"Chief Divine bless us! By mid-March, Whale Harbor no longer has any floating ice in sight. The sea surface near the coast is deep blue and bright, like the reflection of the sky falling down... In fact, around Whale Harbor, there was only obvious freezing in December, January, and February. In early March and November, there were only floating ice blocks deep on the west side of the harbor. What surprised even more is that these ice blocks follow the ocean currents, flowing northwest along the coast and gradually lt... This drifting and lting process leads to a vague conjecture: the ocean current leading the fleet westward is a long and warm current! Perhaps it’s because the divinity of the Chief Divine’s Light descends from the sky, and is hidden deep in the sea, warming the seawater?"
"I shared my conjecture with Zuwaro, but he didn’t seem very interested. Over the past half year, he personally experienced the snow of the Northern Land and seems to have aged significantly... I looked carefully at his face, feeling like the moose in the northern mountain forests, with many wrinkles and folds, especially around the eyes, making him appear both troubled and kind and weathered."
"Hmm, it seems that everyone who stayed in Whale Harbor has undergone the sa transformation, and quite a few have fallen ill. It seems the cold winter of the Northern Coast is still too harsh for the Warriors of the Kingdom and sailors. I think Your Majesty was right! If we are to continue westward, we must recruit more able-bodied n from the Northern Tribes to serve as sailors, or even train them to beco Warriors of the Kingdom!"
On the gray and grayish-brown hills, Scholar Mikki and Exploration Captain Zuwaro stood side by side, looking at the nautical journal in their hands, feeling the cold wind of October’s autumn day. This cold sea wind blew like early spring in March, making both of their breaths nasal.
Seeing the "moose" recorded in Mikki’s diary, Zuwaro raised his eyebrow, rubbed his weathered old face, and his gaze instantly beca sharp. Scholar Mikki softly "coughs," quickly extended his fingers, pointing to a subsequent passage.
"Chief Divine bless us! Indeed, after more than five months, Zuwaro has aged so much due to his hard work! While I was in the warm Gold Mountain Harbor, roasting campfires with Cedar Shaman, drinking herbal tea, chatting and laughing about the Northern Coast tribes... he was already rowing the longship, under the guidance of the whale dog from the Maca guides, exploring around the thousand-mile Long Island before the end of last year."
"Zuwaro said he encountered quite a few Clallam tribes on the island, but most were small, with only a hundred or two people! These tribes live by fishing; the able-bodied n are excellent fishern, rowing small leather boats to fish, which naturally makes them good sailors..."
"The reefs surrounding Long Island are nurous, with rugged cliffs and complex terrain, sowhat dangerous. Fortunately, he recruited a few guides from the local Clallam tribes, safely navigating around the island. He said he found a favorable natural harbor on the north side of the island, with abundant fish nearby and weak tribes, which can be ’married into’ and annexed..."
"Ha! Zuwaro, that guy, all he thinks about is this ’marriage’ conversion and annexing. On this journey north, he’s married eight or nine tribal wives! The young Priest, young Warriors and sailors of the fleet were all pushed out by him, combining with local tribal won... Chief Divine witness! He indulges the vitality granted by Chief Divine, no wonder he’s aging so quickly!"
"Damn it! Mikki! I do all this continuous marriage not for exploration in the west? You dare to portray like this in the nautical journal for Your Majesty?"
"Uh! Cough! Zuwaro, listen to ... I, at that ti, hadn’t thought it through... Your Majesty said we should act with one being upright and one being cunning, one straightforward and one calculating... your strategy is... very good! Praise Chief Divine! Zuwaro, you’re very capable, and resourceful! You’ve greatly accelerated the Kingdom’s northern expansion!"
Looking at the wide-eyed, angry Captain Zuwaro, Scholar Mikki wiped the sweat from his forehead and stamred to explain and appease for quite a while. Then, he quickly turned that page over and pointed to the content behind.
