I am the king of the dead

The tribes along the coast of the northern and southern continents are highly closed, and there are a large number of deformed children caused by inbreeding marriages in the local area. Several Japanese in the Fan der Hang fleet stayed in these tribes.

Because these Japanese committed crimes on the boat, the crimes that should have been sunk in the sea were given to these tribes as gifts because of their dealings with the local aborigines.

These aborigines know that children born to close relatives are mostly deformed, but the closed environment makes them so. These tribes have a custom that after a foreigner visits, if he wants to stay for a few days, he must marry a local woman as his wife , It doesn't matter whether you will stay or not, it is important to keep the children.

After Fan Dexing gave these sunken prisoners as gifts to these tribes, the wizards of the tribe gave Fan Dexing their crop seeds.

To Fan der Hang's surprise, the aborigines of the northern continent were slightly short, but their feet were large, which meant that they were short because they did not eat well, not because they were born short. Yes: These natives have yellow skin, black hair, and black eyes.

He didn't know the relationship between these natives and the Ming people, but they really looked alike...

Because of this, Fan Dexing left a sentence, like me from Ming Dynasty.

Fan Dexing would never have imagined that it was precisely because of these few words that Daming chose to be merciful to a certain extent when exploring the North and South Continents in the future, and this land ushered in unprecedented vitality.

In these small tribes, people worked all day to grow crops such as corn, beans, squash and peppers, fished, gathered oysters and clams, and collected honey and beeswax.

In addition to these subsistence farming activities, they also handcraft small crafts – small painted pottery vessels decorated with geometric patterns.

Fan Dexing got a bunch of these pottery products. Even if they were so simple, just taking a plate from the boat was enough to shock the natives, but Fan Dexing still took these gifts very solemnly.

There were no horses on this continent, at least Fan der Xing hadn't seen one.

This is a farming society. Although it is primitive, it already has the ability to make pottery, and there are geometric patterns and characters. Even if it is very simple, it still has the embryonic form of civilization.

These men and women also grew a crop of tufted white bells, an inedible but most valuable thing they had grown, which Van der Hang was sure was cotton.

Compared with the cotton grown in the Ming Dynasty, these cottons are more fluffy, with larger flower buds and more cotton.

These cottons thrived in cornfields, and each fall, after harvesting the food crop, the soft cotton balls were picked and many bolls were placed in baskets or bags to be carried back to the huts built of mud and wattles.

There, the cotton seeds are painstakingly removed by hand, the cotton is patted on palm mats to soften it, and the fibers are twisted into strands of cotton yarn several inches long.

Then, using a slender wooden spindle with a ceramic disc and a spinning bowl to support its rotation, they twisted the yarns together to form thin white threads.

Van der Hang saw, saw their production tools, wooden spindles and spinning bowls, and a kind of dolly loom consisting of two sticks tied with warp thread, one hanging from a tree and the other The roots are hung on the weavers, and these aborigines weave cotton thread into cloth like a dance.

The cloth was strong enough to be dyed with indigo and carmine to give various shades of dark blue and crimson.Some of the cloth was worn by themselves, and some of the cloth was dedicated to their tribal leaders to sacrifice to the sun god.

The ships of the Daming Navy headed south again.

In May of the 14th year of Jingtai, the southern hemisphere was in severe cold, and some differences occurred in the Ming Dynasty Ocean Fleet. These differences became more and more serious with the reduction of food.

It's not that Tang Xing, the commander of Fandu, didn't expect it, but that Tang Xing didn't allow the fleet to replenish the food on board, which caused a certain degree of panic.

Tang Xing had his own concerns. Firstly, conflicts would easily arise without the communication. Second, he did not add any supplements to prevent possible epidemics from infecting the entire fleet. Thirdly, the most important point was that There is still an extremely sufficient amount of food on board, which is enough to support the fleet back to Songjiang Mansion.

