At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 339, The Age of Discovery and Spice Island
On March 15, the sixth year of the Han Dynasty, Kuaiji County, Yin County, military port dock.

The entire fleet of the South China Sea Navy is docked here. A large number of porters on the dock are busy carrying drinking water, food, weapons and equipment, canvas, hemp rope, spare ship planks and everything they think they can use.

Luan Bu shouted: "Bring vegetables, oranges, tea leaves, and soybeans that can be soaked to make bean sprouts. These things can prevent plague at sea."

Sailors sailing on the sea cannot get supplements of fruits and vegetables. Septicemia is the disease that needs to be prevented most. Xu Fan remembers that the best way to prevent sepsis is to supplement vitamins. Of course, in this era, the most we can do is to supplement some fruits and vegetables, but vegetables and fruits The storage time is limited, the tea can be brewed and drank, which should supplement some vitamins.

He probably knew this much, and he didn't know if it would be useful, so he asked Luan Bu and the others to prepare.

At this time, Xu Lu, a member of the Nanhai Navy, walked up to Luan Bu and asked, "General, who made your sextant?"

Xu Lu came from the technical family of Lingtaicheng of Qi State during the Warring States Period. Their family was specialized in observing astronomical legislation. Originally astronomical technology was used to assist agriculture, but ancient people liked to associate the reincarnation of dynasties with astronomy. Therefore, the Tianwen family can also be regarded as magic sticks.

After the fall of the Qi State, families like the Xu family that specialized in observing astronomy and legislation became useless, and the entire family was defeated. The Xu family relied on astronomical knowledge to point the course for fishermen and became navigators. I can just make a living.

But the Xu family had a talented stickman named Xu Fu. Relying on his knowledge of the East China Sea, he fooled the First Emperor into a daze and lived a wealthy life for several years.

Everyone knows the following story: The First Emperor asked Xu Fu to make the elixir of immortality. Where could Xu Fu get it? He could only deceive the dead emperor and say that the elixir of immortality was in the Penglai Fairy Mountain in the East China Sea. He asked the First Emperor to build a sea ship, and finally took three thousand boys and girls with him. Escape.

Seeing this scene, Zhao Tuo was frightened. Over the years, the Han emperor continued to enfeoff the princes in Qianzhong County. These Han princes absorbed barbarians and expanded their territories, which made Zhao Tuo extremely angry.

Zhao Tuo led his guards to look at the big Han warship in the bend of the sea from a distance. Zhao Tuo saw that the entire ship presented a graceful streamline shape, with a length of more than ten feet, a height of more than three feet, a mast height of more than ten feet, and densely packed sails. The battleship stood in the bay like a giant.

Luan Bu looked at Xu Lu and said: "The emperor immediately ordered the officials of Qin Tianjian to make it to locate the position of ships at sea."

March 17, the sixth year of the Han Dynasty.

"Is it really the Han fleet?"

The Xu family was worried about being implicated by Xu Fu, so they kept their names anonymous. After learning that Da Qin had been destroyed by Xu Fan, he was born in the past six months.

At this point, the ancient Yelang Kingdom, which had a history of hundreds of years, perished.

"promise!"

Zhao Tuo said sternly: "Your Majesty can also talk nonsense. Today, only the emperor can call you your majesty. He must be called king."

The soldier said: "Your Majesty, the fleet coming is smaller than a house, and the largest warship is bigger than your palace. Except for the Han Dynasty, other countries cannot have such large warships."

The leader and nobles of Yelang Kingdom were escorted to Chang'an City.

With the star migration technique, the ship can walk in a straight line in the vast sea instead of meandering along the coastline.

In the past half year or so, in addition to the general strike, there have been many other exciting events in Dahan.

"Prime Minister!" Zhao Tuo said.

The Han Dynasty began to expand its territory in both the north and south directions, which greatly stimulated the Han Dynasty's military. Luan Bu also wanted to conquer his enemies and destroy a country.

Zhao Tuo could only be respectful to the Han Emperor externally. After all, he would accumulate strength internally and develop the power of the South Vietnam State so that the South Vietnam State could protect itself.

Luan Bu set out from Yinxian County with battleships of size 15 and 15, and marched all the way south to the Han army's Ryukyu Port. After replenishing water and vegetables, he headed south.

Xu Lu said with an ugly expression: "Xu Fu is no longer a member of a certain family."

He was also full of resentment towards Xu Fu. They did not enjoy the glory and wealth, but they were so frightened that they could enjoy it. If Bao Qin had not been destroyed, they would still be hiding in the mountains and old forests.

