Translator: ryangohsff Editor: Nora
Chapter 969 – Second Voyage
The establishment of the Dawson Dynasty stirred up the pile of stale water.
Ouyang Shuo immediately decided to set the date of the second voyage to the 11th month, 6th day.
After reading through a day of memorials, he returned to the back palace at night. Ouyang Shuo had dinner together with Song Jia. Two months had passed, and Song Jia’s tummy had bulged slightly, showing that the two newborns were growing in her womb.
With Song Jia being pregnant, Ouyang Shuo’s mentality was slightly changing. He had a new role, a heavy mantle-father.
Probably at this moment, Ouyang Shuo truly grew up.
“How’s the holdings coming along?” Ouyang Shuo attentively picked dishes for his wife and asked.
Song Jia was a person that did not like to sit at home and do nothing. After being pregnant, she could not cultivate, so she focused her energy onto the Mountain and Sea Entertainment Holdings.
Seeing her husband so caring, her heart felt really sweet as she smiled, “We are currently filming Hua Mulan. Zhaojun’s training is also complete, and we are preparing to hold the first concert in the Capital City next month.”
Song Jia really knew how to made use of resources. Not long after Hua Mulan established the Imperial Court female guards, she had caught Song Jia’s eyes and was thrown into the movie industry, “Wasn’t this her not focusing on her job?”
Such a thought only slightly flashed across Ouyang Shuo’s mind, as did not dare say it out.
As for Wang Zhaojun’s concert, it was not much as Ouyang Shuo was the one to recommend her.
Song Jia continued, “Diaochan has already agreed to be the dancer in her concert.”
‘Cough!’ Ouyang Shuo coughed, “Wang Zhaojun and Diaochan? Who can resist such a godly combination?”
“Well done!”
Ouyang Shuo gave her the thumbs up.
Song Jia smiled in glee, “Oh yeah, there’s one more thing I wanted to talk to you about.”
“What thing?”
“Although Qingyang Sword Sect has moved over to Chengdu, their sect headquarters is still there. Lin Yue is asking if the Imperial Court can hand it over to the Dongli Sword Sect to allow him to build a branch in the Shu Lands.”
Ouyang Shuo was astonished, “Lin Yue has huge ambitions.”
The Shu Lands had many heroes. Be it the Wuxia culture or the Xianxia culture, they were both really evident there. Lin Yue wanted to use this chance to step into the Shu Lands underworld.
“As long as he follows the rules, it would naturally be okay. I will speak to Tian Wenjing about it.” Since the Dongli Sword Sect was interested in expanding, Ouyang Shuo naturally would not stop them.
Seeing this, Ouyang Shuo thought of a matter, “During the period that I’m gone, you need to monitor her studies. That little brat is becoming more and more playful. Where is she now?”
At the dinner table, Ouyang Shuo did not see Bing’er.
Song Jia pouted, “Do not worry, she’s really well behaved. Today, she was invited by Bai Xue to the Wei Manor.”
Ouyang Shuo nodded; he was actually surprised that Bai Xue was close to Bing’er.
************
11th month, 6th day, Beihai Port.
The bustling Beihai City was really solemn and serious. Many officials and generals came over to send off the king.
Compared to the first voyage, the second voyage was more planned. The squadron would first go toward Xingzhou Prefecture, where Ouyang Shuo would meet with the ASEAN Lords to discuss the Atlantic trading partner agreement.
Following which, the squadron would go past the Straits of Malacca and enter the Indian Ocean.
Different from the first voyage, the Emperor Squadron would not go west but down south toward Australia. Along the way, Ouyang Shuo also wanted to try if he could activate the scenario quest of the Lemuria Civilization.
If time permitted it, he was also planning to go to New Zealand before coming back to prepare for the second global auction.
The entire program was really tight. Luckily, be it ASEAN, Australia, or New Zealand, the Honglu Temple had sent envoys over to do the groundwork.
The significance of this voyage was far greater than the interests it involved.
Praying to Ma Zu as usual, Ouyang Shuo got up The Emperor and the entire squadron set sailed.
Z1 Type Warship after warship surrounded The Emperor and slowly sailed out of the port. Around them were closely packed Mengchong Warships and Cima boats; the scene was really majestic.
Compared to the turreted ships, the Z1 Type Warships had three changes.
First, they took the pros of a Man O’ War type warship to remodel the sails. Without a doubt, in the era where one used manual labor and power to move ships, the Man O’ War type warship was the most advanced.
Secondly, remodel the cannon designs.
The number of cannons on both sides of the warships was increased. Now, they had a total of 90 cannons, and Z1 and Z2 cannons were used together to increase the firepower net. At the same time, it would not cause any weight burden on the warship.
Apart from that, two super cannons were added to the front and tail of the warship. Be it range of firepower, these cannons exceeded the Z1 type Cannon.
