Chapter 855

"Xiuniang, take good care of the children. Third brother, fourth brother, take good care of our parents. Father, Mother, your son is leaving."

Just as the sky was dawning, he had already eaten breakfast. Li He, fully equipped, looked at his three sleeping children, went out to the courtyard, knelt down and kowtowed to his parents, looked at his parents who were reluctant to part, his wife who was crying with tears streaming down her face and biting her teeth, and his two younger brothers who were holding back their tears and nodding heavily. He didn't say another word, jumped onto his warhorse, and headed south.

His relatives left the courtyard and stood at the door, looking at the figure in the distance for a long time without a word. His wife, named Xiuniang, finally burst into tears. Because they all knew that this departure might be a final farewell...

Liu Bo rode his warhorse along the small path of the village and onto the wide and solid road. This road was built by them together back then.

He had four brothers and two sisters in his family. They were involved in the chaos of Zhang Chun back then and were swept to the grasslands. Later, they were saved by people sent by the Grand General and moved to Changchun, where they were allocated land and settled down. His eldest brother had some strength, and after a year of militia training, he was gloriously supplemented into the army, serving in the Xingwu Guard stationed in Changchun, which was very close.

He was two years younger, and because his body was good, he was selected into the navy and had been training for more than four years. This time, heading to the ocean, two thousand five hundred were drawn from five thousand, and he was drawn.

The warships were built, and it was time to set sail and head to the unknown overseas. The Grand General did not hide it from them, saying that this trip was a narrow escape from death, many people might not be able to come back, and even everyone might not be able to come back. Therefore, before leaving, the Grand General gave them half a month of leave to return home and spend the last possible time with their families.

He didn't know how others felt. In the past time, he didn't have any special feelings. However, until today, until he had to head south to the ocean, his heart tightened for no reason.

He reined in his horse and stopped on the slope of the hill, looking back at the small village in the distance, vaguely looking at his relatives at the door, the boundless fields, and the wisps of cooking smoke rising. At this moment, he realized that perhaps this was the last picture of his hometown and his family in his life, and he couldn't help but wet his eyes.

He stayed on his horse for half a moment, greedily looking at every part of his hometown, until a cool breeze blew from nowhere. The wind mixed with the tears on his face made him uncomfortable, but it also woke him up. He wiped the tears on his face fiercely, and with his heart beating excitedly, he whipped his horse and headed south.

He must come back alive. Even if he didn't come back, if he could find the good seeds that the Grand General dreamed of and bring them back, making the good seeds spread all over the land of China, then it would be as if he had come back...

Along the way, he joined the brothers in the army heading south. Everyone laughed and pretended to be carefree, and went straight to the navy barracks in Tuhe. After checking and confirming that the whole army had returned, they trained for another week.

High-intensity training restored their physical state. Two thousand five hundred soldiers, heading to the ocean, sailing toward the unknown fearless blood, eliminated the laziness of being at home on leave, and even dispelled the homesickness of being reluctant to part.

The food for this week was quite good. Except for breakfast, which was relatively vegetarian, lunch and dinner were all meat. They could eat their fill every meal. Eating like this for a week, it had a bit of the meaning of a last meal.

Finally, the materials were loaded onto the ships. There were massive amounts of grain, beans for sprouting, soil for planting vegetables in modules, various vegetable and grain seeds, equipment for distilling seawater to collect fresh water, coal for heating, spare armor, stored crossbow arrows, various tools, spare clothes, cloth, medicinal materials, and all sorts of messy things. Various situations were considered, so it could be said that everything was ready.

This morning, the people of Tuhe, the famous scholars of Wenchang Pavilion, the scholars, the doctors and students of medicine, and the merchants coming and going were all gathered near the wharf, three layers inside and three layers outside, truly a sea of people.

At the wharf, five huge warships were moored.

On the wharf, by the Bohai Sea, a huge altar was set up, surrounded by flags, including the Five Elements Flag, the Navy Flag, the Heavenly Martial Grand General Flag, and the Territory Flag of the Golden Dragon going out to sea and holding the sun rising in the east. Large flags were erected high, fluttering in the wind.

Below the altar, two thousand five hundred armed navy soldiers stood majestically. On the altar, there was a large long table with the heads of three animals and five grains, and eighteen Daoist priests set up altars to pray.

