There were snowflakes drifting outside the hallway, and a few flakes were blown in and down into the upper hallway, intentionally or unintentionally. In the corridor, guards in red tweed uniforms sometimes pass by in procession. And in the corridor, two guards stood at the entrance of the small courtyard, watching the door vigilantly.

The reason why the courtyard of this economic envoy office is so heavily guarded is not because it is an important place for military aircraft. It's because of the production going on in this compound, which needs to be kept secret.

“…… A mirror is made by attaching tin foil to the glass and then pouring mercury, which melts the foil so that it is tightly attached to the glass. ”

While Zhu Mingzhong was explaining the process of making the mirror, several teenagers had already flattened a piece of tin foil on the glass.

Looking at the skillful movements of these teenagers, Zhu Mingzhong had a slight smile on his face, and occasionally he would say words of encouragement.

"Sir, when you look in this mirror, you can even see the hairs on your face clearly!"

After finishing the work at hand, Ma Qiufeng picked up a book-sized mirror and sighed while looking at the mirror.

"Hey, I'm afraid this photo is too real, but the woman in the city won't want to buy it at that time!"

"I must be willing to buy it, but it is expensive to sell, so I am naturally unwilling......"

Listening to the words of these teenagers, Zhu Mingzhong just looked at a box of glass mirrors the size of A4 paper on the ground, this glass mirror workshop is not so much a workshop as a laboratory, where the production technology of glass mirrors is tested.

In order to keep the manufacturing process of the glass mirror secret, Zhu Mingzhong deliberately moved Ma Qiufeng and others from the school to the government office. And Ma Qiufeng and Xu Tianbai are all orphans - when Jiangyin burned the city, there were no less than thousands of victims, which also made hundreds of teenagers lose their parents and become homeless, and Zhu Mingzhong ordered someone to take them in, and learn from the methods of the boy scouts of later generations to train them. It is even because of this that a "Yulin Battalion" was set up in Qinghe, instead of sending it to Qinghe Academy, which was named after the "Yulin Cavalry" created by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and the main task of the "Yulin Battalion" was to enable orphans to receive education, so that these people could become soldiers, and in the future they could become adults, they would be able to "serve the country with wings, such as the prosperity of the forest".

In the past few months, orphans sent from all over Jiangbei have entered the "Yulin Camp", where in addition to learning culture, they also need to receive military training, where there are almost no holidays, and some are always only studying and training.

As far as Zhu Mingzhong's selfishness is concerned, he hopes that these children will eventually grow up with a group of talents with tenacity, bravery, wit, and obedience to those who have the character of a warrior, not just ordinary soldiers.

Therefore, unlike ordinary military camps or academies, the "Feather Forest Camp" promotes Spartan education. These orphans from all over Jiangbei and the children of the fallen officers and soldiers of the Loyal and Righteous Army live in the barracks-style life after entering the camp, where they will receive comprehensive military training, of course, they will not neglect cultural education, of course, there is no avoidable forced moral indoctrination and harsh physical and mental training, and then in the long-term camp life, they will develop a brave, tenacious, and obedient character, and all this is punished at the price.

It was right or wrong to send these orphans from all over the country and the children of the fallen officers and soldiers of the Loyal Army to the "Feather Forest Battalion" to receive Spartan learning and training. Zhu Mingzhong didn't know, but one thing is for sure that when these teenagers of the "Yulin Battalion" reach adulthood, they will definitely become the backbone of the Loyal and Righteous Army. Not only that, but some of them may become the founders of modern Chinese science, after all, in addition to the gentlemen teaching Chinese culture in the "Yulin Camp", there are also Western missionaries hired from Nanjing, Songjiang and other places to teach Western science and technology. In addition, the outstanding among them also have the opportunity to come to the government office to be taught by Zhu Mingzhong himself, just like Ma Qiufeng, 17-year-old he was born in Jiangyin scholarly family, and he is full of interest in mathematics, but in just a few months, he has initially mastered Western mathematical knowledge such as "Geometric Original", and now, Zhu Mingzhong is intentionally or unintentionally guiding it to the road of chemistry.

"Qiufeng, the process of making mirrors has basically been mastered by a few of you, I am going to set up a factory in Liandao, specializing in mirror-making, and so on, after the New Year, Tianbai you all go over, first teach them to master the process of mirror-making, and then go back to Qinghe ......"

Because these teenagers are orphans, so for them, Zhu Mingzhong naturally believes very much, and it is precisely because of this that he will choose these teenagers as assistants for mirror making, after all, after the flat glass is launched on the market, how to keep the process secret of mirror making is the key to the problem, although there is a patent as protection, but if the secret of mirror making is known to outsiders, it will definitely affect the sales of glass mirrors, and he is full of confidence to make huge profits from glass mirrors.

