Chapter Summaries

Shipwright Kim Seon-su explained the Zheyang Ship’s Yingzao Fashi to Scholar Miki, who learned how its keel set the proportions for the hull, masts, sails, and watertight compartments. Miki offered Kim a path to noble status if he built larger ships, and Kim proposed scaling the design up to a 1,600-Liao vessel.

• Kim Seon-su described how shipwrights used the keel as a ruler to calculate a Zheyang Ship’s dimensions and proportions.
• Kim explained the ship’s masts, sails, deep V-shaped hull, and watertight bulkheads to Scholar Miki, who recognized the design’s advantages over the Kingdom’s longships.
• Kim told Miki that the Yingzao Fashi could be scaled to build ships far larger than the 200-Liao Zheyang Ship.
• Miki promised to seek support from the Kingdom’s southern Shipbuilding Department and offered Kim promotion and noble status for building a fast or larger seagoing ship.
• Kim eagerly accepted Miki’s offer and argued that the Kingdom’s huge cedar timbers could be used to build a ship of up to 1,600 Liao.

Scholar Miki learned from Shipwright Kim Seon-su how enormous Ming’s five-thousand-Liao Fengzhou ships were and how their construction secrets could not be copied. He then decided to ask Talaya to turn the Kingdom’s Snow Wolf King into a two-thousand-Liao Zheyang Ship, using its enormous sacred-tree keel.

• Shipwright Kim Seon-su described the size and carrying capacity of a sixteen-hundred-Liao Zheyang Ship and a five-thousand-Liao Fengzhou to Scholar Miki.
• Kim recounted the Fengzhou’s dimensions, nine masts, and twenty-four adjustable sails, explaining that its secret construction methods and drawings were unavailable to other shipwrights.
• Scholar Miki marveled at the Fengzhou’s potential to carry the Eye of the Gods hot-air balloon and help spread their faith among coastal tribes.
• Kim explained that Great Ming’s shipbuilding knowledge could not be replicated without its internal designs, and Watanabe reacted awkwardly to the account of Ming’s hostility toward Japanese visitors.
• Scholar Miki resolved to ask Talaya to hand over the Snow Wolf King so Kim and the Kingdom’s craftsmen could rebuild it as a two-thousand-Liao Zheyang Ship, using its forty-pace sacred Spruce keel.

Scholar Miki explained the immense distances of the return voyage to Shipwright Kim and the other captives, who were stunned by how far they had traveled and how much farther they had to go. The ship was nearing God Earth Port, and Miki expected the journey to the kingdom’s Southern Long River to take just over four more months.

• Shipwright Kim doubted that a giant spruce could serve as a ship’s keel and feared wasting such a sacred tree, so he proposed practicing with ordinary timber on a smaller ship.
• Scholar Miki described the kingdom’s southern shipyard, which employed two thousand laborers and several hundred craftsmen and apprentices.
• Shipwright Kim asked how far the kingdom and its shipyard lay, explaining that the crew had grown frightened after weeks at sea without seeing proper settlements.
• Scholar Miki mapped out the return route through the Divine Revelation Island Chain, the Far North Coast, the West Coast, and the western bay coast, totaling about twenty-one thousand li.
• Scholar Miki said the ship had already covered a quarter of the route in just over a month and would reach the kingdom’s Southern Long River after three more stretches of travel.
• The Kingdom Warriors praised the Main God and looked forward to reaching God Earth Port, where Miki promised a celebratory banquet.

The chapter outlined a four-leg North Pacific sea route from Mesoamerica to the Kamchatka Peninsula, listing ports, peoples, currents, and climates along the way. It ended by noting the route’s difficult seasonal conditions and thanking readers for their support.

• The chapter described the West Bay Route from Trout Town to North Birdstone Village and noted the region’s climate and guano production.
• It traced the West Coast Route from North Birdstone Village to Whale Port, listing coastal ports and local peoples.
• It mapped the Far North Coast Route from Whale Port to God Earth Port through Alaska and described its current and subarctic climate.
• It outlined the Divine Revelation Island Chain route from God Earth Port to Divine Twin Smoke Port and noted its complex currents and sea conditions.
• The chapter stated that the full coastal voyage exceeded twenty thousand li and explained that the northern legs were suitable for sailing only in summer and autumn.
• The author thanked readers and noted that the fourth leg had appeared in the previous chapter’s bonus chapter.

As the Zheyang Ship reached Alaska, its crew prayed before Shishaldin Volcano, while Watanabe Masumi grieved at the thought of never returning home. Scholar Miki comforted him by promising the captives a chance to gather gold at a mountain near Divine Gold Creek Port.

