amaotonovel Chapter 732 Yang the Madman is indeed mad enough
Chapter 732 Yang the Madman is indeed mad enough
"This dog is a madman named Yang, but his brain works really well."
"No wonder the eldest sister wanted to marry both princesses to him."
Yu Tongyuan muttered to himself as he reached out and touched the toilet tank and water pipes, then gently tugged at the rope connecting the valve, finding everything incredibly fascinating.
What shocked Yu Tongyuan the most was the canteen of this so-called sanatorium.
The Jinling duck blood vermicelli soup, renamed Ningyang duck blood vermicelli soup, tastes even better than the local Jinling version.
Nanjing roast duck has been transformed into Ningyang roast duck, and it's now considered authentic.
That madman Yang dares to steal things from Jinling; he's truly lawless!
There was also authentic Ningyang sliced meat, which looked exactly the same as the meat I had in Fujian.
And that authentic Ningyang donkey meat sandwich, I think I ate it in Baoding a couple of years ago during the Northern Expedition.
Yes, it's Baoding. I heard that Yang Dianfeng's students are now competing with him for the title of authentic donkey meat sandwich.
Tsk, Yang the Madman is no good, and the students he teaches are no better.
What's most puzzling is the so-called Ningyang beef balls.
"Is this beef?"
"This marquis doesn't think so."
Yu Tongyuan picked up a beef meatball with his chopsticks, his eyes fixed on the so-called sanatorium canteen cook. "Think carefully before you answer this lord, what exactly is this thing?"
The cook, with a fawning smile, bowed and scraped as he replied, "Don't worry, my lord, this is definitely beef."
"The reason it doesn't look like beef is because the small ones repeatedly pound the beef into a paste with an iron rod."
"There are two ways to make these meatballs. One way is without beef tendon, which is called beef meatball, and the other way is with beef tendon, which is called beef tendon meatball."
"The beef balls have a firm texture and a pure meaty flavor."
"The beef tendon balls are chewy, juicy, and have a rich aroma."
"Whether it's beef balls or beef tendon balls, you have to add fried garlic for aroma before squeezing them into balls, and then slowly cook them over low heat. If you miss just one step, the texture and taste will be very different."
"If you add a filling made from pork skin and mantis shrimp meat that has been simmered in advance when you're making the meatballs, they become Ningyang bursting beef meatballs."
"If Your Excellency is interested, I may make you another batch of juicy beef balls tomorrow?"
Seeing the cafeteria cook's proud expression, Yu Tongyuan was completely dumbfounded.
Does this dog not understand human speech?
Is this lord concerned with beef balls?
What I care about is the beef!
beef!
Killing a cow is illegal these days, you bastard!
Does the person in power really just let Yang, the madman, kill cattle?
No.
Even if the higher-ups agree, it won't work. We still have to remind Yang the madman that he must never make beef balls again.
Otherwise, more and more nobles will slaughter cattle and eat meat in the future. Once they are caught, they will use Yang Dianfeng as an example, which will ultimately ruin Yang Dianfeng's image in the eyes of the higher-ups. He might be tricked into a ditch one day.
After all, Yang the Madman had offended too many people, and those poor, pedantic people in eastern Zhejiang were all incredibly shameless.
"Remember this, these are pork meatballs, even if the Heavenly King himself comes, they're still pork."
Yu Tongyuan grew increasingly uneasy, and fearing the cook might not understand, he finally made it clear: "The imperial court forbids the slaughter of cattle. Slaughtering cattle violates the laws of the Ming Dynasty, and could result in a beating or exile. Do you understand?"
The cook was taken aback for a moment, then waved his hands repeatedly and said, "My lord, I did not kill any of the cattle of our Great Ming."
"The cattle slaughtered in our sanatorium were all transported from Hu Yuan and the Koreans."
"The laws of the Ming Dynasty can regulate the cattle of our Ming Dynasty, and can regulate whether or not the people of our Ming Dynasty kill cattle. How can they regulate whether the Koreans kill cattle in advance and then send them over?"
"Besides, His Majesty and the Empress have also eaten beef balls and bursting beef balls, so they should be fine."
As the chef finished speaking, Yu Tongyuan found himself in a situation where he wanted to complain but didn't know where to begin.
Yu Tongyuan even wanted to grab Yang Dianfeng and ask, "What's wrong? Can't the Koreans' oxen plow the fields? Can't the Hu Yuan family's oxen plow the fields?"
If they don't know how to plow, it's simple: just tie them up, put a nose ring on them, and if they still can't learn, beat them. If beatings don't work, make them pull carts.
