Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 406: The First Person in Dongzhou

It has to be said that Beijing has been very "busy" in the past few months.

Whether it's good liveliness or bad liveliness, the pace of life in Beijing can easily make people feel lively.

Compared to their excitement, at this moment, two fleets separated from the Pacific Fleet were embarking on ocean journeys in two directions in central Africa.

In the winter months, as the southern hemisphere enters summer, the sea water temperature in the southern hemisphere begins to generally increase, and the westward flowing equatorial warm current is strengthened.

Different from the main fleet of the Pacific Ocean that has just arrived in Mugudushu and is preparing to cross the Indian Ocean to Ceylon, at this moment on the coast of central and western Africa, boxes of fruits and vegetables are being transported to more than ten sand ships on the beach. There were hundreds of Ming soldiers in armor standing on the shore, as well as thousands of black people who were happy to carry things.

On the sea, a fleet consisting of three treasure ships and ten horse ships was moored quietly.

Apart from Wang Ren and his advance team, there is probably no one else who can bring so many warships here.

"According to the movement of ocean currents, this is probably our last supply station. We need more supplies."

Wang Ren held the "Sea Chart" that had been revised countless times in his hand, and he said words that made everyone's hearts sink.

Taking a deep breath, Wang Ren turned around and began to order: "Go west, set sail!"

Seeing this, this man also knew what Wang Ren and the others liked, and continued to ask people to bring things from the tribe.

When he thought about the result of his transaction, the leader danced happily, feeling that those beautiful people on the sea were so easy to deceive.

Although the Han people pay attention to burial, in fact, most poor people do not have the so-called "earth" for burial, so they can only choose cremation to secretly bury their parents in the mountains.

Behind him, there were ingot-shaped brown sugar, simply sewn cloth, hundreds of spears, and more than a dozen iron pots placed together. The Kunlun people guarding them were holding spears in their hands and wearing cloth clothes, watching with vigilance. All around, I was afraid that someone would snatch these things away.

According to the news coming from the south, a group of beautiful-looking people will come to the land from the sea. If the tribesmen worship sincerely, they will give back many sharp weapons and tools for cooking delicious food. Lots of stuff as sweet as honey.

At this time, the more than 20 sand boats they brought had been filled with fruits, vegetables, and even a few fruit trees.

For those who died in the battle, Wang Ren burned them and collected them into urns in accordance with the rules of the navy, preparing to return their ashes to their families after returning to the Ming Dynasty.

"Isn't it easy to fool him?" Wang Ren smiled and patted his shoulder, then looked at the seemingly peaceful blue sea.

Standing next to the leader, a man who looked like a wizard also picked up the brown sugar and took a lick, feeling the sweetness. He instantly fell in love with the brown sugar and said at the same time:
"Now that we have these things, we should be able to conquer tribes that don't have them."

After the Kunlun man got these things, he immediately drew his sword and made several gestures with joy. He even used it to chop down the trees along the coastline. He couldn't put it down.

When Wang Ren saw this, he turned and looked to his side.

Following Wang Ren's order, the fleet began to set sail and headed west along the warm current.

"These people are really stupid. They exchanged so little for so many good things, hahaha..."

But looking at the group of uncastrated wild boars, Wang Ren immediately gestured that they were not needed. Instead, Wang Ren accepted the sheep they brought.

Despite the language barrier, the hand gestures can roughly express one's own meaning no matter what era it is placed in.

Thinking of this, he happily fiddled with the sword in his hand.

While they were alert, Wang Ren completed three more transactions with the leader of their tribe. It wasn't until the fleet's cabin was filled with food that Wang Ren waved goodbye to them and returned to the sand ship.

"Yes! Yes!" The leader responded with a smile. At the same time, he picked up the spear and waved it twice, grinning and saying:
"When I conquer other tribes, I will come back here to exchange things with them."

Wang Ren couldn't help but sigh in his heart when he thought of those brothers who died in battle, were acclimatized, and died of illness.

Of course, as long as the soldiers who could join the army did not die in battle just after joining the army, they would basically have no shortage of burial land. After all, the Ming army was well treated.

Of course, during this period, they also encountered tribes who were jealous of their supplies and launched attacks on them.

Without Wang Ren opening his mouth, the soldiers drove the more than twenty sand ships to the sea and transported all the supplies to the big ships.

It's just that the further north you go, the more tribes are good at using poison. Therefore, compared with the more than 1,036 people who set out at the beginning, there are only 957 people left now.

Watching Wang Ren and the others rowing away, the man laughed wildly and ran back to the shore, laughing at the hundreds of spears and dozens of iron pots, as well as brown sugar and ready-made clothes.

In the past few months, they traveled all the way north, searching for various tribes and then exchanging supplies through gestures.

