Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 36 Longitude
Lin Hai pointed to the sea area just south and east of Taiwan Island on the chart, and said categorically: "We are here. If we use the Renzi needle, we will reach Dongfan within two days. If we listen to the Marquis and use the needle alone, it will take four more days." It takes five days to return to Chaozhou, which is the sea area before the storm."

Miguel puzzled: "We only know the latitude, how can we determine the specific location?"

Lin Hai had a mysterious smile on his face: "What if I still know the longitude?"

A trace of doubt flashed in Miguel's eyes, and he quickly shook his head like a rattle: "Impossible, this is impossible! Only God knows longitude!"

At this time, Shi Bi, Zheng Tingqiu and others gathered around. Although they could not understand the latitude and longitude, they understood the meaning of the needle position.

Shibi pulled Lin Hai aside and whispered: "Sister-in-law, there is not much fresh water on the boat, and we are all dead if we don't see land for ten days. Do you think it is worthwhile to use Renzi needle? But don't show off and ruin everyone's lives in vain. The lives of our brothers."

Lin Hai said sternly: "Of course I know how powerful it is, how dare you say nonsense without success?"

Shi Bi was still worried: "Have you ever been a team leader?"

Lin Hai smiled and said: "One hundred thousand gang leaders can't compare to me, I have the oracle of the Concubine!"

He deliberately raised his voice and said loudly: "The Concubine Tian's golden words say that if you keep walking with the Renzi needle, I will reach Dongfan in less than two days."

Miguel heard it clearly now. Having stayed in Macau for eight or nine years, of course he knew about Mazu.However, as a Catholic, he has always believed that there is only one God in the world.

For a moment just now, he almost thought that the Ming businessman in front of him could really calculate longitude, but in the end he was just a pretender.No wonder, the longitude problem has troubled the European navigation community for hundreds of years. How could a foolish Ming businessman solve it?

Miguel was completely irritated. He pulled out the Damascus knife from his waist with a loud sound and shouted sternly at the stone wall: "Listen, if you want to use Renzi needle, then let's fight to the death here! I, Miguel, I hereby swear that I will never allow a pretentious person to send my sailors to hell!"

Shi Bi was initially dubious about Lin Hai's words, but when he saw Miguel draw his sword directly, he was immediately offended.Not to mention what kind of needle to use, this foreign devil must be killed for his arrogance, otherwise he will go against the will.

He didn't draw his sword, but said coldly: "Are you looking for death? There's no place for a ghost like you to speak on this ship."

Before he finished speaking, Zheng Tingqiu and others drew out their swords one after another, and the sharp blades flashed in the midday sun.When the foreign devils on Miguel's side saw this, they were not to be outdone, and each took out their sidearms.

Seeing that the two sides were about to fight if they disagreed, Lin Hai stepped in front of Shibi and shouted: "Stop! Everyone, stop!"

The situation reached this point beyond his expectation. Who would have thought that this foreign devil would draw his sword immediately after hearing "Mazu's Oracle"?However, if you think about it carefully, you can understand that if Lin Hai were put in Miguel's position and he heard such a ridiculous reason for using needles in the aftermath of the disaster, he would probably be furious.

Although Lin Hai intends to bring some new blood on board, it does not mean that he hopes that Shibi and Miguel will be on the same page.He took a step forward and said: "Mr. Marquis, what do you mean by your sailors? You must understand that I am the sponsor of this voyage. The sailors on the ship are all paid by me, and even you are my sailors." ."

Miguel's arrogance was stifled when he heard this. European culture still emphasizes the employment relationship.Lin Hai continued: "In other words, I am the owner of this ship, and my uncle Shi Bi is the captain appointed by me. The course of this ship can only be determined by us, and you have no right to challenge it!"

Miguel still held the short knife and protested: "I am responsible for the truth and my own life."

"Master Marquis, no one can be responsible for the truth except God." Lin Hai's eyes showed a chill. "You cannot be responsible for your own life. If you insist on challenging the captain, then I can only lend your blood to maintain the ship." regulation."

Miguel's hand holding the knife dropped. There were hundreds of brothers in Shibi who were born and died, and apart from a Portuguese friend, he only had a few loyal servants who were reliable.

Although other Chinese sailors had stayed on his ship, the relationship between the two parties was only temporary employment, and this time the employer was essentially Lin Hai, but the latter was recruited by him with the help of his connections in Macau.Even for recruiting sailors, Lin Hai calculated the wages for him.

The strength of the two sides was so disparate. When things got to this point, confrontation was a dead end. It was better to try his luck with the Renzi needle. Miguel couldn't help but regret his impulsiveness.

Lin Hai observed Miguel's expression and gave him a step at the right time: "Of course, I respect your attitude towards the truth, and I also understand your position of being responsible for the Bowang. Let's do this. I will make a gentleman's agreement with you. Queen of Heaven, if we fail to see land with the Renzi needle, the course of this ship will be decided by you."

Miguel was overjoyed: "Okay, I completely agree."

"It's not over yet." Lin Hai continued, "You have seriously violated the ship's regulations by drawing a knife on the captain. Now please throw away the knife in your hand, lower your head, and sincerely admit your mistake to the captain. I will use the ship owner's In my name, I would like to intercede with the captain on your behalf and pardon your sins for the sake of your merit in measuring the latitude.”

Although Miguel had been a pirate for two years, he had many experiences of having his teeth knocked out and blood swallowed, whether in his family in Goa or in the army in Hormuz.Hearing Lin Hai's words, he immediately threw away the short knife and bent down to admit his mistake to the stone wall.

The Bowang finally set sail again.In the needle room on the third floor of the poop, the captain stared at the compass lying flat in the sand niche. With the bumps of the ship's hull, the tip of the compass was beating slightly between the characters "ren" and "zi".

The conflict on the open deck quickly spread throughout the ship, and everyone knew that the Bowang was moving forward according to Lin Hai's guidance.The shipowner, who rarely intervenes in shipboard affairs, claimed that his decision was based on Mazu's oracle.

Of course Lin Hai did not receive any Mazu oracle. He navigated based on the longitude measured by his watch and the latitude measured by Miguel.Measuring longitude is actually very simple. You just need to know the local time accurately and then compare it with the local time of another location with a known longitude. A difference of one degree in longitude means a difference of 4 minutes in local time.

The local time of the Bowang is easy to obtain. The moment when the shadow is the shortest is twelve o'clock at noon. The difficulty lies in the local time of another location with a known longitude.

Lin Hai's watch looks like a Casio nautical watch and has all the functions of this nautical watch. It can check the longitude of major cities in the world, including Macau and Taipei.The current time of the watch is Macau time. He calibrated it continuously for more than a month using the shortest shadow method in Haojing and took the average value.

So if you have a watch that can accurately keep time at sea, longitude measurement will become simpler than latitude measurement.But this was too difficult in the [-]th century. Whether it was the incense burning and engraved clocks in the East or the mechanical clocks in the West at this time, it was impossible to achieve accurate timing on a bumpy ship.

After all, a four-minute error is one longitude difference, which is equivalent to two hundred miles in low-latitude waters.With the timing accuracy of this era, longitude navigation will lead to Java.

(End of this chapter)