Seven Seas Beacon Fire

He looks ordinary, but according to what Li Che knows, his family is actually quite well-off. In fact, his family almost had the chance to become rich overnight.

"I heard your family runs a dye shop," Li Che said, looking at the unassuming middle-aged man before him. "Thirty years ago, it seems your dye shop also caught fire and exploded. Fortunately, no one was injured, and you discovered that one of your yellow dyes had the potential to be used as a powerful explosive..."

Li Che looked at the relevant information he had compiled in disbelief. He couldn't believe that the Liu family had such a past. The yellow dye recorded in the archives must be kuwei acid. The first batch of ammunition equipped with high explosives that the Navy tested at the end of the last century was actually obtained from their dye shop.

This makes sense, though. TNP has long been considered a safe dye. It was first obtained by the Leitanian Johann Glauber and named Glauber salt after it. However, some documents also indicate that it was actually first prepared by the Victorian Peter Wolf in 1771.

About 28 years after this substance was invented, the Gaul Jean-Joseph Vieille discovered that picrates (i.e., trinitrophenol salts) were explosive, and that even a simple sneeze could trigger an explosion.

However, the efficiency of information transmission in the 9th century was far inferior to that of the Internet age in later generations. Werther did not intend to use it for explosives or military purposes. He simply wrote a paper, which was not particularly outstanding and was subsequently lost. As a result, TNP was still considered a relatively safe yellow dye until the end of the 9th century, except for its slight toxicity.

Faced with the Crown Prince's question, Liu Ming's expression was a mixture of apprehension and admiration; his family's story was indeed quite long.

The Liu family's dye shop was located next to the port. Since they mainly dealt in the import and export of dyes, after the explosion, the navy naturally sent people to investigate the situation and find out what caused the explosion so close to the port. They then discovered the secret contained in the yellow dye.

Logically speaking, although such an explosion occurred at the dye workshop, it should actually be considered a stroke of luck. After all, if Liu Jia could have clung to the navy's coattails and seized the opportunity to transform into an arms dealer, the navy's nationwide ammunition replacement plan, which began at the end of the 9th century, would have been enough to make the Liu family extremely wealthy.

However, there are always people in this world who are blessed with good fortune. Liu Ming's father had no intention of changing careers. After all, his family had been in the dye business for two generations and had already established their own comfort zone in business. Based on the idea that once they entered their comfort zone, they should not step out, they did not transform into the arms industry, but continued to run their own dye business.

As a result, at the turn of the 9th and 20th centuries, the Ming Dynasty encountered an economic crisis. The impact of this economic crisis was not particularly serious, but the Liu family's business plummeted from then on.

However, the Liu family seems to be blessed with good fortune. Liu Ming did not inherit the family business as his father had hoped. He studied biochemistry in college, where he followed his mentor to conduct experiments and research related to streptococci, focusing on how to effectively eliminate this bacterium.

In this early 20th century, humanity has invented and possesses some highly effective chemical drugs that can cure protozoan and spirochetal diseases, but is helpless against bacterial diseases.

His mentor and his research project made no progress for a long time. After his mentor retired, he continued to stubbornly follow his mentor's research direction to conduct experiments. Liu Ming was not a very talented researcher. In his home laboratory, he made up for his lack of talent with hard work and conducted experiments in a way that was almost like exhausting all his resources.

Seeing his son's long-term "neglect of his duties" and extravagant spending, Liu Ming's father hoped that his son could give up his fantasies as soon as possible and come back to manage the family's increasingly unsuccessful business. So, his father wanted to sabotage his research. One day, his father secretly replaced one of his reagents with a bottle of red dye.

When Liu Ming discovered that his story had been replaced, he was initially very angry. However, just as he was about to have a heated argument with his father, he noticed that the streptococcus in the mice that had been injected with the red dye had been eliminated—although it had dyed the mice's skin red, there was no doubt that the substance was effective.

Although preliminary studies have shown that a certain substance in the dye can effectively kill streptococci, there are probably very few people in the world who would want to turn themselves into a red-skinned person just to treat a disease. Fortunately, further research has revealed that the drug extracted from the dye can be broken down into two parts, and luckily the active part—sulfonamide—is colorless.

At this point, Liu Ming finally discovered the most effective antibacterial drug of this era. Li Che was overjoyed to learn that someone in China had discovered sulfonamides earlier than in another world.

Before the discovery of penicillin, sulfonamides were the best antibacterial drugs. Sulfonamides work by blocking bacteria from multiplying rather than killing them directly, providing the first drugs to treat diseases such as pneumonia and puerperal fever.

