Shen Yu repeated the number.
Five thousand tons…
Even in the eyes of a modern person like Shen Yu, that was an enormous existence.
What did five thousand tons mean?
In the history Shen Yu had learned, Zheng He’s fleet crossed the Indian Ocean with treasure ships of two to three thousand tons.
Wherever they went, overseas countries were shocked, admired, and submitted, welcoming the imperial fleet with food and drink.
And those were the flagships of Zheng He’s fleet.
But according to the Empress, five-thousand-ton treasure ships often docked at the Capital as cargo ships, meaning there were many—probably more than could be counted on one hand.
What did that mean?
If Zheng He’s flagship was like a mountain to overseas countries, then the Empress’s five-thousand-ton treasure ships were a mountain range.
When those foreign barbarians saw a “mountain range” sailing toward them, blotting out the sky and filling the horizon, how much psychological pressure would they endure?
Five thousand tons was almost the limit for sailing warships.
This represented the empire’s world-leading shipbuilding technology—in materials, design, and structure, unquestionably far ahead.
And it had been tested over three generations of emperors, for more than a hundred years!
Wait, why didn’t you say you were this strong earlier?
Then I, Shen Yu, wouldn’t have gone the medical recruitment exam route.
I could have gone the military exam and joined the navy to expand the empire’s territory.
No wonder my grandfather always said that if the court really wanted to suppress the bandits in Qingfeng Village, it would be a devastating disaster for them.
Five-thousand-ton ships could be built on a whim.
When those treasure ships pretended to be cargo ships, carrying grain, medicine, and silk, calling them cargo ships was fine.
But if they were fully armed with the navy and countless cannons, what should they be called…?
“Minister Shen, I don’t know much about overseas barbarians. Are these five-thousand-ton treasure ships enough to deal with them?”
“You see, the last time the empire sent a fleet overseas was during the reigns of the Founding Emperor and Taizong. That was several hundred years ago.”
The Empress had a worried expression, but in Shen Yu’s view, her concern was completely unnecessary.
“Your Majesty, may I dare ask… how many five-thousand-ton treasure ships does the court have?”
“By next spring, we can prepare about twenty. That’s just the beginning. After the craftsmen and navy soldiers become familiar with the ships, we can increase the number to about sixty by the end of the year. As for smaller ships, countless more…”
Hearing this, Shen Yu was completely stunned.
One year? Triple? Triple?
As for those “smaller ships,” Shen Yu thought that was a humblebrag.
If two-thousand-ton ships counted as small, then Shen Yu thought the empire unifying the whole world wasn’t out of the question.
Could the largest oceangoing ship of overseas barbarians reach two thousand tons?
Probably not even a thousand.
And ships of two thousand tons docked at their ports—just the sheer presence would scare them to death.
“Your Majesty, earlier I thought opening the seas was a bit rushed. But now it seems… why don’t we start before the new year?”
To be honest, the Empress was still too conservative.
If Shen Yu were the emperor with such military power, any minister who opposed opening the seas would be taken to the port and executed by cannon fire from the cannons on the five-thousand-ton treasure ships.
After a few hundred cannon blasts, no matter how tough those ministers talked, they would soften when they saw the scene.
“Huh?”
Shen Yu explained to the Empress what a five-thousand-ton treasure ship meant.
The Empress was baffled, but she thought that if Shen Yu understood even this, she truly was the talent she had chosen.
Such talent should be kept close.
“Do you mean that sailing ships powered by wind and manpower can only go this far?”
“Yes. Although I don’t understand shipbuilding, I know a bit about the principle of extremes meeting opposites. The larger the treasure ship, the more driving force it needs. It’s hard to improve further with just manpower and sails.”
To drive a ten-thousand-ton wooden ship purely by rowing or oars would require thousands or even tens of thousands of rowers.
That itself posed a huge organizational challenge.
Logistics would only be more bloated.
As for sail power, that was even more absurd.
The larger the wooden sailing ship, the larger the sail area and the higher the mast required.
Given the current strength of timber and rope technology, a mast tens of meters high could collapse the ship under its own weight or snap in a storm.
“I see. Then does Minister Shen have a good solution?”
The Empress said, taking a palm-sized gold sycee from her sleeve and placing it heavily on the table.
Shen Yu’s eyes lit up.
“Speak freely, Minister Shen. I have long realized that your words can sometimes enlighten even me, the emperor. Your talent far exceeds my imagination. If you can also offer some guidance on state instruments—even just inspiration—I will reward you heavily. No request will be denied!”
“I do!”
Shen Yu nodded.
Of course, it wasn’t for the gold.
She wanted to further divert the court’s attention, get them to focus on overseas, preferably leaving Qingfeng Village alone for centuries.
Only then could Qingfeng Village be truly worry-free.
“I don’t know much, but I can show Your Majesty something.”
Shen Yu said, covering the copper pot with its lid and then increasing the heat.
