Zhu Yicheng was in a good mood, not only because of how beautiful this pair of so-called phoenix birds were, but because he directly recognized its origin when he saw the phoenix bird.

The Bird of Paradise is the name of later generations, perhaps this is what it is called now in Western countries.

This bird grows in the South China Sea. Except for a small number of them that can be found in Malaysia, the most beautiful bird of paradise is only produced in New Guinea Island, and the world's second largest island is located in the northeast of Australia, close to Australia.

According to Zhu Yicheng's request, the South China Sea Fleet has been exploring the location of Australia. Although some people had set foot on the land of Australia many years ago, these people were basically pirates or fishermen who had fallen to Australia due to storms. Although they had been to Australia, they only made a short stop and left quickly. Due to the navigation technology at that time and the level of education of these people, they did not obtain detailed charts.

Like Australia, two hundred years ago, the Spaniards had visited New Guinea Island, but they were only a small-scale exploration. At the same time, they exchanged the skins of the Bird of Bliss with their belongings on the island and brought it to Europe.

And so many years later, Australia still had no real power to enter. It can be said that Australia is the only gap that has not been occupied by Eastern and Western countries so far in the Age of Discovery.

Compared with the New World, if Xinming had not taken advantage of the opportunity of chaos in Europe and occupied a piece of territory in such a short time, the entire New World would have been completely divided up after the development of history within 50 years. It would not be so easy for Xinming to get a share of the New World again.

At that time, there would be no other way except to directly use force to seize North America from France, Britain, and Spain. As for South America, it is difficult for Xinming at present. The terrain of the American continent is low in the east and high in the west, and North America is better. In South America, the end of the Pacific Ocean is rolling mountains, and only a few places are suitable for landing.

Moreover, even if you want to occupy South America after landing, you must first cross and conquer these continuous mountains, but it is very difficult for you to do this at present, and the manpower, force, resources, etc. consume very huge amounts. In addition, after crossing the mountains, you have to directly face the military power of European countries in South America. Overall, you have not much value, at least now.

Therefore, Australia, which has not been occupied by Western countries, has become Zhu Yicheng's main goal. Although the Australian mainland is not as good as the New World, the Australian mainland has extremely rich mineral resources. People of this era do not know this, but Zhu Yicheng is very clear about it.

Not to mention the others, just the mines in mainland Australia, especially high-quality iron ore, is enough to make Zhu Yicheng decide to take over mainland Australia, not to mention the area and other resources of mainland Australia.

As the Ming Dynasty has begun to enter the era of industrial revolution, the following century will be earth-shaking changes.

What does industry rely on? Not only technology, but also resources. What is the most important link between resources? Naturally, it is steel.

There was not without iron ore in the Ming Dynasty, but the iron ore in the Ming Dynasty was far inferior to Australia in terms of mining and quality. Even in the 21st century, Australian iron ore was also one of China's main ore sources. Even due to the increase in steel production, capitalists in Australia who controlled iron ore took advantage of China's huge demand for ore to directly control international pricing and firmly controlled upstream resources.

In the harem, he had a laugh with the queen, concubine, prince, and princes and princesses, and handed the pair of phoenixes to Zhu Qingyan and others for daily care, Zhu Yicheng returned to the side hall where he worked.

After sitting down and taking a sip of tea, Zhu Yicheng continued to take down the report sent by the South China Sea Fleet about the discovery of New Guinea Island, which is now named Feather Island, and finally nodded with satisfaction.

When he mentioned the pen, Zhu Yicheng thought for a moment and wrote an imperial comment below. The meaning was to give promotions and rewards to those who discovered this island, and to commend the exploration mission of the South China Sea Fleet.

Secondly, Zhu Yicheng instructed the South China Sea Fleet to agree to the South China Sea Fleet's proposal to set up a naval base on Yuto Island as a forward base for continuing to explore the Australian mainland.

Moreover, as the base is a transit place, it continues to explore the southwest. According to Zhu Yicheng's view, it should not take much time to truly arrive at the Australian mainland by continuing to explore the southwest from Yuto Island. By then, the Ming Dynasty will be able to directly occupy the Australian mainland and declare sovereignty on this continent, thus beginning to incorporate this territory under the rule of the Ming Dynasty.

After writing these, Zhu Yicheng picked them up and took a closer look, then nodded slightly.

Xiao Jiangzi, who was waiting outside, asked him to hand over this thing to the Military Affairs Office, and the Military Affairs Office issued the notice to the South China Sea Fleet through the Governor's Office of the Five Army and the Ministry of War.

Xiao Jiangzi responded, put the item in a special box, and then put a seal in front of Zhu Yicheng and put a good paint on it. These are all necessary steps and are also the rules that Zhu Yicheng had already set. In Zhu Yicheng's opinion, it is better to believe in the rules than to believe in people's hearts. Only by blocking the loopholes, then naturally no failure will happen.

