Daming: My boss Zhu Yuanzhang

Under Li Wei's arrangement, the students all found their "favorite" jobs and went to work in their respective workshops unhappily.

Of course, they are still only some fifteen-year-old children, and all of them are treasures. It is impossible for Li Wei to let them work under his own protection.

Talents are naturally treated like talents. These students are in charge of things, and their main responsibilities are research, coming up with ideas, and directing others to work.

The craftsmen of the Ordnance Bureau knew that these were his direct disciples, and they were also the descendants of the craftsmen, so they did not have much resistance in their hearts. On the contrary, they loved them very much. After all, they also hoped that their descendants could one day become That kind of people.

After arranging these students, Li Wei called Lu Ti over and told him to keep an eye on these students. At the same time, there were still some things to continue to manufacture, such as steam engines, rifled barrels, etc.

After leaving the Ordnance Bureau, he went to the shipyard.

In the shipyard, Jiang Quan is leading the craftsmen to build a new ironclad ship.

Li Wei didn't just build one armored ship and be done with it, he also built not only battleships, but also transport ships and passenger ships.

Although there are rubber seeds now, if he wants to plant them in the Ming Dynasty, it will take at least five or six years before they grow into rubber. He doesn't want to wait.

Therefore, while looking for land for planting, we also need to sail to the Americas again. It is best to establish a base to harvest natural rubber and then transport it back. A round trip by steamship only took a few months, so it could still wait.

With Wang Jinghong making this trip and finding out the route, the rest of the matter will be much simpler.

After looking at the ship's manufacturing progress, Li Wei asked Jiang Quan to speed up the construction before leaving the shipyard.

While Li Wei was busy preparing for the expedition, others were not idle either.

Late at night, a sneaky man entered the Tianjie Temple in the west corner of the capital.

In this Tianjie Temple, there are not only monks summoned to the capital from various places, but also monks from vassal states, including those from Japan.

Although the relationship between Japan and the Ming Dynasty was tense and war was about to begin, as a sovereign state, the Ming Dynasty still adhered to the principle of not killing envoys and placed these monks and envoys who came to the Ming Dynasty for communication and exchanges.

This sneaky figure entered the temple and found a Japanese vassal monk.

"Ru Kiln Master, this is a secret message from my master to you!"

The sneaky man took out a secret letter from his pocket and handed it to the Japanese monk.

He was Lin Xian's crony, and he came to this Ru Kiln owner to inform the Japanese state on Lin Xian's behalf.

Ru Yao wears a dark brown cassock with a lotus pattern embroidered on it, which symbolizes purity and nobility. He may be malnourished, his face is slightly pale, and his cheeks are slightly sunken.

"Thank you, Master Lin. I am very grateful, little monk."

Ruyao has a gentle voice and holds the ceremony with one hand.

Lin Xian's cronies forced a smile and nodded. In fact, he also hated these Japanese people.

After delivering the letter, the confidant hurriedly left the temple.

But after he left, two more figures emerged from the shadows at the corner of the temple, obviously following him.

"Sir, do you want to capture him?"

"No, I'll report it to the Marquis first, and then we'll talk!" Chen Su said in a deep voice.

After he reported the investigation of Lin Xian to His Majesty, although he did not receive a reply, it was equivalent to His Majesty's acquiescence, and he was able to completely let go and investigate with all his strength.

Now that the army is about to go on an expedition, Lin Xian sent his cronies here to find the Japanese monks. It didn't take much to think about it, but he knew that Lin Xian must be trying to communicate with the Japanese.

But Chen Su was not anxious to alert the enemy.

Sometimes, keeping spies is more useful than getting rid of them.

Chen Su's eyes flashed, his thoughts changed rapidly, and a bold idea gradually took shape...

On the day of the expedition, the sky was clear and clear.

After Li Wei said goodbye to Anqing, his mother, his son and Xiaoqing one by one, he turned and left the Prince Consort's Mansion.

At Longjiang Port, hundreds of warships were lined up, stretching for several miles.

The army was ready, and the food, grass and baggage were carried to the ship by the laborers and soldiers.

Li Wei met with Tang He and Hu Hai, and Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao personally led the ministers to see him off.

"The purpose of this expedition is to warn the Japanese country that as long as they are willing to surrender and pay tribute and restrain their people from becoming bandits, the army must not go too deep to avoid being trapped."

Zhu Yuanzhang warned worriedly.

In order to prepare for this expedition, Zhu Yuanzhang deployed an additional 50,000 troops and horses to cooperate with the navy in combat.

But even so, he did not expect Tang He and Li Wei to pacify the Japanese state.

Although the Japanese country is a small country, it still has at least hundreds of thousands of people, so it is not easy to directly seek peace.

"Your Majesty, don't worry, I understand!"

Soup and gongshou.