After that, he signaled to set up an animal skin tent here. Once anyone appears on the sea again, he must be notified to trade.

There, a Kunlun man wearing a Han military uniform was waiting for him to sign with a smile. Wang Ren didn't waste any time and directly handed the sword on his waist to him, and at the same time asked someone to hand over the iron pot and ready-made clothes to him.

"Good morning, leave early..."

"This group of natives are too easy to fool. Hundreds of badly worn spears and iron pots, as well as the remaining clothes we wore, were all exchanged for so many things."

Watching them rowing away, the man on the other end ran after him and ran into the sea, waving excitedly:
"Come again next time. I still have endless fruits and prey here. As long as you come, I can exchange them for you cheaper!!"

Soon, the Kunlun people of this tribe continued to deliver supplies and even brought their captive livestock.

On the deck, when Wang Ren returned to the boat, the scribe in charge of recording complained:
"These supplies are enough for us to eat for two months, especially the more than 60 sheep and three cows. It is enough for the brothers to save for half a month."

"Beep--"

However, the fate of these tribes is basically destruction.

Compared to everyone else, Wang Ren looked very calm.

The leader didn't expect that he could bump into this group of beautiful-looking people, but after communicating, he didn't expect that the rumors were true.

However, when you are overseas and want to bring your colleagues back home, you can only choose this method.

When he came back with a smile, Wang Ren gestured and gestured, quickly letting the man know that Wang Ren still needed more resources, so he immediately nodded with a smile and began to greet the tribesmen in the distance loudly.

Although Wang Ren didn't know them, they heard legends about Wang Ren from the south.

He looked at the Kunlun people who were carrying things, and slowly put away the charts.

Time passed little by little, and gradually they began to lose sight of the land.

When the land completely disappeared from everyone's sight, everyone's hearts sank and they were filled with anxiety.

They were traveling on a channel that had never been traveled before and could not provide help.

What lies ahead of this channel, no one knows.

As the land disappeared, the laughter and laughter in the fleet disappeared, and everyone became taciturn.

Time passes little by little, from noon to dusk, from dusk to night.

Until late at night, Wang Ren, who was sitting in the cabin of the boat, began to calculate his sailing distance.

The sea, desert, and snowfields are undoubtedly the easiest places to lose your way. Wang Ren calculated based on the speed of his group's previous coastal navigation. They can now walk almost twenty miles per hour, which is about 240 miles a day.

If there is nothing wrong with the drawings given by the imperial court, we can reach the northeastern part of Dongzhou in one and a half months.

Of course, the premise of this speed is that there is no storm.

Thinking of this, Wang Ren felt his mouth was dry, he rubbed his brows and then returned to bed to rest.

Although he was still tossing and turning in bed and had difficulty falling asleep, as his sleepiness deepened, he still fell asleep.

He felt that he had only fallen asleep for a while, then he felt the ship's hull shaking and he sat up suddenly.

When he ran out of the ship's room, he saw that there was a violent storm outside. Waves of more than ten feet kept coming, and each time they seemed to overturn the warship.

He tried his best to instruct the brothers to adjust the boat, but there was only the noise of the crowd and the sound of the waves around him. All his instructions seemed to be in vain, without any response.

Finally, under a wave of tens of feet, the boat he was riding capsized into the sea...

Suddenly, he suddenly sat up in the sea, and when he reacted, he appeared on the bed in the cabin.

Sunlight poured in through the crack in the door, and it was only then that Wang Ren realized that everything he had just experienced was just a dream.

He reached out and touched his forehead, and fine beads of sweat covered his hand.

"Wang Ren, after all you have been on the battlefield and killed so many people, but now you are scared like this by a nightmare..."

Wang Ren laughed at himself, then stood up and put on his robe, opened the door and walked onto the deck with narrowed eyes.

The blue sky, white clouds and the sound of waves in the sea instantly brought him back to reality. The seabirds staying on the mast were particularly conspicuous.

"Qianhu, are you awake?"

"What time is it now?"

The scribe who got up early walked towards Wang Ren. Wang Ren glanced at the dazzling sun. Although he had already made a guess, he still subconsciously asked.

"It's 9:30, just in time for breakfast."

The scribe replied with a smile, but his smile was a little tired.

Seeing this, Wang Ren looked at the brothers around him. Although they were all working at their posts, they always yawned from time to time. Obviously, no one could sleep well last night.

"In total, we have been walking for about eleven hours."

Wang Ren looked around and suddenly felt that he had nothing to do, so he took off his clothes, asked someone to put down the boat net, and jumped into the sea.

The waves were splashing everywhere. Wang Ren, who only dreamed of sinking in the sea last night, now used practical actions to overcome his inner demons.

He grabbed the boat net with one hand and followed his legs with the other hand. It was very effortless to swim like this.

