Zhao Tong put his hands behind his hands and looked into the distance. The blurry shadow of an island appeared in his sight.
The last time he went to sea was to Dengzhou, Shandong. It was far away from here, with one in the north and one in the south. He didn't know the sea conditions on the Xianju side of Taizhou.
Although maritime affairs are complicated, we now have a compass.
Shen Kuo once explained the installation and use of four magnetic needles in "Mengxi Bi Tan", and pointed out that the magnetic needle does not point completely due south, but the direction is slightly east.
It is recorded in "Pingzhou Ke Tan" written by Zhu Yu and written in the first year of Xuanhe: "The boat master knows geography. He observes the stars at night, the sun during the day, and the compass when it is dark."
This is the earliest record of using a compass for navigation in the history of world navigation.
The book "Pingzhou Ke Tan" is Zhu Yu's record of his father Zhu Fu's experiences. His father Zhu Fu lived in Guangzhou from the second year of Yuanfu to the first year of Chongning.
In other words, at the latest in the first year of Chongning, the Song Dynasty began to use compasses for navigation. If the production method is explained in "Mengxi Bi Tan", the use may be earlier than Chongning.
However, Zhao Tong did not have a compass with him. He never thought that he would go to sea in a hurry, so he was naturally unprepared.
As for whether the ship carried a compass or other items that indicated the direction, he didn't know that such things were extremely important to the ship. They were usually placed in the steering room and were guarded by others, and outsiders were not allowed to approach.
Although Zhao Tong did not have a compass on his body, judging from the ship's offshore direction yesterday and various signs on the sea, he had a vague feeling that the ship was heading north by east.
That is to the northeast of Xianju's outlet.
At this moment, the island in front is getting closer and closer. It is surrounded by green trees, with birds singing and flowers fragrant. There are also many wooden houses and even small wooden buildings. It can be seen that it is a paradise-like place.
The ship is approaching. Looking down from the deck guardrail, the sea water is clear and waveless, and the fine white sand on the bottom of the water can be seen.
The water was clear and transparent, and everyone was watching excitedly. They felt that the scenery was so beautiful. Suddenly someone shouted: "Look, there is someone in the water."
Someone else shouted: "She seems to be a little girl!"
Zhao Tong followed the hero's finger and saw someone swimming in the sea not far away.
The sea water is as green as glass, and a girl is swimming gently in the water wearing a sharkskin waterbag. The waterbag is tight-fitting, reflecting her graceful figure. The girl's long black hair is swaying in the water, and her body is like a fish. Normally agile, but occasionally showing off one side of her face, she is actually so beautiful and charming that it makes people's hearts beat when they look at her.
A hero couldn't help shouting on the boat: "What a mermaid!"
Others laughed ambiguously and shouted: "Little lady, please stop swimming and go to the shore to rest."
There are even more heroes who wink and call out: "Which family does this young lady belong to? Is she married?"
The young lady emerged from the water with a beautiful peach-blossom face, a charming smile, her lips twitched slightly, and she said something that no one on the boat could understand. It didn't seem to be a Chinese language.
When Zhao Tong heard this, his expression suddenly changed. His expression turned cold for a moment, he narrowed his eyes and stared at the woman in the water!
Japanese dialect, this woman speaks Japanese dialect, she is Japanese!
In fact, since the Tang Dynasty, the name of the Japanese Kingdom has been the same as that of later generations. However, in China, both the court and the people do not like to call it that name. Instead, they usually call it Japanese, or the Japanese Nu Kingdom...
Zhao Tong never thought that he would meet Japanese people this time when he went to sea!
With the speed of the ship underfoot, it would be impossible to get close to the Japanese side in a day and a night, or even half the distance, not to mention that the ship was not traveling in a straight line.
Hero Island must be on the sea side of Taizhou Xianju, that is, the Japanese came here.
Is there collusion between Hero Island and the Japanese slave country? !