After Xu Fan gathered these talents, he told them the longitude and latitude theories of later generations and the starry sky positioning theory. Then, relying on their family's hundreds of years of experience in observing the starry sky, these people came up with the star migration technique, which can roughly locate the longitude and latitude of ships in the sea.

There are only a few people in the Seven Kingdoms who know astronomy, and since today’s surname is Xu, I can’t blame him for having such an idea.

"When you go to entertain the Han angels, be sure to respond to their requests. If the angels ask about me, just tell me that I went to inspect the South Vietnam Kingdom." Zhao Tuo was now afraid that the Han army would give him a beheading, so he did not dare to get close, not even to Panyu. However, he did not dare to offend the Han fleet, for fear that they would find an excuse to attack his South Vietnam directly, so he simply found an excuse not to see them.

After Xu Fan learned that the Xu family knew astronomy, some of them were stationed in the Qintian Prison and some were placed on the naval fleet. After all, if the fleet in this era wanted to go to sea, it could only rely on astronomers who knew astrology.

The emperor made the leader of Yelang Kingdom a viscount and granted him a house and a thousand acres of fertile land. The nobles of Yelang Kingdom were demoted to commoners.

Fortunately, in this era, astronomical knowledge has not been blocked, and the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period all have professional families and talents who understand astronomical knowledge.

They only left their last memories in the history books of the Han Dynasty. On December 7, the fifth year of the Han Dynasty, Chen Guogong attacked Buchen and destroyed the Yelang Kingdom.

If this kind of warship attacks Panyu, he will definitely not be able to resist it. The so-called Meiling natural danger has become a joke.

After marching for ten days, the fleet arrived outside Panyu City. Such a huge fleet immediately silenced the entire bay.

When King Xiang Yu of Qi wanted to invite him to join forces to fight against the Han, he did think so.

When the South Vietnamese King Zhao Tuo heard the news, he was so frightened that he broke into a cold sweat.

Xu Lu hesitated and said: "Isn't today a descendant of a certain family?"

Luan Bu said with a smile: "Your Majesty is true to his word, how can he be in the same family as a liar like Xu Fu!"

However, the Han Emperor was too vigilant and the Han army was too powerful. Yingbu gathered 2 troops in Qianzhong County and stared at Meiling Pass. Zhao Tuo planned to wait and see, but he did not expect that the Han Emperor would destroy the army in one battle. King Qi, who had 30 yuan, was even more frightened now and did not dare to act rashly.

"I'm here!" Lu Jia stepped out and said.

After speaking, Zhao Tuo left his palace.

First of all, after the meeting of princes, Chen Xiao, the Duke of Chen, thought that Yelang was disrespectful to the emperor and wanted to rebel. Chen Guogong led the princes of Nanzhong to attack Yelang. The war went extremely smoothly. The Han princes allied forces pacified Yelang in one month.

Immediately afterwards, Lu Guogong took Weiman as his master and led the princes of Liaodong to destroy Weiman and carve up the 800-year-old Jizi country. Ji Zhun, the leader of the country, was canonized as a Jihou by the emperor and granted three thousand households. Ji Zhun was left by the emperor to live in Chang'an City for his retirement.

Instead, he continued to strengthen Meiling Pass to prevent the Han princes from invading the territory of the South Vietnam Kingdom. However, he had no way to deal with the tribes that were constantly being absorbed by the Han princes.

At the same time, Luan Bu looked at the city of Panyu with his telescope and sighed: "The South China Sea Fleet is still too weak. If there were five times more battleships, the Han Dynasty would have captured Panyu and destroyed the South Vietnam Kingdom."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

But the appearance of Han warships outside Panyu today broke his fantasy. If the Han emperor wanted to attack South Vietnam, he would not follow the old path of Qin at all, but would give him a beheading battle directly from the sea.

It is a pity that the current South China Sea Fleet does not have the strength to destroy the South Vietnam Kingdom. Putting aside the idea of ​​destroying Zhao Tuo, Luan Bu met with Lu Jia, the Prime Minister of South Vietnam, and told him that the South China Sea Fleet only wanted to replenish water and food in Panyu and would not make any other moves.

Of course, Lu Jia complied with Luan Bu's request and sent a batch of grain, vegetables, and clean water collected in Panyu to be delivered to the South China Sea Fleet.

Luan Bu's Nanhai Fleet was in Panyu, stayed for one day and then left.

Panyu is the last stop for supplies to the South China Sea Fleet.

