The Empress traveled through time and space, and she fought for supremacy in the troubled times

Chapter 251 Shipbuilding

The Northern Barbarians are a nomadic people, also known as a horse-riding people. People nowadays like to call them the Northern Tatars. They are good at riding horses and their ability to fight on horseback is much better than that of the people in the Central Plains.

Moreover, due to the terrain, the people there are generally tall and powerful.

They rely on animal husbandry and live a life of moving with the water and grass.

It has a history of more than 500 years from ancient times to the present.

For more than 500 years, every winter and spring, the northern barbarians would invade the Central Plains border from the south, stealing food and property.

During this period, there were emperors who tried to wipe them out.

However, the northern barbarians are all flexible and will fight if they can win, and flee if they can't. Anyway, the land there is vast and sparsely populated, and the court cannot keep wasting money to send a large army to chase them everywhere.

Of course, the most important thing is that the land of the Northern Barbarians is indeed large, but the soil is barren. Apart from being suitable for grazing, it is not suitable for large-scale farming.

It is tasteless to eat and a pity to throw away.

It is not worth it to make a big fuss over a piece of useless land.

Since they couldn't wipe out the rebellion, the emperor thought of forming a marriage alliance and marrying his princess to the Chanyu of the Northern Barbarians in exchange for a brief peace.

However, this type of marriage can only maintain stability for a few years.

As long as the emperor shows any weakness, he will make a comeback immediately.

Over the past decade or so, the Central Plains has been in chaos, and they have thought about taking the opportunity to launch a large-scale invasion and plunder more support.

However, they were always stopped by soldiers at the border, and could only raid border cities every winter to rob and leave.

More than a year ago, the Chanyu fell seriously ill, and several princes and some large tribal leaders began to fight for the position of Chanyu, so one or two invasions were finally stopped.

Now, according to the letter sent back by the spies, the Chanyu will not live for many days, and the fighting has entered a fierce stage.

At this time, the hall was silent.

Yun Zhi's fingers tapped on the map with the words "Northern Barbarians" written on it.

The northern barbarians are a serious threat and must be dealt with, but we have just concluded a truce and it is not appropriate to start a war again.

Moreover, in Yun Zhi's mind, neither going to war nor marrying a princess is the best strategy.

The best way is of course cultural invasion, which can solve the problem from the root without any manpower.

Trade, cultural exchanges, and immigration allowed them to gradually forget their barbaric habits and even their previous identities, completely integrating into the country and becoming a part of Anguo.

Wouldn't it be nice to be a loving family? And wouldn't that be the best of both worlds?

After deciding on this strategy in mind, the next step should be to send envoys to negotiate peace.

However, An Guo's initiative to send envoys always made him seem inferior to others.

Therefore, Yun Zhi asked them to come in person to negotiate peace.

The female official beside her saw Yun Zhi take out the letter paper, walked quietly to the table and started grinding ink.

Yun Zhi thought for a moment, picked up the brush, dipped it in ink, and wrote lines of vigorous and powerful words on the paper.

The letter clearly stated that the border generals should strengthen their defenses during this period. If the northern barbarians invaded, they should be directly bombed with thunder bombs and never allowed to enter the city.

After writing, she blew the ink off the paper, put the letter in an envelope, and called her trusted guards: "Hurry and deliver this letter to General Bian Guan. There must be no mistakes!"

"Yes, Your Majesty." The guard took the letter and headed towards the border.

Looking at the guard's back, Yun Zhi guessed that the Northern Barbarians would send envoys to negotiate peace at the latest in winter.

After all, in order to fight for the position of Chanyu, it has been such a long time since they invaded the Central Plains to plunder things.

The things they had looted before were probably almost all used up, and when the new Chanyu appeared, it would be time for their next looting.

When they find that they cannot even enter the city and have to face the approaching cold and hunger, they will send messengers to the country to stabilize it.

Now, all that's left is to wait.

