We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

The sea breeze blew against the huge sails of the Dingyuan, making a series of whistling sounds.

The sunlight shines on the sparkling sea, like countless pieces of gold jumping.

The Fengguo Navy's fleet was like a giant dragon, cutting through the waves and rushing towards Yizhou.

After three months, the journey to the West ended and Li Che finally set out on his return journey with the Fengguo Navy.

The fleet traveled thousands of kilometers, occupied the Diaoyu Islands, incorporated the indigenous people of Izhou, and even obtained sweet potatoes and wiped out the Portuguese colonists. It can be said that the harvest was quite fruitful.

Now, the crew members, including Li Che, are all eager to return home and look forward to returning to their homeland as soon as possible. Their mood has changed.

Although the sea is beautiful, only Fengguo is my eternal home.

After the warships were divided into two teams, the fleet was left with the Dingyuan, and more than ten Fu ships, turtle ships, and sailing ships. They still had flags flying and masts towering, exuding an imposing manner that no one dared to stop.

On the deck, the sailors were busy working. The air was filled with the salty smell of the sea. The old sailor loudly told the story of Feng Wang's voyage:

There's a giant fish monster whose feces is as big as an island, and we never get tired of talking about it.

In addition to this, there is another outrageous story that His Highness has a fierce tiger general under his seat, and a tiger crushes an entire army.

Li Che stood in the captain's room and looked into the distance. Xiaoqing squatted on his shoulder and combed her feathers.

After a while, he withdrew his gaze and looked around.

The captain's room was filled with various trophies obtained during this trip.

A black pirate flag with a hideous skull painted on it.

A Portuguese admiral's sword with a hilt inlaid with gems.

There were also some gold, silver, and treasures, as well as some rare and exotic objects, which were all gifts "voluntarily given" by the King of Luzon.

Li Che picked up the admiral's sword and gently stroked the blade.

Alvaro, the former owner of this sword, committed suicide in his cell some time ago.

But this dandy nobleman obviously had no common sense of physiology, and committing suicide by cutting his wrists was very unlikely to happen.

In fact, the mortality rate of suicide by cutting wrists is very low, even less than 5%.

This is because the key to suicide by cutting wrists lies in whether the artery can be successfully cut.

Arteries, as important blood vessels in the human body, are usually buried deep in a safe place and even protected by bones. It is difficult for ordinary people who lack professional knowledge to reach the arteries, and they need to peel off a lot of tissues before they can reach them.

Moreover, even if the artery is successfully reached, repeated cutting is required to achieve the purpose of suicide.

Therefore, Alvaro's brave (foolish) and courageous (stupid) act did not bring him relief. The guards soon discovered his condition and notified the doctor to save him.

The end result was that Alvaro's left hand was completely disabled and he would never be able to use weapons in his life.

Li Che had no intention of killing the former Portuguese admiral, but instead brought him and a group of Portuguese prisoners back to Fengguo.

They will still be useful in future wars with the Portuguese.

Whether they act as bargaining chips or as translators.

Li Che put his sword back to its place and walked to a huge sea chart.

This nautical chart details the route from Fengguo to Yizhou, and then to Luzon and Champa.

This is a sea route carefully planned by Li Che. In the future, Feng State’s fleet will follow this route to start maritime trade, transporting Daqing’s glass, porcelain, tea and other commodities overseas in exchange for various rare goods.

This route is not only a trade route, but also a route for cultural exchange and a route for expanding territory.

Through this route, Feng State will establish connections with more countries, expand its influence, and eventually become a maritime power.

Li Che's gaze was deep. Through this sea chart, he seemed to have seen the grand scene of the Feng State fleet sailing across the world and attracting tributes from all nations in the future.

At this moment, the lookout suddenly issued a hurried horn.

Li Che stared back, and Huai En's voice soon sounded outside the door:

"Report! Your Highness, the lookout has spotted a pirate fleet! They're the same pirates we chased away earlier!"

Hearing this, Li Che frowned slightly, feeling a little confused.

Those pirates are still unwilling to give up and even dare to come back. Aren’t they seeking their own death?

He put down the nautical chart in his hand, strode out of the captain's room and came to the deck.

Fu Liang had already led his soldiers to be on full alert, each holding a sword or gun with a solemn expression.

The cannons under the cabin were turned, and the gunners took their positions, ready to fire at any time.

Li Che picked up the telescope and looked at the sea in the distance. Sure enough, a fleet appeared. They were the group of pirates that Li Che had driven away before.

They staggered towards King Feng's fleet with their sails torn and their hulls scarred.

Upon seeing this, Fu Liang immediately asked Li Che for instructions, "Your Highness, I will lead my men over and wipe out all these pirates!"

Li Che waved his hand to stop him.

He put down the telescope and a smile appeared on his face.

"General Fu, wait a minute." Li Che said with a smile, "Look carefully, what flags are flying on those pirate ships?"

Fu Liang was a little puzzled. After a closer look, he realized that the flags flying on the pirate ships were not pirate flags, but white flags.

"White flag?" Fu Liang was even more confused. "What does it mean?"

Li Che laughed and said, "This is the country of France... cough cough cough..."

Remembering that the person in front of him didn't understand this, Li Che said seriously:

"In Western culture, due to their emotional understanding of white, white represents nothing and complete failure."

"Raising the white flag naturally means surrender."

"Surrender?" Fu Liang was even more puzzled. "These pirates are so vicious, how could they surrender so easily?"

"Not to mention they've already escaped. The sea is so vast, we have no way of pursuing them. Why would they come back and surrender?"

Li Che explained: "Although they are pirates, they also know how to judge the situation. These pirates have been scared by us and know that they are no match for us."

"Furthermore, these pirates clearly depend on Luzon for survival. Now that Luzon has fallen under the rule of Feng State, they've lost their source of supplies. Shouldn't they surrender and wait for death?"

"But..." Fu Liang was still a little worried. "These pirates are very cunning. What if they are pretending to surrender and want to wait for an opportunity to retaliate? What should we do then?"

Li Che smiled slightly and said, "General Fu, don't worry. I have my own way to deal with them. As long as they sincerely surrender, we can obtain a fleet and use them for our own purposes."

"If they dare to play tricks, the Fengtian Army's artillery will entertain them!"