Chapter 398 The Land of the South

Chapter 398 The Land of the South

"Big brother"

In the garden, Stefan pestered Peter to let him go to sea and see the East.

"No, you are still young"

As the youngest child, Stefan has not experienced the difficulties of starting a business. In addition, since he is the youngest, the throne is not his turn, so he wants to go east to make contributions.

"I'm not young anymore, it will be my adult ceremony soon."

"Then let's wait until the coming-of-age ceremony."

Peter doesn't want Stefan to take risks for the time being, and since he's unfamiliar with the East, he'd better find a European place to be a lord.

But it seems that Stefan will not give up until he achieves his goal. Now that the empire has entered a stable period, expanding and exploring the eastern colonies has become a major task at present. The man who came out to explore not two years ago has not returned yet, but there are always letters proving that he is still alive.

At this time, the person Peter was talking about was directing construction thousands of kilometers away. After all, this was his territory.

Mason organized a fleet of 350 people at his own expense to explore the East, and set sail from Constantinople after bidding farewell to his family. After boating on dry land, we arrived in Aden, and then followed the map all the way south. After reaching Zanzibar at the southernmost point of the map, we directly entered the exploration fog stage. They could only rely on the compass and the stars in the sky. They encountered a storm on the way and a supply ship sank. If they could not find land as soon as possible, they would starve to death.

Fortunately, God had mercy on them, and after three days of aimless progress, they finally discovered land. Then we officially set up camp here for repairs. According to the orientation map, this should be the island.

The first thing Mason did after landing was to kiss the earth and thank God for his gift. Then the flag of the Roman Empire was planted on the ground to show that the land had an owner.

The remaining 300 or so people began to build houses here. Fortunately, there was a lot of wood here, and with the help of craftsmen, they quickly had a base and dock.

Then they immigrated from Rome and explored the tribes inside. However, there were too many local forests and no traces of human life were found even after going several kilometers deep. Therefore, it is temporarily recognized as an uninhabited island.

"Sir, we have found a lot of fine wood here, and the land is very fertile. You can harvest many crops by farming here."

Mason also discovered that the local climate is very suitable for cotton growth, and if it can become a large-scale industry, it can have a steady stream of income.

"According to what the letter said, they should be here. Why haven't they come yet?"

Mason stood at the dock and waited anxiously. The supplies he had requested from above using his status as governor should have arrived. Isn't it possible?

But soon, several ships appeared in his field of vision. Mason was delighted and ordered them to prepare for the arrival of the first fleet.

After the other party docked, a representative from the Department of Trade came to him and announced to Mason the materials transported here, including 300 immigrants who came here on their own initiative, including 60 women.

"His Royal Highness also wrote you a letter."

Mason opened it and looked at it. Peter first congratulated Mason on finding the land. In this case, he kept his word. This land was his fief, which could be inherited and exempted from taxes for five years. He would hold a canonization ceremony for him immediately after returning.

In return, he will help the empire maintain exploration and colonization in the southern region. Of course, he can also conduct immigration activities within the empire, but it requires reporting from the Ministry of Affairs. This time we also brought him supplies worth more than 20,000 lei, hoping that he could persist here.

After reading the letter, Mason was moved to tears. He did not expect that His Highness would trust him so much, and he must create a legacy of his own here.

The local port has begun to expand and patrols have been established. Farmland has also been cultivated and it just needs to be connected to other ports to drive trade so that the colony can spin.

"Sir, what's the name of this place so I can go back and mark it on the map?"

The representative asked Mason, who thought carefully and spoke slowly.

"Andre's Fort, named after Saint Andrew."

Naming it after a saint is not a big deal, it means it will be here for a while.

Of course, the exploration continued, and after continuing for more than ten kilometers, the tribal people were finally discovered. But the other party obviously did not welcome them, and directly attacked them with javelins and blow pins. The exploration team used muskets to kill several people, but still retreated. They went back and told Mason about this discovery, and Mason decided to form an army and go deep, preparing to kill these stubborn people in one fell swoop.

All the troops combined amounted to only 300 men, 150 muskets and a lot of gunpowder. Led by Mason, they headed inland.

There are breathless jungles and unknown animals along the way. They are careful about everything, for fear of dying. And in a dark corner, a group of people were staring at them.

"What the hell kind of weather is this? We might as well go to the port and rest."

A soldier complained endlessly, but he soon stopped complaining. For some unknown reason, he fell down, which immediately put the team on alert.

"There are enemies, prepare!"

The army hurriedly prepared their muskets, but they didn't know which direction the enemy was coming from, so they fired in every direction.

"Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah!!!"

A scream suddenly came from one direction, and the army attacked in this direction together, and soon there was no sound.

"You, take a few people to see it."

Mason ordered a group of people to go and take a look. They saw a dozen people lying on the ground. The blood dyed the ground beneath him red, and beside him were some blowing needles and spears, which looked very primitive.

"They're not far away, ready to fight."

The army continued to advance and finally saw the houses where the tribe lived. But the other side was all well prepared, and when they saw Mason's army approaching, they immediately stepped forward to attack.

They threw spears and charged at them with wooden shields. Under Mason's order, the army used the matchlocks in their hands to fire at the opponent, falling directly to pieces.

There were also some who were not shot and directly entered the melee mode with them, but the opponents were using iron tools, and they were still using wood products. The outcome of this war was already obvious. Mason exchanged one casualty for a huge victory for the opponent's nearly 400 men. This was also the first major war that Roman colonization encountered.

This tribe will be directly broken up, their children will be sold to the empire, and everything in the tribe will be brought back to the port for research. It seems that the population here is quite small, which is very suitable for Roman immigrants to come here to start their life again. It's just that the climate in the port is too hot, and we need to find a more suitable place to become the capital.