Great Zhou Empress

The vast ocean.

The wind and waves in this area are so strong that it is unbearable. Even a big boat of [-] materials is like a leaf floating in the wind and waves, shaking from side to side and up and down with the towering waves.

Zhao Wutong and her sailors worked hard to maintain the stability of the entire hull, but in this era except for wind and artificial power, whether such a ship can withstand wind and waves depends on God's will.

Yan Yi's face was pale, and she was thrown back and forth in the cabin, once she was thrown to the floor, and again she was thrown to the ceiling.

Although she is good at light work, she really didn't train on a boat with huge waves and severe shaking. Now she only feels that she has no control over her body.

Finally, the day dawned, and the wind and waves became smaller, but this smallness was only relative, and the degree of shaking of the hull was still not enough to make people stand upright, at least for Yan Yi.

Zhao Wutong and others have long been used to it. She grew up in the wind and waves since she was a child, but the sea area where they are active all the year round does not often have such large and continuous wind and waves, only at certain moments, such as storms or It will only appear in summer when there are large typhoons.

Sure enough, the reason why this route has not been discovered by the predecessors is really because this route is difficult to walk.

Zhao Wutong gave Yan Yi some food, which was boiled together with some potatoes mixed with some dried fruits.

Yan Yi doesn't look well, and recently, her stomach has been churning, vomiting non-stop, and she hasn't gotten used to it.

Zhao Wutong said while giving her something to eat, "If I knew you were a seasick cook, I wouldn't have spent so much effort to rescue you from Bianjing City. Cooking, you say, what's the matter."

But even though she said disgusting words, she acted very gently, and fed Yan Yi one after another. Yan Yi expressed discomfort, but she could still coax her with nice words, "Hey, take another bite."

Yan Yi really wanted to say, I also spent a lot of effort trying to escape, but you refused to let me, now you still blame me?But now she is very dizzy and doesn't want to say anything.

Just shaking in the wind and waves, the fleet suddenly saw a small piece of land.

Zhao Wutong quickly climbed to the top of the mast, and settled on the highest point like a monkey. When he looked far, there is indeed land, but it looks like a small island.

It would be nice to have an island.

The three boats adjusted their direction and went straight to the small island.

Soon, the three boats moored outside the small island, dropped anchor, changed boats, and everyone went to the small island with a roar.

It should be an uninhabited desert island, overgrown with wild grass, and only occasionally saw some small animals.

"Today, we are camping on this island, looking for a place and tidying up." Zhao Wutong ordered excitedly.

No matter how accustomed to life at sea, human beings are still land creatures, and they would naturally prefer to live on land if they have land.

Because it was getting dark, everyone didn't go too far. They found a flat land near the sand and gravel on the beach, and then took tarpaulin tents from the boat to build them. These tents can accommodate one or two people to sleep. The tents of the steppe tribes are not the same.

There were only grass and shrubs around, and it was a bit hard to find materials for burning, and finally a big fire was ignited.

Everyone took the food from the boat, and some people jumped into the water to touch some seafood, and started a bonfire party with a roar.

Sitting next to him, Yan Yi finally felt alive.

She also took the initiative to help everyone cook food. The chef's skills are really different. They are all the same ingredients, but the taste is different.

Someone teased her and said, "Boss Zhao's daughter-in-law, if you don't show your skills, we probably think you can't cook. Boss Zhao tells us every day that you are a great chef, but we don't believe it."

Yan Qi lowered her head and said only one sentence, "My name is Yan Qi, not Mrs. Zhao's wife."

In the end, Zhao Wutong hugged her shoulder and said, "Why are you being so polite? I don't dislike you, but you still dislike me?"

Yan Yi: "..."

Is this a thing?

In the early morning of the next day, everyone turned over a hill, but saw that the scenery on the other side was very good. There was even a forest. Although the trees were very low, they were still forests.There is also a river. After everyone rushed down, they saw a lot of fish in the river. It is estimated that no one has ever been here before. The fish here are fat and big, and they can be picked up almost by hand.

Everyone rushed in, and a group of men just took off their clothes and took a bath in the water. The crew never took a bath at sea, and fresh water was used for drinking. As for sea water?After washing, it is estimated that the salt can be rubbed off the body.

There are still sensible people who tell Zhao Wutong that there is a bend in the upper reaches, and the two of them can go there to wash. If the other party is talking, don’t look at the two of them so obscenely, and add "Wash for as long as you want, we will not If you don't bother", it should be better.

Zhao Wutong felt that he must have been infected by these perverts, otherwise, why did he feel a little weird when he saw Yan Yi took off his clothes and sat in the water to take a bath? , and then always talking about meat to blur my impression, I obviously only love braised pork.

