Seven Seas Beacon Fire

“Next time something like this happens, Dad, you don’t need to come to me in person, especially since you haven’t fully recovered yet.”

After a long talk between father and son, Li Che personally added another pot of hot water to his father's teapot and criticized Li Renchi for not taking his health seriously, with a slightly reproachful tone.

"I just stopped by here to rest after dinner and sit for a while. You little brat, are you trying to teach me how to do things?"

Lee In-chi clearly didn't want to talk about his health issues, so he smoothly shifted the topic from climbing the world's highest peak to seemingly ordinary family matters, using the traditional skill of the older generation.

“Princess Yongning is a very good girl. You should hurry up and have a child with Princess Yongning as soon as possible. Before that, you must not get pregnant by the Tokugawa family first, understand? Focus your energy on what matters.”

Li Che understood his father's meaning, and it was clear that his father and he had the same idea. Although his father had only married his mother, neither his grandfather nor his father had any intention of making him a monogamous man.

However, Li Che still wanted to pull his father aside and ask him, "When you say to focus your energy where it's needed, is that how I should understand it... or how should I understand it?"

"Father, don't worry about this. Yunyun and I have a very good relationship. Our marriage is definitely not a simple political alliance. She has a very special place in my heart. She is like my... I mean, like my Guanyin maid."

Damn, I almost blurted out that nonsense like "she's the woman who could be my mother." Let's leave such futuristic lines to the artists of this world in the future. Luckily, I was quick-witted enough to steer the conversation back on track.

To be honest, Yunyun is good in every way, but she is still quite far from being a mature woman with alluring charm like Wu Zetian or Kaffa.

“I know you and she have a good relationship; I can tell from the hickey on your neck. Next time you have something on your neck, don’t just unbutton your top button.” Li Renchi sighed helplessly. Only then did Li Che belatedly realize that the hickey on his neck had been exposed, so he quickly buttoned his top button back up. “Actually, Yunyun and I are still very young. You two don’t need to be in such a hurry to have grandchildren, do you?”

Li Renchi snorted: "Why do you think I'm reminding you? Don't be smug, I have some good news to tell you first."

"Judging from your expression, I think it might not be good news, right?"

“Anyway, it’s definitely not bad news for you.” Li Renchi said, “I don’t know if it’s because the Silla royal family and the Ryukyu royal family noticed that the Tokugawa Shogunate sent Akiko to your side, but it seems that the two families are also preparing to send a princess to you. There are rumors that the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty likes princesses.”

"Shouldn't the Embroidered Uniform Guard do something about this? This is pure fabrication and slander!" Li Che cried out in protest. He felt from the bottom of his heart that he was playing a real-life version of Hearts of Iron when he came to this world, or at the very least, playing Nagumo Simulator, right?

Now, it seems like I came to this world to play Princess Connect! Re:Dive? Or should it be called Princess Collection? Princess Girl R?

"Dad, I'm not some kind of stud. Just because you send me a girl doesn't mean I have to do anything with her... How about sending one to Second Uncle? He's only had daughters so far. Maybe he'll have a son after taking a concubine?"

"You're so glib." Li Renchi shook his head. "Things are different now than before. These kinds of things depend on your wishes, young people. I'm just letting you know in advance."

"I suddenly remembered that the Navy seems to be planning to go to Obo to inspect the local iron mines specifically for supplying the Navy with armor steel and shell steel. Hmm, what bad luck, Dad. I'm going to Inner Mongolia again, so I probably won't be able to see those two princesses." Li Che decided to make a hasty retreat. He didn't want to provoke the other princesses, lest Yunyun find out and throw a tantrum.

So when Li Che remembered that the navy had such a task recently, he felt that he should step forward without hesitation—he should first hide from these small countries that were trying so hard to send him princesses. Rather than facing the Shura field of the harem, Li Che would rather go to the mining area to count stones.

