Capital Datang

The morning sun shone through the glass windows of the cabin and shone warmly on Irina's bedside.She had already woken up, but she didn't get up because of her heavy body.Now she has been pregnant for nearly eight months. If there are no accidents, her child will be born in Chang'an in Datang, just like the child's father Li Ke.

Just as Irina was stroking her high swollen abdomen with a sweet smile on her face, imagining the scene of the child's birth in the future, the door of the bathroom next to her opened, and Li Ke, who had finished washing, came out from inside.

Irina watched Li Ke rubbing his scalp while walking, and couldn't help but smiled and said, "Sanlang, the condition of your steamship in Datang is really good, and there is hot water for us to take a bath every day!"

Li Ke also dried his hair at this time, and replied: "Of course, the speed of this steam ship is several times faster than that of a sail ship, and it requires a lot of fresh water. In addition, we have already entered the Nanyang region. The fleet can find the port to replenish fresh water and coal at any time, so hot water supply is naturally not a problem!"

Some time ago, when Li Ke and the others arrived at Ceylon Island, they immediately changed to a steamer with faster speed and better conditions.Irina and some accompanying Roman personnel were also very shocked by this kind of fast ship that runs on coal without manpower and wind power. They have been interested in the structure of steam ships for a long time, but in the end they found that this The core of this steamship is an iron guy called a steam engine. Even if the principle is known, Roman craftsmen cannot make it.

"Sanlang, what do you want for breakfast today? I want steamed dumplings!" Irina said with a smile.She and Li Ke have noble identities, and she is pregnant again.So there is a special team responsible for taking care of her, including doctors and chefs.He takes good care of her every day.

"I don't have much appetite, let them do whatever they want!" Li Ke replied absent-mindedly.

Seeing Li Ke's appearance, Irina also understood, and immediately stood up and held Li Ke's hand, and said with concern: "Sanlang, I know you care about your father's body, but don't make trouble with your own body." , You haven’t eaten properly during this time, and you’re obviously much thinner than before. We still have such a long distance from Chang’an, if you fall ill on the way, you might delay your trip.”

Hearing Irina's words, Li Ke couldn't help sighing. Ever since he learned that his father Li Shimin was seriously ill, he immediately arranged the affairs of Rome and Wu, and then rushed to Chang'an desperately, but because the distance was too far In addition, there are no steamships from Ceylon to the Mediterranean.So he was delayed on the road for a while, which made him very anxious, fearing that he would not be able to see his father for the last time, so naturally he was not in the mood to eat and drink.

"Okay. Irina, please ask someone to prepare some breakfast that I like. In the next time, I will take good care of my body!" Li Ke didn't want the pregnant Irina to worry about himself.That's why he smiled at her.

Seeing the long-lost smile finally appear on Li Ke's face, Irina also felt a little relieved from her heavy heart.Immediately ordered the maid to prepare breakfast.After a while, breakfast for the two was delivered to the room.

Irina is a basket of steamed dumplings plus a bowl of lean meat porridge.The breakfast she prepared for Li Ke was fried eggs, but there was a lot of shrimp added to the eggs, and there was a lot of caviar on it. These caviar were all made of sturgeon eggs from the Caspian Sea. One of his favorite foods, after Li Ke tasted it a few years ago, he immediately fell in love with this caviar.

Seeing that Irina took such pains to prepare breakfast for himself, Li Ke had no choice but to sit down and finish eating with her.Today's weather is good. After breakfast, Li Ke accompanied Irina to the deck again, holding the side of the boat and looking at the scenery on both sides of the strait.

The place where they are driving now is the eastern section of the Strait of Malacca, and they are about to reach the Lion City, which is considered to have entered the western end of the Nanyang region.Now that the Malacca Strait has been rectified by Li Yin, several small countries on both sides of the strait have been wiped out, and the entire strait is completely controlled by Li Yin, which makes the law and order here very good. At the same time, some small ports have appeared on both sides of the strait, which can make up for the The deficiencies of the port in the Lion City.

Li Ke's fleet consists of nine steamships, four of which are the latest steam warships. Although they are wooden-hulled ships, they are also covered with a layer of iron plates to protect ordinary crossbows. It doesn't do much for artillery.

In fact, the journey from Ceylon to the east is already very safe, and there is no need to use warships to protect it along the way. The reason why Li Yin arranged these four warships is mainly out of politeness. The king of the country, so the escorting fleet is absolutely indispensable.

Although the speed of the steamship is very fast, it has a huge disadvantage, that is, it is relatively dependent on the port, mainly fuel and fresh water. These two things are the power source of the steam engine, and the consumption is naturally very large, so Every time a port arrives, the steamer needs to enter the port to replenish supplies.