But there is a rumor spreading among the Japanese. This rumor includes but is not limited to: the ship’s food is reduced, and the Daming navy will kill and eat the Japanese, just like the Japanese used to kill each other on the ship, choosing people to eat ;The food of the ships decreased, but the Daming Navy did not reduce the supply at all. They were hungry, but the Daming Navy refused to give them any food; Powerless to resist.

When such rumors spread, Tang Xing chose to look for the bay to dock.

He gathered all the Ming soldiers, including the Ming army and the Japanese, unloaded all the food on board, opened it, and put it on the beach.

Tang Xing stood on two big sandalwood boxes, and the tooth flag behind him was rattling, he leaned forward, stretched out his hand and said loudly: "I know, some of you are a little confused, why don't we replenish the food? This is the answer! Your Majesty has prepared food for the ocean fleet for three full years!"

"And we supply along the way, and there are still two years of food left, and here is everything."

The faces of all the soldiers changed, not only the Japanese, but also in the Daming Navy, there were also various rumors. In short, food was decreasing and when people's survival was challenged, everyone would become an unconscious makers of rumors.

Tang Xing had led the army for so many years, so he naturally knew that at this time, the most important thing was to put his words in the open so that everyone could see clearly.

Tang Xing said sharply: "These sandalwood boxes and these mothballs were specially ordered by His Majesty to prevent the grain from deteriorating! These boxes are much more valuable than these grains. For this ocean trip, Your Majesty, as the most honorable emperor in the world, , I have to do everything myself, ask about everything, check everything, and I have prepared for 11 years!"

"Open some other boxes."

Nearly a hundred commanding officers opened hundreds of other boxes, all of which were neatly packed with cotton clothes and cotton shoes, all brand new.

Tang Xing pointed to those padded clothes and continued: "Did you see it? These are prepared for the fear of the temperature difference between the north and the south when we are in the ocean. We have traveled all the way, either at the equator or in summer. This is the first time we have met. For severe cold."

"But His Majesty has thought of it."

"You can question me. I, Tang Xing, was originally born with mud legs. I haven't washed the mud on my legs, and I can't wash them clean. You question our generals, generals, and commanders, but you should trust your majesty. !"

Tang Xing's words made everyone lower their heads.

It has been 11 years. The Daming Navy should know best what kind of person His Majesty is. The rumors of the Japanese are everywhere. The Daming Navy also has rumors. Ocean voyages are indeed a tormenting thing. A firm belief, in such a boring voyage There are also voices of doubt.

It doesn't matter, His Majesty told the soldiers of Daming that as long as His Majesty is still there, Da Ming will be invincible against the sky, against the earth, against people!

"Do we have it too?" a Japanese asked tentatively.

Tang Xing nodded seriously and said: "There are also Japanese people. Your Majesty said that if you show bravery, you will be treated like eagle dogs as Daming's hawks. Along the way, you are very qualified to be Daming's hawks."

"On the way, it's like I've treated you badly. I pat my conscience and say, those sons of a bitch warriors are domineering over you. After being dealt with by me, have I ever starved you?"

"No!" The Japanese rejoiced. When they set off from the country of Japan, they knew they were going to be treated as dogs by humans, and they were also treated as dogs in the country of Japan. They just didn't expect that they would be treated like humans when they were treated as dogs by Daming.

Tang Xing jumped out of the wooden box, looked around, and shouted loudly: "Your Majesty is mighty!"

"Your Majesty is mighty!" There was a hoarse voice on the beach that went straight to the sky!

Tang Xing did not open all the boxes. His Majesty provided adequate protection for food and clothing, and the fifty barrels of shochu was the best proof.

These thirteen ships are just a waste of energy, and it is more than enough to support the fleet back to Songjiang Mansion. The ocean-going fleet of Ming Dynasty, each ship is a thousand-year-old ship, but each ship has more than 200 people.

When the hearts of the people disperse, the team will disperse. Even if there is an internal strife, everyone will be suspicious of each other. At that time, the ocean-going fleet will start to be on guard against each other, facing the huge waves and those natives. When being harassed, how can you safely leave your back to your comrades in arms?

Tang Xing did not choose to deal with it with high pressure, but pulled everyone to the shore, made it clear, made it clear, and reunited people's hearts.

