The ship has made all preparations for sailing, and everyone is busy, with faces full of joy.
Four years! Wang Heizi sighed, do you know how I have lived these four years?
On the sea, the waves were dangerous, and the Ping Navy ship that was sailing with it was separated in the storm. After the rain and the sky cleared, only one ship was reunited, and the other ship was lost. After searching for a long time, it was not found, as if it had never been found.
That never happened.
The disappearance on the sea has an obvious ending, and everyone is breathless.
They also encountered pirates on the way. After a fight, they broke through the blockade, but lost another ship. The officials of Honglu Temple who were accompanying the ship were also killed, and even their credentials were lost...
All in all, all kinds of troubles make people upset.
Now in the entire mission, only Wang Heizi, a few low-ranking officials from Honglu Temple, and several small naval officers are left. Among them, Wang Heizi has the highest official rank, even though he is a casual official.
After landing, they were imprisoned without any explanation, and the remaining goods were confiscated because they could not provide any official identification.
The entire detention process lasted for more than a year, and then the cannibals released them and returned the goods - the goods had been sold long ago, and they could only be compensated with money.
Wang Heizi and others were confused the whole time.
I don’t know why I was arrested, and I don’t know why I was released, and no one can explain it. I only vaguely heard that an official delegation arrived in Baghdad and was welcomed by the Caliph, so I was released.
But I heard that the envoy did not stay long. Because they wanted to go to the Palace of Wisdom to copy books, the Caliph was quite wary. In the end, he only took them to visit the observatory, gave them a few camels and sent them away.
Wang Heizi was sure that with the cannibal's stinginess, those few camel books were definitely not good stuff. They were mostly about customs, travel notes and even scriptures.
"A bunch of poor people who are clinging to ropes!" Wang Heizi spat into the sea and walked along the deck.
This is an old ship, built in Basra.
There was no way, they were now also a group of "poor people holding on to their money". After all the money to buy this second-hand ship, they couldn't even get the people together. Fortunately, a nobleman in Basra was very interested in Daxia.
Invited them to be guests for the first time and listened to the stories of the East. Before leaving, he generously gave them ten Slavic slaves. After a brief training, they were barely able to start the ship.
"Work hard and I will not treat you badly." Wang Heizi looked at the Slavic slaves who were washing the deck and said in Chinese, regardless of whether they understood or not.
Well, of course the slaves didn't understand, but they nodded and bowed instinctively.
Wang Heizi left proudly.
He was very clear about the mentality of the slaves. He did not come from a civilized country, and they had low self-esteem. After being captured, their morale became even worse.
Wang Heizi didn't know how much hardship these people had suffered and how many whips they received on the farm of the wealthy nobles, but judging from their obedient appearance, it was obvious that they had been tamed into obedience.
Slavic people, I heard, are originally slaves. They have been unable to stand up for thousands of years and have been bullied by people from all walks of life. It is really miserable.
"Practice climbing well." When he walked under the mast, Wang Heizi set up a pergola and looked up.
The sailor responded loudly.
He was from Xia, but he was just a cook before. He was lucky enough to survive until now. There was no way he could change his career to be a lookout.
"Now that the sea is calm, it's so difficult for you to climb." Wang Heizi stood under the mast for a while, sighed, and cursed: "When the sea waves rise, how can you still climb? Do you dare to climb? Are you afraid?
Even a monkey can be more agile than you."
The lookout did not dare to speak, and sat in the mast basket tremblingly, adapting to the shaking at high altitude.
Wang Heizi looked at it for a while, then returned to the captain's cabin cursing.
"General Wang."
"Zhang Dianke."
Wang Heizi and Zhang Yong, the magistrate of the Dianke Office of Honglu Temple, bowed to each other.
Dian Ke Ling is an official position starting from the seventh rank, which is actually not a big one. But there is no way, now they are the two biggest officials. Recalling the difficulties, obstacles, ups and downs along the way, it is like a dream.
"I'm going back to my country," Wang Heizi said.
"Yes." Zhang Yong, who was writing a book, put down his brush and sighed softly.
The journey of tens of thousands of miles may seem out of reach, but no one can stop their determination to return home.
There are some regrets in this trip.
They went to Baghdad but did not see the Caliph or even the senior officials, so they could only return disappointed.
The Daxia mission, which was spreading rumors in the north, has also left long ago.
They were escorted to the border by the Khazars, and after submitting their credentials, they waited for half a year before being allowed to enter.
What happened next is not clear. I heard that they had left the country and headed for "Rome".
What can Zhang Yong say? I can only hope that they will have a smooth journey.