I can't expect to run off to Inner Mongolia and have a princess delivered to my side, can I? Even if she's a princess from a small country, she's not some cabbage growing by the roadside, is she?

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P.S.: Some people have said that the updates these past two days have been forced to make the protagonist seem less intelligent, since he seems to be a modern-day international student, so he can just apply the experiences from another world to solve any problem he encounters.

Look my eyes!

Then let me ask you!

Which country's experience is considered correct?

UASF? The US Air Force back then drove the Navy to the point of having a rebellion, with inter-service fighting and chaos. If it weren't for the Korean War, the US Navy's supercarriers would have been sunk on the shipyard by the Air Force.

Learn from the Maoist Air Force? Then should I also establish a National Defense Air Force? Would the Maoist Air Force be without controversy? Once the Maoist Air Force is popularized, there will be many more who can be popularized. The Russians have a long history of using administrative means to physically eliminate opponents with opposing views.

The way this is described in the book is already very subtle and euphemistic.

In my view, no country has a perfect solution in the development of its air force. It is normal for the main players to have their own struggles, especially at this stage. Technically speaking, we can't even develop large aircraft that can support a strategic air force. At this point in time, even if you can come up with a relatively reasonable system, how do you prove to others that you are right?

Chapter 328 Rare Earth Steel (1)

"You're really going to Obo?" Zhu Miaoyun asked, straightening Li Che's collar. "Just because of those two princesses?"

At this point, Zhu Miaoyun stomped her foot in annoyance: "What's going on between you and those guys? One after another, they rushed up to escort the princess. Even when the Ming Dynasty was still in power, they weren't this enthusiastic. Don't these guys have any other ideas besides escorting the princess?"

After saying that, Zhu Miaoyun seemed to only then remember that there was Tokugawa Akiko standing there obediently, holding Li Che's military uniform jacket: "Akiko, I wasn't talking about you, don't overthink it."

Holding the clothes, Akiko lowered her head even further. Whether it was a casual remark from the Crown Prince's wife or an attempt to subtly reprimand her, it didn't matter. Akiko Tokugawa was very clear about her position. After spending some time together, Akiko could see one thing: the Crown Prince and the Crown Prince's wife were definitely not in love at first sight as the outside world claimed.

These two must have known each other for a long time; the kind of familiar, long-married-couple feeling is something that can't be faked in daily life. Therefore, Tokugawa Akiko clearly understood that any attempt to engage in palace intrigue and power struggles with the Crown Prince's wife while trying to win his favor was probably no less daunting than competing for the Emperor Hongwu's favor with Empress Ma, or even vying for the Emperor Taizong's favor with Empress Zhangsun.

Akiko Tokugawa had many ideas, but she didn't really have much ambition.

"The situation was different in the past. The Ming Dynasty lasted for 550 years. When Emperor Hongwu established his capital in Yingtian, named the country Ming, and adopted the reign title Hongwu, the regimes of the surrounding countries had not yet been established. Over the years, the tributary relationship between the Ming Dynasty and the surrounding countries has developed naturally... Can you please stop watching Mingzi?"

"Is the relationship between the Ming Dynasty and Yingzhou a natural progression?" Zhu Miaoyun spread her hands, somewhat bluntly uttering a topic that made Li Che and Tokugawa Akiko a little embarrassed, since there had indeed been some unpleasantness between the Ming Dynasty and Japan in the past.

"The relationship between the Ming Dynasty and the Tokugawa Shogunate was indeed a natural progression, with friendly relations throughout the ages." Tokugawa Akiko quickly added from the side, "Well, what does the stupid thing that idiot Toyoki Hideyoshi did have to do with our Tokugawa Shogunate?"

"In short, now that Grandpa has established the new Tang Dynasty, it's like the head office of a company has changed its chairman. Don't you think the lower-level leaders of the branch offices should try to rebuild their relationship with the new chairman?"

"So they sent the princess?"