Cohesion of people needs a symbol, and there is no doubt that His Majesty is the most suitable symbol. Even the Japanese worship this symbol.

Tang Xing and His Majesty the Emperor had one position for the Japanese ashigaru and samurai, that is, the eagle dog, but even the treatment of the eagle dog was enough to make the Japanese ashigaru feel grateful.

……

At sea, the biggest enemy is not the storm or boarding the ship, but those comrades who once shared life and death have become enemies. ——The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the commander of Fandu, and the navigator Tang Xing.

Chapter 974 Disorientation and Spiritual Trek

In the cold season, Tang Xing stayed in this uninhabited harbor for two full months. , using the fragrant dragon's blood trees all over the ground here, the damaged masts, splints, and ship plates of ships were reinforced and repaired.

Fragrant dragon's blood tree is a kind of hardwood, with straight grain and very dense and tough wood. Its hardness is comparable to mahogany. The economic value that trembles in the human bones, it is rich in red dye, Grand Fire Deshang Red, red dye is extremely expensive.

The most commonly used red dye in Ming Dynasty is ochre, but this dye is in powder form, which has extremely poor adhesion to silk, fur, and velvet, and is not resistant to light, heat, washing, dull color, and easy to fade.

The other one is exclusively used by the royal family, which is madder. This kind of dye needs to be dyed at high temperature, and it is not affordable for ordinary people.

Fragrant dracaena, get a water-soluble red dye, with excellent adhesion, bright color, light and heat resistance, washable, and very difficult to fade, unless the clothes are thrown into water and boiled to fade.

The smell of the wood of the fragrant dragon's blood tree has a natural plant fragrance, which is fragrant and refreshing, and can also get vermilion. The juice that flows out after cutting with a knife is like bleeding, and finally got its name, Xiang·Dragon·Blood· Tree.

And this kind of tree is everywhere on this coast, full of pits and valleys, these are natural dyes, natural gun stocks, and wealth, and there are countless eunuchs on the other side of the sea. Numerous lands that need to be reclaimed complement each other.

In the past two months, Tang Xing had never seen the aborigines, but he never let up. The soldiers of Ming Dynasty maintained a high level of combat readiness to prevent the aborigines from sneaking up on them.

This morning, a sergeant hurriedly reported to Tang Xing that he found a huge footprint, which was about as long as half an adult's arm. This discovery shocked all the crew members.

Such a large human footprint must be at least one foot high.

Even the well-informed Tang Xing felt a cold sweat behind his back when faced with such footprints. Could it be true that the legend of the giant race widely circulated in western Thailand?Do those unspeakable monsters really exist?

"Commander Tang, the wind direction has changed. We can set sail tomorrow!" Sailor Fan Dexing looked at the wind vane in his hand and finally confirmed that the trade wind had changed. The fleet can be fearless.

"What's that?" Tang Xing narrowed his eyes slightly and looked into the distance, where a figure appeared.

This figure was very tall, almost as tall as Tang Xing, and the Japanese could only reach his waist.

This figure has black hair, black eyes, yellow skin, a heavy build, a square face, with red spots painted on it, yellow circles painted around the eyes, two heart-shaped white spots on the cheeks, and half of the short hair painted. It is white, and the clothes are sewn from animal skins.

The figure cautiously approached, smiling, and amiably stretching out his hands while dancing and singing, walking slowly towards the ship, while constantly sprinkled sand on his hair.

Tang Xing had some contact with the aborigines, and he knew that these gestures meant mutual friendship and mutual understanding, so Tang Xing also danced and sprinkled sand on his hair, although Tang Xing didn't understand why the sand was sprinkled Putting it on the head means friendliness, but it is indeed the custom of these people.

Soon, Tang Xing and the strong man got together and touched shoulders. Tang Xing looked down and saw the other's shoes.

The shoes he wears are very special. The leather is put on the feet first, from below the knees to the soles of the feet, and the leather is sewn into soft-soled shoes, and then big leather boots are put on the soft-soled shoes. The footprint on the ground is large.

