After the wedding of Ye Ziyu and Bai Xiaoman, the two went on a sweet honeymoon. Because Ye Ziyu was still a student of Lu University, the wedding leave given to him by Lu Da Da Da was only ten days. They definitely couldn't do what Xiang Xiaoqiang did before It was time to go to Europe and Northern Xinjiang again. The young couple went south to Wuyue to visit the beautiful mountains and rivers in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
After his brother-in-law left, Xiang Xiaoqiang became more and more anxious, always looking forward to the wedding between himself and Zhu Yourong being held early. But after all, this was to marry the queen, and it was incomparable to any of Xiang Xiaoqiang's previous weddings. It was simply careless. No. After Zhu Yourong and Xiang Xiaoqiang discussed it, they invited several important ministers of the cabinet to consult privately. Although several important ministers headed by Shen Rongxuan had expected this day, they felt quite uncomfortable at this moment. Suddenly, I felt almost lost.
Once upon a time, what they tried every possible means to prevent is now about to become a reality.
However, no matter how capable the ministers are, they cannot stop them at the moment and can only give blessings. On the one hand, this matter is His Majesty’s own marriage. In theory, as long as His Majesty is willing, no one can stop it. On the other hand, the mainstream public opinion in the society Everyone is in favor of this marriage, and the power of the cabinet from now on will depend on these public opinions. The ministers have already weighed the pros and cons and the course of action very clearly.
Several ministers also briefly analyzed the current situation at home and abroad, and agreed that now is indeed a good time for His Majesty to get married. It is still early spring, and the battlefield against the Soviet Union is still in the stalemate stage, and there is no major war. Wait until two or three Summer will begin in a few months, the summer offensive will begin, and the war situation will become tense. At that time, it will not be suitable for a wedding.
This also played into Zhu Yourong and Xiang Xiaoqiang's mind. The two happily sent away several ministers, and then Zhu Yourong found Wei Zijin and asked her to arrange the preliminary preparations for the wedding and prepare to complete the wedding in April.
"After that," Zhu Yourong looked at Wei Zijin and said with a smile, "Also in April - in May at the latest, I will officiate your marriage, so that you and Yan Bin can finally get married."
Wei Zijin's eyes suddenly lit up, a slight blush appeared on his cheeks, his chest rose and fell rapidly several times, he smiled, took a step back, bowed with a long bow, and thanked:
"Slave, thank you, Your Majesty!"
Then he turned his face, bowed to Xiang Xiaoqiang again, and bowed in the same way:
"Thank you, Mr. Xiang!"
Zhu Yourong and Xiang Xiaoqiang really looked like a couple at this time, both laughing and talking together:
"Hehehe...get up quickly..."
…
The next day, April 1, the Zhu Ming Royal Palace Secretariat hosted a press conference. The spokesperson of the Secretariat officially announced the news that Her Majesty the Queen was about to get married, that is, marry the Marquis of Ili. Suddenly, this This piece of news became a piece of news that attracted the attention of the entire Ming Empire and even the whole world.
The royal family has also begun inviting bids to upgrade and expand the current Xiang Mansion in order to make it meet the standards of residence for Her Majesty the Queen after she gets married. According to the practice before the Ming Dynasty, the Queen can live in either the palace or her husband's family after getting married. . Generally speaking, the queen will return to the palace when she lives at her husband's house daily, when there are formal court meetings or royal meetings, or when she meets with foreign envoys, and other important occasions.
Xiang Xiaoqiang's house was originally a large mansion, fully worthy of the Queen's residence. Xiang Xiaoqiang is also the target of many forces at home and abroad, so the security facilities of Xiang Xiaoqiang's house are also very good, and there is no problem in this regard. Now
The main thing is to upgrade some of the internal facilities, renovate the landscaping in the front and backyard, and completely cover up the entrance and the semi-underground steel castles inside so that they don't look so murderous.
Although this is still a Marquis Palace, it will soon become a royal palace. Xiang Xiaoqiang will soon be promoted to a prince.
…
On April 3, the first fleet from the United States sailed in the Pacific for a month and finally entered Guangzhou Port and began unloading. There were a total of 6 cargo ships in this batch, all of which were giant ships with more than 10,000 tons, and the cargo was only
One type: military vehicles. This fleet transported a total of three-ton military trucks, five-ton military trucks, and small officer vehicles, totaling nearly three hundred vehicles. And just behind them, on the vast Pacific Ocean, there were at least
Twenty such fleets are approaching. It can be expected that in the next April, the number of military vehicles transported will not be less than 4,000. And the automobile industry in the Ming Dynasty is operating at full capacity day and night.