"Zuwaro, look! This entire page is your achievent! You’ve opened a crucial new saline field for the fleet!"
"Praise Chief Divine! I’m amazed. Zuwaro could find a natural saline field less than two hundred miles southwest of Whale Harbor! Calling it his discovery isn’t accurate. The Maca people of the Whale Tribe often co to this area to dig salty soil and mix it with fish soup. Even the streams around the saline field are salty, hence locals call it Salt Creek..."
"From January to March, when the sea is frozen and has floating ice, Zuwaro leads the fleet and dozens of able-bodied n from the Whale Tribe to boil salt in the saline field. Following the thod ntioned by Your Majesty at Divine Power University, they first dug salt ponds, brought in saltwater, and let the Sun shine for a while. Once the saltwater beca very salty, they poured it into clay pots and ignited fires to boil it into salt crystals... The most troubleso thing was chopping wood with axes for fuel..."
"Naturally, places producing salt are occupied by tribes. The eastern Lake Bay converges with many tribes. Not far from Lake Bay’s Salt Creek is the Salt Creek Tribe of Klallam, with a scale of seven or eight hundred people..."
"Salt Creek Tribe and the tribes of Lake Bay don’t lack salt. The exchange value of salt in Lake Bay isn’t high because many of the small lakes in the lake bay are saline lakes, providing stable saline year-round... Zuwaro managed to reach an agreent with the elder in the Salt Creek Tribe, who sent dozens of able-bodied n to assist him in boiling salt. In return, he provided sharp axes for chopping wood, soft Kingdom cotton cloth, and beautiful Kingdom gemstones..."
"Chief Divine forgive ! I strongly suspect he did sothing else... but I didn’t ask, guessing it was his usual thods. Regardless, to store more food for the coming support fleet, salt is imnsely important! I’ve already left personnel to inform subsequent support fleets to diate the fighting between Tolowa’s Redwood Tribe and Leaf Grass Great Tribe to better develop that saline marsh at 42 degrees north..."
Seeing this, Exploration Captain Zuwaro rubbed his brow, looked at Scholar Mikki with frustration, and said solemnly.
"Chief Divine witness! Mikki, you just love doing this! If not for the Kingdom’s support fleet delaying ten days between these two Great Tribes, they wouldn’t have arrived at Whale Harbor at the end of April..."
"Moreover, these two Great Tribes of Tolowa are old enemies, having fought for many generations, so how easy is it to reconcile them? Even if reconciliation succeeds, what benefit does it have for the Kingdom? Instead, I propose selling weapons to the two Great Tribes, exchanging prisoners they capture, letting them stay equal in power, continue fighting and weakening! When the ti is right..."
"Chief Divine bless us! Zuwaro, as Your Majesty said... representing the Kingdom, we should spread the faith of light among the Northern Tribes! These tribes aren’t fools, so things... we shouldn’t do! At least not actively, not so explicitly!"
Scholar Mikki solemnly responded, seriously. In fact, his moral bottom line had beco more flexible since leaving Kingdom, yet he firmly believed the fleet on this vast Northern Land should truly spread the faith of the Chief Divine, bringing better food, clothing; better tal tools, brick buildings to local tribes along the way! And this is the true "righteous path" in the one straightforward, one calculating thod!
"Hmm... alright! You’re right..."
Hearing Mikki bring out Your Majesty’s Royal Decree again, Exploration Captain Zuwaro rubbed his forehead and nodded helplessly. Throughout the journey, the fleet used salt, food, and firestone to supplent sailors from various tribes, rather than forcibly recruiting them with force... This was constrained by Your Majesty’s Royal Decree and Mikki’s insistence.
"Chief Divine bless us! Perhaps, this is what Your Majesty ant by The Path of Kings or education! After all, these Northern Tribes are our long-lost Jiao People brothers... And whether they believe it or not, we believe so and need to make them believe too!"
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