Seven Seas Beacon Fire

The advisor's words made Tokugawa Ietatsu nod in agreement: "Yes, we men can't put all the pressure on Akiko. A while ago, the Tang Dynasty navy intercepted two battlecruisers of the garrison fleet at sea, and our network of connections in Yingzhou played a significant role in that. There's not much we can do now, but intelligence espionage is one of the few areas where we can still make a difference..."

"General, you mean........."

"Let's officially establish a special agency, and then... hand it over to Akiko!"

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P.S.: I suddenly lost consciousness while writing last night. I stopped writing after about 3000 words.

I have absolutely no recollection of when I fell asleep, but to be honest, I feel a little scared...

Chapter 287 The Big Wedding

Li Che had heard a saying in another world: marriage is a man's grave.

Although many men have many different reasons for the existence of this grave, if he were to answer, he would feel that the reason must be that he was worked to death.

Although the legitimacy of the current Tang Dynasty royal family is closely related to the promises made by his grandfather during his enthronement ceremony, the current Tang Dynasty royal family does not carry out the imperial procession. All the rituals are still in accordance with the rules of the Prince's Mansion back then, and the Li Jin Prince's Mansion has always been relatively indifferent to these formalities.

But! There's always a "but" to everything!

No matter how little the Prince Li Jin's mansion cares about etiquette, it is still a proper hereditary princely mansion. Although the process of his wedding ceremony as the Crown Prince has been simplified in many ways, it is not the wedding process that has been streamlined. It is just that unnecessary extravagance has been avoided to the greatest extent possible. To put it bluntly, it saves money but not effort.

After going through all the traditional Chinese wedding procedures, Li Che really felt that he was almost too exhausted to even have sex that night, because his wedding wasn't a one-day affair; the whole process took several days.

The wedding ceremony includes a series of preparatory procedures, such as exchanging proposals, matching betrothal gifts, presenting betrothal gifts, setting the wedding date, and preparing the wedding dress. On the wedding day itself, it's like going through five checkpoints and defeating six generals. The procedures of welcoming the bride, blocking the door, presenting the wild goose, bowing three times, scattering the bridal tent, and drinking the nuptial cup are considered relatively mild and offer some sense of participation.

The key point is that the old man was probably a little too happy today. Whether as an emperor or as the patriarch, it is only natural for him to speak at a celebratory banquet.

But the old man turned the wedding banquet into a mini court assembly. At first, everyone was talking about the Crown Prince's happy occasion, but somehow the conversation drifted to the domestic epidemic and foreign naval treaties.

Li Che had seen this kind of scene many times. In a QQ group in another world, a group of men could seamlessly switch between driving and fighting topics while chatting.

Although Li Che knew that the topic had veered to these two points because they were both related to him and Zhu Miaoyun, after the wedding, he would form a special envoy team with relevant personnel from the Navy to go to Honolulu to attend the Naval Arms Control Treaty Conference.

The domestic epidemic is due to the fact that the control of the Colombian flu is at its most critical stage. Moreover, Liu Ming, whom Zhu Miaoyun discovered, has gone from an unsuccessful small entrepreneur to a trendsetter in the public eye and is now one of the most prominent emerging pharmaceutical tycoons in China.

But old man, you can address these issues when the actual court assembly begins, right? A group of middle-aged and elderly people chatted happily, while Li Che and Zhu Miaoyun, the newlyweds, waited anxiously on the sidelines, hungry.

Li Che had heard that most girls looked forward to having a perfect wedding in their lives, so he glanced at Zhu Miaoyun several times during the wedding. However, it seemed that Zhu Miaoyun was not affected by the old man's impromptu speech. The girl always had a sweet smile on her lips, and when she met his eyes, the happiness in her eyes was almost overflowing.

From Zhu Miaoyun's perspective, this time-travel journey was a gift from heaven. Originally, she and her lover were unable to even touch each other, and they were destined to have a painful Platonic love. But now... even cabbage can eat pork!

