Chapter 653 "Wherever the sun and moon shine, wherever the blue waves reach, there can be a sea route and a commercial port in the East China Sea!"
Li Wangming was there to burn paper money for Li Wangguang, of course.
The grave of Li's grandfather is in Lijia Village, Henan Road, while Li's grandmother is buried on an unnamed mountain east of Henan Road.
To worship them, you only need to be at home facing their memorial tablet.
All Li Wangming could do at the cemetery in Lijiatun was to pay respects to his elder brother, Li Wangguang.
Of course, the tomb erected for Li Wangguang, that scumbag father, was just a cenotaph.
At this moment, Li Shiyang looked at Li Wangming and hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.
It should be noted that back then, the story of Li Shiyue beheading the "impersonator of his father" in what was then Japan, now the East Sea Kingdom, was also spread across the ocean and reached Jinzhou Prefecture City via passing merchant ships.
When Li Shiyang heard this news, his first reaction was that the person must be Li Wangguang, and no one else could be impersonating him!
In other words—Li Shiyue murdered her father!
However, Li Shiyang only dared to think these words in his heart.
After all, Li Wangguang was also on the "Waves" the night that everyone assumed he was "dead".
How could someone who falls into the vast ocean survive?
Besides, by the time the news reached her, Li Shiyue was already a general commanding tens of thousands of soldiers!
Given Li Shiyue's decisive and ruthless nature, Li Shiyang had no intention of severing the last remaining bond of kinship between him and Li Shiyue!
Thus, the story of "General Da Long killing her father who impersonated her in Japan" became a piece of gossip in Jinzhou Prefecture, and the discussion faded away after a few days.
But now, as Li Shiyang looked at Li Wangming carrying incense and offerings, his feelings became somewhat complicated.
"If... if Li Wangming hadn't ruined his relationship with Li Shiyue back then, could he have gone to the Donghai Kingdom with Li Shiyue, and, based on their nominal uncle-nephew but actually brother-sister relationship, been granted the title of Duke in the Donghai Kingdom?"
Meanwhile, Li Wangming, facing the gaze of Li Shiyang who had only uttered half a sentence, immediately understood the unspoken question Li Shiyang had left unasked through Li Shiyang's eyes.
Is this a case of two scholars sharing a deep understanding?
Or is this simply a case of two men who both once dreamed of surpassing Li Shiyue finding common ground?
Li Wangming opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something.
But his throat was blocked, and he still couldn't say anything.
Yes, what could he say?
To say he's petty?
Is it said that he was jealous of Li Shiyue for becoming an official before him?
To say he's a petty person?
He was the one who first abandoned the emotional ties between himself and Li Wangchun, Li Shiyue, and Shitou!
How dare he say such a thing?
He has no shame!
Now that things have come to this, what could he say or do when the news of "the Great Long Female General beheading the imposter who impersonated her own father" reached his ears?
There's nothing he can do.
Now, during this Qingming Festival, he comes to this mountain to pay respects at Li Wangguang's cenotaph, simply to put his mind at ease.
"Wangming? Wangming?"
"......ah?"
Looking at Li Wangming, who was lost in his own thoughts but was brought back to his senses by Li Shiyang's shout, Li Shiyang sighed inwardly and said to Li Wangming, "Come on, let's go. The mountain road is slippery in the rain, so be careful."
Li Shiyue had no idea how her two old friends, Li Shiyang and Li Wangming, viewed her in Jinzhou.
Even if she knew, so what?
They could no longer enter her world.
She had long since left their world and ascended to a higher pinnacle of power.
If they want to get involved with her and gain some benefits, they should carefully consider their own capabilities.
As for what Li Shiyue is doing in the East Sea Kingdom right now?
She was looking at the vast sea map that had been hung up, and she had already planned out the future of the East Sea Kingdom in every five-year plan.
Internally, it's easy; we can just take it one step at a time.
But when it comes to external matters, things get interesting.
"Our ships should not only patrol the East China Sea!"
Our gaze should extend beyond the oceans!
Li Shiyue pointed to the huge nautical chart and said this to Sun Xiaoliu and the others standing behind her.
"From this day forward, wherever the sun and moon shine and wherever the blue waves reach, all shall become shipping routes and commercial ports of the East China Sea!"
Li Shiyue has her sights set on all the southbound shipping routes!
The distant South Pacific, the Indian Ocean, and even the ends of the earth are all within Li Shiyue's planned goals.
They went to Southeast Asia, to Annam (present-day Vietnam), Luzon (present-day Philippines), Java, and Sumatra (present-day Indonesia), controlled the shipping lanes, occupied the trading ports, and then came a continuous stream of gold and silver!
(I found a picture, guys, just take a look.)
"I, the general, will lead you to conquer the entire ocean!"
Let's do it!
Nearly a hundred ships of various sizes, carrying tens of thousands of people, representing the fleet of the East Sea Kingdom, departed one after another from the port of Dadao and sailed toward the boundless sea.
Standing at the bow of the "Breaking Waves II" ship, Li Shiyue looked out at the vast blue waves ahead, facing the sea breeze.
She wanted to go to Southeast Asia, occupy the ports there, and compete with the Portuguese for control of the Strait of Malacca.
If she succeeds, she will be able to completely control the trade between East and West, and the Donghai Kingdom will replace Ryukyu as the new "bridge between nations," with wealth flowing into the Donghai Kingdom like a tidal wave.
(《万国津梁》 is a historical geography work by Zhang Chonggen. The book takes the history of the Ryukyu Islands as the main thread and explores the rise and fall of the Ryukyu Islands as a trade hub in East Asia.)
In addition to gold and silver, Li Shiyue also planned to introduce high-yield crops such as sweet potatoes, corn, and potatoes from Southeast Asia and promote these crops on a large scale on the vast new plains of the East China Sea Kingdom.
At that time, the population carrying capacity of the East Sea Kingdom will increase dramatically, providing a solid material foundation for her future plans—continuous immigration from Dalong and outward expansion.
Furthermore, by controlling the shipping lanes and occupying the trading ports, she can integrate the best products from Donghai Kingdom, Andong, Dongmou, Jiangnan, and even Ryukyu, Annam, and Luzon into a complete trade chain, and develop her own trade world through the Southeast Asian outposts she plans to establish in the future!
Then, she will use the huge profits from the trade to establish the "Donghai Academy" and the "Gewu Academy," not only to have people study navigation and shipbuilding, but also to widely absorb knowledge from both the East and the West.
Clockwork from Europe, agricultural and irrigation techniques from Da Long, and even the cultivation experience of tropical crops by indigenous peoples of Southeast Asia will all collide and merge here, giving rise to a unique, pragmatic, and innovative technological landscape in the East China Sea.
In the future, the trade routes and shipping lanes she has established will no longer be merely a connection of trading ports, but a powerful community with the ocean as its lifeblood, technology as its backbone, and an open culture that integrates East and West as its soul.
What she ultimately achieved was not merely territorial expansion, but the creation of a new paradigm for the maritime era.
Li Shiyue's name, along with her vow "Wherever the sun and moon shine, wherever the blue waves reach," will be engraved in the waves of history, becoming an inextinguishable beacon for all explorers of the world in the future!
(My darlings, the story is officially finished!)
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