“Your Highness…” Tokugawa Akiko curtsied to Zhu Miaoyun: “For many of the surrounding small countries, what else can they send besides a princess? If our countries had something that we alone possessed but China does not, then I think these surrounding small countries probably wouldn’t have existed to this day.”

"what?"

Li Che gently stroked Zhu Miaoyun's nose, then leaned down and whispered in her ear, "You've only heard that places with oil will breed 'mold,' but have you ever heard that places with mines will also grow Ming army?"

Zhu Miaoyun: ? ? ? ?

“That’s not how our history books teach it…”

"Of course, after all, history books usually only focus on things that are grudges." Li Che laughed. "The iron mine of Baiyun (changed to this for harmony) Obo has special significance for the navy. I'll take this opportunity to hide away a bit. Didn't you say a while ago that you were writing something and would show it to me later? Before, when I wanted to see it, you wouldn't let me, saying it wasn't finished. Now that I'm back, you should be able to show it to me, right?"

Zhu Miaoyun snorted: "If you want iron ore, just go to the University of Macau..."

As soon as she spoke, Zhu Miaoyun suddenly realized that Tokugawa Akiko was also there. She had probably spent a lot of time with Tokugawa Akiko recently, and Zhu Miaoyun's guard had lowered in front of this Japanese girl. She realized something was wrong after saying half of her sentence, so she swallowed the rest of her sentence.

The abrupt interruption of Zhu Miaoyun's words made Tokugawa Akiko even more suspicious. In fact, this had happened before. When Li Che and Zhu Miaoyun were discussing something, if she came to pour tea, they would interrupt their conversation and resume it after she had moved away.

This is precisely what made Akiko Tokugawa very certain that the two had known each other for much longer than the outside world claimed.

Zhu Miaoyun was somewhat nervous when she realized she had said the wrong thing. Although Tokugawa Akiko could now be considered one of her own, it was clear that Tokugawa Akiko would never allow her to access the core secrets between the two of them.

In this day and age, Australia's iron ore has not yet been discovered in large quantities, and jokes like "taking finished iron ore products from Australia back to visit relatives" have not yet been developed.

Iron ore deposits in Australia weren't discovered until the 50s. At that time, Mr. Hancock, while piloting his private plane, accidentally discovered a rich iron ore deposit over Hamersley in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. During one flight, he encountered dense clouds and was forced to fly into a canyon. In the pouring rain, he noticed a distinctive red hue on the canyon walls and realized it was iron ore.

Since then, Australia has become the world's most important iron ore producer, but now the world is unaware that Australia has so much iron ore.

Although Li Che and Zhu Miaoyun both knew that Australia was practically a country that relied heavily on iron ore, it was impossible for Australia to engage in free trade with the Tang Dynasty at that time. If news of Australia having iron ore were to spread, it would be tantamount to aiding the enemy.

"The small iron ore mine that the exploration team mentioned last time discovered in Australia is simply not worth developing." Li Che chuckled, glossing over the topic. He couldn't be sure if Tokugawa Akiko would be fooled by his additional statement, but he was certain that even if Tokugawa Akiko guessed something, this Japanese girl wouldn't easily reveal it to outsiders, given her intelligence.

"Okay, it's nothing serious, wait for me to come back."

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As Li Che boarded the train bound for Baiyun Obo, he looked at the ever-changing scenery outside the window and couldn't help but think of Australia again. Before he traveled from another world, Li Che had seen many jokes about conquering Australia on the internet.

It's no wonder people are envious of Australia. Even though Australia's ore is located far overseas, transporting ore from Australia to the steel mill in Tangshan is cheaper than transporting ore from domestic mines to Tangshan, once the ports and related facilities are built in Australia. The advantage of sea freight lies in transporting these things.

However, for the current Tang Dynasty navy, the iron ore of Baiyun Obo is irreplaceable. As for why it is irreplaceable, this has to do with the new armor-piercing shells developed by the navy during the war.

During this world war experienced by various countries, the protection and firepower of naval capital ships have been improved explosively. The progress in the design of warship protection and the advancements in firepower are enormous compared to the beginning of the war.