That's right, sulfonamides cannot be directly used as a cure for the current flu virus. However, based on the studies of the cases we have obtained so far, the most serious complication caused by this flu is not the flu itself, but the bacterial infections of varying degrees that accompany the lung suppuration.

In other words, this thing does not cure the root cause, but it is so effective at treating the symptoms that more patients can survive until their immune system can overwhelm the virus again, which is something that no other drug could have imagined before.

"Your Highness, I have just applied for a patent for this drug, but I haven't yet developed a highly efficient industrial production process. I, Liu, am well aware of the principle that everyone has a responsibility for the rise and fall of the nation, so I have come to present Your Highness with the laboratory preparation process for sulfonamides that I have compiled."

After Liu Ming said those two sentences, Li Che looked at him with even more respect. This kind of tactic of retreating to advance was really not something that someone who looked so honest on the surface could say.

This is a smart man. He knows what this thing means for the country right now. Even without considering the epidemic that is gradually spreading in Borneo, there are already many diseases on the front lines of war, and the demand for this kind of medicine will only increase.

As a completely new drug, how much effort, manpower, material resources, and financial resources would be required from laboratory preparation to full-scale industrial production? Liu Ming knew that this was definitely not something his family's small dye shop could support in a short period of time.

Relying entirely on their own capabilities, it would likely take them several years to complete all of this, and clearly, given the current situation, the country simply cannot wait that long.

And in a wartime state, do you expect the state apparatus to follow your patent laws? Do you need me to explain how the four characters for "wartime state" are written? Not to mention how those big pharmaceutical companies will view themselves as a disruptor. I guess those big pharmaceutical companies would be happy to use their connections to completely crush them in the cradle.

Rather than losing face later, it's better to take the initiative. With the current reputation of the dynasty and the Li Jin Prince's Mansion, if you take the initiative to seek cooperation with the court, how could you not reap the benefits in the future?

Back then, his father missed the opportunity to become a top-tier arms supplier for the Ming Dynasty's Royal Navy, so now he shouldn't miss the opportunity to become the number one pharmaceutical company in the Tang Dynasty.

"I plan to establish a state-owned pharmaceutical factory. You can use your patent as an investment. At the same time, we will also hire you as the chief researcher of this state-owned pharmaceutical factory. As for the specific details, someone will come to discuss them with you later. In short, your medicine is very important right now, and the imperial court will definitely not treat you unfairly. However, we need this to be mass-produced as soon as possible."

Looking at Liu Ming, whose body was trembling slightly with excitement after hearing his words, Li Che now truly felt that he had become a powerful figure who could easily decide the rise and fall of an individual or even a family.

Although he had been a descendant of the Prince of Li Jin's family since childhood, perhaps because he had been "studying abroad" in another world from time to time since childhood, coupled with the family tradition of the Prince of Li Jin's family in the past, he did not have much of the self-awareness of a person in a superior position.

Now that I've truly experienced this feeling... I can only say that power is indeed an addictive thing. I've only experienced a small part of that supreme power during this period of time, and I'm already somewhat reluctant to leave.

"Doesn't it feel a little smug?"

Zhu Miaoyun's voice came from the side.

"Liu Ming has been gone for a while now, and you still have that same expression. Who are you trying to impress by sitting here like this?"

"Hehe, I'm a little excited." Li Che chuckled and rubbed his face with his hands. He turned to look at Zhu Miaoyun, who was staring at him with a mischievous expression. "You've really done me and the whole country a great favor by discovering such a talent. I really have no way to repay you. It seems I can only offer myself in gratitude."

"Who cares if you offer yourself to me or not?" A shy blush appeared on the girl's cheeks, and she stomped her foot slightly. "Are you going to say that you have a big project worth hundreds of millions to discuss with me next?"

"I never expected Your Highness to be so intelligent, even knowing this..."

"You big dummy! Don't even think about touching me until you've properly married me!" Zhu Miaoyun pointed at someone like a husky: "I'm going to be your empress. This is my investment in my future, so don't get your hopes up!"

"........."

"What's wrong? What's with that expression?" Knowing this man as she did, Zhu Miaoyun was certain that he wasn't thinking about anything shocking right now.

"It's nothing. I used to think that the arrogant hero was outdated, but now it seems that he is indeed a strong hero for several versions."

Even if you say that, I still won't cosplay Asuka.

"Can I cosplay Rin Tohsaka tonight?"

Get out of my sight!

