out, he probably has to go through After a struggle, all these can only be put aside first.

After having such a thought, Li Congjia was very eager to see the ship, but the official business can never be finished. After waiting for a long time, he found that the cabinet felt that he was more diligent recently, so the memorial was not completed. After giving more and more, Li Congjia decided...to skip work!

It wasn't once or twice that he was so willful, Shi Xueting was not very surprised, he just said: "Give me the less important ones, I will help you."

Li Congjia waved his hand: "Forget it, I've given some to Da Lang, let him go, let's go and see the boat in the afternoon!"

Shi Xueting was a little dumbfounded, wondering if he should sympathize with Li Zhongyu, after all since Li Zhongyu got married, Li Congjia was suspected of exploiting child labor.

Just when he was thinking this way, Li Zhongyu happened to come to report to work, and Shi Xueting suddenly discovered that in just a few days, changes visible to the naked eye had taken place in Li Zhongyu.

In the past, Li Zhongyu looked like a child no matter how old he was, but now the baby fat of his youth has faded away, and his face gradually has the outline of a mature man, and his whole person has settled down, looking a lot calmer.

Shi Xueting didn't know whether this change was due to his sense of responsibility after becoming a relative, or because of Li Congjia's torture to him in the past few days.

After Li Zhongyu reported to Li Congjia, although Li Congjia was anxious to see the boat, he patiently pointed out some things that were wrong, and then let Li Zhongyu go back to the East Palace to figure it out, and he took Shi Xueting to the shore of the Wei River.

Before arriving there, Li Congjia could vaguely see the silhouette of a huge ship while sitting in the carriage. To be honest, Weishui River can be regarded as a very large river, but such a river seems a bit narrow against the background of Jiating Small, it can be seen that Jiating is huge.

Li Congjia was not in a hurry to get on the boat, but stood below and looked up at the boat carefully. The hull of the whole boat was very delicate, probably because the owner was Li Congjia, and the appearance of the hull had dragon elements. The dragon head and tail at the top, and the dragon scales on the middle hull.

The whole ship is black and gold, the black dragon scales are outlined with gold on the edges, the dragon horns are gold, and the dragon tail is also a little gold, which looks very low-key and luxurious.

Li Congjia liked it more and more, and while boarding the ship, he heard Lu Ji say to him: "My Majesty, this ship is 16 meters wide, 130 meters long, and has a displacement of more than 1 tons. It can accommodate about 600 people when fully loaded."

Li Congjia nodded as he listened. This data is not good. The most common cruise ships in later generations may be better than this one, but this ship can be said to have gathered the best craftsmen and designers in the world, as well as the most Made of good materials.

Regardless of craftsmanship and various technologies, Li Congjia doubts whether this ship is unique in the world in terms of cost alone. It is said that the entire ship has not been fully decorated, and it has been used for 3 months. Ten thousand taels of gold.

This is gold, not silver, and only Li Congjia, who owns the largest commercial firm and the best restaurant in Datang, can make this thing.

Li Congjia followed Lu Ji all the way forward, and found that the ship was exquisitely crafted no matter where it came from.

Lu Ji introduced it and said, "Most of this ship is handmade, and the existing machinery driven by steam engines can't be used for many things."

Li Congjia nodded, what Lu Ji said almost didn't make Li Congjia really walk the whole ship, but took him directly to the largest room of the ship - of course the one that belonged to Li Congjia.

This room can be called huge on a ship. Li Congjia initially estimated that it is at least [-] square meters. Of course, this area is not very good in ordinary times, but this is on a ship, and the whole ship is only big.

But in the room, there are only some fixed furniture that have been made, and many things have not been decorated. Of course... the biggest reason why it is not done is that no one knows what Li Congjia wants to do.

Li Congjia turned to look at Shi Xueting, Shi Xueting went around and knocked on the wall, suddenly asked: "How is the sound insulation in this room?"

Li Congjia was stunned for a moment, then his ears turned red, and he hurried to the window, pretending to look outside, letting the wind blow his face, so as not to blush in front of everyone.

Others may not understand Shi Xueting's meaning, but Li Congjia...Of course he knows that Shi Xueting probably doesn't have anything good on his mind!

Lu Ji didn't think too much, and just said: "National Teacher, don't worry, what's the soundproofing of the rooms in the palace, what's going on here!"

Shi Xueting smiled slightly, the buildings in the palace are a mix of brick and wood, the sound insulation is definitely not comparable to a few wooden boards, but since Lu Ji said so, there may be a special way to deal with it, so he didn't ask too much.