In the early stages of the war, the Royal Victoria Navy's armor-piercing shells were so poorly designed that some exploded prematurely. Even the 13.5-inch guns couldn't penetrate the 150mm armor of the Leitanian Navy in actual combat. Although this was only a partial example, even on average, in the early stages of the war, the Royal Victoria Navy's 13.5-inch guns struggled to gain a firepower advantage over the smaller caliber 305mm guns of the Leitanian Empire.

However, by the later stages of the war, the armor-piercing projectiles equipped by the Royal Victoria Navy had reached the world's top tier. Although other countries had limited knowledge of the performance of the Royal Victoria Navy's new armor-piercing projectiles due to the Royal Victoria Navy's lack of large-scale combat records in the later stages of the war, Li Che knew the power of the Greenboys that the Royal Victoria Navy was currently in its hands.

With ideal angles of incidence and excellent quality control, these shells were able to penetrate the 350mm frontal turrets of the Bavarian-class battleships at a range of 15,000 yards, which was almost unimaginable in the early stages of the war.

This improvement in power mainly stems from two aspects. One aspect is the improvement in the structure and design of the armor-piercing projectile. For example, the Greenboy projectile actually replaced the hardened cap and added a wind cap to the outside of the cap to reduce wind resistance. At the same time, it used a more reliable stealth and less sensitive explosive charge.

On the other hand, there are advancements in industrial processing capabilities and materials. However, compared to the former, the effects of the latter often involve many mystical factors.

This is particularly evident in the new armor-piercing shells of the Tang Dynasty Navy. Towards the end of the war, a small number of these new armor-piercing shells were deployed by the Tang Dynasty Royal Navy. The improvement ideas were very similar to those of the Greenboy shell. The differences between the two were probably in the shape of the hardened cap and the way it was connected to the single shell, as well as the difference in the fuses of the two navies' shells.

Based on the test results of this new armor-piercing projectile that Li Che saw at the firing range, it can be seen that under an ideal angle of incidence—for example, a vertical angle of incidence of 90 degrees—the armor penetration depth tested, considering the difference in caliber, is actually slightly inferior to the green shells used by the Royal Navy. However, it can still be considered a fairly good armor-piercing projectile for this era.

However, the problem lies in the testing phase after increasing the angle of incidence. According to Li Che's conversation with a lovely senior named Xue Luo in a QQ group in another world, he learned that in his current era, the armor-piercing performance of most shells deteriorates sharply when the angle of incidence exceeds 20 degrees, and the armor-piercing depth drops even further when the angle of incidence exceeds 30 degrees.

This involves many factors, including the shape of the cap, the strength of the connection with the projectile, and the structural strength of the projectile itself.

Generally speaking, artillery shells in this world are like this. After all, current technology has only reached this level, especially the structural strength of the projectile. Even if you point out the problem, with the current level of metallurgy, finding the ideal alloy steel formula is extremely difficult.

However, during the fourth batch of shell tests, the testers suddenly discovered that the shells were behaving very strangely. These shells were able to maintain a better penetration curve than the previous batches of shells even at an angle of incidence of more than 20 degrees. Even when the angle of incidence was increased to 30 degrees, these shells still had a considerable probability of not easily breaking apart.

This situation is similar to how Red Bull, which had been struggling with speed in the F1 paddock during the second and fifth seasons of this year, suddenly displayed a speed that surpassed McLaren.

This batch of impressive shells naturally attracted the navy's attention. It's impossible for a batch of shells of the same design to suddenly exhibit significantly superior performance to the previous ones without any reason. After all, this is a world that values ​​material things, and there is no such thing as magical enchantment.

Having determined that the structure of the shells was basically the same as that of the second and third batches without any modifications, the Ordnance Bureau staff immediately began to investigate from other aspects why this batch of shells had such amazing performance.

