The wind is blowing, and the flag is flying. When Shulot led the army and carried heavy artillery to the coast of the Totonak people in the east, the Kingdom in the Lake, two thousand miles away, also had a new long journey and was about to set sail!
On the shores of Atoyak Lake, Zicao Port is busy. Groups of immigrants from Shuigu City were escorted by Prepecha warriors to the unfamiliar and vibrant southern counties. The samurai from the two counties in the brigade have been waiting at the port for a long time.
These transferred prisoners of war immigrants will be kept in a camp outside Zicao City for a few days, and then sent to the field camps in the two counties. Everything is done in a familiar and orderly manner. Also in the team were the preaching priests of the main god and the Tlaxcala believers who had been stationed in the fields last year, who were responsible for appeasing the hearts of the immigrants.
As the immigration team headed north and out of the port, a wide secondary three-joint dirt road appeared in front of them. This road was just built and is one of the kingdom's major construction plans, connecting the port of Zicao with the county town. On the Sanhe Dirt Road, there are many spear-bearing militiamen pushing wheelbarrows, transporting a large amount of kingdom supplies. Judging from the bamboo baskets exposed on the wheelbarrow, this batch of transportation seems to be a large amount of dry biscuits and cured meat, as well as piles of cloth and copperware, all of which are the property that the immigrants long for!
Further away, in the distant Zicao County, in front of the tall pyramid temple, a large group of divine priests were also busy. They carefully inspected and prepared for the miraculous launch of the "Heart of God" hot air balloon! Dozens and hundreds of preaching priests are also waiting for miracles to come to strengthen their faith and convert the newly arrived immigrants. Among the figures of these low-level priests, Tlaxcala people have appeared more than once.
The sun is shining and the lake is reflected. Militiamen pushed heavily laden wheelbarrows, dripping with sweat, into the rear of the busy port. There, there was the equally busy Southern Shipbuilding Company. A large group of shipwrights are working in the shipbuilding department, while twelve sturdy longships are laid out in a row and are undergoing final inspection before delivery!
At this moment, two divinely inspired priests wearing sacrificial robes were looking at these sturdy ocean-going longships with solemn expressions. On their sacrificial robes, they all wear the book medallion of "The Knowledgeable One", and they are actually second-level divinely inspired priests! The two watched the wheelbarrow team arrive, and the militiamen unloaded large piles of food and property, and their eyes gradually changed.
"O God! So many dry biscuits? So many cured meats?..."
Second-level priest Zuvalo's eyes widened, and he was calculating in his mind, gradually feeling pressured.
"Mickey the Knowledgeable, tell me, how many people are we going to take out to sea?"
"Zuaro, I told you once!"
Mickey the Knowledgeable frowned and spoke in a deep voice.
"Twelve exploration galleys, each with seventy people. Thirty trading catamarans, each with twelve people. Taken together, how many are they?"
"Lord God! It's... there are 1,200 people! Are so many people really handed over to the two of us?!"
"So to speak! We are the chief and deputy exploration captains. Warriors, militiamen, and sailors each account for one-third of the entire fleet. Each longship must have a priest. Therefore, there will also be a warrior leader and two militia leaders, more than 20 preachers and divine priests, went to sea with us! According to His Majesty's decree, the fleet must carry two months of dry food. According to the highest standard of three kilograms per person per day for going to sea, how many tons is that? Supplies?”
"Lord God! It's... it's 216,000 kilograms. That's 108 tons of dry food?!"
At this point, the second-level priest Zuvalo took a breath of cold air. Sweat broke out on his forehead. Such a huge fleet and material preparations had almost reached the limit of the kingdom's voyage. It had never been seen before...
"Miki, the learned one, do we not need to bring so many supplies? I have already walked the northern trade route once. There are many friendly tribes along the way. You can exchange the kingdom's gems and cloth with them for food and water. ..”