Zhao Tong's face became colder and colder. At this moment, the Sunlight Envoy came out of the warehouse. He looked at everyone, and his eyes fell on the woman in the water. Then he coughed lightly and said, "This woman is from Japan. You don’t need to talk about it, she may not understand what we say, and you don’t understand her language either.”
Zhao Tao glanced at the Sunlight Envoy. There were very few people in the Song Dynasty who understood the Japanese dialect, and there were almost none in the rivers and lakes. He didn't know if the Sunlight Envoy understood it, but he understood the meaning of the woman's words.
The reason is simple. Before time travel, he was good at several languages, and Japanese was just one of them.
What the woman said in the water just now was: "Wow, there are so many people, they are not just a bunch of idiots again!"
Zhao Tong's eyes fell on the woman again, looking at her half floating in the water, looking innocent and flawless, but in fact her eyes were cunning and sparkling, and there was a teasing smile at the corner of her mouth.
Zhao Tong stared at the woman closely, "Moses, Moses, believe it or not, I will strangle you to death!"
He made a vicious stranglehold on the woman. She was not of my kind, and she had a cruel heart and no mercy.
The woman's senses were sharp, and she suddenly turned her head. When she saw Zhao Tong's hand-circling movement and fierce expression, she couldn't help but smile sweetly, then plunged into the sea and swam towards the shore.
The heroes on the boat were wondering why there were Japanese people on Hero Island, so they looked at the Sunlight Envoy and asked.
"Lord Messenger, why are there Japanese people on the island?"
"Yes, I heard that Japan is far away, on the other side of the sea. What are they doing here?"
"I don't think it's because the Japanese fishing boat lost its way and drifted here?"
"If you are blind, just look at that woman leaning against the water, and you will know that she is proficient in martial arts. Where did she get lost in the fishing boat!"
The Sunlight Envoy pondered: "This time, the island owner invited the Japanese people to come over, just because of the matter that could not be solved for decades. The island owner is old and worried, so he made an exception this time and went to the Japanese world. Samurai, and... warriors from Korea."
Goryeo? Are all the warriors from Goryeo here? The heroes on the boat were a little dumbfounded. They were more familiar with Korea than Japan.
Goryeo proclaimed itself a vassal to the Song Dynasty, but at the same time it also proclaimed itself a vassal to the Liao Dynasty and paid tribute. One country served two masters, which was reduced to a joke. Both the Song and Liao countries were not good-looking and very embarrassed.
But Goryeo's martial arts... All the heroes looked at each other. Since the Song people were more familiar with Goryeo, they knew that Goryeo didn't seem to have any powerful martial arts, and it was far inferior to Japan in this regard.
Someone asked: "What skills does this Goryeo warrior...have?"
The hero next to him said: "I've never heard of it!"
Someone else frowned: "What can they solve if they come?"
Another hero sneered: "I'm afraid it's not just a trick, just for fun!"
Zhao Tao closed his eyes and meditated. Goryeo had no martial arts handed down from ancient times except Hwarangdo created by the Hwarang knights in the Silla era. As for this Hwarangdo... it was different from the court performances of later generations. It could kill people!
At this time, the Sunlight Envoy commanded the ship's anchor board, and then looked at the crowd and said: "Now that we have arrived at the island, there are some things that I will not hide from you. This is the last time for the Heroes' Conference held once every ten years on Hero Island. "
Everyone was surprised and asked why.
Sunlight Messenger Youyou said: "The island owner, after he achieved the title of Grandmaster in the Central Plains, once challenged Li Xian, the invincible sun-turning needle in the North, but was defeated by Li Xian's ghostly red thread flying needle. He was seriously injured. Since then, I traveled overseas to land on this Hero Island."
When he said this, everyone was surprised. Li Xian and the others knew that it was a being who was claimed to be invincible decades ago. Tong Guan, the current Privy Councilor of the Xifu, is Li Xian's descendant.