After persisting like this for about a quarter of an hour, Wang Rencai, wearing a pair of underpants, grabbed the boat net and climbed up.

Nothing thrilling happened, he returned to the deck safely, and his actions undoubtedly relieved many navy brothers who had nightmares and fear of the sea last night.

"There's nothing scary about this sea. It's not even as exciting as the sea in Malacca."

Wang Ren wiped himself clean and put on his clothes to encourage everyone's morale. Although it seems trivial, it makes many soldiers no longer worry about this unknown sea.

On the way back to the cabin, Wang Ren saw a special person, so he opened his mouth and said, "Hong Bao, what are you setting up the table to write there?"

"Huh?" Hearing Wang Ren's words, a eunuch wearing eunuch's clothes raised his head. He was only twenty-seven or seventy-eight years old. Although he was young, he had already participated in three ocean-going missions, including the voyages to the East and the West. His qualifications were as high as Wang Ren is as old as him.

"I plan to write down all my experiences during this trip to Dongzhou. When I get older, I can read it while I'm lying down at home."

Hong Bao had red lips and white teeth. If Wang Ren didn't have a habit of cutting sleeves, he might have been fascinated by this guy.

"You didn't include what I just put on my pants and jumped into the sea, did you?"

Wang Ren stepped forward to take a look, but Hong Bao laughed and scolded: "Even if you jump off with your butt naked, I won't bother to write."

"Fart!" Wang Ren smiled and looked away, because Hong Bao seemed to have just started writing, so there was not much content in it. It was just a record of his psychological pressure at the beginning of the voyage and how to relieve the pressure.

"Go back to the cabin. When you finish writing, you can show it to me. If it's good, I'll pay for it to be printed for you. We'll pay 50/50."

Wang Ren cheekily teased, but Hong Bao smiled and said: "Okay, we'll give it 50-50 when the time comes."

Because Zhu Gaoxu measured the acres of land, replaced officials, and rectified the methods of government administration, the people of the Ming Dynasty gradually had spare money in their hands.

Coupled with the promotion of official education, novels have undoubtedly become a way of entertainment for many students of official education.

For example, novels such as "The Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "The Romance of the End of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties", "The Story of Sansui Pingyao", "The Complete Story of Water Margin" and so on were released one after another.

A single novel of more than ten texts only costs one or two days' wages. Many students working part-time jobs can buy one, and it is not expensive.

If Hong Bao really made money from his writing, Wang Ren would be embarrassed to take his money.

"Forget it, if you really don't have money for printing, come to me. I am also a thousand-household official after all."

Wang Ren patted Hong Bao on the shoulder, and Hong Bao also smiled and said: "When I go back this time, I'm afraid it will be Commander Wang who makes the envoy."

"Thank you for your good words." Wang Ren returned to the cabin with a smile, and Hong Bao also went back to rest after briefly recording.

The next few days of their voyage were uneventful, until they encountered a storm on the sixth day of the voyage.

A horse-drawn boat was overturned by the waves. Fortunately, the ship did not sink too quickly, and everyone and most of the supplies were taken back to other horse-drawn boats.

Although there were no casualties, the capsizing of the ship plunged the fleet, which had finally become active, into a slump.

This time was different from the last voyage. Although Wang Ren tried his best to adjust the atmosphere, the atmosphere could not get back to the past.

Half a month passed, and all the fruits and vegetables, whether easy to store or not, were eaten up, leaving only a small amount of vegetables grown in large tanks on the ships to support the fleet.

Another half month passed, and the fresh water was almost exhausted visibly. Hong Bao took the scribe to find Wang Ren.

In one month, Wang Ren became visibly thinner and tired.

"According to the voyage, we have sailed at least seven thousand miles, but now we haven't seen any islands or continents. Lao Wangyou said..."

Hong Bao hesitated to speak, but Wang Ren said: "Even if we return, we can't go back now, so we can only grit our teeth and persevere."

"Besides, the charts originally show that there are not many islands in the South Atlantic..."

"But we only have enough fresh water to last for nine days." Hong Bao said this, and Wang Ren also closed his eyes:
"Starting today, each person will be given a quota of two kilograms of water."

"Okay..." Hong Bao left helplessly. Now he didn't even think about writing his own storybook, he just wanted to see the island and the mainland in front of him.

After he left, the news of the fresh water quota undoubtedly plunged the entire fleet into an unprecedented downturn.

Gradually, people became more and more irritable.

If they hadn't been lucky enough to find an island with fresh water dripping from caves to replenish it, they wouldn't even know how they would have spent these days.

However, although replenishing fresh water solved the urgent need, it also consumed a lot of time.

On the forty-second day after leaving Kunlun Island, they left the island named Tamsui Island.

This time they replenished enough fresh water for fifteen days, but if they did not encounter the next island where they could replenish fresh water, they would be completely lost at sea.

