In 648 AD, Xia Xue was 48 years old, Li Shimin was 50 years old, Li Shimin was already a middle-aged uncle, but Xia Xue still looked like a beautiful girl about 18 years old, but it was more graceful and sexy than the image of a young girl at the age of 15, and it was more charming, so that Li Shimin could never get enough of it, and he was more attached to Xia Xue.

At the beginning of January 648, Xia Xue decided to personally lead an expedition warship of more than 500 people to the American continent, because this was the first time to explore the safest route from the Tang Dynasty to the American continent, it was extremely difficult, and the American continent was too far away. After thinking about it repeatedly, Xia Xue decided to lead the team herself, although it was very dangerous, but for the grand secret in her heart, for the future of the Tang Dynasty and future generations, she must now take this risk and be the "Columbus" of the future generations.

Of course, Li Shimin, who loves Xia Xue the most, heard that his beloved wife was going to go to such a far away place that no one had ever known about, he resolutely disagreed, Xia Xue couldn't say anything, Li Shimin was reluctant to leave Xia Xue for a day. Xia Xue had no choice but to lie to Li Shimin that the place was not far away, similar to Australia, and she often took a boat to Australia. Xia Xue also told Li Shimin that the area of the Americas is several times larger than that of Datang, there is gold everywhere, and there is fertile land everywhere. He also said that he hoped that after the occupation of the Americas, he could let his son go there to be the king in the future, which was better than five sons and daughters crowding into the Tang Dynasty to fight each other. Li Shimin couldn't help but be moved when he heard that America was so rich and vast, but he was still worried about Xia Xue's safety and hoped to send others to explore. Xia Xue said to Li Shimin that only he could find the Americas, and sending others was in vain, and he knew how to go to the Americas from Datang to be the safest, and if he did not know the safer route for others, not only would he not be able to find the Americas, but he might not be able to come back. Xia Xue assured Li Shimin that she would be able to return home safely, and the time was expected to be half a year at most. In the end, Li Shimin couldn't stand Xia Xue's soft grinding and hard bubbles, so he had to reluctantly agree. I hope Xia Xue will bring more people and fleets to go, Xia Xue shook her head, the first time I went to the Americas was mainly to determine the best route, and it was useless to go with more people, and it would increase the consumption at sea. She decided that all she needed was a large ship and a few hundred people to go for the first time. Li Shimin had no choice, he knew Xia Xue's character, once he decided to do something, no one could stop him, he could only carefully select 500 sailors and navies who were familiar with navigation from the Tang Navy, and let them follow and protect the queen.

This time is mainly to explore sea routes, due to the long distance, in order to avoid running out of diesel, so, the battleship of this expedition Xia Xue chose a large sea ship with a hybrid sail and steam engine, and the fuel used is coal, because Xia Xue knows that there is a lot of coal in the Americas, and the advantage of coal is that it is easier to excavate, and it can be used directly when it is dug out, while oil extraction is more complicated and troublesome, and some oil still needs to be refined. The advantage of the steam engine is that it can burn anything, as long as it can be burned, except for coal, wood, garbage, vegetable oil, oil, etc. can be used as fuel for the steam engine. Xia Xue named the first sea ship to explore the American continent: "Expedition". Due to the use of the wind, the "Explorer" should not be too heavy, and instead of all steel, it was made of good wood of good quality, and the outer side was wrapped in a thin stainless steel skin.

At the end of January 648, Xia Xue took the "Expedition" ship, led 500 sailors and the navy, as well as the personal guard Ouyang Qian, the naval doctor Cui Zhi and others, from Yangshan Port in Haijing, and went straight to the American continent. She didn't take Ouyang Yong with her this time because Ouyang Yong's seasickness was so bad that he couldn't adapt to the sea voyage at all, although Ouyang Yong always wanted to go.

After Xia Xue set off, Li Shimin would climb the "Wangwife Tower" in Chang'an after work every day, facing the east, looking into the distance, full of longing, and silently praying.

Xia Xue felt that it was too far to cross the Pacific Ocean directly, and there were countless huge dangers lurking in the deep sea far from the mainland, such as tsunamis, etc., as long as it was encountered, then the "Expedition" would be crushed.

Therefore, after consideration, Xia Xue decided to take a safer route, not too far from the land, and a relatively close voyage for the first time: after starting from Haijing City, he went north, passed through Hokkaido in Fuso, and restocked; After continuing northward, fresh water and other recharges in the Aleutian Islands; To the east, across the Bering Strait, you can resist Alaska in North America; Then, continue south to the mineral-rich Gulf of Mexico; If you have the chance, you can continue south and go to South America.

It's always hard the first time. A few days after the "Expedition" set off, it did not want to be deviated from course due to a storm on the road, and drifted for a few days, a little lost.

