Chapter 961

Stepping out of the official residence, the boundless ocean filled his eyes. In the strong wind, layers of white waves were created.

“It’s not a fearsome opponent, but a pig-like teammate.” This sentence was a true portrayal of the Great Yu Empire over the past decade. I understand your worry, but Europe’s technological development is not frightening, because they have always been developing. The most terrifying enemy always comes from within. This is what needs to be watched out for.”

Xiao Ming turned to look at Qian Dafu, speaking word by word. After years of organizing historical materials from his contemporary era, he found that the ultimate destruction of the Central Plains dynasties was actually brought about by their own hands. External enemies merely took advantage.

Taking history as a mirror, Xiao Ming was determined to completely eradicate the Great Yu Empire’s past ills and use reform to make the Great Yu Empire brand new.

In ten years, he had done it. The Great Yu Empire was now flourishing, restoring the glory of its past empire.

However, this smooth sailing did not make him complacent. He had been continuously observing the changes happening in this country to respond at any time.

And now, in his opinion, the biggest change in the Great Yu Empire, besides technology, was the increasingly active mindset of the common people.

Although the reformed Confucianism held an important position in the Great Yu Empire, with the initial signs of a cultural renaissance, the trend of competing schools of thought became more and more apparent. Now, in Qingzhou, Legalism, Mohism, and Daoism all showed signs of revival. At the same time, the modernized humanistic ideas also attracted many supporters.

Among them, the most dangerous was the re-emergence of the “Celestial Dynasty” mindset. For centuries, it was precisely due to this mindset that the Great Yu Empire’s nobles and common people focused on internal strife.

For Xiao Ming, this was by no means a good phenomenon. A country consuming itself internally would lack the momentum for progress.

Therefore, he needed to hold a sharp sword over the head of the Great Yu Empire, and this sharp sword was the enemy.

Precisely because of this, he now maintained a calm attitude towards the development of European countries. For now, he still needed these enemies to act as a deterrent for the Great Yu Empire’s officials and common people.

After all, the Great Yu Empire’s industry was also just beginning and needed the entire nation to maintain a zealous fighting spirit.

And making the defeat of the enemy the goal was the inexhaustible source of this fighting spirit.

Qian Dafu looked at Xiao Ming. Now, he found it increasingly difficult to fathom what this Emperor was thinking. But fortunately, no matter what Xiao Ming was thinking, the path the Great Yu Empire was on was always the right one.

“Your Majesty’s words are interesting, but your old servant does not quite understand.” Qian Dafu said with a wry smile. “But your old servant believes that Your Majesty’s words are certainly correct.”

Xiao Ming smiled and shook his head. This Qian Dafu was becoming more and more evasive.

He no longer paid attention to Qian Dafu but instead headed towards Dengzhou.

His purpose for coming here this time had been achieved. There was no need for him to remain in the military port, after all, Xie Yuan and the others still had many things to handle after the battle, and he did not need to participate.

Returning to Dengzhou City, he rested for a morning. In the afternoon, he and Qian Dafu and others took the steam locomotive and arrived in Qingzhou in the evening.

By this time, the ministers of the Grand Council and the Grand Secretariat were already waiting at the station. Xiao Ming had informed them of the naval battle in Dengzhou before he left.

They also wanted to know some specific details now.

Returning to the imperial palace with everyone, Xiao Ming handed Dick’s confession to Pang Yukun in the imperial study, instructing him to read it out to the ministers.

After Pang Yukun finished reading, everyone’s faces turned somewhat grim.

“These two damned scoundrels! Ten years of the Great Yu Empire’s development were destroyed by these two traitors!” Niu Ben said angrily. “Your Majesty, these Europeans dare to launch a surprise attack on our military port now. If we give them a few more decades to develop, wouldn’t they become even more rampant?”

“That’s right. It’s a pity Europe is too far from here, otherwise, we would surely send troops to annihilate them,” Luo Quan agreed.

Pang Yukun mused, “The two generals need not be anxious. In yesterday’s battle, they lost all their assets in Nanyang. This is a good thing for the Great Yu Empire. Seizing this opportunity, we can seize their colonies.”

“Senior Grand Secretary Pang is absolutely right. Their rash initiation of war gives us a pretext for attack, which gives us a just cause,” Fei Ji said, stroking his beard and chuckling softly.

Xiao Ming’s gaze swept across everyone’s faces. The reactions of the officials and generals pleased him. At the very least, in their hearts, Europe would be a formidable enemy for the Great Yu Empire.

Walking to the world map in the study, Xiao Ming said, “We must naturally seize the colonies in Nanyang, but our threats do not end there. Tsarist Russia is an extremely dangerous enemy. Now, Britain is selling steam engines everywhere in Europe, and Tsarist Russia is also a customer. This is not a good thing. And after we captured Albazin, the Golden Tent Khanate grew restless, and is now cooperating with Tsarist Russia, trying to thwart our attack in the north. And here, a completely new country has been established. This is also bad news.”

The place Xiao Ming pointed to was the North American continent.

According to Dick, Britain had basically given up on the war in North America, but still maintained hostility, targeting them everywhere.

Similar to history, this country also chose the name “America” for itself. This was because a British man had named this continent “America” upon discovering it, and the newly established United States of America still adopted this name.

When he learned of this news, Xiao Ming was somewhat bewildered. He first learned that America was in civil war three years ago. Based on that, the American War of Independence should be over.

Of course, Xiao Ming was still somewhat displeased, because North America was a “chosen land.” Establishing a nation in this place would give it immense geographical advantages, and the resources on this land were also abundant.

Pang Yukun and Niu Ben and the others looked at this country marked by Xiao Ming. They were somewhat confused as to why Xiao Ming placed such importance on a newly established country.

“Your Majesty, is there anything special about this country?” Pang Yukun couldn’t help but ask.

“Yes. From now on, we must attach importance to this country. We must absolutely not give it a chance to grow strong. You all now understand that the world is a dangerous jungle, where only the fittest survive. We must use our current advantages to build a foundation for the next few centuries of development.”

Xiao Ming said loudly. With the advent of electricity, the internal combustion engine would be the next research goal for the Great Yu Empire. And this way, oil would become an extremely important resource.

In later generations, his country suffered greatly from the problem of oil. He would learn from that lesson and seize firm control of oil from now on, and this would be a grand plan.