In the cold winter of October, heavy snow fell here in the capital, the cold wind howled and the snowflakes fluttered.
Liu Jin skipped work again and didn't even bother to order. This was not the first time Liu Jin had skipped work. The Hanlin Academy had long been accustomed to Liu Jin skipping work.
The other Hanlin officials were working diligently on editing and compiling books, but Liu Jin was a very busy man. He spent three days fishing and two days drying nets. It was rare to see Liu Jin going to the Hanlin Academy.
Of course, Liu Jin could find a valid reason every time. Liu Jin and the prince were close, so he could just find an excuse. No one really said that they would have trouble with Liu Jin because of this matter.
Everyone knows that Liu Jin has a bright future. He is the number one scholar. He only needs to stay in the Hanlin Academy for a year or two before he can be promoted. After a few more years of hard work, he can become an important minister in the court.
Emperor Hongzhi liked Liu Jin very much, and Liu Jin got close to the prince. It can be said that the future is bright.
It's nothing to skip work. Liu Jin didn't go there, but someone took care of it for Liu Jin every day.
"Twelve years of Hongzhi have passed, and it has been more than three years since I traveled through time."
Looking at the heavy snow outside the window, Liu Jin couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
In the past few years, Liu Jin has indeed done a lot of things, including coal and glass, building ports, fishing, doing business at sea, opening a maritime academy, building shipyards, and also established Miyun Iron Works and
The First Bank of Ming Dynasty...
It’s not unknown, but in just a few years, so many things have been done.
The trajectory of history has also undergone tremendous changes because of Liu Jin, the winged butterfly.
The twelfth year of Hongzhi's reign was a very exciting year in history. Among other things, the imperial examination questions alone caused a huge change in Tang Bohu's life trajectory.
There is also Wang Shouren. In the twelfth year of Hongzhi's history, his score was seventh in the second class. This time, he was second in the first class. He entered the Hanlin Academy. Naturally, he was very different from seventh in the second class.
Historically, the little prince who was in the twelfth year of Hongzhi still went south to plunder, and Emperor Hongzhi still had nothing to do with him, but now the army led by the little prince was completely destroyed.
The grassland this winter was extremely cold, because all the little prince's army was defeated by the Ming Dynasty, and none of the 120,000 troops escaped. Great changes took place on the grassland, bloody storms, and each tribe suffered heavy losses. The Wala in the west was ready to move, intending to unify the entire grassland.
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History has undergone tremendous changes, and it has become increasingly deviated from its original trajectory.
Liu Jin didn't know whether this was good or bad.
"Yes, the fleet heading to Golden Continent has been out for more than a year. It stands to reason that it should be back soon."
Soon, Liu Jin thought of the fleet heading to Golden Continent.
The fleet set off from Tianjin on the first day of June in the 11th year of Hongzhi. It is already October 12th in the 12th year of Hongzhi, so it has been more than a year.
"It stands to reason that he should be back. Could it be that something happened at sea?"
"If something goes wrong with my preparations and I can't successfully reach America and then return, it's really hard to imagine how the Europeans could carry out the great voyage."
Then Liu Jin frowned, he was full of confidence in the fleet heading to Golden Continent.
Liu Jin used golden fingers to create the most accurate map of this era, coupled with the sextant, the most advanced ships and a lot of navigation knowledge and concepts. If even this fails, then Liu Jin really has no choice.
Enough to say.
"There are still too many uncertain factors in navigation in this era. I hope they can come back safely."
Liu Jin thought for a while and couldn't help but pray silently in his heart.
The fleet heading to the Golden Continent is really important. Not only are the high-yielding crops on the Golden Continent very important to the Ming Dynasty, but many things about the Golden Continent were first announced by Liu Jin.
If the fleet does not return from Golden Continent, it will be a huge blow to Liu Jin's reputation.
In addition, the gold, vast and fertile land on the Golden Continent is the most ideal place for overseas colonization in the future. This is a place that the Ming Dynasty must not miss.
Therefore, it is really important whether this fleet can return smoothly from Golden Continent.
