Chapter 443

Chapter 443

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Side Story: The Sea Voyage (3)

The land stretching before their eyes was nothing like the islands they had seen before!

After five months of drifting at sea, Gan Ning had become so familiar with the horizon that he could recognize it even with his eyes closed. The appearance of this coastline was like a sudden burst of energy.

They might finally be reaching their destination!

Gan Ning wasn’t Qiao Yan. Although he believed in His Majesty’s words that there might be land beyond the ocean, he didn’t have the same certainty that they would reach a vast land after such a long voyage.

His confidence in His Majesty’s judgment had gradually eroded over the five months.

He even thought that the next time they reached an island, as long as they could find enough food and repair the ships, they would have to turn back.

During these five months, no matter how smooth the journey, they inevitably faced storms, whirlpools, and attacks from fierce sea creatures.

Diseases caused by不适应海上生活 resulted in a loss of more than one-tenth of their crew.

If they continued sailing, no one could guarantee they would ever return to the Central Plains.

But now, as this land appeared before them, all the hardships they had endured seemed insignificant.

He had to set foot on this land and see what it was!

After confirming that what he saw was not a dream, Gan Ning quickly climbed down from the mast and saw Lu Meng’s ship approaching from the other side.

A bridge was quickly built between the two ships, allowing the two to meet.

“Finally, land!” Gan Ning couldn’t help but curse. “Five months! I feel like vomiting just from the smell of persimmon leaves now. Who knows if I’d go crazy and throw all the persimmon leaf tea into the sea if we had to endure another month.”

“You wouldn’t,” Lu Meng replied confidently.

The two looked at each other and laughed, sharing a默契 born of shared hardship.

Yeah… curses aside, they really wouldn’t.

According to the dietary guidelines set by Hua Tuo and Zhang Zhongjing, they had to consume enough vegetables. But in such a maritime environment, it was impossible to get such luxury. Even with pickled vegetables, as His Majesty suggested, it wasn’t enough to fill the gap.

To prevent上火 and anemia, a large quantity of dried persimmon leaves was included in the naval supplies for daily tea.

This supply, enough for nearly two years, was a daily necessity enforced like a military order.

No matter what happened at sea, they had to drink it.

Though they didn’t know why persimmon leaves were chosen, it at least kept them relatively healthy after such a tumultuous voyage.

And now, it would support them as they explored their destination!

As the fleet continued eastward, with scout ships spreading north and south to observe the coastline, they realized the land’s vastness might far exceed their imagination.

Deciding which direction to go after landing was a big problem.

Five months had already passed since they set sail, and considering the same time needed for the return journey, to prevent their large fleet from disappearing in the eyes of the Da Yong people, they had at most six months to a year for exploration.

If they couldn’t gain enough to justify the voyage in one direction, they couldn’t face His Majesty.

Gan Ning looked at their remaining fleet and crew and said to Lu Meng, “After we land, we’ll first explore the dangers of this place. If our weapons can handle it, we’ll split the team in half. I’ll lead north, and you’ll lead south. At the latest, we must turn back within six months.”

“If one of us…”

Gan Ning glanced at the date board on the ship.

They had passed Yizhou and Xuzhou in June of Yuan Zhao’s fourth year and set sail again at the end of July.

Perhaps by fate, they arrived at this land around the New Year of Yuan Zhao’s fifth year.

He gritted his teeth and made a decision. “If one of us hasn’t returned by the last day of Yuan Zhao’s fifth year, the other should not wait and return directly to Da Yong.”

With their advanced weapons, if they couldn’t return, they might be facing insurmountable trouble.

Rather than searching for each other and risking both teams, it was better to ensure one could return home.

“Weapons, medicine, doctors, food, and the fresh water collected from the recent rain, we’ll divide equally. Whoever gains more from this journey, let fate decide.”

Lu Meng understood the significance of Gan Ning’s decision and nodded heavily. “Alright, let’s do it!”

This land before them was utterly unfamiliar, with its hot, rainy climate and island scenery unlike anything they had experienced. No one could guarantee whether going south or north was safer.

As the commander, Gan Ning had already given up his only advantage. As his deputy, Lu Meng had no reason to hesitate.

After naming the port where the currents brought them ashore “Victory Port,” the two teams quickly divided and rested, then went their separate ways.

Gan Ning, heading north, initially thought that in such a dense jungle, there would be few people. But…








When their people passed through this relatively narrow island area and continued forward for half a month, the soldiers who had dispersed to explore actually discovered traces of human passage among the mountains ahead.

These traces, which could form a path, did not seem to be made by just a few people, but rather by a large enough group that had left its mark here.

Even in a deserted valley within the mountains, Gan Ning discovered what might have once been an altar, with two inscriptions still remaining amidst the surrounding weeds.

