Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Wang Heizi has arrived in Basra.

The ship has made all preparations for sailing, and everyone is busy with joy on their faces.

four years ago!Wang Heizi sighed, do you know how I have lived these four years?
On the sea, the waves are dangerous, and the flat navy ships that sailed together were separated in the storm.After the rain cleared, only one boat was found, and the other boat disappeared. After searching for a long time, they couldn't find it, as if it had never appeared before.

The disappearance above the sea, the ending is self-evident, and everyone is overwhelmed.

They also encountered pirates on the road. After a fight, they broke through the interception, but lost another ship, and the officials of the Honglu Temple who accompanied the ship were also killed, and even their credentials were lost...

All in all, it's annoying and disturbing.

Now the only ones left in the entire mission were Wang Heizi, a few low-level officials from Honglu Temple, and several small naval officers. Among them, Wang Heizi had the highest official rank, even though he was a casual official.

After docking, they were imprisoned first, without explanation, and the remaining cargo was confiscated, because they could not produce any official identification.

The entire detention process lasted for more than a year, and then the big cannibal released them and returned the goods—the goods had already been sold, so they could only be compensated with money.

Wang Heizi and the others were completely confused.

I don't know why I was arrested, and I don't know why I was released, and there is no one to explain.It was only vaguely heard that an official mission had arrived in Baghdad, was welcomed by the caliph, and was released.

But I heard that the mission did not stay for long.Because they wanted to go to the Palace of Wisdom to transcribe books, the caliph was quite vigilant. In the end, he only showed them the observatory, gave them a few camel books, and then sent them off.

Wang Heizi was sure that with the stinginess of a big cannibal, those few camel books were definitely not good products, most of them were local customs, travel prose or even scriptures.

"A bunch of impoverished ghosts!" Wang Heizi spat at the sea and walked along the deck.

It is an old ship, built in Basra.

There is no way, they are now also a group of "poor ghosts who are buckling".After all the money to buy this second-hand boat, even people can't even get together.Fortunately, an aristocrat in Basra was very interested in Bactria and invited them to be guests many times to hear stories from the East.Before leaving, he generously gave them ten Slavic slaves. After a brief training, they were barely able to start the boat.

"Work hard, I will treat you well." Wang Heizi looked at the Slavic slaves who were cleaning the deck, and said in Chinese, regardless of whether they could understand or not.

Uh, of course the slaves didn't understand, but they nodded instinctively.

Wang Heizi walked away proudly.

He is very clear about the mentality of the slaves.I am not from any civilized country, so I have low self-esteem and contempt for myself. After being captured, I feel even worse.

Wang Heizi didn't know how much these people had suffered and how many whips they had suffered in the farms of the big food nobles, but judging from their obedience, it was obvious that they had been tamed to obey.

Slavs, I heard that they are slaves. They have been unable to stand up for thousands of years and have been bullied by people from all walks of life. It is really a bit miserable.

"Practice climbing high." When he got under the mast, Wang Heizi set up an awning and looked up.

The sailor responded loudly.

He is from Xia, but he was just a cook before, and he survived until now, so it is impossible for him to change his career to be a lookout.

"Now the weather is calm and the sea is calm, and you are climbing so awkwardly." Wang Heizi stood under the mast for a while, sighed, and cursed: "When the sea is flooded, how are you going to climb? Do you dare to climb? Are you afraid?" It’s because getting a monkey is quicker than your hands and feet.”

The lookout dared not speak, and sat in the mast basket tremblingly, adapting to the shaking at high altitude.

Wang Heizi looked at it for a while, and then returned to the captain's cabin cursing.

"General Wang."

"Zhang Dianke."

Wang Heizi and Zhang Yong, orderer of Honglu Temple Destination Office, bowed to each other.

Dian Keling is an official position from the seventh rank, but it is actually not that big.But there is no way, they are the biggest officials now.Recalling the difficulties and obstacles along the way, ups and downs, it is like a dream.

"I'm going back to my country," Wang Heizi said.

"Yes." Zhang Yong, who was writing a book, put down his brush and sighed softly.

The voyage of tens of thousands of miles seems out of reach, but no one can stop their determination to return home.

This trip has some regrets.

They went to Baghdad, but they didn't see the caliph, not even the high officials, and they had to return dismayed.

The Daxia mission, which was spreading rumors in the north, has also left long ago.

They were escorted to the border by the Khazars, and after submitting their credentials, they waited for half a year before they were allowed to enter the country.

The subsequent situation is not very clear. I heard that they have left the country and headed to "Rome".

What can Zhang Yongneng say?We can only hope that they go well.

