In the Political Academy, Chen Haizhong talked about his experiences in the ocean.
From noon to afternoon, everyone seemed not to notice even though their stomachs were growling with hunger.
Everyone will scream in surprise when they hear the thrill. When hearing interesting things, everyone will look at each other, laugh, have fun, and immerse themselves in it.
The funniest thing is that when passing through Chukotka Island, they encountered a glacier and the ship ran aground. With the help of local indigenous tribes, they successfully landed and were forced to stay there for more than a year.
For more than a year, the local indigenous people were surprised that the Song people's weapons and equipment were extremely advanced and their hunting efficiency was much faster than theirs.
In the past, when faced with polar bears baring their teeth and coming to steal food from the tribe, they could only flee in embarrassment, not daring to express their anger. However, the Song people's crossbows could kill strong polar bears and use their furs to make clothes.
For a time, the local indigenous people were extremely interested in the ocean-going fleet.
Due to the language barrier between the two parties, although Chen Haizhong and the others gave each other some weapons in order to thank each other. But the leader of the other party actually hoped that the Song people could stay, join their tribe, and become a part of their tribe.
The reason is that the tribe went to the colder seaside and north because they were defeated by the tribe in the south. The men in the tribe suffered heavy losses, with only more than 800 men and more than 2,000 women.
Seeing that so many people suddenly appeared, and they were all yellow race like them, and they brought with them enough food for the tribe to eat for several years, as well as more powerful weapons and armors, the local indigenous leaders naturally wanted to keep them and strengthen their army. tribe.
However, Chen Haizhong and his group had many people and good weapons and equipment, so strong ones would definitely not work. Therefore, after the local natives racked their brains, they actually came up with an idea, which was a honey trap and sending women to seduce them.
Originally, the most uncomfortable thing for sailors when sailing was their physiological needs. Now that they came to their doorstep, they naturally accepted all comers, and almost all the sailors fell into it for a while.
After the boat was finally repaired and Chen Haizhong and the others were about to leave, they discovered that the local indigenous people did not want them to leave at all.
More than a year is enough time to have a baby.
Many indigenous women held children in their arms and looked at the sailors pitifully. How could they bear it now?
Therefore, hundreds of sailors asked to stay and not continue sailing.
Thousands of other sailors were not merciless, but the fact that the local natives practiced polyandry was hard for them to accept.
Secondly, people miss their homeland.
The third and most important point is that it is so cold that even if they have furs, they can't stand it.
So most sailors are still willing to leave.
The two sides fought like this for more than ten days. In the end, after Chen Haizhong and Zhang Xianwen, who was already ill and had a fever, discussed for a long time, they finally decided to let those who were willing to stay stay, and the remaining people secretly sailed away on their own.
As a result, at the end of last year, when they returned to the Chukotka Peninsula, the hundreds of sailors looked forward to their return like the stars and the moon, and really asked to leave.
After all, wanting to stay at that time was just an impulse. No matter what, my roots were still in my hometown in Song Dynasty, so I regretted it after Chen Haizhong and the others left. Now that Chen Haizhong and the others finally came back, they were almost crying. They knelt down and begged them to let them go. Take it back yourself.
So Chen Haizhong and others had no choice but to return with these sailors and their families who had married locally. Although these hundreds of people did not follow them to North America, they still traveled most of the voyage, which is not considered lazy.
Moreover, they have lived there for nearly three years and have taught the local Chinese. It will be much more convenient for ships from the Song Dynasty to come there again in the future.
"It's really not easy for Chen Haizhong and the others."
In the evening, Zhao Zhen ordered the imperial dining room to prepare meals. Everyone simply had a meal in the Constitutional Yuan and listened to Chen Haizhong's speech while eating.
After dinner, it was getting dark, and finally the meeting ended with the promotion of Chen Haizhong to the governor of Yuezhou.
Even though he was only promoted to the fifth rank to know the state, Chen Haizhong's previous position was from the eighth rank. His full official title was Supervisory Ship Envoy. In the Shiship Division, he ranked next to the sixth rank Shishi Shishi and the seventh rank Shishipistong. Judgment, from the seventh-grade City Ship Division Supervisor Cheng, to the eighth-grade City Ship Division Division Lieutenant.
This means that this promotion will directly increase you to six levels.
After being out for five years, one point and two levels a year would be quite explosive for any other official of the Song Dynasty except Zhao Jun. Once the news spreads, I am afraid that there will be another event held by the imperial court, and there will be countless participants.
It's just that Chen Haizhong's experience is obviously worthy of this promotion, and this is also a huge political achievement. In the future, as long as the Song Dynasty wants to expand overseas, he will definitely be reused.
