Chapter One Thousand Four Hundred and Thirty Six: The Great Voyage to the West Coast of America, to the west! To the south!
"God bless you! Teacher Chimel, if this trip goes well, I will be able to return to the Shenqi Island Chain in four months, and even return to the Shenqi Island Port at the end of autumn this year. If there is some delay, I will have to wait until next spring and summer.
Back!…”
"Lathander, sail steadily and don't be in a hurry. There are supply points at the island chain ports along the way. The fog is not too heavy right now, so I'm not too worried... But when the wind and waves rise, the fleet must dock in time.
Anchor!”
"Yes! Teacher Chimel! Don't worry! These two Fengshen sea ships are both good ships that can withstand wind and waves! Especially the newly built one is made of large redwoods, which is extremely strong!...I will try to avoid it as much as possible.
In the summer when the fog is at its heaviest, transport two thousand kilograms of gold to the Xihai port, and then bring back the Xihai craftsmen collected by the high priest Zuvalo intact!"
"Okay! May the Lord God bless the kingdom, you and the fleet!"
"Yes! Praise the Lord God!"
At the port of the Great Whale Island of God, Chimel, wearing the chief priest's sacrificial robes and a deerskin cloak, waved goodbye to the two ocean-covering ships. The chief priest of Lathander stood on the bow of the ocean-covering ship, clenched his fists on his chest, and said to
Chimel on the shore bowed his head deeply and saluted. Then, he turned around and looked at the endless West Sea, shouting boldly and loudly.
"The Lord God is watching us! Go west, then west! Go to the Shenqi Island Chain, go to the Ice and Snow Peninsula!..."
“May the Lord God bless you!…”
The kingdom warriors and tribal sailors on the ship all prayed devoutly. Then, the two ocean-covering ships, carrying sixty or seventy kingdom headquarters, enough food to last for three months, and miscellaneous goods, sailed through
The wind and waves are heading west. And the white vertical sails of the three masts are also constantly adjusting, making the ship faster and smaller...
It wasn't until the last shadow of the sail disappeared at the end of the sky that Chimel looked away and took a long breath.
"Sukeichiro!"
"Ah? Master Priest, do you want to ride a horse?..."
"No! Bring a wooden board and place it on the beach. Then bring all the paints! I want to draw a "Sailboat Journey" to record the pious scene of crossing the sea to the west, and then enshrine it in the temple for future generations.
Everyone sees it!…”
"...Yes! Sir."
Soon, wooden drawing boards were placed on the beach. Chimel, dressed in sacrificial robes, used a brush dipped in mineral paint to outline the blue sea, cyan islands, white sails, and the golden sunshine outlined with gold powder.
!
Under this "gold" that heralds the main god, there is a feather-crested priest riding a white horse, which is a circle larger than everyone else. Well, there is no doubt that it is Chimel himself. And on the opposite boat, there is also a feather-crested priest.
The priest, holding a golden scepter, pointed fearlessly to the west. Yes, this is the chief priest of Lathander!
After these two "protagonists" were painted, there was the important samurai captain and leader. Chimel completed the outline of a villain with just a few strokes. And his painting technique was obviously much better than last year, and there was a vague sense of
It smells like "Buddhist murals".
It wasn't until dusk fell that the kingdom's warriors finished painting one by one. Chimer was satisfied and admired the masterpiece "destined to be installed in the temple." Then, he seemed to have thought of something, paused, and looked at the group of sailboat warriors again.
A few more strokes were added to the crowd. When these strokes were finished, it turned out to be a short-haired priest apprentice with a hummingbird emblem engraved on his forehead and a little beard on his chin. And the palm of his left hand surprisingly only had four fingers...
"Haha! Very good! Very good! This ambitious horse has returned to the West Sea Continent and Kazuto Island... What kind of rewards can he bring back to the supreme god? I am looking forward to it very much.
!…”
With a smile on his face, Chimel looked at the "Four-fingered Priest" in the painting for a while. Then he turned around and jumped onto the white Yakut pony, gently pinched the horse's belly, and laughed.
"Sukeichiro! Go and see the horse farm!..."
“June is here, and it’s time for the pregnant mares to give birth to beautiful ponies!…”
"Yes! Sir!..."
Chimel rode away, and the green mountains and forests extended into the distance in the painting. And when the mountains and forests in the painting walked out of the painting panel facing the south, they turned into the continuous mountains in the south, and the endless fields under the mountains.
An old farmer wearing a headscarf, with a happy face, looked at the large fields of corn, soybeans and rice and sighed with satisfaction.
"Tsk tsk! That blind letter... is really not a lie! These soybeans can really fertilize the fields, even better than kidney beans! Look at the corns planted in the fields after two seasons of soybeans. They grow better than anyone else.