But Li Wei beside him didn't take it seriously. He finally had a chance. If he didn't destroy the Japanese country directly, it would be a shame for the public!

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at him and said, "Come back early after the fight. An Qing and the child are waiting for you!"

"It's your Majesty!"

Li Wei cupped his hands and said yes.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, and then he encouraged the generals impassionedly and asked them to set off for the expedition.

Tang, Li Wei and other generals bid farewell to Zhu Yuanzhang and his son, boarded their respective warships and officially set sail.

The armored ships cut through the waves, and hundreds of large and small warships followed suit, churning the river water. The river water boiled for several miles for a while, and the army moved down the river in a mighty manner, heading straight into the boundless ocean.

The distance from Yingtianfu in the capital to the mouth of the sea is more than 200 miles. After a day's journey, the army entered the sea from the river.

On the bow of the ironclad ship, Li Wei stood facing the wind and stared at the boundless sea.

In later generations, he never went to sea, only strolled along the beach.

At this time, when I really entered the sea, I suddenly felt that the sky was high and the sea was vast, and my mind seemed to be much broader.

"Haha, your boat is faster!"

While Li Wei was enjoying the sea breeze, an annoying voice sounded behind him, and Tang He walked over.

Li Wei frowned slightly and glanced at him displeased: "General, why don't you go back to your own ship?"

Tang He's smile faltered when he heard this, and he snorted in displeasure.

He is the commander-in-chief of this army, and it stands to reason that his flagship should be the largest ship in this navy. However, Li Wei obviously refused to give up the armored ship to him, so he had to run up on his own.

"The armored ship is tall and has a broad field of vision. I can better command the army here!"

"Oh."

Tang He reminded him in his words that he should quickly give up the armored ship, but Li Wei did not respond and simply said "Oh" and ignored him.

Tang He had no choice but to shamelessly join him on a boat.

At this time, Lu Tang came out of the cabin and reported: "Master Marquis, the food is ready, you can eat."

Tang He put away his dissatisfaction and said with a smile: "Just right, we are really a little hungry, let's go together!"

Li Wei glanced at him and wanted to drive him away, but he couldn't open his mouth.

The two of them entered the cabin side by side, and their subordinates had already put food and drinks on the table.

Although the army is out on an expedition, the high-ranking generals in the army still eat very well. They are not like ordinary soldiers who can only eat dry food.

Tang He was not polite at all. After entering, he sat down at the table and reached for the wine jar to pour wine.

Li Wei frowned and suddenly shouted: "Why is there wine again? We are marching outside, how can we always drink and cause trouble? Remove the wine!"

Soup and good wine were almost inseparable. At the beginning, he would drink some with her, but he got tired of it after drinking too much. Tang He paused in his movements and looked at him doubtfully.

"Yes!"

Lu Tanggong claimed that it was, and then asked someone to remove the wine.

Tang He saw the wine jar slipping away from his hands, and immediately became unhappy: "How can there be food without wine? Look at the delicious food on this table. It's a pity that there is no food or drink!"

Li Wei glanced at the dishes on the table, nodded and said, "That's true."

"Hehe, right?" Tang He smiled and waited for him to have the wine brought back.

But Li Wei stretched out his hand and said, "Take the dishes away too!"

"Yes!"

Lu Tang once again recruited people to remove the delicious dishes from the table. In the end, there were only a few dry biscuits left on the table. Only then did Li Wei calmly sit down.

Tang He's smile froze, with a question mark on his face. It took him a moment to react and said angrily:

"Did I mean that? I asked you to send the wine back!"

Li Wei raised his head in surprise: "Oh, really? Hey, look at you, you can't explain clearly, it's true!"

Tang He: "..."

After Li Wei finished speaking, he reached out and picked up a piece of dry biscuit and ate it without any intention of bringing any more food or drinks.

Tang He Huhu took a few deep breaths before saying, "You really want me to eat this? At least bring the food back!"

"Hey, General! We are marching and fighting with limited food and grass, and the soldiers are eating dry food like this. As the generals of the army, how can we do anything special? This will chill the soldiers!"

"Why didn't you say anything yesterday?"

"I didn't think about it yesterday, but now that I have, I will take responsibility for myself from now on!" Li Weiyi said righteously.

The corner of Tang He's mouth twitched and he grinded his teeth. He had no choice but to pick up a piece of dry biscuit and took a few bites. However, he had been in a high position for many years, how could he still eat such a meal of dry chewing flatbread without food and wine!

"Don't eat!"

After taking two bites, he threw the dry biscuits on the table, stood up and left.

Li Wei looked like he was enjoying his meal, but after he left, he immediately stopped and said to Lu Tang beside him: "Go and see if he's gone!"

Lu Tang nodded and quietly followed out.

