Seven Seas Beacon Fire

With a main armor belt 350 mm thick and of a relatively generous height, and turret and gun mount armor of the same thickness, its protection was far superior to that of the similarly laid-out Royal Navy battleships, such as the Royal Victoria 343. Its 43,300 horsepower propulsion system could drive the 29,000-ton full-load displacement ship to a speed of 21 knots. Such a powerful battleship was something that the Yingzhou Navy had never even dared to dream of before.

However, they have now acquired two of them at once, including two Derfflinger-class battlecruisers that were once considered the strongest battlecruisers in Europe.

These four ships, originally the pride of the Leitanian Navy, have been temporarily named "Amaterasu" and "Susanoo" by the Yingzhou Navy after experiencing a history of being "served by three masters." These two names, which are derived from mythology and may seem a bit chuunibyou to military enthusiasts in later generations, are mainly because the Yingzhou Navy currently does not have any naming rules for its capital ships.

In contrast, the two battlecruisers, having learned from experience, were named much more normally—"Amagi" and "Akagi." Naming them after mountains sounds much better than the two battleships, which have a somewhat chuunibyou (delusional) feel.

It is said that the Navy is considering naming the battleships after ancient countries, but in Kuroki Takeshi's view, the name is irrelevant; the key is that they are real warships.

Stroking the steel hull of the warship, closing his eyes seemed to allow him to resonate with it. Although the ship was built in distant Letania, it now belonged to Yingzhou, so Kuroki Gouichi couldn't help but puff out his chest with pride.

"Look at those merchant ships outside. The most important thing for Tang is to quickly restore their strength. If it weren't for the fact that the United States of Colombia had a weak leader, they would never have won this war. If I were the leader of Colombia, I would only need to fight this war for another three years, and Tang would surely be defeated!"

Kuroki made his assertion with certainty. Although some of the other senior officers present frowned slightly at his remarks, the other young naval officers and soldiers began to applaud.

After all, Kuroki's remarks were based on Colombia's significant gains in this war.

After all, even the series of battles that were reversed at the end of the war were blamed on Pershing in the propaganda. According to the Colombian Navy's "Pearl Harbor Report", the Colombian Navy did not suffer any major defeats after the initial setbacks in the war.

Even in the final stages of the war, records show that the Colombian Navy achieved a "minor victory" in the first Battle of the Bashi Channel, while the second Battle of the Bashi Channel was classified by the Colombian Navy as "a large-scale commerce raiding operation".

Spring and Autumn Annals style.jpg

With such a propaganda machine, the Yingzhou Navy had considerable confidence in the Colombian Navy, especially since the combined strength of the Yingzhou Navy and the Colombian Navy now had a significant size advantage over the Tang Dynasty Royal Navy, which naturally made these young officers and soldiers even more proud.

What? You're asking why the side that was taken as spoils of war would be so proud?

So what? After all, there are still some humanoid beings in this world who believe that their ancestors were willing. If people in normal countries can't understand the mindset of colonies, then they shouldn't try to understand it.

However, at least at this moment, when the people of Yingzhou on the shore saw the officers and soldiers of the battleships "Amaterasu" and "Susanoo" standing on the decks, main guns, and superstructures of the two battleships in their clean white naval uniforms with a disciplined military bearing that even the Royal Navy of Victoria could not find fault with, they probably did feel a deep sense of pride for Yingzhou at that moment.

Today, the two battleships anchored in Edo Bay in a state of readiness for inspection are naturally there to welcome a distinguished guest. Kuroki Gouichi and his companions are also drawn to a beautifully decorated yacht that is gradually approaching from afar.

The yacht headed directly toward the metal gangway lowered by the battleship Amaterasu, and on the foredeck of the yacht, one could vaguely see a group of people surrounding a short and rather thin young figure.

But this young figure was enough to make many ordinary naval officers and soldiers on the two battleships feel extremely excited and excited. Kuroki Takeshi and other senior officers quickly took advantage of the last moment to tidy up their uniforms and insignia, and lined up at the gangway boarding point.

As the young figure carefully approached the yacht and stepped onto the "Amaterasu" along the cliff, the announcer's loud voice echoed from the deck: "His Highness Crown Prince Akishino has arrived!"

Chapter 264 A Punch That Opens the Way (5)

When Akihito boarded the battleship Amaterasu, he tried his best to control his emotions and to show the composure and divinity that a "descendant of Amaterasu" should have in front of these naval officers and soldiers. However, it was his first time boarding such a steel behemoth, and he couldn't help but subconsciously look up at the tall turrets and raised gun barrels.

This stuff has an irresistible appeal to any man with normal hormone levels.

