The Red Chamber: The Rise of the Lin Mansion

Prince Xuan smiled at everyone and said, "I heard that this boy can speak Western languages ​​and has communicated with foreigners for several days. If you have any questions, you can ask him face to face."

Zhou Muzhai spoke first, "Lin Daizhao, do you know what the purpose of the British mission is?"

Lin Yun: "Reporting to Mr. Ge, the following officials guess that the purpose of the British mission's visit is probably to persuade me, Great Chu, to open up the sea ban and do business with their country."

Second assistant Yang Hong said with a gloomy face: "Sure enough, it's a wolf's ambition, with no good intentions."

Zhongshun Wang Ningyu said, "If it's just trade and mutual trade, it's nothing. I'm afraid they want to follow the example of the Portuguese and take up a piece of land in the name of doing business, so they won't leave."

Lin Yun was secretly surprised when he heard the words, this loyal and obedient prince was very discerning, and he saw through the essence of the problem at a glance.

Prince Xuan said angrily: "Don't think about it, let alone them, even the Portuguese, when the old man frees up his hands, he will lead the army to drive them into the sea."

Wang Ziteng smiled and said: "Why do you need the prince to go in person, as long as your majesty intends to recover the Aomen Customs, I am willing to send troops to destroy it."

Lin Yun said in his heart: "Uncle, I'm afraid you won't have the chance to lead the army again."

Prince Xuan chuckled, and asked Lin Yun again: "Boy Yun, I heard that you visited the warships of the Westerners. Tell us, what is the combat power of the Westerners?"

Lin Yun said with a bitter face, "Does the lord want to hear the truth, or lie?"

Prince Xuan: "Nonsense, the old man is not idle and has nothing to do, what kind of lies are you listening to?"

Lin Yun said solemnly: "The lower officials feel that if we only talk about water warfare, our navy army in Dachu is definitely not their opponent."

"fart!"

Prince Xuan scolded angrily, and kicked Lin Yun's stomach.

Lin Yun quickly hid behind the pillar and shouted loudly: "My lord, you just said it yourself, you must listen to the truth."

Prince Xuan: "Come out and explain clearly to the old man, why is my navy in Dachu not as good as foreigners?"

Lin Yun hurriedly said: "It's the artillery. The artillery on the Westerners' warships are all muzzle-loading guns. Those guns are aimed high, can hit far, and there are so many of them. How do you think our navy can win?"

Prince Xuan said in a daze: "What kind of gun is a muzzle gun? Why haven't I heard of it?"

Lin Yun: "The muzzle-loading gun is loaded with shells from the muzzle. The gun body must be particularly strong, otherwise it will be very easy to explode."

Ning Yu said solemnly: "Lin Daizhao, are you telling the truth?"

"Even if the lower officials are very courageous, they dare not lie about military affairs."

Wang Ziteng asked eagerly: "Lin Daizhao, how many cannons are there on the Western warships?"

林云：“回禀大人，大不列颠使团的战船上有64门火炮。分别是26门24磅炮；26门18磅炮；10门4磅炮；2门9磅炮。”

After a pause, Lin Yun said again: "This is not their most advanced warship. The officer asked a young man in the mission and learned that their latest flagship has as many as 110 cannons."

Yang Hong said contemptuously: "I heard that Great Britain is thousands of miles away from our Great Chu. As long as our army guards the entrance to the sea and prevents them from going ashore, what can they do to me?"

Several civil officials echoed, "Master Yang is right, this customs must not be opened, and the warships of foreigners must be blocked at sea, so as to ensure long-term peace and stability."

Lin Yun was very depressed when he heard the words. He originally wanted to exaggerate the strength of the British Navy, so that these ministers could work hard to strengthen themselves, but who knew that their first thought was not to strengthen the navy, but to retreat to the outside world. It really makes people speechless.

...

At this moment, a small servant ran in and shouted loudly, "Your Majesty ordered Xuanlin to meet you in the Royal Study Room."

"The minister respects the order."

Lin Yun agreed, and followed the servant quickly to the outside of the hall.

Behind him, several ministers were still discussing enthusiastically whether to drive the British mission back.

Immediately afterwards, he heard Prince Xuan loudly reprimanding those ministers for being cowardly. Lin Yun heaved a sigh of relief in his heart. After all, the Great Chu is not the Qing Dynasty, and the old prince is still bloody.

...

When Lin Yun followed the servant into the imperial study, he saw Emperor Zhide sitting behind the imperial case and flipping through the list of gifts presented by Westerners.

He hastily stepped forward to salute, "Little minister Lin Yun pays his respects to His Majesty."

Emperor Zhide put down the notebook in his hand, raised his head and said to Lin Yun, "Get up and answer."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Emperor Zhide: "You have been in contact with the people from the Great Britain Mission, so you must know a little about their intentions?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, according to my investigation, the main purpose of the British mission's visit this time is to do business with me."

Emperor Zhide asked again: "As far as you can see, who is more powerful than the navy of Great Britain and our navy?"

Lin Yun said hesitantly: "My minister dares to say that my Chu navy is far behind."

Emperor Zhide's face turned dark when he heard this, and he immediately said: "Do you still want to persuade me to lift the sea ban?"

"Xiaochen feels that there is no fear of the gap. As long as we work hard to catch up, the gap will naturally narrow. If we choose to close ourselves, then my navy in Dachu will never be able to catch up."

Dai Quan scolded from the side: "Lin Daizhao, don't talk nonsense."

