Tang Dynasty Mingyue Song Dynasty Pass

Chapter 704
On this day, the Qingbai porcelain kiln workshop that Bai Susu was in charge of was finally completed and firing production began.

For the sake of secrecy and security, Bai Susu's family set up a private armed force for strict protection and did not allow outsiders to come close to watch.

Celadon, white porcelain, bluish white porcelain, etc. are all fired and produced, and the techniques adopted are more mature.

Some of the craftsmen who were dismissed from the Bai family in batches were secretly received here at this time.

However, this time, militarized management was adopted to prevent these craftsmen from contacting outsiders, so as not to reveal the secret of the existence of the Bai family and its attachment to the Restoration Army.

Bai Susu also disguised herself as a man and turned into a handsome young man who often came to monitor the progress.

A few days later, a batch of porcelain was fired, and Bai Susu and Su Chen came to inspect it for themselves.

Bai Susu asked: "How is the quality of the glaze, is everything going well?"

"Back to the eldest son, the firing is going well. Two batches have been released one after another. The glaze color and quality are not worse than before." An old craftsman of the Bai family came to report.

Su Chen also inspected it at the side, nodded slightly, the quality is indeed very good, not much different from before, it can be seen that after replacing the new stove and water source, the quality of the transported soil has not changed much, and the quality has not been affected much, he said: "Very good,
Bai Susu ordered: "Check and put them into storage, and then put them together in wooden boxes, and then go to sea for trade."

"Yes, my lord!" the craftsmen responded.

Bai Susu looked at Su Chen, and asked: "Is the route to the sea confirmed? Who will be sent first this time?"

Su Chen said: "Choose someone who is a businessman. I will be in charge of dispatching a convoy to escort the merchant ships to the Liao Kingdom, land in the Bohai Bay, and directly arrive at Youyun Sixteen States. The ships stay at sea, first bring the small boats Go ashore and carry out trade docking. If it succeeds, go ashore in large quantities. It is best to find local nobles or big companies for cooperation, or send people to bribe officials there to set up our direct selling semi-colon porcelain shop and do business. big."

Bai Susu thought for a while, and said: "We can formulate a few more plans, including cooperation with the official of the Liao Kingdom, and cooperation with large merchants in the Liao Kingdom. Our own semi-colon stores can also be promoted, and more blossoms will be made to ensure interests. maximize."

When it comes to doing business, Bai Susu is still a good hand with seasoned experience.

Su Chen nodded: "Okay, I will give you full responsibility for these matters. I only need to share the final proceeds. Try to get people to buy back some war horses and supplies, etc."

Bai Susu said: "Okay, I'll try my best to arrange it, but after buying the horses, some of them have to be handed over to other troops, so I can't give them all to the Shence Army."

"Of course, we are still a whole for the time being. The improvement of each army's combat power will help our overall strength. The Shence Army can only take part of it. Follow the agreement and don't break the rules."

Su Chen is very clear, don't overemphasize the Shence Army now, because it is other armies that charge into the battle, armed with excellent horses and weapons, they are more effective in fighting.

"But the merchants of the Bai family have never been to the Bohai Sea you mentioned by sea, and have never traveled by sea. You need to find another expert to control the ship and lead the way."

Su Chen nodded and said: "I understand, I have already mentioned it to General Lu, he will send some sailors and navigators who often go to sea to cooperate with us."

When Bai Susu heard this, she felt relieved.

In the afternoon, Su Chen met six or seven captains of the navy, the captain, and a few old helmsmen in the tent, who were responsible for controlling the direction of the ship, observing the direction, and leading the route.

In ancient times, people called sailors differently according to the division of labor.

For example, the "helmsman", also known as the helmsman, is mainly responsible for steering the ship to control the direction of the ship on the sea.

"Liaoshou" is mainly the sailor who is responsible for controlling the sail rope.The "fighting hand" is the sailor who is on the mast of the ship by the rope of the canopy and is responsible for taking advantage of the wind.As for "anchor hand", it is easier to understand literally, mainly the sailor who is responsible for raising and lowering the anchorage of the ship.

"Meet the general."

These people saluted the young general of the Shence Army.

"All sit down."

After Su Chen asked these people to sit down, he asked: "Our National Restoration Army is going to transport a batch of porcelain, liquor, tea, etc., starting from Quanzhou Wharf, taking the sea route, going to Liao Kingdom, landing from Bohai Bay, and arriving directly at the Youyun sixteen states, trade, you are responsible for this shipping mission, can you complete it?"

"Well, speaking back to the general, we don't know where this Bohai Bay is. Although Youyun Sixteen Prefectures have heard of it, we have never been to how to find it through shipping routes, so we don't know if it can be done. "

A navy captain named Zhang Tuo answered awkwardly with his fists clasped.

It was originally an important task, and it could be said to be an opportunity, but they didn't know what Bohai Bay was and how to get to Youyun Sixteen Prefectures, because they didn't have this chart.

Su Chen asked after hearing the words: "When you go out to sea, what do you use to identify the direction?"

"Return to General, we use Sinan."

Sinan is the earliest magnetic pointer. The name "Sinan" began in the Warring States Period and ended in the Tang Dynasty.

The earliest document recording Sinan is "Guiguzi", in which it is written: "The people of Zheng must carry Sinan's car when they fetch jade, so as not to be confused."

Gradually, Sinan used a magnetic spoon, which is a spoon-shaped pointer carved from natural magnetite. When it was discovered, its shape was taken from the Big Dipper, and the name continued to be "Sinan".

In the era of the early Song Dynasty, there was no compass for the time being, because the invention of the compass should be the result of gradual improvements over a long period of time.It was not until the mid-Northern Song Dynasty that the method of making water-floating magnetic needles appeared, and magnetic needle guides were used.

After the advent of the magnetic needle, it was used successively for geomancy and navigation.For the convenience of use, easy reading, and the discovery of magnetic declination, higher requirements were put forward for the skill of using the compass. Someone first combined the magnetic needle with the indexing plate to create a new generation of compass—the compass.

Su Chen understands this, and knows that he must provide accurate nautical charts and advanced compass to these navigating helmsmen, otherwise, it will still be inconvenient to rely on Si Nan, and errors will occur.

"I'll draw a sketch for you, pay attention."

After Su Chen finished speaking, he found a piece of rice paper, and then used a small hard brush to simply draw the outline of the coastal continent, as well as the locations of Quanzhou, Bohai Bay, and Youyun Sixteen States.

"Look, this is the Quanzhou Wharf. This is the Wuyue Kingdom. This is the territory of the Great Song Dynasty. Further up, there is an indented sea area, which is the Bohai Bay. This landing area is the Youzhou area; some surrounding states and counties are the Youyun has sixteen states. I will first send a few people to ride horses by land, cross the territory of the Song Dynasty, rush there, settle down in advance, and get familiar with the business environment, and then you will set off by boat to transport products to Youzhou. Official merchants used to sell porcelain, etc., in exchange for horses, cattle, sheep, wool, etc.”

Everyone gathered around the chart and listened to Su Chen's careful explanation. After reading it, they had a general understanding.

Next, Su Chen is going to make a rudimentary compass or compass for them to use, which will increase the probability of success.

(End of this chapter)