People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 637 Return

The sun is high in the sky, and the boundless Pacific Ocean is exceptionally quiet. All that can be seen between heaven and earth is a line between the sea and the sky, and even above the sky there is not a single cloud. The world forms a minimalist composition, with only a subtle trace in the center, adding a different element to the picture.

It was actually a fleet, and an armed fleet at that. On the metal hulls of the ships, black gun barrels could be seen arranged in sequence, and thick white steam was constantly gushing out of the chimneys on the top of the hulls. The steam power drove the huge warships to sail steadily and quickly on the sea.

In such an era, such an armed fleet is enough to deal with all dangers on the sea.

Of course, this kind of force can only suppress dangers created by humans, not the power of nature exerted by heaven and earth.

On the sea, the most terrifying thing is always the sea itself. Once faced with the power of heaven and earth such as raging waves and thunderstorms, human power seems too small. Even a fleet armed to the teeth is nothing more than a few specks of dust between heaven and earth.

The current calmness of the ocean is just the end of the turmoil of heaven and earth.

The wind and rain on the sea came violently, but went away quickly. After the heavy rain and wind, the sky quickly cleared up. The depression caused by the heavy rain also dissipated, and the atmosphere in the cabin naturally became relaxed.

"Grandpa, how long will it take us to return? It's so boring out on the sea!"

In the cabin, when Xu Chen was painting with pen and paper, a girl of about fifteen or sixteen years old next to him put her arm around his arm, forcing him to put down his brush temporarily, and then he sighed helplessly.

The girl who could be so close and casual with him must be a relative without a doubt. She was Xu Chen’s youngest granddaughter.

"You girl, when we first went out to sea, I told you that ocean voyages might seem novel but were actually hard, but you insisted on coming along. Now that I've let you come, you complain and make noise in front of me every day. Do you want to be beaten?" Xu Chen put down his pen and glared at his granddaughter in pretended anger.

The granddaughter stuck out her tongue, then jumped aside and started picking at something: "Grandpa, you can't blame me. I didn't know it was so boring to be at sea. Besides, I've been gone for such a long time. I don't know if Ji Kang has released any new records in such a long time. I'll have to catch up on all of them when I get back."

Having said this, she paused, picked up a vinyl record, and skillfully placed it on the exquisite phonograph beside her. After putting down the needle, melodious piano music came from it.

Xu Chen was very familiar with these melodies. They were the music composed by Ji Kang, who was extremely popular in Xuanxia. Thanks to his granddaughter's obsession with chasing her idol, Xu Chen also became familiar with these music passively.

As Xuanxia quickly moved towards an industrial society, material life became increasingly abundant and education was thoroughly expanded, and the spiritual and cultural pursuits of the people of Xuanxia also became increasingly rich. Things that were once only the gentry and aristocrats were qualified to pursue had now begun to develop universally.

Many cultural industries such as writing, painting, music, and drama began to develop explosively, which inevitably led to the emergence of popular culture. Music entered thousands of households due to the popularity of the phonograph. A musical genius named Ji Kang emerged and entered the world's vision, becoming the first national idol in the true sense. Even Xu Chen's granddaughter was obsessed with chasing him.

The world has evolved more and more into the one Xu Chen is familiar with. Although this will inevitably bring a lot of restlessness and illusion, compared with the cruel world where bones were exposed in the wild and no roosters crowed for thousands of miles, these are nothing but happy troubles.

Soon, the granddaughter began to hum along with the melody. Seeing that she had found a way to entertain herself, Xu Chen shook his head and continued to paint.

But with the sound of footsteps outside, the paintbrush he had just picked up was interrupted again.

A figure pushed the door open and walked in. It was a man in his forties who looked very similar to Xu Chen. It was Xu Chen's eldest son Xu Xuan.

"Father, the storm has passed and the weather has cleared up. Do you want to go for a walk on the deck?"

Xu Xuan entered the cabin and first glanced at his daughter who was immersed in her own world. Then he listened to the music surrounding the room and sighed helplessly. Then he turned his gaze to Xu Chen.

After being interrupted twice, Xu Chen simply put down his paintbrush, nodded, and walked out.

It was not long after the storm. As soon as he stepped out of the cabin, a refreshing sea breeze blew towards him. Coupled with the clear sky and the perfect intensity of the sun, Xu Chen's mood naturally became much more relaxed.

Since it was not a passenger ship but a warship, there were mostly military facilities on the deck, and there were mostly naval soldiers around. As soon as Xu Chen came out, they saluted and greeted him one by one, and Xu Chen nodded in response.

Walking to the bow of the boat, Xu Xuan immediately brought a chair for Xu Chen to sit down.

"We have been sailing on the sea for quite some time. We should be able to go back soon, right?" After sitting down, Xu Chen asked casually while enjoying the sunshine and sea breeze and looking at the line between the sea and the sky in the distance.