However, Akihito quickly regained his composure and composure. As the "Crown Prince," he knew very well that the reason why the lineage of Emperor Eishu had been able to survive to this day and endure countless times under the rule of the shogunate was mainly because, apart from the fact that the emperor had not held real power for a long time and posed no great threat, the lineage had always firmly linked itself with divinity.

Many of the lowest-ranking, poorly educated people of Yingzhou truly regarded the Emperor as a living god. As the Crown Prince, as the Emperor of Weilai, even if he was just an Emperor who could call himself Emperor behind closed doors within the Yingzhou archipelago, he was an unquestionable "god".

Gods are not allowed to make exaggerated expressions. In fact, the Emperor even uses strange crane sounds when speaking in public in order to demonstrate this divinity.

However, as a crown prince who received both Chinese and Western education from a young age and had been exposed to the world since childhood, he knew very well that in this era, the methods that the government used in the past were far from sufficient.

He didn't want to shut himself away and play house on these barren islands. Zhaoren hoped that one day Yingzhou could become a powerful country like the Victorian Empire, so that all the other countries in the world would look at this small island nation with new eyes.

Surely I can't wait until I become emperor and still be an emperor who only knows how to stay behind closed doors? Surely I can't wait until I rule Japan and leave the people of many other countries confused about whether they are "Kii," "Wa," or "Japan"?

You should know that the legitimacy of this Yingzhou, which is now operating under the name of the Kii Kingdom, is extremely weak. As a country in the East Asian civilization sphere, how can you claim to be king without the certification of the central empire? How can you rule this country without being officially recognized by the Emperor of China?

You yourself claim your legitimacy? These days, even if Japan emphasizes its unbroken imperial lineage a thousand times, it carries no weight in the eyes of the West or the world. Back in the Middle Ages, the four great empires and four crowns universally recognized in medieval Europe were:

China, Rome, Persia, and Ethiopia.

From the past to the present, all Western countries with any connection to empires, whose monarchs were not content with just being a king and wanted to wear a crown on their heads, had to find a way to be related to one of the four crowns in some way.

For example, the crowns of the Second Empire of Letania and the Empire of Ursus both claimed to originate from Rome, while the crown of the Victorian Empire tried to associate itself with Persia through the Balat.

Obviously, Yingzhou has no chance of successfully impersonating any of these four crowns.

Therefore, under these circumstances, Akihito figured out a truth—to enhance the legitimacy of the current Kii Dynasty, it was necessary to increase the country's international reputation and influence, and there were many simple ways to do so.

1. Produce a specific drug or vaccine for the "Columbia flu";

2: Defeat any one of the following in a head-on confrontation: Tang Dynasty / Victoria / Colombia / Gaul / Syracuse;

3: Relying on marketing to piggyback on existing trends;

Therefore, it's quite clear to the Crown Prince which of these three options to choose...

The moment he shook hands with Kuroki Takeshi, Akihito made his request: "Commander, may we have a long talk later?"

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Kuroki Takeshi had no reason to refuse the Crown Prince's invitation. Therefore, after leading the Crown Prince on a tour of the entire warship, Kuroki Takeshi, along with his trusted adjutants, the Crown Prince, and several attendants, arrived at the officers' conference room on the battleship "Amaterasu".

When it was built, the Second Empire of Leitania considered that the King-class battleship would take over the role of the flagship of the fleet's high seas fleet in the future, replacing the Frederick the Great. In addition, even if the King-class battleship did not take over the role of flagship, it would still serve as the flagship of the Third Battleship Squadron. Therefore, it had more complete flagship facilities and a relatively larger bridge than its sister ships. Even the conference room on board was more spacious than the other King-class battleships.

Of course, the meeting room was destined to be empty today. As soon as Kuroki Takeshi sat down, His Highness the Crown Prince, who had been trying his best to maintain a "mature and steady" image in front of the naval officers and soldiers, asked impatiently: "Commander, what is your opinion on our two battlecruisers that are still at sea and may be intercepted by the Tang Kingdom?"

“These two ships are difficult to intercept, and even less likely to be forcibly intercepted—as long as our determination is firm enough, the Tang Kingdom will certainly not take any drastic measures.” Kuroki Takeshi reiterated his previous stance to the Crown Prince: “A ceasefire and control of military equipment are common consensuses among all countries in the world. If the Tang Empire takes the initiative to provoke a conflict at this time, then they will inevitably face attacks from all other countries in the world.”

Upon hearing Kuroki Gotsuyoshi's words, Crown Prince Akishino finally showed a genuine smile for the first time since boarding the ship. As if he had found a close friend, he couldn't help but lean forward slightly and say, "I think so too, but the ministers in the court are reacting to this matter as if it were a major crisis, so I'm almost losing hope... General, can you be sure that the Tang Kingdom won't use force?"

