On the vast sea, a lucky ship sailed against the wind.
This kind of sea-going ship has a pointed nose, a wide tail, upturned heads at both ends, and a high bow and stern. It has a tall hull and a draft of more than one foot. It represents the world-leading shipbuilding technology of the Song Dynasty. It is famous for its sturdiness and heavy load, and can go far across the ocean.
Withstand the huge waves of the deep sea.
The weather is sunny today, the sun shines on the calm sea, and the scenery is so charming. If the sailors were not repairing the railings that were damaged by the waves, it would be unimaginable that it was so windy and rainy last night.
The top floor of the fortune ship was guarded by guards. The decoration inside the cabin was very luxurious, but full of exotic customs... There was a huge Persian jacquard carpet on the floor, a large round table for the knights' meeting, an Arabic kettle, an Arabian scimitar on the wall, and even the incense burner.
All incense smells like benzoin.
But there were no Arabs wearing long robes and headbands, only two men wearing Han clothes. One of them was wearing a lavender brocade robe, the tall and handsome one was Chen Ke, and the other was wearing a black brocade robe, not tall, but tall and tall.
The stocky one was none other than Li Fan who followed Aziz to the Persian Gulf two years ago.
At this moment, the two of them were staring at a complicated chart drawn on parchment on the table. This chart not only showed the land and sea, but also drew latitude lines. Almost no one in the Song Dynasty could understand this chart.
, because its place names are marked in Arabic, and knowledge of trigonometric functions is required to accurately interpret them.
Don't underestimate this nautical chart. In this era, nautical charts mean endless treasures. Even among Arab maritime merchants, only a few sailing families own them. In order to compete for a nautical chart, massacres occurred.
Things happen all the time.
The maritime merchants of the Song Dynasty did not have such a chart, and even if they got it, they could not use it. When they went to sea, they always followed the direction of the wind. Only when the monsoon wind was favorable did they know where they were sailing. Otherwise, it would be difficult to determine their position.
.
But with the help of star-finding skills, charts and compasses, Chen Ke and the others knew where they were even if they were traveling against the wind. However, this was Li Fan's first time sailing alone since he joined the army, which inevitably made people sweat.
Fortunately, Chen Ke was deeply impressed by the world maps of later generations. He knew that this trip was actually not far from the mainland... If he found something wrong, he would just keep sailing west and he would return to the mainland. Of course, whether he could reach Liao Kingdom or North Korea would depend on it.
Good fortune.
"Sir, the storm last night caused us to veer off course." Li Fan finally finished the calculation, raised his head and said, "We are already dozens of miles northeast of Tamna. Shall we turn around?"
"No, continue." Chen Ke shook his head and glanced at Tamna Island, which was later called Jeju Island. Tamna Island is a good place. It is located at the end of the sea between China, Japan, and Korea. It is an important transit port. And it is also a good place.
A very good place to raise horses.
It was a country of its own in ancient times. Sometimes it turned to Korea, and sometimes it turned to Japan. Thanks to the frequent sea trade between Japan and Song Dynasty, Japan is now at the peak of its prosperity. But the reason for blessing and disaster is precisely because
Its prosperity has attracted the covetousness of the Goryeo Dynasty. Soon it will be completely subordinate to Goryeo and become the Tamna County of Goryeo.
Chen Ke was very interested in this place, but it was not his destination this time: "Tamluo is a good place, but you can go by yourself." The implication is that there are more important places to go.
"Then let's go to Japan, right?"
"Yeah." Chen Ke nodded and said, "But it's not the main island, but its overseas islands."
"where?"
"Your chart is not marked." Chen Ke frowned and pondered for a long time. He pointed at the map with his index finger and said, "It should be here." It is normal that it is not marked. There are many islands along the coast, and Aziz is not a scientist. How could he see them all one by one?
Exploration marked. In fact, only the major ports were marked. Drawing a rough coastline took the Arabs hundreds of years.
"How do you know this location?" Li Fan is now considered an expert. Naturally, he knows that he can locate an island on the chart just by relying on his memory. This means that he must be very familiar with this sea surface!
But in his impression, it seemed that Chen Ke had just gone to sea for the first time...
Chen Ke smiled and refused to explain, not because he wanted to maintain a sense of mystery, but because he really couldn't explain it...zhaosfok.
Fortunately, he had the aura of being the top scholar and knew nothing was strange, so Li Fan just marveled and asked again: "Sir, is this the golden land you promised us?"
"Yeah." Chen Ke nodded.
"What's here?" In Li Fan's opinion, the location of this island is far worse than Tamluo.
"In the golden land, there is naturally gold." Chen Ke said with a smile: "Of course, there are also exiled prisoners."
"So, this is the Salmon Island of Japan?" Li Fan was very happy to hear the first half of the sentence, but his face turned green when he heard the second half.
