"Mr. Huo, do you want these mercenaries to serve our navy? It seems too early to explore the west side. We are all a little lacking in strength in the south. If you really have the energy, you might as well let these people go to Asab and help there." Thick smoke continued to gush out from the nostrils of the old sailor. He obviously didn't understand Huo Congrong's decision in this regard.

"Mr. Dress, these guys will not go to Asabu. He is not familiar with the situation there. This is his range of activities. Moreover, Asabu cannot provide them with sufficient supplies yet. Even if it is a bit difficult to supply the official supplies of our empire, it has been almost a month since the supply ship has not been coming from Mangadishu. I don't know what went wrong. I have sent the last batch of supplies to Asabu. It seems that I can support it for a month. You probably don't know how many people Zhou Laoer has under him?

There are nearly 300 people in Sabana, and it is said that nearly 200 people have come to serve him. The old subordinates who have already taken the boat to Mangadishu from the Empire. When these two hundred people arrive in Sabana, this guy has more troops than I have in Sabana!" Huo Congrong smiled slightly, "Although he is a mercenary leader, he is quite cunning. As far as I know, he has secret contacts with the two larger tribe leaders in the western inland. It is rumored that he even married the daughter of a tribe leader as his wife, but no one dares to ask him this question."

Perhaps because of customs and habits, Tang men are very common for marrying Indian De'ans and other white people as wives and concubines, but marrying black people as wives and concubines is extremely rare. One reason is that although black people are found in the empire, they are quite rare. Most of them appear as slaves. Another reason is that Tang men’s aesthetic aesthetics are based on white skin and dark skin color, and they are not very acceptable to the public.

"Oh? This guy seems to be quite capable. He can actually get along with those natives." The guy who dressed up in an old sailor is also a member of the Imperial Navy, but he was officially a member of the Imperial Navy when the East Samoan Navy was incorporated into the Imperial Navy. The establishment of the Navy's Intelligence Agency also absorbed him and became a member of the Navy's new world in the New World. Dress is the captain of the navy's expedition mapping ship "Blue Castle", a medium-sized surveying ship. He has been patrolling back and forth between Sabana and Asab for several times. He is also one of the main naval detective forces now relying on Asab to explore and expand southward.

"Well, this is also the main reason why I want this guy to act as our former station. This guy has some movement ability in the west. Compared to our regular expedition surveying team, his methods are not as particular as we have, and he is much more flexible." Huo Congrong nodded, "Besides, he doesn't need much funding for us. At most, it's just some supplies. Although the south is the focus of the empire, the empire will enter sooner or later. Instead of letting these guys engage in slave trading all day, it's better to let them serve the empire. As long as it is effective, I believe the empire will not care who does it."

"Well, too, the power of the empire here is too weak now. If this situation continues, I am afraid that the guy will really be taken first by the guy in the Western Continent as that guy said just now, then we will be too passive in the future. Being able to use these guys is considered to be the best use of things, and for them it is also considered to have done something of immeasurable merit, at least it is much brighter than doing those things." The old sailor thought for a while, nodded in agreement with Huo Congrong's opinion.

"Mr. Dress, how is your situation?" Finally got to the point. Although Huo Congrong is only the deputy commander of the Marine Division, he represents the entire Imperial Navy responsible for the entire expansion detection work in the area south of Nei Angel Bay, including Sabana. Although Dress is directly led by the Naval Intelligence Bureau and the Surveying and Mapping Bureau, due to the special circumstances of the colony, Huo Congrong also presided over the overall work of the entire southern part of the New World, so Dress also needs to report to Huo Congrong on the recent progress.

"The situation in the early stage is not very good, and you also know that the weather in the early stage is too bad. The Blue Fort has only stayed in the small harbor of Asabu to shelter the wind, and it was only after the later stage that it was truly carried out. However, we made some breakthroughs this time. We set off from Asabu and sailed south along the coastline for nearly 400 kilometers. An island was found 120 miles away from the mainland coastline. The island area was not large, about 200 square kilometers, but we made a surprising discovery on this island." When we said this, Dress's eyes began to shine, and a red tide appeared on her face.