However, compared to other ordinary newlyweds, Li Che and Zhu Miaoyun didn't even have time for a honeymoon after their wedding ceremony, because the navy had already begun organizing the team members to participate in the Honolulu Naval Conference. Delegations from countries that were relatively far away, such as the Victorian Empire and the Kingdom of Gaul in Europe, had already been organized and were about to depart.

Although Li Che had jokingly told Zhu Miaoyun that he would take her to Honolulu for a visit, such a serious military and national matter could not be treated so lightly. From the navy's perspective, this meeting and negotiation was a combat mission. Have you ever seen a naval officer bring his wife with him when he goes to sea to carry out a combat mission?

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"Those are all excuses! Why was Tokugawa Akiko allowed to go?"

While reluctantly packing Li Che's luggage for his departure, Zhu Miaoyun couldn't help but pout and complain.

“Grandma, I’ve already explained to you that Akiko holds a formal public office in the Tokugawa Shogunate. I never expected that the Tokugawa Shogunate would put Akiko in charge of the Investigation Department.”

Li Che was also hurriedly packing up his documents while patiently explaining things to Zhu Miaoyun.

Speaking of which, they really picked a good time for their wedding. While they were getting married, Colombia and Victoria made headlines over the other side – these two cousin-like countries started arguing over the countries of Yingzhou and Bharat.

The reason for the dispute between the two countries is that both sides feel that Bharat and Yingzhou should not be excluded from the treaty.

The first country to launch an attack was its cousin, Colombia. A member of the Colombian Congress argued that the Victorian Empire's decision to allow the Bharat Federation to secede from its colonies was not genuine independence, but rather a cover-up by the Victorian Empire. They actively promoted the signing of naval treaties among nations, but failed to use their former colonies to allow some of their warships to circumvent treaty restrictions.

This member of parliament's "malicious speculation" was quickly endorsed by many other members of parliament. There was no way around it; after all, the Victorian Empire was not easily trusted in this regard. If you stir up trouble too much, people will think you're stinky even if you haven't actually done anything wrong.

In response to the accusations from Colombia, the talented members of the Victorian House of Commons also countered sharply – why are you Colombians only looking at others? Are you the only ones who are pure and innocent?

What's the deal with those main warships in Yingzhou's possession? Don't think I don't know that you bought those ships from us!

Yingzhou never received a super-dreadnought from its own father, the Ming Dynasty, before, did it? The ships you've arranged for Yingzhou are all top-notch. Our Victorian Empire at most just wanted the Bharat to keep things in check in the Indian Ocean, but what about you?!

If we armed Bharat like you armed Yingzhou, then of the four battleships the Bharat Navy acquired, not two would be dreadnoughts! Nor would there be a mere ornament like the Agincourt, with seven twin 12-inch main guns but only 8 inches of armor!

To be honest, the Tang Dynasty was very willing to see these two countries quarrel. The fiercer the quarrel between these two Anglo-Saxon countries, the more advantageous it would be for the Tang Dynasty in the negotiation process.

The problem is that these two are arguing, and they've dragged Yingzhou into it. This is a matter of political correctness for the Tang Dynasty, and we can't just sit idly by. The Tang Dynasty has to stand up and make a statement. But the annoying thing is that the Tang Dynasty can't easily sway things between them. After all, the navies of Yingzhou and Balat are obviously targeting the Tang Dynasty. Which one do you support and which one do you oppose?

"That philanderer must have some other scheme in mind. Entrusting the Tokugawa Shogunate's intelligence agency to a young girl? What do those guys take Tokugawa Akiko for? Is she some kind of traitor to Kawashima Yoshiko?"

"Don't talk like you're a loser. I remember De Laoba saying that the cat who cheated was numb from losing. Isn't this like 02 from the national team who fell from the sky and easily defeated Little Strawberry?"