For the next voyage, the South China Sea Fleet was under full sail, and the speed of the entire fleet suddenly became much faster. The 15 warships rode the wind and waves and headed south.

On the day they arrived in the South China Sea, Luan Bu and the others became extremely bored. In this era, the fire of civilization had just been ignited in most areas. There were only a handful of places that could be called countries. This area of ​​the South China Sea was even more populated by savages. Even the country None. In this case, it is naturally impossible for there to be any merchant ships or pirate ships in this sea area.

The South China Sea Fleet is like playing a single-player game at this time. Generally, they are the only one in the world.

On this waterway, every time several islands appeared, they were extremely excited and stopped to observe.

And Xu Lu marked the coordinates where they encountered the seabed on a brand new chart. The South China Sea Fleet is getting farther and farther away from the Han Dynasty's homeland. According to Xu Lu's calculations, their fleet is now three thousand miles away from Panyu.

Xu Lu hesitated and said: "Can we really find the Spice Island? Panyu is already the southernmost place of known civilization. How could anyone in the world have been to such a distant place? Will the emperor be deceived? Just like the First Emperor back then. Same?"

Luan Bu said disdainfully: "The First Emperor was doing it for his own selfish gain of immortality, but the Emperor was doing it for the sake of the world. How can they be the same? What's more, what the Emperor said will happen no matter how bizarre it is. We are waiting for the goal. Just move forward.”

"As long as we find the Spice Island, no one will dare to say that our Han Navy is useless."

Last year, the military reform almost came to an end. The military was extremely dissatisfied with the huge consumption of the navy. Not to mention the high cost of naval warships, there were no enemies on the sea, and they were not as good as fishing boats. At least fishing boats could bring fish to the big man.

These words greatly stimulated the naval admirals Peng Yue and Luan Bu. Luan Bu vowed to find the Spice Island this time, making everyone look at the Han Navy with admiration.

Xu Lu said: "If we really find the Spice Island, then the Han Navy will support the Han Army. Who would dare to complain."

There were very few varieties of spices in the Han Dynasty in this era, but each one was worth more than gold, just like the ambergris that Ye Teng got back then was as expensive as gold.

Precisely because spices are the world's top luxury goods, they have become one of the most important commodities in international trade at this time.

During the Qin Dynasty, although the Silk Road had not yet been opened, the spice trade had already appeared, but it was not as convenient as when the Silk Road was opened.

There are many Hu merchants in Chang'an City now. They brought goods from the Western Regions and even Persia to the Han Dynasty, and then returned to the Western Regions from the Han Dynasty with silk, tea and other luxury goods.

April 27, the sixth year of the Han Dynasty.

The South China Sea Fleet sailed at sea for a month and finally saw a large island.

After landing on the islands, Luan Bu and the others discovered how wealthy these islands were. Spices that were worth as much as gold in Chang'an City were used by local savages as firewood. Luan Bu was heartbroken when he saw this. He took out 10 pieces of linen and exchanged them for several thousand kilograms. of spices.

At first Luan Bu wanted to use silk bags to hold these spices, but soon he discovered that the island was full of spices and there was not enough silk, so he had to use linen bags to carry these precious spices.

Xu Lu was not interested in spices, so he exchanged linen for savage sandalwood. All kinds of wood that were extremely precious in the Han Dynasty only needed a piece of cloth in exchange.

Other navy soldiers couldn't help but use their knives, clothes and other items to trade with the savages. Both parties in this transaction felt that the other party was a fool, both parties laughed, and both parties got what they wanted. It was a win-win situation.

And when Xu Lu saw a special local bird, he knelt down and said: "There is a phoenix here!"

Luan Bu said excitedly: "This is why the Holy Emperor sent down so many phoenixes when he was still alive."

No wonder Luan Bu was so excited. This kind of bird looks so much like a phoenix. After the four long and colorful tail feathers flutter out in the sun, it shines like clouds. This is not called a phoenix. What kind of bird is called a phoenix? As for why these phoenixes are located in the wilderness. Luan Bu didn't care about it.

When they first came to the Spice Island, Luan Bu and the others picked spices themselves. Later, they became more sophisticated and hired savages to help them pick spices using knives and cloth handicraft products.

So the South China Sea Fleet was loading spices and precious wood at a rate of one ship per day.

Luan Bu ordered some soldiers to create a chart around the island, and at the same time sent spies to explore the island's special products.

It can be said that Luan Bu's mood will be very excited every time the cavalry team comes back.

