Chapter 783: Starting the Age of Discovery
The Queen is not an ignorant little girl. She knows exactly what the Desert Kingdom is up to.
This broken kingdom is sandwiched between two great nations, serving as a buffer zone between them. If it weren't for the desert's geographical structure, both Norma and Gran would have attacked it long ago and taken it over. But because of this yellow sand, neither Gran nor Norma have had any interest in it, and whoever attacks it, the other kingdom will not sit idly by and will even send troops to aid it.
And so the Desert Kingdom wavered between the two great nations.
If Norma was strong, it would rely on Norma to fight against Gran, hoping to take a piece of their territory and have their kingdom also own a non-desert, legitimate piece of land. And if Gran were strong, they would lean towards Gran and go against Norma, hoping to take a piece of their land.
This broken kingdom has been going back and forth like this for thousands of years, but it is still stuck in the desert.
The Queen is not interested in hearing any more nonsense and frowned, "I need something substantial, not this kind of divisive promise."
The ambassador quickly added, "Oh, right! If we can establish a peace agreement lasting more than ten years, you will also receive a substantial compensation and a map of the newly discovered Mayas East Coast."
"Oh?" The Queen became interested. "A map of the East Coast of the new continent?"
"Yes!" The ambassador said, "It also shows the minerals and crops that our sailors have discovered, as well as the distribution of the local indigenous people. It is a very valuable map, and I believe you will like it very much."
The Queen really wanted this thing!
In recent decades, the Kingdom of Gran's maritime affairs have been in a mess. The first twenty years were due to Mondra's inaction. This scum never developed technology or explored the unknown, only knowing how to consolidate his own power. During his twenty years of ruling Gran, the kingdom didn't even build a port. And during this time, although the young Queen was in Lost City, she was focused on saving her army and fighting the war to reclaim her kingdom, paying little attention to the sea merchants.
Then came the long four-year civil war in the kingdom of Gran
During this time, sailors from Norma and the Desert Kingdom discovered the new continent and had already begun mapping it, searching for rare minerals, discovering new crops, and contacting the local indigenous people...
In maritime affairs, the kingdom of Gran was far behind!
Without a maritime industry, it's as if we have no say in the new continent! The Kingdom of Gran has a history of over a thousand years and is located in the southwest corner of the Fengmo continent. Most of the kingdom's resources have already been exploited, and the last time Robb went with the army, he didn't come across any useful high-level mines. The best they found was level 60 Arcanite and some connective tissue provided by giant bats.
Robb is quite unhappy with the Kingdom of Grans resource reserves.
"Isn't your goal to unify the Kingdom of Gran? You've already achieved that."
"No, I have a new goal," the queen said seriously. "I also want to cut off the Black Dragon's head and avenge my parents. So, I need those things you mentioned as well."
Robb said, "Rare coincidence in goals!"
The queen said, "Okay, enough with the small talk. Let's get down to business. I plan to send a steel warship you built for me, with a copied map of the New Continent's east coast, to explore it."
"That won't work," Robb shook his head. "those burn coal. Are you sure you can find a place to refuel after it sets sail?"
The queen replied, "..."
"Until we have established a refueling port in the new continent, let's stick to sailing ships," Robb said with a smile. "At least sailing ships have one advantage. They only need wind as their power source and can go back and forth as far as they need to."
The queen agreed with his suggestion. "Then that's what we'll do. My shipyard just produced a few sailing ships. Let's use them as the pioneers."
She summoned a few ship captains in military uniform. They knelt down before her and looked respectful.
This was the newly established long-distance navy of the Kingdom of Gran, the first batch of native sailors to incubate on the sea. Of course, they were not the most elite. The real elite navy was serving on the warships. The captains before her were only second-tier captains of wooden sailing ships.
The queen took out a copy of the new continent's east coast map sent by the Desert Kingdom and said seriously, "Take this map with you and explore! The resources of the Kingdom of Gran are dwindling, and we need you to find new resources for us on the new continent. The future of the Kingdom of Gran rests on your shoulders."
As she was speaking passionately, an old and worn-out wooden ship suddenly appeared at a civilian dock in the distance. It was obviously on the verge of being decommissioned. The sailors on the ship were rookies who couldn't even steer it properly. The ship sailed out to sea crookedly and then was blown back by the wind, heading straight towards the military port, where it was about to collide with the new vessel of the queen.
Both ships sounded alarm bells simultaneously, "Stay away! Get out of the way!"
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