Chapter 890: Reporting Back

"As for the various prefectures in Jiangnan, before I return to Yancheng, only Bazhou and Yunzhou have yet to be recovered. Among them, Bazhou requires no effort; once the army arrives, it can be taken over. Only Yunzhou will take some time, but it will not exceed one month."

Wuji Palace, Golden Throne Hall.

Zhao Heng sat on the Dragon Throne, while Zhao Xu stood before him, reporting the war situation in Jiangnan to the assembled officials.

"Following two assassination attempts, the heads of the powerful clans such as Dou Wei and Xiao Cheng are all dead. Han Zheng, Wang Zi'an, and Xie An were killed by the troops led by Liang Feng. Of course, there is also the First Prince, Zhao Gang."

While saying this, Zhao Xu glanced at Zhao Heng.

Zhao Heng's expression remained unchanged; he said, "Such a rebellious son brought this upon himself."

Ever since Zhao Gang and Xie Duan declared independence in Jinling, the bond between him and this eldest son had been severed.

Zhao Xu nodded. In this civil strife, the princes with powerful clan backgrounds had basically all died in the chaos.

At present, there were only two princes in Yancheng; like him, their mothers were not from powerful clan backgrounds.

One mother was the daughter of an official, and the other was a palace maid.

These two princes were not very old; currently, one was twelve and the other fifteen, being the Tenth Prince and the Eleventh Prince respectively.

Besides the two princes, there were six princesses; their mothers were either from humble origins or from powerful clans.

But since they had followed Zhao Heng to Yancheng, they basically considered themselves members of the Imperial Clan and had completely drawn a line between themselves and the powerful clans.

At present, these princes and princesses all lived in the Qionglin Courtyard, which was adjacent to Wuji Palace.

Zhao Xu's principle for treating them was very simple.

Just let them eat, drink, and play; they should not have any other unrealistic ideas.

After speaking about the war situation in Jiangnan, Zhao Xu sat down in his seat and listened to Liu Fu and Yang Feng report on their respective affairs.

He had not been away in Yizhou for long, and there were no major changes in Jiangbei.

Aside from other matters proceeding as normal, he had coordinated with the Research Institute, allocating personnel and funds to build a thermal power plant.

"There is actually one piece of good news. Currently, the wired telegraph has extended south to the north bank of the Jiujiang, west to Qinzhou,

north to Jinzhou, and east to Qingcheng in Qizhou. From now on, Your Highness can issue orders to these places from the Prince's Mansion," Liu Fu said with a smile.

"That is indeed good news." Zhao Xu felt a surge of joy.

Laying the lines for the wired telegraph was naturally much easier than laying railway tracks.

Railway tracks required building bridges when encountering water and carving paths when encountering mountains.

But telegraph cables only needed to be stretched from one end to the other, much like a suspension bridge.

As for deep mountains and old forests, it was even simpler; they could be supported by wooden poles, just like electric wires.

Moreover, with the generator, the power for the wired telegraph could be completely switched from batteries to alternating current.

This would make the wired telegraph more stable.

In his previous life, even decades after the founding of the nation, wired telegraphs were still being used.

It was evident that this method of transmitting information could be used for a considerable amount of time.

Even after electricity became widespread and the telephone appeared, the wired telegraph could still serve a purpose.

Furthermore, the laying of wired telegraph lines would provide experience for the laying of power and telephone lines.

As for the present, just as Liu Fu said, it was of even greater significance.

From now on, the Imperial Court would be able to transmit orders to the regions instantaneously via telegraph.

Administrative efficiency would be greatly improved as a result.

For the newspapers, it would be possible to publish news happening in Dasong in different locations at the same time, and there would no longer be such things as delays.

Simply put, the wired telegraph as a means of information transmission was to the country what nerves were to the human brain.

The transmission of information in feudal dynasties was sluggish, like a sloth.

The current Dasong, however, was as agile as a monkey.

Comparing a country as sluggish as a sloth to one as agile as a monkey, the gap in social efficiency between the two went without saying.

This was also the reason why it was so easy for an industrial nation to fight an agricultural one.

"Besides the wired telegraph, the Shipbuilding Department has delivered twelve civilian steamships. I have put these steamships to use for hauling coal from Jinzhou," Liu Fu added.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xu secretly calculated the days in his heart; this was about the same time Chen Shou had given him.

Next, steamships would continue to be put into civilian use one after another.

Afterwards, Liu Fu reported on some other government affairs.

But he had handled them all very appropriately, so he did not say much more.

After Liu Fu finished speaking, it was Yang Feng's turn.

Yang Feng first reported on the Battle of Yizhou, the consumption of grain and ammunition, and the quantity of ammunition ordered again from the Armament Department.

He also mentioned trivial military matters, such as the pigs raised in the army growing well, making it easier for the soldiers to eat meat.

Finally, he said, "Your Highness, during this period, the lords of Gaoli and northern Dongying have shipped away all the front-loading rifled muskets they ordered, and their silver and supplies have also arrived."

"Is that so? In that case, the war in Dongying should also be coming to an end." Zhao Xu's eyes narrowed.

At present, the northern lords of Dongtu could not completely wipe out the Watanabe faction; after all, there was a significant gap in strength.

But after the northern lords were equipped with front-loading rifled muskets, the balance of power between the north and south would be reversed.

With the cooperation of the Marine Corps, the death of the Watanabe faction was already drawing near.