The Sunlight Envoy continued: "The island was unknown at the time. The old man who owned the island went to the island to recuperate, but he found that this place was not untouched. Not only had people lived here, but there were many gold and silver jewels hidden there, and there was even a great war there! "
At this moment, the boat has stopped and the steps have been set up to go ashore, but no one moved, and they were all listening to the Sun Envoy telling the secrets of Hero Island.
"The war on the island did not come from beacon fires, but from the battles at sea among the rivers, lakes and green forests many years ago. The island owner discovered many secret things and even found an opportunity."
"The island owner deduced the cause and effect of the battle. After burying the bones of those people, he named the island Hero Island. Then he began to study the opportunity. After he understood it, he planned to improve his martial arts and return to the Central Plains to find the Northland. The invincible Li Xian competes in a showdown."
"But it is a pity that decades have passed and Li Xian has died, but this opportunity has still not been understood. Later, the island owner sent me ashore every ten years to invite fellow Jianghu people to discuss the details, and I was promised a lot of reward, but in the end no one could figure it out."
"Now that the island owner has already passed a hundred years old, he feels that his time is approaching, so he issued the hero order for the last time, and wanted to invite the heroes from all over the world to come again. In order not to leave any regrets, he also called the warriors from Japan and Korea. If he still If you get nothing, destroy that opportunity, and there will never be a meeting of heroes in the world from now on!"
After hearing this, everyone understood.
The owner of the heroic island is too old, and he is afraid that he knows that he will not live long, so he wants to give it a last try, so he calls in all the people he can find. If he can't figure out the so-called opportunity, he will be completely ruined, and he will not be able to survive in the future. There are no heroes anymore.
And that so-called opportunity, according to the hidden meaning of the Riguang envoy's words, should be some kind of powerful martial arts, which is enough to counter Li Xian's Red Thread Phantom Needle.
A martial art that could make a master unable to understand it for decades, and who searched all over the world to learn about it, immediately made everyone on the ship jealous.
Zhao Tong secretly thought in his heart that he did not expect that the heroic island owner was the same generation as Li Xian. It was impossible for Mi Zhenting in the palace to know this person. Unfortunately, the old man was not around at the moment, but there was no way to ask about him. .
After the Sunlight Envoy finished speaking, he made an invitation gesture: "Everyone, please get off the boat. Your accommodation has been arranged long ago. A night banquet will be prepared on the island today to entertain you heroes. We will discuss the opportunity tomorrow!"
After hearing the words, everyone started to walk down the boat, with the Moonlight Envoy leading the way. At this moment, they heard the Moonlight Envoy in front smiling and saying: "Fellow heroes, Hero Island is not an isolated and dead island. There are scattered markets and wine shops on it. You can go and do it at your leisure." Go shopping, but you have to spend your own money.”
All the heroes said: "This is very good. How can you go out to drink and buy things without spending money?"
The Moonlight Envoy paused and then said: "Everyone with the Moonlight Hero Order goes to the island. There is no food or drink on the island. You have to take care of your own food during the day."
Everyone was stunned, and the Moonlighter smiled bitterly and said: "This is not because Hero Island is stingy. In fact, you have just heard that the island owner once got a batch of treasures when he first came here, but after decades, the island My own expenses are easy to say, but the gifts given to hundreds of heroes every ten years are a huge sum. In the past, they were all responsible for food and drink, but now they can no longer afford it. This time, the gold and silver gifts will be removed. Outside, the island no longer has the ability to provide for you, so... you have to take care of your daily meals by yourself, but fortunately, there are restaurants and bars on the island, which are opened once every ten years. They are all run by fishermen or servants on the island. Shop, you can go to these places to get it done, the price is not expensive, much the same as on land.”
Although the heroes were not very happy when they heard this, they all nodded in agreement on the surface. After all, the money they spent on food and drink every day was only a drop in the bucket compared to the gold and silver they gave as gifts. No one wanted to show their poverty at this moment and be looked down upon by others.
The Moonlight Envoy led everyone forward. Zhao Tong suddenly remembered something from behind and turned around and asked, "Do you have any money with you?"
