Li Zicheng summoned Fang Yizhi and asked him to be the president of Nanjing University, completely self-governing and not affected by the local government.

But it was the delay of this day that he met a person he wanted to see very much, which also changed his itinerary.

This person was Cao Jian, the first person to develop a new type of warship for China.

Cao Jian's battleship "Taiyuan" in Jingzhou had already been launched, but the battleship needed to be tested for a while, so he took advantage of the transport ship to come to Nanjing, and the "Taiyuan" would then go east to the sea.

Coming ashore from the Xiaguan Wharf, Cao Jian didn't have time to feel the prosperity of Nanjing at all, and directly found the Qianqing Palace to ask to see Li Zicheng, and Li Zicheng naturally summoned him at the first time.

"Cao Jian, grass people, knock on the emperor!" Cao Jian knelt on the ground and refused to get up for a long time, he couldn't remember the last time he saw the emperor, he only remembered that in Sichuan, when the Qinghai Navy had just come to the Yangtze River, it had been four or five years, right?

"Hurry up and get flat!" Li Zicheng left his seat, personally helped Cao Jian up, let him sit down on the chair opposite, and turned around and said, "Millet, serve tea!"

He Xiaomi knew that Cao Jian was a very important figure for the Chinese navy, and the new warships of the navy were all built with the support of Cao Jian.

Li Zicheng glanced at Cao Jian opposite, although he looked tired, his long shirt was quite neat, "Cao Jian, how is life, can you still adapt?" ”

"Everything is fine with the grass people, thank you for your concern!" Cao Jianhan smiled and said, "Caomin married a wife and gave birth to two children. ”

Li Zicheng bowed his head slightly and said: "When the children grow up, they can enter high school, and in the future, like their father, they will be the pillars of China!"

"Thank you for the emperor's grace!" Cao Jian lowered his head slightly, thought for a moment, and then looked up at Li Zicheng and said, "Your Majesty, the grass people have brought most of Jingzhou's belongings, and I heard that the shipyard is going to move to Songjiang?" ”

"Hmm!" Li Zicheng nodded, "The battleship will fight and sail in the sea in the future, so the shipyard will be placed by the sea to facilitate the timely testing of the battleship's functions." ”

"The grass people understand!" Cao Jiandao: "I don't know if the shipyard has ever been selected...... The shipyard has been moved from Jingzhou to Songjiang, and it has been delayed for a long time......"

"I understand, but it's the way to go." Li Zicheng moved the shipyard from Qinghai to Sichuan, and then to Huguang, always in search of the sea, only at this time, the navy can really find an outlet to the sea, in fact, even at this time, the South China Sea fleet can only go to sea from the mouth of the Yangtze River, the excellent docks in Fujian and Guangdong in the south, are not in the grasp of the Mandate of Heaven.

However, as long as the site is properly located, the shipyard will be located on the coast of Matsue Prefecture, and there should be no need to relocate in the future.

"Your Majesty, when will the grass people leave for Songjiang?"

"It's late today, you guys have a night's rest in the city," Li Zicheng said: "Tomorrow I will go to Songjiang by land, I should arrive before you, confirm the factory site first, and when you arrive, you should be able to build the factory," paused, and said: "How many workers are accompanying you in this eastward migration?" ”

"Back to the emperor, there are three or four hundred workers accompanying him, they are all proficient, as long as the factory is built, they can be put into production at any time" Cao Jian said: "The families of these workers will go east with the 'Taiyuan'." ”

Li Zicheng nodded and said, "These skilled workers are also an indispensable force in building warships, and they must take care of their lives." ”

"The grass farmers understand that there is a special person in the shipyard who is responsible for this matter, and the families of the workers, in addition to cooking and doing chores in the shipyard, will also produce some vegetables to supplement the family."

"That's good, what's the difficulty, you can talk to Songjiang Mansion in the future, or you can go directly to me."

"Cao Min understands," Cao Jian's interest was still in the construction of warships, so he said: "I heard that the emperor plans to produce ten 'Chengdu-class' warships?" ”

"Zhou Kun and they have already gone to the sea, and soon there will be a message back, if the 'Chengdu class' is suitable for fighting and sailing on the sea, ten ships will be produced, priority will be given to equipping the South China Sea Fleet, and the last four will be equipped with the North Sea Fleet," Li Zicheng thought of the future, and even more thought of the fleet of the Western Ocean, so he said: "In addition to the 'Chengdu class', how is the development of the next generation of warships?" Does the shipyard have an R&D department? ”

"Back to the emperor, the R&D department has not been established for the time being," Cao Jian frowned, and said: "The main energy of the grass people is involved in the production of warships......

"No, the production department and the R&D department must be separated, your main energy must be on research and development," Li Zicheng said categorically: "Maybe the 'Chengdu class' can be suitable for sea battles, but our opponent, shipbuilding technology is constantly improving, if we can't improve, soon, the 'Chengdu class' will lag behind the opponent, in fact, we don't fully understand the opponent, maybe the 'Chengdu class' has not yet been launched, it has already fallen behind!"

Cao Jian drooped his head and said, "The emperor has taught him well, and the grass people are ashamed......

Li Zicheng shook his head, "Cao Jian, this is not your business, the key is the shipyard, the people who manage the shipyard, the brain can't stay in the past, I went to Songjiang this time, we must solve the contradiction between production and research and development, professionals can't focus on the production of warships, we must continue to develop and innovate, so as to keep up with the trend of the world." ”

He secretly determined that China must build the most advanced warships and fleets, and that the future South China Sea Fleet would not only undertake the defensive task of guarding the coastline, but also have the ability to attack in the ocean, so that it could go out.

