Li Shimin looked stunned for a moment, then his eyes widened, his face full of dissatisfaction.
"The Tang Dynasty has a vast territory, tens of millions of people, and only a handful of barbarians in the Americas. I only need to send 50,000 troops to sweep across the Americas!"
"An army of fifty thousand?"
Li Xuan chuckled lightly, "America is more vast than the Tang Dynasty, but the total number of barbarians there may not be as large as the Guanzhong area of the Tang Dynasty. A city can be considered a big city if there are 50,000 people in it.
If Your Majesty wants to conquer America, you don’t need 50,000 troops; 30,000 troops will be enough!”
“How can America be so miserable?”
Li Shimin was shocked.
"naturally!"
Li Xuan nodded slowly.
Li Shimin felt happy, but then he looked confused, "Then why did Xuanba say that I don't have the ability to conquer America?"
"How many giant steel ships does your Majesty have now?"
Li Xuan glanced at Li Shimin helplessly and said: "It will take at least eight months to go to America from the Tang Dynasty. Traveling thousands of miles in the sea, for such a long time, no matter how careful you are, you will always encounter
Danger.
It is only a trivial matter for a big ship to hit the rocks, but if there is a big storm, the ships of the Tang Dynasty alone are not enough to resist it!"
“Are big storms so dangerous?”
Li Shimin was startled.
"When a big storm comes, the sky is filled with dark clouds, palm-sized raindrops, and the sea is like night. These are not terrible. The most dangerous thing is that a big storm can roll up waves several feet high in the sea and hit the big ship. The big ship directly
Falling apart.
This time, when I was waiting to return, I encountered a big storm. Even though the fleet escaped in time, a wooden ship was still broken by the waves.
As for the other small boat, it was directly submerged by the waves and sank to the bottom of the sea!"
Li Xuan said slowly, "We only have three big wooden ships, and one of them was smashed into pieces. If there is a big ship with 30,000 troops, in a big storm, 30% of the ship, 30% of the soldiers, and even some soldiers will be lost."
More.
I wonder if Your Majesty can bear such a tragic situation?"
"It's so dangerous!"
Li Shimin's expression changed.
Li Xuan continued, "So, unless your majesty builds enough steel giant ships, your majesty should not worry about places as far away as America!"
Hearing this, Li Shimin couldn't help but sigh.
"But if you want to build a fleet of giant steel ships, you have the year of the monkey and the month of the horse. The weapons supervisor and the Shaofu Supervisor are now working day and night. They can smelt the steel needed for up to two giant steel ships in a year!"
"There is nothing I can do about this matter. Your Majesty should either find more craftsmen and send more craftsmen to the Steel Industry Department to speed up the construction of giant steel ships.
Or, let’s endure it for more than ten years, anyway, the gold in America will always stay in America and can’t go anywhere!”
Li Xuan said with a blank expression.
Hearing this, Li Shimin fell silent.
After a long while, he asked slowly again: "But if people are to be recruited as craftsmen, who will cultivate the fields of the Tang Dynasty?"
"After the autumn harvest, the common people have nothing to do, so until the time of spring plowing, isn't there a lot to do in these few months?"
Li Xuan said: "Besides, I wonder how much grain your Majesty has purchased from Linyi now?"
Speaking of this, Li Shimin suddenly beamed with joy.
"Xuanba doesn't know that not only Linyi is rich in rice, but also several small countries such as Zhenla and Piao around Linyi have 60% of their land, which can be harvested three times a year, and 40% can be harvested once a year.
Two years old!"
"So, our Tang Dynasty should not be short of food?"
Li Xuan asked.
"Not enough!"
Li Shimin shook his head slowly and said: "Although these small countries are rich in rice, it will take at least six months to go from Linyi to Qingzhou Port by sea.
