Chapter 206: New Territory

As the treasure ship had just left the shore and hadn't yet picked up speed, a sudden exclamation arose on the deck. Da Wang turned his head and saw his Bai Ze descending from the sky and leaping onto the deck.

Da Wang glanced at the distance to the shore, then at the Bai Ze gracefully walking toward him, "You... well, it can already speak and predict the future... wait a minute!"

"Didn't you come by carriage? They caught up?"

Under everyone's gaze, Bai Ze certainly wouldn't speak; Da Wang immediately dragged it into the room.

Da Wang quickly learned that it had left the group on its own, and it still liked to hang out with Da Wang.

After a long while, Da Wang managed to say: "Did you tell the leader...?"

Bai Ze gave him a look of its own understanding: "How to say?"

Well, that was a stupid question.

Alright, the owl cavalry at the rear surely thought the king's beloved pet had run off!

The treasure ship sailed at full speed, no longer fishing along the way; the over a hundred people and horses following Da Wang on the long journey finally felt relieved, and the Liaodong Peninsula came into view.

It was a bright sunny day, visibility ahead was high; Da Wang lay on the small balcony on the second floor, holding a telescope and observing furtively.

"Wow~~ the beach is full of shells,... and many seabirds,... any sign of people?"

Zhetian could see the opposite side clearly, but it thought Da Wang was looking at something fun, and it was anxious beside him, "Can you let me have a look too?!"

After a while it rubbed against Da Wang a bit, and after a long time Da Wang finally, out of conscience, let it have the telescope; the result was Zhetian's eyes didn't line up...

"Align your eyes here!"

"Peep!!!"

"Can't you align? Which eye should you use? Just tilt your head!"

"Peep-peep!!"

Bai Ze: "... wants to stay away from them."

A person and a bird were causing a lively commotion there; Bai Ze retreated a few steps and lay down; the little fool seemed to be in a better mood? The low pressure along the way was finally shifted.

An uninhabited island surely has no dock; the treasure ship found an anchorage nearby and lowered two small boats.

Da Wang is now free; his advisors Wei Shen and Zhao Bao are not present, and the brat wants to be in the first group to land.

The first two small boats carried over forty people; Bai Ze's large build was excluded, it itself took up space for several people. Bai Ze didn't bother to squeeze with them; a glance showed there was nobody nearby, an uninhabited island.

Da Wang stood proudly at the bow of the first boat, this guy relying on having Ling Yin beside him, utterly fearless.

When the small boat reached the shore, Ling Yin was the first to jump off, and Da Wang followed closely. Who knew that as soon as his feet touched the island's soil, a familiar bell rang in his ears.

Huh? Mengmeng has an update?

The main quest just refreshed; impossible that it's already completed?

Da Wang pretended to study the shells on the ground, crouched down and quickly opened his game panel; upon opening it, he was almost blinded by the screen-full of fireworks.

What is this for?

Da Wang carefully looked at the new frame that popped up in the middle of the fireworks, which read:

【Congratulations, my lord, for exploring an unowned new territory; would you like to occupy it as your new territory? Yes/No】

Da Wang struggled to keep his composure under everyone's gaze, "Unowned? Unowned!"

Turns out this peninsula really belongs neither to the Xianbei nor to Goguryeo!

It's mine!

Da Wang without hesitation clicked 【Yes】, and in the next instant a new frame popped up:

【Please, my lord, give the new territory a name: ---】

Da Wang stood up and waved his hand: "You guys wander around nearby, see if there are any traces of human activity!"

After the people dispersed, Da Wang continued pretending to study the shells left on the beach, squatting down; one hand casually picked up a shell, the other hand gave his new land a name.

He heard Bai Yang call this place Liaodong Peninsula, so he wrote in the blank: 【Liaodong Commandery】 three characters.

In the next instant, those three handwritten characters turned into three shining gold seal script characters, then transformed into specks of gold light that scattered across the screen, and Da Wang knew it was done.

【Congratulations, my lord, you have obtained the new territory—Liaodong Commandery. Now issuing main quest four: Please quickly obtain data such as the plain, terrain, population of the new territory Liaodong Commandery.

Note: The area within 100 li around the lord is the effective range for automatic data collection.

Quest reward: Liaodong Commandery 3D full terrain map x1; Liaodong Commandery border line checkpoint x1;

Quest punishment: none.

Quest time limit: Before other forces occupy the new territory.

Map collection quest, Da Wang is familiar with this!

