We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

Li Che arrived in Dalian in mid-July, and it was already September when all the warships were modified.

It took more than two months and the hard work of thousands of craftsmen and tens of thousands of laborers to successfully complete the renovation.

In his previous life, when Li Che saw the history of Emperor Yang of Sui building dragon boats and lowering the canal, which led to the people's miserable lives, he was still a little confused.

It's just building a ship, why does it consume so much manpower?

When it was my turn to actually do it, I realized that in ancient times when technology was low and only manpower was available, even projects like ship repairing were extremely costly, not to mention shipbuilding.

During the six years of Emperor Yang of Sui's reign, a total of nearly five million people were conscripted. Such a large-scale conscription resulted in a large number of young and middle-aged people leaving agricultural production, farmland being abandoned, and grain production plummeting.

In addition, the laborers had to provide their own food and tools, and faced harsh construction conditions such as disease, hunger and cold. Historical records show that "more than half of them died."

This was also a common problem in ancient times. Any emperor with great ambitions, regardless of whether he was evaluated well or badly by history, who wanted to achieve great things would inevitably cause some harm to the people.

This was true of Emperor Yang of Sui and Emperor Wu of Han... When a country prospers, the people suffer; when a country perishes, the people suffer.

Li Che naturally would not treat the workers so harshly. As long as they worked at the dock, whether they were craftsmen or migrant workers, they would be provided with daily meals and accommodation.

In comparison, the treatment is better, and the work enthusiasm is naturally higher, so the project is completed faster.

Although it consumed a lot of financial resources and food, Li Che felt that it was all worth it compared to the more difficult to repair human hearts.

However, the problem of engineering speed has been solved, but how can we ensure the quality?

In fact, it is very simple. Each warship has a responsible chief craftsman who will set sail with the ship as the shipbuilder.

When you go to the sea on a boat that you built yourself, you wouldn't dare cut corners, right?

The renovation work is nearing completion, and the next step is to load supplies and cargo onto the fleet.

For the first long voyage, shells, gunpowder, weapons and the like were secondary; the most urgent need was food.

It is extremely difficult to replenish food on the vast ocean. Sometimes, one may not encounter land or islands for several days. Even if one does encounter them, it is difficult to replenish food that can supply a large fleet of 5,000 people.

Therefore, you must bring enough food, including high-calorie sugar, dried meat, dry food, as well as a certain amount of vegetables and fruits to supplement various vitamins.

As for the goods, they need to be carefully selected.

This voyage inevitably involves dealing with indigenous peoples from all over the place. There is no need to say much to those indigenous people who are aggressive from the start and completely impossible to communicate with, they are simply crushed by force.

Those who are relatively peace-loving and can communicate in a simple way still need to establish basic trust through bartering.

Talent is the most important resource. Li Che wants to control Southeast Asia and the world in the future. The millions of people in Fengguo are far from enough, and it is not enough even if the people in Daqing are included.

However, it is obviously not appropriate to trade with these indigenous people using basic supplies such as food and minerals.

The other party also has these things, and they take up too much space.

Li Che carefully selected several products produced in Feng State.

First of all, the weapons made of Fengguo steel are definitely of a higher quality than the spears and stone axes in the hands of the natives.

There are also glass products, such as mirrors and glass cups. These cheap but novel small objects have a strong appeal to the natives. The Portuguese once used glass beads in large quantities to exchange for gold and slaves in Africa.

For this purpose, Li Che specially asked the glass workshop to produce a large number of crystal clear and colorful glass beads for trading with the natives.

Other items, such as lighters, compasses, telescopes, etc., were also brought with them, both for personal use and for trading.

Taking advantage of the time when preparing and loading goods, Li Che returned to Chaoyang City.

At this moment, Chang Ningxue was already slightly pregnant, and her flat belly had a little more curve. When she put her hand on it, she seemed to feel a little life beating gently.

Her pregnancy caused her emotions to be unstable, and she even cried when she saw Li Che coming.

Li Che had no choice but to comfort her and promised that he would come back before the child was born to personally welcome the arrival of the little life.

He called Yan again and asked her to take good care of Chang Ningxue, and entrusted Yelu Xian to her.

Although Li Che, as a prince, can bring women on board, it can also provide an extra activity during the boring voyage.

But Li Che still didn't do it. Long-term sexual repression would make the crew's will unstable. If everyone did this, it would be fine. But if there was an exception, even if no one said anything, it would still be a blow to morale.

As a leader, Li Che has the responsibility to lead by example. Just hold it in for a few months, it won't hurt.

After pacifying the people in the rear quarters, Li Che went to the government office again.

During the time that Li Che was away, everything in the government office ran as usual.

The main reason is that there are no wars or major projects in Feng State now, and most of its energy is focused on technological research and development and fleet formation.

The situation in Yueyun was unclear. The latest battle report showed that Yueyun had defeated another large tribe and captured the Beihu princess of that tribe alive. It turned out that the princess had been married three times and was already forty years old...

So, Yun was furious!

He immediately led his army westward again, determined to capture a child bride of the right age for his unborn son.

After reading the battle report, Li Che held his forehead speechlessly, thinking that Yue Yun was a bit stubborn.

There is no need to capture a Northern Hu princess or a Northern Hu queen. Even though you can't give her to your own son as a child bride, it's the same for yourself.

My son belongs to me. He is still young, so what he cannot enjoy should be enjoyed by his father. This is only natural!

The situation on Yang Zhongsi's side was completely different.

Zhongshiwei had been pacified, and Feng State's territory had further expanded.

Yang Zhongsi accepted 20,000 surrendered soldiers to expand the army, and sent the rest to supplement the scarce labor force in Feng State.

The power of Shiwei was weakened again and was on the verge of extinction.

But Yang Zhongsi was neither anxious nor impatient. He just trained his soldiers and grazed the livestock, while also building fortresses, cities, and villages to consolidate the existing land.

Now many people in the Feng State court are dissatisfied with him. They think that Yang Zhongsi could have conquered Shiwei in one fell swoop, but he did not take any action, which seemed to be a case of nurturing the enemy for his own benefit.

The three cabinet ministers were unable to make a decision on this matter and could only let Li Che handle it.

Li Che knew why Yang Zhongsi was like this. The Shiwei people had occupied the land in the north for hundreds of years, and a dead camel was still bigger than a horse.

If we press forward step by step and launch a general attack, the enemy will definitely fight to the death, and we may end up with both sides suffering losses.

This strategy of gradual erosion can minimize losses while maintaining security in existing lands.

So, Li Che wrote a letter to Yang Zhongsi, telling him not to worry about things in the rear, just go ahead and do what he wants, and that he would always trust him.

The problems in the rear were almost solved. Li Che stayed in Chaoyang City for three days and then rushed to Dalian City again.

Arriving outside the city, Li Che looked up at the sky and saw that the weather was clear and cloudless.

But it’s a good day for sailing!