Established a thousand-year family from the end of Qin Dynasty

Chapter 694 The Great Voyage ([-])

Summer of the second year of Republic 480 (692)
This year, a civil war broke out in the Snowy Zhou Kingdom. The four grandsons of Ji Fa VI fought for the throne of emperor.

The nobles of the Snowy Zhou Kingdom each chose sides to support the emperor they recognized. The slaves also took the opportunity to rebel and revolt. The countries in the Western Regions also took the opportunity to rebel. The empress of the Central Plains Dynasty sent the famous general Wang Xiaojie to regain the Western Regions.

Suddenly, four Zhou emperors appeared on the snowy plateau at the same time, and a huge civil war broke out.

The allies were plunged into civil war, which was undoubtedly bad news for the Republic.

But there is also good news, and that is the good news from the grassland. The Turks (Later/New) finally completely defeated the Turks (Orthodox), unified the grasslands, and became a huge threat to the Central Plains.

Although there is no longer Zhou to attract the attention of the Central Plains, the Turks have come out to attract the attention of the Central Plains, and the Republic can safely expand overseas again.

In the harbor of Chang'e City, three expedition ships are pulling anchor and setting sail.

Captain Wang Zhi stroked the mast of the expedition ship very lovingly.

These three expedition ships are very old and look like they are falling apart.

But even so, Wang Zhi had already spent a lot of effort to get it.

Seeing that the wealthy businessmen in the guild did not support him, Wang Zhi carried out public financing and signed a life-and-death certificate: If he could not find a new route to Rome during this trip, Wang Zhi was willing to be imprisoned for life.

Li Huamei, who also likes sailing, quit her job in the embroidery department. She is now 32 years old and has given birth to a son and a daughter for her husband, but her dream of sailing has not disappeared.

Among Wang Zhi's many shareholders, Li Huamei invested the most, followed by some bolder Chang'e City citizens.

Li Huamei borrowed a lot of money from her father-in-law, Emperor Shitian, and invested it in Wang Zhi.

Wang Zhi used the money from financing to buy three second-hand expedition ships from his old employer Taoyuan Guild, hired many cheap new sailors who had just joined the industry, bought a lot of smelly dried fish, coconuts, and citrus powder, and then... Ready to go.

Wang Zhi, who usually dislikes eating stinky dried fish, had no choice but to eat stinky dried fish in order to save costs and for his dream of opening a new route to Rome.

Wang Zhi's expedition fleet was very crude, and no one except Li Huamei was optimistic about his voyage.

"Just watch. In a few days, our expedition ship will return the same way it came." said the only experienced sailor in the fleet.

He has rich experience, so he can see that this fleet requires money but no money, no skills, and no experience. It is just a desperado leading a group of new sailors who have just entered the industry and do not know how to sail to wander around the vast East China Sea. .

In the harbor, no one pays attention to them, because there are many private exploration ships like them, most of them are heading south or west, and occasionally there are exploration ships heading north, but the only exploration ship heading east is Wang Zhi .

The expedition fleet heading south discovered that there was a huge land to the south of Star City. The end of the land could not be seen by sailing.

The expedition fleet named that continent [Southern Continent] (Australia).

[Southern Continent] The north is dense rainforest, and the eastern coast is an undeveloped narrow coastal plain.

As for the west and south and what is in between, no one knows. When the expedition ship sailed south along the eastern coastline, it was found that the wind and waves were getting bigger and bigger. One expedition ship unfortunately encountered a shipwreck, so the other expedition ships hurried back to Star City. , afraid to continue exploring further south.

So far, this continent is not of much value because the winds and waves are too strong. The risks in the past have been very high. There are not many places that can be developed. There is only a small area along the eastern coast. The expedition team has not yet explored other areas. .

The northward expedition ship was even more uncomfortable. When they arrived in the northern waters of the Ryugui Protectorate, they found that not only the wind and waves were strong, but also ice floes often drifted by. The ship sank to the bottom of the sea.

Only the expedition ship heading west discovered a beautiful archipelago (Maldives) in the southwest waters of Tianzhu, and also discovered some islands in the waters of Dashi.

Facts have proved to everyone that only by exploring westward can we recover our original losses. In other directions, we will lose blood.

As for heading east?Except for Wang Zhi, a lunatic who believes in the theory of a round earth, no one will explore eastward!

"Yang Fan! Set sail!" "Yang Fan! Set sail!"

"Yang Fan! Set sail!"

Wang Zhi's three shabby expedition ships set off. He was full of hope. Li Huamei was also full of longing. The new sailors were confused and didn't know what to do. The experienced old sailor was already preparing to return to Chang'e City in a few days.

There are 150 people in total, including Wang Zhi, Li Huamei, 150 new sailors and one experienced veteran sailor.

The fleet passed through the Ryukyu Islands and then headed east.

At first, the sailors were still talking and laughing, thinking it was a good journey.

However, as the fleet moved away from the Ryukyu Islands and no trace of land could be seen around them, the new sailors began to panic.

In this era, even ocean voyages were done along the coastline. Even when Zheng He crossed the Tianzhu Sea and went directly from Star Island to Lion Island, such a short distance still entailed huge risks.

Now, Wang Zhi, a desperado and lunatic, actually dares to run headlong into the vast sea without knowing how far away Rome is. He is simply a desperado!madman!

There was no sound of seabirds in the sky, leaving only the endless blue ocean.

At this moment, Li Huamei finally realized what it means to be a lone boat. This is a lone boat.

In the past, sailing was along the coastline. Everyone could see the land in the distance, so there was not much fear.

But now, they were completely away from the coastline, and all they could see was the sea.

woohoo-

Snapped!
The waves crashed on the deck, and a sailor was wetted by the sea water. He looked blankly at the sky and sea, at a loss.

Human beings are so insignificant in front of nature.

All the royal power, wealth, and civilized struggles seem to have no meaning at this moment.

The sun was hidden among the clouds, and only a little light penetrated the edge of the clouds, illuminating the gradually darkening space.

"Can the East really reach Rome?"

We had just set off, and already some new sailors were beginning to feel unconfident.

"Continue eastward, we will die. We are not far out now, so go back quickly!"

There are also sailors who have already given up and want to return to the Yan Kingdom.

However, Wang Zhi stood at the bow of the ship and comforted the sailors:
"Great Saint Kang, dreamed of me, as long as we continue eastward, we will soon reach Rome, which is full of gold and honey!"

"By then, wealth, women, status, glory, everything will be there!"

Faith is sometimes an important spiritual pillar that supports people's survival.

Many people in the Republic are believers in the Holy Religion, and they believe in the great Holy Spirit Kang.

Therefore, after hearing Wang Zhi's comfort, they temporarily stabilized, carefully maneuvered the ship, and continued sailing eastward.

(End of this chapter)