Wandering the Heavens

"Eunuch Cao, Emperor Taizu listed Japan as a country that would not be conquered. I'm afraid that this bombardment will be impeached by ministers in the court!" Shangguan Haitang was worried about the situation of the fleet.

"Shangguan Haitang, our current fleet is not the warships of the Ming Dynasty. What does the shelling of the port have to do with the Ming Dynasty court?" Yu Xian rolled his eyes.

"But the ministers don't think so." Shangguan Haitang has a low level of vision but knows the nature of the ministers.

"We are living in this vast ocean, how can impeachment save us any money?" Yu Xian refused to be persuaded.

Sometimes he felt that bombardment was not enough, and ordered the fleet to land and carry out indiscriminate slaughter. He turned a deaf ear to Shangguan Haitang's admonitions, and did not stop until he completely left the Japanese waters. More than half of the artillery shells were directly written off.

The fleet was gone for two years.

In two years, some of the 3,000 people who went to sea died on the way. As the voyage time prolonged, the originally empty wooden racks were gradually filled with rows of cans.

The fleet first left Japan and headed north, then turned east when it encountered icebergs, and headed south after seeing land, continuing south until there was no land in sight ahead and then turned north again, then north again, and then east again, until they met the French who came to the Ming Dynasty to do business. It turned out that their country was here.

After replenishing supplies here, the fleet continued to move south and south, and in the sea where no land could be seen, it docked and waited for the storm to pass before setting sail east, then north, and east again, until it found the stone tablet erected by eunuch Sanbao, and finally returned to Southeast Asia via the route of that year.

Along the way, Shangguan Haitang and Guihai Yidao saw all kinds of exotic scenery, people of different skin colors and customs. But what they didn't understand was why when they passed through some places, the dead eunuchs came down and slaughtered some tribes without leaving a single one alive.

At such times, the dead eunuch would not explain, but let them go to the tribes that were massacred to find the answers themselves. Unsurprisingly, they were tormented by the scenes they saw and had nightmares for a long time. They also knew why the dead eunuch ordered the extermination of those tribes.

In addition, the dead eunuch also collected some incomprehensible flowers and plants and transplanted them on the boat, and also exchanged a lot of gold with those people and put it on the boat.

When the fleet entered the South Seas, everyone believed that the earth beneath their feet was really round, because they sailed in one direction and returned to the Ming Dynasty!

During the two-year ocean voyage, the fleet also lost two warships and a supply ship in storms and icebergs. Fortunately, the rescue was timely, and most of the soldiers and craftsmen on the ship were rescued and resettled, except for a few who were missing.

"Eunuch Cao, we have really returned to the Ming Dynasty!" Shangguan Haitang said in disbelief as he looked at the calculation results.

Different from Gui Hai Yidao who is taciturn, Shangguan Haitang is very talkative. In order to avoid leaving behind the bad tradition of not allowing women on ocean-going ships in the future, Yu Xian also has a female spy trained by Huolong Villa on his ocean-going voyage in addition to Shangguan Haitang.

"There's no need to make a fuss. Our ancestors have long said that the earth under our feet is round. This time on an ocean voyage, we headed east and finally returned to the Ming Dynasty. It's not a rare thing. They had predicted it more than a thousand years ago." Yu Xian sighed as he looked at the vast ocean.

No one expected that this damn eunuch would say such words. It made them feel that all their pride and ambition disappeared in an instant and they were hit hard. Their ancestors had thought of this more than a thousand years ago, but it took them two years to figure it out. What was there to be proud of?

The fleet had an unexpected surprise in Southeast Asia. A wealthy businessman named Shen wanted to make the acquaintance so as to do business in the future. With the idea of doing a business with no capital involved, the dead eunuch took Shangguan Haitang and Gui Hai Yidao to a banquet and waited for a meeting.

Wow, there are thousands of old acquaintances!

So the city on the island was burned down by the fleet, and all the gold, silver and jewelry were taken away, and a stele was erected. By the way, when the fleet set out, they brought dozens of stone tablets with them. Every time they encountered a strange land, the dead eunuch would order one to be erected.