There are no giants, but their shoes have huge footprints because of a layer of big leather boots.

As a boat master and a scholar, Fan Dexing can probably communicate with this kind of aborigine. Although he is not fluent, he still has a clear understanding of the purpose of this aborigine.

This native is the chief. When the Daming Navy was stationed, the chief already knew that there were foreigners coming here, and then he kept observing. After repeated observations, as the chief, he finally came here and wanted to talk to Daming. people contact.

The first time they met, it was an extremely friendly exchange. If it wasn't for the dyes smeared on his face, Tang Xing's appearance would not be fundamentally different from these natives. After drifting at sea for a long time, Tang Xing's skin was even darker than this chief.

The aborigine unscrewed the cowhide bag on his waist and wanted to give his most precious gift to Daming, to experience this friendship.

But Tang Xing repeatedly waved his hands and chose to refuse. This kind of water is called Ayahuasca, a kind of weird vine called 'the umbilical cord in the forest', which is wrung out. This kind of water has a strong hallucinogenic effect. , its intensity even surpassed that of the Three Treasures of Fulu, and because of this, Tang Xing named it Ayahuasca.

An eunuch was once ordered to drink this kind of ayahuasca, and then moved wildly towards a tree, and saw a huge half-man, half-horse monster with horns. Of course, this native began to have diarrhea, pulling out a lot of There are few parasites in the stomach, this kind of ayahuasca is also found on the ship, and it is mainly used to treat diseases.

Fan Dexing and the aborigines had an inappropriate exchange, and it was only then that Tang Xing knew the intention of the other party's visit.

First, the aborigines have observed for a long time and know that the Daming Ocean Navy is just a passer-by, so they hope to be allowed to let their tribe use the camp left by the Daming Navy. The camp of the Daming Navy is a hard camp. , Living in these hard villages is a heaven-sent home.

Second, the natives hope that the Daming Navy can sow seeds, that is, sow seeds between people. Because of the high degree of isolation, there are a lot of deformities here. I hope these strong and powerful men can leave offspring and let the tribe multiply. go down.

Thirdly, these are not asking for nothing, they will send their food crops and servants in exchange, Tang Xing is not interested in the servants, Tang Xing is really interested in food crops!

After some complicated negotiations, the Japanese ran to sow the seeds excitedly. The sowing place was neither in the enemy's tribe nor in Daming's camp, but chose a beach.

The Daming Navy maintained a high level of vigilance. The Daming Navy still did not trust these natives. They would not go, nor would they allow those women to enter the camp, and they had no interest in participating in this kind of open-air communication.

Because of the backwardness of productivity, the women here also have to participate in hunting. They will cut off two ounces of meat from their chests, so that they can draw bows and shoot arrows.

Daming once had a conflict with a tribe. Although it ended in a complete victory for Ming, the navy of Daming was always wary of these tribes from top to bottom.

The bow and arrow materials here are good, but the technology is extremely backward, even the recurve bow of the Mughals can't break the defense of the Mingguang armor, let alone this kind of small broken arrow.

On the second day of June in the 14th year of Jingtai, the Daming navy took a lot of seeds and started to set sail. The Japanese people all returned to the ship within the specified time. The Japanese people knew that although there are groups of wives and concubines here, this is a backward wild world. , they are not attached to life here.

The specific environment determines the norms of morality. Ethics and morality are clay in the hands, which can be manipulated at will. The living environment of the indigenous people determines that in the order of the Ming Dynasty, it is just a barren land. Living here, there is no civilization at all. .

Is there really a way for Xiangnan to bypass the mainland and return to Daming?

This question troubled everyone on board, including Tang Xing, a natural navigator. Tang Xing was confused for the first time, because all the way to the south was a stretch of land that seemed to have no end.

Sailing is an extremely boring and boring thing. It is easy to be led astray by some vague and wrong information. Many times, people will fall down at the last moment before victory.

