In my dream of returning to the Tang Dynasty, I snatched Wu Zetian from my lap.

Li Yuanchang nodded, then turned his gaze back to the man with the pointed mouth and monkey-like face.

"You're also a member of the Tsushima Pirates, aren't you?"

The man shook his head guiltily.

He dared not admit it.

Li Yuanchang saw through his lie, waved his hand, and Huang Tu slashed down, cutting off three of his fingers on the spot.

"ah!!"

The man screamed in agony.

Master Ji'an chanted Buddhist mantras as he watched.

Li Yuanchang squatted down, his eyes cold: "Can you talk now?"

"I'll talk, I'll talk!" The man cried out in agony, his veins bulging.

"How many pirates are there over there?" Li Yuanchang asked casually. Since it was an unavoidable route, they had to make preparations in advance.

"A thousand, more than a thousand people!"

"Impossible." Li Yuanchang blurted out. More than a thousand armed men was a huge force in ancient times. Many tribes on the grasslands that had existed for hundreds of years did not have such resources.

How could a group of island thugs possibly have this much wealth?

"There were indeed more than a thousand people, but not that many weapons; most of the blunt weapons were made by sharpening stones."

"There are also more than two hundred people who were born into samurai families."

"They have a big ship!"

Li Yuanchang raised an eyebrow. That's more like it. The real threat to the fleet comes from these two hundred-odd warriors.

However, judging from the fact that these pirates were not very strong in combat, they were not a threat.

"Keep this one, keep this one. Kill the rest." He was ruthless, pointing at the man with the pointed mouth and monkey-like face and the one-eyed man.

Such beings are a menace if left alive; keeping two alive is enough.

"yes!"

Before the pirates, who couldn't understand Chinese, could react, their heads were chopped off and thrown into the sea.

Blood stained the entire shoreline.

Early the next morning, a large number of corpses washed ashore, attracting a large number of fishermen from Baiyingkou to watch, but by then the three treasure ships had already left.

"They're our people!"

"They were all beheaded. Did they run into some competitors?"

Several muscular men with beards, holding samurai swords, squatted down and whispered.

"No, they weren't from the same industry. Those people said that three huge ships from the Tang Dynasty docked yesterday, and it was probably the Han Chinese who killed them!"

"A giant ship? Han Chinese?"

"Fine, fine, you dare to kill our people while passing through our territory!"

"Quickly, take the small boat back as soon as possible and inform the chief!"

……

After three days and three nights of continuous sailing, the speed of the entire fleet began to drop sharply.

Ancient ships didn't have engines and relied heavily on monsoon winds. When the wind was blowing right, they could go extremely fast. Without monsoon winds, they would be very slow if they relied solely on the sailors.

After all, a person can't keep working forever.

Moreover, the bad news wasn't just about the wind direction; it seemed as if all the groundwork laid in the beginning was actually setting the stage for what was to come.

"Your Highness, this weather..." Guo Chao and the others frowned.

Li Yuanchang looked up at the sky, his expression equally solemn. The sea was covered with dark clouds in broad daylight, as if the heavens were frowning. It wasn't this serious yesterday.

In recent days, some of the sailors and helmsmen on the treasure ship have been feeling uneasy.

Even people who don't understand weather know that such weather at sea is definitely not a good sign.

"Master Ji'an, you hit the nail on the head!" Li Yuanchang said with a wry smile.

Ji'an's gaze remained calm: "Your Highness, the sea is turbulent. In extreme weather, it can devour people invisibly. Any human effort is too insignificant in the face of it."

A decision needs to be made soon.

There are currently only two options.

Li Yuanchang asked, "What method?"

"First, we need to quickly head to Tsushima Island to avoid the extreme weather."

"Second, we can take a detour and change our original route to see if we can escape this area."

"The former will inevitably have to meet with the pirate crew."

"The latter is highly uncertain. It's possible that we still won't be able to escape, or we might even get completely lost in extreme weather. The unknowns of the voyage are increasing dramatically," Ji'an said.

Li Yuanchang took a deep breath, looked at the sky, and completely gave up any hope of a lucky break.

"Changing course? You're not even confident about the route you know?"

Ji'an shook his head: "The sea is boundless. I come from Japan, and I know more about Japanese waters. I can't say for sure about this section."

After thinking it over, Li Yuanchang decided to choose the lesser of two evils.

"Let's go to Tsushima Island then, since we've already made preparations to run into them."

Ji'an cautioned, "Your Highness, you should still be careful."

"If you encounter them at sea, with your warships, men, and weapons, they won't even be able to board the ship. They are nothing to fear."

"But once you get on the island, things will be a little different."

There's an old saying in the Central Plains: "It's easy to dodge a spear in the open, but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark."

"Besides pirate groups, there are also a large number of natives there. It's a mixed bag, unlike the Tang Dynasty in the East, which is bound by education and laws."

"They've even resorted to cannibalism; anything can happen."

"I observed the celestial phenomena last night, and I feel that this extreme weather at sea is unlikely to pass in just a day or two."

"If Your Highness decides to go to the island, then you must be prepared to stay for an extended period."

"Eating people??" Huang Tu and the others nearby exclaimed in astonishment.

Even in mountain tribes, which are so primitive, they hunt and never eat people.

Ji'an smiled bitterly and put his hands together: "There are countless islands in the East Sea, surrounded by the sea. They do not have the long-standing civilization and teachings of the Great Tang Dynasty in the East. They only have the survival rules that have evolved over the past few hundred years."

"This is also why I traveled back and forth to the Tang Dynasty many times, hoping to bring back scriptures and seeds."

"If only this sea could be like the Tang Dynasty someday."

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanchang's eyes flickered.

Ji'an is right. During this period, apart from the Tang Dynasty, the other games were truly running like single-player games.

A foreigner later wrote a book that recorded how strong the Han Chinese naval power was, and that it was the strongest until the Ming Dynasty, with a significant lead.

He thought to himself that this situation was practically a game-changer.

If the Tang Dynasty could fundamentally resolve the prejudice that the world is the Central Plains and other places are barbaric lands, and send out fleets to sail and conduct multiple infiltrations through force and culture, just like the Europeans did later, it would be a better future.

So, will the world be completely different more than a thousand years from now?

Can the humiliating history of the Chinese nation's dramatic decline be rewritten?

Thinking about this, Li Yuanchang himself felt a surge of excitement!

However, this idea is very bold, even unconventional, and will be met with fierce criticism if it is put forward!

Due to the limitations of the era, the resources and time required for the Great Exploration were ten times greater than those required for the massive construction projects undertaken by Emperor Yang of Sui.

If you dare to do this, aren't you courting death?

The ancients could not know what the future held. They did not have a celestial eye, and they did not know what coastlines, deep-sea ports, oil, and other resources were.

If he dares to mention it, he should be arrested and his head smashed to see what's inside.

Unless he himself is the emperor and has extremely high control over the entire Tang Dynasty, he can conduct limited exploration while protecting the homeland.