In a primitive and dense jungle, Chen Feng and his expedition team were constantly advancing. The mood of the entire team was very low.
It has been more than 20 days since they left Beijing Town. It is already thousands of miles away from Beijing Town in more than 20 days.
They visited all the rivers and lakes in the surrounding area, and also visited dozens of tribes, large and small, in order to get all kinds of news from these tribes.
In the mouths of these Yin and Shang tribesmen, this is an extremely rich and fertile farmland.
There is a huge primeval forest here with extremely tall trees and countless prey. They never have to worry about going hungry. Even in the cold winter, they can use the furs of animals to keep out the cold.
There is fertile land here, and you only need to sow corn, pumpkin, and pepper seeds to harvest endless food.
The water here is very clear and sweet, and there are streams everywhere with clear bottoms. There are endless fish in the rivers and lakes, and the local brown bears are even fatter and stronger.
In the eyes of the local indigenous people, this place is a carefree paradise. However, in the eyes of Chen Feng and his expedition team, this place is extremely barren.
They explored such a huge area, but still found nothing of value, not even a shadow of two shining things, gold and silver.
After spending more than twenty days outside, sleeping in the open air, freezing weather, and achieving nothing, the team members were naturally in a very bad mood.
"Are we still going to move on?"
"Who knows~"
"The Chinese New Year is coming soon. If I don't go back, I won't be able to catch up with the Chinese New Year."
"Celebrate the New Year? How can you celebrate the New Year if you don't have money?"
"I told you not to come to the West Coast a long time ago, but I just didn't listen and insisted on coming. Now it's better. I don't even know how to celebrate the New Year."
"Say less, the captain is under greater pressure than us."
"Having said that, if we brothers follow him, we can't drink from the northwest wind, right?"
"The captain has always been kind to us. It's common for expeditions to be fruitless. This is a business of not opening for three years and staying open for three years."
"But if we keep going north, we are already far away from Beijing Town. If we keep going like this, when will it end?"
"..."
The complaining voices of the team members reached Chen Feng's ears, which made him frown.
To be honest, he didn't gain anything. He was even more anxious than the team members. The New Year was coming soon. If he didn't bring something back, he really didn't know how he would spend the New Year.
"Everyone, let's take a rest~"
Chen Feng looked at the surroundings. There were virgin forests everywhere. The trees on the Golden Continent were all very tall. The big trees were straight, straight, reaching into the sky.
Rays of sunlight shine through the leaves that are not too dense. Under the big tree are a large number of moss, grass and other plants growing on the thick humus layer.
This strange phenomenon can only appear in the primeval forests here in Northern Golden Continent. There are huge trees, extremely tall, and there are very few small trees underneath them, and they are all grass, moss and other low plants.
Therefore, the entire forest is very refreshing when you look at it. The rays of sunlight are like sharp swords, making the entire forest not look eerie.
After hearing Chen Feng's words, the team members dismounted one after another and began to divide their work.
Some people picked up bows, arrows, and muskets and went hunting, while others lit a fire, set up an iron pot, and started boiling water to make tea.
Others walk around to see if they can find what they have been looking for.
Although everyone is complaining in their hearts, the words of the captain in the expedition team are orders, and everyone must obey them absolutely. These are the rules of the expedition team.
Chen Feng got off his horse, while Chen Qi and Peng Chao immediately set up a table, set up stools, and very skillfully took out a map with many places marked by drawings on it.
"Our current location is probably here. According to the Mohicans, this area is called Quebec."
Chen Feng looked at the map, holding a pen in his hand, and kept calculating. After completing the calculations, he also circled an area on the map.
Being an explorer is not easy. In addition to extraordinary courage, the most important thing is to master the skills and experience required for exploration.
One of the most important ones is mapping technology and the technology of finding directions, identifying southeast, northwest, and calculating your own position. Without this skill, even if you discover a gold or silver mine, it may sometimes be difficult to find that place again.
It is already difficult for a person to remember the way back if he has left a familiar place for dozens of miles. If he has left a place hundreds of miles or thousands of miles away, if you don’t know how to calculate, how to identify the direction, and how to calculate the longitude and latitude
If so, you may not be able to find your way back.
This is just like sailing on the sea. The most important thing is not courage, but sailing technology.
