Chapter 0

When we look back on history afterwards, we often find that under the torrent of history, no matter how wise a leader is, he will inevitably be confused.

——The chronicle of the empire made 1000 soldiers who were ordered to maintain order outside the port. Unfortunately, they were faced with more than 50000 enthusiastic citizens of the imperial capital.

Enthusiastic onlookers gathered around the flowers, cheers, applause prepared by the citizens - and of course, many girls were even ready to give their kisses and even their virginities. In this emotional turmoil, a thousand soldiers feel like a broken ship in the ocean, which may be overturned at any time.

At the moment, they are envious of the guards standing in the dock cordon, because they can leisurely line up, show off the brightest armor and weapons they have just issued, and don't have to worry about being scratched by some fanatical citizen next second.

For this grand victory, under the order of his majesty Augustine VI, the great emperor of the Empire, the section of the Lancang grand canal leading to the imperial capital has been doubled! For this reason, the Empire paid 10000 river transport workers for half a year, and the imperial finance also paid nearly three million gold coins.

The purpose of paying these costs is just to make the Empire "the Earl's eyes a little lax. His focus does not stay on the cheering crowd in the harbor. If you look closely, you can see that the Earl's eyebrows seem to be slightly wrinkled and impatient.

Hell, this armor is too heavy and stupid!

The count didn't think that as a soldier in a naval fleet, he would need to wear such heavy armor when fighting at sea. That's something the army uses. As for wearing these medals, it was a stupid thing in the count's mind. It's as if the upstarts are showing off their wealth - the real nobles don't care to do so. He felt that such a move had a lot of identity.

What's more, the cheering crowd below was too noisy. Their cheering sounds were like the huge waves in the tsunami, which eroded the count's little patience.

Subconsciously, I took a look at the deck under my feet.

In order to cope with today's welcome ceremony, the Dandong had been painted three days ago, and there was no blood on the deck. The damaged deck in the expeditionary war has already been laid again, and the angle of collision of the bow has also been changed... Hell, those guys who like to flatter the emperor actually made the angle of collision of the bow into a statue of the Emperor himself, and it is said that this statue was made by a famous sculptor of the empire a few days ago.

For this reason, the Imperial Navy also paid an additional 10000 gold coins.

Powerful is powerful enough. But don't those idiots know that the angle of impact of the bow is the first one to be destroyed after the collision of warships when they encounter battle at sea?

In his opinion, the ten thousand gold coins were wrongly spent. The sculptor's work is not as effective as finding a sharp stake.

In fact, more deeply, Lord Raymond even thought that it was a ridiculous wrong decision to organize the so-called x-th imperial expedition fleet.

From decades ago, the Empire began to carry out "expeditions" in the South China Sea again and again.

It is undeniable that there are countless islands in the Southern Ocean, like scattered pearls scattered over the vast sea area, where there are strange woods, there are savage and stupid aboriginal tribes still staying in the clan stage, there are gold, gems, spices, seafood.

However, the count doesn't think that "taking a dozen huge warships to bully the aboriginal canoes" is an "expedition".

It was a complete plunder, a massacre, a bandit, an invasion, a naked robbery!

The count doesn't think it's wrong. The weak will always be bullied by the strong, and the weak need to keep a submissive attitude to the strong. However, he believed that the mistake of the Empire's policy towards Nanyang was that the so-called expeditions were carried out too frequently, and the effect seemed to be getting weaker and weaker.

In the early two or three expeditions, the powerful imperial navy was invincible in the Southern Ocean. When the whole ships of gold, gems and seafood spices were transported back, they once caused a sensation in the whole empire.

But after all, no matter how rich the granary is, it can't stand such frequent harvesting. Too much plunder led to the extinction of the aboriginal tribes in the Southern Ocean. Later, the expeditionary army had to go farther and farther. The extension of the route was a great test for the supply of the fleet.

After all, Nanyang has not only bullish aborigines, but also gold and precious stones. It also has muggy weather, ever-changing climate, terrible waves, numerous reefs, eddies and storms

The transition of harvest made this fertile field which could have been the granary of the Empire quickly deserted. After that, the expeditions gained less and less. But ironically, the triumphal ceremony has become more and more grand

Count Raymond himself led three expeditions in recent years, which made the count gain a great reputation in Nanyang. The count, the general of the Imperial Navy, has a series of nicknames in Nanyang:

robber! butcher! Executioner His hands are covered with the blood of the aborigines. He is the infamous aggressor in the hearts of the aboriginal clans. He is the devil who burned their homes and enslaved them. Of course, the count doesn't care about this, but the only thing that makes him feel a little uneasy is that the excessive war of aggression has abnormally stimulated the development of these Nanyang aborigines in some ways, especially in terms of force. Even before he came back this time, he had heard that some islanders had formed a so-called alliance in the farthest South Sea to fight against the endless plunder of the Empire. Fortunately, he didn't have to think about those things. Because he knew it was his last expedition. Next, he will stay in the imperial capital. If everything goes well, he will get a prominent position in the imperial headquarters, and then spend ten or eight years. After the current military minister retires, he will become a new military minister with the influence of his family. If he is a little lucky, he may still be in the last few years of his political career, I'm addicted to being prime minister. As for expeditions, screw it. That's a headache for the next commander of the expeditionary warship team. Even if the Aborigines have evolved to be able to build magic guns, it's not their own problem. In the heat wave of cheers, the count stepped down from the flagship deck in full view of the public. His feet finally stepped on the land of the imperial capital! He waved to the cheering crowd... Just this action, but it was more like driving away flies. First of all, a civil servant dressed in court service went on board and read out the emperor's commendation order, and announced that the Earl would come to the palace early tomorrow morning to meet his majesty and receive the honours. If you get what you want, your political future will be bright. But then a servant in grey came up and whispered another message in the Earl's ear, which made count Raymond's mood sink to the bottom! The news came from home. After more than three years of expedition, the sea is vast and the message transmission is inconvenient. Raymond didn't know what was going on at home. The most important thing is my wife. Three years ago, when he went to the army, his wife was close to giving birth. Now, he doesn't even know whether he gave birth to a son or a daughter! The news at home: it's my son. But my son seems to be an idiot. The news almost knocked the count down from the top of his joy. It's almost there! However, almost all the emperors and dignitaries who came to meet them saw that the triumphant commander-in-chief of the expeditionary army was gloomy to the critical point of collapse.