Du Wenhai and his party were taken to the bank of Xuanwu Lake.

Far away, a Imperial Guard soldier began to stand guard on both sides of the road.

These elite soldiers wore breastplates, had cold and distant expressions, and sharp eyes filled with murderous intent.

He also carried a musket with a bayonet on his back, and he felt a sense of oppression.

Du Wenhai and his party were glanced at from both sides of the road, and they all felt inexplicable pressure.

The source of the pressure they felt was, on the one hand, awe of the imperial power.

On the other hand, it also came from the murderous aura of these Imperial Guard soldiers.

The Ming soldiers who could be selected into the Imperial Guard and become members of Zhu Hongyu's Imperial Guard were basically elite soldiers who had made meritorious deeds on the battlefield.杗

These people have a lot of blood on their hands!

Being watched by such a group of murderers with bloody hands was quite stressful.

Especially Buffalo Bully and others, they even felt a cold sensation on their necks, as if they were being targeted by some ferocious beast.

There was a "swish" sound in the air, and two muskets with bayonets crossed to block the path of Du Wenhai and others.

A Guards officer on duty said.

"Please accept the examination. Only after the examination is completed can you go in to meet the saint!"

They are going to see the emperor.

For the emperor's safety, these imperial guards on duty must conduct body searches on them.

Du Wenhai and others were quickly searched and their weapons and various sundries were left where they were.

Then he was allowed to go in to see the Holy Spirit!

A group of people walked through a quiet forest path and came to a pavilion on the bank of Xuanwu Lake.

The others were told to stay at a distance and wait, but Du Wenhai was allowed to go forward to see him.

After two years, Du Wenhai once again met the emperor he longed for!

At this time, Zhu Hongyu was wearing a white uniform, with a five-clawed golden dragon embroidered with teeth and claws, which set off his tall figure and heroic face.杗

The silk-textured clothes on his body had a strong sense of high-end quality.

"General Du Wenhai is here to see your Majesty, long live my emperor, long live, long live!"

Du Wenhai came outside the pavilion, knelt down and worshiped, shouting "long live the mountain".

Zhu Hongyu stood up from his seat, walked quickly to Du Wenhai, stretched out his hand to help him up, and said.

"The Qing family has traveled thousands of miles to explore the route to the New World for Ming Dynasty. Thank you for your hard work!"

When Du Wenhai heard this, he shook his head.

"The last general will be deeply favored by the emperor. These are what the last general should do."

"It's not hard work!"

Zhu Hongyu motioned for someone to give Du Wenhai a seat. After Du Wenhai sat down, he began to ask about the route to the New World.

"According to your estimate, how long does it take to make a round trip to the New World?"

The reason why Zhu Hongyu asked this was because although it took Du Wenhai and others two years to go there, these two years actually did not have much reference value.

Because the main purpose of their trip to the New World this time was to explore the route. In the process of exploring the route, the fleet also needed to build docks and settlements in the places it passed along the way to prepare for further large-scale immigration by the imperial court in the future.

Therefore, a round trip only took two years.

If you exclude the effort of exploring routes and building dock settlements, then the time required can be reduced to the greatest extent.杗

Du Wenhai heard this and spoke.

"Your Majesty, if the fleet moves forward at full speed throughout the entire journey and only carries out necessary supplies, it will take about three to four months to make a round trip to the New World."

The three to four months Du Wenhai mentioned was his own estimate, but the specific answer should be quite different.

When Zhu Hongyu heard this, he nodded slightly and expressed his agreement.

As far as he knew, in the 18th century, it took about four to five weeks, or more than a month, to cross the Atlantic Ocean from Europe to the New World.

Because this is the seventeenth century, and the Pacific Ocean is much wider than the Atlantic Ocean, it would take three to four months to cross the Pacific Ocean, which is a more reasonable range.

If the Ming Dynasty becomes familiar with this route in the future, then this time may be shortened.杗

Three months may be the most valuable answer!

Zhu Hongyu nodded slightly and asked Du Wenhai other questions.

Including the difficulties they encountered on their way eastward, whether they found San Francisco, and the super-large gold mine in San Francisco...

Du Wenhai answered the questions one by one and then spoke.

"Your Majesty, the gold reserves we discovered in San Francisco are quite huge. Even if we only use the most basic gold mining methods, we can find dozens of kilograms of gold in that gold river every day..."

"This is because we are short of manpower, otherwise the output will only be even more amazing."

"There are even people who often pick up gold nuggets around the camp."

"When the general came back this time, he brought some gold sand and nugget gold as a gift to His Majesty."

When Zhu Hongyu heard this, his eyes lit up.

After pondering for a while, Zhu Hongyu spoke.

"That's good."

"Where are the gold dust and gold nuggets?"

Du Wenhai said.

"Your Majesty, the gold sand and nugget gold were left at the inspection place and could not be brought in."

Zhu Hongyu turned around and ordered people to bring Du Wenhai's gift in.

Not long after, someone brought several bags of gold sand and gold nuggets in boxes to Zhu Hongyu.

Zhu Hongyu opened the bag and reached out to grab a handful of gold sand.

Then loosen your fingers slightly and let the golden sand flow down between your fingers...

Seeing this golden luster, Zhu Hongyu also had a smile on his face.

The golden color of gold is really the most touching look in the world.

Putting the gold sand down, he opened the box again and took out the gold nugget inside.

Looking at the shape and brilliant golden color of this nugget of gold, Zhu Hongyu couldn't help but speak.

"That's good, that's good!"

"Using gold as a lure will surely attract our Ming people to develop the New World."

Compared with gold, Zhu Hongyu was more concerned about Ming Dynasty's development of the New World.

After all, he is an emperor, so he really can't walk without seeing a little gold.

The future of the country and nation is what he really cares about.

The New World, you really can’t give up no matter what.杗

Zhu Hongyu then asked Du Wenhai about the indigenous people in the New World, and Du Wenhai told about the situation of the Indians.

"Most of the indigenous people in the New World are primitive tribes. They make a living by nomadic herding, fishing and hunting. Although they have certain farming methods, they are extremely backward."

"While Wei Chen was staying in the New World, although some natives of the New World took the initiative to establish friendly relations with the Ming Dynasty, there were also people who did not know the king and launched an attack on our camp."

Zhu Hongyu pondered for a while, and then asked.

"If the imperial court wants to develop the New World on a large scale, is there any possibility that the indigenous people in the New World can be used by me?"

Now the Ming Dynasty is developing settlements and docks along the route to the New World. In addition to the manpower carried by the eastbound fleet itself, more money is actually spent to hire local indigenous people to work.

The original manpower of the eastbound fleet could only serve as a supervisor.杗

Of course, it is inevitable to use force to scare the indigenous people before hiring them to work.

Otherwise, these natives would not do business honestly with Ming Dynasty.

After all, as the saying goes, if you can steal it, why spend money on it?

The development of settlement docks along the route proved that the Ming Dynasty was right in employing indigenous people to work and using indigenous forces to develop the local area.

This idea will also be used by Ming Dynasty in the development of the New World.

In addition to encouraging immigrants in the mainland, Ming Dynasty was also preparing to utilize the power of the indigenous people in the New World.

Only by working together can Ming Dynasty complete the development of the New World at the minimum cost and at the fastest speed.杗

Du Wenhai heard this and spoke.

"Your Majesty, the indigenous people in the New World are mostly nomadic, fishing and hunting primitive tribes. Most of them are predatory and cannot communicate with each other."

"But what you need to know is that the indigenous people in the New World are not monolithic."
To be continued...