• The Zheyang Ship arrived off Alaska in summer, and its crew saw the abundant wildlife and Shishaldin Volcano.
• The Rubber People, Korean craftsmen, and Japanese captives prayed toward the mountain, while Watanabe Masumi remembered Mount Fuji and mourned his uncertain journey far from home.
• Scholar Miki noticed Watanabe’s tears and heard him explain how astonishing and distant the voyage had become.
• Miki told Watanabe that the Kingdom had many Gold Mountains and promised the craftsmen and sailors a day to gather whatever gold they could carry at Divine Gold Creek Port.
• Miki urged Watanabe to spread the news and encourage everyone to sail faster toward the promised Gold Mountain.

Sailmaker Park Sun-pan and Translator Watanabe marveled at the changing winds as their ship crossed the Alaska waters toward Kamikuni. Scholar Miki discovered that their twenty-four-direction compass pointed north, and the travelers were astonished that the Rubber People had never seen one.

• Park Sun-pan noticed the wind repeatedly changing direction and wondered what lay far to the south.
• Watanabe Masumi imagined that the Rubber People might be connected to the Jiaoren of Eastern Sea legend.
• Miki joined Watanabe and Park as Park explained that the shifting wind could help the ship sail faster.
• Miki examined Park's disk and learned that it was a twenty-four-direction Water Compass.
• Miki and Watanabe were shocked to learn that the Rubber People had sailed ten thousand li without a compass.

Sailmaker Park Sun-pan explained the ship’s navigation and speed to Scholar Miki as the Zheyang Ship sailed east along the Far North Coast toward Whale Port. Miki anticipated reaching the West Coast, but horse keeper Sukeichiro arrived in panic to report trouble with the Jurchen Horse.

• Sailmaker Park Sun-pan showed Scholar Miki the compass, sundial, and method of recording a ship’s course, time, and speed.
• Park Sun-pan explained that the Zheyang Ship could travel more than two hundred li a day with the southwest wind and even faster with a following west wind.
• Scholar Miki calculated that the ship could reach Whale Port in early-to-mid August and hoped to meet the Kingdom’s support fleet there.
• Horse keeper Sukeichiro rushed onto the deck, knelt before Scholar Miki, and announced that something had happened to the Jurchen Horse.

Scholar Miki ordered the Zheyang Ship ashore to save the Jurchen stallion Big White, which Sukeichiro believed was suffering from stopped intestines. On the coast, the familiar grassland calmed Big White, and after walking with Sukeichiro, it finally passed dung.

• Sukeichiro told Scholar Miki that Big White had stopped eating and passing dung and was growing weak.
• Sukeichiro diagnosed Big White with stopped intestines and said it needed to walk on land so its bowels could move.
• Scholar Miki ordered Shijian to turn the Zheyang Ship north and land so they could save the horse.
• Sukeichiro led Big White slowly across the coastal grassland while the others watched from a distance.
• Big White finally passed dung, and Sukeichiro cried out with joy.

Scholar Miki realized the three horses could not withstand the long voyage and decided to establish a horse-raising site on Great Whale Island. He assigned Sukeichiro to stay at Great Whale Port and care for them.

• Sukeichiro explained to Scholar Miki that Big White had grown ill and distressed after a month at sea, and that the horses needed several months ashore to recover.
• Sukeichiro described the horses’ condition and confirmed that the island’s cool climate, grass, water, and soil suited them.
• Scholar Miki chose Great Whale Island as a dedicated place to raise horses because it was nearby, cool, and free of dangerous predators.
• Scholar Miki ordered Sukeichiro to settle at Great Whale Port, care for the horses, and train apprentices, promising him support and rewards.

At Divine Whale Port, Translator Watanabe Masumi and Otani Kengo listened to whale songs and ate potatoes the Rubber People called rice fruits. Watanabe learned that the cold-resistant crop grew in the northern fields and decided to inspect it, seeing its potential for Ezo Land.

• Humpback Whales near Great Whale Island answered the distant songs of another pod across the sea.
• Watanabe Masumi watched the whales and examined the rough camp at Divine Whale Port, marveling at the Rubber People’s way of life.
• Otani Kengo served Watanabe roasted rice fruits and fish soup, explaining that he had traded a forged iron dagger for the potatoes.
• Watanabe learned that the Rubber People grew rice fruits in fields by the river despite the cold northern climate.
• Otani pointed out Lord Priest Miki in the field, and Watanabe planned to visit after the fish soup was ready.

Scholar Miki discussed the opportunities facing Shenwei University priests with Priest Shi Bo and assigned Great Whale Island the kingdom’s first horse-breeding ground. The chapter left Shi Bo responsible for raising the three horses brought from the western sea and preparing for the breeding operation to expand.

