In February of the fifth year of Chongzhen, Keelung Town, which had just started spring, finally began to get rid of the rainy season in the deep winter, and there were continuous sunny days after a long absence, and the whole town was shrouded in a scene full of spring.

Li Tianyang was in the yamen of the Admiral's Mansion, making a general plan for this year, but a reckless team member at the door didn't even knock on the door, pushed open the door and came in and shouted: "Admiral! Admiral! They、They're back!! ”

Li Tianyang raised his head, looked at the headless shouts of the guards in front of him, frowned, and said calmly: "How many times have I told you, why don't you know how to change your temper?" ”

"No, Lord Admiral, they're back!!" The guard, known as the Hour Boy, shouted excitedly while panting.

"Who's back, you have to tell me clearly!" Li Tianyang looked at this young team member who had just graduated from the Acting Martial Arts Hall of Bengang Academy, and asked suspiciously.

"Captain Sun Juyong, they're back! Dock at our dock now! The guard, surnamed Zhou Mingqin, hurriedly told him what caused him such a big psychological fluctuation, which immediately caused Li Tianyang's strong reaction.

"What!!" Li Tianyang looked at his guard in disbelief, and wanted to get a positive answer, so he couldn't help but ask again: "You say it again!" ”

"Captain Sun Juyong, they're back, the 'Pioneer' ship is back!!" As Li Tianyang's guard, Zhou Qin still knows a little bit about Li Tianyang's usual focus, so for Sun Juyong's return, Zhou Qin rushed back to report to Li Tianyang as soon as he received the information.

"Good, good! All right! Li Tianyang was relieved to hear the affirmative reply, and said several good words in a row, then looked in the direction of the dock with satisfaction, sorted out the documents on the table, and after putting them away, he got up and walked to the dock area.

Li Tianyang actually didn't have any hope for the trip to the "Pioneer", and was hesitating in his heart when to report to the sailors and relatives on the "Pioneer", and when he issued a bereavement pension according to the standard of the Hongmen fallen soldiers, he didn't expect that the peak would turn around, and finally the "Pioneer", which had disappeared for more than a year, suddenly returned to Keelung Town silently.

When Li Tianyang hurried to the dock area, more than 100 Hongmen soldiers on the "Pioneer" just staggered off the deck, kneeling or lying on the wharf to vent their hesitation and despair of drifting on the sea for four or five months without seeing the land.

The families of many sailors on the "Pioneer" who heard the wind were looking for their families in the crowd of people who disembarked from the ship, some shouted excitedly, some were disappointed and wept silently, and some looked at the thin man who had lost his memory, and let out a cry of pain.

As the captain and principal of the "Pioneer", he returned to his homeland and still did not relax his class, holding on to his weak body to explain to the Hongmen members who came to hand over, and at the same time took out a book of accounts and navigation records and handed them over.

Li Tianyang almost didn't recognize Sun Juyong, Sun Juyong before departure, although his skin was dark all year round, but it also made him still strong and capable in his forties, where is the current skinny person who seems to be blown down by a gust of wind!

"My lord, we have driven to the American continent, found the port of Acapulco, and concluded a trade agreement with Fidel, the governor of the Grand Franco, in the port of Acapulco." Although Sun Juyong was weak, when he saw Li Tianyang personally coming to greet them, he still respectfully reported to Li Tianyang.

"Okay, okay, thank you for your hard work, just come back!!" Li Tianyang waved his hand to stop Sun Juyong's action of wanting to continue to report in detail, but looked at Sun Juyong's mouth of red teeth and bad breath with concern, knowing that he was afraid that he was suffering from the most troublesome sepsis of the sea, so he asked him to say a few words, and at the same time instructed the people around him to go and ask the doctor of the Salesian Bureau to come and monitor the health of the soldiers on the "Pioneer".

"Anything, wait for you to recuperate first, reunite with your family for a few days, let's talk about it, anyway, it's not in a hurry at this time, right?" Li Tianyang said cordially, and at the same time looked at several young men and women and a middle-aged woman behind Sun Juyong: "Look, aunts, they can't wait, we can't disturb your reunion!" ”

After saying this, Li Tianyang greeted Sun Juyong's daughter-in-law, Sun Qian, and asked them to come over and help Sun Juyong to go down to rest.

Sun Juyong and his boatload of soldiers went down to rest, while Li Tianyang followed behind the accounts of Qixintang, carefully checking the receipt of the "Pioneer" line.

The reason why the return of the "Pioneer" makes Li Tu so excited is because the smooth return of the "Pioneer" means that the route between Hongmen and the American continent has been conquered by them.

The opening up of the American route also gave Hongmen one more option for its future retreat, and also gave Hongmen one more way to make money, as well as enrich the various resources needed by their team.

The mottled armor scratches and cracks on the "Pioneer" show the hardships and hardships that Sun Juyong and their industry encountered; The natural rubber stacked in the cabin, as well as the boxes of silver as ballast, made Hongmen feel the wealth of the indigenous people in the Americas.

The whole trip to open up the route can be regarded as a successful end, and then wait until Sun Juyong and them recuperate well, and then understand and summarize the experience of their trip, and in the days after the fact, Hongmen can continue to follow the route opened up by Sun Juyong, continue to the American continent, and carry out the next trade trip with the local natives and Spanish colonists on the American continent.

Of course, the price paid by Hongmen is also not small, the "Pioneer" was full of sailors and soldiers in their early 200s, and in the end they were able to follow Sun Juyong and them back safely, there were less than 130 people, and almost 70 people died on the route of thousands of miles.

This is the price that needs to be paid for pioneering, at this time, Li Tianyang held this cold list of fallen soldiers, his face was calm, but in his heart he felt that all these sacrifices were worth it.

(End of chapter)