Hurry! It’s just a jump!…”
"And what kind of rice... can actually be planted in a paddy field! The rice seedlings in this paddy field do grow better than in dry fields, but I don't know how much more production can be achieved in the future?..."
“It’s beautiful! It’s really beautiful!…”
Chihuaco, an old militiaman, walked around the fields with bare feet. He looked at the soybean-corn field for a while, and then at the contrasting rice and upland rice fields. And the divine priest of a kingdom was...
He took several apprentices with him and also observed the growth of the fields. From time to time, he used charcoal to write drawings on strong bark paper.
Seeing the old militiaman Chihuaco, whether he was a priest or an apprentice, they bowed their heads respectfully and saluted the "old farmer". Chihuaco would rub his hands and return the salute with a smile. Until a hearty voice,
came from outside the field angrily.
"Old Corn! Old Corn! I'm back from the Southern Shipbuilding Company!..."
"...!"
Hearing the shouts of the cedar shaman, Chihuaco's old face instantly fell, and he was not happy at all. He slumped his old face, looked at the cedar shaman who strode closer, and said angrily.
"Old wood, I'm not deaf! Why are you shouting so loudly? Every time I see you, there is no good news..."
"Ah? Haha! Then you guessed wrong. This time I came with a piece of good news, a piece of bad news, and a piece of news that is neither bad nor bad...Which one do you want to hear first?..."
"What? You really brought back bad news?!..."
Chihuaco's fingers trembled and his brows knitted together. He looked at Cedar with a sad face for a while and sighed.
"Old Mumu, you'd better tell me the good news first!"
"Good! God bless you! The good news is that in the Southern Shipbuilding Department, Lao Jin guided the shipwrights day and night to build a new batch of large ships... This time, four vertical-sailed Fengshen ships were successfully launched.
Yes! I also took those boats and went for a spin in Atoyak Lake with Lao Jin..."
"Tsk tsk! That boat is really strong! The sails are so big, and the cabin is also big. It can hold a lot of things! The bottom of the boat is quite deep. One of the boats got stuck in the shoal during the voyage. It took a lot of effort to pull the boat out... The sail is also bigger than the sand boat.
It’s complicated, there are three sails that work together, and I personally operated it for a day!”
The cedar shaman danced and talked about the experience of driving the "Wind God Sea Ship". He was as happy as a child in his fifties or sixties. When he heard that four ocean-going ocean boats were launched, Chihuaco became more and more angry as he listened.
, and finally couldn't help but interrupt.
"Old Mumu, that's it! What's the good news that's not bad or bad?..."
"Oh! The bad news is... the Kingdom's Lithospermum Navy is at war with the Zapotec Navy at the 'Tututepec City' on the Mixtec coast. I heard that
, these Zapotec fleets are blocking our way to explore south... As long as we spend a few more months to defeat them and open up the last section of the coast... we can take a big ship and go south to look for potatoes and priest beans.
The place of origin, what is ‘Lima’!”
"Ah? Only the last section of coast is left? How many months are left before we go to sea?..."
Chihuaco trembled all over, and quickly took out a cloth bag from his arms, shook out two dried thick tobacco, stuffed it into his mouth and chewed it. The Cedar Shaman's eyes lit up, and he also stretched out his hand and asked for help.
,
"Old Corn, you actually have such a good thing?! Come on, give me two sticks to chew!..."
"Phew!...You just said, what is the last bad news? Can it be worse than going to sea in a few months?..."
"Oh! It was Lao Jin who told me the bad news... He said that the exploration of the West Sea seems to be more important. This batch of four Fengshen ships must be handed over to the northern exploration fleet... and our southern exploration fleet will have to wait.
One batch. It is estimated that it will take nine months, March next year, to get the ship, and another month or two of training. Maybe it will be May or June next year before we can set sail south!…"
Speaking of this, the Cedar Shaman looked full of anticipation, twirled the pine scepter in his hand, and shouted excitedly.
"Go south! Go south! Go see the bowl of the sun!…"
"Ah! It will be close to a year before we go south? What bad news... This is obviously great news! One year! I can live happily for another year!..."
Chihuaco's wrinkled old face suddenly opened up, and his smile was as bright as a sunflower. He threw the tobacco bag in his hand into the hands of the cedar shaman and smiled generously.
"Old wood! While there is still one year left, I will ask Priest Mickey for instructions and go back to see my daughter and grandson! ... I will give this bag of tobacco to you! ..."
"Haha! You stupid idiot, learn from me, pour tobacco into your mouth and chew it, and pour so much! How about it, you can't help but burst into tears, right?...I forgot to tell you, this thing is actually
It’s smoked, not chewed. Most people don’t have that ability and can’t chew it!…Haha!…”