Chen Feng worked on a ship for a period of time before, learned some knowledge from a captain who graduated from a navigation academy, and also studied with other expedition teams and accumulated experience, so he was able to form this expedition team.
.
"Brother Chen, do we want to continue going north?"
Peng Chao looked at the map. He couldn't understand what was scrawled on it at all. He only knew that Chen Feng would scribble on it every day.
"No, we are already thousands of miles away from the northern border, and the Chinese New Year will be here soon."
"No matter what, I won't let you celebrate the New Year outside. If you have money or not, just go home and celebrate the New Year."
Chen Feng shook his head slightly. He had already decided to return to Beijing Town in the next few days, and then return to Penglai City from the North to celebrate the New Year.
The members of his expedition team basically settled here in Penglai City. They came to the North just for exploration, and their homes were not here in the North.
"Haha, great, I'm finally going home~"
Hearing Chen Feng's words, the team members couldn't help laughing happily.
To be honest, they were all homesick. It was too hard to explore outside this winter.
It's freezing cold, it's freezing, and we can't eat or sleep well. At this moment, everyone is particularly homesick, with wives and children on the hot bed. Isn't this a wonderful life?
Hearing the calls of the team members, Chen Feng smiled slightly, then frowned again.
"This year's work has been in vain. Not only did I not make any money, but I also had to pay back money."
"After I go back, I will definitely give everyone some money to celebrate the New Year. I will spend all my money."
Chen Feng shook his head helplessly.
The expedition team to Golden Continent originated from the fleet sent to Golden Continent by Daming Ocean Trading Company. The first batch of expedition team members were basically the crew members of the fleet.
They first brought their tribesmen, fellow villagers, relatives and friends to look for gold, silver, and all kinds of valuable things in Golden Continent.
Many people became rich overnight, which also made exploration popular in this vast and ancient land.
The interests involved in the expedition were very huge, so from the very beginning, everyone followed the rules set by the Ming Ocean Trading House.
An expedition team generally has two models in terms of profit distribution. One is a pure cooperation model. All expedition members, captains, deputy captains, etc., are like partners in business. They jointly contribute money, efforts, and benefit sharing.
Risk sharing.
Another model is the employment plus benefit sharing model, which is also becoming more and more popular now.
Generally, this model is that the leader or several main team members raise funds and materials, and then recruit people to form an expedition team. The income of the expedition team mainly belongs to the leader or several main team members, and other expedition team members mainly receive salary plus bonuses.
Share dividends to obtain corresponding rewards.
Most expedition teams will promise to share about 20% of the proceeds with their team members to motivate the team members. This is also a rule passed down by the Ming Ocean Trading Company.
Such a rule solves the problem of interest distribution very well, and the issue of interest distribution is often the most important issue. Since ancient times, there have been too many teams that have fallen apart due to uneven distribution of interests.
During overseas voyages and adventures, the distribution of profits is very important. The distribution model of Daming Ocean Trading Company has been widely recognized. This is also the reason why Daming Ocean Trading Company has become the best in the world.
Chen Feng's expedition team adopted the second model. Chen Feng alone acknowledged the main expenses of the expedition. Chen Feng accounted for the majority of the income, while other members of the expedition team accounted for the smaller share.
When there is nothing to gain, Chen Feng always relies on Chen Feng to pay everyone's salary, bonuses, etc., which is why Chen Feng is so sad.
His own family wealth is not strong, unlike those big businessmen and large trading houses who have endless money to spend. This little wealth of his own has been saved with great difficulty in the past few years.
This year I have been working in vain for a year without any income, but the expedition team's salary, bonuses, etc. are still indispensable. In one fell swoop, my entire family fortune was wiped out.
"Oh, let's go explore the west coast next year."
"This east coast is suitable for farming and growing food, but it is not suitable for adventurers like us at all."
Chen Feng looked at the virgin forest in front of him, shook his head helplessly, and was making plans for next year in his heart.
The team members were cheering and preparing to return to Beijing Town and go home to celebrate the New Year. However, Chen Feng was alone, worried and relaxing nearby for some quiet time.
"Oh~"
Because he was worried, Chen Feng accidentally slipped to the ground when he was walking. When he fell to the ground, Chen Feng habitually grabbed the plant next to him, and without realizing it, he grabbed something.