But now there is one thing that can be put on the agenda.

"Summon Minister Xu and Minister Liu to the palace for an audience." Yun Zhi's voice rang out in the hall.

The female official standing behind him responded and left in a hurry.

After a while, Xu Shiling, the Minister of Revenue, and Liu You, the Minister of Works, entered the hall together.

"See Your Majesty."

Yun Zhi raised her hand slightly, "Stand up."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Xu Shiling and Liu You stood up straight and waited for Yun Zhi to speak.

Yun Zhi's eyes swept over the two of them, and finally stopped at Xu Shiling. "Master Xu, is the national treasury still full now?"

Xu Shiling was stunned for a moment when he was called, and then he looked at the Minister of Works beside him, wondering in his heart whether His Majesty was planning to expand the imperial palace?

Compared with the previous imperial palace of Tianqi Kingdom, it is much smaller. He had previously discussed with several other ministers in private whether His Majesty would expand the palace. A bigger one would look more majestic.

Besides, Your Majesty has not yet married an emperor, so it would not be excessive to expand the harem a little more.

Xu Shiling stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, although the Anguo War has been ongoing in recent years and several projects have consumed a lot of money, thanks to Your Majesty's wisdom and bravery and your wise management, coupled with the good weather and prosperous business in recent years, tax revenue has increased year by year, and the national treasury is still full, enough to support necessary expenses and some major construction projects."

With this last sentence, Xu Shiling meant to tell Yun Zhi that if she wanted to expand the palace, the national treasury could still afford it.

Unexpectedly, Yun Zhi nodded and turned to look at Liu You, "That's great, Lord Liu, you arrange for people to build a few large ships that can sail on the sea along the coast from now on."

Liu You was startled and asked quickly, "Your Majesty, what does this mean? Are you planning to develop the fishing industry or salvage rare items like corals from the deep sea?"

It’s no wonder that Liu You thought so. The theory of the earth being round still holds true today, and people would never imagine that there would be people on the other side of the sea.

Yun Zhi's eyes were deep as he slowly said, "I wish to develop overseas trade to make Anguo more prosperous."

"Overseas trade? Are there people living on the other side of the sea?" Xu Shiling looked at Yun Zhi as if to ask, "Your Majesty, what nonsense are you talking about?"

"Of course, the world is vast, and there are countries similar to ours over there. If we can trade with them and exchange what we have, our An country will usher in new prosperity, and all nations will come to congratulate us." Yun Zhi said in a firm tone, with a determined look on his face.

Yun Zhi was so sure because she had sent people out to sea in her previous life and successfully found a new country, bringing back many local specialties.

But he died later, and I don’t know whether he continued to go to sea or encountered other capitals.

However, Yun Zhi believes that there will be many countries standing in this world.

Xu Shiling and Liu You looked at each other, obviously finding it difficult to accept this novel idea for a while.

Liu You hesitated and said, "Your Majesty, our ancestors have not recorded the existence of other people overseas. This move is extremely risky, and the cost of building ships is huge. If it ultimately fails, I'm afraid..."

People and money are empty.

At this moment, Xu Shiling wished he could go back a quarter of an hour ago, when he would have said that the treasury was empty.

What's the difference between this and just throwing money away?

He didn't know why His Majesty was so sure. Could it be that someone was slandering him?

But that's impossible. Your Majesty is not a person who listens to only one side of the story.

Looking at the two ministers below who were organizing their words to dissuade her, she knew that this matter was too shocking for them.

Anyway, seeing is believing, and they will believe it when they see it.

Yun Zhi stood up and said without letting anyone refuse, "My decision is made. My two beloved ministers, there is no need to say more. I will handle matters overseas. If anything goes wrong, I will take full responsibility."

Yun Zhi had said this, and Xu Shiling and Liu You knew there was no room for maneuver.

So, he had no choice but to accept the order, "I obey your command."

The two men stepped back and began to busy themselves with the construction of the ship.