Transmigrating to the Three Kingdoms as Lu Bu: I Have a Pseudo-Apocalypse System

Zhou Yu knelt and kowtowed, saying, "Your subject Zhou Yu receives the imperial decree and expresses his gratitude! Long live Your Majesty!"

He Qi and the others also knelt down to express their gratitude.

Lü Bu helped Zhou Yu up and said, "Gongjin, come with me in the emperor's carriage, and we'll return to the city together."

Zhou Yu was greatly alarmed: "Your Majesty, I dare not!"

Lü Bu laughed and said, "What's there to be afraid of? You are a meritorious official, this is what you deserve."

After saying this, he took Zhou Yu's hand and together they boarded the ornately decorated imperial carriage.

He Qi and the other captains mounted tall horses and wore red silk cloaks. The sailors with physical disabilities rode in open sedan chairs, and together they headed towards Luoyang City.

Tens of thousands of people lined the streets and cheered.

"Zhou Yu! Zhou Yu!"

"Long live the Great Han! Long live His Majesty!"

Zhou Yu sat on the emperor's carriage, looking at the cheering crowds on both sides, his eyes reddening.

Five and a half years later, he finally came back.

On the seventh day of the eleventh lunar month, in Luoyang, at the Taiji Hall.

Lü Bu summoned Zhou Yu and He Qi to the palace and asked them to give a detailed account of their circumnavigation.

All the important officials of the court were present, and even Zhao Wen was "invited" to come.

Zhou Yu stood in the hall, with a huge map hanging in front of him. It was a global map he had personally drawn based on the navigation routes. Although rough, the outlines of the major continents could be roughly seen.

He pointed to the map and said, "Your Majesty, Your Excellencies, we set off from Qingzhou, first heading east to the Three Han and Japanese islands. Then we continued northeast, crossing a vast ocean, and sailed for three months before finally seeing a continent we had never seen before."

Looking at the place Zhou Yu was pointing to, Lü Bu knew that it was Alaska in later generations.

Zhou Yu continued, "It's freezing cold there, and sparsely populated. We replenished our fresh water and food there and continued sailing south along the coastline."

He pointed to a piece of land on the map and said, "This is a vast continent. We traveled south along the coastline for two months and only covered half of it. The people here have reddish skin and live by hunting. We traded some goods with them and also collected some crop seeds."

Lu Bu asked, "You mean the sweet potatoes and corn you mentioned?"

Zhou Yu said, "Yes, sweet potatoes and corn were both found on this continent. The locals use them as a staple food, growing them on the hillsides. They are not picky about the land and the yield is high."

He continued, pointing to the map, "Further south, there lies an even more vast continent. Here, we found potatoes and chili peppers. Potatoes can be used as food, and chili peppers can be used as a condiment. We also saw something called a tomato, which is red, sweet and sour, and edible."

Chen Gong asked, "Can the Han Dynasty grow these crops?"

Zhou Yu said, "Yes, I asked the locals, and they said these things are not picky about the land; they can be grown on hillsides and wastelands. Sweet potatoes and potatoes, in particular, can yield a good harvest even when planted in barren soil."

Lü Bu nodded: "Good. Send an order to the agricultural officials, instructing them to conduct trial plantings as soon as possible. If successful, promote it nationwide."

The eunuch replied, "Yes."

Zhou Yu continued, "We continued sailing south, rounding one sea and entering a new ocean. It was a vast ocean we had never seen before, with extremely rough seas. We encountered a storm there and lost three ships and more than two hundred men."

He paused, his voice low and somber: "Gan Ning sacrificed his life there. When the storm came, he was on the command ship. A huge wave crashed over them, and both he and the ship were gone."

Lü Bu knew that Zhou Yu was referring to the Atlantic Ocean in later times.

Silence fell over the hall.

Lü Bu said in a deep voice, "Gan Ning died for his country, and I have posthumously conferred upon him the title of Marquis of Duhai. His family will be well taken care of by the court."

Zhou Yu kowtowed: "Your Majesty, I thank you on behalf of Gan Ning."

He continued, "After crossing that ocean, we saw another continent. The people here had fair skin, blond hair, and blue eyes, and wore strange clothes. I later learned that this place was called Rome."

Zhang Liao asked, "Rome? How many troops do they have?"

Zhou Yu said, "I am not entirely sure. But I have seen their army; they are well-equipped and highly trained. Their armor is made of iron, and their weapons of steel, no less than those of the Han Dynasty. Their envoy said that Rome has a vast territory and a large population, and is the most powerful country in the West."

Lü Bu said, "We'll talk about Rome later. You continue."

Zhou Yu said, "We replenished our fresh water and food in Rome and continued sailing south, reaching the southernmost tip of the continent."

He pointed to the southernmost point of the map (the Cape of Good Hope) and said, "The waves are extremely high here, and we lost another ship there. After passing this point, sailing north, we will reach India."

"India produces spices, such as pepper, cinnamon, and cardamom, all of which are of high quality. We exchanged a considerable amount of spices there and also brought back some seeds."

"Traveling east from India, across the strait, one reaches the Indochina Peninsula. Further north lies Jiaozhou. We arrived in Jiaozhi County on the fifteenth of September, rested for a few days, and then headed north to Luoyang."

After Zhou Yu finished speaking, the hall fell silent.

Jia Xu sighed, "Five and a half years, a complete circle of the earth. Gongjin, you've worked hard."

Zhou Yu said, "Serving the country is not hard for me; it is the brothers who sacrificed their lives who have suffered."

Lu Bu stood up, walked to the map, examined it carefully, and said, "Gongjin, these crops you brought back are very important to the Han Dynasty. Sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn—these things don't require specific soil types and have high yields. The people won't have to go hungry anymore."

Zhou Yu said, "Your Majesty is wise; that's what I think too."

Lü Bu turned to face his ministers and said, "Issue an imperial decree: from today onwards, agricultural officials must devote all their efforts to researching these new crops. They must test-plant them as soon as possible and promote their cultivation. Whoever succeeds first will be richly rewarded."

The assembled officials replied in unison, "Yes."

November 11th, Luoyang.

The mid-November issue of the Da Han Xun Bao newspaper was released in a major release. The headline of this issue was the news of the return of the fleet that had circumnavigated the globe.

The newspaper headline, printed in large print, read: "The Great Han Circumnavigation Fleet Completes a Round-the-World Journey, Proving the Earth's Roundness!"

Below is a long article detailing the fleet's voyage route, the crops it brought back, and the heroes who sacrificed their lives.

Newspaper boys went from street to street, shouting: "The circumnavigation fleet is back! They've circled the earth once, returning from the west, proving the theory of a spherical earth."

The people of the city flocked around, eager to take a copy.

A literate middle-aged man took the newspaper, unfolded it, and read aloud: "The Han fleet set sail from Qingzhou, heading eastward for five years and four months, circumnavigating the land before returning from Jiaozhou. Zhou Yu, He Qi, Gan Ning, and others made outstanding contributions..."

After he finished reading, there was a gasp of surprise from those around him.

"The earth really is round!"

"His Majesty did not lie to us!"

"Zhou Yu was truly a hero!"

Those students who had once questioned the theory of a spherical Earth now held newspapers, their faces filled with shame.

"So the earth really is round."