At the moment when victory was in sight, even Tang Xing's vision of seeing everything in the ocean was covered with a layer of mist, making this man who was determined to explore the mysteries of freedom in the sky, even on the eve of the moment of victory, still accepting the pain. Torture and merciless trials.

There was no shortage of water and food. Fan Dexing even learned some native words. There were more than a dozen strong men on board. These giant feet were gifts from the previous chief.

Then, when Tang Xingdu was going to return to the voyage, return to Wojing Island again, cross the stormy Atlantic Ocean to return to the City of Liberty, and then return to Daming, the border of extinction appeared.

The border of extinction is the place where the archipelago appears. As an experienced navigator, Tang Xing knows very well that once the border of extinction appears, it means that the Daming Navy has found a waterway to continue westward.

"East longitude 149°, south latitude 52° is a navigable strait in front of you. The wind is force eleven and there are ice floes drifting by. Commander Tang, what is your name?" Fan Dexing obtained the precise coordinates and asked the fleet's general The conductor gave this place a name that belongs to Daming.

Tang Xing looked at the piles of bonfire marks left by the natives, and said with a smile, "Let's call it the Tierra del Fuego."

Fan Dexing said helplessly: "Commander Tang's naming is as boring as ever."

"You are not convinced, you choose something nicer!" Tang Xing patted the table. This scholar actually mocked him for having no ink in his stomach. He is the one who talks and laughs with Li Binyan!

Fan Dexing said very confidently: "If you want me to say that the archipelago of this extinct land is called Tangxing Island, the strait that runs through it is called Tangxing Strait!"

Tang Xing kicked Fan Dexing fiercely on the buttocks, and said with a sneer: "I went around in circles, just to flatter you, right?"

Fan Dexing said quite confidently: "No, no, no, I think it should be named like this! Whoever passes here in the future must say, Commander Tang blesses you."

"Commander Tang led us to find it. Otherwise, it would be very difficult for us to pass through the terrifying sea area. You know, the sea area where the compass can't guide the direction will make the ship stray on the endless sea."

Tang Xing said confidently: "This strait has a name, it's called Binyan Strait. Look at its winding extension, doesn't it look like the twists and turns in Li Binyan's big belly? In the future, anyone who passes by here will Every ship should shout three times, Li Binyan bless you!"

"You read a lot, make up a story to make people believe it is true, you know, there are many inexplicable rules at sea, even if you don't know why, you must abide by them."

The Binyan Strait is narrow and tortuous, the narrowest part of the entrance is less than [-] feet. The rocky banks on both sides of the strait are steep and towering into the clouds. Countless huge glaciers hang on the rock walls. The scene is very spectacular. In the sea, there will be a loud noise like thunder.

Fan Dexing thought that Tang Xing would name this strait the Thunder Strait, and Bin Yan's strait is of course also good.

Fan Dexing immediately formed a story in his mind. It was a rather clichéd story. The ship was in distress here. It was Songjiang Governor Li Binyan who held the chair against the falling glacier, which allowed the fleet to pass smoothly. Strange story, that is naturally how the legend came about.

"Your story is good, why don't you add more content, such as entrusting a dream to slay the Dragon King at night?" Tang Xing smiled and added.

In the words of Fan Dexing and Tang Xing, the rudiment of this story has become complete, a strange story that combines various myths and legends.

It’s about the Daming Navy who couldn’t find the way back and was extremely confused. Tang Commander Meng Li Binyan, Li Binyan came from the emptiness, smashed Fuego Island with one sword to open the waterway for Daming, and cut the wild dragon king Pingbo with two swords. The story of breaking the Dragon King's ice method, protecting the fleet through the strait, and returning to Daming was created.

This story cannot be said to be reasonable, it can only be said to be outrageous.

But it has perfectly established a nautical symbol, and since then, this landmark has a cultural foundation.

The most feared thing on the sea is getting lost, not only losing the direction, but also losing the mind. Such legendary stories can also be regarded as symbols, which can make people have an illusory idea as hope when they are desperate.

This expectation is probably the dawn that pierces the darkness of the dawn at the most desperate time. It seems insignificant, but it can warm the heart.