"Sir, if you can, the student would like to stay on the island!"

The reason why they hold the disciple ceremony is because Zhu Mingzhong also taught Ma Qiufeng and them, so although they don't call him a teacher, they still respect him as Mr. and hold the disciple ceremony.

Ma Qiufeng's request made Zhu Mingzhong slightly stunned.

"Stay on the island?"

Looking at him in surprise, Zhu Mingzhong asked rhetorically.

"Why do you want to stay on the island? You all want to stay there? ”

After getting an affirmative answer, Zhu Mingzhong became more curious.

"Sir, we heard that the Navy is going to open a Navy School on Liandao, so we hope to be able to enter the school to study......

I see!

In an instant, Zhu Mingzhong understood that the navy was indeed preparing to set up a navy school on Liandao, and more than a dozen of its instructors were all senior sailors on the "Dongfang," and the students in the school would learn Western navigation and science and technology there, and to make up for the backwardness of navigation technology through the establishment of a modern navy was the core of Zhu Mingzhong's "catch-up" plan.

Even in Zhu Mingzhong's proposed system for cultivating naval officers, it can be said that it is a place for the cultivation of modern science, business, and medical talents, and it has the meaning of "educating talents in the navy", and the idea of "educating talents in the navy" is very simple, because Zhu Mingzhong knows that once the navy enters the sea, in this era of great exploration, the navy will inevitably set up navigation stations and trading posts in various places and open up colonies through this, and at that time, naval officers will inevitably act as colonial officials, and the practice of "entertaining talents in the navy" can be guaranteed. The colonies of the future were inclined to practical education, thus changing the traditional education of China step by step from the inside out.

The navy is an independent group, and it is overseas, when the traditional scholars notice them, they have long developed into a force that cannot be ignored or even irresistible, although he knows that the scholars of this era are not as conservative as the late Qing Dynasty, and even full of curiosity about Western science and technology, but Zhu Mingzhong still chose this way, after all, the future Qinghe Academy's full implementation of "practical learning" education, itself will bring a certain impact on science, and in the case of inevitable academic conflicts in the future, It is a relatively prudent way to hide Western science and technology in the navy and root it overseas.

"You want to go to the Navy?"

Looking at the teenagers in front of him, Zhu Mingzhong asked with a smile.

"Why do you want to go to the Naval Academy?"

"Sir, because the Navy School has the opportunity to board the ship, and have the opportunity to sail the world with the warship!"

For Ma Qiufeng, from the first time he saw "The Complete Map of Kunyu Wanguo", he longed to one day travel to all parts of the world, and the establishment of a school called the Navy actually gave him an opportunity, and it is precisely because of this that he hoped to enter the school to learn sailing.

Facing the young men with longing in his eyes, Zhu Mingzhong did not object, he just nodded slightly, and then agreed.

"Well, it's a good thing to have a chance to go outside, it's good that you can have this idea, since you want to go, then go back to the naval academy and report, if everything goes well, maybe, in two or three months, you may still be able to sail with the fleet......"

In another two or three months, after the thirteen warships are completed, after the completion of the adaptation training, the fleet will sail towards Burma under the guidance of Tang Mashi and others, although it is not known whether Burma will agree to the return of Yongli, but it is certain that if they are unwilling, the fleet will take some means to force them to agree.

And Taiwan......

Thinking of Taiwan, Zhu Mingzhong's brows jumped slightly, and his mind naturally came up with the fleet that had set off a month ago, in addition to the "Fubo" cruiser, there were more than ten ships transporting soldiers and prisoners, according to Zhu Mingzhong's plan, they will open up colonies in Keelung, establish ports, and mine local sulfur mines, after all, now the Gunpowder Bureau needs a lot of sulfur, in addition, those captives also have to build new cities and palaces in the Taipei Plain, after all, after welcoming back Yongli, To place it in Taiwan, there is always a need for a palace as an imperial palace, and in this case, building a palace is a natural thing to do.

However, it has been a month since the fleet departed, and if it was correct, they should have already reached Keelung, but is everything going well now?

Until he left the heavily guarded courtyard, Zhu Mingzhong, who frowned, looked at the snowflakes fluttering between the heavens and the earth, and what he was thinking about was still Taiwan, after all, Taiwan had now become one of the most critical links in his plan. If at the beginning, for him, Taiwan was just a retreat, then now, Taiwan has a more special purpose, whether Taiwan's strategy can succeed is directly related to the next plan, and even affects the future fortunes of the Ming Dynasty......

"Let's hope everything goes well!"