Since the first hundred calendar years, China has embraced the world with a more positive attitude, and more and more Chinese explorers are heading towards completely unfamiliar waters.

The new cabinet adheres to the governing policy of reducing the burden on farmers and developing development. The court no longer focuses on agricultural taxes, but has extended its tentacles to business taxes and commodity taxes, focusing more on import and export tariffs.

Thanks to the rapid development of maritime trade, the annual tariff has now reached several million taels of silver dollars, and has maintained a good and continuous growth trend.

It was the policy encouragement of the imperial court and more and more people digging the first pot of gold from maritime trade, which led more people to devote themselves to maritime trade, and they set sail with the Ming Dynasty's commodities.

Nanyang has long been covered with traces of merchants from the Ming Dynasty. The southernmost Australia was developed by the United Merchant Group, and the imperial court even placed Australia under the ownership of the United Merchant Group.

The United Business Group did not completely take Australia for themselves. After finding iron ores of various sizes, they sold these iron ores to some powerful business gangs for mining.

This is no longer limited to Guangdong merchants, from Fujian merchants, Zhejiang merchants to Hui merchants, and even Shanxi merchants have joined it, and it has included the most powerful merchant group in the entire Ming Dynasty.

As the newly joined Huizhou and Shanxi merchants brought a large number of workers, and some merchants even moved their families, Australia became the most active area for Ming merchants.

In this year alone, more than 100,000 Ming people immigrated to Australia.

Although the Ming Dynasty did not intend to expand externally, due to its demand for iron ore, it inadvertently turned Australia into the Ming Dynasty's second country.

While they earn huge returns on investment through iron ore, they also extract industrial nutrients for China and transport a steady stream of high-quality steel back to the Ming Dynasty.

Steel, this is the foundation of industry, and Ming Dynasty is on the right path.

After the achievements in Australia, not only the United Trade Group, but also many adventurers from the Ming Dynasty wanted to continue to the south to create a new world.

Just after seeing the vast ice surface, they knew that the way to the south was unfeasible. Maybe in the future, their descendants would be able to break through the ice, but now they can only stay away.

Australia is already the end of the times, but the pace of Chinese explorers will not stop.

Although the road to the south has been blocked by ice, more adventurous businessmen have decided to continue exploring east or west to find new business opportunities.

It was at the end of this year that many Chinese businessmen sailed eastward from Luzon and set foot in the vast sea.

The moment we step into the vast sea, nature is intimidating. Although it is not blocked by glaciers like in the south, the fleet still cannot see land for more than half a month, which undoubtedly makes people feel desperate.

In this regard, many Ming businessmen came to the conclusion that the east road was also unworkable. This was an endless sea, and continuing to move forward would only lead to death in the sea.

Just when everyone agreed with this conclusion, some businessmen successfully reached the Mariana Islands in the western Pacific Ocean and entered the largest island of Guam.

With the strong rise of the Ming Dynasty, some changes quietly occurred in the history of this period.

Since the Spanish fleet was expelled from the Southeast Asia by the combined fleet, the Spanish could no longer obtain spices from the Southeast Asia and were forced to interrupt the spice trade in the Southeast Asia.

Because of this, the Spanish fleet no longer came across the Atlantic and did not need to use Guam as a supply point for the fleet. Naturally, it did not take Guam as its own.

Since Guam has not been disturbed by the Spanish, the original residents here maintain an optimistic attitude towards life and often sing and dance around the bonfire.

The climate of Guam is very suitable for living. There are dozens of tribes here, with a total population of about 50,000. They already know how to engage in agricultural production and build boats to fish offshore, so they have achieved a self-sufficient life.

Facing the intrusion of a completely unfamiliar businessman from the Ming Dynasty, their first reaction was to be very frightened. Especially when they saw the knife and the noisy stick in the businessman's hand, they hid one after another.

After learning that there was an island in the eastern sea, many Ming merchants came to explore this virgin land and also started trade with the original residents of Guam.

Although the original inhabitants of Guam have achieved self-sufficiency, they have no basis for handicraft industry, and even the weapons they use are only sharp stones.

Even a small knife, which was very common in the Ming Dynasty, was like a treasure in the eyes of these indigenous residents, so they were willing to exchange their most precious things.

China has no plundering factor, nor does it intend to enslave these optimistic indigenous residents, so both sides carry out equal commercial trade.

In the following days, whenever Ming merchant ships approached this island, the original residents here would happily come to exchange the "treasures" they had obtained for Ming products.

Although Guam has a beautiful environment, after some exploration, they found that there is no gold, silver, iron ore, or even anything valuable on this island.

Many Ming merchants were undoubtedly very disappointed with this, but they had no choice but to exchange Ming products for some seafood or local specialties, and then returned to the Ming Dynasty.

For some more active adventurers, Guam is not without merit, but in their eyes it is an ideal supply station.

Because of this, many adventurous merchants from the Ming Dynasty used this island to replenish food and fresh water, and then continued towards the eastern ocean.

But history seems to be repeating itself again. They are facing a vast sea with no end in sight. Many people resolutely believe in the argument that "the east is an infinite sea".

Ten days, twenty days, thirty days, forty days...

Many Ming merchants kept marking the dates, but food and fresh water were getting less and less. After sailing for dozens of days and still not seeing the mainland, they finally had to choose to retreat.