But soon he found that the previous worries were basically useless, because the whole floor was for Li Congjia. Apart from Li Congjia's study room, dining room, observation deck, performance stage, and even There is also a swimming pool. With this arrangement, the entire floor will be full, even a little insufficient.

At that time, of course, there will be no people in these places, but there are also some waiters. Those who can board the boat must be strictly selected by Shi Xueting, and they will not gossip. The sound insulation of the room does not seem to be so Useful.

However, what satisfied Li Congjia and Shi Xueting the most was not how luxurious this floor was, but that Lu Ji really put his mind to it. Many places on the ship, such as wardrobes and cabinets, had all kinds of small things on them. The mechanism is used to place some daily necessities, and it can also ensure that these daily necessities will not be displaced due to bumps in the sea.

There are small tables with various things specially used for warming wine on the viewing platform, hidden heating facilities in the swimming pool, and small tables specially used for putting drinks on the performance stage, and these things are undoubtedly not considered Exquisite and beautiful.

Only the details can reflect people's hearts. Lu Ji really put his heart and soul into making this ship. Li Congjia thought about whether to give some rewards later. After all, it is not easy to do so well in such a short period of time.

Of course, it’s hard to say now, he continued to look down, and found that the crew’s accommodation is also good, and there is also a martial arts training ground, and there is even a special place for raising horses, and then on the ship’s side below and outside are The security positions of various weapons, while ensuring the beauty of the entire ship, also make the ship's force value strong to a certain extent.

Of course, this horse is for Li Congjia's exclusive use. Other people's horses... can't fit on this boat.

In this day and age, this ship is a luxury that breaks the sky.

Lu Ji said frankly: "Don't be afraid of His Majesty's jokes, we are all rough, and there are many decorations, so His Majesty will send someone to fix them."

In fact, everyone knows that craftsmen like Lu Ji have good aesthetics, but they are trying to avoid suspicion.

If Li Congjia wants to make this ship comfortable, he must change many places to suit his own way of life. After all, Lu Ji and the others are foreign ministers, and they will know too much if they interfere too much. If something happens, it will be dead. A hundred times is not enough to atone for sin, so simply ignore it at all, just do the most basic work, and leave the rest to the emperor to worry about.

Li Congjia didn't care either. If it was the past, he might have asked Lu Ji to do whatever he wanted. Anyway, he didn't care too much about it. At most, he would change the details later.

However, it is different now, the meaning of this ship is different, he hopes to arrange the place where they will live in the future together with Shi Xueting.

After seeing the ship, Li Congjia was very excited. Of course, he pretended to be decent so no one could tell, but he was very satisfied with the ship. Only Shi Xueting could see it from his aura. I found out that this guy can't wait to go directly to sea by boat.

Before leaving, Lu Ji asked, "For this ship...does Your Majesty have any other orders?"

Li Congjia said: "That's pretty good. Well, I will build five or six small boats later, and they will be a copy of Yuanxi's fleet. It's not appropriate to have such a single big boat."

Lu Ji was not surprised. Even if Li Congjia didn't say anything, he would still make a request. After all, who would dare to let Li Congjia go out to sea alone in such a boat?

He nodded and replied: "It is possible to do it, but the turbine may..."

Li Congjia waved his hand: "You don't have to be the same as this ship, you can almost keep up, as long as you have fighting power."

Lu Ji breathed a sigh of relief in an instant: "Then... Your Majesty, although the fleet has not yet formed, please give this fleet a name."

Li Congjia looked up at the ship, then cast a veiled glance at Shi Xueting, said with a slight smile, "Jiating, the main ship is called Jiating, and the entire fleet is called Jiating Fleet."

Jiating?

Jia and the others can understand, what does court... mean?

This name is very strange. Lu Ji and others are a little confused, but there are always smart people who can guess it.

Chunsheng looked at Shi Xueting with envy, but because of his gaze, many people guessed something at the time, but they didn't dare to think deeply—it was too scary, and they couldn't mess with anyone on the two sides. Affordable.

Just when Lu Ji wondered why the air was suddenly quiet, Yang Xin, Minister of Honglu Temple, ran here directly to beg Li Congjia, and the first thing he said when he saw Li Congjia was: "Your Majesty, Oleg Svyatoslavich requests See Your Majesty."

Li Congjia smiled slightly after hearing this: "He finally couldn't hold his breath anymore, let's go, go back."