Chapter 57

The twelfth year of the Great Yan Calendar.

Maps of a total of 137 islands were sent back.

They also brought back rare species and local specialties from those islands.

Yan was overjoyed.

He ordered people to fill them into the world map he had drawn before.

Filling in some of the gaps outside the land.

On every island, the footprints of the Great Yan Kingdom were left.

And...

Stone tablets were erected to mark this place as the territory of the Great Yan Kingdom!

At the same time.

Inside the imperial palace.

Yan began to name these islands one by one.

"In just the first year, the territory of our Great Yan Kingdom has expanded by two times!"

After the map was drawn.

Yan gazed at the map, filled with emotion.

Sure enough.

The area outside the land...

Was mostly occupied by the ocean.

The long-distance fleet had only been at sea for a year, and it had already explored such a vast sea area for Great Yan.

"Send more fleets to continue exploring! Until everything under the sun is explored!"

Finally.

Yan, filled with the desire for exploration, continued to order the long-distance fleet on the front line to keep sailing.

The range of the area he wanted to rule...

Was far more than this!

The thirteenth year of the Great Yan Calendar.

With the increase in exploration efforts.

A total of 768 islands were explored.

Among them were several large islands where many species never seen before in the Great Yan Kingdom lived.

The map was soon sent back to the imperial palace.

Yan immediately drew these 768 islands and filled them into the world map.

In the imperial palace hall.

His world map occupied most of the area and was constantly expanding.

In this year.

The territory of the Great Yan Kingdom doubled several times again!

All 700-plus islands were marked as belonging to the Great Yan Kingdom!

"Hahaha, the long-distance fleet has done well; I will reward their families heavily!"

Yan looked at the increasingly large territory of the Great Yan Kingdom, feeling more and more delighted.

At the same time.

He ordered them to continue exploring.

"We must explore the boundaries of the world clearly; wherever the sun shines must be the territory of my Great Yan Kingdom!"

Under his obsession.

The long-distance fleet continued to sail.

In the boundless ocean, they went further and further.

The fourteenth year of the Great Yan Calendar.

The long-distance fleet set the highest record in years.

They discovered a full 1,800 islands.

The territory on the world map...

Had become fifteen times that of the Great Yan Kingdom!

Yan also named these islands one by one, carved their names on stone, and recorded them as belonging to the Great Yan Kingdom.

The fifteenth year of the Great Yan Calendar.

The long-distance fleet discovered 930 islands.

The sixteenth year of the Great Yan Calendar.

The long-distance fleet discovered 871 islands.

The seventeenth year of the Great Yan Calendar.

The long-distance fleet discovered 538 islands.

The eighteenth year of the Great Yan Calendar.

The long-distance fleet discovered 392 islands.

The nineteenth year of the Great Yan Calendar.

The long-distance fleet discovered 123 islands.

The twentieth year of the Great Yan Calendar.

The long-distance fleet discovered 36 islands.

The news was sent back to the Great Yan imperial palace.

But Yan no longer had the initial ecstasy.

He was now over forty years old.

His passion gradually faded.

Replaced by calmness and wisdom.

Over these years.

He had been reading the contents of the Divine Book.

From political systems, agriculture, economy, and military strategy to various inventions, he had studied them all one by one.

Regarding the chapter on wonders...

He had the Ministry of Works study them one by one, using the power of the whole world to manufacture all the wonders in the chapter.

Horseshoes, cement, crossbows.

Compass, printing, papermaking, gunpowder.

Ships, sails.

Iron smelting, copper refining.

And so on, he, with his strong desire for knowledge, had understood them all.

"The islands discovered overseas are fewer year by year."

Yan ordered people to draw these 36 islands on the world map and analyzed in a deep voice: "This shows that the overseas regions, the boundaries of the world... are almost explored."

Every island the Great Yan fleet had visited had a stone tablet left behind.

And the discovery of new islands...

Was becoming fewer and fewer.

"Soon, soon, the time when all that the sun shines upon is my Great Yan territory... is not far away."

He looked at the map, thinking silently.

The twenty-first year of the Great Yan Calendar.

The long-distance fleet sent back news.

This year...

They didn't find a single island!

The islands they landed on were all islands where tablets had been carved before!

After hearing this news.

Yan, who had not had ripples for a long time, was excited.

Finally...

No new islands were discovered!

But he was worried that the long-distance fleets had missed some islands due to negligence.

Therefore.

He ordered again, letting the long-distance fleets continue to search.

His world map would not allow any territory to be missed!

The twenty-second year of the Great Yan Calendar.

The long-distance fleet sent back news again.

After a year, the islands they discovered...

Were still zero!

In the imperial palace.

After hearing the report, Yan took a deep breath.

He had been on the throne for twenty-two years and was now fifty years old.

For these twenty-two years, he had been diligent and conscientious.

Implementing various policies.

Encouraging childbirth.

Making the population of the Great Yan Kingdom reach 200 million!

Building cement highways.

Now, within the Great Yan Kingdom, from the plains to the wilds, it had become a smooth path!

Developing the wilds.

The originally uninhabited areas were now brightly lit, with one giant city after another established.

Promoting printing and papermaking.

Knowledge in the world had been greatly popularized, and more and more people could read and write.

Establishing the Great Yan Army and the Imperial Guard.

Manufacturing new weapons, crossbows, armor, siege engines, etc., appeared one after another, and the combat effectiveness of the army was unprecedentedly enhanced.

Organizing navigation.

Thousands of islands were explored, and the area of the Great Yan Kingdom increased by more than thirty times!

All these things.

He claimed to have completely surpassed Ji!

The ambitions he spoke of before the deity twenty-two years ago...

Had all been realized!