Bringing the Railway to Daming

Although Cheng Feng felt that Zhu Tan was too cautious in arranging affairs, he was also cautious when it was his turn to arrange personnel.

In order to prevent the exploration team sent to the island from being wiped out by accidents, he only sent three speedboats. In this way, even if these people were to get into trouble, the Zouyi would still have the remaining three speedboats to respond.

As for manpower, twenty guards were selected, led by Captain Chen Wentao.

Zhu Tan came over and gave instructions before the landing team departed, "Captain Chen, once you've landed on the island, you only need to investigate the situation within a ten-mile radius of the landing point. Your safety should be your primary concern. Remember that."

Chen Wentao clasped his fists and said, "I'll keep this in mind!"

Then, the 21 people boarded the speedboat and rowed south.

Since Chen Wentao and others belonged to the Guard Navy, they were naturally trained in rowing and were the elite among the elite soldiers. Therefore, they rowed to the north shore of the big island after two hours.

There are many coral reefs near the island, and the sea water is so clear that you can see the seabed directly.

There are many kinds of fish, shrimps, turtles, etc. in the water, and you can even see some good-looking underwater corals!

One of the guards couldn't help but say, "If we picked that red coral and sent it back to the Ming Dynasty to sell, it would probably be worth thousands of strings of cash!"

Another guard said, "Niu Er, we've been separated from the fleet, and the telegraph is broken. We can't contact the court, and we don't know if we can see our families. How can you still think about this?"

After hearing this, the guards on the same boat immediately lost interest in appreciating the beauty of the shallow sea.

Because the families of these people are all on other ships in Lu Fan’s fleet, they don’t know whether they are alive or dead, and whether they will ever see them again in the future.

Fortunately, the three speedboats quickly docked and everyone's attention was diverted.

The coast here wasn't too steep, so Chen Wentao found a spot and easily landed. Everyone worked together to pull the speedboat up and hide it among the rocks.

Chen Wentao found a high vantage point to observe the area. He saw that the northern shore of the island was mostly covered with trees, mostly pine trees. The terrain was undulating and could be considered hilly.

So he divided the guards who landed on the island into three teams according to their flags, and sent them to explore in the southeast, south, and southwest directions respectively. He personally led the exploration team in the south direction.

Before entering the forest, Chen Wentao concluded that there were people on the island based on some traces on the beach, so he was very careful when exploring.

He thought he had to go deep into the island to see the natives, but after walking two or three miles in the forest, he saw a small native settlement.

Tribes are generally larger, while settlements are smaller.

For example, the settlement in front of Chen Wentao only has more than 20 huts built with stones, trees and thatch, which can barely provide shelter from wind and rain.

Outside the settlement was a rough fence surrounded by trees. Inside, a dozen native women were working, and a group of native children were playing nearby.

Chen Wentao and others observed quietly for more than half an hour before retreating quietly.

Afterwards, they bypassed the village and continued to explore south...
Before the sun set, Chen Wentao led the exploration team back to the deserted island without missing a single one.

As soon as they boarded the Zou Yi, Zhu Tan rushed over and asked, "Are there any casualties?"

Chen Wentao hadn't expected Zhu Tan to be so caring now. Feeling warm in his heart, he replied, "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. None of us were injured or killed."

Zhu Tan then asked, "What's the situation on the big island?"

Chen Wentao said, "I climbed to a high point on the island and used a telescope to observe. This island is indeed quite large, estimated to be several dozen miles in circumference, with the terrain higher in the north and lower in the south."

"There are indeed natives living on the island. Although our exploration area is limited, we have discovered four native settlements. The largest of these settlements has a population of 70 to 80 people, while the smallest has a population of only 40 to 50."

"The weapons used by the natives were mostly stone and bone tools, but they were able to make pottery, weave simple clothes from tree bark and rattan, and build huts, but some also lived in caves."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Lixin, the only staff member on the Zouyi, said, "Your Majesty, if what Captain Chen said is true, this island should have a good population and good resources."

"We don't know when the Zouyi will be repaired. Even if it is, it would be risky to go out to sea without a telegraph to communicate with the fleet and the court."

"It would be better to try to settle down on this big island first and see if the fleet will send anyone to look for us."

Zhu Tan thought for a moment and said, "There's nothing on this deserted island. Staying here really isn't an option. Li Shangjiang, do you think we can repair the Zou Yi a bit so it can sail to the large island to the south?"

Li Shangjiang pondered and said, "I have looked at the trees on this deserted island today. There are indeed not many usable ones. If we want to repair the ship, I am afraid we will have to transport some qualified wood from the big island."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Tan immediately made a decision, "Then send people to cut wood on the big island tomorrow!"

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When Zhu Tan was trying to reach the nameless island and set up a temporary small Lu Kingdom on it, the Lu Fan fleet docked at the Sandino Bay in western Cuba in later generations.

Afterwards, Lu Fan's staff and senior military officers gathered on an open space on the shore to discuss matters.

Whether it was the naval commander Qi Sanshun, the Lufanwei army commander Cheng Jing, the chief of staff Sun Jie, or Zhu Tan's brother-in-law Tang Nai (Tang He's third son), they all had sad faces.

It’s not that the fleet suffered much damage in the previous storm.

In fact, apart from the thirteen missing people, hundreds of injured people, and some minor damage to some ships, only one ship was missing.

The problem is, that ship is the Zou Yi!

Prince Lu and Princess Tang are both on the trip. What’s the point even if they arrive at their destination safely?
Therefore, after the storm passed and they learned that the Zouyi was missing and could not be contacted by telegram, Qi Sanshun and others immediately decided to dock as soon as possible.

