Marilyn was working for Prince Johnson, while the delegation was working for Prince George.
What she needed to do was to stir up conflict between the two sides and buy time for the Western Jin Dynasty.
Meanwhile, the Anluo delegation in Fengxi Town was indulging in feasting and merrymaking, completely forgetting their own limitations. Later, officials even deliberately took them to see their warships.
At that time, the Anluo delegation's purpose was not only to establish diplomatic relations, but also to gather information about weapons in the Central Plains.
Now the Anluo delegation got what they wanted; they saw a warship carved with birds and beasts, which was very exquisite.
At that time, an envoy said that the most important thing about officers is their practicality, not that they are like ornaments. If they cannot fight, they are nothing more than gilded on the outside but rotten on the inside.
The official was quick-witted and immediately ordered his men to open fire.
A shell blasted through a small boat that had been laid out in the distance. The total distance was 2,300 meters. The official reported 3,000 meters.
The Anluo envoy initially had some doubts, but when the official took him to something even more interesting and presented him with countless valuable porcelain pieces, his suspicions were dispelled. Later, during trade between the two countries, the Anluo envoy misrepresented information to Anluo because of this incident.
This caused Anluo and other Western countries to miss the opportunity presented by the weakest period in the Central Plains. Afterwards, the young Prince George, who had already become king, deeply resented those envoys who indulged in pleasure and entertainment.
This caused him to miss the opportunity to invade the Central Plains.
As Prince Johnson's person, Marilyn naturally wouldn't say much to the young prince.
Si Xitong knew she could only conceal the truth for five years; the peace trade agreement she signed with An Luo was only for five years. During those five years, her Western Jin Dynasty had to become a major power possessing super-powerful warships.
The ship the official showed the Anlu envoy was actually a pirate ship and a Com cannon. The Ministry of Works had simply disguised the Com cannon to make it unrecognizable.
The Anluo envoy, already flattered by the lavish hospitality, felt highly regarded by the superior nation and paid no heed to anything else.
He himself believed that peaceful trade was better than war, but little did he know that his motherland desperately needed a battle to establish its prestige overseas.
The old king himself had no intention of fighting, and the envoy from Anro was a follower of Prince Johnson, whose thoughts were no different from the old king's. Unlike Prince George, who was full of ambition.
Xie Lanzhi learned that her wife had started an information war.
She couldn't help but admire her wife's methods.
However, the five years that were obtained through deception are enough.
Today, Xie Lanzhi specifically sought out Si Xitong, asking her to take a day off and accompany her to the Ministry of Works.
Si Xitong was originally willing to go, and she agreed without hesitation. Then she delegated the official duties to Wu Qiu, Li Ling, and Wang Zheng.
The Ministry of Customs is currently mainly supported by officials from the five major departments. They have spent huge sums of money to attract talent, and they have indeed attracted a lot of talent, but they still need a process of accumulating technical expertise.
Xie Lanzhi saw that Aza had repaired one boat in seven days. Of the ten boats, three were preserved intact, while the bottoms of the other seven were completely destroyed by the bombs. The only option was to dismantle their interiors.
Azar is a genius at high-fidelity replicas. He pieced together disassembled parts to create two new warships and installed domestically produced, upgraded, reloading-type Changhong cannons.
They also changed the wood-burning stove to a honeycomb briquette stove, increasing the firepower.
The new warships were named by Si Xitong as: Changhong Jia and Kunlunshan.
Xie Lanzhi couldn't help but cough for a while after hearing "Changhong No. 1". Although it's only one character different, it sounds really familiar.
Si Xitong specifically explained, "I just wanted to take advantage of the situation. I'm really serious."
Xie Lanzhi quickly massaged her shoulders: "Of course, my Majesty wants to conquer the stars and the sea."
"This name is very fitting!"
Aza, unaware of what his two masters were up to, specifically said, "Your Majesty, Marshal, our two warships are now authorized to operate in the four Southeast Asian countries."
"Why not let the new recruits from the overseas department try sailing?"
