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Leonardo was about to ask more questions, but when he saw the sly smile on Hedy’s face, he instantly understood.
She had certainly come across another character from a book.
Speaking of this, Leonardo had once doubted the true nature of this world.
On the day Hedy revealed the truth, one of the reasons he wanted to step away and be alone for a while was because he realized he was some character from five hundred years of history.
If someone were to tell you while you were alive, "You will become a legend of your era," or "I read your manuscript five hundred years later," it would be absurd and surreal.
Moreover, Hedy had even seen several works of his that he had never painted.
It felt as though he were some kind of ghost.
But his attention was soon diverted by other matters—like how one could travel five hundred years ahead.
Hedy now had a regular bedtime story routine with him, where they would share things from each other's worlds.
Leonardo would tell her ancient stories about Tuscany, and she would explain what a mobile phone was.
There were times when Leonardo even considered death—if it was the only way to leave this time period.
Of course, he would never recklessly make such a ridiculous choice, at least not while having someone he loved and cared about.
When everything was ready, the Queen's fleet set sail from Genoa towards the East, following the predetermined route in search of a new world.
The ship was not only loaded with large amounts of lemons and oranges to ensure they wouldn’t suffer from scurvy due to a lack of vitamin C, but also filled with goods and silver.
If they were able to return safely in a year or two, more fleets might appear on the wings of the empire, becoming new military and commercial powers.
After adapting to her position as queen, Hedy gradually began to make more attempts.
She was smart enough not to take everything on herself.
For instance, she delegated research on electromagnetism, steam engine design and improvements, radio exploration, microbiology, and genetics to the scholars of this era after explaining the basic concepts. She even established more academies to facilitate research and development.
Many things, once the spark was ignited, could grow into a roaring fire with the aid of a strong wind.
She handed over the code of law and scientific advancements to her subordinates and citizens, while turning her focus to something more distant and core—
Economics.
Economics had always been the foundation of revitalizing a nation.
Without sufficient funds, both the military and science would falter, like a boiler running out of fuel.
When Hedy was still a merchant, she had witnessed the lavish projects of the Duke of Milan, Sforza—who had built an enormous livestock industry. He owned 40,000 animals, and hisrelated products were sold to many countries.
After abolishing the tithe tax, Hedy launched new policies to encourage commerce and agriculture.
Her mercenary group operated in rotations, with half of them training and guarding, while the other half worked the fields and cleared land, just as she had designed before.
In the two to three years since, the nation’s cultivated land had expanded to twice its original size under the joint efforts of Hedy and Lorenzo, and grain production had been quite promising.
But this was still not enough.
Due to wars and annexations, more and more people had joined the nation. Although they could work the fields, there were still noticeable elements of instability from those who idled about.
When Hedy established the empire, she had personally upended the roles of royal and religious power. The old Roman papacy had long been destroyed, reduced to dust. Many monks and priests had been released, facing the bewildering task of navigating a new world.