This time limit is also easy to understand; if before he claims and gathers, someone else discovers and occupies it, this quest will be gone, and the island will be gone too.

Then don't delay; after finishing the collection, he will be able to grasp all dynamics of Liaodong Commandery from Youzhou, just as he can now see Youzhou on the map despite being far away.

Speaking of this, Da Wang got angry; Winnie the lazy bum lies all day in the Year Feather Hall; if it doesn't come out, Da Wang can't see it even if he misses it. Da Wang, when free at night, goes to Youzhou for a stroll, but never runs into the lazy bum Winnie.

Speaking of which, Da Wang looked at the quest rewards and smiled. In other words, the place he designates as the border line, Mengmeng will build a checkpoint there for him?!

Then the king wouldn't just run straight to Goguryeo's doorstep; that would be... too lazy for the king!

After delaying a while, the second owl cavalry disembarked; Da Wang stood up and loudly announced, "Unload our horses, bring a few days' dry rations, and follow me to scout. I already know there's no one here; since I discovered it first, this place belongs to our Youzhou!"

Ling Yin waved a hand, and the owl cavalry began returning to transport the horses and fetch dry rations.

Now Da Wang wants to cause trouble, and truly there's no one to question him! Watching them obey orders swiftly withdraw the treasure ship's horses, Da Wang still feels a bit unaccustomed.

"Ling Yin, there's no one here; once we occupy it, it's ours!"

"Congratulations, my lord!"

Da Wang:...

Alright, no one objects; I, the king, got a prefecture for free.

Leave Chen Cang at the shore to provide support; the king takes all the owl cavalry that followed, over a hundred men, and rides horseback to rush into the interior of the peninsula.

The barren peninsula had nothing but mountains and grass, with no roads at all; they held a fake map and, following the king, ran north with a clear goal.

At this moment, the fine horses showed their advantage; ordinary vegetation and obstacles posed no difficulty for Little Date, and the Black Wind Horses from the cultivation realm also trod flat ground as if it were level.

When they encountered flat ground, the king would stop, scribble and draw on his makeshift map, and say that later they would reclaim the land to plant potatoes and peanuts.

Who would have known he would soon have a full topographic map? This can be left for those who reclaim the land to look at.

Although the king possessed a vast but sparsely populated fief, more land is always better. This place is opposite Great Jin, counting as his secret territory; the crowded and chaotic You Prefecture is unsuitable for such work, so it can all be placed here.

That's because the copper mine was developed early; otherwise the king would surely have arranged it in Liao East.

They ran during the day and at night found a spot to pitch tents and camp; although most people didn't know what use they had for occupying such a large area—after all, the wilderness of You Prefecture hasn't been fully opened up yet—but the king's word is final, so his great joy must have a reason, and pretty much everyone in the troop thought so.

Here, their dry rations were hardly needed, for this uninhabited place teemed with wild game beyond imagination.

The king ran for two days and finally confirmed this really was a good place. With mountains and water, most of the terrain they passed was hilly; slipping away at night to the homestead, Bai Yang told him that place would become a major international port in the future, and the climate was especially suitable for growing fruit.

Of course, the immediate priority is to reclaim the land and plant plenty of easy-to-grow crops and produce salt; fruit and such, even eating some wild fruit, could make do.

But the king still ordered some future-developed, domesticated, grafted fruit tree varieties from Bai Yang, especially the fruits Bai Yang mentioned that Liao East abundantly produces—apples, cherries, the king loves them all.

Speaking of which, the king grew craving, went to the warehouse, pulled out a box of dried cherries, then slipped back to the tent to sleep; today his dreams were all cherry-flavored.

The king just led the people in tossing about in the wild mountains and forests for a while; the rear guard's wagon convoy on the opposite shore finally reached Bohai Prefecture during that time.

Those left behind to meet them were told to rest in place, here waiting for the treasure ship to return and carry them back to You Prefecture.

The rear guard troops were terrified, worrying while waiting for His Highness's return. His Highness's protected people were fine, the gifts prepared by Marquis Wei Ting were fine, but the king's beloved pet is missing!

Heaven knows how such a huge creature could vanish silently among the crowd!

Was it because riding in the carriage was too boring? If only I had known to send someone to keep it company during the break……

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ps: I don't accept historical guidance in fictional stories; I study literature myself, and writing according to history is called fanfiction. Don't guide me, I won't listen. ٩(๑^o^๑)۶

Thanks for everyone's support! Even though the market crashed I can still laugh…… I'm strong…… I'm fine…… I only vomit five liters of blood a day……