Li Er and Su Chen didn't agree with each other, and they started to stare at each other.
Seeing this, Fang Xuanling hurriedly came up to smooth things over:
"Ahem, Lord Protector, I hear what you mean. Do you want to ask His Majesty to ask for a navy to go to eat by sea?"
The emperors and ministers of the Tang Dynasty still knew that Persia, Dashi and other places could be reached by sea and land.
Su Chen nodded and said, "That's indeed the plan."
Although they don't know what Su Chen is doing, everyone finally believes that he is really planning to go for a big meal.
Changsun Wuji looked at Su Chen very puzzled:
"But I heard that the sea is rough and dangerous, with frequent hurricanes, dragons sucking water, and countless pirates. Can we really arrive safely?"
Wei Zheng also asked: "If the sea route could be reached safely, why did the Persian caravans still use camels to carry goods and go back and forth on the Silk Road with great hardships?
Persia is also close to the sea, right?”
Su Chen smiled and said: "The reason why the Persian caravans had to go through all the troubles along the Silk Road was because their shipbuilding technology was not up to standard and they did not have ships that could withstand the wind and waves at sea."
Li Er snorted coldly: "Is your boat enough?"
"Of course, Your Majesty, you know that Wei Chen's ships have traveled between Japan and the Tang Dynasty many times."
"The Japanese country is only a little far away, can it compare with Dashi?"
Li Er said, drawing on the map with his finger: "See for yourself how far it is. It is several times further than walking on the Silk Road."
Su Chen looked at the route drawn by Li Er and whispered:
"That, Your Majesty, is actually farther than what you drew."
As he spoke, Su Chen picked up the pen and added on the simple map:
"Your Majesty, the Indochina Peninsula is long and you have to cross the strait to cross it. There is also the Tianzhu Peninsula."
"There is a big island opposite Tianzhu Peninsula. It seems to be called Lion Country. It is a good supply point."
"Further northwest, we reach the Persian Gulf, and to the west is the Dashi Peninsula."
Su Chen briefly explained the navigation route from Guangzhou to the Persian Gulf to Li Er and several ministers.
Everyone shook their heads after hearing this, and Li Er asked seriously: "Are you sure your ship can arrive?"
"it should be OK!"
"Your Majesty, Wei Chen's second batch of ships at Yangzhou Shipyard is about to be completed. This batch of ships is much larger and much stronger than the previous ships that traveled to and from Japan."
Li Er was stunned: "Bigger than what I saw last time?
Let me take a look when it's done."
"If your Majesty wants to see this, you need to go to Yangzhou. The new ship is too big to enter the canal!"
Everyone stared after hearing this: "What?
The Grand Canal is so wide that it can’t be walked down, so how big must the boat be?”
Su Chen said helplessly: "The width is not a problem, the main reason is that the canal is too shallow!"
Li Er sighed: "When I have time next year, I will go to Yangzhou to see how big the ship you built is."
"How sure are you that your ship will reach Dashi?
How long does it take?"
Listening to his tone, Li Er was about to relax.
Su Chen said seriously: "There will definitely be ship losses along the way, but there is at least a 70-80% certainty that the fleet will arrive."
"As for the time it takes, it's hard to say. After all, the first voyage is estimated to take two to four months."
Su Chenxin said: His ships are much better than Magellan's ships that sailed around the world, and they are also much larger than his fleet. Maybe the experience of the sailors is slightly less than that of Magellan's fleet, but it should be no problem to reach the Red Sea along the coastline.
question.
Everyone was surprised when they heard Su Chen's answer: "Shorter than taking the land route?
Look at this route, it’s several times farther than the land route.”
Su Chen said helplessly: "This is already slow enough. If a mature route is opened and detailed charts are provided, it can be reached in more than a month."
"More than a month?
It's so far away, how fast is your boat?"
No one believed it at all!
Su Chen asked: "Do you know how long it takes to go from Yangzhou to Japan?"
Everyone glared at him, "Those are your ships, how could we know."
"If things go smoothly, it will only take three or four days."
As soon as Su Chen finished speaking, Changsun Wuji was the first to not believe it: "It's impossible!"
"I have met Japanese people. They said that from Japan to the Tang Dynasty, it takes more than a month to wander on the vast sea!"
Su Chen smiled: "That was in the past. The small sampans of the Japanese country did not dare to sail directly across the sea. They first went to Baekje, and then circled along the coastline. After arriving at the Liaodong Peninsula, they crossed the Wuhu Sea.
(Bohai Strait) arrives at Laizhou.”
"It will certainly take more than a month to make such a big circle."
"Now the big ship sets out from Yangzhou and goes directly eastward across the ocean. It takes five or six days at the earliest and reaches the Japanese island of Kyushu in three or four days at the fastest."
There was silence in the hall for a while. After a long time, Wei Zhengcai sighed: "I didn't expect that today's shipbuilding and navigation methods are so sophisticated."
Changsun Wuji looked at Li Er and asked with his eyes: Your Majesty, do you know about this?
Li Er glared at him: I have so many things to do, how can I have time to care about how fast the boat can run?
"It turns out that I am ignorant and ignorant!"
Fang Xuanling said leisurely: "So, if the big ship can reach Persia directly, won't the Silk Road be depressed in the future?"
Su Chen said with a smile: "The Prime Minister really has a clear eye. I want to go to a big restaurant because I want to take the opportunity to open the Maritime Silk Road."
"Maritime Silk Road?"
Everyone's eyes lit up.
"Yes, on the Silk Road in the northwest, the carrying capacity of camels is too weak, and it is no longer able to meet the needs of the Tang Dynasty."
"As for the current fleet that travels to and from Japan, the transport capacity of any single ship exceeds that of a caravan of hundreds of camels, let alone larger ships in the future."
"Opening up trade routes on the sea is very important to the future of our Datang."
Li Er and a group of ministers were lost in thought:
Everyone is well aware of the advantages of water transportation compared with land transportation, otherwise all dynasties would not have risked their lives to dig canals!
In the past, people didn’t pay attention to shipping because of poor shipbuilding and navigation skills. But now that Su Chen said it, we must pay attention to shipping. It is much better than river transportation!
After a long while, Li Er said in a deep voice: "The Capital Water Supervisor reported that there are many fewer merchant ships on the canal this year than in previous years. Is it related to your fleet?"
Su Chen was stunned. Li Er's thinking was so fast that he was suddenly involved in a canal merchant ship.
"Your Majesty, this matter has something to do with Wei Chen's fleet, but it is not the main reason."
Su Chen explained: "Your Majesty, don't you look at how many tax checkpoints there are along the canal, and then look at who controls these checkpoints."
"Nowadays, most merchants are unwilling to use the canal even if they take more risks by shipping."
"Private shipbuilding technology is also slowly improving. If your canal is not improved, it will probably be abandoned soon."
Li Er kept a dark face and said nothing!
He knew that corrupt officials and local powerful people controlled the canal, but it was very difficult to rectify it.
