Tibet.

Chapter 1407: Nanyang Consolation
In the morning, a cavalry team escorted the Secretary General Yang Zhu to Yunyang County. The Secretary General was a department that directly served the emperor and was not under the jurisdiction of the court.

Currently, there are three and a half departments that are directly under the emperor and not under the jurisdiction of the imperial court. One is the Privy Council, which regulates the garrisons in various places; one is the Internal Guard; and one is the Secretariat.

The other half is the Censorate, which is responsible to both the Council of State Affairs and directly to the emperor. The key lies in the level of the cases they handle and the level of the officials they impeach. If it is the impeachment of the prime minister, then they will definitely report to the emperor. If it is the impeachment of a governor, then they will report to the Council of State Affairs.

As the name suggests, the Secretary General is the emperor's secretary. He is also in charge of books and responsible for the education of the princes.

In the future, Jixian Academy and Longtu Pavilion will be established successively, and the scholars in them will be the emperor's secretaries. They have not been established yet and are temporarily under the supervision of the Secretary-General.

Yang Zhu arrived at the Yunyang County Government Office. The county magistrate He Wensheng took Yang Zhu to a small house on the east side of the county town. This was Yang Liangyao's home.

Yang Liangyao was a eunuch who once held such an important position as the Guangzhou Maritime Customs Supervisor. Since he was promoted by Li Fuguo, he was also implicated when the eunuch party was purged, and he was removed from all official positions and demoted to a commoner.

Yang Liangyao returned to his hometown, Yunyang County, and purchased some real estate such as land and houses, and lived on the rent. He also has an adopted son who currently runs a restaurant.

Yang Liangyao is only thirty-five or thirty-six years old. She is well maintained and looks relatively young.

Hearing a knock on the door, he opened it and saw a large number of cavalry and officials outside. He was stunned and asked, "Everyone, what's going on?"

Yang Zhu clasped his fists and asked, "Excuse me, are you Yang Liangyao, the former Guangzhou Maritime Customs Supervisor?"

Yang Liangyao nodded, "It's me!"

Yang Zhu said: "I am Yang Zhu, the secretary and supervisor, and I have been ordered to take you to Beijing!"

"I don't quite understand, what happened?" Yang Liangyao was confused.

Yang Zhu smiled slightly and said, "Someone recommended you to the emperor, and the emperor summoned you!"

"Ah!" Yang Liangyao was stunned for a moment. After a while, he asked cautiously, "Do you want me to work in the palace, or something else?"

"It was Envoy Zhang, the Lingnan Pacifier, who recommended you to the Emperor. You will not be allowed to serve in the palace. Please follow us to the capital!"

It turned out to be Zhang Ping's recommendation. Yang Liangyao said quickly, "Please allow me to clean up a bit and tell my family. It will be ready soon!"

Yang Liangyao followed Yang Zhu and the guards and rode along the newly built straight road. They rested for a night and changed horses at the post station, then set off again early the next morning and arrived in Chang'an on the morning of the third day.

Yang Liangyao changed into white clothes and met Emperor Li Ye in the afternoon.

"This old servant Yang Liangyao pays respect to His Majesty the Emperor. I wish His Majesty a long life!"

"No need to bow, Eunuch Yang!"

The number of eunuchs in Li Ye's palace was no more than 100, most of them were old eunuchs, and the eunuch system was abolished. On this point, Li Ye received the firm support of all civil officials. The eunuch party group scared the civil officials. If Li Ye had not come to power, the eunuchs' monopoly of power would have lasted for at least a hundred years.

Although Yang Liangyao was a eunuch, he was a special case. Just like Zheng He, he was an accomplished eunuch.

Li Ye looked at Yang Liangyao and said with a smile: "Eunuch Yang has taken good care of himself. Are you still willing to go to the hot place in Lingnan now?"

"Your Majesty, I have no children, no worries, and I just want to do something meaningful to prove that my life in this world is not in vain."

Li Ye nodded and said, "I summoned you here because I want you to do something unprecedented and unparalleled. Once you succeed, you will go down in history. Ten thousand years later, you will still be a hero in the eyes of the Han people. But your life will be in danger. Are you willing to accept it?"

"I am not afraid of death, nor of hardship. As long as Your Majesty believes in me, I will remain committed to my mission."

Li Ye said slowly: "I want you to sail and lead a fleet to find new continents overseas, to find high-yield crops, and to completely solve the food problem that has existed for thousands of years."

"Does your majesty have any directions?"

Li Ye nodded, took out a map from the bookcase, and slowly spread it out, saying, "This is a map I drew based on some legends of the natives of Nanyang. It is rumored that there is a continent south of Nanyang, and many natives have seen it."

Yang Liangyao pointed to the South Pacific Islands and said, "I have been to all these places, but they were all on the north side of the islands. I have never thought about going to the south side of the islands, let alone crossing the islands and going south."

Li Ye nodded, pointed at the Australian continent and New Zealand with a wooden pole and said: "This continent is as vast as the Tang Dynasty, but there is no one on it. The natives have their own islands and are unwilling to live on the mainland. There is also a large island here, which is probably as large as Henan Road, and is also deserted. This is your first task, find these two large islands and hone our new ships at the same time."

The Maori people of Australia and New Zealand did not arrive in New Zealand until the Northern Song Dynasty, and in Australia even later. There are no natives there now.

Li Ye added: "We now have steamships that can burn coal or wood. We don't have to worry about fuel issues. Finding two continents is not a big problem. The key is the next mission, which is the real challenge."

Li Ye pointed to the north of the map and said, "This is our newly established Bohai Prefecture. Go north along the coast of Bohai Prefecture and you will see a strait, but you don't have to cross the strait. Instead, go east along the coast. After about a month, you will see a new continent, which is equivalent to two of our Tang Dynasty. There are many natives over there. It is said that when the Shang Dynasty fell, many of the Shang Dynasty's survivors migrated there and lived there for thousands of years. You can continue to go south and you will see another continent in a few months. There is also a dynasty over there, which is said to have been established by the descendants of the Shang Dynasty. You can bring more gifts and exchange crops, food and seeds with them along the way. The crops over there are not available here. Then you can return along the original route. I estimate it will take a year, so we need to build some supply points along the way."

Yang Liangyao nodded silently. He felt that it was extremely difficult. Li Ye said again: "Your mission is not to occupy the land and establish a stronghold, but to establish a route. More importantly, you need to find crops and collect as many crops and seeds as possible. As for building cities and garrisoning troops, let future generations do it!"

Yang Liangyao nodded, "I understand the task your majesty has assigned me. I need time to prepare."

Li Ye handed him a map and a booklet. "Here is the map. Everything I said is in the booklet. Go to Guangzhou and Quanzhou to make preparations. Li Mi, the governor of Fujian Province, and Zhang Ping, the pacification envoy of Lingnan Province, will fully support you. Prepare for half a year. All the financial and material resources you need will be allocated by the inner treasury. Carry out the first mission next year."

Li Ye immediately appointed Yang Liangyao as the Nanyang Xuanwei Envoy and General Mingwei, and established the Nanyang Xuanwei Envoy Office and the Dongyang Xuanwei Envoy Office in Guangzhou and Dengzhou respectively. He also allocated 200,000 strings of cash from the inner treasury, and dispatched ten large ships and thousands of troops.

Three days later, Yang Liangyao took a team of soldiers and sailed to Guangzhou to prepare for his first voyage.

(End of this chapter)