Grand General Wang was in pure gold armor, holding an eight-sided Han sword, walking in all directions with the Daoist priests, pointing his sword in all directions. Then he chanted the sacrificial text, burned it to heaven, and threw the heads of the three animals into the sea to calm the waves.

After the ritual was completed, the Grand General stood on the altar and said loudly: "From ancient times to the present, the people have not been able to have enough food and clothing, the products are not rich, and the land is not fertile. Today, my two thousand five hundred warriors are opening the first of our China's three thousand years, heading to the ocean, abandoning life and forgetting death, seeking the future for our China. Brave and magnificent. You are leaving your parents and abandoning your wives, life and death are unknown, all because of Wang Yan alone.

You are brave and strong, shining through the ages. I have sent historians to compile history, listed in a separate volume, and your names and life stories are clearly recorded. If you don't return in fifteen years, the Martyrs' Cemetery will set up cenotaphs for you, and there will be tomb guards to protect you. Today, I, for myself, for Liao and You, and for the people of China, kowtow to you."

After the words fell, the Grand General lifted his skirt armor, and with a *clatter*, he knelt on both knees and kowtowed three times.

At this moment, the wharf was extremely quiet, with only the sea breeze blowing the flags. The onlookers, scholars, merchants, students, etc., as well as the two thousand five hundred navy soldiers under the altar, were all stunned.

Although kneeling was not a special ritual, for someone with the status of the Grand General, kneeling and kowtowing to soldiers in front of so many people was absolutely unprecedented.

The next moment, the sound of armor plates moving sounded, and two thousand five hundred navy soldiers knelt down in unison and kowtowed. Then, the onlookers also knelt down in a row, and no one stood.

The voices of two thousand five hundred navy soldiers sounded: "We have no regrets! Swear to bring back good seeds to China!"

This scene was ignorant, because everyone knelt and kowtowed. Among the onlookers, there must have been many people who didn't want to kneel, but seeing others kneel and kowtow, they had to kneel and kowtow. This scene was also sincere, hot-blooded, and worth remembering, also because of kneeling and kowtowing.

The Grand General was indeed buying people's hearts. Now, what they were kneeling for was not any ritual, but that these people knew it was death, but there was not a single deserter.

He stood up with his sword and greeted everyone to get up. Without any more nonsense, he pulled out his sword with a *clang* and pointed it to the east: "Board the ship! Set sail!"

As his voice fell, two soldiers, with all their strength, blew the desolate horn.

Immediately after, bursts of drum sounds sounded, musicians played clanging music, and Zhen Dao led a group of male and female dancers to dance to the music.

What was played was the Victory Music. What was danced was the Triumph Dance.

Departure is victory!

Amidst the singing and dancing, Wang Yan watched two thousand five hundred soldiers board the four large ships. As the louder horn sounded, they slowly sailed away from the port toward the unknown sea.

The first test warship did not set sail together. That ship was used to train the navy, and it would go out to sea to fish from time to time. The catch was the navy's, allowing their conditions to be a little better. At the same time, this ship also had to undertake some modification tests for the new ships.

The research on sea ships had been going on, and various materials had also been prepared. Including these four ships, in fact, each was more or less different. Because inspiration could burst out at any time, if there was an opportunity, it would be implemented directly.

In the shipyard, there were still sea ships being built. The next batch of long-distance voyages would set sail in a year and a half to two years, still two thousand five hundred people. New navy soldiers had also been recruited. This time, they were all children of Youzhou, all sixteen or seventeen years old. They would train for many years, and after getting married and having children, they would set sail for long-distance voyages.

Each batch was four ships, each was two thousand five hundred navy soldiers, and the interval between each time was one and a half to two years. This process would continue until a ship returned and got what they wanted.

They had to draw sea charts, figure out the laws of ocean currents and monsoons, and find new crops. Once these were done, the route would be stabilized, and then they would study how to obtain resources.

If China was unified, then for a long time, overseas territories would not be needed; only resources could be used. After all, the population of the Han land was only fifty million, and the war had begun in the past two years, and droughts, locust plagues, floods, and plagues were constantly being staged. By the time he unified, the population should not be too many, which was unavoidable.

Although in peacetime, he vigorously promoted the construction of health and medical systems, and seeds like potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn had been brought back, perhaps they had been cultivated and improved for several seasons, and people didn't have to worry about food and drink. The population would grow very fast, twenty years a season, exponential growth, but it would always take time.