Was this mission a success?

It may be successful, or it may not be successful. This can only be judged by saints or even future generations.

As far as they are concerned, the ultimate has been achieved.

It's time to go home.

******
After exchanging pleasantries with Zhang Yong, Wang Heizi entered his captain's cabin and opened a tightly locked box.

There are no gold, silver, treasures, or silk in the box, but more plant seeds, the most important of which are some plants called "kava" by the big cannibals.This is what the sage specifically asked for, and his old man called it "coffee."

In fact, in the cabin, there are some coffee trees cultivated with water and soil.Because Wang Heizi doesn't know whether these seeds can germinate, so he would rather spend precious fresh water to cultivate the transplanted plants-how long they can live.

And in order to find coffee, they really took a lot of trouble.

They once drove the last intact ship, under the guidance of the guide, sailed westward to a place called "Maliba" (now Ma'rib, Yemen).

This is an important commercial port, even more prosperous than Basra. It is likely to be one of the largest ports in the Great Food Kingdom, gathering businessmen from all over the world, and it is the most important distribution center for fragrant medicines in the Great Food Kingdom.

It's not easy to find coffee here.It took several months for Wang Heizi and his team to find it in a farm and bought it with a lot of money.

The owner of the farm was more than willing to sell it, because it was "not useful".

He told Wang Heizi and his party that "Kava" came from the plateau across the sea.When the local shepherds were sleepy, they would pick a few fruits from the trees and chew them in their mouths. It is said that they can refresh themselves.

But he recommends another leaf—or grass—that is native to Maliba: khat.

After chewing this kind of grass, people will be full of vigor and energy, and even have hallucinations and start dancing.After the energy passes, people start to slump, which is very "magical".

After eating grass for a long time, it will also be extremely addictive. A small amount of grass is not enough at all, and you need to eat a lot.

As soon as Wang Heizi heard it, he knew it was a "poisonous weed".After hearing that the caliph of Baghdad also banned the spread of this grass, he politely declined because it was too evil.

Eventually he left Maliba with coffee seeds and dozens of saplings and returned to Basra.

Unfortunately, the ship hit the rocks on the river bank by mistake when entering the port, ran aground and sank.

Fortunately, most of the property and seeds were rescued.They transplanted the coffee saplings to the farms outside Basra and did not pick them up until they set off.

Everything has been settled and it is time to leave.

Wang Heizi locked the box, returned to the deck, and looked at the land in the distance.

After leaving Basra, sail east across the Fars Sea (Persian Gulf) into the Lar Sea (Arabian Sea) and then south around Tianzhu to enter the Khalgan Sea (Bay of Bengal).

Between the Haergan Sea and the Laer Sea, there are dotted islands, and it is said that there are nearly [-] islands.

This route was bought from the big cannibal.

Wang Heizi turned over a chart and stood facing the wind on the deck.

There is also a book under his armpit. It is said that it was written by a Persian official and geographer from the Great Food Kingdom. The book was written seven or eighty years ago.It was top secret at the beginning, but after so many years, even top secret books have spread. The Sogdian translator who accompanied the ship spent a year translating all the works of this person.

The name of the book held by Wang Heizi was translated as "Dao Li Bang Guo Zhi", which recorded in detail the great cannibal's voyages to the Far West countries (Spain, France), Ross, Tianzhu, Land Below the Wind, Champa, China, The knowledge of Silla, Japan and other places can correspond to the bought charts, which has considerable reference value.

The book records that the first port that entered China was Longbian (near Hanoi, Vietnam today). It also mentions the three major ports of Quanzhou, Yangzhou, and Guangzhou.

It was after reading these charts and books that Wang Heizi felt admiration for the great achievements of the big cannibals in the voyages.

Many nautical books, travel notes, and experience records are sold publicly in the local area.

Although the charts are not sold publicly, it is not difficult to get a few copies from the seafarers.

Before setting off, the sage asked them to record the customs and customs along the way, draw charts and maps, and they did so.

And these publicly purchased books really helped a lot.Write down what you have seen, heard, and been to, and then refer to other people's content, and a book will almost come out.

Now that most of the tasks have been completed, it is time for them to leave Dashi and return to their homeland in the Central Plains.

Four years apart, I don't know what year the Central Plains Jinxi is, and whether the old man, the saint, is still there.

On May 25, the ship slowly left the port of Basra and entered the deep sea.

Wang Heizi stood on the front deck, smug and calm.

If they can return to the country smoothly, everyone's wealth will be indispensable.And he is destined to no longer be a penniless and humble person.

Without a doubt, it was a great voyage!