For such a long time, each time two million shi of grain was escorted, the soldiers escorting them would have to consume 300,000 shi of grain. In addition, the sea was extremely windy and rough, and at least hundreds of thousands of grain would have to be consumed during this period.
Two million shi of grain will be transported to Chang'an or Guanzhong. I will be satisfied if I can have one million shi of grain left!"
"The loss is so huge!"
Hearing this, Li Xuan was also surprised, thought for a moment, and then said: "In this case, if your Majesty can build fifty steel giant ships, each ship will be equipped with a steam engine.
In this way, the time taken to transport grain from Linyi to Qingzhou can be reduced by half, and more than 100,000 shi of grain can be saved each time. In addition, the loss of sea waves can also be saved.
In this way, there are more than 100,000 shi of grain.
And in a year, the fleet can make one more trip, and in one year, it can transport three million more dan of grain to our Tang Dynasty!"
Li Shimin's eyes lit up and he asked for three million shi of food.
But then he looked helpless again.
The giant steel blue ship, the giant steel blue ship...Xuanba really never leaves the giant steel blue ship.
And he seemed to be relying on the giant steel ship. No matter what he did, he couldn't tear the giant steel ship off.
"I will go back and discuss this matter in detail with Xuan Ling, Auxiliary Machinery and other ministers!"
"Your Majesty, I have brought back what I want from America. I don't have much yearning for overseas lands!"
Li Xuan chuckled.
Li Shimin sighed slightly.
"I still have something to do in the palace, so I will go back to the palace first!"
"Congratulations to Your Majesty!"
Seeing that Li Shimin was about to leave, Li Xuan looked happy and stood up quickly, ready to see him off.
Li Shimin: "..."
…
Keeping watching Li Shimin's motorcade drive away, Li Xuan's face was filled with joy subconsciously.
"Aye, you don't seem to like His Majesty uncle very much!"
Suddenly, Li Chenglu beside him stared at Li Xuan with doubts on his face.
"Um?"
Li Xuan was shocked and quickly covered Li Chenglu's mouth.
"Don't be ridiculous. How could Yeye not like His Majesty?"
"But if you like His Majesty's uncle, why did you suddenly become so happy when His Majesty's uncle was about to leave?"
Li Chenglu asked again.
Li Xuan's face froze, and he quickly looked around and found that there were only two people around, Xue Rengui and the housekeeper, and subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.
He rubbed Li Chenglu's little head hard with his hands and denied it repeatedly: "Is that so? I've always been so happy!"
"Aye is lying. Just now, His Majesty's uncle said that he wanted to return to the palace. Aye was very happy. His Majesty's uncle and the old housekeeper both saw it, and I also saw it!"
Li Chenglu said with a serious face.
"..."
Li Xuan's mouth twitched slightly, the little brat had grown up and started to transform into a rebellious child.
"That's because you don't understand! His Majesty is the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Who dares to dislike His Majesty? Besides, I just got up to see His Majesty off. If His Majesty sees that I don't like him, do you think His Majesty will not be angry?"
Hearing this, Li Chenglu frowned slightly, thought for a while, and said hesitantly: "This seems to be the truth, but..."
"Okay, don't think about it if you can't figure it out. When you grow up, think about these things again. If you think too much now, you will easily lose your hair and become bald!"
Li Xuan rubbed Li Chenglu's head again and walked to one side.
"I'm going to visit the academy. Do you want to go?"
"Are you going to see the four masters?"
Li Chenglu looked serious and asked cautiously.
"That's right!"
Li Xuan replied.
After returning yesterday, Cui Mi told Li Xuan that during the year and a half he went to sea, the housekeeper often took Li Chenglu to visit the small courtyard of Wang Ji, Zuo Gong and others.
Or, four great scholars, including Wang Ji and Zuo Gong, often told stories to Li Chenglu and the other boys in the village.
Therefore, Li Chenglu also likes to go.
Sometimes, the housekeeper takes him there.
Sometimes, it's with the little brats in the village.