Chapter 47: From Game to Map

Finally, as the last of the Viking forces had their castle and town center destroyed by Spanish gunships, Chen Lin tossed his mouse aside, massaged his fingers, and stretched lazily.

"Did you all get the hang of it?"

Zhu Yuanzhang hurriedly pushed Chen Lin aside. "Got it, got it! These Spanish gunships are seriously powerful. We want to play as Spain, too!"

Zhu Di, standing nearby, chimed in, "I think the Viking longships are pretty good too. They're cheap to build, have decent range, and move fast. They're great for maritime harassment—with just a few ships, you can toy with the enemy fleet, hunt down fishing boats, and even rain fire down on peasants ashore to disrupt the enemy's rear."

Chen Lin couldn't help but look at him with newfound respect. Zhu Di truly lived up to his name; he grasped the characteristics of the Viking longships so quickly. True to his reputation as an emperor forged on horseback, he was totally badass.

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang paused. "You've got a point. Then we'll choose the Vikings!"

However, Zhu Di added, "The downside is that the Vikings don't have paladins, making it hard to counter Spain's gun-cavalry. Their land combat capabilities are a bit lacking."

Zhu Yuanzhang paused once more. "You mean Spain is still stronger overall?"

Zhu Di shook his head. "You can't really say who's stronger or weaker. Every faction has its own traits, and different factions counter each other. It also depends on the map selection."

"Take that island map we just played, for example—it favors the Vikings. For land combat, Spain is definitely stronger."

At this moment, Chen Lin suddenly spoke up. "I think you guys should try the Mongols and the Huns. Those two factions are the most representative and the closest to the situation the Ming Dynasty is currently facing."

"The Huns don't need to build farms to increase their population cap, which saves a batch of wood in the early game. You can upgrade your town center to the Castle Age as fast as possible, using the absolute time difference to produce cavalry and slaughter the enemy's peasants. It's great for rushing."

"The Mongol unique unit, the cavalry archer, boasts high movement speed, fast attack rates, and decent attack power. They're perfect for harassing behind enemy lines or kiting enemy paladins to death while taking minimal losses yourself."

"Oh?"

Zhu Yuanzhang quickly asked, "How do we pick them? Let's try the Mongol faction!"

"Wait a second!!"

Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to have thought of something. "Do you mean the factions in this game are based on real-world countries and powers?"

"If so, what kind of countries are this Spain and these Vikings? Where are they? And what about the Ming? Does the Ming exist in this?"

Chen Lin's lips curled into a smile. It wasn't easy, but they had finally gotten to the point.

He immediately took out a pre-prepared world map and slapped it onto the table.

"Can anyone point out where the Ming is?"

Everyone's eyes lit up. Whatever *Age of Empires* was, it instantly lost its appeal.

Zhu Yuanzhang leaned over the map, feeling around carefully. "To think the Ming only occupies this tiny patch of land... Compared to the map we seized from the Mongol-Yuan palace, the Ming is still lagging far behind..."

Zhu Di pointed to Western Asia and Eastern Europe. "Indeed! At the peak of the Mongol Empire, its territory must have reached all the way out here!"

"So where is Spain, and where are the Vikings?" asked Zhu Shuang, who was relatively quiet.

Everyone looked toward Chen Lin, waiting for an answer.

"Spain should be called 'Folangji' nowadays. Does anyone know of Folangji?"

"I've heard of it!" As expected, it had to be Zhu Di.

"Then do you know where it is?"

Zhu Di shook his head.

Very well, it was time to give these fellows a proper, eye-opening geography lesson.

"Move aside!"

This time, Zhu Yuanzhang was very obedient, showing no dissatisfaction as he yielded his spot.

Chen Lin pulled out a pencil and drew a circle over the Iberian Peninsula. "Right here is Folangji, which is Spain in the game."

"Just this little bit?!" Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di exclaimed in unison.

Chen Lin chuckled. "Small? What if we add these?"

As he spoke, he drew a massive circle encompassing Latin America and South America, even including the Philippines.

Of course, in the fifteenth year of Hongwu, Columbus hadn't even been born yet, let alone any possibility of Spanish colonization in the Americas—to say nothing of the Philippines, currently known as Luzon.

However, his goal was to make these rulers in attendance understand the importance of the oceans. Only then would Zhu Yuanzhang and the others be motivated to drive the Industrial Revolution, allowing him to complete his system quest and collect that ten-billion-yuan reward!

Zhu Yuanzhang stared at the location of Luzon. "You mean this Folangji's sphere of influence has already reached the peripheries of the Ming?"

He then measured distances on the map with his hand. "Across such a vast distance, how did they even get over here?"

Chen Lin chuckled. "That's why the game sets their navy to be so powerful."

"Navies, maritime fleets, ocean voyages..."

Zhu Yuanzhang muttered repeatedly before slamming his hand down heavily on the map. "We understand now. You're intentionally guiding the Ming toward the oceans, aren't you?"

Chen Lin didn't deny it, simply staring straight into Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes. "Well, what do you think?"

Zhu Yuanzhang fell silent for a moment. "We understand your meaning, but given the Ming's current national strength, merely dealing with the remnants of the Mongol-Yuan forces in the northern frontier is already stretching us to our absolute limits. How could we possibly spare the energy to manage the oceans?"

Zhu Biao chimed in, "Quite right. Yunnan has just been pacified, and the grand army hasn't even returned yet. The imperial court's finances are already tilted entirely toward the southwest, resulting in a deficit where expenditures outstrip revenues. We simply have no surplus energy to build ocean-going vessels."

Yet Chen Lin replied, "That's your problem. I am merely stating facts."

"The Mongol-Yuan threat is a threat, but you're just going to ignore the maritime threat right on your doorstep?"

"This~~~"

Father and son were both stunned, but Zhu Di suddenly spoke up, "Then we shall pursue a two-pronged approach!"

"Imperial Father, this son is willing to lead troops out to sea, emulating the Viking longships to harass the Folangji forces stationed in Luzon, thereby buying time for the Ming."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded with satisfaction, but then shook his head. "Fourth Brother's idea is correct, but without ocean-going ships, how do you plan to go out to sea?"

"Not to mention, the islands off the outer coasts of Zhejiang are still infested with remnants of the late Yuan forces. If We hadn't implemented the maritime ban policy and restricted their development, the southeast coast would have been infiltrated by them long ago."

"Therefore, if we want to take to the seas, we must first deal with these individuals."

With that, he looked at Chen Lin. "Do you already have a countermeasure?"

Chen Lin was momentarily taken aback. "What countermeasure could I possibly have? It's nothing more than fighting them."

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed. "You make it sound so simple. How do we fight without ships? Even if we could win, the enemy could simply abandon their islands and flee, escaping to Japan to merge with the Japanese pirates."

"Furthermore, We have received reliable intelligence that many Japanese pirates have already joined those elements among the islands off Zhejiang. If we give them a few more years to develop and grow, they might very well land and harass the Ming's coastal regions."

Chen Lin retorted, "Since you already know about this situation, do you have no response strategy at all?"

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed again. "What response could We possibly have? Without money, we can do nothing. We can only seal off the coast, cutting off trade and communication between coastal fishermen and them to prevent them from continuing to gather living forces and grow stronger."

Chen Lin chuckled. "So that's your isolationist maritime ban policy!"

"Isolationism..."

Zhu Yuanzhang sensed the disdain in Chen Lin's tone.

"Just spit it out. Is there a way to solve this?"