Live broadcast shocked the ancients, and the baby returned to the modern era to be the group's

Chapter 178 Ah, those two got what they deserved, that felt great!
Who knew that Emperor Jingxuan's next question was, "How is the construction of the ships for the voyage coming along?"

Yu Kangsheng suddenly realized, "Yes, yes, these potatoes were also introduced from overseas, and it is indeed related to him."

“Your Majesty,” Yu Kangsheng said solemnly, “After the imperial decree was sent to Fujian, the Huo family, a shipping magnate family, knew that building ships was to retrieve high-yield grains. To this end, they have recalled all their direct descendants and called on the shipbuilding experts in Fujian to do their best to build ships. However, to ensure the safety and practicality of the ships, the Huo family dares not be careless, so it will take some time.”

The Great Qi Dynasty began with Emperor Gaozu, who implemented a maritime ban.

Therefore, the ships currently being built are only suitable for rivers, and their performance and draft are far inferior to those of ocean-going vessels.

To go global, a complete overhaul is necessary.

Moreover, it wasn't just one ship; if you include passenger ships, grain ships, horse ships, warships, and so on, there were at least a dozen.

If the scale were larger, dozens or even hundreds of ships would be normal.

Of course, given Emperor Jingxuan's current urgency, it's unlikely that he would send over a hundred ships.

However, in order to bring the food back safely, it was impossible to send only a few ships.

The Huo family of Fujian started out building ships and had become a shipping magnate family during the previous dynasty, with their ships being famous throughout the country.

After the maritime ban was imposed by the current dynasty, the Huo family could only build ordinary ships. However, their craftsmanship has been passed down and has not been lost, especially the direct descendants, who are said to still be researching the construction of seagoing vessels.

Therefore, entrusting professional tasks to them will naturally result in faster and more efficient processes.

Emperor Jingxuan still felt it was too slow, and he frowned, somewhat irritated. Building ships and setting sail was only the first step; next, they needed to find potatoes and sweet potatoes to bring back, then test their cultivation in the Shanglin Garden, and only after the harvest could they popularize them.

The entire process could take several years. Fortunately, the sky had already indicated the specific country where the sweet potatoes were grown, so they could head straight to their destination. It was also mentioned that sweet potatoes are drought-resistant, which would save them time.

but.

I'm still very annoyed.

It's all the fault of those ministers who kept preventing him from lifting the sea ban. Those stubborn scoundrels, all they know is how to invoke ancestral laws. In reality, they're just after their own selfish interests. Everyone knows that these people have already been secretly sending people out to sea to make money, and they're afraid that lifting the sea ban will affect their interests, so they're desperately trying to stop it.

If they hadn't stopped them, they might have discovered and brought back high-yield grains like sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn a few years earlier, and now all the people of Daqi can eat them.

Emperor Jingxuan grew angrier the more he thought about it. He was determined to find an excuse to get rid of them sooner or later.

Ok?
Emperor Jingxuan seemed to suddenly remember something, slowly calmed himself down, walked to the dragon throne and sat down again, and suddenly said, "By the way, Minister Shen."

Minister of Revenue Shen Kuan was stunned, his expression exactly the same as Yu Kang Sheng's just now.

He didn't understand what the emperor wanted him to do. Did he want him to increase the amount of money invested and speed up the shipbuilding process for the Huo family?

No, absolutely not, Your Majesty! The national treasury will be empty!

Just as he was about to shout, he heard Emperor Jingxuan say, "When Tianmu mentioned cement before, Minister Yu also said that it could be produced as soon as possible. I suppose the national treasury should soon have a sum of money coming in from this source."

Shen Kuan nodded. "It should be?" Why did His Majesty bring this up?
"It's like this, after seeing the Heavenly Curtain, Mother wants to establish a girls' academy. It will be named Chaoyang Girls' Academy under the name of Chaochao. The initial construction costs will be covered by this academy." Shen Kuan was speechless. He subconsciously wanted to refuse.

He wanted to refuse any project that tried to squeeze money out of his pocket.

But he reacted quickly. His Majesty was referring to Chaoyang Girls' Academy just now? Well, that's about increasing energy value, and cement is used for extra revenue generated by the Sky Curtain, so it's reasonable to use it for this.

So he thought about it for a moment and decided to agree.

Before he could even speak, a minister in the procession rushed forward, knelt down, and shouted, “Your Majesty, you mustn’t! Establishing a girls’ academy is utterly absurd. We can understand that the Empress Dowager wants to do good deeds, but to send women to school is like a hen crowing at dawn. Women should be virtuous, quiet, and obedient. Studying will disturb their minds and make them ambitious.”

"Yes, Your Majesty, how can the Empress Dowager support such a thing? Does she want women to study and take the imperial examinations? Wouldn't that throw the court into chaos? Your Majesty is in the prime of your life, this is absolutely unacceptable."

Emperor Jingxuan simply looked at them with a cold expression.

Many ministers in the court were completely bewildered. Weren't they talking about building ships with potatoes and corn to go to sea? Why did they suddenly start talking about a girls' academy? Is His Majesty's thinking so unconventional?

Grand Tutor, however, had sharp eyes and noticed the two officials who had stepped forward, secretly shaking his head.

Sure enough, after they finished speaking, Emperor Jingxuan snorted coldly, "I only mentioned the girls' academy, when did I mention the imperial examination? The Empress Dowager pities the girls who suffer in this world, which is why she wants to establish a girls' academy so that they can read, write, and learn some skills, so that they will have more choices in the future and live a better life. What do you mean by this? Are you implying that the Empress Dowager is power-hungry and ambitious, and wants to do what Empress Lü and Empress Wu did?"

The two officials who had just spoken changed their expressions drastically and quickly knelt down to beg for forgiveness, "We didn't mean that, it's just, it's just..."

"What do you mean by 'just'? You are all narrow-minded and presumptuous, trying to misunderstand the Empress Dowager's good intentions and sow discord between me and her son. It's utterly despicable." Emperor Jingxuan slammed his hand on the armrest. "Guards, drag them away, give them thirty strokes of the cane, and demote them by two ranks."

Upon hearing this, the two officials turned deathly pale. "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, we are innocent! We absolutely did not..."

Emperor Jingxuan ignored them completely and had them dragged away.

Ah, I got rid of two, that feels great.

The court officials were terrified and no one dared to speak. Only the seasoned Grand Tutor Yu Kangsheng could see through the situation.

When His Majesty spoke about going to sea, he suddenly punished two officials who had initially opposed opening the sea routes. This was definitely a case of settling scores after the fact.

Emperor Jingxuan raised his eyes and asked, "Do any of you ministers have any objections to establishing a women's academy?"

Who would dare to have that?

No one dared to voice their opposition; in fact, they praised the Empress Dowager for her concern for the nation.

Emperor Jingxuan was satisfied and then looked back at the sky.

Jian Yunsang had already taken Chaochao's hand and walked towards the door. Su Fangrong led the way. They were going to the open space in front of the ancestral hall to see if the people who planned to do a live broadcast were there.

However, He Nanzhou hadn't gone far when he received a phone call.

He saw the caller ID and his expression turned slightly strange.