Zhu Hai was escorted by several Jinyi guards and arrived at Tianjin along the Grand Canal. From Tianjin Port, which had opened to sea, he boarded a sea ship carrying cotton cloth to Hangzhou.
Hangzhou is now one of the maritime trade distribution centers in Asia. Maritime merchants from many countries load goods here and can even buy silk and paper from Sichuan. Cotton is the largest cargo. Wang Yuan’s textile factory in Tianjin and the Xu family in Jiangyin
The textile factories we cooperate with have gradually replaced them with steam engines.
The promotion of steam engines caused the price of domestic cotton cloth to fall, and also squeezed out a lot of textile workshops in Jiangnan. At the same time, the price of cotton rose sharply. Many farmers in Shandong and Jiangnan converted a large number of grain fields into cotton fields, which in turn led to an increase in rice prices in these places.
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Those cotton spinning merchants who had not yet been squeezed out flocked to the Beijing Institute of Physics to buy the mysterious steam engine.
Steam engines are not Wang Yuan's exclusive property, but as an investor, he holds the largest share. The students who participated in the research and development of steam engines are all shareholders of the steam engine company, and they also want to build a few more and sell them across the country.
However, the manufacturing speed of steam engines is slow, and even Wang Yuan's factories in Tianjin and Jiangyin have not yet completed the replacement of all machines.
When meeting merchants who come to buy machines, the students can only give a routine reply: "Steam engines can be sold, but there are too many orders, so you need to queue up slowly. You can pay a part of the deposit first, and according to the time for paying the deposit, they will be dispatched as soon as the goods are available."
I was told. As for how long the queue will last, I’m sorry, it might be a year or two.”
With such a domineering approach, many merchants actually gave me money, for fear that the deposit would be paid more slowly than their peers.
Many students from the School of Physics became rich by selling steam engines. Some guys felt that they had no hope of getting into the imperial examinations, so they simply devoted themselves to studying machines, thinking all day long about how to improve them.
And those merchants who went to Beijing to buy steam engines, after returning to their hometowns, sent people to study at the Institute of Physics one after another. Some sent literate servants, some sent collateral descendants, and some simply asked direct descendants to study physics. Their plans were very
I understand, I want to learn physics knowledge, and then I can steal it and build my own steam engine!
At one time, the School of Physics had thousands of new and old students, and the old campus in the south of the city was no longer enough, so it bought a piece of land in the west of the city to build a branch.
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But Zhu Hai came to Hangzhou, stayed for a few days, and then took a merchant ship to Nanyang.
The spinnaker technology is also becoming more and more popular. Large ships still use square sails because they can run faster in offshore waters. However, if those small and medium-sized ships only do short-distance trade between China, Japan and China and North Korea, they have switched to spinnakers, so that they can make more trips against the wind.
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Zhu Hai met Zhu Ying in Singapore. The two eunuchs had an exchange, and the emperor's admonishment frightened Zhu Ying.
What is Zhu Ying doing recently?
Lead troops to fight!
This eunuch still didn't know how to fight with water, but he actually formed a firepower unit and went to occupy Johor. That was the territory of the King of Malacca. Johor City was similar to the capital of Malacca. Zhu Ying led the troops and occupied it just for the sake of it.
Johor gold mine.
No one can monopolize the gold mine, not even Zhu Ying. He still has to share the profits with Man Zheng, Ning Botao, and a large number of officers of the Jinyihaiwei.
At the same time, some should be left for gold diggers, otherwise if the gold mines are completely occupied, those gold diggers will engage in riots. People abandon their homes and careers and go out to sea to risk their lives to dig for gold. They are not as easy to bully as the people who stay at home.
The King of Malacca was very aggrieved, but he did not dare and could not resist, so he could only acquiesce to the Jinyihaiwei occupying Johor.
After occupying Johor, Zhu Ying continued to lead troops to fight against the indigenous people in Johor. The male indigenous people were captured to mine gold mines, and the female indigenous people were married to Ming Dynasty soldiers and overseas Han people. This practice greatly increased Zhu Ying's prestige among overseas Han people.
Zhu Ying himself is now so fat that he even wrote a letter back to his hometown and asked his children and nephews to move to Nanyang to develop.
With soldiers, power, money and land, Zhu Ying gradually lost his mind about Shu and almost forgot about the emperor and Wang Yuan. The emperor came with a message to admonish him, and Zhu Yingcai suddenly woke up. He was in the current situation only because of the admiral Jinyi Haiwei.
Identity means nothing once you are removed from your position.
Facing the admiral sent by the emperor to explore the sea, Zhu Ying naturally wanted to cooperate as much as possible. He said: "Brother Zhu Hai, I don't know anything about navigation. You can only ask the two generals Man and Ning for help."
"Where are the two generals now?" Zhu Hai asked.
Zhu Ying said: "There is a small country called Danmu who is disobedient and has gathered four or five small countries to block the spice route. Two generals are on their way to conquer it."
Zhu Hai could only stay in Singapore and wait. More than half a month later, Man Zheng and Ning Botao finally returned.
Victory in naval battles, sinking, and capturing more than a hundred enemy ships, all of which were small and medium-sized galleys, are not worthy of special mention. Several Portuguese ships can achieve such achievements.
Zhu Hai explained the emperor's order and it was all right, and Ning Botao immediately cooperated.