The fleet finally anchored at what would later become Sandino Bay. Seeing no one spoke, Tang Nai, the youngest among the group, said, "No matter what, we must find the King and Queen, otherwise we won't be able to explain ourselves to the court!"

With Tang Nai's status, he can now be considered half a backbone. After listening to him, the rest of the people spoke one after another.

Qi Sanshun frowned and said, "The key is that we don't know where the Zou Yi has gone, and whether it is safe. In this case, sending people to look for it is like looking for a needle in a haystack."

Cheng Jing said, "Last night's storm wasn't that big. Our ships were able to survive it. The Zou Yi is large and sturdy, so there's no reason why it couldn't survive. It must have lost its way in the storm and drifted away."

"As long as we send people to search and leave marks wherever our ships go, even if we can't find the king and his men directly, they will eventually see the marks."

Zhu Tan recruited 5,000 Han Chinese households, mainly from Fujian and Guangdong, and registered them as military households. He also established a 5,000-man Lufan Wei army.

The reason why Cheng Jing could become the commander of the garrison army was not only because he was trusted by Zhu Tan, but also because he was the most capable and senior general - he had previously held the position of commander-in-chief in the garrison army of the Ming Dynasty.

What he said just now was indeed insightful, and it made everyone feel much more at ease.

What are these people most afraid of?
Isn't it just that something happened to Zhu Tan and he's gone? If that were the case, Zhu Yuanzhang might take his anger out on them.

Although they are now tens of thousands of miles away from the Ming Dynasty and separated by oceans, who knows whether Zhu Yuanzhang will send the navy to search for and capture them?
Besides, there are many of Zhu Tan’s confidants in the fleet, and there may even be the imperial court’s Jinyiwei hiding there - unless these people are divided into many small groups and flee into the wilderness to live like savages, they may still be found by the imperial court.

The best way out for everyone is to find Zhu Tan alive.

At this time, the chief of staff Sun Jie began to make suggestions.

He said, "It may take a long time to find the king and Zou Yihao, possibly months or even years."

"Therefore, I suggest we first find a place to settle down and establish a vassal state as usual. First, this will stabilize people's hearts. Second, our ship is running low on food and other supplies, so we must find a way to obtain more. Third, we can establish a shipyard and build more ships to prepare for the long-term search for the Zou Yi."

Cheng Jing said: "I agree with Mr. Sun's proposal."

Qi Sanshun said, "Since we are going to establish a vassal state, I think we should not choose any other place but here. If we want to reach the planned starting point of the vassal state, we still need to go hundreds of miles to the east."

"The king was lost while crossing the strait, and either drifted to other coasts of Ludi (Lu Fan's name for the main island of Cuba) or to one of the surrounding islands."

"In this case, it would be more convenient for us to establish a vassal state here and find Zou Yihao."

After saying that, Qi Sanshun looked at Tang Nai, because Tang Nai was the only one who did not express his opinion on this matter.

Just at this moment, a captain of the guards came over and whispered something in Tang Nai's ear.

Tang Nai then looked around at everyone and said, "Everyone, I have already telegraphed the situation to the capital. I agree with establishing a vassal state here, but we'd better wait and see what His Majesty has to say before making any decision."

After hearing what Tang Nai said, several people frowned, and Qi Sanshun even looked angry.

Originally, the imperial court did not know about this matter, and they could discuss it and hide it from Zhu Yuanzhang first, and then inform the capital after finding Zhu Tan. That way, even if everyone had done something wrong, they would probably not be punished.

But now, for some unknown reason, Tang Nai actually reported the matter to the court first.

Doesn't this mean that they have no better choice than to try their best to find Zhu Tan?

Among the few people, Qi Sanshun, as the commander of the Lu Fan navy and the temporary commander-in-chief of the fleet, would definitely be the one with the most serious guilt if Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to blame anyone!
Speaking of which, as soon as the storm passed, Qi Sanshun had the idea of ​​controlling the telecommunications group.

However, the telecommunications team had always been protected by the guards of another thousand households, and Tang Nai had also kept an eye on the telecommunications team from the first moment, so his idea of ​​controlling the telecommunications team had no chance to be implemented.

Now we are in a passive situation.

Seeing the tense atmosphere, Sun Jie quickly tried to smooth things over, saying, "The storm was a natural disaster. The disappearance of the king and the Zou Yi was unexpected. I believe Your Majesty can understand us. Besides, we are now thousands of miles away from the capital, and Your Majesty still needs us to find the king."

These words finally calmed Qi Sanshun temporarily, and he immediately went to the telecommunications team with everyone else, patiently waiting for a call back from the capital.

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Capital.

Forbidden City, Fengxian Hall.

Zhu Yuanzhang was reviewing the memorial when he saw Zhao Cheng outside the hall shouting, "Your Majesty, an urgent telegram has arrived from the Lu vassal!"

Lu Fan’s urgent telegram?

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned at first when he heard this.

Then he thought, when Zhu Tan sent a telegram in the past, Zhao Chengdu always said "His Royal Highness Prince Lu sent a telegram", why did he change the wording today?

Is it possible...

Thinking of a certain possibility, Zhu Yuanzhang's heart skipped a beat and he hurriedly said, "Bring it in!"

Zhao Cheng brought in the translated version of the telegram and handed it to Li Gui to pass on to the imperial desk.

Zhu Yuanzhang quickly read the short telegram, then clenched it tightly, stood up and said, "Hurry up and call the Crown Prince here, and send someone to summon Liu Kuan as well!"

"Yes."

Li Gui agreed and immediately arranged for someone to send the message. (End of this chapter)