February of the 16th year of Zhenguan, the Tang Dynasty.

Departing from Luzon Bay, sailing on the southwest monsoon, traveling eastward along the Black Tide in the Pacific Ocean, and finally arrived in Central America. It took more than 10,000 nautical miles and took six months to finally see the coastline.

There was a pilot ship from the Zhang family. Although the journey was difficult, fortunately there was no trek. I encountered storms several times, and I successfully avoided them and did not fall into the windless belt.

According to the crew, windless belts are very terrible. If a ship enters the windless belt, it may take a month or two before there will be wind. Few boats can wait for such a long time.

I walked east, stopped and stopped, and rode the wind and followed the ocean currents. The journey was quite smooth. Because there were more islands on the southern line than on the northern line, although Li Shimin's fleet sailed for six months, the supply was still smooth.

The crew said it only takes three months to come back, and it can save a lot of time if you can fly directly along the ocean current.

Along the way, Li Shimin's fleet set foot on countless ocean islands.

At the beginning, he went south from Luzon and experienced countless islands, but he thought it was the Fusang Ocean. Later he realized that it was just the Luzon Islands, the Boni Islands, the Makassin Islands, the Java Islands, and the Spice Islands.

That didn't go out of Nanyang.

But these islands have tens of thousands, but they have all been included in the fiefdom of the Zhang Chao family. For the first time, Li Shimin knew that Zhang Chao's fiefdom was so big. He couldn't help but scold his mother several times, saying that Zhang Chao was a liar.

He did not go to Australia, but he split up with his son Li Zhi's fleet in the Spice Islands.

Going eastward, sometimes there is no island to see ten days and half a month or even longer. They land on those islands as much as possible, sometimes to avoid storms, and more often to replenish fresh water.

It is also to make it so that people can feel more comfortable when they go to the island.

It is very difficult to sail on the sea, especially when he brought too many people and animals, the cabin was dense and compact, and there was no room for movement, so the personnel had to take turns to the deck to breathe. Although they had to be responsible for scrubbing the deck, many people were even willing to take on this job just to get fresh air on the deck, but even this idea was a luxury.

Every time he lands on an island, Li Shimin would add the island to his own chart. He would also name the island and ask craftsmen to set up stone tablets on the island.

After leaving Nanyang, Li Shimin asked everyone on the ship to re-register the Zhenguan year. The first year of Kaiyuan was restored to the 14th year of Zhenguan, and the second year of Kaiyuan was the 15th year of Zhenguan.

The islands on the ocean are too small.

Even more barbaric and primitive than Luzon, Li Shimin could not communicate with those indigenous people.

Every time he goes ashore to replenish freshwater, he will take people to hunt, hunt some novel prey on the island, and also dig some fruits and plant stems on the island. Most animals and plants, those navigators know that many of these people have traveled back and forth four or five times.

In fact, these people have been here before when they landed on the island.

In the past, they also tried to communicate with the indigenous people, but it was useless. So later they did not interfere with the indigenous people, but Li Shimin still hoped that these people would become his people.

Whenever he went to a place, he would carve stone tablets and declare these islands the territory of the Tang Dynasty.

Then he had to send people to invite the indigenous people to pay homage. The indigenous people were afraid and dared not, so they treated their respects first and then soldiers. However, they had no difficulty in communicating. Many navigators could speak some of the Mayans and Yin people, but they could not speak the words of the indigenous people on the island, and could only rely on gestures.

Li Shimin used the cloth, porcelain and other things he brought to the indigenous people, and then granted them many officials. The large island was set up a Jimizhou, the small one was set up a Jimi County, and the smaller one was set up a township. Then the indigenous leaders were appointed as state governors, county magistrates, township chiefs, etc.

However, the natives did not ask for the emperor's rewards in vain. They had a very trading spirit and exchanged many cassava-like things they planted.

There were also some natives who were ungrateful and refused to surrender or accept rewards. In a rage, Li Shimin sent troops to attack and conquered many natives by force. He took the young and strong men and women on a boat and headed east.

Stop and go.

A full six months.

Even the New Year is spent on the sea.

When Li Shimin finally saw the coastline, he almost burst into tears, thinking that he had been floating on the sea for the rest of his life.

"Your Majesty, opposite is the west coast of Central America. There is a horseshoe-shaped deep mountain bay, which is a natural harbor. It is the territory of the Mayan city-state. However, we have been here a few times before and have a good relationship with them. We always trade with them with silk, porcelain, etc., and the relationship is very good." There are three pilot ships to prevent the ship from getting into trouble, and there are other pilot ships, so that the fleet will not be lost in the sea. After all, even if there is a chart, it is difficult to leave right.

The Mayans were landlords in Central America.