Therefore, Zhao Zhen also said with great emotion: "It is not an exaggeration to say that there is a narrow escape from death. In addition to Chen Haizhong and the surviving crew members, they must be rewarded. Zhang Xianwen and other victims cannot be treated badly. They must be heavily rewarded, and the court must also bear their burdens." family."
"It's natural."
Zhao Jun agreed: "It's not too much to give me some help."
"There are more than 3,000 people, and everyone gives me shelter?"
Everyone was shocked.
"This is a huge sum of money to buy horse bones, which shows that the imperial court attaches great importance to overseas development."
Zhao Jun said: "Of course not everyone will give in, there must be meritorious service. But this also shows that the court attaches great importance to this matter, and you haven't seen how much gold and silver they moved from the ship. Just now Chen Haizhong Didn’t I say it? The gold and silver must be more than 100,000 catties."
"Is this America really so rich?"
Zhao Zhen couldn't help but said: "It's a pity. The distance is too long. If it were shorter, I don't know how many people in Song Dynasty would be willing to go."
"Actually, there are also short distances."
Zhao Jun pointed to the Aleutian Islands on the map and said: "This area has the North Pacific Ocean Current. If we follow the ocean current, we can reach North America in about thirty or forty days."
"Then why not?"
Fan Zhongyan frowned and said, "If we take this route, we may lose a lot of lives."
"On the contrary, if we take this route, more people may die."
Zhao Jun drew on the map and said: "Look, the straight-line distance from Kamchatka Peninsula to North America seems to be only four thousand kilometers, and there are more than a hundred islands in the middle where you can rest. However, the North Pacific Warm Current is actually south of the Aleutian Islands. Hundreds of kilometers away, not along the archipelago.
"Following the warm current, there is no supply along the way for more than 4,000 kilometers. It is an endless ocean. Once there is a storm, or the sea fog formed by the encounter of warm and cold currents, there is not even a place to be stranded. In the vast sea, it is almost impossible to survive. .”
"As for going along the Aleutian Islands, it is also a problem. There is no warm current to lead the way, and the ship cannot go very fast. And there is also a large area of sea without islands in the middle. Even if we have a compass, if we encounter a magnetic field, sea fog, heavy rain, etc. Bad weather and loss of direction can also destroy the fleet at sea."
"So although it's a long way to go to the North Pole, except for the relatively small coastline when passing through the Thousand Islands, even if you go through the Bering Strait, there is Diomede Island in the middle. As long as you keep walking along the land, you will always be safe even if you encounter danger. Better than being in the ocean."
He finally said: "So this road seems to be a long way round, but from the perspective of development, it is the safest road. At least they did encounter a lot of dangers, but the best proof is that they were able to dock at the shore to rest every time. "
"Well, that's it."
Everyone looked at the map, and it was indeed as Zhao Jun said.
Almost 99% of this route is along the coastline, and the distance across the sea is almost pitiful.
Even if they encounter a storm, they can find a sheltered harbor on the coastline to stop and rest. It is indeed much better than encountering extreme weather without any land around.
So it’s too far, but safety comes first. Even if it took five years and more than 20,000 kilometers back and forth, it was worth it to come back safely.
"Now I, Da Song, am finally on the right track. Years of hard work have paid off."
Zhao Zhen sighed, then looked at Zhao Jun and said with sincerity: "All this is the result of the great grandson."
Chen Haizhong just reported to them the specific harvest. In addition to dozens of varieties of fruits, vegetables and crop seeds, each weighing several tons, there were also large amounts of gold, silver, leather goods, copper mines, etc.
When we were on the ship, we had already roughly estimated that there were more than 8,000 Songjin of gold and more than 100,000 Songjin of silver, a total of about 75 tons, worth more than three million taels of silver.
This does not include copper mines.
In other words, Chen Haizhong and the others only explored along the coast and did not go deep. Otherwise, according to them, gold, silver and other items are everywhere over there. If they continue to deepen the trade, they will definitely gain more than this.
In fact, Zhao Jun believed what he said.
Because according to the arguments of later generations of economists and historians, between 1492 and 1803, about three hundred years, North America was plundered by European colonists about 160,000 tons of gold and silver, with an average of more than 500 tons taken away every year.
Moreover, at that time, the indigenous people of North America did not use gold and silver as currency, but used Baker beads and furs as currency. For them, gold and silver were often used as props for making works of art.
Therefore, North America at this time can be said to be a blue ocean. Before the European colonists continued to fish from the lake, gold and silver could not be said to be piled up in mountains. It could be said to be seen everywhere, and was thrown around like stones by the natives.