"Trade is definitely needed, but our fleet is so huge, how much can it be replenished by relying on small tribes? His Majesty issued a royal decree for exploration and gave us 2 tons of gems from the lake, 10 tons of cloth, and 10 tons of copperware , all used for trade along the way. At the same time, the fleet also has spare longbows, arrows, bronze soldiers, bronze armor for two longships... We even have priority to replenish the fleet every time we return from exploration. , the power of crew and supplies!”
Mikey, the knowledgeable man, had no expression on his face as he repeated His Majesty's order. He admired the stunned expression of Priest Zuvalo and raised the corners of his mouth. Of course, when he first heard His Majesty's royal order, he was equally shocked and not much better.
"The Lord God witnesses! Look at the bows of those long ships!"
The second-level priest Zuvalo looked at the words and his eyes were condensed. On the bows of the twelve longships, there was a small bronze tiger cannon, shining brightly in the sun.
"Lord God! Do we still have twelve little copper beasts?"
"Zuvarro, there are twelve squatting tiger cannons, six thousand kilograms of gunpowder, and one ton of lead and stone projectiles! These reserves are enough for each squatting tiger cannon to fire hundreds or thousands of times..."
Having said this, Mickey the Knowledgeable finally sighed. At this moment, the pressure in his heart was as heavy as a mountain, and he couldn't help but whisper.
"In order to prepare the materials for our voyage, Director Shenqi Talaya approved gunpowder and gems, Apa County Yin Ezpan mobilized warriors and militiamen, Zicao County Yin Aitalik prepared cloth and copperware, and the two counties' A large amount of grain has been transferred from the warehouse..."
"Pukuta, the director of the Shipbuilding Department, even personally came from Hekou County in the north and told me face to face: This voyage is absolutely extraordinary! His Majesty even rejected the plan of Yin from Ezpan County to send out troops to plunder Northern Tecos. Man’s plan is to provide stable diplomatic relations for our voyage so that we can sail smoothly through the coast occupied by the Northern Tekos..."
"Witness the Lord God! His Majesty's royal order has been officially issued, and the voyage exploration plan has been handed over to us. From now on, this long plan will continue! No matter how much supplies are spent, no matter how many warriors are recruited, no matter how many long ships are lost , no matter how many years it takes...our sailing exploration will not stop until we successfully arrive!"
"Ah! Lord God!!"
Upon hearing such an order from the King of Exploration, the second-level priest Zuvalo was shocked to the point of numbness. He pursed his lips and was silent for a while before asking with some difficulty.
"However, we only submitted a plan to go south to investigate the Mixtec and Zapotec tribes and explore the Mayan Coast..."
"Zuvarro, His Majesty also approved that plan. He just handed it over to the Trapanic businessman Trali who went to sea with you, and another first-level divine priest who graduated from Shenwei University. Profit! Although the kingdom and the Mixtec and Zapotec tribes have ceased war, they are still in actual hostile relations. The reconnaissance fleet only had forty canoes, disguised as Trapanic merchants. Team, and then secretly collect city-state intelligence from the people in the clouds along the coast..."
"Mickey, what about our purpose? What is our purpose? With such a huge fleet, we can't go to the islands of the northern continent to dig struvite to fertilize the fields, right?"
"Witness the Lord God! Digging struvite is indeed one of the additional tasks of the fleet. However, this task is mainly given to the thirty trading catamarans. After they dig out the struvite, they will be the first to return. And ours The destination is much, much further away..."
Mickey the Knowledgeable looked solemn, showing piety and fanaticism. He carefully took out a long roll of cowhide from the package behind his back, and then unfolded it with a prayer.
"The Lord God has blessed us, His Majesty has inspired us, and our sacred mission is calling us! Look! Our destination is in this sea map specially revealed by the Lord God and drawn by Your Majesty himself. We will follow this divine route to... Thirty thousand miles away to the Western Sea, the big island predicted by His Majesty!"