Production, the highest monthly output was only over 3,000 vehicles.
This is only the first month. According to Daming's order, more cargo ships will arrive every month in the future. Each month will transport more things than the previous month.
The world's largest arsenal on the other side of the ocean finally began to rotate for the Ming Dynasty.
Ford originally had a branch in Daming, which was the "Da Ming Ford" under the leadership of Butler. Daming Ford was not just responsible for sales. It also had a production base in Daming. However, the previous scale was not too large, with only four production lines.
At the wedding of Ye Ziyu and Bai Xiaoman, Bradley announced that ten more production lines would be added to the Daming production base. This was not a temporary idea, but a decision made by the Ford headquarters in the United States. Now, the factory buildings provided for these ten production lines have also broken ground.
Construction started, and the core parts of the ten production lines were gradually transported to the Ming Dynasty along with the fleet. With the completion of these ten production lines, the Ming army was able to install military vehicles even faster.
Facing the increasingly tight submarine blockade of the Ming army, and seeing the Ming Dynasty's own Pacific transportation lines in full swing, Japan naturally responded tit-for-tat and began to implement a counter-blockade against the Ming Dynasty. Previously, the Ming Dynasty's maritime transportation lines mainly took the Indian Ocean route.
and the Nanyang route, the entire journey is within the area controlled by the Ming army, and the Japanese army has no way to destroy it. Now, the Ming army is purchasing supplies from the United States on a large scale, and at least half of the goods take the Pacific route. Although Japan cannot be said to have
Sea control in the Pacific, but at least to attack the Ming Dynasty's Pacific route, starting from Japan is the most convenient.
Therefore, from the end of March, when the first batch of American cargo ships were still in the Pacific, Japan began to implement the "Plan to Combat the Ming Dynasty's Transportation Lines." However, there is a problem. The geographical locations of the two countries are different. The east part of the Japanese archipelago
To the south and to the south is the endless open ocean without any buffer. To the south of the Ming Dynasty is a relatively closed inland sea, which is separated from the ocean by a series of islands (such as the Philippines and the East Indies).
Separate South China Sea. In this closed South China Sea, the Ming army had absolute control of the sea.
If the Japanese army also adopted a submarine-based blockade, it would be easier to handle. Submarines can sneak in. However, Japan's navy is completely built based on the idea of "fleet decisive battle", and submarines are very weak. Now Japan can only use
Surface ships came to attack the Ming Dynasty's transportation lines. However, it was difficult for surface ships to pass through a series of densely packed islands and enter the South China Sea without being discovered.
In this way, the Ming army's submarines can be deployed directly very close to the Japanese port. Although the Western Pacific is very vast, no matter how hard the Japanese fleet hides, it will eventually enter the port. The Ming army's submarine group only needs to stay near the port.
The sea area can have the effect of "waiting and waiting". But the Ming fleet is different. They can choose any route far away from their home country and enter the South China Sea. Once they enter the South China Sea, it is absolutely safe. The South China Sea
To the east is the vast Western Pacific. Japanese warships can only search for the Ming fleet on this vast ocean, and cannot directly guard outside Japanese ports like the Ming submarines did.
What makes Japan even more troublesome is that most of the goods now shipped to the Ming Dynasty are American ships. Although restricted by the Neutrality Law, these American cargo ships are nominally leased to "Free Russia" and all fly the flag of Free Russia.
flag, but the Japanese Navy still has a hard time deciding how to treat it. After all, it is just a different flag, and all the flags are Americans from the captain to the crew. Sinking a large number of American cargo ships is tantamount to making an enemy of the United States.
Therefore, the Emperor of Japan directly ordered the Naval Command to strictly abide by international conventions when breaking out of a war. It must be sure to transfer all crew members to warships before sinking the cargo ship. It must not cause American casualties. At the same time,
The Japanese ambassador to the United States also submitted a note to the U.S. government, stating that the two countries were at war and that Japan was imposing a naval blockade on the Ming Dynasty. The Japanese government expressed concern about this dangerous approach by the United States.
But at this time, trying to prevent the United States from selling things to the Ming Dynasty is tantamount to seeking the skin of a tiger. The U.S. Secretary of State directly rejected the Japanese government's note on the grounds that "the United States did not sell materials to the Ming Dynasty, but to the Russian Federation."
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Under this circumstance, two tit-for-tat battles began in the Western Pacific.