After years of development, the Lion City has become the largest port in Southeast Asia, ranking above Manila. Ships traveling from south to north will berth here, and with the rise of steam ships, the Lion City Port will The port is divided in two, with one half berthed for sailing ships and the other half for steamers.

In normal times, Li Ke would definitely take Irina to stay in the Lion City for a few days, but now is an extraordinary period, he is not in the mood to play at all, and Irina is also very sensible, urging her to hurry along the way, so After entering the Lion City, their fleet immediately set sail again and officially entered the core area of ​​Nanyang.

Although it was only a replenishment in the Lion City, Irina has already felt the prosperity of Daqi. The ships in the Lion City port come in and out in an orderly manner, and merchant ships from almost all countries can be found here. , There are countless hoisting equipment made of steel. Under the pull of the dock workers, it is incredible that a worker can lift a thousand catties.

After leaving the Lion City, the fleet headed north, first stopped at Linyi, and finally entered the southern coast of Datang after several days of sailing.When the fleet docked in Guangzhou, Irina seemed very excited. She had heard Li Ke talk about the scenery of Datang, and she was full of yearning for Datang. Today, she finally arrived in the land of Datang.

However, Irina soon discovered that the port of Guangzhou was actually similar to the ports of the Daqi country she had seen before, and there was almost no big difference in human customs and customs.Of course, this is just Irina's own feeling. After all, she only took a few glances from a distance on the boat, and did not enter the city of Guangzhou to visit.

When Li Ke and his fleet arrived in Keelung, Taiwan, this time the fleet did not leave immediately after replenishing supplies, but planned to stay in Keelung for two days. I was worried that Irina's body would not be able to take it, especially the fetus would be affected. It happened that there were imperial doctors in Keelung Li Yin's palace, so they could help Irina to recuperate her body.

It was for this reason that Irina finally had the opportunity to go ashore. That night, they were arranged by Wang An and other Qi ministers to rest in the palace. On the second day, Li Ke took Irina to stay in Keelung Turn around a bit.

"Sanlang, this playground is really fun, especially suitable for children. Let's build one in Constantinople later, okay?" Irina sat on the small train, looking at the lively crowd in the playground, with an excited expression on her face opened the mouth.Since we are going out to play, we naturally have to go to the playground in Keelung. This is the busiest place in the whole city, and it is also one of the places where children are most concentrated. Irina is pregnant with a child now, so Li Ke took her here for a walk .

"Of course there is no problem. There are also coal mines in the Mediterranean area. Now my people have discovered some and are organizing manual mining. When we have coal, we can introduce steam engines. Not only will there be playgrounds, but there will also be steam mines." Ships and trains, maybe we will build a railway directly leading to Datang, and when we come to Datang again, we don’t have to go around by boat like we do now.” Li Ke said with a look of longing.

Now they are sitting on a small train in an amusement park. This kind of train is specially prepared for tourists. It can pass most of the facilities in the amusement park along the way. Unfortunately, Irina is pregnant, and most of the amusement facilities cannot be used at all. I can only sit in the car and watch the parents play with their children in the playground.

"Sanlang, I heard that Chang'an has sent new news, how is father's health now?" Irina didn't just focus on playing, but quickly thought of the most important thing.

"The sixth brother has good news. Father has woken up from a coma, and he hasn't been in a coma for several days. His condition must have begun to improve!" Li Ke smiled after hearing this, and when they arrived in Keelung At that time, Li Yin sent the news from Chang'an, which made Li Ke very happy.It was for this reason that he decided to take Irina to rest in Keelung.

It's a pity that Li Ke didn't know that the real situation of Li Shimin's body needed to be kept secret. Li Min was worried that the news would be leaked during the transmission, so he didn't dare to tell him the truth.

Li Ke, who was in a better mood, took Irina to have a good time in Keelung for two days. In addition to the playground, they also went to zoos, museums, libraries and other places. These places are all iconic places in a city. It is also the center where crowds gather, which opened Irina's horizons and gave her a deeper understanding of the Han people's way of life.

Two days later, Li Ke's fleet finally left Keelung, and stopped in Shanghai and Dengzhou on the way, and also received the news that his son was going to get married, but when he heard the news, Li Ke's face turned pale. Changing, with his intelligence, he also smelled something different from the incident of his son's sudden wedding, so he immediately rushed to Chang'an without wasting any time.

While Li Ke was speeding up, Li Yin accompanied Li Shimin to a very special place, and their trip was very secretive, even Li Zhi and others didn't know where the two of them went. (To be continued..)