“Little Strawberry and the male lead are childhood sweethearts, after all. What is Tokugawa Akiko? That Japanese girl is only after you because you're handsome and have a high social status.” Zhu Miaoyun raised her chin: “Since those people from Yingzhou use such methods to ‘compete for favor,’ don’t blame me for speaking ill of them behind their backs. It’s very dangerous for the women in your harem to control a secret service agency in the future.”

“I know that.” Li Che nodded.

"You knew and you still acquiesced?"

“Because this is a wedge that will allow us to interfere in Yingzhou’s internal affairs in the future. The Shogunate knows this, and we know it too. A political marriage is still politics, and politics is always about compromise.” Li Che put down what he was holding and came to Zhu Miaoyun’s side, gently embracing her: “Don’t worry, the Shogunate’s Investigation Department will only be an intelligence agency in a specific direction for a considerable period of time in the future. I guarantee that the Military Intelligence Bureau will keep an eye on the Investigation Department and will not allow them to expand freely in our homeland.”

As the girl in his arms, whose body had been slightly tense from anger, slowly softened, Li Che knew that her current state of mind stemmed more from a lack of security. Although Zhu Miaoyun was obviously much more noble than Tokugawa Akiko in terms of status, the Tokugawa Shogunate, even in its current state of decline, still stood behind Tokugawa Akiko and unconditionally supported her. But Zhu Miaoyun did not have any member of the Ming Dynasty's imperial family to unconditionally support her and act as her "family."

“The last little bit…” Zhu Miaoyun said in a muffled voice.

"Last what?" Li Che suddenly felt the girl's small hand pinching the soft flesh on his waist. Fortunately, the girl only pinched his flesh threateningly and did not "turn on the gas canister." Then he heard a threat that made him both laugh and cry: "After you go out with that Japanese girl, I don't expect you to be a liar. After all, you will sleep with her sooner or later. But you are not allowed to get pregnant with her before I get pregnant, understand?"

Li Che immediately gave a standard Gallic military salute: "Yes, Your Highness."

"You still call me princess?"

"Of course, if you'd like, we can call you Empress behind closed doors..."

"You're giving me attack speed boosts, huh? Don't think I don't know!!!"

With a girlish shyness, her delicate hand, resting on someone's waist, twisted the gas cylinder down hard.

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Perhaps due to the war of words that broke out between the Victorian Empire and the United States of Colombia before the treaty was officially signed, or perhaps as a demonstration, the Victorian Royal Navy delegation did not travel to Hawaii on a certain blue ribbon. Instead, the Royal Navy sent the lead ship of their newest, largest and most powerful Admiral-class battlecruiser, the gleaming HMS Hood.

The Royal Navy probably wanted to use this most powerful battlecruiser in the world to give the Colombian Navy a taste of its power and demonstrate that the Royal Navy is still the world's strongest navy.

However, sometimes flexing one's muscles can backfire and cause others to take offense. When the Gallic Navy saw the Royal Navy of Victoria swaggering past their HMS Hood in Normandy, the Gallic people, who were not well-informed, thought that this must be aimed at them!

Although the Gallic navy had no warships in its arsenal that could compare to the Admiral-class battlecruisers, the proud Gallic people, determined not to lose face, sent their largest and most powerful Normandy-class battleships to the negotiating team.

Unfortunately, the Normandy-class battleships, which were almost 2 tons smaller than the Hood-class battlecruisers, were like comparing a French Bulldog to a Border Collie – their appearances were worlds apart. Moreover, the Gallic navy's warships at this time were almost entirely designed for the Mediterranean battlefield, so their seaworthiness was only so-so in a bathtub. Their interior space was also very cramped. For the Gallic negotiating team, traveling long distances on such a battleship was not an easy or pleasant experience.

In particular, after the Normandy arrived in Honolulu, some media outlets in Victoria even put pictures of the two ships side by side in their newspapers and ridiculed them. As a result, this seriously hurt the pride of the Gauls. The Lyon-class battleships, which had been hesitant about whether to complete construction, were determined to complete construction under the strong public opinion—even if only one ship was completed! The Gauls couldn't possibly not have a battleship with a displacement of at least 3 tons, could they?

