"What do you mean most? You don't even know whether your subordinates are alive or dead, so what do you do for food?!" King Chu turned on the roaring mode, as if he wanted to eat people.
"This subordinate deserves to die!" Yu Tongyuan quickly stood still, bowed his head and confessed.
Han Yike and others were also silent, and no one dared to speak for Yu Tongyuan.
His Royal Highness the King of Chu was really angry this time. He had worked so hard until now, all in order to revive Shibosi.
His brothers sold iron and scraped together ten sea-going ships, as well as the goods on the ships... Well, he didn't pay for it, the capital was all paid by his brothers. But the first time he went to sea, he lost four of them. How could he and his brother
They explain?
How should we face the old thief's gloating face?!
"First tell me clearly what happened!" After his anger subsided, Lao Liu said with a dark face.
"Yes." Yu Tongyuan quickly said:
"On February 2, we set off from Liujiagang, first along the coast all the way south to Guangzhou, and then under the guidance of Mr. Wang, we went straight to Nanyang via Champa. Because we were not familiar with the sea route, we arrived at Sanfo two months later.
together……"
~~
At this point in the development of Chinese navigation, both shipbuilding technology and navigation technology were unparalleled in the world and far ahead.
Especially in the middle and late Song Dynasty, after the maritime ban on Chinese merchants was lifted and "passive" international trade was transformed into "active" international trade, Chinese merchants quickly replaced the maritime advantages of Arab merchants and established maritime trade routes extending in all directions. Starting from the coast of Japan in the east
, reaching the Persian Gulf in the west, and all important ports in Asia and Africa were visited by Song Dynasty merchants and merchant ships.
In the Song Dynasty, the routes to various countries were basically direct. For example, the Nanyang route to the Kingdom of Pó in Java could reach Java in more than a month by taking a direct route across the South China Sea from Quanzhou when the wind was favorable.
The food routes to Arabia and East Africa are also direct across the country. The ship departs from Guangzhou and the entire journey takes one hundred days.
Moreover, the Song Dynasty government specially stipulated that if ships on the Nanyang route returned to China within five months, and ships on the Dashi route could return to China within 12 months, they would be given a 'tax exemption', that is, a tax reduction reward, to stimulate
Turnover speed of ocean-going ships.
Wang Dayuan also told the King of Chu that the three richest overseas countries were Dashi, Jampo and Srivijaya. The most generous profits could be obtained by trading with these three countries.
Zhu Zhen knew that the great food was Arabia, but he couldn't figure out who the other two countries were.
After studying the hand-drawn world map with Wang Dayuan for a long time, they basically determined that Zapo should be in Java Island or Sumatra Island and controlled the Sunda Strait.
And Sriwijaya should be in the Malay Peninsula, controlling the Strait of Malacca.
Then Zhu Zhen understood that these two countries controlled the chokepoint between the West and Southeast Asia and engaged in large-scale transit trade. How could they not be rich?
In fact, the same goes for food...
During the Chinese New Year, Zhu Zhen and Wang Dayuan discussed and decided that for the first long voyage of the municipal fleet, it would be better to be conservative and first open up the Nanyang route.
In this way, the wind is still from the north when we set out, and it becomes the south wind when we return. It just so happens that we have a fair wind in both directions.
It was the first time that the municipal fleet went to sea and it was able to reach its destination in two months. The performance was actually satisfactory.
~~
"After arriving in Srivijaya, we were warmly welcomed by the locals. Later, the local Chinese said that we were the first batch of Suzhou ships to arrive this year." Yu Tongyuan continued.
"Suzhou Ship?" Long-term interrogation work in Suzhou made Zhu Zhen perfect at choosing words.
"The locals call the boats coming from the south of the Yangtze River Suzhou boats." Yu Tongyuan replied.
"It's not called a Chinese ship, so there are more than just ships from the south of the Yangtze River?" Zhu Zhen asked.
"Yes, there are also Quanzhou ships and Guangzhou ships." Yu Tongyuan said: "These two kinds of ships have not been broken yet. When we were in Srivijaya, we saw a dozen of them. But they don't have Jiangnan silk, which is the most popular.
Hot item.
"So soon, we sold out the goods on the ship and, following Mr. Wang's instructions, purchased Nanyang goods such as pepper, hematoxylin, camphor, coral, sandalwood, rhinoceros horn, etc. and repaired the ship.
Return after the first day of May.”
"It was already a south wind when we returned, so the wind was smooth and the sailing speed was very fast. We arrived in Qiongzhou in half a month, and then passed Fuzhou without incident. In addition, the harvest from this trip was extremely rich, so everyone was very happy." said
At this point, Yu Tongyuan's expression became depressed and he said:
"Who would have thought that when we were about to enter the sea of Zhejiang, something happened on the sea off the Fuyao Islands..."
~~
A few days ago.
On the vast expanse of blue waters of the East China Sea, there are scattered a series of islands, large and small, which are the Fuyao Islands that strangle the throat of the Fujian-Zhejiang Sea Road.
"After this string of islands, we will reach Zhejiang." On the forecastle of the flagship ship, Yu Tongyuan put away his telescope and announced loudly to his men.
The excited whistles and cheers of the sailors and boatmen were heard on the ship.
Although they have lived on the water for half their lives, it was their first time sailing on the ocean for several months far away from the country. Naturally, they all felt homesick.
And there is another reason why they are so eager to return home: they have made a fortune.
Although they are not accountants on the ship and do not know the specific income from this trip, they are neither deaf nor blind. They have heard that this time, they will make at least ten times the profit, and some even say twenty times.
His Highness promised to distribute one-tenth of the profits as bonuses to the crew members. Everyone calculated it privately. Even if the minimum profit was ten times, everyone could get more than ten dollars!
I've only been here for less than five months, and the bonus has almost caught up with a year's income. It's not even considered normal salary.
They actually made more money than they did selling smuggled salt before!
How could we not make these guys so excited? They were looking forward to getting ashore to collect their money, and then have a great time!
"When I get ashore, I must go to a brothel." A sailor in his forties swore: "I have only dealt with brothels in this life, let us also have a taste of female history!"
"Haha, I'm afraid your ten guan of money is only enough for two tea parties," a knowledgeable person joked: "You can't even touch the little hand of the female historian, and you still want to go to bed? It's better to get on the boat!"
"Hahaha!" the sailors burst into laughter.
"Then you lend me the reward money and I'll give you ten more, right?" The sailor said with a very financial mind: "The next time I go to sea and come back, I will pay you back and let you have a taste of female history..."
"I don't care. Any kiln lady or courtesan looks the same when she blows the lamp." The man shook his head.
"Hahaha..." The sailors laughed strangely again. There were neither women nor sheep on the ship, so they could only spend the long voyage talking about women.
The Marquis of Nan'an heard clearly on the forecastle, but had no intention of stopping. This was much better than the previous lifelessness on the ship. Besides, the fact that the brothers dared to take the idea of the Oiran showed that their choice was correct.
At this moment, the lookout on the mast blew the brass whistle, and then screamed a warning:
"From the northwest, a fleet is approaching quickly!"
"There are also ones in the northeast!" The lookout on the other mast also warned loudly.
