Urban Sims

Deyunshe's business boom greatly increased Zhou Ming's confidence. On the one hand, it was because he made a lot of money. On the other hand, through this platform, countless middle- and lower-class people were able to understand his works and enjoy the various types of entertainment he provided. As time goes by, Mr. Zihua's reputation spread among ordinary people.

Moreover, based on nearly eight months of data tracking and statistics on the audience of Deyun Club in Yugang Village, Zhou Ming concluded that in areas with larger populations and more developed economies, a Deyun Club can have 50,000 to 100,000 people. influence in the middle.

In economically underdeveloped areas, I believe the influence that Deyun Society can have will not be that great. It would be great to be able to influence 30,000 to 50,000 people.

In the entire Great Zhou Kingdom, there are definitely a hundred economically developed and densely populated areas. Therefore, according to the lowest estimate, one hundred Deyun Clubs will affect a population of three million and bring about achievements of about five million. In terms of money, if you make up the other half, get an A-level or above rating, and clear the dungeon, it shouldn't be a big problem.

As for Zihua Bookstore, which is on the upper-class route, it would be quite good if it earns one million achievement points. Zhou Mingke has never pinned his hopes on the absolute minority of upper-class people.

…

In the 23rd year of Tiansheng, at the beginning of October.

Another piece of good news came from Tianjia Shipyard.

It took six months to complete the design, two months to conduct model testing, and finally took a year to build. The "Haiyu Type 2" fishing boat used by the Ocean Fishing Company for fishing operations was finally successfully launched and became the first vessel owned by the Ocean Fishing Company. A big ship with two thousand materials is of great significance.

Zhou Ming's maritime strategy has taken another big step forward!

The "Haiyu Type II" was developed so quickly, even several months ahead of Zhou Ming's expected two years. Of course, there are several reasons.

One, Zhou Ming personally participated in the design of the "Haiyu Type 2". With his brain's computing power far exceeding that of ordinary people, he saved several months on the ship design alone.

Second, Zhou Ming sent people with heavy sums of money to go to Jeju, Yangzhou and other cities with shipyards near the sea, and hired a large number of skilled shipbuilders to speed up the construction.

Three, with the completion of the wood drying room supporting the shipyard, the wood that originally required two years of natural drying can now be dried in just three months in the air-drying room. Together with the workers of the shipyard, in various precision industries With the help of machine tools, shipbuilding efficiency has also been greatly improved, and the ship construction cycle has been greatly shortened.

After completing a month-long sea trial on the first ship of the Haiqu-2 model, Zhou Ming and a group of more than 20 classmates who were not prone to seasickness boarded the ship, which was more than 30 meters long and five meters wide. , a fishing boat with an empty displacement of 220 tons and a full load of more than 500 tons. Under the control of excellent sailors, the sails were raised and the ship sailed eastward across the sea.

In November, the best fishing season has passed. Zhou Ming took these students out to sea, not for fishing, but to relax, enjoy the sea breeze, and see the endless waves of the sea.

Favorable winds and smooth currents, one day later, we were at the sea more than 300 miles east of Haiping County.

Standing on the bow of the boat, a sea area called the "Whale Sea" by fishermen appeared in front of everyone.

The reason why this sea area is called the "Whale Sea" is because Zhou Ming saw on the [World Map] that there are two nearly intersecting ridges and a bottomless volcanic trench on the bottom of this whale sea. Due to the interception of two sea ridges, the surface of the seawater has changed due to wind waves, land coastline guidance and ocean currents generated by the planet's autobiography. A large amount of nutrient-rich seawater in the middle layer has floated to the surface of the seawater.

The bottomless volcanic trench, due to the active eruptions of active volcanoes all year round, has brought countless nutrient-rich seawater from the deep to the surface of the ocean.

Under the simultaneous action of three ocean currents, in this sea area, countless tiny seaweeds grow on the surface of the sea. The tiny seaweeds feed countless fish and shrimps, and feed tens of millions of big fish. Tens of millions of big fish make this area Over 300,000 square kilometers of sea area, there are nearly a hundred species and tens of thousands of whales active.

These whales stand at the top of the ecological chain in this sea area.

"Baby woo~"

There was a sound like a baby crying.

"Pfft~!"

On the sea surface not far away, a water column with a height of more than ten meters erupted like a fountain for multiple rounds. After each round lasted for tens of seconds, the giant whale that had finished breathing and was probably more than thirty meters in length appeared. Then he swung his tail like a big broom and dived into the deep sea.

"An old saying goes, there is a fish in the East Ming Dynasty, and its name is a whale. The whale is so big that you don't know how many thousands of miles it is. It turns into a bird, and the wings of the bird don't know how many thousands of miles it is... This big whale in front of you is not as big as A legendary whale, but it is also enough to frighten people and make people frightened.”

Holding on to the railing of the boat, Lu Wencai shook his head and couldn't help but sigh.

"Yes, this whale is about the same size as the boat we are on. If it suddenly goes crazy and attacks us, we will definitely die." One person said very frightenedly.