Yan Yi is open-minded, she has always been like this, like a wooden person, it seems that she has never known what it means to be shy.

Since entering the sea, she has never thought about escaping, and she has never even thought about escaping in a small boat, probably because she also clearly realizes that the sea is mysterious and frightening, and it cannot be defeated by a small boat.

Zhao Wutong took off his clothes awkwardly, and sat a little far away from Yan Yi. Yan Yi didn't even look at her, but focused on cleaning and washed her hair. The long hair fell down and covered her like a waterfall. Covered Yan Yi's entire face.

When Zhao Wutong found that he had been staring at others, he subconsciously patted his face, what were he doing?

Yan Yi flicked her hair and looked at her, seeing that there was nothing wrong, she resumed cleaning.

Only after this time, Zhao Wutong finally had to admit that she seemed to have some strange thoughts about Yan Qi.

The natural conditions of this island are better than they thought before. Although there are only some small animals and plants are not rich because of the isolation, there are fresh water, abundant fish, and a vast hinterland. Pirates have made this their future base.

Zhao Wutong even took out the machine Ayila gave her to measure this place, roughly estimating the distance between here and Dazhou. According to previous estimates, they are not far from the new continent, Penglaizhou.

Finally, after filling up with fresh water and dried fish, they set out again to the east. In less than half a month, they saw the outline of the mainland. It was not an island, but a mainland. Everyone was as excited as if they had drunk wine.

An area that the people of Dazhou have never been to. If there are indigenous people here, they can sell Dazhou’s things here, and the products here should also be able to be transported to Dazhou. Once they come and go, they can earn more money. It is simply astronomical.

Among them, Zhao Wutong was the most excited, she was finally sure that what Xue Zhijing told her was true.

She remembered that many years ago, Xue Zhijing strongly encouraged her to go to Penglai Island, saying, "There are a lot of gold, silver, copper and iron mines there, and there are also some plants and spices that Dacheng does not have.

"There are some special ingredients abound there, and they are delicious when made. There is a root crop called sweet potato. When you peel off the skin of sweet potato, there are crisp fruits that can be eaten raw. The most delicious way is to cut the fruit into pieces and mix sugar Boil it into a slurry, then put the fried pieces into the syrup and wrap them in the syrup, and it will become shredded when you pull it, the taste should only be found in heaven."

"There is also a crop called potatoes. If it is sliced ​​and baked, and sprinkled with rich seasonings, the taste will make you want to swallow your tongue."

"There is also a crop called corn, which is crystal clear, and each grain looks like human teeth. It tastes sweet and delicious. If it is ground into powder and then made into dough cakes, the taste is so sweet that it makes people feel like they are making daytime cakes." Like a dream."

She must get these crops, haha, let Yan Yi make them for her, and then she opened gourmet restaurants throughout the whole week, specializing in ingredients from Penglaizhou, my God, it will definitely make a lot of money.

With this belief, she and her men chose a harbor, moored the three ships, and then went to land, and slowly began to explore.

Soon, they ran into a lot of local people, all with yellow skin and black hair. They looked no different from people from Dazhou, except that their cheeks were wider, more like people from the northern Liao Kingdom.The language between them seems to have some similar sounds, and everyone can barely communicate with each other by making gestures and guessing.

It's just that the people here are still in the very primitive stone age, and they respect the iron weapons brought by Zhao Wutong and others as magic weapons.They have no horses or cattle here, and they grow crops with only human power.

Zhao Wutong did find the corn, potatoes and sweet potatoes that Xue Zhijing mentioned from their crops, but they seemed to be different from what Xue Zhijing said, not as good-looking as she said.

Regardless, Xue Zhijing is a storyteller, and what he says is often better than the truth.

Zhao Wutong couldn't wait to let Yan Yi cook new dishes for her.

Bianjing.

The poor Xue Zhijing could only devote all his energies to his work, and now that Xiao Liege was back in charge of her, if the two of them wanted to meet, they would have to wait until the capitals on both sides of the border were built.

Now, the Royal Comprehensive University is operating very smoothly. In this oriental world that values ​​studies and knowledge, there will only be more and more people admiring the power of the school.

The current Royal Comprehensive University has large colleges such as the School of Economics and History, School of Engineering, School of Economics, School of Agriculture, and Military Academy, as well as small schools such as the School of Medicine, School of Music, and the newly added School of Astronomy and Geology.The Royal Comprehensive University is still recruiting teachers from all over the country and even from abroad, and the School of Foreign Languages ​​is also being established.

