"The highway has been stopped on Luzon Island for over a year without being properly explored?"

Liu Hong didn't ask much about Yuan Shu's actions on Luzon Island, but instead became interested in other things there.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Yuan Shu paused for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "After I settled down there, I led my men to investigate further."

The island is covered with dense forests, and the indigenous people live by gathering, fishing and hunting, and do not know how to farm.

Your Majesty has also discovered that the island is rich in mineral deposits, especially gold, silver, and copper…

As he finished speaking, a glimmer of light appeared in Yuan Shu's eyes.

"Great! In that case, Luzon Island is a rare gem!"

After hearing Yuan Shu's description, Liu Hong also showed a happy smile.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I have returned this time to request assistance from Your Majesty and the court..."

For Yuan Shu, although Luzon Island was rich in resources, he and his adventurers lacked the ability to exploit them, leaving them with a treasure trove that they could not access.

Therefore, the best solution is to cooperate with the imperial court, which will organize personnel to be responsible for exploration and mining, while they can simply wait to receive their money.

Most importantly, they could also gain strong support from the imperial court and continue their maritime endeavors.

After all, Luzon Island alone is no longer enough to satisfy Yuan Shu's appetite.

"Very well, I will issue an order to the cabinet immediately to make the arrangements!"

Liu Hong was quite satisfied with Yuan Shu's performance.

Afterwards, Liu Hong and Yuan Shu discussed various issues related to sea navigation.

With the vigorous development of the shipping industry in recent years, in addition to Yuan Shu and his group, many adventurers have also set their sights on the South China Sea region, and many islands have been discovered one after another.

One piece of information in particular caught Liu Hong's attention.

According to Yuan Shu's description, there was another group of adventurers who landed on the Indonesian archipelago, but due to their small number, they were unable to establish a foothold there and had to return empty-handed. As a result of their failure to gain anything, the adventurers became heavily indebted and had to abandon their seafaring career.

Liu Hong couldn't help but sigh at this situation.

Liu Hongke had always coveted Southeast Asia, but the current Han Dynasty did not yet have the capacity to develop and occupy it.

Therefore, all he could rely on were adventurers like Yuan Shu, who would go and occupy a place first, and then the court would send some troops to colonize those areas.

Whether it can completely dominate in the future is another matter; at least let Han culture become the dominant culture first.

Therefore, to realize this vision, it is necessary to introduce a new law that, while encouraging adventurers to go out to sea to explore, also guarantees their basic needs.

After Yuan Shu left, Liu Hong's decree was also delivered to the cabinet.

Upon learning that Luzon Island possessed abundant deposits of gold, silver, copper, and other minerals, several cabinet ministers were so excited they slapped their thighs.

Now, with the large-scale issuance of new currency, the demand for precious metals such as gold and silver is increasing throughout the Han Dynasty.

Therefore, upon receiving the emperor's decree, the cabinet immediately issued instructions to the six ministries to begin dispatching artisans and laborers.

Liu Hong also issued an edict promoting Yuan Shu to the rank of Second-Class Patrol Marquis.

At the same time, under Liu Hong's leadership, the imperial court also issued a new maritime decree.

The decree stipulated: "Anyone who discovers new islands or continents overseas, regardless of whether these places are valuable or not, as long as they can be clearly marked on a nautical chart, will receive a reward from the imperial court. The imperial court will also provide them with ships and supplies free of charge to support their subsequent actions."

This decree not only greatly encouraged adventurers' enthusiasm for going to sea, but also ensured their ability to continue sailing.

After all, not everyone is so lucky as to discover valuable places as soon as they set sail. Therefore, there are quite a few people who become impoverished and unable to continue their lives because of going to sea.

This decree can be said to have completely eliminated the adventurers' worries.

As long as they could discover new places, they would receive the support of the imperial court and continue their seafaring career.

In a short time, the imperial court also received a large number of nautical charts.

These nautical charts also clearly mark many islands, such as the Okinawa Islands and Ryukyu Islands in the East China Sea; Huangyan Island and Xisha Islands in the South China Sea; and some islands in the South China Sea.

Most of these nautical charts came from adventurers who went bankrupt after making little profit.

After all, marking islands when venturing out to sea has become common sense for all adventurers.

However, because these islands had little value in terms of resources, the adventurers thought the imperial court would not recognize them, which is why they did not hand them over.

After receiving these nautical charts, the imperial court organized hundreds of professionals skilled in navigation and geography to carefully identify and survey them.

After a month of identification and surveying, the more than one hundred islands of varying sizes discovered by the adventurers in the East China Sea, South China Sea, and Southeast Asia were all recognized by the imperial court.

The adventurers who discovered these islands were all personally summoned by Liu Hong and rewarded.

Soon, a newly drawn map of the Han Dynasty's territorial waters appeared in people's sight.

In this maritime map, the four islands of Yamatai, Yizhou Island, Luzon Island, the South China Sea, and the islands of Southeast Asia are all clearly marked.

However, the names of all those islands were changed.

For example, Luzon Island, which Yuan Shu discovered, was named Highway Island.

However, there are also some strange names. For example, Huangyan Island, which was discovered by an adventurer named Chen Ergou, was named Ergou Island. There are also names like Tieniu Island and Dahu Island, which have caused a lot of laughter and amusement among the people.

Unfortunately, adventurers like Yuan Shu, who came from wealthy families, were a minority. Most adventurers were ordinary people from coastal areas with little education.

However, many adventurers specifically sought out fortune tellers to help them change their names to ones that were both imposing and meaningful.

After all, that's something that will be remembered for generations, and nobody wants future generations to say, "Ah, look, that's Dog Egg Island, discovered by Senior Dog Egg..."

This is absolutely shameful!!

Of course, these islands were not only named after adventurers, but also incorporated into the territory of the Han Dynasty.

The people of the Han Dynasty did not find anything wrong with the court's actions.

After years of education and influence, people have come to a consensus: overseas lands are unclaimed lands, and once I discover them, they are mine.