The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Spring is here and it is the season for flower viewing. In the Imperial Garden, flowers are in full bloom and the scene is full of red and green flowers.

The warm sun and breeze are perfect for flower viewing.

Li Hu, dressed in plain clothes, supported Lin Daiyu and walked slowly on the stone path, while Zijuan, Xueyan, Qingwen and others followed closely behind.

At this time, Lin Daiyu's belly had already become visible. She was supported by Li Hu, with her other hand supporting her waist. While talking to Li Hu, she was enjoying the beautiful scenery around her.

Li Hu smiled and said: "The situation in North Korea is better than expected. People died, but the houses and land were all left behind. The people who moved there can move in directly, saving money, effort, time and worry!"

Lin Daiyu smiled and said, "The Japanese have helped us a lot. They are good people!"

Li Hu smiled and nodded: "He Shen said in the letter that the shipyard in North Korea was not damaged, and there is a batch of wood stored there, which can build several warships."

After a pause, he said, "According to the timetable, the trial of the first batch of new sailing warships should be almost over. With these new warships, the Yangtze River Navy can completely annihilate the Japanese fleet retreating to the islands."

Lin Daiyu nodded. She had seen the drawings of the new battleship, which had three gun decks and was equipped with more than a hundred cannons of various types. Each ship cost as much as 150,000 taels.

Li Hu: "Without the warships, Japan is like taking off clothes. Ouch, why are you pinching me again?"

Lin Daiyu glared at him and said, "You are not allowed to say such nonsense in front of the children."

Li Hu smiled bitterly, he was shooting himself in the foot! Ever since he popularized the knowledge of prenatal education to Lin Daiyu, whenever he said something bad, he would be "severely punished" by Lin Daiyu.

Lin Daiyu suddenly remembered: "How is the ironclad ship you've been thinking about?"

Li Hu rolled his eyes: "What ironclad ship? It's called an ironclad ship, also known as an armored ship."

Lin Daiyu covered her mouth and smiled: "I was wrong. How is the ironclad ship?"

Li Hu sighed: "Not very good."

Lin Daiyu: "What's wrong?"

Li Hu smiled bitterly. Imagination is beautiful, but reality is cruel. The Royal Academy has not yet made breakthroughs in some key technologies, and the quality of steel is not up to standard, so it is impossible to build an iron hull.

Only a layer of armor can be laid on the wooden hull, and the appearance and overall layout are essentially the same as those of wooden sailing warships. Its armor is simply nailed to the wooden hull, which can theoretically defend against the attack of solid shells, but because the armor is nailed to the hull, it may be shot down.

However, dealing with those old wooden warships would definitely be as easy as cutting melons and vegetables.

The first ironclad ship still used a hybrid power of sails and steam and was equipped with eight boilers. The theoretical speed could reach twelve or thirteen knots, but the actual sea trial should be around ten knots, which is basically the same as the speed of mainstream sailing warships.

After hearing Li Hu's "complaint", Lin Daiyu smiled and said softly: "Take your time, it will succeed."

Li Hu suddenly remembered: "Remember the train I mentioned? I went to check it out yesterday and it has already started testing."

Lin Daiyu became interested: "Really? Can I go and have a look?"

Li Hu glanced at her slightly bulging belly and said, "Forget it."

Lin Daiyu: "What's wrong?"

Li Hu: "The sound is so loud that it almost deafened me. It's really hard for those craftsmen! When they succeed, I will definitely reward them handsomely."

Lin Daiyu nodded: "We should reward them well."

As we walked, we heard Xiangling's laughter from the other side of the flowers. She was obviously very happy.

Li Hu and Lin Daiyu looked at each other and walked over.

Passing by the flowers, Xiangling was indeed sitting among the flowers with a few young palace maids, playing with flowers.

"This silly girl!" Li Hu smiled and shouted, "Xiang Ling."