Soon, boiling steam began to push the lid up with a puffing sound.
The Empress was clever.
She stared at the trembling copper lid for a long time.
As the water boiled, the lid shook more obviously.
The Empress’s beautiful phoenix eyes grew brighter.
“I will return and summon the officials from the Ministry of Works, the Inner Palace Treasury, and the Bureau of Weapons to discuss this.”
“Minister Shen is truly talented… But I still find it strange: why are none of the court officials as capable as you? How do you have so many brilliant ideas?”
The Empress found Shen Yu completely different from the other officials.
Her thinking was open, her ideas unconventional, unbound by rules.
Like a chess player who didn’t follow conventions, while others were still studying how to solve the current game, Shen Yu just flipped the board.
Unlike those learned scholar-officials, her thoughts were not imprisoned by any force.
Even when she, as the emperor, interacted with Shen Yu, she could vaguely feel that Shen Yu wasn’t really afraid of her.
She was more like acting.
“Your Majesty, I told you when I first came to the palace to propose the idea of newspapers.”
“Whether for healing the body or governing the state, one must have ‘clear evidence’! Where there is a claim, there must be proof!”
“Just like treating an illness: if it can be cured, it can be cured; if it cannot, it cannot. The dross that cannot be cured must be discarded.”
“I see.”
The Empress nodded.
Shen Yu’s words were somewhat interesting.
The Empress thought… using Shen Yu’s “clear evidence,” could she use it to challenge the noble families that controlled the right of interpretation of classics?
Those noble families manipulated the entire empire with distorted principles from the classics.
But if the Empress demanded that wherever there is a claim, there must be proof, those distorted, insubstantial principles would lose their hold.
For example, if a disaster occurred somewhere, officials would say it was because the emperor was not diligent, angering Heaven, causing Heaven’s punishment.
But under the principle of “where there is a claim, there must be proof,” these twisted arguments would collapse instantly.
Who could prove that a river dike bursting and the people’s suffering was Heaven’s punishment for the emperor’s lack of diligence?
Just based on the civil officials’ words?
No joke.
If so, then show me the “clear evidence.”
Most of the time, officials couldn’t prove these insubstantial things; they could only cherry-pick principles from the classics.
But the emperor could.
Through the Fenglin Guards, the Empress could easily “prove” that a dike burst was due to officials embezzling funds for repairs.
And that the people’s suffering despite relief was due to layers of corruption.
Where there is a claim, there must be proof—this was undoubtedly a powerful weapon Shen Yu had inadvertently given the Empress.
If the officials could prove it was the emperor’s fault, fine, the emperor would change.
But if the emperor could prove it was the officials’ fault, that was a big problem.
“I have taken note of this. Also… there is another matter. It’s not a big deal for you, but you should not appear at court for the next few days.”
“From now on, if I have anything, I’ll take a few extra steps and come to Mu’en Hall to find you.”
“Hmm?”
Hearing this, Shen Yu was puzzled.
So that’s why the Empress came to Mu’en Hall today.
Shen Yu had thought it was a leadership inspection.
“Has something happened at court?”
Shen Yu asked softly.
She didn’t need to guess that those civil officials and scholar-officials who disliked her were up to something.
Shen Yu wasn’t worried about them targeting her; she had ways to deal with it.
If necessary, grab a few troublemakers and kill them.
That wasn’t a big deal.
After all, she was still a bandit chieftain’s daughter by status.
If she couldn’t solve the problem, she could solve the people causing the problem.
Shen Yu was more worried about them going after the people around her.
“Sigh. Some petty people are secretly exploiting the Hundred-Year Sore. You’re from Qingzhou, right? There’s a problem in Qingzhou City. For some reason, the vaccine sent to Qingzhou wasn’t effective. I only found out recently.”
Shen Yu didn’t answer.
According to her fake identity, she was indeed from Qingzhou.
But in reality, she was from Qingfeng Village.
“During this time, the Hundred-Year Sore has swept through Qingzhou City at an unimaginable speed. More than half the people in the city are infected. The entire city is nearly paralyzed. This morning, I ordered the Qingzhou City government office to lock down the city.”
“The epidemic in the city is severe. People are dying every moment. Even those who received the vaccine cannot escape.”
“The noble families are making a big deal out of it. Corpses with vaccination marks are piling up in the city. With such ironclad evidence, even I find it hard to deal with.”
“The voices in court impeaching you are growing louder, to the point that I can no longer suppress them.”
The Empress looked at Shen Yu.
She trusted her.
She knew best whether the vaccine worked.
So many prefectures had received the vaccine from the court.
People who got vaccinated didn’t get infected even after close contact with Hundred-Year Sore patients.
Why did the vaccine fail in Shen Yu’s ancestral home, Qingzhou?
And it hit the most important city in Qingzhou…
The Empress didn’t believe someone wasn’t meddling.