The text above is also simple: Inspecting the imperial envoy on behalf of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

The fleet took the old acquaintance on board and continued to head north, docking at Ningbo Port, and sent the memorial to Beijing through the local Jinyiwei Yamen.

In the distant city of Beijing, Zhengde was inspecting his Shenjiying. In the more than two years since the dead eunuch left, the plan to expand the Shenjiying went smoothly, and the firearms were updated to a newer generation, making the artillery more accurate.

The development of Tianjin Port gave him a big surprise. The industrial city that was originally built for the expansion of the Shenjiying has now become the basis for Zhengde's administration. The entire Ming Dynasty seems to be undergoing an unprecedented transformation because of this place.

While Zhengde was still thinking about it, the Dongchang man handed a secret letter to him through his personal eunuch.

"Sent by the East Factory?"

Zhengde was a little worried about the situation in the south because he always remembered what the dead eunuch said before he left, that no matter what happened, the emperor must not go to the south.

"Your Majesty, it was sent by the Jinyiwei Yamen in Ningbo Port."

"Ningbo? Something happened in Zhejiang?"

As Zhengde spoke, he tore off the anti-tampering label on the secret letter, poured out the letter inside and started reading, and he gradually became excited.

"Okay, okay, you damn eunuch are finally back!"

"Your Majesty, this..." The personal eunuch didn't know what Zhengde meant.

"Send Duan Tianya to see me." Zhengde put away the letter.

When the personal eunuch heard this, he knew that Zhengde was about to leave the Forbidden City.

After Duan Tianya was ordered to cut ties with Zhu Wusi, he was recruited as Zhengde's guard, and later placed in the Jinyiwei. Now he is a captain, responsible for Zhengde's safety when he is away.

"Brother Emperor..."

Zhengde was about to go to the bedroom to change clothes when he heard Yunluo calling him.

To be honest, Zhengde didn't want this sister anymore. She was a traitor who relied on her mother's favor to get good things for the family. He was the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, but no one would believe him if he told others that he was robbed by his own sister every now and then. He could only swallow his anger. He also instructed the commander of the imperial guards to report to him as soon as this imperial sister entered the palace so that he could hide.

But what happened today? The commander of the imperial guards didn’t come to report.

"Yunluo, why do you come to the palace instead of staying at home to take care of your pregnancy?" Zhengde could only force a smile and turned back.

"It's too boring in the mansion. Cheng Shifei said that I could go to the palace to pay my respects to the Queen Mother, so I came to see my brother on the way." Yunluo was very tactless in explaining.

"Then go and see the Queen Mother! She is also bored in the palace."

Zhengde was in a hurry to find Duan Tianya to arrange the trip to Tianjin Port, so he had no mood to chat with her. He didn't know what he would lose if he said one more word.

"Brother, is there something urgent?" Yun Luo looked at the metal tube in Zhengde's hand.

"Of course, this is a court secret, you..." Zhengde was halfway through his words when Yunluo's tears stopped him.

"Royal brother, please don't be Yunluo anymore."

What's all this...

"Cao Zhengchun is about to return from the sea. I plan to wait for him at Tianjin Port."

Zhengde silently said, this is my biological sister, this is my biological sister...

"Tianjin Port! Yunluo wants to go too!" Yunluo jumped up and grabbed Zhengde's arm and shook it. She didn't look like a pregnant woman at all.

"Stop making trouble. How can you travel far away when you are pregnant?" Zhengde said with a stern face.

"Royal brother, Tianjin Port is not that far away. Besides, don't we have that railway? It's a bit dusty sitting in that car, but the whole driving process is as smooth as walking on flat ground. Yunluo can do it. If you are worried, take Doctor Sai with you. Besides, Cheng Shifei will definitely go with them, my royal brother..." Yunluo looked at Zhengde with tears in his eyes.

"What are you thinking? Railways are for transporting military supplies and bulk cargo, how can they carry people? Wait a minute, what did you and Cheng Shifei do without telling me?"

Zhengde wanted to catch Cheng Shifei and beat him with dozens of boards! The railway from Tianjin Port to Beijing was built to transport military supplies and bulk cargo. The locomotive technology was not mature yet, and there have been several rollover accidents since its operation. Cheng Shifei, this bastard, took Yunluo to ride such a dangerous thing!