In this case, a large fleet of thousands of people came with countless goods to trade with the North American indigenous people for the food, wine, clothing and other daily necessities they needed. Naturally, there were a large number of followers.
A large number of indigenous people came with unnecessary gold, silver and jewelry in exchange for food and daily necessities. Chen Haizhong and others also made a lot of money, with profits exceeding a hundred times.
Although they only brought back more than three million taels of silver in five years, the cost they paid was more than one million taels.
But the most valuable thing about the first pot of gold is not the gold and silver wealth.
But seeds.
With these seeds, the productivity of the Song Dynasty will be raised to another level. With the help of Champa Rice, the people will not go hungry at least until the population exceeds 340 million.
"I only guided the direction of development and followed the laws of history. The real credit lies in my wise leadership."
Zhao Jun said with a smile.
"Oh? Do I really have that much merit?"
Zhao Zhen opened his eyes wide.
"Of course it is."
Zhao Jun said without blushing: "Brother, think about it, when I was young and frivolous, I was blaming the sky and the earth. A different emperor would have killed me long ago. Only you, brother, who has the magnanimity to tolerate others, can achieve today's great success." The prosperity of Song Dynasty."
"Hahahahahaha, how can I be so good? In fact, our ancestors and grandchildren are of the same mind, and their sharpness can defeat gold."
Zhao Zhen smiled from ear to ear. He had suffered so many insults and grievances back then, but he had finally recovered in the past two years.
It's really not easy.
And Zhao Jun just looked at him and smiled. He had long lost his youthful vigor and his bad temper that pointed at their noses and scolded them whenever they disagreed.
As I get older and enter society and officialdom, I gradually learn a lot of things.
He learned intrigues from Lu Yijian, resourcefulness from Wang Zeng and Yan Shu, the golden mean from Sheng Du and Wang Sui, and flattery and flattery from many people who flattered him.
In the past, he would have scorned and despised conspiracy and flattery, but now when he meets such an excellent teacher, he will only take out his pen and write it down.
Many times, you need to have momentum, but you must use it in the right place. If you just do it recklessly, in fact, many things will not be accomplished.
So when you need to take the wrong turn, you should talk nicely when you need to, and you should also have your own measure.
Seeing that their ancestors and grandchildren began to praise each other again, everyone felt a chill again. Yan Shu quickly interrupted: "By the way, Hanlong, what should we do next? Should the Constitutional Yuan have a new charter?"
"How about just like the great voyage of the West, let's start to develop a new world. Those Western movies I watched were quite interesting. There are gold mines everywhere. Isn't there a San Francisco in the United States?"
Cai Qi said.
"I think we should slow down. We have just come back now, and we still narrowly escaped death. If the people are provoked to go sailing, no one will cultivate the land in the country."
Song Shou had different opinions.
"Now that we have brought back the seeds of high-yielding crops such as sweet potatoes, corn, and potatoes, are we still worried about food shortages? The population will soon increase."
"You think people are like vegetables and they can grow as long as they grow? Even if there is enough food, it will take at least thirty-four years to double."
"In my opinion, you can give it a try. The return of Chen Haizhong's fleet will be the best publicity effect. If the newspapers and newspapers are more advanced, they will definitely set off a wave of people and bring more gold and silver to the Song Dynasty. "
"You can't do things in a hurry. You should familiarize yourself with the route first. It's also best to establish supply points along the route. Otherwise, letting the people go will be like letting them die."
"This is the truth. I agree with the opinion of the king. The imperial court spent more than one million yuan to prepare sufficient supplies. It took five years to reach North America. If the people were allowed to go, I am afraid that even Korea would If you can’t reach it, you will die on the road.”
"Didn't Chen Haizhong say that they already have a stronghold on the Chukotka Peninsula? And they also brought back local indigenous women and children. If the Han people go there again, they will definitely welcome us there and they can definitely establish towns."
"It's a joke, what's the use of just one town? I think there need to be at least dozens or hundreds of towns along the route to maintain it. You guys, are you really just thinking, can't you look further ahead?"
The Lu Party, the Wang Party, and the Neutrality Party, more than a dozen people were all talking to each other, and they were all jealous of the profits in the ocean.
"Dasun, what do you think?"
Zhao Zhen turned around and asked Zhao Jun.
Zhao Jun touched his chin, thought for a moment, and then seemed to think of something.
Suddenly he raised his head and looked around at everyone.
Everyone was confused.
I saw him smiling and saying: "Everyone, I have a new idea."
I really want to lie down, reading so many words every day is so tiring.
(End of chapter)