"Yes." Chen Ke nodded and said, "But there is more oil and water here than in Dongchuan." From the Heian period until a thousand years later, this place has been Japan's largest gold mine. It can be said that before Iwami Ginzan was discovered,
, this is Japan’s money bag.
"What?" Li Fan immediately said with eyes shining: "There is this in the book... I mean, these are all the adults read from the book?"
"Yeah." Chen Ke nodded, happy that there was no need to explain: "So, does it mean that 'the book has its own golden house'?"
"No wonder you abandoned the Dongchuan Copper Mine like worn-out shoes." Li Fan suddenly realized: "It turns out there are more advanced things!"
"One thousand copper plates can be exchanged for one tael of silver, and one tael of silver can only be exchanged for one penny of gold. The difference in value is thousands of times!" Chen Ke said with a smile: "Besides, after having Yunnan copper,
Domestic copper coins will inevitably increase greatly. By then, the price ratio between gold and copper will also widen! So let them mint copper coins and let's play with gold!"
"Sir, I have always thought that you are devoted to the country and have no self-interest at all." Li Fan looked at Chen Ke for a long time and choked out this sentence. Judging from Chen Ke's previous performance, this is indeed the case.
"Haha..." Chen Ke smiled nonchalantly and said: "In the next few years, I have to keep a low profile and can no longer be in the limelight. What's more, after all, this is at the doorstep of the Japanese country. If the court does it, it will make things complicated. It's us.
Just eat it quietly..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Li Fan wanted to recalculate and correct the course, so Chen Ke stepped out of the cabin and saw Liu Yue'e leaning on the railing, looking at the seagulls passing by the bow of the ship.
"Do you feel better?" A storm hit last night, and the huge ship was thrown up and rocked by the huge waves, but Liu Yue'e was tormented a lot. But she is so powerful. She vomited like that last night, and today it seems like nothing is wrong.
.But Chen Ke's sarcastic words made her very angry: "Was the breeze last night **?"
"You said it was just a little breeze?" Liu Yue'e's face was still a little yellow. She turned her head and corrected, "That was a terrible storm!"
"Storm? That's not considered a storm," Chen Ke shook his head with a smile and said, "It's winter now, and here is the north. There are no big storms. As long as the ship is stable and the sea is wide, the sailors won't care about a little wind like this.
Take it seriously." After a pause, he looked at Liu Yue'e and said, "Of course, it's your first time to go to sea, so it's no wonder you make a fuss... You're eager to get ashore as soon as possible, right?"
"You're too young to look down on people." This trick worked every time, Liu Yue'e immediately said with a strong face: "I'm not making a fuss, it doesn't matter if I float for another month. I'm just, just a little weird..."
"What's weird?"
"Why didn't you see a single ship along the way?"
"Because we are hiding away." Chen Ke said with a smile. In fact, this season is when the ship sails from Japan to China. Chen Ke and the others went to sea against the wind. In order to take advantage of the wind, the ship took a zigzag route, so they could hit
The chance of joining the fleet is very small.
"Why are you hiding away?" Liu Yue'e naturally had no way of telling the truth of his words.
"It's shameful." Chen Ke said with a smile: "Sado Island is the future treasury of our family. Of course we can't let others know."
Liu Yue'e was already immune to his nonsense, and she didn't want to argue about 'it's your home or not my home', otherwise she would have to just bicker. A worried look appeared on her face and she said: "There is no fire in the paper, there is gold there."
News about the mine will leak out sooner or later. You said it is so close to the Japanese country, will they cause trouble for you?"
"What you said makes sense," Chen Ke said, "Well, let's not go to Sado Island secretly, we have to go there openly!"
"As an official of the imperial court, you dare to go to other countries without orders?" Liu Yue'e was speechless to this lunatic.
"Storms are all caused by storms." Chen Ke said solemnly: "Is it true that we encountered a storm? Is it common for people to be sent to Japan by storms?"
"This..." Liu Yue'e said depressedly: "You just said it was a breeze..."
"It's a storm to the outside world. Remember, don't let it slip." Chen Ke said without the slightest embarrassment: "The Japanese country has a big palm, can you meet their boss? I don't believe that I can't bite this piece of meat.
Come!" Seeing the worry on the girl's face, he comforted softly: "Their emperor is worse than Duan Silian. And the princes in the country are fighting fiercely..."
Today's Japan is at the end of the Heian Dynasty, the elegant and lustful era described in The Tale of Genji. Its political power is decadent and divided, and its respect for the Song Dynasty is at its peak. This is all because Chen Ke dared to pull his teeth out of the tiger's mouth.
Where confidence lies!
Liu Yue'e couldn't help but shudder. She immediately thought of how Chen Ke plotted against the kings and ministers of Dali Kingdom. Everyone in the Japanese country, you have to ask for your own blessings...