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

Although he had the idea of ​​recruiting pirates, Li Che did not immediately extend an olive branch.

These pirates only care about being beaten and not about eating. Showing kindness right away will not win their loyalty, but will only make them feel weak.

Li Che ordered all the pirates, including Roger, to be detained together with the group of Portuguese soldiers.

First go back to Fengguo and do hard labor for a while, then talk about working for yourself.

As for the four pirate ships, Li Che only left two in good condition, and dismantled the other two on the spot, taking out some materials for backup.

After taking in this group of pirates, Li Che felt much better.

This means that there are no longer any armed gangs in the waters around Luzon, which has bought a precious period of peaceful development.

When the Feng State fleet transports another wave of supplies and troops to Luzon, it will become the well-deserved territory of Feng State and the transportation hub for Feng State's future shipping routes.

The fleet continued to move forward and stopped when passing Yizhou. Li Che went to take a look at the situation of each tribe.

Wen Zaiyin was indeed a master at forming alliances. In just one month, with his coercion and persuasion, more than half of the Yizhou tribes were willing to join the alliance.

Of course, there are also some rebellious people.

The Amis warriors brought weapons provided by Fengguo to the door to offer some warmth, and the other party immediately became good partners who sang and danced.

But all this no longer brings any sense of accomplishment to Li Che now.

After seeing the vastness of the ocean, conquering a group of tribal civilizations is not something to be proud of.

However, another thing Wen Zaiyin raised made Li Che very interested.

Yizhou was originally the territory of Daqing. Although it had no actual control, it was named Yizhou Prefecture after all.

Li Che's drastic reforms made the Yizhou government unable to sit still, but they did not dare to disobey the powerful prince, so they had to report the news to the emperor for a decision.

Unexpectedly, Emperor Qing waved his hand and ordered Yizhou Prefecture to fully cooperate with Li Che, and sent two thousand soldiers from Fuzhou to garrison Yizhou in order to intimidate the various tribes.

This is not a big deal. The transfer of two thousand people is just a drop in the bucket for Daqing.

But as soon as the news came out, it caused an uproar throughout the government and the country.

Emperor Qing has always looked down upon overseas territories. After he came to power, he placed national defense forces in the north, northeast and south. These islands were never within his consideration.

Now he has acted out of character, which naturally makes the court officials puzzled.

In the end, everyone unanimously concluded that the reason why His Majesty acted like this was probably because of his favor for Prince Feng.

The Prince of Feng is enjoying great favor from the Emperor, but the health of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is getting worse day by day, which makes other court officials except the Prince of Feng's party very worried.

Since ancient times, emperors have passed on the throne to the eldest son or the legitimate heir.

If anything happens to the Crown Prince, Your Majesty is wholeheartedly committed to supporting the Prince.

Not to mention that King Feng has radical ideas and often does strange things.

The identity of Feng Wang alone does not conform to the legal principles of succession. If Your Majesty insists on doing so, it will probably cause a turmoil in the court.

When Li Che heard the news, he just smiled and did not comment.

He knew in his heart that Emperor Qing did this not out of love for him.

It was obvious that the pie he had painted for him before was too big, and Emperor Qing took it seriously and began to plan to turn Daqing into the Empire on which the Sun Never Sets!

For Li Che, this is also a good thing.

If we have Daqing's help, we will have a better chance of winning against Europe in the future.

After returning to the country this time, he presented sweet potatoes and Champa rice to them and fed them with bread directly!

Li Che doesn't believe that Emperor Qing won't go crazy for this magical grain that produces ten times more than rice per mu!

After staying in Yizhou for a day, Li Che did not delay any longer and set out on his journey home again.

There are also sweet potatoes on the boat. They are difficult to preserve and cannot be left for too long.

After a long and boring voyage, the fleet finally sailed from the Yellow Sea into the Bohai Sea, and further ahead was the Port of Dalian.

It was already winter, and this trip to the sea was much slower than planned.

Li Che originally planned to complete the journey in two to three months, but because he was delayed for a month in Luzon, he ended up taking less than four months.

You can't feel it at sea, but the closer you get to Dalian, the colder the temperature becomes.

The fleet did not have enough winter clothes, and the soldiers on duty on the deck were often shivering from the cold. Li Che had no choice but to order the fleet to speed up.

Fortunately, the last distance was not far, and we finally arrived at Dalian Port in the evening of the next day.

. . . . . .

The cold winter wind blew across Dalian Port like a knife, blowing up the fine ice chips on the shore and making a whimpering sound.

The sky was leaden gray, as if heavy snow would fall at any time.

However, no matter how cold the weather is, it cannot dampen the enthusiasm of the port.

Countless torches lit up the pier as bright as day. People were crowded together, and the noise was like the rolling tide, one wave higher than the other.

After a long wait, His Highness is finally coming back!

Four full months have passed since Li Che led the fleet to Southeast Asia.

Four months is too long for a country undergoing transformation.

In the past four months, countless speculations, worries and expectations have hit the hearts of everyone in Fengguo like waves.

After all, Li Che is the backbone of Fengguo. Although nothing major has happened these days, everyone feels empty in their hearts when Li Che is not in the country.

Today, the expectation finally became reality.

A vague black dot appeared on the sea level in the distance.

As time went on, the black spot grew larger and its outline became clearer.

Those are the sails! They are the fleet of the King Feng!

"Here they come! Here they come! Your Highness's fleet is back!"

I don't know who shouted this sentence first, but the crowd instantly boiled over and the cheers shook the earth.

Countless people stood on tiptoe and stretched their necks, wanting to see Prince Feng first.

At the dock, all the officials of Feng State were already ready and eagerly waiting.

As the fleet approached, people's attention was gradually attracted by several distinctive ships.

However, these ships have slender hulls, huge sails and smooth lines, which are completely different from the traditional Fu ships of Daqing.

"That's... a Western sailing ship!" a craftsman exclaimed.

"Oh my god! Prince Feng actually brought back a Western sailing ship!"

“This boat is really beautiful!”

Exclamations rang out one after another, and people talked a lot, full of curiosity about these exotic ships that came from afar.

Li Che stood on the deck of the Dingyuan, looking at the familiar port, with mixed feelings in his heart.

At this moment, a large, slender warship sailed out of the port like an arrow and came towards them at a rapid speed.

The speed is astonishing.

The warship has smooth hull lines and beautiful shape, like a light cavalry in the sea. Compared with Daqing's traditional warships, it appears lighter and more agile.

Li Che immediately noticed this special warship and a surprised smile appeared on his face.

Clipper! Done!