After a detailed comparison, the Ordnance Bureau staff found that if there was any difference between the fourth batch of shells and the first three batches, it was probably that the steel supplier had been changed.

At first, they thought the supplier had adopted some new steelmaking technology, and the Navy was overjoyed. They originally thought that this industrial investigation had uncovered a "top secret method" from the private sector. However, after investigating the steel plant, they found that their steel production process was no different from that of other manufacturers.

What's even more strange is that, using the same steel supplied by their factory, the performance of the fifth batch of shells declined again, and the magic of the fourth batch of shells seemed to have disappeared in subsequent production.

When the situation developed to this point, many people in the navy genuinely believed that the fourth batch of shells might have been enchanted, and this view was actually shared by many high-ranking officials.

There's nothing we can do, our navy is just that superstitious.jpg

Fortunately, when Li Che flipped through the document, he took a closer look and noticed the last name listed in the appendix about the steel mill's iron ore supply locations—Baiyun Ebo.

In this day and age, this place is just an inconspicuous ordinary iron ore deposit, but in Zhu Miaoyun's original world, Li Che knew very well that a resource that could influence the entire world was buried beneath this name.

This place contains 41% of the world's proven rare earth reserves at the time.

Chapter 329 Rare Earth Steel (2)

"Your Highness, we'll be there soon."

Among the entourage accompanying Li Che to Baiyun Obo were not only officials from the mining department, officials from the ordnance bureau, and staff from the Tangshan Steel Plant, but also officers from the front-line naval fleet.

After all, in a way, the navy can be considered the client.

Li Che nodded to the accompanying officer, who was under 30 years old and named Wenren Mu. Unlike Xu Yueming, a "low-achieving student of the Naval Academy," this man was a typical high-achieving student. To put it simply...

He ranked first in hammock number among all graduates of the 97th class of Ningbo Naval Academy.

This achievement is already astonishing just from the literal meaning of the words. After all, Ningbo Naval Academy is one of the two oldest naval academies in the East. The students who can get into it are basically those who have fought their way through a highly competitive field. Their overall quality is generally very high, and at least they would definitely not be able to get an excellent score in mathematics.

If that were all, then he would simply be an exceptionally outstanding military academy graduate. However, Wenren Mu not only excelled at the military academy, but he was also born into a good family. Back in the Ming Dynasty, the Wenren family was somewhat like the Hude family in the Victorian Empire, a relatively famous naval family in the East. Wenren Mu's father was a retired naval admiral.

As for your question about why we don't seem to see any Wenren family generals in previous world wars, the reason is actually quite simple. At the beginning of the war, Wenren Mu's father did not anticipate that the Colombian navy would launch an attack, so he was held accountable and dismissed by Emperor Yongning after the war started.

Wenren Mu's other uncle, who served as a rear admiral, fought under General Deng's command in the Battle of the Java Sea and died a heroic death along with the explosion of the battlecruiser Zhiyuan.

Yeah, that's very Hood-like.

In short, this naval veteran can be considered a rising star among the new generation of young naval officers. However, compared to Xu Yueming and others, Wenren Mu can be considered a "traditional officer" through and through. Yes, this guy is a big ship and big gun advocate, which is why he was not recruited into Li Che's Zangpo Society at the beginning.

However, now, the influence of Zangpo Society in the navy is gradually expanding. The Wen family can naturally see what this small group led by the Crown Prince means, so they try to use their connections to get their children into Zangpo Society. After all, who doesn't want their children to become the future emperor's loyal minister?

Looking out the train window, Li Che saw that the vast grasslands that had previously stretched along the railway on the Mongolian Plateau had disappeared, replaced by mines under development.

"This is the first time I've ever taken such a long train ride. The Navy's top brass is so keen on the new armor-piercing projectiles. Don't you think they're being a little too hasty?"

Li Che stretched his chest and muscles a bit. Although there were comfortable sofas and even beds for resting in the special train carriages, the comfort of riding a train in this era was hard to compare with the high-speed rail in another world.