• Priest Shi Bo praised Miki’s explorations and suggested he deserved a place on the Royal Capital’s Priest Elder council, while Miki warned him not to speak carelessly about royal favor and fate.
• Shi Bo explained that Shenwei University produced more priests than the kingdom had positions for, pushing graduates of ordinary backgrounds toward northern and coastal exploration.
• Miki said trade with the western sea tribes could bring valuable crafts, crops, and animals, while gold from the kingdom could secure lasting benefits for the route’s ports.
• Miki told Shi Bo that Great Whale Island would become the Lake Kingdom’s first horse-breeding ground and that the three horses could not continue the voyage.
• Miki instructed Shi Bo to support Ichiro, the Wa horse keeper, arrange for him to settle on the island, and recruit apprentices to learn horse breeding.

Scholar Miki visited Great Whale Island and heard Missionary Priest Shi Bo describe the port’s growth, the island’s Sugpiaq tribes, and the limits of its food supply. Shi Bo asked for more ships and firewood so he could bring the island’s tribes under the kingdom’s control and develop it into a horse-raising territory.

• Miki and Shi Bo discussed how the Shenwei University priestly branch could build influence by managing northern ports and sea routes.
• Shi Bo reported that Great Whale Port had grown from about ninety people to more than 270 through trade, marriage alliances, and missionary work.
• Shi Bo estimated that fewer than two thousand Sugpiaq lived across Great Whale Island and explained that the port’s resources and survival through winter had drawn local tribes to the Main God.
• Shi Bo said the port’s fishing and potato fields could support nearly 300 people at most, and warned that taking in more tribes without extra supplies risked winter deaths.
• Shi Bo asked Miki for two more Longships and two annual shiploads of Fire Stone so he could subdue the island’s tribes and make Great Whale Island a secure horse-raising territory.

Scholar Miki discussed Great Whale Island’s future and the powerful Sugpiaq tribes of Long Bay with Priest Shi Bo, then prepared to sail onward to Divine Blood Bay Port. Samurai Ootani and Watanabe admired the potato crop and wondered whether its cold-resistant roots could someday reach Ezo Land.

• Scholar Miki agreed to consider Priest Shi Bo for more support after meeting the third batch of ships and asked about the tribes of Long Bay.
• Priest Shi Bo described the Long Bay tribes, especially the powerful Dena'ina tribe and its Denali God Mountain Shaman, and said they were friendly as long as outsiders respected their hunting and fishing grounds.
• Scholar Miki ordered Shi Bo to prepare provisions for thirty people and said the ship would rest for three days before sailing to Divine Blood Bay Port.
• Ootani and Watanabe examined the potato plants, praised their edible roots, and hoped the crop might one day reach Ezo Land.

Scholar Miki sailed east from Great Whale Port after giving Sukeichiro gold and entrusting him with raising horses on the island. Assistant Priest Shi Bo appointed Sukeichiro his Priest Apprentice and arranged a Sugpiaq wife for him, while the horse herd began settling in.

• Murakami Suemichi gave Sukeichiro his gold amulet as they prepared to part, and Scholar Miki rewarded Sukeichiro with two more while reminding him to raise horses.
• Scholar Miki instructed Murakami Suemichi to praise Huitzilopochtli and gave him another gold amulet, prompting Murakami to consider the Main God's path.
• Scholar Miki and the crew boarded the Zheyang Ship and sailed east, leaving Sukeichiro on the island with the horse herd and the Rubber People tribes.
• Assistant Priest Shi Bo made Sukeichiro his Priest Apprentice and the Kingdom's horse-raising Assistant Priest, then arranged for him to marry a strong Sugpiaq woman.
• After the ship departed, the Jurchen Stallion mated with a mare, and the herd began settling down on the island.

Scholar Miki questioned Priest Wei Bao about the tribes and resources around Divine Blood Bay Port, then decided to reinforce the settlement and prepare it to receive captive Reindeer-herding tribes. He left Wei Bao with orders to expand farming and gather more tribes along Blood River, while looking toward the eventual expansion into Long Bay.

• Wei Bao told Miki that Long Bay Great Tribe fishers had traded with his crew, and Miki agreed they were friendly beyond their ancestral territory but could become rivals if the kingdom expanded into Long Bay.
• Wei Bao reported that the port had gathered four or five Eyak tribes, about two hundred and forty people, and one hundred and eighty mu of potato fields; Miki ordered him to expand the fields after the harvest.
• Wei Bao described the Ahtna People upstream along Blood River as fierce, mobile hunters who could be approached with salt and metal tools, and Miki recorded what he learned.
• Miki asked about deer and told Wei Bao that Zuwaro's letter described captive Reindeer-herding tribes being brought back from the West Sea.
• Miki chose Divine Blood Bay Port as the settlement for the incoming tribes and promised more weapons, armor, and Samurai, ordering Wei Bao to subdue tribes and recruit able-bodied men along Blood River.

Scholar Miki and White Bear Gao Wa sailed through the Divine Revelation Island Chain toward Gold Creek Port as Miki recorded plans for seasonal sea routes and explained how local tribes made maple syrup. The ship reached the bay beneath the snowy mountains, where Miki identified the distant harbor and its promised gold-bearing creek.