Chapter 213 Putting the Blame on the Other Side of the Pacific (1)

On Christmas Eve 919, the news that would normally dominate the headlines in the news media seemed to be somewhat different in some newspapers.

On this day, when many federal citizens opened their subscribed newspapers, they found that the front page did not report on any Christmas celebrations prepared by any place, nor on any promotions organized by a nearby shopping mall on Christmas Day. Even the sections announcing opera or play performances scheduled for Christmas Day had disappeared.

It seemed as if the atmosphere of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day had vanished from the newspapers, replaced by a series of reports on the officers and soldiers of the Federal Expeditionary Force on the Borneo front.

These newspapers and magazines, originating from different newspapers and publishers, seemed to coincidentally focus on reporting the situation of the Union Expeditionary Force officers and soldiers on the front lines on this day. For most of the Union citizens, their understanding of the front lines was previously based mostly on official Union propaganda.

While the Federation's official propaganda wouldn't go so far as to exaggerate victories and fabricate absurd achievements like the base camp reports in another world, creating historical anecdotes such as Halsey's underwater march, the general direction of wartime propaganda would certainly involve using euphemisms to cover up the series of setbacks suffered on the front lines during this period.

This is something that anyone familiar with the propaganda style of the 21st-century beacon will find familiar. In this regard, the official propaganda of the federal government mainly emphasizes "I am telling the truth," but they will not tell the public that they are only telling part of the truth.

Therefore, although the people of the Federation knew that the situation on the front lines was not going well, most of them were unaware of just how bad it was. The families of the Federation Expeditionary Force soldiers might know more than the general public, but their voices, after initially becoming a little "sharp," were quickly silenced by the federal government's news censorship.

These sudden news reports have greatly impacted the perceptions of the general public throughout the Federation.

Weren't we winning all the time before?

Has the overall situation suddenly reached this point?

The people of the Federation during this era were actually very concerned about international affairs and national politics. As is well known, a typical characteristic of the Federation from the late 9th to the early 20th century was that while the country's strategy was constantly expanding, domestic isolationist sentiments emerged time and again. This actually represented the more prominent political attitudes of the two countries among the people of the Federation.

Some federal citizens support isolationism, while others support expanding the federal borders. Although these two views are in opposition, the fact that both political attitudes can be expressed so clearly shows that a large number of people are extremely concerned about this issue.

After all, this is like the fan wars in romance comics; only the most popular couples will have the fiercest battles. Just like the Assistant and Mayuri factions in Steins;Gate, the Kaori and Rei factions in Eva, the Luno and Lu-Zero factions in Dragon Raja (don't worry about Luno and Eri yet, wait until Eri wins the revival match), and the Empress and Queen factions in The Great Ming Dynasty (just kidding)...

In short, politically conscious federal citizens suddenly realized that something was wrong. If the federal government were a publicly traded company, what the federal government was doing was equivalent to falsifying financial statements!

Do you think you're doing right by your investors?

More importantly, the families of the expeditionary force officers and soldiers who previously learned about the situation at the front were only a small number. Now that these newspapers have published the information, the families that are now making a fuss could number in the millions.

At this moment in the White House, the top federal government officials, led by President Wilson, were not only overwhelmed with problems, but also quite exasperated.

"Who is behind these newspapers?! I had no idea that our domestic press had been infiltrated to this extent by the Tang Empire! Have the FBI investigate immediately to find out who is behind this!"

President Wilson has always been a man of good manners, but now he is truly in a bad mood because the Colombian Federation was essentially launched into a surprise attack on the news front by the enemy on Christmas Eve.

Any major power would attach great importance to its propaganda apparatus during wartime, and the Colombian Federation is no exception. The federal media has always followed the federal government's lead on major issues of right and wrong. This time, however, dozens of newspapers suddenly focused on reporting news from the front lines. This not only means that the federal press has been severely infiltrated, but also that the front-line situation, which is supposed to be kept strictly confidential, has been seriously leaked.

President Wilson is eager to question someone, but he doesn't even know who to question. First of all, how did these strictly confidential messages from the front lines get leaked?

His gaze naturally fell on the Secretary of the Navy. The Navy was the department most responsible for blocking information from the front lines and from the mainland. If information from the front lines wanted to leave, it basically had to go through the sea. Of course, some people might say that there are still radio and wired telegraphs now, so this should be the responsibility of the federal postal and telecommunications department, right?

However, throughout the Western Pacific, telegraph stations within Colombian military control are essentially controlled and monitored by the Navy. Private radio stations are naturally the responsibility of the Naval Intelligence Bureau; any newly discovered private radio station is generally equated with espionage. So, if problems arise here, who else should they turn to but the Navy?

