Chapter 551
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Chapter 551: Endless Sea
Great Wei, Haizhou State
In the year 2003 of the summer calendar, the 73rd year of Wei’s calendar, during Emperor Wei’s birthday banquet, a diplomat from a small country, who was drunk, mockingly remarked that Great Wei had no sea.
Emperor Wei was furious and sent an army to fight, destroying the small country with a force of 50,000 soldiers, then establishing Haizhou State as the 51st province of Great Wei. (From "The Book of Wei, Chronicles of Emperor Wei")
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In the year 2023 of the summer calendar, Lin Jiang arrived in Haizhou State as a merchant, feeling relaxed by the sea and the peaceful atmosphere similar to a Buddhist sanctuary.
"The Emperor of Wei Kingdom is really powerful. He destroyed a country just because they made fun of Great Wei for not having a sea."
Lin Jiang looked at a stone monument by the sea, which was inscribed with the history of Wei Kingdom’s military expedition to this area twenty years ago. Now, this place had become the most remote Haizhou State on the eastern border of Wei Kingdom.
Of course, Lin Jiang knew that the official reason was written on the monument, but the real reason was that Wei Kingdom wanted to control many vassal states through this seaport.
In the eastern part of the ancient He State and most of the Bing State, as well as the areas not touched by the immortal civilization of the past, there are now several small countries. These small countries developed gradually from primitive tribes, unrelated to the Huaxia Language or the Immortal Language.
Wei Kingdom is the most civilized and powerful country in this land. It trades with these small countries, but conflicts inevitably arise on foreign lands. It’s not realistic to send troops far over land, but gaining control of the maritime passage would change that. The navy can sail upstream and conquer rebels.
So, Wei Kingdom achieved something that even the immortal civilization couldn’t – they gained a maritime passage and started conquering the seas. That’s why Lin Jiang came here; after living for so long, he had never visited before.
Lin Jiang spent over a month exploring the bustling city of Haizhou State. It’s a trading hub for many coastal small nations, very prosperous. In short, it’s just a fun place to be.
The prosperity of maritime trade spurred the development of shipbuilding technology. Wei Kingdom can now make larger ships than the previous warships of Qing State.
The advancement in shipbuilding technology led to a niche hobby – adventuring. Some affluent youths from Great Wei, especially those born out of wedlock, couldn’t inherit the family wealth but still wanted excitement. They started seeking thrills, climbing steep mountains, or exploring the seas, a new trend they discovered in recent years.
They formed small groups, hired sailors and guards, gathered supplies, and set out to sea for adventures. They either hunted large fish or explored overseas islands. If these islands had indigenous people, they even tried to conquer them, satisfying their desire to be island lords.
The officials of Great Wei supported these adventures, realizing the vastness of the world. Even though they dominated a few provinces, they didn’t have comprehensive knowledge of the world, like the Demon Human north of Qing River. So, the Great Wei authorities encouraged these affluent youths to explore the outer world.
During his month-long stay in Haizhou State, Lin Jiang saw many adventurers setting sail and returning. Some of them struck it rich at sea, finding precious herbs or valuable minerals on discovered islands. This success further fueled the spirit of adventure.
Good food, good drinks, and pretty ladies were things that Lin Jiang enjoyed as well. Seeing something so exciting, he became interested and deliberately made friends with a group of wealthy second-generation individuals, joining the adventurous team.
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"It really is the Endless Sea. We have been at sea for six months and still haven’t reached the end."
Six months later, Lin Jiang stood on the deck, looking at the vast sea and sighed. Over the past six months, their experiences had been truly amazing.
They saw herds of whales, each bigger than their ship. The guards on the ship killed one, providing them with enough food for over a month. They also survived a life-threatening storm, witnessed the eerie mirage of a sea city after a narrow escape, and encountered an underwater volcano eruption, witnessing the formation of an island in a matter of days.
However, they had not reached the end of this sea. No one knew how large this sea was. The sailors who spent their lives at sea said this sea was called the Endless Sea.
"Brother Lin, the old sea wolf on the ship said we need to turn back. We have food, but we are running out of fresh water. We must return to the island we passed earlier to replenish our fresh water supply. If we don’t go back, our fate will be at risk. If we don’t encounter rain, we will have to rely on fishing, and that may cost lives."