Kuroki Gouichi chuckled and pointed to the deck beneath his feet: "Your Highness, I have received orders today to lead these two capital ships out to sea in a few days to meet those two battlecruisers. That means I will be facing the Tang Dynasty Royal Navy head-on at sea. Do you think I would joke about the safety of myself and my colleagues?"

As he spoke, he took out a notebook from his pocket and pushed it in front of Crown Prince Zhaoren: "You can open this notebook and take a look. This is the publicly available data that I have compiled from various news newspapers over the past period of time. In the West, this kind of publicly available data intelligence analysis is considered a new military discipline. I consider myself to be a pioneer in this field in the entire Yingzhou. So you can take a look at the data I have compiled. I have circled the places that need to be emphasized in red pen."

Zhaoren took the notebook from Kuroki Takeshi's hand. After opening it, he saw the statistics on trade between the Tang Empire and Yingzhou since the ceasefire. When these figures were compiled into a bar chart, the exaggerated increase left Crown Prince Zhaoren speechless.

"Has the trade volume of imports and exports increased this much? And this is mainly... mainly with the Tang Kingdom?"

"Isn't it surprising, Your Highness? Logically speaking, from the perspective of the Tang Kingdom, we betrayed the Ming Empire in this war, and after the establishment of the new Tang Dynasty, they should regard us as enemies. But in fact, our trade level has been improving. Moreover, apart from Colombia, our largest trading partner is the Tang Kingdom. Think about the Shanxi merchants in the late Northern Ming Dynasty. All of this is not hard to understand."

After speaking, Kuroki Gotsuya patted his chest and gave a thumbs-up, saying, "Please trust my professional judgment, Your Highness. There will be no armed conflict! They are unwilling! And they dare not!"

Chapter 265 A single punch opens the way (6)

Kuroki Takeshi always believed that professional naval officers should be bold enough to make decisions.

Moreover, ever since he was demoted from the front-line fleet to port for publishing that article due to his lack of political sensitivity, Kuroki Gotsuki, after much painful reflection, deeply realized that it was unacceptable for a soldier to be ignorant of politics. And perhaps due to the great psychological gap at the time, he went from one extreme to another.

Today, Takeshi Kuroki is no longer satisfied with simply understanding and conforming to the political landscape; he wants to go further and, if the political situation does not conform to his expectations, then he will change the situation in the direction he desires.

Of course, Kuroki Gotsuki knew very well that even with his considerable influence over the entire garrison fleet, it would be difficult for him to change the overall political direction of Yingzhou. Therefore, at this critical juncture, he saw Crown Prince Akishino's inspection of the naval warships as a golden opportunity.

During the hour-long closed-door meeting between Kuroki Takeshi and Crown Prince Akishino in the officers' conference room of the battleship Amaterasu, no one on the other officers and sailors of the battleship, or the other personnel accompanying Crown Prince Akishino to inspect the warship, knew exactly what they discussed.

However, when Crown Prince Zhaoren came out, it was obvious that the somewhat thin Crown Prince had an excited flush on his face.

Furthermore, the Crown Prince stated that he would postpone his return to the palace by one day and would spend the night at the naval guesthouse in the port.

Crown Prince Akishino's performance caused some people to show undisguised surprise. Major General Hisamitsu Shirane looked at Takeshi Kuroki with the eyes of someone who was getting to know him again—what kind of spell did you cast on the Crown Prince in the past hour?

After all, it was obvious to anyone with eyes that His Highness the Crown Prince hadn't had a very satisfying one-hour closed-door meeting, and it seemed he was planning to have a long talk with the commander of the garrison fleet all night.

I've never heard of the Commander learning any magic from a fox spirit or raccoon dog to transform into a beauty and seduce the Crown Prince.

In his heightened excitement, Akihito paid no heed to the slightly strange looks he was receiving from others. He excitedly left the battleship Amaterasu, leaving Kuroki Takeshi with a thought that left much to the imagination: "I'll be waiting for you tonight." He then boarded the yacht again and returned to port.

On the deck of the warship, after watching the Crown Prince depart, several senior officers of the garrison fleet, led by Kuroki Takeshi, could no longer contain their curiosity and began to press Kuroki for details of what he had said to the Crown Prince inside the room.

Kuroki waved his hand, signaling the ordinary officers and soldiers to leave and return to the hull or aft deck, leaving the spacious foredeck entirely to him and several other senior officers. Then, he used the most concise language possible to summarize the "important matter" he and the Crown Prince had discussed.