They have a long history and belong to jungle civilization. Today, they have their own language, writing and religious beliefs. Although the civilization process of the Mayans is quite strange, and to the present, the entire Central America has a population of millions and hundreds of city-states of all sizes. They have never had a powerful and unified empire like China, Greece, Egypt.

They like to build huge stone tablets in the city squares, carving statues of rulers of all ages on the stone tablets, and building pyramids in the jungle.

They mainly farming, supplemented by fishing and hunting, and there are also wars between city-states.

The previous adventure fleet had already formed a trade relationship with the Mayans, and various commodities from the Central Plains were very popular among Mayan city-states.

"In the inland, there is a powerful Mayan city-state, Tikal, which was founded by a king named Jaguar Claw more than 300 years ago. Today, it has become the most powerful one among the Mayan city-states. Their royal city has an area of ​​more than 100,000 acres, the royal city has more than 50,000 residents, and more than 3,000 pyramids for sacrifice, controlling thousands of miles of territory and a population of more than 2 million."

The capital of this city-state has two feet wide ditches and high city walls.

"The more powerful city-states here include Mirado in the north and Theotihuacan in the central part of the city, and they are not weak."

Li Shimin frowned at these difficult-to-mouthed city-state names.

"What does this Tikal mean?"

"If translated into the meaning of the Tang Dynasty, it should be the place of sound."

"The Land of Sound? Then an Echo Valley?"

"Your Majesty, they are in the jungle."

The news he knew still surprised Li Shimin. It turned out that Zhang Chao told him that Central America was not suitable for gaining a foothold, but he didn't believe it very much. Now he really believes that it is indeed very powerful to have a city-state with a population of two million and even a country with a population of 50,000.

It seems that this place really has no place to gain a foothold.

In his understanding, the city-state should be considered a king of separatist rule, similar to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The city-states of more than 200 city-states of different sizes can be used in such places, so they cannot be fooled.

Karamukel, Caraquór, Palenque are all powerful states in the central and western regions.

Karamukr even defeated Tikal in the alliance with Caraquúl, taking away the overlord status of Maya city-state for nearly a hundred years, until now Tikal regained its overlord status.

This Karamukar also has a vast territory and a huge capital. The city-state name in Mayali means snake, so it is also called the Snake Dynasty.

“Are these big states inland?”

"The central inland states are the most powerful, and there are also strong states in the west and north. The western strong state Palenque is on the west coast, but more than a thousand miles south of us, the nearby states are not big."

These Mayans prefer to live in the jungle, where they build cities, dig canals, and cultivate fields.

When a huge sailing fleet of more than 100 large ships, carrying nearly 30,000 people into the port of Acapulco, there was not even a person to greet them.

Although this port is a natural and deep water harbor, there are no cities or commercial ports beside the port. The Mayans like to live in the jungle, and no one builds cities by the sea.

No one even fished here.

The fleet landed without any obstacles.

"It was recorded that on the second day of the second month of the 16th year of Zhenguan, the dragon raised its head. I led an expeditionary fleet to land in Central America and landed in the harbor of the city-state of Acapulco, but did not encounter resistance."

"This port is named Far East Port."

The distant eastern port of the Tang Empire.

Following several historians around Li Shimin immediately recorded all of them with pens in hand. Li Shimin had a team of historians around him, and he believed that he was creating history, which was enough to record them.

The fleet docked, just like landing on those small islands in the sea before.

A group of soldiers went to reconnaise the situation twenty miles around, while a group of soldiers hunted within ten miles. Another group of people arranged to pick up fresh water and pick up wood, and someone else went to collect wild fruits.

Li Shimin called a navigator.

"You bring a group of people, a batch of silk and porcelain, tea and glass mirrors, etc., to this Akarbon. Tell them that I am here and talk to them, and I am willing to trade with them."

The captain led a team of men to the land.

As batches of crew members disembarked, Li Shimin even asked someone to take his beloved war horse down to drink water and eat grass. When he set out from the Central Plains, he brought thousands of horses and suffered along the way. It took too long and thousands of horses to die, which made him feel extremely distressed. This was his cavalry.

Wu Meiniang got off the boat with her child in her arms, and she looked at the place with some novelty.

"The Central Plains in February are still chilly in spring, but it is like Mayday."

Li Shimin looked at his sleeping son Li Hong and smiled, "I heard that this place is like this all year round."

"I finally arrived in America." Wu sighed.

"But I haven't arrived in the United States yet, and I'm still no less than seven or eight thousand miles from here to the north."

Wu smiled, "We came here from Central China, and the vast sea has come over. Now, as long as we sail along the coast, seven or eight thousand miles is nothing. At least we don't have to worry about losing our way or having nowhere to hide in a big storm, nor are we afraid of lack of fresh water and food."
Chapter completed!