In comparison, although the Kingdom of Syracuse's overall naval strength is not as good as Gaul's, it doesn't stop them from looking much better now. Regardless of the overall quality of Syracuse's main warships, the Caracciolo-class battleships are definitely excellent examples of this era. After the war, the Colombian Navy returned the Caracciolo-class battleship to Syracuse after leasing it. Syracuse then completed the interior furnishings of the battleship, and the Syracuse negotiation team comfortably set off on this luxurious battleship, which resembled a cruise ship.

At this time, with news that other participating countries had sent their main naval vessels, the Tang Dynasty also faced a problem that was neither too big nor too small—

Should we, like other countries, send out our best capital ships?

Chapter 288 A Different Kind of Demonstration

“I disagree with sending Longyuan. These Longyuan can be said to be our national treasures. I am not at ease sending them to the port of Colombia.”

After the war, Yang Yuchen was promoted to marshal and retired to the second line, waiting to go home and retire.

Normally, the admiral no longer interferes in many specific matters within the navy, but when the navy is currently discussing whether to send Long Yuan to Honolulu to attend the naval arms control conference, he expressed strong opposition.

“I don’t trust those Colombians! I’ve seen what they’ve done all these years. When they tried to take Cuba from the Kingdom of Iberia, their second-class battleship, the Maine, just happened to explode.”

Then, just as they were about to annex the Kingdom of Hawaii, the local Hawaiians shot and killed the Colombian envoy in Hawaii. So they took the opportunity to overthrow the rule of the Kingdom of Hawaii and annex the area to Colombia.

Then, in the recently concluded great battle, less than 10 minutes passed between the Colombians declaring war on us and their warships opening fire on us at the front lines!

Colombia is a country where internal nationalism has flourished for over 30 years, and where external rhetoric has been distorted and misrepresented. If our most powerful battleships were to suffer serious damage from an attack by certain extremist groups within Colombia at Pearl Harbor, it would not only fail to demonstrate our national power but would also substantially undermine our national defense capabilities!

Marshal Yang Yuchen, a veteran who joined the navy in the latter half of the last century and regarded the Colombian navy as his primary hypothetical enemy for most of the time, genuinely lacked trust in Colombia's national credibility. Therefore, when mentioning his distrust of Colombians, the old general's arguments and points were quite solid.

Marshal Yang Yuchen's account of these events is not a conspiracy theory. Although no country in the world currently has any clear evidence to prove it, the timing and sequence of these events are too coincidental.

The most famous incident was the loss of the USS Maine, a warship that was not small in tonnage but had very poor combat capabilities. At that time, the main force of the Colombian Navy consisted of three Indiana-class pre-dreadnoughts, one Iowa-class battleship, and two first-class armored cruisers. In addition to these ships, the Colombian Navy had two other ships that could be considered capital ships: the USS Texas and the USS Maine.

Both of these are relatively early warships. The USS Texas can be considered a product of the late ironclad era, while the USS Maine is a hybrid of the two, resulting from the Colombian Navy's indecisiveness in deciding whether it needed an armored cruiser or a battleship.

The ship's greatest value lies in the fact that it exploded in a Cuban port at the most opportune moment.

From then on, any country with a dispute with Colombia would worry about any Colombian ship docked in its port.

Everyone has sharp eyes.

Yang Yuchen's words successfully convinced most people. For the Tang Dynasty at present, Longyuan was irreplaceable in terms of both actual national defense value and psychological value to the people. If such a ship were to be ambushed, the Tang Dynasty would suffer a double loss.

If the Longyuan is not deployed, the next class of battleship to be sent should be the Dingyuan. Although the Dingyuan is far inferior to the Longyuan, considering that the new generation of ships equipped with 16-inch guns in the Colombian Navy are not yet completed, sending the Dingyuan does not seem beneath them. Apart from the admirals and battlecruisers of the Victorian Empire, no other ship can be said to be superior to the Dingyuan.