The number of international students has also gradually increased. They are mainly the children of nobles from some surrounding countries. When they come here, they basically choose the School of Economics and History to study. Other schools are too practical, and only a very small number of foreign students choose.

The second round of Dazhou Primary School and the three-year compulsory education work was carried out, and the experimental model of Bianjing was extended to large cities in various states. This matter did not receive much resistance, especially Dazhou Primary School. The old scholars who failed to try were recruited as teachers. They are the largest group of scholars at the grassroots level. At this time, they have become people who eat the emperor's food in disguise, which naturally alleviates the resistance that may arise from the promotion.

Shengfeng Bank is currently operating in good condition, and has undertaken a considerable part of the business of the modern banking industry, and has also done a small amount of business in the financial industry.The bank notes of Shengfeng Bank effectively alleviated the shortage of currency in circulation throughout the dynasty, and allowed the entire country's economy to operate effectively by relying on bank notes without the import of foreign gold and silver.Supported by sufficient reputation, many foreign businessmen even hold bank bonds, which also made Xue Zhijing consider whether he should establish Shengfeng Bank's business outlets in neighboring countries.

Lichun Academy has completely transformed into a large-scale cultural group integrating entertainment, printing, and publicity. Meet all publicity and cultural communication needs.At the same time, Lichun Academy provides a new way out for many low-level girls. Those who are good-looking can learn to act and become actors in Lichun Academy, and those who sing well or have musical talents can learn to sing and play the piano. Li Chun Yuan provided them with a job where they could settle down and make a living.

The Royal Maritime Caravan was formed by many small sea merchants. Xue Zhijing provided a lot of funds and many ships to allow the Royal Maritime Caravan to go to various countries to do business. They would go places that many merchants were unwilling to go before, even farther. They will also go to other places to try, and occasionally bring foreign businessmen from far away to make the whole business route smoother and richer.Others such as the tea industry, urban fertilizer, hot water, and fuel industries are also gradually developing.

The sea caravan came back from the most distant country, and they also brought back some local nobles and their servants. Xue Zhijing heard that they were as black as charcoal, so he knew they should be Africans.Although sea ships were able to go to Africa during the Dacheng period of the previous dynasty, but after all, it was too far away, and relatively few people went there. Most of them were in the Arab region, that is, the big food countries, and they returned.

Xue Zhijing received this group of guests from afar in the study. They should have learned Chinese from the crew for a long time on the ship they came to, and they can barely communicate at this time.

The leader is a lean black man, dressed in the most exquisite costumes of their tribe or country, wearing a huge crown made of various animal feathers and bones on his head, and wearing clothes made of various materials, Walking in barefoot, the servants behind him dressed much simpler, and some even wore their big Zhou costumes, guessing that they probably don't wear clothes on weekdays.

Xue Zhijing was used to seeing all kinds of races in her previous life, so naturally she would not feel any discrimination. In her view, people are all the same, and she treats each other on the principle that the visitor is the guest.

The other party offered her a lot of gifts, including a basket of gray beans, which the other party said was a specialty of their side, a red fruit that grows on trees, and eating it would make people excited.

Xue Zhijing didn't pay much attention at first, but suddenly thought of something, and asked someone to bring in the beans for a closer look.

It doesn't matter after seeing it, she immediately drooled, my God, isn't this coffee beans?

Xue Zhijing, who has no preference for food, is also someone who has been soaked in coffee for more than ten years. He has reached the point where drinking coffee makes him happy, so he should be a little addicted.In this era, instead of drinking tea, I drink it as a hydration all day long. If I want to change the environment, I will probably miss tea.

Seeing Xue Zhijing showing a knowing smile to the coffee beans, the black leader immediately showed his own smile, with gleaming white teeth.

Xue Zhijing hurriedly asked Tian Shouyu, an agricultural scientist, to enter the palace. She wanted to keep only a little bit of this basket of coffee beans, and let Tian Shouyu use the rest for experiments. She must plant coffee trees for her. She remembered that Coffee trees grow in tropical and subtropical regions. If they are well promoted, they should become a brand new economic crop.

Time keeps moving forward, and at the side of the capital, it is said that the palace has been built and can move in at any time.

On a sunny afternoon, Xue Zhijing told the officials that she was going to live in Wan Guo City, the accompanying capital, from now on.The ministers had known for a long time that she was building an accompanying capital city of all nations, and they also knew that she wanted this city to be a city where businessmen from all countries could trade freely there, but they didn't expect that Xue Zhijing would really want to live there, so they Woolen cloth?

"All the ministers, come with me to live in Wan Guo City."

"..."

The relocation of the imperial court is easy and easy, but also complicated. After all, they have also moved between Bianjing City and Jiankang City a few years ago, but they are just tired.