And the weather is getting worse and worse, the wind is not blowing, but the weather is as gloomy as lead! Lead-gray clouds, piled on top of each other, made it seem like they were about to fall.

Xia Xue looked at the compass on her watch, and after determining the direction, Xia Xue ordered the ignition to move forward, and then she returned to her cabin, ready to calm herself down.

There were black clouds in the sky, a few stars leaked out, the wind and waves were like the sound of gluttony, and the vast sea during the day all disappeared into the wider night.

Xia Xue stood in front of the back plate of the main rudder, the terrain here was very high, holding a telescope and staring nervously at the sea in front of her, but now she couldn't see anything except the black sea water slowly rolling the black waves, and the wind began to get stronger at this time.

As soon as the sailors had tied up all their sails, the violent wind began to rage, and the "Explorer" was blown a little crooked by the wind, and the hull of the ship let out a "squeak!" The rudder board, which was controlled by the hydraulic device, was firmly stuck, and the big ship was still stubbornly heading northeast.

The torrential rain came with a strong wind, which seemed to be blowing horizontally, from west to east, the "Expedition" was blown to one side, and the technicians and sailors in the cabin were hard at work, and the wind set off a big wave and finally began to wreak havoc!

The wind roared, the waves threw into the sky, the sea was dark, and the "Expedition" was like a fluttering leaf, surrounded by the monstrous waves like the surrounding black mountains, oppressing, throwing, manipulating, and ravaging, looking so small and fragile, in the face of the great power of nature, all human beings are so weak and vulnerable.

The "Expedition" was violently bumped, like a roller coaster, constantly falling from the crest of the wave to the bottom of the valley and being thrown from the bottom to the crest of the wave.

After such a violent storm by the sailors and Tang soldiers who sailed in the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea all year round, the huge warship "Expedition" is now like a leaf on the sea, and it is in danger of capsizing at any time.

Rain cats and dogs! What a violent storm, and it was as dark as the bottom of a pot!

The bridge was damp and pitch black. Xia Xue and Captain Qiao Yun stood on the bridge of the ship, staring at the black pouring rain, only to see the darkness in the vast expanse, the waves splashing, the wind roaring, and the waves rolling.

The bridge was the captain's combat post. The experienced and dark-skinned captain Qiao Yun's resolute face was full of nervousness, and he gave orders loudly:

"Right rudder, right full rudder! ——”

"Slow ahead! ——”

"Keep course! Steady! ——”

……

This storm at sea was more terrifying than anything Xia Xue had seen before.

In the face of the terrible power of nature, everything seems so powerless and fragile. At this time, it is better to act in a panic than to calmly resign yourself to fate.

Xia Xue knew that she couldn't help, it was dangerous to stand on the deck, and the clothes on her body had been wet from the rainstorm and the rising waves, so she had to run back to the cabin, and her fate could only be left to God and those loyal captains and old sailors!

The sound of the wind and the waves of the storm roar was very loud, like a super monster, and the whole sky and the sea were no longer indistinguishable, all of them were dark and dim, except for the big waves and splashing waves.

The cabin was in shambles, as if it had been robbed! Vomit was also everywhere.

The captain panted and ran over and said: "One of the main masts has been hung up by a strong wind, this ship can no longer continue to move, the power should be stopped, and then the rudder of the whole ship should be mastered!" ”

"What bad luck!" Xia Xue scolded secretly, "Boiler stop!" Take the helm with all your might, don't resist, let's just go with the current! Xia Xue commanded.

The mast was broken, which was equivalent to the loss of the general power of the "Expedition", so Xia Xue had to consider the use of fuel conservation, she ran to the cockpit and lay down, it was the first time she felt so helpless, in the face of nature's crazy raging energy, she was at a loss, she had to pray that the storm could pass as soon as possible.

The storm lasted for ten hours, and for ten hours it was spent in the silence and darkness of heavy rain, tossing and swaying, and swaying from side to side.

Looking at the watch, it was already evening, and the "Expedition" had been in a state of floating, and now that the storm had finally subsided, Xia Xue, Cui Zhi and others had drilled out of the cabin, and Ouyang Qian had vomited so much that she couldn't get up!

Xia Xue could feel the fluctuations of the sea, and the hull of the ship was bumpy before and after landing. She felt a change in pressure in both ears. Moist air pours in through the vents.

The danger of hanging by a thread is finally over.

"Have you peed your pants?" The sailors teased each other. Every cabin in this long warship was filled with vulgar and light-hearted laughter, rough cheers, merry curses, and a boisterous down. Gossip. In any case, the time to ask God for the blessing has passed for the time being.

The storm had passed, the sea was very calm, the sun seemed to be hanging in the south, and now it was a thousand rays of sunshine, and the sun was shining through the clouds and slanting on the sea, and the scenery was very beautiful.