"Don't be afraid, young master. There are twelve large whale-hunting crossbows on this ship. The seven-foot fine iron crossbow arrows used are as thick as a child's arm and are coated with poison. As long as the giant whale hits six times in a row, it will not In a moment, you will definitely die." The words of a big whale hunter on the boat made everyone relax a little.

"Brother Qingxiao, tell me, do we, the aristocratic family, have anything in common with the whales in the sea?"

At this time, Zhou Ming, who was standing in the middle of the bow, motionless in the sea breeze, suddenly asked Yao Qing beside him with a smile.

Yao Qingxiao was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Brother Zihua, what do you think?"

"If the ship we are on can be compared to the imperial court, these large whales in the sea can be regarded as various aristocratic families. These whales may seem huge and terrifying, but once targeted by the imperial court, they will be hunted and killed like this fishing boat. Like a whale, it takes a lot of effort, but the rewards are extremely rich... Brother Qingxiao must have heard about the income our Tian family whaling team earns from whaling every year..."

Zhou Ming's words made everyone around him prick up their ears and listen attentively.

"Brother Zihua, are you referring to the 'abolishing of empress' incident that happened in the imperial capital of Zhongzhou in July this year?" Yao Qingxiao immediately understood what Zhou Ming was referring to.

The so-called "exhibition of the empress" incident dates back to August last year, when His Majesty the Ming Emperor Li Zhi fell ill and was often dizzy and unable to handle government affairs. The empress was originally known as one of the "Two Saints" and ruled the world with the emperor. Empress Wu Mei began to sit behind the curtain and listen to the government, taking sole control of the government. She continued to suppress dissidents and promoted cronies. Although the government was generally stable, many civil and military ministers in the court, and the prime minister Shangguan Yi, who was the leader of the hundred officials, were hostile to Wu Mei. All kinds of practices have long been extremely dissatisfied.

Therefore, in July of this year, Prime Minister Shangguan Yi contacted a group of civil and military officials privately, went to the bedside of Ming Emperor Li Zhi, and made some small reports on Queen Wu Mei. After obtaining the emperor's consent, he drafted a plan to abolish the Queen. edict.

This edict was supposed to be promulgated at the court meeting the next day, but because of a headache, the emperor did not attend the court meeting the next day. Wu Mei, who learned the news and acted preemptively, performed a cry in front of the emperor. , and gained the emperor's trust... Soon, hundreds of civil and military officials and Prime Minister Shangguan Yi who participated in the "Present to the Abolition of the Empress" were all sent to prison. Soon after, all the nine clans were implicated and all were executed.

This incident has little to do with Qingzhou, thousands of miles away, but a relative of the Yuwen family, one of the eight great families in Qingzhou, who serves as a third-rank official in the court, was also involved in this incident and was implicated. , the Yuwen family was surrounded by 50,000 Qingzhou troops for three days. In the end, more than 3,000 members of the Yuwen family, old and young, died under the sword.

The Yuwen family suffered a genocide, and other aristocratic families in Qingzhou were shocked and frightened, but they also felt sad that animals hurt their own kind, and that rabbits died and foxes died.

Even Zhou Ming felt that this system of confiscating families and exterminating clans at every turn, and killing the entire clan, was too cruel and inhumane, and made people extremely uneasy, fearing that if they were not careful, they would also bring about such disasters of genocide.

Therefore, on the surface, this seemingly prosperous and prosperous age is still a feudal dynasty in which one person is aloof and thousands of people bow their heads. The supreme ruler kills all those who offend, leaving no room for discussion or compromise. The matter is all his family's business, and it all depends on his words.

This is very scary.

Zhou Ming sighed: "It is not easy for our family to stand for a thousand years. Even the noble royal family has only been famous for three to five hundred years at most... Moreover, no matter the prosperous and troubled times, no matter what things we do, we have achieved great results." The worry about the decline of the family is just like the Yuwen family. Isn't it like the big whale in the sea, being cut and slaughtered? If we, the big family, do not want to one day follow in the footsteps of the Yuwen family, we should make arrangements and find a safe and secure place. Worry about the future."

The way out?

"I don't know what brother Zihua refers to?"

Yao Qingxiao's expression became serious. Brother Zihua in front of him seemed to be about to say something of great significance to the wealthy family.

"Have you seen the sea?"

Zhou Ming raised his chin, pointed at a piece of sea to the east, and said:

"Brother Qingxiao, maybe you don't know that there are overseas islands two thousand miles east of this sea. There are tens of thousands of these islands. The largest one is as big as half of the Zhou Dynasty; the medium-large ones are There are thousands of them as big as a county; there are also islands as big as small counties, too numerous to count... If I wait for the noble family to occupy those islands, one island for each family, one for each family The countries and families are separated by oceans and communicate with each other by sea ships. They do not belong to each other or submit to each other. If we jointly govern the island, will we and other aristocratic families still have the worry of losing their clan? "

"Brother Zihua said, but Penglai Xiandao?!"

Yao Qingxiao's eyes widened and he looked at him in surprise.