It can be said that only success is allowed and failure is not allowed.
While Liu Jin was praying silently, in a sea area of the Yellow Sea, ten large fortune ships lined up in a line and sailed eagerly on the sea, heading towards the Tianjin route.
On the deck of the Taishan, Du Mingen couldn't help but want to open his hands and shout to the sea.
"We are back~ Finally we are back~"
Du Mingen couldn't help shouting in his heart.
At this time, Du Mingen had a slovenly beard, and his clothes were in tatters. More importantly, he was tanned and his skin was cracked. He had been on the sea for a long time, exposed to wind and sun, and the conditions on the ship were very difficult.
Naturally, the whole person has undergone tremendous changes.
The first part of the journey to Golden Continent was very smooth. In January of the twelfth year of Hongzhi, they arrived at Golden Continent smoothly. They quickly and easily found the large treasury and the concentrated high-yielding crops that Emperor Hongzhi needed.
, even the peppers, peanuts, tomatoes, rubber trees, and cinchona trees that Liu Jin told us were collected very smoothly.
After traveling south along the west coast of Golden Continent, Du Mingen's fleet arrived in Central America. Here, Du Mingen and others finally understood what it means to have gold everywhere.
A country in Central America that is descended from the Shang Dynasty really used gold to build houses. They easily exchanged some silk, glass and other things brought by the Ming Dynasty for such stifling gold that they filled ten big fortune ships.
of.
After arriving in Central America, based on the map provided by Liu Jin, Du Mingen and others chose to cross the Pacific and return to the Ming Dynasty along the North Equatorial Warm Current through Hawaii in later generations.
Du Mingen and others decided to take this route because this route is the nearest route. If they want to return along the original route, it will take a very long time. Moreover, when returning through the White Collar Strait, the danger is very high, especially
In winter, there are a lot of ice floes, making it extremely unsafe.
The second is that through sailing during this period, they have enough confidence in their navigation skills, can clearly know their position in the sea, and are very confident in crossing the Pacific Ocean.
However, precisely because they decided to cross the Pacific, Du Mingen and others suffered a lot when they returned.
Although the route across the Pacific is the closest route, and because of the warm north equatorial current, the ship can travel faster when returning, which can indeed save time.
But the Pacific Ocean is too vast, and in the middle of this route, the only place where fresh water, vegetables, fruits, etc. can be replenished is here in the Hawaiian Islands.
Therefore, the technical requirements for navigation are very high. They can accurately calculate their position and ensure that there will be no errors in the route. In addition, the requirements for the materials on the ship, the status of the personnel, etc. are very fast.
If you return along the original route, there are coastlines along the way, and you can stop on land at any time to replenish fresh water, etc. Relatively speaking, the pressure will be smaller.
Because they were very confident, and because the trip to Golden Continent went so smoothly, Du Mingen and others were eager to return home, so all the crew members almost unanimously decided to cross the Pacific and return to Daming as soon as possible.
They all couldn't help but want to return to the Ming Dynasty as soon as possible, telling the entire Ming Dynasty about their sailing experience in the sea, and at the same time showing everyone their harvest from the Golden Continent, showing a box of golden gold in their cabin.
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Logically speaking, crossing the Pacific Ocean would not be a problem. As long as the materials were well prepared, crossing the Pacific Ocean was feasible because they had mastered the most advanced navigation technology of this era and owned the most advanced navigation equipment of this era.
However, because they obtained too much gold from Central America.
There are ten lucky boats, each of which is filled with gold.
For these crew members, this gold is their wealth. From top to bottom, including Du Mingen, they are not willing to part with this gold. When they were preparing to return, because the gold took up so much space, the supplies they prepared were not sufficient.
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Needless to say the result.
They spent the most difficult months of the entire voyage on the Pacific Ocean.
There is not enough food, but fortunately you can use trawl nets to catch fish, at least you don’t have to worry about starving to death. As for when you go, the pasta, rice, bacon, dehydrated vegetables, canned food, etc. have been consumed long ago, so you can only eat from
Descendants of the Yin Shang purchased corn, sweet potatoes, and fish caught from the sea here.
