Chapter 1984: Opening the Canal

Hearing the choice Qiaozhi had made, Shitiwen sighed.

"As long as you can return alive, I can guarantee you that no one will hold you accountable; unless it is an absolute last resort, the Military Department does not want to give up on you."

Qiaozhi nodded; with such a guarantee, he felt much more at ease.

Shitiwen stood up, put on his hat, and said, "I will convey your acceptance of the order to them; our people will provide you with the greatest degree of assistance."

"If you have any needs, you can seek out this person at any time."

Shitiwen handed a folded note to Qiaozhi.

He said coldly, "This is a method of contact. If you contact them according to the method above, you will be able to obtain the help you want, but there is only one chance; for subsequent contact, you will need to wait."

Qiaozhi put the note away.

Shitiwen said, "I hope you won't need to use it. Goodbye."

After saying this, Shitiwen turned and left, disappearing into the darkness outside.

At this moment, Masha walked in, looked at the open window, and there were some different traces in her eyes as she looked at her husband.

She frowned and asked, "Qiaozhi, are you going on a long journey again?"

Qiaozhi looked at the clever Masha in his arms and for a moment did not know what to say.

He had not been married to Masha for long, and they had not had peaceful days for very long, yet he had to go out again, and to carry out an incredibly dangerous mission at that.

At the thought of this, Qiaozhi felt somewhat melancholy.

He could not yet reveal the content of this mission to Masha, so he could only say to her, "This time I am going to Longyan."

"It is just that I need to go there to handle some business issues of ours; there is no danger."

Masha stared into Qiaozhi's eyes, and from his gaze, Masha had already read the traces of Qiaozhi lying this time.

His eyes were shifty, and his hands were making inexplicable gestures.

But Masha did not intend to expose Qiaozhi's lie, only asking, "When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow."

Masha wrapped her arms around his neck and said, "That means we still have several hours; it has been a while since we last did it."

"This time, you must satisfy me..."

Qiaozhi watched as Masha's alluring lips curled up, revealing a highly charming smile.

But he was scared stiff; a man who has not married does not know how fortunate and unfortunate it is to have a wife who loves him deeply after marriage.

Masha pushed Qiaozhi down, a moving expression appearing on her face.

Qiaozhi looked at her increasingly charming beauty and completely fell.

By the next day, Qiaozhi needed to hold onto things to walk, while Masha had a look of wanting more.

She whispered to Qiaozhi, "You must come back quickly, okay?"

Qiaozhi now felt that this sentence was like words spoken to him by a pure angel, yet in the voice of a devil.

Qiaozhi coughed twice, did not pick up on Masha's remark, and instead ordered his attendants to prepare the Horse Carriage.

For a trip to Longyan City that was neither long nor short, the supplies needed were not few.

After the butler and attendants prepared his luggage, they soon had Qiaozhi board the Horse Carriage.

Masha watched Qiaozhi's Horse Carriage slowly leave and sighed in her heart; just as she was about to return inside, Qiaozhi's voice suddenly rang out.

"One week, I will return in one week."

That trace of disappointment in Masha vanished, and her smile returned.

Masha felt very happy in her heart.

At this moment, at the other end of America, Yun City.

The war between Spain and Longyan City had basically come to an end.

Spain could not withstand the attack of the Longyan army at all and was quickly defeated; they never waited for the reinforcements from the French troops.

Moreover, after Spain returned, they encountered an attack from Portuguese troops.

The two countries were sworn enemies; now that Spain was in trouble, Portugal would absolutely not let this opportunity pass.

Furthermore, the treaty they signed with Longyan clearly stated that if either Longyan or Portugal were attacked, it would be considered an attempt to launch an attack on their allies.

They would regard all countries that launched the attack as enemies!

Therefore, when Spain attacked Yun City, the Portuguese troops did not hesitate to launch a war against Spain.

The combat levels between the two countries were not too different, but because Spain had just been routed by the Longyan army at Yun City, the current Spanish troops were extremely fragile.

They could not stop Portugal's attack at all.

At this time in Yun City, after winning against Spain, Qin Zhangfeng did not withdraw his troops.

Instead, he wanted to keep these soldiers in Yun City permanently to guard the Panama Canal, which was to be opened today.

The construction of the Panama Canal had consumed a lot of manpower and material resources because the mountain rocks of Panama were difficult to excavate.

Therefore, Liu Zheng specifically designed a system of water gates.

Using this design, they finally established the riverbed of the Panama Canal on land significantly higher than sea level after excavating very little rock.

Such a design could now be called a miracle.

Today was the day such a miracle river would open; the first phase of construction had been completed, and the Panama Canal now possessed the ability to allow ships to pass, though there were limits on the displacement of the passing ships.

Ships that were too large could not pass for the time being.

Qin Zhangfeng stood in the control room of a water gate, looking at the majestic and spectacular Panama Canal; a few years ago, this was just a canyon on the ground.

Apart from jungles and wild beasts, there were no living things, and even the Indians who lived here were deeply wary of this place.

But now, it was a beautiful river, a Golden Waterway capable of connecting the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.

And today, the construction of such a river had finished its first phase, and today, such a river would officially open for traffic.

Thinking of this, Qin Zhangfeng felt an inexplicable surge of excitement; it was a pity that Mr. Qingyang Shuo was stationed at Longyan City and could not see such a magnificent sight.

The chief engineer who designed this Panama Canal came up to Qin Zhangfeng and said, "General, the inspection is complete; it is ready for passage."

"Good, begin," Qin Zhangfeng said to them in a deep voice.

The chief engineer immediately issued Qin Zhangfeng's order, and soon the sluice gates opened, allowing the long-prepared Longyan Merchant Ship to sail inside.

Qin Zhangfeng observed the situation of the ship sailing in through a telescope, and upon seeing the ship enter, he noted it was very steady.

At this moment, the second sluice gate opened to release water, and as the water level rose continuously, the ship quickly brought its height level with the water level of the second sluice gate.

At this time, the second sluice gate opened completely, and the Merchant Ship sailed in smoothly.

The third sluice gate repeated the previous action, and the Merchant Ship passed through the three sluice gates as quickly as if it were climbing stairs, entering the lake of the Panama Canal.

As the Merchant Ship sped through the lake and arrived at the canal on the other end, Qin Zhangfeng's heart could not help but tighten.