Of course, some people also said that although Longyuan is very important, Dingyuan is equally important. After all, the Tang Dynasty only has four Dingyuan ships. If any of these four ships were to be lost, wouldn't that be a big blow to the navy?

We decided to travel by civilian vessel to distinguish ourselves from other countries and show the world that we are a force for peace, coming with the sincere intention of promoting world peace...

However, this suggestion was almost immediately rejected by the Crown Prince present.

"This naval arms control conference is essentially a meeting for the world's major naval powers to divide up global maritime rights. The word 'peace' cannot move any of the participating countries. For those Westerners who are used to being robbers and plunderers, you have to show them your big stick before they will sit down and talk to you properly."

In another world, Li Che benefited from the ease of acquiring knowledge, which made it very convenient for him to understand the characteristics of many countries and ethnic groups from several dimensions. To put it bluntly, greetings between countries are just like greetings between people—it's all about tailoring your approach to the individual.

It's like dealing with a colony. If talking to them nicely doesn't work, don't try to move them. Just slap them twice, it'll do the trick.

Similarly, if you're facing a nation of robbers, you have to talk to them using the law of the jungle. You have to show them your fists and muscles so they'll sit down and talk to you properly.

“Our participants also have to travel there on a main warship, but I think if we just want to show our military might, if we just want to give the enemy a warning, we should show the strength of our navy instead of sending our most powerful warship.”

"foundation?"

“I heard that the battlecruiser Jingyuan has painted silhouettes of all the battles they’ve won since the start of the war on their funnels,” Li Che said slowly. “The Jingyuan played a part in the battle that wiped out the Colombian Navy’s fast fleet. I’m really looking forward to seeing the amazing expressions on the Colombian Navy’s faces when they see the Jingyuan.”

Upon hearing this, everyone's faces revealed meaningful smiles. What does it mean to kill someone by destroying their spirit? This is what it means to kill someone by destroying their spirit. The Jingyuan can be considered the naval capital ship with the greatest achievements in the entire World War. During the Battle of Sulu, it had two confirmed independent achievements in sinking Colombian battlecruisers, as well as a joint achievement in assisting in sinking the last armored cruiser. In one naval battle, it took down enemy main warships with more than twice its own tonnage, in addition to the heads of a light cruiser and two destroyers.

In the ensuing naval battles, although the Jingyuan did not achieve any further independent sinking of its main battleship, it still achieved two assisting victories. In the attack on the Colombian naval escort fleet, it accumulated a total of double-digit cruiser kills, sinking and capturing more than 60 merchant ships in multiple operations.

The crew of the Jingyuan painted silhouettes of these battle results on the smokestack of this battlecruiser. Although such a battlecruiser is no longer considered top-tier in terms of performance, it can certainly outperform any warship of the Allied Powers in terms of battle results.

In particular, this battlecruiser had just displayed its might in the waters off Edo Bay, almost overpowering two battlecruisers of the Japanese Navy right in front of many foreign ships. Its arrogant demeanor, even in front of the Colombian Navy's fleet stationed in Japan, had made the front pages of newspapers in many countries recently, making it a truly "top-tier" warship.

After the Jingyuan was confirmed to undertake this mission, the list of key members of the Tang Dynasty delegation to the Honolulu Naval Treaty Conference was also officially finalized. The head of the delegation was Minister of the Navy Sa Dingming, and in addition to the head, two deputy heads were appointed: the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial and the Crown Prince Li Che.

People from the Tokugawa Shogunate of Yingzhou will also accompany the battlecruiser Jingyuan to Honolulu. Because of the previous war of words between the Victorian Empire and Colombia, the current state of the navies of Yingzhou and Bharat has been brought to the forefront. Therefore, the naval negotiations in Honolulu will inevitably involve the dispute over the "legitimacy" of Yingzhou.

Therefore, the participating teams not only included officers and soldiers who had participated in front-line combat missions, carried shells and shoveled coal on warships, and were carefully selected to look like Lu Bu, but also a group of non-military scholars from top domestic and international universities specializing in international studies and law.