On the other hand, it was that if you don't sweep a house, how can you sweep the world? This place under his feet must be developed, and then he could think about conquering other territories to settle his own people.

These were not problems that could be solved in a short time. Anyway, he was struggling in this life. It was estimated that the Northwest could reach Central Asia, the Northeast could reach Siberia, and the South could reach the Indochina Peninsula. This level was the limit of what he could control if he lived to be one hundred and twenty or thirty years old. Time was the greatest opponent...

The soldiers on the deck were waving, they were extremely silent, and some were already choking with sobs. No one looked at the road ahead, everyone was looking at the direction of the wharf.

Liu Bo was the same. Never for a moment had his heart been so empty. He didn't have much culture, just forced to learn characters in the army, knew addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, could read books alone, and understood the meaning in a half-understood way. He couldn't use sentences to express his mood at this moment, he only knew that he was reluctant.

Leaving the village in Changchun, he knew that he might never be able to go back. Leaving the Tuhe wharf, he knew that this was a real departure.

He just looked like this, until Tuhe became a point, until he couldn't see it anymore. Only then did he sit dejectedly on the deck, and when he turned his head, his brothers were all in the same state.

They looked at each other, but suddenly laughed, laughing at everyone's uselessness. On weekdays, everyone was shouting fiercely, but now that they were really gone, the ones who shouted the most fiercely were all shedding tears...

The people on the long-distance voyage were gone. At first, people discussed and looked forward to it, but as time lengthened, except for those who had people on the long-distance voyage at home, they would no longer talk about it, just thinking they were dead, but hoping they were alive.

The departure of the long-distance navy, besides adding some talk for the people of Liao and You, and adding some jokes for others who heard about it, had no impact.

Liao and You continued to operate. After spring plowing, there were other tasks in the fields, road repairs hired by the government, construction of water conservancy facilities, and things produced by brick kilns and glass kilns to build houses for the people of Youzhou. There were various goods constantly transferred within their own territory, and there had to be militia military training. There was no time to be idle.

Similarly, other places were not idle either. The latest news was that after fighting two battles, Yuan Shu withdrew his troops. Dong Zhuo could do whatever he wanted, and the Han Emperor and the courtiers could do whatever they wanted. He didn't care. Expecting the big battle between Yuan Shao, Han Fu, Gongsun Zan, and Wang Yan didn't happen. Gongsun Zan was even made into a skeleton for people to play with. They all had their own thoughts and developed silently, so they naturally couldn't fall behind.

Liu Bei took his two good brothers to Xuzhou for a temporary stay. Tao Qian was very welcoming, and the Mi family also promised a marriage alliance. Whether it was the original Lady Mi was not important, because whoever married over would be Lady Mi. Wang Yan's fourth wife was sent by the Mi family, and she gave birth to a son early this year. In this way, he and Liu Bei became brothers-in-law.

Regarding Gongsun Zan's death, no one of Liu, Guan, and Zhang was surprised. No one knew Wang Yan's desperate strength better than them, because they knew the accurate situation of Liaodong in all aspects, and it was not a level of opponent. It was just that it was inevitable to have some sighs. The days of sleeping in the same bed with his former classmates were still vivid, and the care in Zhuoxian and the later promotion were also right in front of his eyes.

A good person was made into a skeleton. They had all been to medicine, where there were many skeletons, and even treated corpses with exposed muscle tissue. Everyone had a name and surname, and a detailed past explanation. They were all powerful figures, most of whom didn't survive the winter and died of cold and hunger before being treated.

In Wang Yan's words, it was contributing to the people, and they had to be utilized after death, not wasted. Liu Bei believed that no one liked to contribute like this...

Cao Cao returned to Chen Liu again. The team he had pulled up before was wiped out. This time, he spent a lot of family wealth again and found powerful families to support him. The next step was to clear the surrounding Yellow Turbans and strengthen himself. If there were no accidents, his initial trajectory would not change much. He would still be welcomed into Yanzhou and would still have to fight Tao Qian.

Overall, it was quite calm, and no major war broke out.

Only in Jizhou was it not so peaceful. Because Wang Yan sent the letter Yuan Shao wrote to him to Han Fu. Anyone who saw such a letter would have some reaction, not to mention that Han Fu was very wary of Yuan Shao in the first place.

But he still didn't know what to do, because Yuan Shao was not easy to deal with, and he didn't dare to kill Yuan Shao...