The problem arises. Because there are not enough dehydrated vegetables, the body lacks vitamins for a long time, so that many crew members suffer from septicemia. Fortunately, tea is well prepared, and you can also drink it by making tea water.
They ate the leaves together, and added some dehydrated vegetables and canned fruits that were left aside for supplementation and treatment. They managed to survive without losing any of the crew members' lives due to septicemia.
The hardest part is fresh water.
The Pacific Ocean is too vast, spanning the Pacific Ocean, with very few islands in the middle. Only in Hawaii can they get fresh water, so there is always a shortage of fresh water on the ship during the journey.
When we go there, we are walking along the coastline, so we can replenish fresh water from time to time. There is quite enough fresh water, so washing your face and brushing your teeth is not a big deal, and you can even take a luxurious bath occasionally.
But when we came back, fresh water was so scarce that we couldn't even wash our faces or brush our teeth. There was a limited supply of fresh water per person every day.
In addition, the route taken by the route belongs to tropical and subtropical areas, the weather is extremely hot, and there is a lack of fresh water, life is really difficult.
At the most difficult time, all the fresh water on the ship was used up. They had to use the seawater desalination device designed by Liu Jin. They kept using the things that could be burned on the ship to boil water, and then used the seawater desalination device to produce some valuable
Danshui walked over slowly and with difficulty.
When they went to Huangjin Island, everyone felt that the seawater desalination device designed by Liu Jin was of no use at all. Only when they returned did they realize that this device was a real life-saving treasure.
Without seawater desalination equipment, all the people on these ten Dafu ships would be dried out in the sun and die of thirst.
The seawater desalination device is very simple, and the principle it uses is also very simple. It is nothing more than the principle that water vapor will liquefy when it is cold to create fresh water.
The device is very simple, so the water that can be desalinated is naturally not too much, but relying on this simple device, the fleet survived the most difficult days and returned to Daming smoothly.
Du Mingen looked at the sea in front of him and breathed the air here. He always felt that the air in the Ming Dynasty was sweet. They had arrived at the Yellow Sea and would soon reach Tianjin and return to the embrace of the Ming Dynasty.
At this time, everyone was eager to return home, and like Du Mingen, they all came to the deck one by one, looking at the sea in front of them, with smiles on their faces.
The same is true for Lin Shuhong, Tian Erniu, Zhao Houhou, Shaxiong and others. This is their roots, their hometown, and everything they miss is here.
"I don't know what's going on at home, whether my parents are still concerned about me~"
"For this year's imperial examination, I don't know if my mentor, Brother Huang, Brother Tong, they are in high school~"
Lin Shuhong thought a lot in his mind, thinking about his parents, his mentor Liu Jin, and his friends Huang Jinquan and Tong Yuan. The more he thought about these, the more he wanted to return home and wished he could fly back now.
"Finally back~"
Tian Erniu had a big grin on his face, his whole body was very tanned, his lips were chapped, and the boat was in tatters. He looked like a beggar begging for food, not a captain at all.
Of course, everyone in the fleet is the same as Tian Erniu. Even Lin Shuhong, a scholar, is no different from them at this time. No one can tell that Lin Shuhong was a scholar before.
"There is a boat~There is a boat~"
At this time, the lookout man in charge suddenly shouted excitedly.
When everyone heard this, they couldn't help but feel excited. They all took out their binoculars and looked over the sea. They saw a few miles away on the sea, a whaling ship sailing on the sea, looking for whales.
The other party also discovered Du Mingen's ten Dafu ships, and was also shocked by the size of the fleet. He also looked at the situation on the fleet with binoculars.
Soon, the two sides got closer and closer, and they could clearly see each other's appearance through the telescope. The flag carriers also started asking each other through the flags.
"It's our Ming Dynasty's whaling ship~"
"It's our Ming Dynasty's whaling ship~"
Soon, the fleet was able to confirm that this ship was a whaler of the Ming Dynasty, and the entire fleet suddenly cheered.