After all, just thinking about such a scene makes one want to rub their hands together in anticipation. Whether it's a battle of wits or a fight, Honolulu is clearly a blue ocean of competition.

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Before officially setting off, Li Che, at his father's behest, met once again with the two representatives from the Ursus Federation who had experienced numerous twists and turns on this journey, especially Ivanovich, who had almost lost his life. Although outsiders might think that this guy's luck was incredibly bad, in Li Che's opinion, if this guy hadn't happened to be visiting the Tang Dynasty and receiving the best medical treatment there, he would probably be meeting the founder of the Ursus New School by now.

After explaining his purpose and stating that he was going to Honolulu to attend a naval arms control conference, Li Che could clearly see the undisguised dejection on Alexander's face.

After all, while the world's major powers are all getting involved in naval arms control treaties, the Ursus Federation, which inherited the Ursus Empire's navy, seems to have been forgotten on the international stage.

"If we look at it from another angle, at least your country's future naval development will not be bound by any treaties."

Li Che's words were insincere, which brought a wry smile to the faces of Alexander and Ivanovic on the other side.

Unrestricted?

Why are they unrestricted?

The reason for this is certainly not because the navies of various countries are kind-hearted.

Although the Ursus Empire Navy has a long history and once developed into the world's third largest navy after the Victorian and Gallic navies, even at its peak, it was often not highly regarded by the Ming Dynasty Royal Navy and the Syracuse Navy, which were ranked behind it at the time.

One reason for this is that the Ursus Navy's geographical environment is extremely harsh. Having the world's third-largest total tonnage is of no use because the fleets in different sea areas are isolated from each other and cannot support each other. While other countries' navies can form a united fist, the Ursus Navy can only fight with its fingers.

Besides its geographical disadvantages, the Ursus Navy has been lagging behind in naval technology development since the end of the last century. It can be said that although the pre-dreadnought era was the most prosperous period in the history of the Ursus Navy, it was also the time when the Ursus Navy gradually fell behind other countries in terms of technology.

Before the Dreadnought era, the Ursus Navy had to purchase advanced warships from the French and Colombian navies as models for imitation and to introduce some subsystems. After the Dreadnought era, the Ursus Navy had to import a series of technologies from abroad, from the fire control console of the warship to large-caliber naval guns and turret ball bearings.

A navy developed in this way will naturally be exposed in its true form under the current blockade and sanctions against the Ursus Federation. Which of the major naval powers participating in the treaty has any reason to worry about a country that cannot even build 12-inch or larger naval guns, cannot produce ball bearings for large turrets, and cannot provide advanced fire control consoles or high-pressure boiler systems, and is now open to building warships?

In this day and age, is the Ursus Federation still going to build Ganguts?

"You two should also understand that during this naval treaty conference, all countries will certainly impose a series of strict restrictions on the construction of large capital ships, the export of large surface vessels, and related technologies. Your country previously requested the technology and finished products of 330mm naval guns from us, but we are afraid we will be unable to deliver them to your country..."

Li Che deliberately slowed down his speech here, and as he watched the subtle changes in the expressions on the faces of the two Ursus people in front of him, he curled his lips into a smile: "Because our country is willing to provide certain technical assistance to your country to help you build 16-inch class large-caliber naval guns."

After Li Che said those words, Ivanovich was able to maintain basic composure, but General Alexander's hand holding the teacup had already begun to tremble.

"Your Highness, while I appreciate your country's sincerity in offering us this advanced weaponry technology, I must point out that our current machining capabilities... will likely not allow us to independently produce 16-inch naval guns for quite some time to come. Our naval arsenals..."

“Mr. Ivanovich, Bharat, a country that has never had a navy before, now has a powerful fleet consisting of four capital ships overnight. The small island nation of Yingzhou also has a fleet that surpasses the three strongest navies in South America. I am still very optimistic about the future of the Ursus Federation.”