The Secretary of the Navy seemed slightly uneasy under the President's gaze, as this was a matter of considerable expertise for him. The Navy had indeed carried out the blockade orders, but how well they had executed them... remained to be seen.

Bullshit, how many terrible things has the Navy encountered these past few months? He doesn't have time to care about these things.

Fortunately, President Wilson knew that the Navy couldn't be solely responsible for such a matter. After all, even if the news had leaked, it wouldn't have spread like this on Christmas Eve without someone deliberately pushing it.

So who should be held responsible?

Ask the FTC?

In theory, this is indeed one of the few federal departments directly responsible for managing news media at present. However, the FTC stands for Federal Trade Commission, and it is mainly responsible for the management and supervision of advertising.

Therefore, the FTC has the authority to investigate and address false advertising and misleading claims, protecting consumers from the harms of deceptive advertising. Furthermore, the FTC's antitrust agency is responsible for regulating competition in the media industry, preventing monopolies and unfair competition—in fact, the latter is the FTC's primary purpose.

Obviously, what's being published in the newspapers isn't an advertisement, and the FTC says it has nothing to do with me.

However, seeing how angry the president was, the FTC officials actually sent over a report. The president's secretary handed over the FTC report at this opportune moment. After all, the department responsible for anti-Tosla organizations had, of course, carefully investigated the funding sources behind these media companies.

After glancing at the report, President Wilson's anger subsided somewhat, and he became much calmer. However, his brow furrowed even more. He finished reading the report and stared at his secretary with a hint of suspicion: "Their implication is that these newspapers are backed by British capital, not from the East..."

"Yes, basically these newspapers are all established in our country by British capital. If we really have to say who is behind it all, then it is probably the Victorians."

“Yes! Your Excellency, it’s the Victorians. This all makes sense now.” Sims realized at this moment: “The Victorian warship that left Yingzhou is the only one we can’t board and inspect. If the reports and related photos were brought out of Yingzhou by the Victorians, then all of this makes sense!”

Sims seemed to have been enlightened, and his words surprised President Wilson: "You mean the Victorian ships have been coming and going in and out of Yingzhou all along? Isn't their Far East Fleet always stationed in Singapore? When we ask them to assist us in carrying out military operations, these Victorians can always find one excuse or another to keep their warships in port. What? They still have ships coming to Yingzhou?"

"The Victorians have always sent some cruisers to operate with us. After all, the Royal Victorian Navy has not engaged in large-scale surface battles since the Battle of the Java Sea. This series of battles between us and the Tang Empire is also a good opportunity for the Victorians to learn from our experience. On the surface, the Victorians are our allies, and we have no reason to refuse their ships the right to dock and receive supplies at Yingzhou's ports."

Sims said cautiously, "I never expected the Victorians to betray us in this way. Those Britons are really despicable. No wonder the Gauls have never trusted their British allies."

"The Gauls have been at odds with the Victorians for over a century. They certainly know what kind of people their old adversary is, but that's no reason for us to be complacent. We should know exactly what kind of people the Victorians are too." President Wilson gritted his teeth. "It seems the Victorians are determined to push for peace talks between us and the Tang Empire, even resorting to such methods to stir up public opinion within our country..."

Although there is no concrete evidence yet, President Wilson believes that no evidence is needed. The Tang Empire clearly could not possibly have the capability to launch such a large-scale propaganda war on the federal territory. At most, they would hide one or two small newspapers, and it would be impossible for them to launch so many newspapers to report on this scale.

Clearly, this was likely a secret exchange of interests between the Tang Empire and the Victorians, with the Victorians using this underhanded tactic to force the federal government to the negotiating table.

Prior to this, the negotiations between the Tang Empire and the Federation in Anchorage had been going poorly, with both sides offering somewhat outrageous conditions. However, he never expected that the Victorians would actually side with the Tang Empire and help them force the Federation to make concessions.

“Your Excellency, you need not be angry about this. Victorians have always been like this, haven’t they?”

The secretary's words reached President Wilson's ears from the side. Of course, he knew what his secretary meant by "that's how Victorians are." It didn't mean that Victorians betrayed their allies, but rather that Victorians were the most adept at solving problems from the perspective of interests and with the most pragmatic attitude.

While the Victorian Empire was capable of both yielding and asserting itself, it did not mind allowing other countries to do the same.