Was this mission a success?
It may be successful or it may not be successful. This can only be left to the saints and even future generations to judge.
As far as they are concerned, they have achieved the ultimate.
It's time to return home.
******
After greeting Zhang Yong, Wang Heizi entered his captain's cabin and opened a tightly locked box.
There were no gold, silver, silk, or satin in the box. Instead, there were many plant seeds, the most important of which were some plants that were called "kava" by the big eater. This was what the saint specifically asked to find, and he called it "coffee".
”.
In fact, there are some coffee trees cultivated in water and soil in the cabin. Because Wang Heizi doesn't know whether these seeds can germinate, he would rather spend precious fresh water to cultivate transplanted plants - as long as they can survive.
And in order to find coffee, they really went through a lot of trouble.
They once sailed the last intact ship and sailed westward under the guidance of their guide to a place called "Malibah" (today's Marib, Yemen).
This is an important commercial port, even more prosperous than Basra. It is probably one of the largest ports in the food country. It gathers merchants from all over the world and is the main distribution center for spices in the food country.
It is not easy to find coffee here. It took Wang Heizi and his team several months of work to find it in a farm and spend a lot of money to buy it.
The owner of the farm is willing to sell it because it is "of no use".
He told Wang Heizi and his party that "Kava" came from the plateau across the sea. When the local shepherds were sleepy, they would pick a few fruits from the trees and chew them. They heard that they were very refreshing.
However, he recommended another kind of leaf - or grass - native to Ma Liba: Chat.
After chewing this grass, people will feel energetic and energetic, and may even hallucinate and start dancing. After the energy wears off, people will begin to feel sluggish, which is very "magical".
After eating grass for a long time, it will become extremely addictive. A small amount of grass is not enough, and you need to eat it in large quantities.
When Wang Heizi heard this, he knew it was a "poisonous weed." After hearing that the Caliph in Baghdad also banned the spread of this kind of weed, he politely declined because it was too evil.
Finally, he left Malibaba and returned to Basra with coffee seeds and dozens of saplings.
Unfortunately, the ship accidentally hit the rocks on the river bank when entering the port, ran aground and sank.
Fortunately, most of the property and seeds were rescued. They transplanted the coffee saplings to a farm outside Basra and took them away before setting off.
Everything has settled and it's time to leave.
Wang Heizi locked the box and returned to the deck, looking at the landing in the distance.
After leaving Basra, sail eastward, cross the Fars Sea (Persian Gulf), enter the Lar Sea (Arabian Sea), then go south around Tianzhu and enter the Khargan Sea (Bay of Bengal).
Between the Halgan Sea and the Lar Sea, there are islands dotted all over the place. It is said that there are nearly 2,000 islands.
This route was purchased from the Big Eater.
Wang Heizi opened a chart and stood on the deck facing the wind.
There is also a book under his arm. I heard it was written by a certain Persian official and geographer from the Great Food Kingdom. It was written seventy or eighty years ago. It was top secret at first. After so many years, it became top secret again.
The book also spread, and the Sogdian translator who was on board the ship spent a year translating all of this man's works.
The name of the book Wang Heizi holds is translated as "Daoli Bangguo Zhi", which records in detail the cannibal's voyage to the extreme western countries (Spain, France), Rus, Tianzhu, the land under the wind, Champa, China,
What you have learned about Silla, Japan and other places can correspond to the purchased charts, which has considerable reference value.
The first port of entry into China recorded in the book was Longbian (near present-day Hanoi, Vietnam), and the three major ports of Quanzhou, Yangzhou, and Guangzhou were also mentioned. The information was generally reliable and very capable.
It was after reading these charts and books that Wang Heizi admired the great achievements of the Great Eaters in navigation. They were the best in the world. There was almost no place they did not go - they were born to pursue profit.
Many navigation books, travel notes, and records of experiences are publicly sold locally.
Although nautical charts are not sold to the public, it is not difficult to get a few copies from sailors.
Before setting off, the sage asked them to record the local customs and customs along the way and draw charts and maps, which they did.
These books purchased from the public have really helped a lot. Write down what you have seen, heard, and been to, and then refer to other people's content, and a book is almost ready.
Now that most of the tasks have been completed, it is time for them to leave Dashi and return to their homeland in the Central Plains.
After four years of separation, I don’t know what year it is today in the Central Plains. I don’t know if the saint is still there.
On May 25, the ship slowly left the port of Basra and entered the deep sea.
Wang Heizi stood on the front deck, confident and calm.
If he could return home smoothly, everyone's wealth would be indispensable. And he was destined to no longer be a penniless and humble person.