However, even though his choice of words was quite simple, it still left the officers around him speechless with astonishment.

"Kuroki-kun! This is far too risky! And I think we should ask His Majesty the Emperor to make a decision on such a big matter, shouldn't we?"

Upon hearing this, Kuroki merely sneered, "To expect the Emperor to take time out of his paper airplane-folding routine to make a decision concerning the future and destiny of our nation?"

This one sentence silenced the lieutenant general. After all, everyone knew that although His Majesty the Emperor was a good-natured emperor, he did have some mental issues, and these issues were intermittent. The last time he had an episode, he folded a memorial into a paper airplane and threw it out during a court meeting. What was even more embarrassing was that the Colombian ambassador was also present at the time, and the paper airplane knocked off the master's wig. The scene was extremely awkward.

It is indeed somewhat inappropriate to let His Majesty the Emperor make such a decision.

Then someone suggested that the Prime Minister should be informed, but this suggestion was personally rejected by Kuroki.

"Raising this matter with the Prime Minister will only lead to him ordering me to abandon the operation, and will not bring any benefit. Colleagues, we do not need war or fighting. We need to fight against the seemingly fierce but actually weak Tang Empire in the cracks!"

"Now, I am the only one in all of Yingzhou who has seen through the Tang Empire's outward strength but inner weakness. After this is accomplished, we will become heroes in the eyes of the people, fighting for the rights and dignity of Yingzhou! Everyone! Soldiers are born to serve their country. Please help me accomplish this great task. After it is completed, I swear I will not keep this glory to myself!"

After he finished speaking, he bowed 90 degrees to the senior naval officers on the deck. After this series of bows, the senior officers looked at each other, and finally Rear Admiral Shirane came forward to help him up. From this moment on, he knew that his plan had been half successful—he had gained the support of the front-line fleet.

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After returning to the yacht, Crown Prince Akihito did not go into the cabin to rest, but went to the deck and began to observe with great interest the merchant ships that could be seen in the bay within his sight through binoculars.

A palace attendant approached Crown Prince Zhaoren and earnestly advised him that although it was already springtime, the weather was still quite chilly, and he should return to his cabin.

“It’s alright!” Zhao Ren said while continuing to look at the sea through his binoculars. “The naval officers and soldiers don’t feel cold standing on the slope of the warship in the same uniforms all day, so why would I be afraid of this little bit of cool breeze?”

The eunuch really wanted to speak frankly to His Highness the Crown Prince: Don't you have any clear understanding of your own physical condition? With a height of less than 1.6 meters and a weight of less than 50 kilograms, how can you compare to those burly sailors carefully selected by the navy? Those sailors are either shoveling coal in the engine room or loading 45-kilogram 150mm shells; they are basically all tall men over 1.65 meters (relatively speaking). If you were over 1.65 meters tall and weighed over 60 kilograms, I wouldn't be here advising you to go inside to avoid the storm.

Seeing that persuasion was futile, the eunuch could only beckon someone to bring out a coat from inside. After carefully draping the coat over Crown Prince Zhaoren's shoulders, the eunuch was about to leave when Zhaoren threw him a question: "Do you know how to distinguish which country these merchant ships sailing at sea belong to?"

Although this was a question posed by the Crown Prince, judging from the eunuch's understanding of the Crown Prince and his tone, it was clear that the Crown Prince actually knew the answer and wanted to show off in front of others.

As the first completely healthy child born in two generations of the Emperor's lineage, Akihito cared a lot about the label of "intelligent" he carried, and he always wanted to show it off in front of everyone whenever possible.

In some ways, it is like a peacock.

"Can you tell them apart by their national flag?"

“The flag that is being flown does not necessarily represent the actual territory.”

The eunuch, of course, knew what to say at this moment: "Then this subordinate truly does not know."

This stemmed partly from the eunuch's high emotional intelligence, and partly from his genuine lack of knowledge about how to distinguish them apart from the national flag.

"Merchant ships from different countries have different styles. Most of our own merchant ships are relatively small, and the largest number of them are mostly iron-hulled and wooden-hulled, because a significant portion of these ships were built in the last century. Colombian merchant ships are mostly standard merchant ships built during the war, generally called Victory Ships. These Colombian merchant ships basically have a uniform appearance and almost identical paint schemes, while Tang Dynasty merchant ships..."

At this point, Zhao Ren put down his binoculars and pointed with a smile at a transport ship that was sailing out from the depths of Edo Bay: "Even a relatively new 10,000-ton ship still retains sails and rigging on all three masts. This kind of meticulous style is typical of Tang Dynasty merchant ships."

