Fu Xiaoguan was unaware of the undercurrents in Guanyun City.

On March 20th of the ninth year of the Xuanli reign, Fu Xiaoguan went to the Yu Dynasty embassy and stayed there for half a day, commenting on the articles written by the hundred students.

Around noon, he left the embassy and took the four disciples of the Taoist temple to Xiankelai for lunch and tea. Susu followed Dong Shulan and Yu Wenjun to the Dingguo Marquis Mansion again. Today they were going to discuss a shop. Susu's reason was to protect Dong Shulan and Yu Wenjun. Fu Xiaoguan also thought so. Only Su Rou roughly understood what Susu was thinking.

She was naturally very happy about this, thinking that this girl Susu had finally gotten her bearings and was taking a roundabout way to save the country.

At noon, led by Deng Xiu, the group went to Duanshuiqiao Lane where the inner city and the outer city intersected.

This place is quite remote and the carriage took almost half an hour to travel.

After getting off the carriage, Fu Xiaoguan looked around. The environment was pretty good, the streets were still wide, and although there were not as many pedestrians and vendors as in the inner city and the middle city, it was still quite lively.

Deng Xiu walked over and bowed. "Sir, of the three small country embassies here, the first one is in the small courtyard at the end of the bridge. It's called Liuguo, an island nation, and is considered the largest of the three small countries. The other two are nearby. One is Liguo, and the other is Luzon. Both are coastal countries. It is said that sailing to them takes dozens of days."

"Well, let's go check it out."

Deng Xiu went to the small courtyard at the bridgehead, but instead of handing over a visiting card, he rang the doorbell directly.

Not long after, the door opened, and a middle-aged man in exotic clothes appeared in front of Fu Xiaoguan.

"Master Jingbian, long time no see."

The middle-aged man was instantly delighted and quickly bowed, "Oh my, Master Deng, what brings you here? Please come in..." He turned around and shouted at the top of his voice, "Yinghua, prepare some tea. We have a distinguished guest."

Deng Xiu laughed, turned sideways and stepped back, "This is what happened. I have a lord coming to the capital, and he wants to talk to Jingbianjun."

Jingbian Xiong Er was even more delighted. As a resource-poor island nation, their emperor was extremely eager to establish good relations with these powerful nations. The Wu Dynasty's embassy had only been established for two years, but it had already shown them the prosperity and strength of these powerful nations.

They had heard about the Yu Dynasty a long time ago. It was a country that was comparable to the Wu Dynasty and had its own strengths and weaknesses. However, the journey to the Yu Dynasty was over 3,000 miles, which was too far. They were not yet ready to go to the Yu Dynasty to meet the emperor and apply to establish an embassy.

Xiong Er looked at Fu Xiaoguan by the well, but was shocked. Why was this adult from the capital of the Yu Dynasty so young?

He couldn't help but look at Deng Xiu with some confusion.

Deng Xiu smiled and said, "This gentleman is Fu Xiaoguan, a senior official of the Imperial Secretariat, and the head of our delegation to this military and literary conference."

Xiong Er, who was standing by the well, was suddenly startled. "Fu Xiaoguan?!"

"Sir, are you the official Fu who dreamed of the Red Mansion?"

Fu Xiaoguan nodded slightly, and Xiong Er, who was standing by the well, bowed quickly and said, "Even His Majesty the Emperor of our dynasty admires the great name of Master Fu. Please come in quickly, please come in quickly!"

What the hell, could it be that Dream of the Red Chamber has been sold to that island country?

How much money will be lost!

Fu Xiaoguan was very sad. In this damn era, there is no copyright awareness at all.

Following the well-beside Xiong Er into the yard and into the study, he saw a woman wearing clothes with cherry blossom prints kneeling in front of the tea table.

Seeing everyone coming in, the woman stood up and bowed, "My humble daughter Sakura greets all the lords. Please take a seat."

Fu Xiaoguan sat in front of the tea table and thought that looking at the attire, it was similar to the island country in his previous life.

Xiong Er sat beside her by the well. "Yinghua is the seventh princess of our country. She admires the culture of our country and has been here for half a year. She is now studying sacred learning at Lishan Academy. She has a great admiration for you."

Sakura raised her head, and Fu Xiaoguan took a closer look. He found that she was indeed full of indescribable charm.

"Jibian-kun, who is this young master...?"

"Seventh Prince, this is not a young master, he is Fu Xiaoguan, Master Fu!"

Sakura was delighted, her eyes curved into crescents, and her little mouth opened slightly, revealing a row of smooth pearly teeth, making her even more charming.

"Hello, Master Fu!" She stood up again and bowed to Fu Xiaoguan. "Sakura greatly admires Master Fu's poetry and writings. I didn't expect you to be so young. I'm truly impressed!"

"It's all just empty reputation..." Fu Xiaoguan didn't have time to dwell on this trivial matter of poetry and prose. He looked at Xiong Er by the well and got straight to the point. "I came here to ask Jingbianjun, is there a route from the Ryukyu Kingdom to the Wu Dynasty?"

Sakura pouted, looked at Fu Xiaoguan resentfully, then sat down to make tea, wondering why this talented man didn't like beautiful women?

In terms of appearance, Yinghua is really beautiful, not inferior to Dong Shulan or Yu Wenjun in any way. Moreover, she has a soft aura that makes people feel pity for her. But it seems that Fu Xiaoguan has no interest in even saying a word to her, which is a bit regrettable.

"Master Fu, there is a waterway. This route has been developed by our dynasty for many years and is already mature. Apart from the worry of storms, there are no other risks."

"How long will it take to travel by sea?"

"If everything goes well, at the speed of our three-masted sailing ships, it will take about a month."

Sakura brewed tea, poured a cup for Fu Xiaoguan, and handed it to him. She wondered why this little adult was asking such questions. Could it be that he wanted to go to Liuguo?

"Have you opened up any routes to the East China Sea?"

"Preliminary exploration has been completed, but... due to some domestic issues, we've stopped again. The Maritime Ministry of our dynasty said that the East China Sea route can directly reach Jiuye—a coastal tribe with a river flowing into it. The Maritime Ministry of our dynasty predicts that by following the river, we might be able to reach the Yu Dynasty."

Fu Xiaoguan was shocked. He thought that was the mouth of the Yangtze River. It was just that the terrain had changed from his previous life, and the territory of the Yu Dynasty did not completely cover the place called Jiuye.

"Jiuye is a great place. I heard it's a natural harbor. Unfortunately, our dynasty is limited by national strength and cannot develop it."

The speaker may not have intended it, but the listener took it to heart. Fu Xiaoguan remembered the place and decided to write a letter to Fu Daguan when he returned to Jinghu Villa, asking him to hire a few boats from Si Niang's family, go down the Yangtze River, and see where they would end up.

No one understands the importance of a natural harbor better than Fu Xiaoguan!

He needed this port and also needed to build warships! ——As a landlocked country, the Yu Dynasty really didn't have these things.

"On behalf of the Emperor of the Yu Dynasty, I welcome you to establish an embassy in Shangjing, Yu Dynasty, to promote cultural and economic exchanges between the two countries."

"This humble official will definitely pass on Master Fu's words to His Excellency the Emperor!"

Fu Xiaoguan stood up and prepared to leave, but suddenly asked casually, "Can you give me a copy of those nautical charts of yours?"