After Tang He got out of the cabin, he angrily went to the back deck, then ordered someone to put him down in a small boat and returned to his own ship.

He could bear it without food, but he couldn't bear it without wine. Li Wei wouldn't give it to him, so he had to go back to his ship to drink.

After a while, Lu Tang returned to the cabin and reported: "Master Marquis, Duke Xin has returned to his own ship."

"Phew, we're finally gone," Li Weichang breathed a sigh of relief, "Quick, go and bring the food and wine!"

"Yes!"

Lu Tang responded and had the wine and food brought out again.

Li Wei looked proud and asked Lu Tang to sit down and eat and drink together.

"This Tang He is really annoying. Your Majesty, if he is not going to get in the way, you might as well let me control the army by myself."

Li Wei complained while eating.

Lu Tang paused, put down his chopsticks, took out a secret letter from his arms and handed it to him: "Master Marquis, this is the secret letter Chen Su sent to his subordinates before boarding the ship, asking him to pass it on to Master Hou."

Li Wei was stunned for a moment, then reached out to take it, opened it and looked at it.

As he read the contents of the letter clearly, his brows gradually wrinkled.

"Why didn't you give it to me earlier?"

Li Wei raised his head and asked Lu Tang.

"Chen Su specifically asked me to hand it over to the Marquis alone. Duke Xin had been on the ship before, and his subordinates didn't find a chance." Lu Tang quickly explained.

Li Wei held the secret letter in one hand and shook his head: "This Chen Su is real!"

After frowning and being silent for a long time, he sighed and silently put the letter away.

Ironclad ships were very fast, including those wooden boats with paddle wheels, which were not much worse, but the ordinary sailing ships that Zhu Yuanzhang later added with the 50,000 troops were not.

Fortunately, these ships were small in size, so they hurried and hurried slowly. After five days of sailing, the army finally approached the Japanese country.

In the cabin, Li Wei was eating melon seeds.

But his melon seeds are watermelon seeds, which are different from the sunflower seeds of later generations.

"Next time I go to America, let me look for sunflowers." Li Wei muttered while eating.

Many of the crops that people loved in later generations originated from the Americas, which made him sigh that that continent was such a good place, with land, minerals, and abundant crops.

"Master Marquis, we found an island ahead. If the direction is correct, it should be Zhijia Island in the southern part of Japan!"

While he was thinking wildly, Lu Tang hurried in to report.

"Huh! We're finally here!" Li Wei let out a long breath, put down the melon seeds, clapped his hands and stood up.

"Go and have a look."

Li Wei walked out of the cabin with him and came to the bow. Lu Tang handed him the telescope, then pointed to the left front of the ship and said:

"It's in that direction! If our heading is correct, that should be Zhijia Island in the southern part of Japan!"

Li Wei raised his telescope and looked over, and sure enough he saw an island floating on the sea in the distance.

"Nail Island, the name is quite appropriate."

Li Wei put down the telescope and joked.

Then he ordered Lu Tang: "Let the whole army slow down and get closer!"

"Yes!"

Lu Tang immediately responded.

"Wait a minute!" Li Wei stopped him, hesitated and changed his words: "Forget it, report it to the Duke first and follow his orders."

Tang He was the commander-in-chief of the army. Even if his orders were issued, at least the 50,000 naval troops who had been trained by him would definitely obey them, but the general had to give him face.

"Yes!" Lu Tang held his hands again, turned and left.

Lu Tang first ordered the flag bearer to wave the command flag and briefly report to other ships. Then he ordered people to put down the boat and sent the captain to take the boat to Tang He's ship to report the news.

After a long time, the captain left and returned, but behind him were Tang and several of his soldiers.

Tang He came to the bow of the armored ship, and Li Wei turned around and handed over the telescope, smiling: "General, there is an island in front of me that should be Japan's Zhijia Island. What should you do if you look at it?"

Tang He looked at him with a dark face: "You still know that I am the general! You couldn't hear me shouting so loudly down there a few days ago? Are all your people deaf?"

He got very angry when he mentioned this. After Li Wei tricked him off the ship that day, he waited for him to come back in a small boat after eating and drinking. He shouted for a long time below. The people on the armored ship pretended not to see it, and in the end they could only get angry. He returned to his ship unhappily.

Li Wei pretended to be surprised: "Is there such a thing? Oh, the sea must be rough and the noise is too loud. It is normal that the officers and men on the ship did not hear the general's call!"

Tang He roared: "You fart! I think you did it on purpose!"

Li Wei was shocked and his ears were ringing. After picking his ears, he quickly changed the subject: "General, the war is urgent. You should take a look at this island first!"

"Hmph! I'll settle the score with you later!"

Tang He snorted coldly, snatched the telescope from his hand and raised it to his eyes, looking in the direction he pointed. (End of chapter)