Xu Xuan said, "Father is right. According to the estimate, we will arrive in two days." Xu Chen nodded, looked at him, and said with a smile, "It's time to go back. This sea trip took half a year. It delayed your career. Your father feels very sorry."

Xu Xuan said: "It was I who insisted on going out to sea with you, why did you say that, father?"

Xu Chen smiled and said no more. Xu Xuan was now embarking on the path of scientific research, which Xu Chen felt was a very suitable career. It would be better for him to stay out of the court, and he would feel at ease after he left.

Thinking of this, Xu Chen looked into the distance in a daze, and the father and son fell silent.

As a son, Xu Xuan naturally knew what Xu Chen was thinking at this moment. He must be missing Cai Wenji, who died of illness last year. It was because of Cai Wenji's death that Xu Chen had the idea of ​​traveling at sea.

What even Xu Xuan didn't know was that since Cai Wenji's death, Xu Chen had already vaguely felt that his end was approaching. Although Xu Chen appeared to be in good spirits on the surface, only he himself could understand the pain that Cai Wenji's departure brought to his heart.

With the death of Cai Wenji, Xu Chen's biggest anchor in this world disappeared. The few things he still cared about were the careers he had promoted in his life. He had experienced everything else around him, but he needed to see it with his own eyes overseas.

Now that he has traveled overseas, Xu Chen has seen that the sea-opening route is on the right track, so he feels relieved to return.

After finally settling down on the one thing he cared about, Xu Chen believed that he had accomplished a great deal in his life. However, what followed was an even more obvious sense that the end was approaching. However, this sense did not make him afraid, but rather indifferent.

Perhaps feeling that the atmosphere was a little bad, Xu Xuan simply changed the topic.

"Today, a telegram came from the central government. In order to solve the problem of long-term harassment and killing of our overseas merchants and workers by the natives of Japan, the court decided to formally send a large navy and army to Japan to suppress the natives. Now the work of mobilizing troops and preparing supplies has begun."

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

Although he was talking about this, Xu Xuan actually knew that Xu Chen didn't care about these things, or would not comment on these things.

Xu Chen's resignation from the position of prime minister was not a formal abdication, but a complete ignoring of state affairs. From then on, although the court reported all major and minor matters to him, he never interfered in the slightest.

Sure enough, after Xu Xuan finished speaking, Xu Chen remained unmoved this time.

However, although Xu Chen did not interfere, he was not completely indifferent. He was just observing silently as a bystander. For example, this news made him feel that Xuan Xia was using weapons more and more frequently. Of course, he also understood that this was largely due to the annexation of the surrounding areas.

In recent years, small countries around Xuanxia, ​​such as Goguryeo and the Three Han, have undergone internal changes and submitted to Xuanxia. However, many places have sensed the danger and began to purge the pro-China factions within their borders and have become increasingly in conflict with Xuanxia. At such times, Xuanxia can only try to resolve the incident by force, such as what happened in Japan this time.

Xuanxia's territory has begun to expand rapidly, and under such a strong appearance, Xu Chen is worried that Xuanxia will develop more and more in the direction of a military country. If so, Xuanxia may bring a serious disaster to the world in the future.

But even so, Xu Chen did not intend to interfere. The natural evolution of the historical process was irreversible, and people could only reflect on themselves and move forward in constant collisions.

"Is there any other news?" Xu Chen nodded, without making any response to the matter in Japan.

Xu Xuan was not surprised by Xu Chen's attitude, so he continued, "Also, the railway section from Beijing to Wuqing has been opened, and it has now begun trial operation. If it is successful, then the overall planning of the railway line can be put on the agenda in the future."

Xu Chen nodded when he heard this. This was very good news.

Although the current trains are still in a very simple and primitive condition, as long as the feasibility is verified, they can naturally be continuously optimized and modified in the future. Sooner or later, Xuanxia will have green trains running all over the place.

"In addition, the research on internal combustion engines in the laboratory of Xuanxia Academy has also achieved initial success. Now most people think that compared with the current bloated and bulky steam cars, internal combustion engines are more suitable for providing power."

Xu Xuan mentioned something again, and this time Xu Chen just smiled in silence.

The research on automobiles had already begun, but there were some problems with the route. Before the invention of the internal combustion engine, the existing automobile plan used steam engines as the power of the car. Although this thing was eventually built, it had too many shortcomings. Not only did it take half an hour to start once, it also had to be equipped with a huge boiler cylinder, not to mention having to endure the unbearable high temperature.

Of course Xu Chen knew that this approach was wrong, but he also knew that this kind of mistake was not a bad thing, and scientific and technological research and development needed such error experience.

Now that the internal combustion engine has finally been successfully developed, internal combustion locomotives are a foreseeable thing. The only pity for Xu Chen is that he himself will definitely not see that day.
(End of this chapter)