• The sailors tracked a favorable eastward wind and steered the Zheyang Ship into a bay among the islands, believing Gold Creek Port lay ahead.
• Scholar Miki recorded a seasonal schedule for the Far North Coast route and proposed fore-and-aft-sailed fleets and expanded storage at God Earth Port.
• Gao Wa ate maple syrup while Miki explained how coastal tribes collected Sugar Maple sap and froze it into syrup and sugar.
• Miki and Gao Wa saw Sugar Maple trees on the islands, and Gao Wa carefully saved the remaining syrup after learning how laborious it was to make.
• Miki spotted Divine Gold Creek Port beneath the snowy mountains and declared that the streams there flowed over a gold-bearing lode.

High Priest Miki brought captives to Divine Gold Creek Port, where the abundant gold amazed them and strengthened their faith in Huitzilopochtli. Priest Marigold reported that the Juneau gold belt stretched across the island and surrounding coasts, leaving Miki to consider the scale of the discovery.

• Ship Magistrate Murakami Suemichi and Translator Watanabe Masumi gaped at the golden landscape and the altar piled with gold sand, then joined the captives in praying to Huitzilopochtli.
• Scholar Miki promised the captives they could keep any gold they panned or dug during the two-day stop at Divine Gold Creek Port, and the artisans rushed to the creek.
• Priest Marigold learned that Zuwaro had brought back captives skilled in shipbuilding and other trades, and Miki said he would send them to build fast lateen-sailed ships for the Kingdom.
• Miki explained that letting the captives pan for gold would encourage their faith and make them eager to work for the Kingdom.
• Priest Marigold reported that the island’s gold deposits extended at least thirty or forty meters deep and that seven or eight more mineral mountains lay within fifty li of the surrounding coasts.

High Priest Miki saw the immense gold deposits at Divine Gold Creek Port and considered how the gold could attract workers and supplies from across the sea. The Zheyang Sea Ship departed for Divine Eagle Wing Port, while its Wagoku and Joseon captives left obsessed with the gold they had seen.

• Priest Marigold told High Priest Miki that the small port had mined only about three hundred jin of gold because mining required more laborers than the settlement possessed.
• High Priest Miki realized that gold had little local value but could be traded with powerful Western Sea Tribes for goods, craftsmen, and manpower.
• Priest Marigold explained that Divine Gold Creek Port lacked farmland and depended on fishing, so Miki concluded that expanding the settlement required more boats.
• The Zheyang Sea Ship replenished food and water, then sailed toward Divine Eagle Wing Port as several captives hid their gold sand or imagined ways to mine more efficiently.
• Ship Magistrate Murakami and Watanabe brooded over the gold mountain and its potential value to Wagoku and Great Ming.

Scholar Miki and the Zheyang Sea Ship traveled south along the Far North Coast, visiting Kingdom ports and tribes that had embraced the Main God and potato farming. They reached Whale Port, where twelve armed whaling longships waited in the strait, and Miki’s ship arrived alongside a curious blue whale.

• The Zheyang Sea Ship reached Divine Eagle Wing Port, where High Priest Miki spoke with Matzatli about the port’s tribes and his marriage alliance with Great Chieftain Qin Ying’s family.
• Miki visited the Eagle Island Tribe, whose people welcomed the ship and praised the potatoes they had begun growing with the Kingdom’s help.
• At Divine Shellfish Port, Priest Changyu reported that the port had opened seven hundred mu of potato fields and that the third support fleet had reached West Mountain Port.
• Miki learned the support fleet might be near North Port and set out for Whale Port after two days of feasting.
• Six days later, the Zheyang Sea Ship entered the Whale Port strait beside a curious blue whale and encountered twelve armed whaling longships.

Scholar Miki returned from the Far North Coast aboard a Western Sea sailing ship and met Priest Zu Yu as the kingdom’s fleet hunted a giant whale near Whale Port. After learning of his promotion and continued role in northern development, Miki watched the fleet kill the whale in the shallow bay.

• Twelve Longships and dozens of Canoes surrounded a giant blue whale, entangling it with nets and ropes while warriors wounded it with spears.
• Scholar Miki arrived aboard the Zheyang Sea Ship, and Priest Zu Yu welcomed him and explained that the third support fleet was replenishing food by hunting whales.
• Priest Zu Yu told Miki that High Priest Chimer had brought a decree promoting Miki and Zuwaro to rank-four Chief Priests and assigning them to continue leading northern development.
• The whale broke through the nets and fled north, so the Longships fired Hudun Small Cannons and pursued it into the shallow tidal flats.
• The whale surfaced and turned in the shallows, where six or seven Longships rammed it with their bronze prows and killed it.