After doing this, Xiao Jiangzi was holding the things and was about to leave, but Zhu Yicheng suddenly called him.

"Let Shi Yizhi enter the palace to see me."

"yes……."

Xiao Jiangzi responded and left with the box. Zhu Yicheng didn't care about him and continued to handle his government affairs. Soon after nearly half an hour passed, Xiao Jiangzi brought Shi Yizhi back.

"My destiny has been to the emperor." After entering the side hall, destiny said to Zhu Yicheng.

"Shi Qing is here, sit down, Xiao Jiangzi serves tea." Zhu Yicheng put down the memorial in his hand and said with a smile.

Shi Yi thanked him straight and sat down on the chair where Zhu Yicheng was headed. Soon Xiao Jiangzi brought the tea and put it to him. Then he bowed to Zhu Yicheng and then stepped down.

After Xiao Jiangzi left, Zhu Yicheng first asked Shi Yizhi about ordinary things when chatting on weekdays, and then asked about the daily work of the Military Affairs Office now.

Actually, Zhu Yi knew about this in Chengdu. The reason why he asked this was just to find some topics, and he also paid attention to Shi Yizhi's expression.

Since Zhu Yicheng sent Liao Huanzhi to the Military Affairs Office last time, the military affairs of the Military Affairs Office have completely stopped. Now the Military Affairs Office is much better than before, and the absence of those intrigues has made Zhu Yicheng a little more relaxed.

However, this is just a superficial phenomenon. In fact, since the Liaodong incident, Shi Yizhi's strength when he just succeeded as the chief military aircraft has disappeared. With several decision-making mistakes, coupled with his prestige and qualifications, he almost lost his grimace.

Although Zhu Yicheng took into account the political stability factors and still tried his best to protect Shi Yizhi and even asked Liao Huanzhi to help him rescue him, doing so proved that Shi Yizhi was not suitable to continue as the chief military aircraft, and he realized this after he woke up.

Now, the Military Affairs Office seems to be harmonious, but in addition to the title of chief military aircraft, Shi Yizhi is actually no longer as strong as before. He doesn't even interfere in some matters and makes the Military Affairs Office decide after internal discussion. In other words, he is basically the same as the boss now. Maybe he is discouraged and feels that his term of office is still more than a year, so he can just get through it like this.

Zhu Yicheng naturally knew Shi Yizhi's attitude, and at the same time he felt a little dissatisfied with him.

But if Shi Yizhi was directly removed, Zhu Yicheng could not do this. If he did this, it would be a bad start. Just like in the late Ming Dynasty, the chief assistant changed every year, or even two to three people a year. Not only did it have no benefits, it would cause the government to be poor. How could Zhu Yicheng do such a thing?

But now Shi Yizhi's mind is obviously no longer on the government affairs of the Military Affairs Office, so it is difficult for him to continue to serve as the chief military aircraft. Zhu Yicheng has been considering this issue these days. Today, he asked Shi Yizhi for some questions, and on the other hand, he also wanted to see his attitude.

"Have Shi Qing seen the Zhu Ci I asked Xiao Jiangzi to send just now?" Zhu Yicheng asked lightly.

"I have read it back to the emperor. The Military Affairs Office will handle it according to the emperor's wishes and then transfer it to the Governor's Office of the Five Army, and the Ministry of War and General Staff to deal with it." Shi Yi replied directly.

Nodded slightly, Zhu Yicheng looked at him and asked again: "What do you think about the matter of Feather Bird Island?"

Shi Yi said straight: "Go back to the emperor, the emperor Zhu Zhu...."

As soon as he spoke a few words, Zhu Yicheng waved his hand and interrupted him: "Shi Qing, what I asked is how you think about this, I don't want to listen to the others."

Shi Yizhi was stunned and his face changed slightly.

As the chief military aircraft, although he is not as sleek and experienced as Liao Huanzhi, he does not have the strong ability and status of Jiang Jin, nor does he have the prestige of Dong Dashan, Wang Dong and others, and he does not have the resourcefulness and keenness of Wu Sidao.

But no matter what, as the chief military minister who is less than one person, Shi Yizhi is naturally not an ordinary person. Moreover, he has been in the Military Affairs Office for many years, and his ability to handle government affairs is naturally among the top officials, otherwise Zhu Yicheng would not have put him in this position.

When Zhu Yicheng asked this, Shi Yizhi felt a little clear in his heart. He knew that Zhu Yicheng was already very dissatisfied with his negligence these days. Although he was asking about the matter about Yuto Island on the surface, he was actually using this matter to make him express his attitude.

At this moment, Shi Yizhi felt quite bitter in his heart, knowing that once he couldn't answer Zhu Yicheng's heart, it would be even more beneficial to him.
Chapter completed!