The fifth year of Jianning (172 AD).

On January 10th, the court officials, who had been resting for a long time, returned to their offices and began their busy work for the new year.

This year, officials don't have much to do; they just need to continue the previous administration in a routine manner.

Liu Hong also began to work on forming a heavy cavalry force.

There have been many heavy cavalry in history, but Liu Hong's favorite was the Xuanjia Iron Cavalry under Li Shimin, whose three thousand could defeat one hundred thousand, and its power can be imagined.

Judging from the current research progress of the Royal Ironworks, forging a thousand sets of armor comparable to the Xuanjia Heavy Cavalry is not a problem.

After discussing with Mo Shang, Liu Hong entrusted the design of the heavy armor to the Research and Manufacturing Department.

Regarding the formation of this heavy cavalry, Liu Hong decided to adopt a system of one person and four riders, that is, one heavy cavalryman would be equipped with three attendants. When traveling outside of combat, the heavy cavalryman's armor and supplies would be carried by the three attendants.

As for the source of soldiers, Liu Hong decided to select them from the million-strong army of the Han Dynasty through a competition and assessment, truly making it one in a thousand.

Immediately, the Imperial Secretariat drafted several imperial edicts, which were sent to the Danyang military horse farm and the garrisons throughout the Han Dynasty.

Soon, news of the emperor forming a personal guard cavalry spread far and wide, and countless soldiers were eager to join.

Upon receiving the order, Tong Yuan was the first to arrive at the Imperial Guard to make his selection.

Accompanying Tong Yuan were people from the Medical School and the Military and Political Affairs Department.

According to Liu Hong, this heavy cavalry was the most elite cavalry force in the Han Dynasty, and only the strongest soldiers could join it.

Therefore, in addition to basic requirements such as riding skills, martial arts, strength, and endurance, height, physique, physical health, and ideological education also became important assessment criteria.

In order to join this strongest team and become the emperor's personal guard, the 200,000 soldiers of the Imperial Guard, the Five Battalions of the Northern Army, and the Chang'an Camp who were the first to undergo the assessment also risked their lives, and many of them were injured because they gritted their teeth and endured it.

After a month of rigorous selection, Tong Yuan finally selected only four hundred people. The remaining six hundred positions could only be filled by soldiers from Xiliang, Bingzhou, Youzhou, and Liaozhou.

Just as the entire army was busy selecting heavy cavalry, a report sent by Cao Cao and others caused an uproar among the court officials.

There are actually large undiscovered gold mines in northern Liaozhou?

Upon hearing this news, the officials and powerful families immediately became restless, and memorials requesting the dispatch of troops to recover Yilou flooded into the Deyang Palace like snowflakes.

The reason is simple: since ancient times...

Because some people have consulted ancient books and found that immigrants from the Zhou Dynasty had been there, it is also the territory of the descendants of Yan and Huang.

As for provisions, military expenses, and so on, Liu Hong didn't even need to say anything. Those powerful families and merchants took the initiative to contribute money and goods, just hoping that the Han Dynasty would recover that land so that they could go there to seek their fortune.

As expected, capital is the driving force behind war. Seeing this, Liu Hong stopped trying to stop it.

Let them fight. We're just idling around anyway. Capturing more slaves to help build up the Han Dynasty is a good thing. Besides, Liu Hong didn't intend to keep the Yilou people around anyway.

Three days later, the imperial court ordered the Liaozhou garrison to prepare for war, ready to march north to recover the lost territories of Heilongjiang, and the Yuyang garrison to be stationed in Chengde to defend against the Xianbei in the east and the Wuhuan in the north.

Without the imperial court's mobilization, those powerful families prepared a large amount of supplies on their own, left Luoyang, and headed towards Liaozhou.

Meanwhile, the scions of noble families, small and medium-sized landowners, and some commoners who applied to go to the Western Regions to cultivate land and build manors also began to travel to Juyan and the Western Regions under the organization of the imperial court.

January 15th.

A fleet of ships is drifting on the sea, following the monsoon, sailing eastward.

This fleet consisted of the envoy sent by the Foreign Affairs Department and the Engineering Academy to Gou Nu, as well as the Royal Trading Company's fleet. Several other ships belonged to those aristocratic families.

The sailors lay comfortably on the deck, basking in the sun, while the officials accompanying the mission shaded their eyes and looked around.

The official in charge of leading this delegation was named Chu You, who was Chu Qian's cousin.

Chu You suffered greatly on this mission. After leaving Donglai, he began to experience seasickness and suffered from vomiting and diarrhea for several days in a row.

Fortunately, the accompanying physician was highly skilled and saved his life. However, the humid climate at sea, which was different from that on land, caused him great suffering.

Whenever Chu You was about to give up, he would think of his brother's experiences on the grasslands and the glory his brother had brought to the Chu family, and he would grit his teeth and persevere.

Chu You stood on the deck, feeling the sea breeze and gazing at the scenery at sea. His originally fair skin was now dry and cracked from the wind.

Besides leading his men to explore the silver mines on the archipelago, Chu You's main mission was to establish the Han Dynasty's dominant position among the island's nations.

At noon, just as everyone was preparing to eat, Chu You turned his head and glanced in the northeast direction.

In the instant he turned his head, Chu You suddenly froze, because he saw the horizon faintly emerging in the distance. Then he rubbed his eyes hard.

"Haha~, I saw it, I saw it, everyone come and see!"

Chu You's extremely excited shouts reached the ears of the surrounding sailors and soldiers.

Upon hearing this, everyone around rushed to the side of the boat.

"Land! It's land!!"

Upon seeing the distant horizon, the sailors and soldiers on the bow of the ship immediately shouted together, "May the Emperor bless us!"

This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!