They selected six medium-sized Karak sailing ships, all of which were captured from Portugal. They also recruited dead soldiers as crew members, but only a handful of applicants applied. Everyone was prospering in Nanyang, so why risk their lives to cross the ocean?
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This matter is a bit difficult. It’s not just about being a dead soldier, but you also have to control the ship and sail!
Fortunately, Zhu Hai also brought a secret weapon. As long as he is willing to go to sea with him, he can choose a relative to be an official. Although he is just an idle official without real power, he is still an official after all. This kind of official is usually eighth or ninth grade, and is mainly used for
Come and reward the meritorious officials.
The blank conferral documents were spread out, and the crew of the sea exploration fleet was assembled. There were even doctors and onmyoji masters who were willing to go to sea with the ship, just to exchange for their father and brother to get the ninth grade of medical science and onmyoji (Fuyi).
The principal of Yin Yang School, who works part-time to observe astronomical phenomena and assist the prefect in offering sacrifices).
You must have an onmyoji when you go to sea, otherwise you will not be able to understand the charts and astrology. Zheng He took a large number of onmyojis with him on his voyages to the West.
In the autumn of the seventeenth year of Zhengde's reign, Zhu Hai, the admiral of the Ming Dynasty's sea exploration, led six ships with a crew of more than 500 people and set sail for the Pacific Ocean following Magellan's navigation chart.
As I walked, I felt something was wrong. Why was it all going against the current?
When Magellan crossed the Pacific, he followed the North Equatorial Current, and it was a smooth journey. But if Zhu Hai wanted to retake this route to the Americas, he would encounter countercurrents all the way, which was simply impossible.
As a sailing idiot, Zhu Hai's ability to overcome seasickness was considered the limit. The first time he led a team out to sea, it was to cross the Pacific Ocean, and he was completely confused. When the captain and Onmyoji told him that he couldn't leave, he could only withdraw and run.
Let’s go to Singapore for the winter.
The first exploration voyage failed!
After spending a whole winter discussing in Singapore, Zhu Hai followed Onmyoji's suggestion and instead headed north via Japan, where he could also make supplies.
Therefore, in the spring of the 18th year of Zhengde's reign, the fleet followed the trade wind and sailed north along the Chinese coastline, turning halfway to Japan.
The Ouchi family received them warmly. They heard that this fleet was not here for business, but to search for the continent in the far east. They thought that Emperor Masanori was going to sea to find elixirs.
As a result, the exploration fleet sailed along the northern coastline of Japan, supplying all the way, and finally sailed into the Pacific Ocean.
After only a few days of walking, they were surprised to find that going eastward was smooth sailing, encountering the warm North Pacific current and westerly drifting.
However, as the eyes ahead were completely dark, Magellan's navigation chart was completely useless.
The three onmyojis on the ship had to work very hard. They had to measure longitude and latitude along the way, although they had no concept of longitude and latitude at all. The tool they used was neither an octant nor a sextant, but a simple cross.
This thing is similar to the European right angle meter, which is not currently used in navigation in Europe.
In China, Shen Kuo's "Meng Xi Bi Tan" records that onmyojis learn this from childhood, because they need to measure star charts at any time. It is not just the central Qintian Prison that needs to observe the stars, onmyojis in various places also have to observe
If there is any abnormality in the horoscope, it must be reported to the chief official, and then the local chief official will report it to the court.
After leaving Japan, we encountered a storm, but the farther away from Japan, the calmer the sea seemed.
Even if you go along with the ocean current, you still have to analyze various situations. All the crew members have no idea, and they have to fumble and take their time in everything.
We didn't see any big islands along the way, so it's impossible to encounter Hawaii on this route. The occasional discovery of small islands and reefs was enough for the crew to be excited, but the endless sea always made people panic.
As long as there is fresh water on the island, Zhu Hai will let the crew drive the small boat and take turns paddling to the shore to get water. The crew assigned to the task of fetching water, instead of complaining, will set off happily just to step on solid ground.
A month after leaving Japan, the fleet finally became ill, and it had nothing to do with scurvy.
Two months after leaving Japan, some crew members began to go crazy due to depression. They were not really crazy, they were just nervous and their behavior was slightly abnormal.
After leaving Japan for three months, most of the crew became restless and irritable, often fighting over trivial matters. Zhu Hai had read Magellan's logbook and was afraid of internal strife, so he could only ask his respective captains to appease them.
Moreover, they began to encounter a big storm, and all six sailboats were damaged to varying degrees. Two unlucky guys unfortunately fell into the sea and were swept away in the strong wind and waves. Dozens of crew members were hit and bruised.
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Food and fresh water were quite sufficient at this time. Except for weapons, they had everything on board to eat and drink. They were afraid of chewing leather belts like Magellan to survive.
Four months after leaving Japan, everyone, including Zhu Hai, began to panic.
Because there is still food left, but there is not enough drinking water, and it has been a long time since we have seen an island with fresh water.
Everyone was looking forward to the storm, which would at least bring some rain, but the storm never came!
Moreover, the direction of the ocean current is also changing, and it is not taking them eastward.
Zhu Hai received the reminder from Onmyoji and gritted his teeth and made a decision. No matter how the sea water flowed, he just sailed eastward because the emperor asked him to search for the Far Eastern Continent.
“There’s an island ahead!”
On the 113th day after leaving Japan, the observer holding a telescope shouted.
The fleet speeded up and sailed past, and in front of the small island, they saw another large island.
No, not a big island, but a mainland!
If we follow the place names of later generations, it should be called San Francisco.