The eunuch didn't know why the Crown Prince had suddenly become interested in these merchant ships, but he was certain that the above information had been told to the Crown Prince by Commander Kuroki during the closed-door meeting earlier.

Otherwise, how could the Crown Prince, who has hardly ever been to sea, understand this?

"Your Highness is wise beyond compare."

As usual, the eunuch who had flattered the prince overheard a somewhat inexplicable muttering to himself from the crown prince.

"He's right... They won't dare to make a move."

The tone of his voice suggested certainty, as if he were encouraging himself.

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When Kuroki Takeshi and his men went to visit Crown Prince Akishino that evening, they were told that the Crown Prince had caught a cold.

What a coincidence! Or did the Crown Prince back down after returning home and use this excuse to fob him off?

Kuroki Takeshi had several thoughts flashing through his mind, but soon the eunuch who had just informed him came out again to tell him that the Crown Prince wanted to see him despite being ill.

Upon hearing this, a hint of excitement appeared on Kuroki's resolute face. It seemed that the Crown Prince was indeed just sick. Now that he insisted on seeing him even when he was sick, it further proved that the Crown Prince had been completely convinced by him and had the ambition to pursue great things.

So Kuroki turned around excitedly and said in Chinese to a middle-aged man behind him, "Mr. Jin, please come in with me to meet His Highness the Crown Prince."

However, the middle-aged man could obviously understand Yingzhou dialect. When he heard that the Crown Prince was ill, the middle-aged man's expression changed. When he heard that he still had to go in to build the hospital, the middle-aged man's resistance became even stronger.

You should know that right now the whole world is dealing with that Colombian flu. This nasty flu is highly contagious, and if it doesn't get timely treatment, the mortality rate is not low. In some places, there have even been tragic cases where entire families have died after several members were infected.

People all over the world are avoiding anyone with a cold or fever, because no one knows whether it's a common cold or that damned Colombian flu. These days, nobody wants to risk their life.

Especially for the wealthy, they dare not joke around. Wouldn't it be too cruel to die before they've spent all their money in this life of wealth and luxury?

Kuroki noticed the hesitation on his face. He didn't give the middle-aged man a chance to refuse. Instead, he grabbed his hand and pulled him inside, saying in Chinese as they walked, "Mr. Jin, you've already come all this way. The wealth and honor that awaits you after this is done will be enough to elevate your entire family to a higher level. What does the life and death of an individual matter?"

Before Mr. Jin could utter a single word, Kuroki cut him off, dragging him all the way to the house where Crown Prince Zhaoren was resting. Only then did Kuroki release his grip. After the two men silently straightened their clothes, they entered the house, led by two servants.

Inside the room, Crown Prince Zhaoren leaned against the sofa, looking somewhat listless, waiting for them. When Kuroki entered, he didn't stand on ceremony and went straight to Zhaoren, saying, "Your Highness, this is the owner of the trading company that Tang Kingdom currently has the second largest trade volume in our country, Kim Eun-myung, whom I told you about before."

When Kuroki Goe introduced him, Kim Eun-myung repeatedly bowed to So-in. Although he also felt that the thin, short, and sickly man in front of him did not look like someone who could become the future ruler of a country, he was, after all, the crown prince of a country. His business was going to do business on someone else's territory, so his smile was particularly warm.

“Mr. Jin.” Zhao Ren looked at the slightly overweight middle-aged man in front of him and forced a friendly smile: “I heard about you from General Kuroki before. It seems that your ancestors... also produced an emperor.”

"Just a fake emperor, just a fake emperor."

Jin Enming forced an awkward smile. His ancestor was Nurhaci, who once seized half of the country and almost accomplished another great feat after the Mongols entered the Central Plains. That's right, this Mr. Jin was a Manchu. Of course, those messy things in his ancestors' history were long gone. Most of his ancestors were arrested or killed by the Longwu Emperor. The survivors went into hiding for many years until the Jingyun Emperor's reign when they dared to resume their activities. However, by then, the entire clan had changed their names. It was one thing to be teased about this in China, but he didn't expect that people abroad would bring it up as well.

"Mr. Kim, the war is over now. Although there were some unpleasant moments between our two countries during this war, people always have to look forward. Please don't be too nervous... I just hope to verify some information with you. After all, now that the war is over, both our countries need to revive their economies. In order to do better business with your country in the future, please answer me truthfully..."

As soon as Zhaoren opened his mouth, Kuroki felt an urge to come up and kiss him instead.

What are you even talking about?

There is an old saying in the East: "This place has no silver buried three hundred taels." And now, what Crown Prince Zhaoren is saying and his tone are all proving this saying true.