Of course, the huge size meant that these cannons could only be used to scare off others and could not be placed all around the ships. Even then, with these two cannons, the Z1 Type Warships were not restricted to just left to right formations.
Even when charging and retreating, they could harm the enemy.
Thirdly, the accumulation of many new technologies and techniques.
Be it the bartering ram, the bars, or the watertight cabin technology, these series of warship changing technologies led by Old Sun were gathered onto the Z1 Type Warship.
One could say that be it in terms of speed, weight, or firepower, it was a huge upgrade from the turreted warship. Its level exceeded any wooden warship in China.
Old Sun had said that even the British Man O’ War type warships could not be compared to it.
The success of the Z1 Type Warship could be seen as a result of the Great Xia Shipbuilding industry development.
If the Z1 Type Warship was the most advanced warship of the day, then The Emperor was an overlord of the ocean.
Compared to the Z1 Type Warship, The Emperor was a size bigger, and its cannons were increased to 120. It weighed 3600 tonnes, which was more than a Grade 1 Man O’ War series warship.
There was a docking bay specially designed on the deck of The Emperor to allow mimicry flying devices to take off and land.
Most crucially, The Emperor used steam engine as a support power, unveiling the time for machines to replace human labor.
The currently developing Z2 Type Warship would totally use steam engine and welcome another round of revolution.
…
Beihai Bay, Spratly Islands, Zhongsha Islands, South Sea…
All the way around, Ouyang Shuo was filled with many emotions. None of these islands were desolate islands. Instead, they were listed as explored territories in Qiongzhou Prefecture, and each one had signs of China Region players in it.
On the ocean surface, one could often see groups of fishing boats. Along with the development of the Shipbuilding Industry, the dynasty fishing industry had developed from close sea to deep ocean.
On the tables of the Shanhai City people, seafood was not a new ingredient.
As he passed Beihai Bay, he could not see a single Annan ship. There were no fishing boats, merchant ships, or warships. Although the Annan Squadron was rebuilt, they felt threatened by Yashan City. As such, they did not dare go out to sea.
11th month, 9th day, the Emperor Squadron passes the Spratly Islands.
Ouyang Shuo remembered that last time he was at the Spratly Islands. At that time, the voyage squadron had faced a storm and fought with octopus beasts. As a result, Ouyang Shuo unintentionally arrived on the unnamed island and discovered the dragon vein.
The dragon bones of The Emperor were from that island.
Just as they passed the Spratly Islands, a loud dragon roar spread out from the skies above.
“What sound is that?”
“Be on alert. Cannons, get ready!”
The Emperor was alert, but they did not panic, making Ouyang Shuo really satisfied.
Raising his head, one could see a thousand meter long golden dragon in the clouds. Its golden scales, thick body, and shining claws made one look on awe.
“Dragon, a god dragon!”
The fate dragon had appeared several times, so the civilians of Great Xia were not unfamiliar with it. Their first reaction was that they thought it was the appearance of the god dragon.
Weirdly, the dragon they saw before was purple, while this one was gold. Not to mention it really looked like the one on the Great Xia country flag.
The golden dragon in the sky scratched its head with its claws as confusion appeared in its eyes, “Shouldn’t they be afraid? Why are they so calm?”
The moment he saw the golden dragon, Ouyang Shuo thought back to when he was on the unnamed island and the story the Qilin spoke to him about. Ouyang Shuo asked, “Did you come from the dragon island?”
The golden dragon was shocked and subconsciously asked, “How do you know that?”
The moment he said those words, he regretted it.
Ouyang Shuo smiled, “I was fortunate enough to hear Senior Qilin speak about it.”
‘Scoff.’ The dragon did not believe it, “Human, tell me why I smell the scent of my race. If you do not give me a satisfying answer, do not blame me.”
Naturally, the dragon was referring to The Emperor. When Ouyang Shuo decided to use the bones of the black dragon to build it, he had foreseen this.
After building it, The Emperor did not disappoint him.
The Emperor gave out the aura of a dragon. While they sailed, no matter what ocean beast they came across, it would flee when they felt this aura.
The stronger the ocean beast, the further it ran to hide.
With that, the Emperor Squadron did not face a single ocean beast along the way.
Ouyang Shuo did not hide anything and told the golden dragon everything about the black dragon.
The Qilin told Ouyang Shuo that the black dragon was a bastard of the dragon race, and it was a famous criminal. Since the golden dragon came from the dragon island, there was no reason for him to be enemies with Ouyang Shuo.
As expected, after listening to Ouyang Shuo’s description, the golden dragon was a little emotional, clawing out. A claw that was an accumulation of energy passed through The Emperor and scratched some of the aura of the black dragon.
The golden dragon sniffed the aura and confirmed the story.
When Ouyang Shuo saw that, his eyes focused; this golden dragon was really amazing.