The current situation of peace talks between the Colombian Federation and the Tang Empire is that, in the present context, the Tang Empire does have more bargaining chips, while the Colombian Federation's chips lie more in the future—that is, when the steel fleet gradually taking shape in the Federation's shipyards will be fully operational.

However, it is clear that after defeating Letania, the Vitória wanted to quickly establish a new European and even global order, so they did not want the war in the East to continue for several more years. Therefore, they hoped that the Colombians would make concessions first.

"Should we summon the British ambassador?"

Someone raised this question, and after a moment of silence, President Wilson slowly shook his head: "No need. Since the Victorians have done this, it means that they have reached a certain understanding with the Tang Empire. I believe that the Tang Empire has already revealed its true offer to the Victorians."

The tacit understanding between them and the Victorians is to force us to make concessions first, and then they will make certain concessions in return. We don't need to summon the British ambassador; I believe the Victorians will soon bring us the Tang Empire's offer.

President Wilson himself did not want the war to last too long. Although his term as president could be extended under wartime conditions, to be honest, after serving two terms as a war president, Wilson really did not want to serve another four years in such a mess.

He was also willing to end the war under the right circumstances, because in Wilson's eyes, the Colombian Federation had already met its bottom line by obtaining Yingzhou. However, he was unwilling to have himself and the entire Federation make such a humiliating statement in this way.

Right now, the most important thing for their federal government is to deal with internal problems first.

"Have all the reports in those newspapers been compiled yet?"

After the outbreak of war, President Wilson read some books about China and knew that there was an Eastern saying: "To resist foreign aggression, one must first pacify the internal situation." He now had to focus his main energy on solving internal problems.

“The statistics aren’t complete yet, but Your Excellency, I think you should take a look at this.” An official cautiously handed over a freshly printed newspaper: “The contents of this newspaper… are somewhat unusual.”

Ok?

President Wilson took the newspaper with a hint of suspicion. The moment he held it in his hand, he could tell the printing was somewhat rough. However, his attention was quickly drawn to the headline on the front page:

Why We Failed—The Military High Command's Own Fault!

Chapter 214 Putting the Blame on the Other Side of the Pacific (2)

Yingtianfu Jinling Grand Theatre

As the largest and most luxurious theater in the entire Yingtian Prefecture and even the entire empire, the Jinling Grand Theater can largely be seen as a product of the East being influenced by Western culture. After all, in the tradition of the East, it is unlikely that such a grand theater would be built specifically for Yue Opera or Huangmei Opera.

Li Che got out of the car and looked up at the magnificent main gate of the grand theater. He could only say that the construction of the grand theater during the Ming Dynasty fully demonstrated what Hayek's mastery was. If this were in ancient times, just the grandeur of this theater, which was almost comparable to the Chengtian Hall, would be enough for the Embroidered Uniform Guard to thoroughly investigate how many people were in the three families that owned this grand theater.

This grand theater was closed after the palace coup that broke out because of Emperor Yongning. It was never reopened from the time of the provisional government until Li Zongdi took control of the capital. I heard that it was only reopened last month. To some extent, the reopening of the Jinling Grand Theater also means that the domestic political situation has gradually stabilized from its original turmoil.

Although the war continues, life has gradually begun to stabilize for the people within the empire.

The people on this land are like this. No matter what industry they are in, they are hardworking and can withstand pressure and hardship. As long as life is stable, even if life is a little tight and the quality of life is reduced, as long as they are not deprived of a way to make a living, the people's demands for life are really not high.

The reason we're here today isn't because His Highness the Crown Prince thinks the war situation has improved and has any thoughts like, "Can't I enjoy myself after fighting for over a year? Let the music and dancing continue." The reason we're here today is simply to hold an informal meeting.

After getting out of the car, he saw his father's car. It seemed his father had already arrived. Li Che turned around and put his hand on the roof of the car, preparing to make a gesture of invitation in a relatively gentlemanly manner. However, he found that the girl had already gotten out of the car from the other side and was walking briskly around the back of the car to his side, lifting her skirt. The girl was stunned for a moment when she saw his actions, and then her eyes curved into crescents: "Oh dear, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry that our Crown Prince didn't get to show his gentlemanly manners properly."

"Please be more mindful of your role as a princess next time."

"I don't want to." Zhu Miaoyun smiled and reached out to take Li Che's arm. "Don't think I don't know you're a hypocrite. You like me because I don't know how I am like this. If I were really a proper princess, you wouldn't say it, but you would definitely miss how I am now."

Li Che remained silent. Although he knew in his heart that Zhu Miaoyun was absolutely right, he would not admit it.