"However, the cost is very high..."
Si Xitong said, "You can make the arrangements as you see fit. Just submit the account book afterwards."
"Furthermore, I have arranged for you to make contact with Gongsun Feng. Gongsun Feng will know what to do."
"Yes!" Aza was immediately thrilled.
Si Xitong and Xie Lanzhi then began to look at other weapons. They discovered that the development of the arsenal was slower than they had imagined. Sure enough, relying solely on Aza's mass production was not enough; advanced weapons were needed to increase production and optimize the arsenal.
Xie Lanzhi and Si Xitong had the same idea.
She said, "I have already arranged for Lu Qing to contact the leader of the Mo family. As for whether he can come, that depends on your Western Guard."
“I’ve always been very interested in the leader of the Mohist school,” Si Xitong said. “But could this person be related to my father’s generation…?”
Even Aza fell silent after hearing this. It was clear that persuading the leader of the Mohist school to come over was not an ideal idea.
No one knows whether the leader of the Mohist school hates the Si family as much as Mu Ye does, especially since Si Xitong is the emperor's granddaughter. Even broken bones are still connected by tendons.
Even the smartest person can distinguish between the two emperors, but can their heart overcome that hurdle?
Seeing that she was a little down, Xie Lanzhi gently took her hand to comfort her: "Didn't Lu Qing choose you without hesitation back then?"
"I believe you can do something truly impressive."
Encouraged by her lover, Si Xitong regained her confidence.
Meanwhile, the Western Guard maintained strict vigilance throughout Tianjing and found nothing unusual.
No one knew when Mu Ye would arrive in Tianjing, or whether he had already infiltrated the city and was lying in wait. Guarding was always extremely tight every night.
The northern Xiongnu were equally restless.
Empress Dowager Liu Zi heard that the new Tianjing had developed two domestically produced warships in just over ten days and that they had set sail for the four Southeast Asian countries that very afternoon.
She had lost interest in internal strife and was filled with a sense of crisis, so she summoned Prince Anshan to the palace for a meeting.
Anshan Jun was also filled with a sense of crisis. He came to Baiweng Palace. At this moment, he had given up communicating with his brother and planned to take his place.
Despite his dislike for the Empress Dowager, he had to admit that this woman was quite adept at suppressing Liu Cheng.
Now that Liu Bei's army has basically collapsed, the ministers of the Northern Hu and Xiongnu have learned their lesson and intend to continue to develop according to the king's previous plan.
However, when the state treasury was opened, the ministers were ashamed to find that it had been almost entirely spent. There was no money left to allocate to the Mohist disciples.
The Mohist disciples were also very dissatisfied with the removal of their leader.
Some have already secretly fled south, escaping from the Northern Hu and Xiongnu. The Northern Hu and Xiongnu are afraid that these Mohist disciples will submit to the Western Jin Dynasty, so they have sent assassins to eradicate the Mohist disciples completely.
This order directly led to the loss of the loyalty of the Mohist disciples.
The Mohist disciples were like a leaky hole that kept getting blocked. Eventually, the Northern Xiongnu compromised. To settle the Mohist disciples and provide them with sufficient funds for their research, the Northern Xiongnu ministers specially raised money for them, hoping to retain them through this tactic.
As a result, it was too late for the Northern Xiongnu ministers to turn back. Xu Jiale, the eldest disciple of the inner sect of the Mohist school, took the huge sum of money allocated by the Northern Xiongnu and went directly south to the State of Lu.
That very night, the ruler of Lu ordered his troops to send Xu Jiale to Tianjing.
The ministers of the Northern Xiongnu were all furious, pounding their chests and stamping their feet. When Liu Zi heard about this, she couldn't help but curse those people for being so foolish.
She turned to Anshan Jun and said, "Fifth brother, I can support you, but you must develop according to your brother's plan."
Anshan Jun thought it was indeed true.
He said, "Aren't you thinking about Aba now?"
