Chapter 500: Marine Corps

The latest report: "Wufeng Island has been trailing our fleet with warships recently. When I went ashore on Jinyin Island, a Wufeng Island warship actually dared to stop in the nearby waters and lower a small boat to land on Jinyin Island for reconnaissance."

"I took the opportunity to ambush the Wufeng Island pirates who had landed, then ordered the warships to launch a surprise attack and captured their warship," Zhou Yi said, his expression calm, as if he were describing a grown man beating up a three-year-old child.

The reality was indeed so; the naval cannons provided to the warships by the Armaments Department were all high-quality steel cannons.

Moreover, during casting, naval warfare was taken into account, making them longer and thicker, giving the artillery greater power and longer range.

In addition to this solid shot, they were also equipped with grape shot for short-range combat.

Coupled with the fact that the sailing warships had excellent seaworthiness.

They truly had a generational advantage over the warships of Dongying.

Having commanded the fleet to roam the seas during this time, Zhou Yi naturally felt this as well.

Consequently, he acted with increasing confidence and boldness.

"This thing was discovered on the warship. I just thought it tasted pretty good, so I brought it for Your Highness to see a curiosity," Zhou Yi continued.

Looking at Yan Wang's shocked expression, he became somewhat nervous, "Your Highness, what exactly is this? It wouldn't be poisonous, would it?"

Zhao Xu slowly regained his composure. He took the object from Zhou Yi's hand and sighed, "This thing is poisonous when it sprouts, but it is also a life-saving medicine."

The thing Zhou Yi brought was none other than the potato that Zhao Xu had been longing for day and night.

No matter how much knowledge he had in his mind, he could not conjure this thing out of thin air.

After all, this was a specialty of South America, and in his original era, it took over three hundred years through the Ming and Qing dynasties to become widespread.

"It's really poisonous?" Zhou Yi's face immediately turned ugly, "I even ate quite a bit of it."

Zhao Xu examined the potato, "Don't worry, you are still jumping around now, so you are fine."

Then he asked, "How many more of these raw potatoes are there?"

"Not many. I just found a sack of them on the Wufeng Island warship. I ate some, and there are about a dozen left." Zhou Yi carefully observed Zhao Xu's expression,

as if he had eaten the wrong thing.

Hearing this, Zhao Xu narrowed his eyes, "Too few. We need more for propagation. However, since the Wufeng Pirates put potatoes on the ship to eat, they naturally have more. Perhaps potatoes are already very common in Dongying."

"Propagation? Your Highness, is this potato very important?" Zhou Yi scratched his head; he had only thought of it as a rare item that Yan Wang valued highly.

"Of course it's important. As long as Yanzhou can grow potatoes on a large scale, the common people won't have to worry about going hungry in the future. This thing is very high-yielding, and if they can't finish eating it, they can use it to feed livestock, which will also benefit the animal husbandry industry," Zhao Xu smiled lightly.

Only by solving the problem of hunger would the common people have time to consider studying.

With more children of the common people studying, Yanzhou would be able to have more talent.

Having talent could further promote the development of Yanzhou; this is a virtuous cycle.

Therefore, he had always wanted to obtain high-yielding plants like potatoes and sweet potatoes.

In fact, during this time, he had also been thinking about why potatoes had not spread in Da Song.

For one thing, Da Song closed its doors to the world and only gave the Liang Family the Sea Trade Rights.

But in this era, there was no genetic modification technology.

And potatoes come from high-latitude, cold climates, only suitable for planting in the bitter cold places of the North Territory.

In hot places, potatoes do not grow large and will become smaller with each generation.

Even if the Liang Family obtained potatoes, they would not be taken seriously in the south due to poor development.

And with sea trade in the North Territory cut off, it was impossible for a large quantity of potatoes to enter.

This was the fundamental reason why the spread of potatoes in Da Song was unfavorable.

"So powerful." Now Liu Fu became interested, his eyes staring fixedly at the potato.

Zhou Yi did not expect that he had actually obtained such an important thing, so he said, "Your Highness, since they are on the Wufeng Island warship, I will go back and interrogate the captives I caught to ask where this thing is from, and bring back a ship full for Your Highness."

"By the way, look for this thing too." Zhao Xu drew the appearance of a sweet potato.

At this moment, his expression was excited; this was the benefit of opening up the Age of Discovery.

Yanzhou was no longer an isolated island and could obtain many important products.

Actually, potatoes and sweet potatoes were secondary; rubber, a necessity that limits industrial development, was the most critical.

The steam engine revolution barely had no use for rubber, but later on, without rubber, industry could not hope to advance further.

In contemporary history, rubber was once firmly controlled by Western powers just like petroleum.

Because at that time, only South America had rubber trees.

If they wanted to strangle a country's industry, they only needed to embargo rubber.

In the future, the industry of Yanzhou would inevitably have to move upward.

At that time, competition for rubber would be unavoidable.

And this was the fundamental reason why he was desperately building ships; this was a form of planning ahead.

Since he had come, he could not fail in the Age of Discovery.

Otherwise, his descendants would only be throttled on all kinds of resources and curse him for losing everything in this era.

"Yes, Your Highness." Zhou Yi took it, looked at it for a few moments, and tucked it into his bosom.

After discussing this matter, Zhao Xu prepared to talk to Zhou Yi about serious business.

Now that Zhou Yi and the others had just gained an advantage in the Yanzhou waters, the next step would be to continue to expand the scope of the waters they controlled.

At this critical juncture, the fleet must not have any accidents, otherwise the exploration of the Age of Discovery would be strangled in the cradle.

"Wufeng Island appears frequently in the Yanzhou waters, naturally with ill intentions. Previously, they attacked the Shipbuilding Department twice with the goal of destroying my warships, and this time is no exception," Zhao Xu said.

Hearing this, Zhou Yi clenched his fists, "These warships are my life. If they dare to have designs on the warships, I will make them wish they were dead."

"Talking tough is one thing, but you must still be careful and not be complacent or underestimate the enemy. This time, it is not just Wufeng Island; I suspect the Han Family and the Liang Family are also involved. They all want the Black Shark Sea Bandits to disappear," Zhao Xu said.

Zhou Yi nodded, his expression serious.

After giving Zhou Yi a reminder, Zhao Xu skipped over this matter and continued, "However, defense is defense, but the things you should be doing must still be done. The Northern Di have the intention of taking back Chrysanthemum Island, so you should still prioritize Chrysanthemum Island; it doesn't matter if Jinyin Island is later."

"Yes, Your Highness," Zhou Yi said. After the harassment ended, they transported a group of craftsmen to the island to establish a Fort on the Yanzhou island.

At present, construction is still ongoing and has not yet been completed.

Before this, Chrysanthemum Island did not possess the capability for self-defense.

Therefore, their fleet must still provide coordinated defense.

"Secondly, there is another very important matter; this Prince intends to build a Marine Corps. From now on, this Marine Corps will be incorporated into your navy and will operate alongside your navy," Zhao Xu said.

Last time, Bai Shang essentially performed the role of a Marine Corps.

But ultimately, Bai Shang is under the jurisdiction of the Prince's Personal Army and is not under the command of Zhou Yi.

However, the Marine Corps will be different; they will be Zhou Yi's own soldiers.

In this way, the navy's offshore operations can be extended onto land, exerting maximum power.