Although Li Che had actually set out with the intention of avoiding trouble, the navy did indeed attach extraordinary importance to the iron ore produced in Baiyun Obo, and this was not an exaggeration on Li Che's part.

Wenren Mu was clearly not very comfortable discussing the naval high command behind their backs. Although many of those high-ranking officials were his uncles and elders, Li Che was only discussing them casually because they were the Crown Prince. Wenren Mu was well aware of his own limitations. Moreover, his own stance on this matter was the same as that of the naval high command: "I think the Navy Ministry's concerns are understandable. We really need to find practical ways to maximize the firepower of our battleships."

Li Che raised an eyebrow upon hearing this: "Is it really that urgent? The Longyuan-class battleship is currently the battleship with the largest caliber guns in the world?"

"However, our firepower is indeed relatively weak compared to the Colombian Navy's South Dakota-class battleships and the future Royal Victoria Navy's new battleships."

"You think our firepower is at a disadvantage?"

"Yes, it is clear that the firepower density of the Longyuan is inferior to that of the South Dakota-class battleships, and the power of its naval guns is even more inferior to that of the Royal Navy's future next-generation battleships. It is also not superior in terms of firepower density."

Although Wenren Mu was instructed by his family elders to get as close as possible to the Crown Prince and cultivate a good relationship, the earnestness in their words made him wish he were a daughter. However, after spending some time in actual contact with the Crown Prince, Wenren Mu realized that the Crown Prince was not a person who liked to flatter. On the contrary, the Crown Prince valued your actual ability more.

Therefore, Wenren Mu would not usually try to cater to or conform to Li Che's views, let alone have an opportunity like this where he can speak freely.

Wenren Mu's viewpoint also reflects the concerns of many in the navy. Although the Longyuan-class battleships caught the last train in the final stage of the World War, they did indeed demonstrate their dominant strength, like a prehistoric titan, even making enemy battleships hesitant to engage them head-on.

However, the Longyuan is, after all, the world's first super battleship to appear—the term "super battleship" has now become a synonym for the largest, newest, and most powerful capital ships in the hands of the top three powers.

If we compare the super battleships held by various countries, the future next-generation battleships of the Royal Navy of Victoria are naturally the least numerous. Due to the existence of the Admiral-class battlecruisers, the Royal Navy of Victoria has the fewest super battleships. Only two ships had their keels laid before the treaty was signed, and construction was temporarily halted after the keels were laid. This shows that the design of the warships had not even been frozen.

These two battleships, expected to enter service in the late 21st century, will undoubtedly be the latest to enter service and the most advanced and powerful in terms of performance among all super battleships of various countries. No country would doubt this, after all, the Royal Navy of Victoria secured the opportunity to equip these two ships with 18-inch naval guns!

It can be said that once these two battleships enter service, they will immediately occupy the throne of the world's strongest battleships. Due to the treaty period, the Royal Navy of Victoria will only build these two ships for a considerable period of time, so the construction costs of these two ships will not be subject to the strict restrictions that were imposed on previous warships of the Royal Navy of Victoria.

Li Che could see this from the Nelson-class battleships in another world. How much did John Bull spare for two Nelson-class battleships? Because many things cannot be directly reflected in the price due to exchange rates or various other reasons, here's just one point: John Bull used a lot of armor steel as structural steel for the Nelson.

Compared to the Victorian Empire's future battleships, which have yet to be seen, the threat posed by the Colombian Navy is more realistic. You could say that the Lexington-class battlecruiser's design is somewhat "too extreme," but you can't deny that in certain extreme situations, this battlecruiser will perform at its best.

Compared to the extreme Lexington-class, the South Dakota-class battleships, while slightly inferior in gun caliber, are unparalleled in firepower density. The Colombian Navy is quite satisfied with the performance of the South Dakota-class battleships. They believe that, considering the advantage in firepower density, this ship will not be much worse than the Royal Victoria Navy's super battleship, which may be equipped with nine 18-inch guns.