After another four days, the wind gradually changed, but it felt colder and colder.

The sun rose slightly over the horizon, taking on a sickly dim yellow—no light radiating.

There were no clouds in the sky, but the wind was fickle, blowing more and more violently. Around noon, the sun once again grabbed the crew's attention. It emits not light in the usual sense, but a hazy halo, but no radiant heat, as if all the light has dissolved. Before sinking into the tumultuous sea, the middle of the halo suddenly disappeared, as if hastily extinguished by an inexplicable force, leaving only a frame—a silver one—plunging headlong into the unfathomable depths of the sea.

They waited for the fifth day to come, but in vain—for Xia Xue, that day had not yet come; For the sailors, the fifth day did not come at all.

They had been in deep darkness ever since, and could not see anything twenty paces from the ship. The night enveloped them with no end, and the tropical phosphorus fire they were familiar with did not illuminate the sea. Surrounded by a dark desert, terrifying and eerie. Because of superstition, fear crept into the hearts and souls of sailors. Xia Xue was also secretly surprised in her heart.

The sailors looked bitterly at the vast sea. They couldn't count the time, they couldn't guess their situation, but they knew full well that they had drifted too far north, to a place where no navigator had ever been.

Xia Xue took out the binoculars and turned on the night vision function, observing the movement on the sea in front of her, and secretly screamed in her heart, it turned out that she saw pieces of ice floe.

In the vicinity of the Explorer, the world was dark, like a long night, and the noisy sea with no waves to be seen, and in the distance, huge icebergs loomed from time to time, towering in the desolate sky, which seemed to be the walls of the universe.

That means that his ship is closer to the North Pole, and if he drifts like this, the cold climate of the Arctic will freeze the warship.

It must be driven south, Xia Xue found the captain and ordered the boiler to be started, and he could no longer float to the north, the captain was a little distressed, because he didn't know anything about this sea area, and the compass didn't seem to be usable, and Xia Xue found that the compass on the watch was also out of order. Xia Xue looked up at the direction of the iceberg in the distance and pointed to the captain in the opposite direction to the iceberg.

The steam engine coughed and roared to wake up. The warship finally began to smoke again, reversed in the opposite direction, and then turned around and headed south, Xia Xue didn't know if she was pointing in the right direction, she looked forward to a sunny day at night, and then looked at the stars in the sky to determine her correct position, otherwise, she didn't know where she would go.

The humid sea breeze swept through the air with a few seagulls chirping, and rushed into the vast ocean.

In the dark night, the "Explorer" rode the wind and waves and moved forward bravely. The bow of the ship viciously cleaved the icy waves and sailed into the endless darkness. The waves are rolling and the sea is vast, like an unfathomable God.

At night, there was a starry sky, and there was a big moon, and there were many experienced sailors on board, so they immediately noticed the direction, it turned out that Xia Xue's warship did not sail south, but sailed eastward, and the boiler finally broke down at this time, and it was not surprising that the boiler broke down after such a storm and turbulence.

Now there is only a breeze on the sea, but the boat is still moving on the water, and Xia Xue understands that she has encountered the undercurrent of the Pacific Ocean! It seems that this can drift down the ocean current for a while, the mast has been hung up, and now the boiler is out of order again, so let's wait for the boiler to be repaired before deciding the course.

So the ship's mechanics were busy now, the bottom of the cabin was repairing the boilers, and the sailors on the deck were repairing the masts.

But now the dilemma is that there is not much fuel left, the boiler is broken again, and the mast of the sail power is broken, and the next day should be very sad.

Xia Xue was also depressed to find that in the long storm just now, due to the violent jolting and swaying of the sea boat, many things were broken, including the very important telegraph. Now I want to contact the rear, or report the safety of my husband Li Shimin and the children, it's really unlucky, should I return to Datang now. However, soon, Xia Xue denied this idea, "I must not give up halfway, I must persevere, I believe that I can definitely find the American continent." ”

The next day, Xia Xue was still sleeping, and was woken up by the sailors on the deck, it seemed that they had discovered the island, Xia Xue went up to take a look, shook her head and thought, this should be the Arison Islands!

In terms of distance and direction, Xia Xue is sure that she is now near the Aleutian Islands, further north must be the Bering Strait, and to the east is Alaska on the American continent! She didn't realize that she had traveled so far, and that the ship was still drifting east without power. Unexpectedly, it was not far from North America, Xia Xue couldn't help but be secretly happy.

She ordered a larger island to land on to replenish fresh water, for the ship had a lot of food reserves, but it was desperately short of fresh water.

Using the remaining two auxiliary mainsails on the ship, the warship easily approached a relatively narrow island, judging from the direction of the mountain range, there should be fresh water resources on the island, but this island is very primitive, inaccessible, and the danger factor is still relatively large, so Xia Xue still asks everyone to be cautious.