Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 360: Thirty Thousand Mile Expedition
After Sun Chuanting left, Zhu Youdong gently rubbed his temples, as a small compensation for not having a nap. Then he looked up and asked Fang Zhenghua, "Have Zheng Guangyuan and the others arrived?"
"Already waiting outside the palace."
"Let them in."
"Your Majesty... do you want to take a rest first? I'm not being nosy, but I feel that you have been busy preparing for the coronation ceremony since a few days ago. I calculated that you have only slept for six hours in the past three days."
"Hey, the one in power must govern well." Waving his hands, Zhu Youdong said helplessly: "Let them in. If you can't hold on any longer, you can go to sleep for a while."
Fang Zhenghua retreated reluctantly, but when he went out to call Zheng Guangyuan and others in, he frowned and warned them: To make a long story short, the emperor is very tired right now!
"Students are waiting to see the headmaster."
"Hahaha, you guys." Seeing the three outstanding students from his Fangshan School, Zhu Youdong's mood unconsciously improved a lot: "Well, come here and take a look. Hey, Zheng Hongyuan, why are you still wearing slings? The East China Sea War has been over for almost three months. Are you pretending?"
"Principal, what are you talking about? It takes a hundred days to heal a broken bone! In that fight, my student's right arm was broken into three pieces. Doctor Chen Shigong, who performed the surgery on the student, said that there are still many broken bones embedded in the flesh. So, it's only natural that he's wearing a sling now."
After saying this, Zheng Wei's tone suddenly became low: "The student is lucky. It took a long time to recover from the injury, but he can still go on board after he recovers. It's a pity for Commander Yu..."
"Yes." Zhu Youdong nodded heavily and said, "Marshal Yu has been disabled for life for the sake of the country. I will not treat him unfairly. I was going to ask the Ministry of Personnel to confer a title on Marshal Yu last month, but Grandfather Emperor said that it would be best to wait until I ascend the throne to confer a title. Therefore, Marshal Yu will be the first military merit title I confer (according to the Ming Dynasty practice, the empress's father would be conferred a title). I have decided to confer Marshal Yu the title of Dinghai Earl, and let him be the president of the Ming Royal Naval Academy in the future."
"We thank the Emperor for his consideration of the country's loyal subjects."
"Okay, okay, why are you calling me your subject? Wasn't the student just now very good?"
"Your Majesty, we were just being private just now and we were a little too presumptuous. Now that we are discussing state affairs, we must abide by our duties as subjects."
"Okay." The students became formal, and Zhu Youdong also became serious: "Well, Zheng Guangyuan, after passing the imperial examination, you have been in the Tongzhengsi for nearly two years. Your superiors said that you are meticulous and talented in writing, and they have a very high evaluation of you. Zhang Hong, you performed very well in the Chongmingsha defense battle, and you can be said to have made great contributions. As for you, Zheng Wei, your performance in the East China Sea decisive battle was also unanimously recognized by your comrades. So, I asked you three to come here because I have an important task for you to do."
"Your Majesty, please give your instructions."
"This is easy to say, but difficult to do. I want you to organize a small fleet, cross the Pacific Ocean and sail directly to America!"
"ah?"
As students of Fangshan School, Zheng Guangyuan and the other two certainly knew where America was, and they also knew clearly that it was a Spanish colony. They also knew that their headmaster would never be so stupid as to try to seize control of America from Spain at this time.
"I have so many things to do that I almost forgot one important thing. If I don't do it now, in twenty years at the slowest, or ten years at the fastest, the technology of our Ming Dynasty will be completely bottlenecked."
"May I ask your Majesty, what is this matter? This is so serious that we are willing to risk our lives to accomplish it!"
"In the Amazon rainforest in South America, there is a tree that the locals call the 'tearful tree'. I call it rubber! Its characteristics are..."
Yes, it is rubber. As a medical time traveler, Zhu Youdong had to deal with rubber many times before he traveled through time. However, he had dealt with it many times, but he had no idea where it came from - in fact, the rubber gloves he used in the 21st century were mostly artificial rubber.
When the steam engine was about to enter the practical stage, the work of Fangshan Power Laboratory suddenly became easier. As a time traveler, Zhu Youdong naturally put the research of electrification and internal combustion engines on the agenda. When thinking of internal combustion engines, he naturally thought of cars, and then naturally thought of rubber.
Then Zhu Youdong realized: Damn! He had completely forgotten about this - thanks to the fact that he had been at the starting point for many years before crossing over, he still knew that the origin of rubber was in South America. And in the historical plane, rubber was not planted in Southeast Asia until the second half of the 19th century - that is to say, there is not a single rubber plant in the entire Eastern Hemisphere now!
This is a problem: Zhu Youdong never thought that he was a son of a plane, nor did he think that he was gifted. He always thought of himself as an ordinary person, so he was diligent in his work.
Because of this understanding, he did not think that the Ming Dynasty's technology tree was the only one in the world at this time. Since the Ming Dynasty's steam engine has come out, the Spanish steam engine, even if it has not come out, will not be far behind. Once humans enter the steam age, the strategic role of rubber will increase infinitely. As for the identities of the Spanish twin travelers, even if they don't realize it now, I believe that they will soon implement a strategic blockade of rubber plants around the world.
And artificial rubber? Come on, I'm not a chemist or material scientist, I have no idea how to make it!
Therefore, we must hurry up! Otherwise, without rubber, the Ming Dynasty's transportation, military defense, agriculture, forestry, water conservancy, mining development, civil engineering, electrical communications, medical care, storage of goods and other aspects will all be greatly restricted .
"In short, the role of rubber is so huge. If you successfully bring back the plants, then my Ming Dynasty will plant them extensively in Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Hainan, Taiwan, and even in Annan and Siam in the future. In this way, in the next ten or twenty years, there will be enough rubber to meet the needs of the entire Ming Dynasty."
"I understand. Your Majesty, please rest assured that we will complete this task."
"Yes." Walking down the steps and approaching the three students, Zhu Youdong patted their shoulders one by one: "You three, Zheng Guangyuan is meticulous and good at coordination. Zheng Wei is good at commanding naval operations, and Zhang Hong is good at land warfare. In addition, you are classmates. So I let the three of you work together to do this. This trip is a full 30,000 kilometers round trip, and the vast Pacific Ocean is not peaceful at all. Therefore, this trip is extremely dangerous. Before you set off, if you have any concerns, go and do your work first."
"yes."
"I have prepared three Jinling-class warships for you. They are the latest enhanced versions. The sailors, sailors, and gunners are all selected from the best of Li Guozhu and Yan Siqi's troops. In addition, didn't Li Guozhu rob the Spanish Manila Treasure Fleet two years ago? He also captured some Spaniards back then. In addition, I have also found a few Portuguese in Macau. These are your guides on this trip. But be careful not to blindly trust the guides."
"Yes, I will keep it in mind."
"It's very troublesome to go to South America from our Ming Dynasty. If you're not careful, you'll slip into the Andes Mountains. Geographically speaking, it's much more convenient for Spain to go to South America than it is for us. So, I'll give you more time for this expedition. Two years. If you haven't come back within two years, I'll send your juniors to look for you."
"Hahaha, Principal, there's no need to go to such trouble. We'll bring back our own rubber plants within two years!"
