The most arrogant in history

Ye Kun said: "Dramas need distinctive costumes, vivid facial makeup, matching music, gongs and drums, rhyming lines and singing styles... In this area, we need to slowly cultivate professional talents."

Yingtao smiled and said, "These are easy. But, when White Snake reveals her true form, she is a giant snake. How can we perform this?"

Ye Kun said: "There is a fake tail hidden under the skirt. Then White Snake falls to the ground and pulls out the fake tail, isn't that enough?"

Everyone laughed.

Yingtao brought over an actress from the dance troupe, who was about sixteen or seventeen years old, with a plump face and smooth skin. She smiled and said:

"This is my apprentice, who has the best singing skills. Her name is Bingbing. Your Majesty, please sing a song of White Snake, "Du Qing", with Bingbing to broaden our horizons."

Bingbing bowed and saluted.

Everyone applauded and cheered.

Ye Kun had no choice but to stand up and said with a smile: "Then I will sing with Bingbing, I will sing first... The beautiful scenery of West Lake, March..."

Bingbing is indeed talented in performing. She sang and danced at the same time, coordinating perfectly with Ye Kun.

When the song ended, the cabin was filled with applause.

Bingbing bowed and said, "It turns out that the emperor sings so well. Bingbing will have to ask the emperor for advice in the future."

Yingtao smiled and said, "Bingbing, tonight, you serve the emperor and let him teach you something new."

Bingbing stole a glance at Ye Kun and whispered, "I'm afraid I don't have this blessing..."

Not everyone is qualified to serve the emperor.

Ye Kun glanced at Yingtao and said with a smile: "Yingtao, your apprentice should stay at your home."

"Your Majesty, I specially trained Bingbing to serve you. Wouldn't it be nice to let her stay by your side and sing for you when she's free?"

Cherry smiled wickedly: "The man in my family is not worthy of such a beauty, so it is enough for me to serve him. Bingbing is still pure and innocent, so I named her Bingbing. It should be okay for the emperor to take her with him and let her be a palace maid."

Ye Kun was no longer reserved and nodded, "That's fine, let Bingbing follow me and sort out some texts from now on."

Yingtao looked at Bingbing and smiled, "Bingbing, you are blessed. You should serve the emperor carefully in the future."

Bingbing thanks you.

That night, we crossed the Strait of Malacca.

Bingbing was in Ye Kun's cabin, serving him closely.

Ye Kun has been working hard these days, so he rewarded himself and enjoyed Bingbing's care. He felt good.

On the return trip, Ye Kun often went ashore to check and found that some places had changed since the time he came.

The port cities on both sides of Malacca are also under construction in full swing.

Ye Kun decided to stay for a few days to guide the work, review the urban planning, and set short-term and long-term goals.

Song Poliu asked, "Your Majesty, this strait to the south is what you called the Nanyang Islands. You said there are tens of thousands of islands, which is about right. Do you want to take these islands now?"

At this time, the South Pacific Islands were inhabited by uncivilized barbarians.

Some were still in the Neolithic Age, wearing animal skins and having just learned how to use fire.

It is no difficulty to take over the South Pacific Islands.

Ye Kun smiled and said, "Our current target is the Tianzhu Peninsula. Our nearest opponent is also the Tianzhu Peninsula. The Nanyang Islands are now barren, so what's the point of taking them? In eight or ten years, when our population has increased, we can just send people over to develop them."

Song Poliu nodded.

Ye Kun added: "Haven't we already sent out a reconnaissance fleet to investigate the South Sea Islands?"

"We have three reconnaissance teams, each with four warships. We have been conducting reconnaissance and have roughly identified the South Pacific Islands. We have drawn a map and will soon be able to complete it."

"That's good." Ye Kun thought for a moment and said:

"If there is time, we can relocate some of the young people from the indigenous people of the South Pacific Islands to replenish coal and iron mines in various places and support the excavation of the canal. Large-scale military operations are not necessary now."

What we lack most now is population.

Without population, the output of coal and iron mines cannot be increased, and the canal will be difficult to open.

Song Poliu smiled and said, "This month, I have arranged two groups of immigrants to be sent to Qiantang Port. There are more than 50,000 people in total, all young people, half of them are men and half are women."

"You did a good job. When we go to India, there are more people there. Please send me more."

Ye Kun smiled.

India does have a large population, and Ye Kun hopes to introduce two million laborers to develop minerals, dig canals, and build roads.

However, it is not easy to transport these two million people here.

There are 300 troop transport ships, all of which are large ships, and each ship can transport more than 500 troops at a time.

When fully mobilized, they can transport 150,000 people each time.

However, the voyage is too long and requires passing through the Strait of Malacca. Even if safety is ensured, the one-way journey will take a month.

The round trip voyage only takes two months.

Even if all transport capacity is put into use, only 500,000 to 600,000 people can be brought in each year.

This is just a calculation of shipping capacity, and does not include management and logistics costs, ship losses, disease risks, etc.

If you take the land route, that is, the Yunnan-Myanmar Highway built by Tintin, it seems very close. You can enter Yunnan by going north from the Bay of Bengal. In fact, the road is more difficult to travel, requires more time, more logistics, and more deaths!

After much thought, I decided to ship by sea.

Fortunately, a shipyard has been planned in the Bay of Bengal, and more large ships can be built in the future, which can further increase the shipping capacity.

If the quality of the steam engine could be stabilized and the sailing speed increased, there would be no problem.

Song Poliu smiled and said, "I haven't been back for several years. I don't know what our Chinese Nine Provinces are like now."

"My hometown is very good. Everyone eats white flour and refined rice. Chicken, duck, fish and meat are common on people's tables."

Ye Kun smiled and said, "Our population is growing very fast. Including the South China Peninsula that you have taken, we should have a population of 33 million now. The larger villages all have schools and medical clinics, and the roads are beautifully built... The people are all living with energy and smiling every day. Salt and iron are no longer controlled by the imperial court, and the people can trade them freely at very low prices..."

In fact, the changes in recent years have been so great that Ye Kun couldn’t describe them all at once.

Song Poliu was fascinated and asked with a smile: "Will it get better in the future?"

"Sure."

Ye Kun nodded: "We expect that within a year, we will have steam-powered ships. By then, with the power of steam engines and sails, the sailing speed will be more than 100 miles per hour. In one day and one night, we can travel 3,000 miles. It will only take you three or four days to get from the South China Peninsula to Qiantang Port. It will only take seven or eight days to get to Tianjin Port!"

Song Poliu was overjoyed: "How long will it take to cross the Atlantic Ocean?"

"Ten days at most!"

"That would be great! At that time, I will definitely run around the earth to see if it is round!"

"Haha, you guy still don't believe that the earth is round." Ye Kun also laughed.

Song Poliu smiled and said, "The earth is round, but that's just our inference. No one in this world has ever seen with their own eyes that the earth is a big round ball."