"Oh? What discovery?" Huo Congrong realized that he might have made some big discovery. With Dres' calm personality, having such a performance is considered an exception.

"This island is covered with wild lilacs, almost everywhere. My crew and I couldn't believe it, but it was true. I also brought some plants back and prepared to send them back to the Empire for inspection. If they were really lilacs, that island could be called Lilac Island." Dress took out two plants from the package beside him and handed them to Huo Congrong.

Huo Congrong was a little surprised, but an island covered with lilacs was undoubtedly a huge discovery for the empire. Although it did not make much sense to the navy itself, it was also a contribution of the navy. Huo Congrong took the plant and looked at it carefully, then put it next to his nose and sniffed it hard. It should be lilac.

"Mr. Dress, I have to congratulate you. This should be vanilla. If your discovery is true, I am afraid that the Empire will immediately occupy the island even if it risks stimulating the countries of the Western Continent. This is simply a natural treasure pot. You should know what spices mean to the Empire and the Western Continent. Now that the Empire controls most of the Meli region, the production of spices is almost in the hands of the Empire. The Empire's demand for spices has been soaring and cannot meet the needs at all, let alone supplying the growing gap in the Western Continent. Haha, maybe you will be awarded a medal or even aristocratic status for this." Huo Congrong's tone was full of envy.

"Haha, I have made a map of that island. I hope it can bring a surprise to us and the empire." Dress was also very happy. Being able to be crowned as a noble was a dream that ordinary people could never achieve in their lifetime. Dress had never hoped for it, but he had also heard that the people who discovered that the Jinguan Island had been crowned as a noble. If he really had such good luck, he would be glorious.

"Well, this is a huge discovery. I have to repay it to the Empire as soon as possible. Please give it to the upper party. In addition, some of our views need to be reported to the upper party. Maybe the Empire should really change its current strategy." Huo Congrong stood up and thought that the discovery of Dinglilac Island might prompt the Empire to make up this decision.

The empire's colonial policy has always been vague, and this cannot be blamed for the empire's flirting with the government and the Privy Council. In fact, at the beginning, the empire had always encouraged both the government and the people to fully intervene in the expansion of the New World colonies. However, given that the empire's expansion of the New World was one step behind, the establishment of the Gellyubu colony once aroused the high vigilance of the countries in the Western continent, especially after a Marine Division entered Gellyubu, the countries in the Western continent began to pay attention to every move that the Tang Dynasty would do on this new world.

The subtle changes in the attitudes of the countries in the Western Continent also made the Empire feel that before the naval power could not be sent to the distant New World at will, the Empire had to consider the attitudes of the countries in the Western Continent. After all, it was much closer to their nests, and if the Empire wanted to compete with them there, there was no need to think about what the ending would be.

Therefore, the empire has shrunk its official actions on the surface, which at least makes the countries of the Western Continent feel a little relieved. But in fact, the empire's support for civil forces has not decreased at all, and even invested more. It's just that the empire's exploration and expansion are not limited to the New World. From the Maven Islands to the south to the southeast are important routes for the empire's exploration, and the New World is just one of the highlights of the empire's exploration and expansion.

After sorting out a large stack of information and maps in my hand, Wufeng felt a sense of satisfaction in the world in his own hands. The discovery of Dingliu Island is an astonishing geographical discovery, which means that there may be the possibility of growing spices in the waters around Dingliu Island or on the mainland. The spice cultivation of Melly made Melly a rich place in the empire second only to Jiangnan County. Now the growing demand for spices in the mainland has doubled the value of Melly, especially the empire's demand has almost quadrupled. The strict requirements for water-heat climate in spice cultivation have always plagued the bottleneck of the expansion of spice production. This bottleneck cannot be achieved by research or improvement of plants. The only way is to find land that can also be suitable for growth. However, there have been people in the mainland of Raya for a long time, and I have not heard of where to grow qualified spice plants.
Chapter completed!