Therefore, not long after the fleet set sail, Hong Bao and the scribe found Wang Ren.

This time they did not discuss it, but directly said: "After eight days of sailing west this time, if we still can't see the mainland, then we will return to Tamsui Island to replenish fresh water, and then return to the official site of Cape Kunlun."

"Okay!" Wang Ren did not object like last time, because even though he was as determined as he was, he couldn't help but doubt the authenticity of the "Hai Chart" at this moment.

Perhaps, Dongzhou is just an existence randomly recorded in ancient books.

With this in mind, Wang Ren also began to order to sail westward at full speed, and spread the news that he would embark on a return voyage after eight days without finding Dongzhou.

After receiving this news, all the naval officers breathed a sigh of relief, so no one said anything about returning home in the next few days.

Time passed little by little, from the first day to the third day, to the fifth day, to the sixth day...

When the seventh day came and Wang Ren and the others did not find any continent, even he himself gave up completely.

"We will search for the last day tomorrow. If we can't find it, just return..."

At dusk, watching the sun gradually sink into the sea level, Wang Ren also conveyed the military order to return tomorrow.

They have done everything they can, and now they really do not dare to continue sailing, because some people on the ship have begun to suffer from illness due to insufficient supply of vegetables.

Wang Ren returned to the ship's cabin, while the navy officers remained at their posts.

However, it seemed that God did not want them to find Dongzhou. In the early morning of the next day, a large area of ​​heavy fog appeared on the sea. The fleet sailed for two hours from early morning without seeing any useful information.

Time passed little by little, and when Wang Rendu decided to order the return voyage, his ship suddenly began to bump.

"what happened?!"

Wang Ren asked hurriedly, holding on to the railing tightly. Several soldiers were caught off guard and fell to the deck.

An accident occurred on the ship, and other ships began to furl their sails and sent sand boats to the sea for inspection.

"It hit a rock, it's a large group of rocks!"

On the sand ship, the soldiers' words were full of surprise, and the navy officers who heard the words also looked at each other, no longer panicking.

Large-scale reef groups are only found in shallow sea areas, which means this is probably an island!
"Put down all the sand ships and let's search together. This heavy fog won't clear for a while!"

Wang Ren shouted excitedly, but without his command, the soldiers put down their sand ships and searched around the fleet.

They searched offshore along the reefs, and soon a returning torch appeared in the thick fog.

"Beep--"

The sound of the wooden whistle seemed so sweet at this moment, and the little flag officer holding the torch said excitedly: "I discovered an island, a big island!"

"Pass my military order, four hundred households, A, B, C and D, will follow me on a sand boat to land. The rest of the people are waiting on the boat!"

After Wang Ren said this, he grabbed the boat net and got off the boat, ordering the soldiers to slide the sand boat to the island.

Hong Bao, scribes and others also took sand boats and headed towards the island.

After a while, woods appeared and a mountain wall that was difficult to climb.

"This is not the place to go to the island, sail around the island!"

Wang Ren was experienced and saw that this island was not a desert island and that there was probably a shallow sea area where sand boats could dock, so he led more than forty sand boats to start sailing around the island.

Not long after, they found a bay suitable for landing on the west side of the island, and also saw an island on the west side of the island. However, the fog was too heavy and they could not see the whole picture.

Not wanting to be greedy, they landed on the first island they discovered.

On the beach, many coconut trees appeared in front of everyone's eyes for the first time.

At this time, Wang Ren showed off his skills, climbed up the tree like a monkey, chopped down five or six coconuts in one go.

Other soldiers followed suit, and soon they all drank the refreshing coconut juice.

"Comfortable!"

After drinking a coconut juice, Wang Ren led the people to walk into the woods. They were very nervous along the way, especially when they saw fire starting to appear in front of them. They even blew the wooden whistle in advance to tell the other party that someone was coming.

"Beep……"

The slow whistle made a noise from beyond the fire.

Wang Ren and the others stood there and waited for a while. After a while, the fire began to get closer.

In the thick fog, a man wearing a palm skirt, feathers on his head, and paint on his face appeared from the woods in front of Wang Ren and others.

The man was less than five feet tall and held a stone spear in his hand. He looked at Wang Ren and his group of people warily.

"Uh-huh!!"

The man suddenly shouted, and in an instant, thousands of people like them emerged from the surrounding jungle, instantly surrounding Wang Ren and the others.

They were full of gunpowder, and facing their pressing advances, the Ming army soldiers formed formations one after another.

A nervous native thrust out his stone spear. When the people next to him saw it, they tried to pull him, but they were a step too slow.

Just when everyone thought that blood was about to bloom, the stone spear stopped on the surface of the armor.
For a moment, all the natives were stunned on the spot...

(End of this chapter)