"This island is so rich, with a mild climate, and a variety of precious spices and woods. It is a gift from God to me, the great man. If I don't take it, I will be blamed for it. The great man must station his troops here and declare that this island belongs to me. My big guy."

Xu Lu said: "The Han Dynasty has such a huge wealth on one island. There are so many islands in this sea area, how much wealth should there be? I, the Han Dynasty, are robbing desolate pastures with the barbarians. The wealth of this island is greater than that of the entire desert." Be rich."

Luan Bu suddenly realized: "The emperor still has the foresight. He has long known the wealth of the South China Sea, so even if the Han Dynasty has no place on the sea, the Emperor will support the development of the Han Dynasty navy."

Considering that the navy was established by the Han Dynasty at the founding of the country, it makes no sense if the emperor does not know the situation in the South China Sea.

What made Xu Lu confused was how the emperor knew about this sea area and could draw a sea map in advance. Could it be that the emperor's disciples had ever reached this sea area?
In the following days, Luan Bu recruited savages, cut down their numbers, built kilns, and began to build garrison fortresses.

When the South Sea navy was loaded with spices and other precious wood, the fort was built.

Luan Bu stationed 200 naval soldiers at this time and ordered them to make good relations with the local savages, explore the island's special products, and wait for the next arrival of the South China Sea Navy.

In the sixth year of Han Dynasty, May 27th.

The South China Sea Fleet, which stayed on the Spice Island for a month, was loaded with spices and began to rebel against the North. Because there was a nautical chart, they followed a straight line and headed towards Panyu.

The sixth year of Han Dynasty, June 21st.

The South China Sea Fleet came to Panyu again.

However, the arrival of the fleet this time not only did not cause panic among the people in the city, but instead caused the whole city to go crazy. The locals already knew what spice island the Han army was going to find.

At first, the South Vietnamese were extremely ridiculed, thinking that the Han Emperor was also starting to lose his mind. The First Emperor built a fleet to look for the elixir of life, and the Han Emperor built a fleet to look for spice islands for money.

Just for money, the Han Dynasty sent the most elite troops to the sea where life and death were uncertain. In terms of structure, there were not as many Han emperors as the First Emperor.

But when the fleet really came back, spices flowed into Panyu City, and all the nobles and wealthy merchants in the city went crazy. These were more than a dozen ships of spices, which in everyone's eyes were just a dozen ships of gold.

The noble merchants of South Vietnam rowed their small wooden boats close to the South China Sea Fleet, trying their best to trade some spices.

Luan Bu thought about it and took out half a boatload of spices to trade in Panyu.

Because he knew that such a large amount of spices entering the mainland of the Han Dynasty would definitely cause the price of spices to drop. If some spices could be sold in South Vietnam, it would be more beneficial to the South China Sea Fleet.

So the South China Sea Fleet stayed in Panyu for ten days, firstly to replenish supplies, and secondly to wait for merchants from Panyu to come to trade.

In these ten days, the South China Sea Fleet used spices to collect all the gold, silver, pearls, gems and other precious goods in the entire South Vietnam Kingdom, and then the fleet began to slowly move towards the Han Dynasty.

The sixth year of the Han Dynasty, July 17th.

Kuaiji County, Wuxian Wharf.

When the South China Sea General appeared at sea level.

"They're back!" The crowd on the dock roared.

The South China Sea Fleet stayed in Panyu for ten days, but the news that they had found the Spice Island and sold it in Panyu caused a sensation throughout the southern territory of the Han Dynasty, and was quickly spread to the Central Plains, Guanzhong and other places.

Caravans from Guanzhong, Hebei, Central Plains, and even Shuzhong are rushing to Kuaiji County like crazy. They all know that if they catch up with this trend, their caravans can soar into the sky.

So before Luan Bu and the others came back, countless merchants eagerly waiting for the spices had already gathered at Wujun Wharf.

The ships of the South China Sea Fleet slowly docked at the dock.

Luan Bu got off the boat and was filled with emotions for a moment. After all, he had been out for half a year.

But before he could say his emotional words, a merchant immediately called out: "General, I want 10,000 kilograms of spices. You have the final say on the price."

Another merchant also said: "We want 5000 kilograms."

"Where did the madman come from? The dogs are barking here. This is the spice that our Kuaiji County folks risked their lives to bring back. If you want to buy it, we Kuaiji County locals must buy it first. Do you understand the rules?"

"When doing business, the one with the highest price wins. Let Nai Gong see what rules your Kuaiji County has."

(End of this chapter)