Since you can take care of your own food and drink, you must have money. If you don’t have money, you can’t go to a store to eat.
Du Bo shook his head from behind. He didn't have any with him. As a general, he often wore armor and went to war, so he rarely carried money or other items with him.
Wu Song also shook his head. Originally, he often carried money with him when he went out, but since he changed into a monk's robe, his mentality was different from before, and he no longer carried money.
Zhao Tong looked at the two men and shook his head, his face suddenly turned ugly. He was a prince, unless he was acting alone, he would bring gold and silver. Usually he would have his subordinates with him, and the money would be with his subordinates, and he would pay for everything he bought and ate.
In the past, Huang Gu, Ouyang Bei, Su Shi, etc. would carry the money when they went out. When they were away, it was Ding Daxie. This time, Bai Ao took the money, but... Bai Ao was sent away by him!
Two brothers, Bai Ao and Bai Ba, were sent by Bai Ba to Jiangning to ask Wang Xun to transfer the ship into the sea to find and rush to the Hero Island.
Bai Ao was sent by him to find Huang Jue in Fuzhou. If Huang Jue killed the Huren Pu family in Guangzhou, then let him gather the pirates to come to Hero Island. Maybe there is someone among the pirates who knows the location of the island.
Bai Ao is not here at the moment, and the money is all on Bai Ao. He forgot to come at that time, and now Du Bo and Wu Song don't have any money either. Zhao Tong looked at the third child of the Bai family expectantly.
Bai Zhan immediately understood what had happened, and his face didn't look good. He reached into his arms tremblingly, and after groping for a long time, he took out a small handful of copper coins, not even a single silver penny.
He looked at Zhao Tong and said: "My lord, my lord, when my subordinates go out, the eldest brother carries the money. He doesn't give it to me and the second brother. He says he is helping us save it to marry our wife."
Bastard, bastard! Zhao Tong's face was ashen. After thinking about it, he stretched out his hand. Bai Zhan hurriedly handed over half of the copper coins. Zhao Tong counted them, and found that there were only fifty or sixty coins.
He took a deep breath and said calmly: "You all grew up in the mountains and by the water. You will start hunting in the mountains tomorrow and fish in the sea. You can't starve to death!"
When the three of them heard this, they looked at each other and felt a little relieved. Du Bo and the three brothers from the Bai family were all good at water. There was plenty of water around their hometown since they were young, so diving and catching fish was no problem.
Although Wu Song's water quality is average, there are many mountains around Qinghe County, and he has been hunting in the mountains since he was a child, so this is not a problem.
Zhao Tong's water quality is naturally excellent, but he is a dignified King of Qin and fishes in the water. How can he behave like that? At this moment, holding the copper coins, I secretly wondered if there was any other way to get food more easily.
The Moonlighter led the way, and after a while they arrived at the foot of a hill surrounded by greenery. There were many wooden houses here, which were obviously allocated for everyone to live in.
They each found a place to live, Zhao Tuo still occupied one place, and Du Bo and others occupied two sides. The wooden house was originally enough to accommodate four or five people, but now everyone knew that Du Bo was vicious, but no one said anything to argue with him. .
Nothing happened next, just cleaning up the house and resting, waiting for the free dinner on the island.
After a while, Zhao Tong came out of the wooden house, holding a long snake in his hand. He called Wu Song and said: "Erlang can't kill wild beasts, so you can kill this thing. Just don't get bitten. I don't think it's possible on this island." Good things, remember to be careful.”
Wu Song looked at the snake's triangular head and the two fangs pinched by Zhao Tong until it spit out, and couldn't help but nodded silently.
Zhao Tong turned the snake around and shook it violently. The snake was thrown to the ground limply. Zhao Tong said, "If you feel hungry for a while, you can roast it first."
After that, he went back to the house, leaving Wu Erlang staring at the dead snake on the ground in a daze.
Zhao Tong lay on the wooden bed in the room and counted from left to right. He always counted fifty-eight copper coins. He counted them more than ten times, and there was never one more or less.