Lin Yun hurriedly changed the subject and said, "Your Majesty, after contacting the British Mission, I feel that my college in Dachu should add mathematics, physics and chemistry."

Emperor Zhide asked curiously, "What are physics and chemistry?"

Lin Yun pointed to the gift list in Emperor Zhide's hand, and said: "In the gift list in His Majesty's hand, there are two steam cars. These steam vehicles are produced by burning briquettes, and the heat energy is converted into kinetic energy, which can drive the cars forward."

Emperor Zhide frowned and said, "It's just a gadget for people's entertainment, why waste money on developing it."

"Your Majesty's words are wrong."

Dai Quan said anxiously: "Lin Daizhao, don't be presumptuous!"

Emperor Zhide waved his hand and said, "Let him say, what's the use if I want to hear about this thing?"

Lin Yun: "Your Majesty, please think about it. Since this steam engine can pull a car, can it be possible to pull a warship to run in the sea in the future? Your Majesty should be able to figure out who is better between a warship with a steam engine and a warship driven by wind. "

Emperor Zhide was shocked when he heard this, and he quickly asked: "Are there such steam warships in Great Britain?"

Lin Yun shook his head and said: "Not yet, but what I can think of, foreigners are probably already developing it. I guess that this kind of steam engine warship will appear in a few years."

Emperor Zhide: "Is there any other use for this steam engine?"

"Yes, such as mining, weaving, water pumping, steelmaking, wherever manpower is needed, most of them can use steam engines in the future."

Emperor Zhide nodded and said: "As you said, this steam engine is indeed worth studying. How about it, you can go back and discuss with Lu Shanzhang to see if you can set up that in Yichen Academy~"

Lin Yun hurriedly said: "Physics, chemistry."

"You discuss this matter with Chief Lu Shan."

"The minister respects the order."

After a pause, Lin Yun said again: "Your Majesty, can you give me one of these two cars?"

Emperor Zhide's face turned dark when he heard it, and he reprimanded Lin Yun: "I haven't decided whether I want gifts from Westerners, but you are thinking about it?"

Lin Yun smiled and said: "Your Majesty, don't get me wrong, I just want to get one and go back to study, study, and see how this thing is made."

Emperor Zhide: "Don't think about these gifts until the negotiations between the two countries have no results."

Lin Yun: "Okay."

Emperor Zhide: "Tell me, which of these gifts are valuable?"

Lin Yun: "Reporting to Your Majesty, except for a few decorations, everything else is priceless."

"Oh! Come and introduce me."

"Ok."

Lin Yun first introduced the weapons. In addition to introducing the immediate advantages, he also introduced the development prospects of these weapons to Emperor Zhide.

Emperor Zhide attached great importance to the army. After Lin Yun introduced the advantages of the breech gun developed by the British, he asked with concern: "Can we manufacture this kind of artillery?"

Lin Yun: "Technically, it can be manufactured, but the quality of our steel is not up to standard, and the manufactured artillery is easy to explode."

Emperor Zhide frowned and said, "Is there any way to solve this problem?"

Lin Yun: "Yes, we can order several sets of steelmaking furnaces from the British merchant."

Emperor Zhide frowned and said: "I guess this negotiation will not go well, and it is very likely that there will be an unhappy breakup in the end."

Lin Yun: "It's okay, businessmen value profits, as long as we are willing to spend money, they dare to sell anything."

Emperor Zhide: "Okay, I'll leave this matter to you."

"The minister respects the order."

After a pause, Lin Yun said again: "Your Majesty, do you think it is possible to confer one or two barons on the merchants of Great Britain?"

Emperor Zhide scolded angrily when he heard the words: "What is your title of Great Chu? Can anyone be rewarded?"

Lin Yun hurriedly said: "It's an honorary title, and it's just to trick them into doing things hard for us."

Emperor Zhide: "Nonsense, I am the Son of Heaven, how can I do such a dirty thing."

"I know my mistake."

Lin Yun confessed his mistake, but he was full of slander in his heart. If you don't do bad things, can you ascend the throne of the emperor?

The monarch and his ministers chatted for a while, and Emperor Zhide sent Lin Yun away.

This time the face-to-face was the longest, and Lin Yun had a feeling in his heart that Emperor Zhide not only wanted to open the customs, but also worried that wolves would be lured into the house and cause serious trouble.

Not to mention Emperor Zhide, even Lin Yun himself lacked confidence in the opening of customs.

He sighed secretly in his heart: "Without a strong navy, openness is tantamount to playing with fire."

Chapter 278: Brother and Sister

Rongguo Mansion, Bisha Kitchen,

Li Wan, Baoyu, Baochai, Daiyu, Shi Xiangyun, Yingchun and Xichun get together to celebrate Tanchun's birthday.

The two desks were put together, and a three-layer birthday cake was placed in the middle. Tanchun stood in front of the cake, clasped his hands together, and silently made a wish.

Everyone was sitting around the table, watching her quietly, and after a while, Tanchun let go of his hands and said with a smile, "Okay, you can eat cake."

Shi Xiangyun hurriedly handed a paper cutter to Tanchun, and said with a smile, "Third Sister, cut the cake quickly. I've been hungry since morning until now, and I'm just waiting to eat your birthday cake."

Daiyu reminded from the side: "Sister Yun, I heard from my elder brother that children who do not eat breakfast will affect their growth."

Shi Xiangyun: "It's okay, I just don't eat breakfast occasionally, and I eat it most mornings."

Xichun: "Sister Lin, you are not lying to us, are you?"