Liu Zi said, "What's wrong with giving up this selfish desire for the sake of the Northern Hu and Xiongnu? Fifth Brother, I'm entrusting this to you."
“But I don’t quite trust you anymore,” Anshan said. “Unless you personally ruin Aba’s chance to take this position.”
These words were spoken.
The Empress Dowager's phoenix eyes flashed with anger: "I have already agreed to your request, yet you still do not want to let him go."
"I'm sorry, but I can't agree to that." Anshan-kun said, "Go play by yourself!"
The Prince of Anshan parted on bad terms with the Empress Dowager and immediately left the palace.
Xu Xie heard that his eldest disciple had run away. He was still sipping his tea, not particularly concerned.
He finally took Lu Qing's letter seriously when it was delivered by a child.
Because the letter contained a design drawing of the warship's outline, based on the sketch Jack had given to Azar and the others. It was drawn very realistically.
This caught Xu Xie's attention.
The whistle quickly pushed the door open and entered. Upon seeing the letter in Xu Xie's hand, he immediately said in an unfriendly tone, "What is this? Hand it over!"
As soon as Xu Xietu put it away, the other party immediately took out a flintlock pistol and aimed it at his head.
A loud bang came from inside the house!
After inspecting the Ministry of Works for a while, Xie Lanzhi returned to the palace with Si Xitong.
The departure was a bit rushed, which made Si Xitong realize something, but she didn't ask and obediently followed her back to the palace.
No sooner had the two left than someone disguised himself and entered the Ministry of Works. This quickly attracted the attention of spies, one of whom gave chase, only to find the two men had vanished without a trace when he reached the woodshed.
Just as the spy was about to leave, a loud explosion came from the woodshed, blasting him away and seriously injuring him.
The Ministry of Works' officers and soldiers rushed to the scene and discovered that the people of Xiwei had been attacked, which immediately drew everyone's attention.
Having just returned to the palace, Si Xitong rolled up her clothes, intending to take another bath in the inner palace. Before leaving, she couldn't help but beckon Xie Lanzhi: "Want to go?"
Xie Lanzhi looked at the jade-like wrist peeking out from the cuff of her sleeve, and felt the softness of the woman pressing against her from behind. She was momentarily dazed, but she quickly regained her composure, pulled the woman behind her into her arms, and gently lifted her chin, saying, "You're supposed to be an emperor, can't you be a little more subtle and tactful?"
"Euphemistic?" Si Xitong scoffed, recalling the days when someone would rather secretly read erotic novels than take the initiative. All her tact, subtlety, and reserve vanished.
Si Xitong reached out and pinched her right earlobe, which was as elastic as a bead: "In a few days, I will be meeting with Envoy Anluo again. Since you have time today, don't you want to?"
"What are you thinking? I don't want to." Xie Lanzhi turned her head away and quietly swallowed.
Si Xitong raised an eyebrow and asked her in return, "You really don't want to?"
Xie Lanzhi looked at her and said clearly, "I don't want to."
"Whoever said that not being enthusiastic about eating has a problem with their thinking," Si Xitong retorted, using something she had said in the past to shut her up.
Xie Lanzhi felt like she had shot herself in the foot.
It seems she won't be able to escape unless she makes a move today.
Xie Lanzhi resignedly picked her up and walked towards the back hall. The two passed Xiao Xiu and Granny Xie, and then passed a group of Western Guards who had rushed over.
Upon seeing this, west Wei immediately stopped in the corridor and hid.
Si Xitong didn't notice them, but Xie Lanzhi did. She then gave those people a meaningful look. The Western Guards immediately withdrew.
It wasn't that Xiwei listened to her, but rather that Xiwei dared not disturb his master's mood at the moment.
Upon seeing west Wei appear, Xie Lanzhi immediately guessed that Mu Ye might already be in Tianjing. He was extremely cunning and would surely infiltrate the palace.
She didn't want Little Phoenix to worry, so she spoke with Xiwei and told them to handle it with her. She couldn't let Little Phoenix worry about anything more.