At the beginning Xue Zhijing only wanted a few confidential departments to move there, and other departments could stay in Bianjing first, but everyone knew that wherever the emperor was, the imperial court was there, and none of them could really stay in Bianjing.

Xue Zhijing happily moved to a new house, took a boat first, and then changed to the carriageway.

She specially called Gong Xuyang, who improved the steam engine, to ride with her from the mine outside the city, secretly hoping to stimulate her thinking and let her manufacture the locomotive as soon as possible.

Like Xue Zhijing's initial plan, the expressway was built very straight. From the core area of ​​the Central Plains to Wan Guo City is a plain. As long as the expropriation of the fields and cities along the way is resolved, theoretically it can travel in a straight line.

This is the only expressway currently built in the Zhou Dynasty, which happens to be used to connect Bianjing and Wanguo City.

The carriage that Xue Zhijing sat in was naturally remodeled, and the interior was comfortable. It was pulled back and forth by twenty horses. Because it was moving on rails, it was very stable, and the degree of shaking was within an acceptable range.Compared with the strong bumps caused by the terrain on the land road before, it is very pleasant to sit on such a fast track carriage.

Xue Zhijing directly said to Gong Xuyang, "Look, if a steam engine can be made into a car to replace the twenty horses in front, will it greatly save horsepower and food? Horses can't run forever, but the steam engine theory If it can keep turning continuously, or even turn faster and faster, then the speed of this car can theoretically be faster and faster, even exceeding the current speed of the Maxima."

Gong Xuyang naturally began to seriously think about Xue Zhijing's idea, but she is a technical person, and her mind is full of the steam engine, so that Xue Zhijing's head is full of confusion, but she still has to keep smiling on the surface , continued to encourage, "I will give you as much money as you want, and as many people as you want. I plan to establish a patent office in the court, such as this steam engine, you can apply for a patent, and it will be written in the history books in the future. This improved No. 50 The steam engine was made by you, Gong Xuyang, we can set a time limit, such as 50 years, and if others want to use your steam engine in the future, they will have to pay you within [-] years."

In this era, technologists often cherish their brooms and pass on to men rather than women, because things or formulas invented by themselves are too easy to be copied by others. After plagiarism, there is no compensation. People In order to protect themselves, such rules were set.

Although the patent system has certain disadvantages, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. It can very effectively stimulate people to develop new things, and promote this new thing to the whole world, which is a good thing for the whole society.

Wan Guo City is now particularly like a new city that is constantly being built in later generations. Only the palace and some administrative organs have been built, and other places are constantly being built on both sides of the pre-planned roads.

Xue Zhijing took a stroll. The houses of Shengfeng Bank and Lichunyuan have all been repaired, and they are waiting for people to come to open for business. The planned branch of the Royal Comprehensive University is also under construction. It is estimated that the school will start in a few months. I am really looking forward to it ah.

After working here for a while, she received a message from Xiao Liege, saying that she had taken Wang Ting to camp near the border, and was planning to start building a city on the other side.

Xue Zhijing was very happy, and rode across the border with a few attendants one afternoon to the other party's royal court.

Because of the previous Wang Ting's rebellion incident, many Liao people had seen Xue Zhijing, but no one dared to block her way at this time, so she went straight to Xiao Liege's king's tent.

When Xiao Liege was having a meeting, Xue Zhijing touched his nose, wandered outside the Wang Tent, and played a few archery games on the archery range that Xiao Liege had to build when he built the Wang Tent. Seeing Xiao Liege came to look for her after the meeting, followed by a young man taller than her.

"Why are you here?" Xiao Liege asked calmly, suppressing the joy in his heart.

Xue Zhijing said with a smile, "The neighbor has settled down. According to the courtesy, I should naturally pay a visit."

As she said that, she looked at the young man behind Xiao Liege, that was the little emperor Xiao Derui.

Xiao Derui came forward, bowed his hands politely, "Mr. Jing!"

Xue Zhijing also cupped his hands and said, "Emperor of the Liao Kingdom."

It is always a bit troublesome when the two of them greet each other with their identities. After all, they are both emperors of a country. When they met after the last battle of Wang Ting, the two of them were a little stunned. I also wanted to return to the "Emperor Zhou", but her aunt slapped him and called him "Mr. Jing", and told him to be polite when meeting other times unless it was on a big occasion of a formal gathering between the two countries. Call him "Mr. Jing".

It seems that Xiao Liege has decided to let Xiao Derui study abroad.

Xiao Liege accompanied Xue Zhijing to the site in the capital that she surveyed, and there were many people leveling the land.