He carefully wrapped it in a silk handkerchief and put it in his arms. Then he turned over on the bed and fell asleep slowly.
It was probably when the sun was slightly to the west, and it started to get lively outside. He slowly woke up, and it turned out that the Moonlight Envoy came to invite people to the banquet.
When Zhao Tong went out, he called Du Bo and the others and whispered some things. All three of them had twitching faces, lowered their heads and just said, "I understand."
Then Zhao Tao held his head high, walked to the end, and followed the Moonlight Envoy to the center of the island for the banquet.
This Hero Island has a layout of three highs and one low. The center of the island is flat and has a row of large wooden palaces. Not far away, there is a well-maintained road leading directly to the seaside. There are some shops on both sides of the road, which are so-called small shops. A market, a place where you can eat and drink.
The Moonlight Envoy introduced things to everyone as he walked, not only some things that needed attention on the island, but also his own origins.
There are a total of five sunlight envoys and five moonlight envoys on Hero Island, all of whom are disciples of the island owner.
But this is only the current Sunlight Messenger and the Moonlight Messenger. There are also the older generation of messengers. Basically, they will retire every ten years and be replaced by new messengers. The old messengers will no longer bear this name and do not need to go to sea. Taking care of the Heroes Conference, I just need to polish my martial arts skills every day and support myself in retirement.
These people are all disciples of the island owner. The number of envoys in each term is different, and there are men and women. Some of them fall in love with each other and get married on the island. Now the Hero Island family has multiplied to one or two hundred people.
During their tenure, the Moonlight Envoys were not called by names, but only by numbers. For example, the Moonlight Envoy leading the team at the moment was Moonlight Three. In addition to her, there were also Moonlight One, Two, Four and Five.
At this time, everyone had arrived at the front of the hall, and saw many people already sitting in the hall. They looked like they were all from the land.
They Xianju, the group that went to sea, finally arrived at Hero Island. The other two ships arrived a day earlier, but the banquet had to be held together.
Entering the main hall, looking for a place to sit down, a moment later, I saw a dozen people coming out from the back of the hall. These dozen people were not like the messengers of the sun and moon hiding their faces, but showed their true colors. They were all around fifty years old, and they all walked at a pace Calm and strong.
When Zhao Tong saw these people, he couldn't help but look solemn. These are all top-notch experts, not just a few.
Then I saw these people shouting loudly: "Welcome to the island owner."
Everyone in the venue stood up one after another. No matter what, it would be a loss of etiquette to sit still when the host arrived, so they all stood up to greet the host.
Four more young people, two men and two women, walked in from behind the palace, supporting an old man.
The old man was tall, with beard and hair as white as snow, a ruddy complexion, and his eyes were introverted, giving him an air of majesty.
The old man wore a silver-white robe, with a blazing red flame embroidered on the center of the chest.
Zhao Tong's expression suddenly changed when he saw the robe, but then he hurriedly covered it up and even lowered his head slightly to prevent others from noticing his expression.
The old man is wearing the white flame robe that can only be worn by the leader of the Ming Cult. This old man is the leader of the Ming Cult!
No, it should be the Mingjiao leaders of previous generations!
Not before Fang La, the leader before Fang La was his father-in-law Shao Fangqing, who went crazy while practicing the Sixth Way of Heaven Transformation and died.
This old man goes even further and is the leader of the Ming Cult in the Central Plains during Li Xian's time!
Zhao Tong took a deep breath in his heart. He originally thought that Hero Island had collusion with the Ming Cult, or had some other relationship, but he didn't expect that the owner of the Hero Island was actually the former leader of the Ming Cult!
This old man was a grandmaster back then and once fought against Li Xian. Since he dared to fight against Li Xian and lived to such a long age, Cang Qiong Bian must have mastered the sixth path!
However, he was defeated by Li Xian and escaped with serious injuries, even fleeing overseas.
Could that be...
Is it difficult for the master-level six-way sky transformation to defeat the master-level sun-turning needle?
(End of chapter)