In this regard, Ming merchants came to a new conclusion: Guam is the end of the eastern sea, and continuing forward is an endless ocean.

This conclusion was not only passed down orally, but also published in the "Sunchon Ilbo" in the form of anecdotes, letting the world know that there is an island called Guam, also known as Dongji Island, in the easternmost part of China.

Although the second year of Baili was still a year of exploration, after discovering the "Dongji Island", it was not possible to continue there, as if the east had come to an end.

Faced with this "dead end", many Ming merchants had to give up, but instead turned their attention to the Western Route, which had become increasingly popular in recent years.

Just when everyone silently accepted the fact of Dongji Island, a major event occurred in the spring of the following year that shocked the entire Ming Dynasty.

A fleet flying the dragon flag suddenly appeared from the vast sea. It was coming from unknown waters that Ming merchants did not dare to set foot in. The merchants who stayed in Guam were shocked.

They were the Changlin Explorer that set out from Leizhou Bay in the first year of Baili. After three years, they finally crossed the Pacific and completed the feat of traveling around the world.

After completing the supply of food and fresh water in Guam, the Changlin Expedition returned to Daming via Luzon and returned to their starting point - Leizhou Bay.

The accompanying personnel were not limited to people from the Changlin clan, nor were they limited to members of the United Merchant Group. Among them were many scholars from the Ming Dynasty and even retired officials.

Although many people lost their lives during this global cruise, they completed the most exciting adventure for China and can be regarded as national heroes.

In this regard, Lin Haoran specially commended these sailing personnel.

As the leader of the voyage, Lin Wendan handed the logbook to Kang Wanrong, who then published the logbook in the Sunchon Ilbo.

Grain addiction

Shuyazhai also used its huge sales network to publish this logbook into a book, which was then sold across the country, allowing scholars all over the world to broaden their horizons.

The Central Plains is not the center of the world, and the Ming Dynasty is not the whole world. Beyond the Ming Dynasty, there are vast lands and people, and there are many unknown things.

As for the infinite sea to the east, this conclusion is even more self-defeating.

"The earth is round, how is this possible?"

"Impossible, these people must be deceiving others with their lies!"

"If nothing else, North America is vaster than our Ming Dynasty. It's really ridiculous!"

…

Many people did not believe the logbook of Lin Wendan, who represented China in completing the great feat of globalization, and openly questioned this matter.

In fact, this kind of doubt is inevitable. After all, there are no cameras in this era, nor are there any members of the royal family like Magellan did. There is not even a theoretical basis, so it is difficult to convince the officials and gentry about this kind of thing.

The most important thing is that no matter how modest and gentlemanly the officials and gentry in China are, they are full of arrogance and arrogance in their hearts, and they always regard themselves as the superior country of heaven.

Just like this, although Lin Wentian returned from his voyage around the world, he was met with great skepticism, and many people even made personal attacks on Lin Wentan.

It's just that the officials and gentry don't believe it, but there is no shortage of people who believe it.

Lin Wendan's return from the vast East China Sea opened a door of hope for the Ming Dynasty, and someone decided to venture eastward again.

One of the merchants named Zhao Dangdaang learned about the recruitment of the Yangzhou Stock Exchange and applied to become the captain of the Golden Ship. Then he took Lin Wendan's voyage diary and set off for the legendary continent.

The fleet passed through Luzon and passed Guam, and then used Guam as a springboard to continue heading towards unknown waters.

Facing this unknown sea, Zhao Dangdang no longer felt confused this time, but chose to continue sailing forward without hesitation.

Although the fleet has been sailing at sea for a long time, there is still no land in sight, but he is no longer so afraid, but looks firmly ahead.

Ten days, twenty days, thirty days, forty days...

Zhao Bingdao's fleet is floating in this endless sea, as if there is no end in sight. This is definitely an endless ocean.

The third year of Baili was undoubtedly a year full of disputes.

Unlike the Changlin's circumnavigation of the world, the Golden's voyage this time attracted the attention of the world, especially many people who threw real money into it.

"Why has there been no news for so long?"

"Could it really have sunk in the East China Sea?"

"I heard there is a dragon in the East China Sea, maybe the fleet has really been swallowed up!"

…

As time goes by, more and more investors have lost confidence in the expedition of the Golden Ship, and various magical speculations have even emerged.

"I have told you before that Lin Wendan is a liar!"

"The earth is round, but there are fools who believe such a ridiculous thing!"

"China is the center of the world, and to the east is the infinite sea. Our ancestors have already proven it!"

"Lin Wendan fabricated such a ridiculous logbook to deceive people into going to die. This person has such a vicious heart!"

…

Unexpectedly, those country squires and scholars who thought they were smart jumped out one after another and pointed out that Lin Wendan's round-the-world trip was a scam, and the logbook was a trick to send people to death.

Although everyone was skeptical of the Confucian scholar after the earlier disputes in the court, especially the rise of traditional media, the Confucian scholar did still have a certain influence.

That's why, with the great scholar taking the lead in making noises, this kind of questioning voice continues for a long time, and more and more people are questioning Lin Wendan's global trip.

"Forget it, while I can still change some money now, let's recover some losses first!"

"I was also fooled by lard. I really shouldn't have invested money in this golden account in the first place!"

"Isn't it? I really got into trouble that day, and now I can only admit that I am unlucky!"
To be continued...