A young man approached Lin Jiang and said. In just over half a year, with your martial arts and knowledge, you have won over everyone. Everyone looks up to you, Lin Jiang.
"Alright, next time we’ll bring more supplies before setting sail again."
Lin Jiang nodded, they thought they had brought enough supplies this time, but it was still not sufficient, especially freshwater, despite replenishing several times during the rain, it was running out fast.
The young master was preparing to return, which made the boatmen and guards breathe a sigh of relief, there were many examples of accidents at sea, if they continued sailing forcefully, something bad would happen.
The return journey was uneventful, these routes had been explored by others before, there were experienced sailors who ran their livelihood at sea, everything was arranged properly.
However, upon returning to Haizhou State, they started scratching their heads to start making up stories, a trip to sea for over a year, there must always be some exaggeration, they couldn’t tell others that most of the time they were just lazing around in the cabin, even worse, they couldn’t tell others that they were seasick for the first half month at sea, they were all young masters from wealthy families, didn’t they care about their reputation?
In this aspect, Lin Jiang took action again, using his writing skills from the past to spice up their adventure, turning it into a sea adventure tale, adding a touch of mystery, making the whole story more colorful, a few of them printed hundreds of copies, giving them away everywhere, in just a few days, Lin Jiang’s small team became famous in Haizhou State, after all, other people’s adventures were quite dull, how could they compare to theirs.
Lin Jiang’s status in the hearts of these young masters rose to another level, they eagerly invited Lin Jiang to visit their homes, Lin Jiang didn’t refuse, he traveled with them, heading to various places in Great Wei.
The people and things in Great Wei were already unfamiliar to Lin Jiang’s memory, it was like getting to know this world again, Lin Jiang’s mischievous nature burst out once more, leaving behind ink treasures in various places, presumably if someone were to investigate the traces of the ancients in the future, his position as a literati would be secured.
These young masters were well-informed and knowledgeable, Lin Jiang also inquired with them about many things regarding the Immortal Kingdom, and they candidly answered.
Nowadays, Great Wei had hundreds of countries, the smaller ones only had a few thousand people, while the larger ones had tens of thousands of armored soldiers, but the only one that could stand equal to Great Wei was the Immortal Kingdom.
Firstly, the Immortal Kingdom is very strong and has a large territory, covering most of the previous Qing State and a small part of Bing State. Secondly, the Immortal Kingdom stands at the forefront against the Demon Human. If the Immortal Kingdom falls, the Great Wei will be next. The Great Wei already knows how powerful the Demon Human is, so they highly respect the Immortal Kingdom. Strength earns respect.
After hearing a lot of news about the Immortal Kingdom, Lin Jiang has decided to visit the Immortal Kingdom. After his visit, he will fall into a deep sleep again, waiting for the next thousand years to come.
Three months later, Lin Jiang and his group returned to the capital of the Wei Kingdom. Before their arrival, the fame of their sea adventure had already spread, at least among the wealthy young men. For the next half month, they were invited to lavish banquets every night, enjoying music and dance.
On the way, Lin Jiang had already discussed with them how to confirm the contents of their travelogue. If you tell lies often enough, they can become true.
"I have never seen the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, but now I have witnessed the prosperity of the Great Wei. This prosperity is just as I wished."
One day, Lin Jiang, a little tipsy, stood at a tavern and gazed at the luxurious prosperity of the capital of the Wei Kingdom. Feeling proud, he believed this prosperity was somehow connected to him, and that the brilliant civilization of Huaxia flourished in this world thanks to him.
As the excitement faded, people gradually returned to their daily lives. After the adventure, those wealthy young men also had to continue with their lives. Some had given up their adventurous thoughts, while others were planning to go elsewhere.
Lin Jiang declined further adventure invitations but encouraged others, hoping they could become the chroniclers of the Great Wei, recording its splendor for future generations to enjoy.
As for Lin Jiang, he decided to leave something behind in this era of prosperity. He also wanted to do some copying of literature, making good use of all the ancient poems he had memorized during his compulsory education.
Li Bai, Du Fu, Su Shi, these brilliant poems from the Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song dynasties, are also going to shine in this different world.
"Brother, come to the music academy."
One month later, Lin Jiang walked happily to the music academy, with poetry and song flowing out. What place could compare to the music academy? He also wanted to become another talented poet like Great Wei’s Liu Yong.