"Hey!" Xiangling responded subconsciously, then turned around and saw that it was Li Hu and Lin Daiyu. She hurriedly dropped the flowers and plants in her hands and hurried over.

Lin Daiyu smiled and said, "Walk slowly, be careful not to fall."

Walking up to them, Xiangling knelt down and said, "Your Highness, I pay my respects to the Emperor and the Empress!"

"Get up."

Li Hu smiled and nodded at her, "You are one of the nine concubines, Huipin, but you are leading a group of young palace maids to sit in a pile of flowers and play with flowers. Isn't that shameful?!"

The Tang Dynasty also inherited the Ming system. Except for the absence of an Imperial Noble Consort, the titles and ranks of the concubines in the harem were all copied. Xiangling was Concubine Hui and Amber was Concubine Zhuang.

Xiangling blushed and was about to speak.

Lin Daiyu spoke up: "Okay, let's go to the pavilion in front and take a rest. Xiangling."

Xiangling immediately responded to Lin Daiyu with a sweet smile, holding Lin Daiyu's other arm, and the three of them took a few steps forward and saw a pavilion.

Zijuan asked the palace maid to bring a large brocade mattress and spread it on the railing step.

Li Hu helped Lin Daiyu sit down against the pillar and asked Xiangling to sit beside her. After chatting for a while, he suddenly remembered, "Oh, by the way, why didn't I see Amber today?"

Lin Daiyu: "Look at my memory. Amber was blown by the wind yesterday and caught a cold."

"sick?"

Li Hu was silent for a moment, then said to a young eunuch, "Go to Concubine Zhuang's palace and tell her that I went to see her after dinner."

The young eunuch said, "Yes." He bowed and walked out.

Just as the young eunuch walked out, the fat man came in hurriedly and reported to Li Hu, "Your Majesty, we're from Nanjing, rushing from six hundred miles away." Then he handed over a memorial with chicken feathers stuck on it.

Li Hu took the urgent package, tore open the seal and looked at it. His face suddenly changed, but he quickly calmed down.

After reading the last line, Li Hu raised his head and thought silently. After thinking for a moment, he read the express letter carefully again and sat there in a daze.

Lin Daiyu asked tentatively: "What's wrong?"

Li Hu came back to his senses: "On the 17th day of the first month of the first year of Jianwu, the combined fleet of the Western Barbarians wiped out the remnants of the navy under General Yuehai. On the 21st, they besieged General Yuehai's base camp and successfully landed on the 23rd. My father is mobilizing troops to support General Yuehai. In addition, my father hopes that the Yangtze River Navy will go south..."

Li Hu established the Tang Dynasty and named the reign title "Jianwu", which means "establishing military achievements" and symbolizes the creation and stability of the new dynasty.

Lin Daiyu understood Li Hu's dilemma. If the main force of the Yangtze River Navy went south, it would not only give the Japanese a chance to breathe, but would also make the Korean shipyards and several shipyards under construction the targets of Japanese warships.

At this moment, the eunuch on duty in the Qianqing Palace hurried in holding a stack of official documents.

The chief eunuch said, "Your Majesty, the Imperial Academy and the Ministry of War just sent us a document about the trial voyage of a new warship."

Li Hu's eyes lit up, he snatched the pile of documents, read them one by one, and then laughed: "God bless the Tang Dynasty!"

Lin Daiyu felt relieved when she heard this, realizing that the ironclad ship and the new sailing warship had successfully completed their first sea trial.

Li Hu placed the documents in his palms and slapped them twice, then stood up, walked back and forth a few steps, and said to Lin Daiyu: "Leave the ironclad ships to deal with the old Japanese warships, and the new sailing warships and the main force of the Yangtze River Navy will go south to cooperate with our father to recover the southeast."

Lin Daiyu nodded.

Li Hu then said to Xiangling, Zijuan and others, "Take good care of the queen." Then he strode out. (End of this chapter)