The carvings on them, no matter how crude, resembled a special kind of script.

This was definitely not something left by uncivilized animals, but rather a remnant left by humans!

Not long after he continued north, his soldiers caught two humans who were secretly spying on their movements from the jungle.

Gan Ning, with his bandit-like demeanor, could only try his best to show a friendly attitude to solve the communication barrier due to language differences, and had the most amiable-looking soldier among his men gesture to the other party. Even so, it took these two unlucky captives half a month to realize that this strange tribal group, which had detained them and then temporarily halted their northward journey, seemed to have no hostility towards them.

As a return for the dried meat and biscuits they had given, one of them, after discussing with the other, went back first.

When he returned again, besides two more people following behind, Gan Ning also saw that the other party was holding a pile of small spherical objects… probably some kind of food?

After the brown skin of these small spheres was peeled off, the yellowish-white “flesh” underneath was revealed.

But what puzzled Gan Ning was that the other party did not give this directly to him to eat, but instead smashed it with a stone, then, under his watchful gaze, mixed it with clay, stirred it into a paste of soil and food, cooked it in a stone pot for a while, and then handed it to Gan Ning.

“General!” The soldier looked at this bowl of stuff warily, fearing that the other party was trying to poison Gan Ning.

But Gan Ning just waved his hand at him and took it.

Without verbal communication, he could see the other party’s attitude more clearly than ever.

It didn’t seem like they wanted to kill him.

And this series of cooking processes by the other party seemed to have been practiced thousands of times, probably their most common method, definitely not malicious.

It’s just… when had Gan Ning ever eaten dirt before!

He didn’t know that it was precisely because of the addition of soil that the alkaloid toxicity in the wild potatoes growing here was weakened to an edible level.

All he could confirm was that when he ate the food made by the locals and gave his own dagger as a gift, the person who had been wary of them quickly regarded him as a close friend.

With this person leading the way, they continued north, passing through the hills, and from afar, they saw a corner of the valley ahead through the parted trees, where a simple large village made of piled stones was clearly visible.

Outside the stone boundary, a large area of disk-shaped bright yellow flowers faced the sun, making one feel as if a golden glow of the sun had fallen among the mountains.

Gan Ning stared blankly at this place, which was different from the prosperous lands of Da Yong, feeling that this place still retained some of the cultural budding state of the remote areas of Yizhou.

He raised his hand to signal the soldiers to set up camp on the spot, and took a dozen people with him to continue forward with the guide.

He muttered to his subordinate, “They can’t all be eating mud, right?”

Seeing his subordinate give him a helpless look, Gan Ning continued to himself, “If they really do that, I’ll pull the flowers in front of their door and eat them. I don’t believe this stuff can be worse than dirt!”

Fortunately, it turned out that his worries might be unnecessary.

After arriving here, he discovered that the method of eating dirt mixed with clay was just one of their staple foods. A stick-shaped object full of yellow and white granules and something that looked a bit like yam were the other two staple foods here.

And the seeds from the yellow flowers in front of the door could actually be used to extract oil.

Wasn’t this the new species he had been dreaming of?

Meanwhile, on the other side, Lu Meng was still on his way south.

Compared to Gan Ning, who could quickly discover the local inhabitants and even interact with these simple people with sophisticated weapons, his exploration journey was much more difficult.

After the area he passed through changed from a narrow island to a continent, the difficulty of exploration increased several times due to the mountains ahead.

Fortunately, when their carpet search on the coast yielded no results and they moved to the mountains, some traces of human passage gradually appeared before him.

Lu Meng immediately perked up, set up camp in the mountains at the fastest speed, and continued to push forward on his search.

When he suddenly saw a black shadow flash in the forest, he rushed forward first, and the next moment, he faced a child with a frightened expression.

Seeing this sudden knife-wielding man, the child instinctively let go, and a sphere fell from his hand.

This sphere, which didn’t seem to be made of leather or hollow, didn’t fall straight to the ground, but bounced back up the moment it hit the ground.

After several ups and downs, it rolled to Lu Meng’s feet.

Author’s note:

Rubber is here.

Gan Ning is still the miserable one, the potatoes in his direction and Lu Meng’s route are not the same eating method nor the same variety (dog head)

Gan Ning and Lu Meng’s route actually first goes southeast, taking advantage of the equatorial countercurrent from west to east, which makes sailing easier for them. Plus, it’s hot and rainy, and the rainwater is drinkable.

So Gan Ning’s route is towards Mexico, Guatemala (Maya culture at that time)

Lu Meng’s route is towards Peru (at the intersection of Tiwanaku culture and Chavín culture at that time)

See you at 9 PM.