Now in Europe, it is the era of the explosion of science and technology, China must seize this opportunity, with the most advanced science and technology to arm itself, China's real opponent, is not the surrounding small countries, nor the Tartars outside the border, in the long run, the European fleet, is China's biggest enemy.

"The grass people understand!"

"Cao Jian, you can't count on Mr. Tang anymore for research and development, you must be the main one," Li Zicheng said: "I will send students from the high schools in Xining and Lanzhou to serve as your deputies, relying on the collective strength to track and catch up with the Western shipbuilding technology." ”

If it weren't for the lack of manpower, he would have wanted to set up a special navigation and shipbuilding school, but this time he went to Songjiang, he could set up a textile high school, and the school offered shipbuilding and navigation majors, even if he could not develop shipbuilding technology in a short time, at least he could change people's consciousness.

That night, Cao Jian's fleet rested in Nanjing, and Li Zicheng asked Zhou Qingrou to pack up and go to Songjiang with Cao Jian's fleet, where he would meet him and then pass through Hangzhou from Songjiang.

After dawn the next day, Li Zicheng took his own soldiers and went to Songjiang along the official road, along the way, even Zhenjiang and Changzhou did not stop, and when he arrived in Suzhou, he entered the city to rest for a day, and chose two wealthy merchants, and sold them the technical drawings of eight spindle spinning machines and flying shuttle looms at a price of five thousand taels.

Wang Duo, the prefect of Suzhou, let the prefect's yamen out, as Li Zicheng's temporary retainer, and held a reception dinner for Li Zicheng.

But Li Zicheng's mind was no longer in Suzhou, and he left Suzhou with his own soldiers early the next morning.

Li Zicheng did not detour along the official road, but under the leadership of a local guide, he took a shortcut to Songjiang, and when he arrived in Qingpu County in the evening, he met Guo Weijing, director of the Jiangnan Provincial Department of Transportation.

Guo Weijing was following Li Zicheng's will, was inspecting the Taihu Lake Avenue, and when he saw the cavalry brought by Li Zicheng, he dismounted and knelt down to greet him from afar.

Li Zicheng didn't get off the horse, but just let Guo Weijing get up, "Guo Aiqing, is there a relatively straight road between Suzhou and Songjiang?" ”

"There should be," Guo Weijing wiped the beads of sweat from his head and said: "Weichen came from Suzhou, and a new official road can be built between Suzhou and Qingpu County, Songjiang Prefecture, and between Qingpu County and Songjiang Prefecture, it is said that there is already a simple official road. ”

"That's good," Li Zicheng had a faint smile on his face, "After the inspection of the whole line is completed, and the specific road map is drawn, I will return to Jingshi, and immediately go south with the Road and Bridge Company to repair the road, at that time, the Taihu Lake will change greatly, haha, I will rush to Songjiang before dark, so I will not wait for Guo Aiqing." ”

Li Zicheng left Qingpu County and hurried to Songjiang Mansion at the time of dark.

At this time on weekdays, the city gate should have been closed long ago, but Li Sui, the prefect of Songjiang, knew that Li Zicheng was going to Suzhou today, so he personally led hundreds of civil and military officials and some gentry to wait outside the west gate.

Hearing the chaotic sound of horses' hooves in the distance, Li Xuan asked the servants to hold the lamp and go forward first, "Is the emperor here?" ”

He Xiaomi asked the two personal soldiers to meet him, "Who are you and why are you in charge?" ”

Li Xuan didn't know these two personal soldiers, but he knew that these were the emperor's personal guards, and he couldn't be offended, so he hurriedly bent down and arched his hand: "The next official is Li Xuan, the prefect of Songjiang, and he is here to welcome the emperor to Songjiang!"

"Lord Li will wait here first, and I will report to the emperor!" The pro-soldier turned around.

Li Xuan confirmed that it was the emperor's team, and hurriedly said to the servants: "Light the lamp, light all the lights!"

Outside the west gate of Songjiang Mansion, countless lights were lit in an instant, and in addition to Li Xuan's servants, many officials also held lamps and candles to greet the emperor.

Li Zicheng saw the lights and knew that the officials of Songjiang Mansion had come to greet him, so under the escort of He Xiaomi, he highlighted the cavalry formation and drove towards the lights.

Under the bright light, there were countless officials kneeling in the place, their foreheads knocked on the ground.

"No rudeness!" Li Zicheng arched his hand from the horse and said, "Everyone is fortunate!"

"Unfortunately, unfortunately," Li Xuan hurriedly got up and ran over, "The emperor is fortunate to be running all the way, how dare Weichen and others complain?" Your Majesty, it's getting late, please follow the ministers into the city, and the ministers will set up a banquet for the emperor in the palace......"

Li Zicheng saw Li Sui in Nanjing, so he nodded and said, "It's okay, let's go to the city first!" Seeing that there were nearly 100 officials around to greet him, he said: "It's getting late, I can't affect all the officials because of my arrival, I still have to work tomorrow, so let's leave the chief of taxation and transportation, and the rest of the personnel, go back!" He arched his hand to the officials around him, "Everyone, it's hard work!"

The officials originally attended the dinner party, at least showing their faces in front of the emperor, but they were sent back by Li Zicheng, and they felt a little uncomfortable, but when they saw Li Zicheng bowing his hand, they did not have the majesty of the emperor at all, but they looked like old friends who had not seen him for many days, and they were suddenly relieved.