Father can be an enemy to the country

"What do you mean by half? You don't even know whether your subordinates are alive or dead, so what do you do for food?!" King Chu turned on the roaring mode, as if he wanted to eat people.

"This subordinate deserves to die!" Yu Tongyuan quickly stood still, bowed his head and confessed.

Han Yike and others were also silent, and no one dared to speak for Yu Tongyuan.

His Royal Highness the King of Chu was really angry this time. He had worked hard until now, all in order to revive Shibosi.

His brothers sold iron and steel to finance ten seagoing ships, as well as the goods on board... well, he didn't pay for it, the capital was paid by his brothers. As a result, the first time I went to sea, I broke four pieces. How could he explain this to his brothers?

How should we face the old thief's gloating face? !

"First tell me clearly what happened!" After his anger subsided, Lao Liu said with a dark face.

"Yes." Yu Tongyuan quickly said:

"On February 2, we set off from Liujiagang, first along the coast all the way south to Guangzhou, and then under the guidance of Mr. Wang, we went straight to Nanyang via Champa. Because we were not familiar with the navigation route, we arrived at Sanfo two months later. together……"

~~

At this point in the development of Chinese navigation, both shipbuilding technology and navigation technology were unparalleled in the world and far ahead.

Especially in the middle and late Song Dynasty, after the maritime ban on Chinese merchants was lifted and "passive" international trade was transformed into "active" international trade, Chinese merchants quickly replaced the maritime advantages of Arab merchants and established maritime trade routes extending in all directions. From the coast of Japan in the east to the Persian Gulf in the west, Song Dynasty merchants and merchant ships were present in all important ports in Asia and Africa.

In the Song Dynasty, the routes to various countries were basically direct. For example, if you take the direct route from Quanzhou across the South China Sea to Java, you can reach Java in just over a month.

The food routes to Arabia and East Africa are also direct crossings. The ship departs from Guangzhou and the entire journey takes one hundred days.

Moreover, the Song Dynasty government specially stipulated that if ships on the Nanyang route returned to China within five months, and ships on the Dashi route could return to China within 12 months, they would be given a 'tax exemption', that is, a tariff reduction reward to stimulate Ocean vessel turnover speed.

Wang Dayuan also told the King of Chu that the three richest overseas countries were Dashi, Jampo and Srivijaya in order. The most lucrative profits can be obtained by trading with these three countries.

Zhu Zhen knew that the great food was Arabia, but he couldn't figure out who the latter two countries were.

After studying the hand-drawn world map with Wang Dayuan for a long time, they basically determined that Zapo should control the Sunda Strait on Java Island or Sumatra Island.

Srivijaya should be in the Malay Peninsula and controls the Strait of Malacca.

Then Zhu Zhen understood that these two countries controlled the chokepoint between the West and Southeast Asia and engaged in large-scale transit trade. How could they not be rich?

In fact, the same goes for food...

During the Chinese New Year, Zhu Zhen and Wang Dayuan discussed and decided that for the first long voyage of the municipal fleet, it would be better to be conservative and first open up the Nanyang route.

In this way, it was still a north wind when we set out, and when we returned, it became a south wind. It happened to be a tail wind coming and going.

It was the first time that the municipal fleet went to sea and it was able to reach its destination in two months. The performance was actually satisfactory.

~~

"After arriving in Srivijaya, we were warmly welcomed by the locals. Later, the local Chinese said that we were the first batch of Suzhou ships to arrive this year." Yu Tongyuan continued.

"Suzhou ship?" Zhu Zhen's long-term interrogation work in Suzhou made Zhu Zhen perfect at choosing words.

"The locals call the boats coming from the south of the Yangtze River Suzhou boats." Yu Tongyuan replied.

"It's not called a Chinese ship, so there are more than just ships from the south of the Yangtze River?" Zhu Zhen asked.

"Yes, there are also Quanzhou ships and Guangzhou ships." Yu Tongyuan said: "These two ships have not been broken yet. When we were in Srivijaya, we saw a dozen of them. But they don't have Jiangnan silk, which is the most popular. Hot item.

"So soon, we sold out the goods on the ship and, following Mr. Wang's instructions, purchased Nanyang goods such as pepper, hematoxylin, camphor, coral, sandalwood, rhinoceros horn, etc. We also repaired the ship. Return after the first day of May."

"It was already a southerly day when we returned, so the wind was smooth and the sailing speed was very fast. We arrived in Qiongzhou in half a month, and then passed Fuzhou without incident. In addition, the harvest from this trip was extremely rich, so everyone was very happy." said At this point, Yu Tongyuan's expression became depressed and he said:

"Who would have thought that when we were about to enter the sea of ​​Zhejiang, something happened on the sea off the Fuyao Islands..."

~~

A few days ago.

On the vast expanse of blue waters of the East China Sea, there are scattered a series of islands, large and small. This is the Fuyao Islands that strangles the throat of the Fujian-Zhejiang Sea Road.

"After passing these islands, we will reach Zhejiang." On the forecastle of the flagship ship, Yu Tongyuan put away his telescope and announced loudly to his men.

The ship was filled with excited whistles and cheers from sailors and boatmen.

Although they had spent half their lives on the water, it was the first time they had sailed in the ocean for several months far away from the country. Naturally, they all felt homesick.

And there is another reason why they are so eager to return home: they have made a fortune.

Although they were not accountants on the ship and did not know the specific income from this trip, they were neither deaf nor blind. They all heard that this time they made at least ten times the profit, and some even said twenty times.

His Highness promised to distribute one-tenth of the profits as bonuses to the crew. Everyone calculated in private, even if the minimum profit was calculated at ten times, everyone could get more than ten strings!

It has only been less than five months, and the bonus has almost caught up with a year's income. Not even a normal salary.

They actually made more money than they did selling smuggled salt before!

How could we not get these guys excited? I was looking forward to getting ashore quickly to collect the money, and then have a great time and have a great time!

"When I get to the shore, I must go to a brothel." A sailor in his forties vowed: "I have only dealt with brothels in this life, let's also have a taste of female history!"

"Haha, I'm afraid your ten guan of money is only enough for two tea rounds," a knowledgeable person joked: "You can't even touch the little hand of the female historian, and you still want to go to bed? It's better to get on the boat!"

"Hahaha!" The sailors burst into laughter.

"Then you lend me the reward money, and then you can get the ten crowns, right?" The sailor said with a very financial mind: "The next time I go to sea and come back, I will pay you back and let you have a taste of female history..."

"I don't care. Any kiln girl or oiran looks the same when she blows the lamp." The man shook his head.

"Hahaha..." The sailors laughed strangely again. There were neither women nor sheep on board, so they had to talk about women to while away the long voyage.

Marquis Nan'an heard clearly from the forecastle, but had no intention of stopping. This is much better than the previous lifelessness on the ship. Besides, the brothers dared to have the idea of ​​​​Oiran, which shows that their choice is not wrong.

At this moment, the lookout on the mast blew the brass whistle, and then screamed a warning:

"There is a fleet approaching quickly from the northwest!"

"There are also ones in the northeast!" The lookout on the other mast also shouted a warning.