What a precious cow! And Yang the madman just ate it like that?
And what about the beef tendons? Instead of keeping them for the army, they were used to eat?
After a long silence, Yu Tongyuan finally relaxed and focused on his task of tackling the beef balls.
Forget it, let Yang the madman do whatever he wants, let him eat beef if he wants, I, the Marquis, don't care.
……
Three days passed in a blink of an eye.
Xu Jingyu arrived at the sanatorium as promised and found Yu Tongyuan.
Then, Yu Tonghai stared blankly at the enormous thing in front of him.
Is that even a boat?
no.
This is a damn moving island!
It was over 45 zhang long and over 18 zhang wide, with four decks, nine masts and twelve sails. Not to mention the small, dilapidated boats used by those short and weak Japanese, even the warships of the Ming Dynasty navy would only be able to flee in panic or be completely crushed if they encountered it.
They wanted to destroy this warship, which was as big as a small island...
The only solution is to use fire.
Fill fast ships with flammable oil, risking casualties and capsizing, and quickly approach the island-like warship. Then ignite the flammable oil and use the fast ships as tinder.
Or it would be fine to have a warship that is as powerful as it or even more powerful.
There is no other way.
"This ship... it's fucking awesome!"
Yu Tongyuan unconsciously exclaimed in admiration.
However, I didn't say a single good word!
Xu Jingyu glanced quietly at that country bumpkin... that country lord from the capital.
Is this the Marquis of our Great Ming Dynasty?
The way he looked at the treasure ship was exactly the same way Xu used to look at the courtesan when he was in Jiangnan!
Just as Xu had lusted after the courtesan's body in the past, this country lord also coveted this treasure ship!
He's filthy.
Pooh!
Just as Xu Jingyu was secretly complaining, Yu Tongyuan could no longer contain his excitement. With trembling hands, he strode toward the warship that looked like a small island in front of him, as if he had lost his soul.
"Master Hou, be careful!"
Xu Jingyu quickly stopped Yu Tongyuan, "My lord, although it looks close from here, the boat is actually more than three feet away from the shore. If you want to get on the boat, you have to use the gangplank next to it."
Yu Tongyuan snapped out of his daze and, while following Xu Jingyu toward the gangplank, asked, "How many boats are there now?"
Xu Jingyu replied, "Your Excellency, there are currently two such treasure ships in total."
"It is equipped with one grain ship, one water ship, two horse ships, three passenger ships, and six warships."
"Among them, the treasure ships numbered 5,000 liao, and the warships numbered 2,000 and 500 liao. Among them were two fast ships known for their speed, two gunboats known for their large number of cannons, and two warships known for their close-quarters boarding combat."
"The entire fleet requires more than a thousand sailors and can carry about 1,500 soldiers."
Yu Tongyuan clicked his tongue in amazement.
Two treasure ships—well, that name is quite fitting—plus a grain ship, a water ship, two horse ships, three passenger ships, and six warships, making a total fleet of fifteen ships of various sizes.
Under normal circumstances, three to five hundred people are enough to operate a dozen or so ships of various sizes, and even more.
However, these fifteen ships require more than a thousand people to operate.
This shows that the remaining ships were not simple vessels either.
Xu Jingyu continued, “There are twelve cannons on each side of the treasure ship, and a giant cannon on each of the fore and stern decks.”
"Gunships that rely on the number of cannons to win have twenty-four cannons on each side of the ship. Eight cannons can be fired at once, and the twenty-four cannons can be fired in three separate bursts to create a continuous barrage that will give the enemy no chance to breathe."
"Moreover, the cannons on the ship were all high-explosive shells that could explode in mid-air, and they were filled with a large amount of iron filings, which seemed to be poisoned as well."
Yu Tonghai continued to click his tongue in amazement.
Yang the Madman is indeed quite mad.
This damn guy has created such a fleet. If it were any bigger, it could even be enough to wage a war of annihilation!
South Korea, Japan, Annam, Siam—any coastal country can be wiped out at will.
Not right either.
The fleet is impressive enough, but the question is whether the Ming Dynasty can afford to maintain it now.
Moreover, the manpower required for this fleet is roughly equivalent to that of a guard.
If you also include the miscellaneous personnel in the port and government offices, a fleet would require roughly the strength of two full-fledged guards.
But the thought of the word "national annihilation" made Yu Tonghai quietly clench his fists again.
"Tell me, how many Japanese pirate heads would it take to exchange for a treasure ship?"
"Does your lord have any other instructions?"