February 18th, the 15th year of Hongwu in the Song Dynasty.
The four Shenzhou Ding 4-type 3,000-stone expedition ships including Ping'an, Yong'an, Tai'an, and Fu'an have been fully loaded with various supplies and materials. They are lined up on the pier outside Yuejiangmen, Nanjing, waiting to sail east. Got off.
These four Shenzhou Ding 4 type 3000 stone exploration ships are improved on the basis of the Shenzhou Ding 3 type 3000 stone gunboat. They are specially used to carry out the mission of exploring Western Europe. They left the Yangtze River Estuary and headed east, first stopping in Japan for a few days. On the 1st, add some supplies, wait for the southwest wind to pick up, and then set sail westward. In less than three months, you can reach Western Europe!
Well, the eldest son of the emperor, Lingwu King Zhao Lun, who is in charge of this matter, has already studied it carefully, even the approximate landing place.
"Father, I have already studied these four expedition ships with Lady Bo (Natalie) and Master Ma (Mari Hasiya). If they take the northern route all the way east and cross the Atlantic Ocean, they will encounter a big The island is probably in England!"
It was Zhao Kai who was reporting the expedition preparations to Zhao Kai on Yuejiang Tower. He was very concerned about this expedition. This matter is related to whether he can successfully become the crown prince, so how can he not be 120% concerned about it?
"England" Zhao Kai nodded and said to himself that you don't even know the island of Ireland! Obviously he didn’t study it carefully!
But it doesn’t matter. As long as the expedition fleet leaves Japan with enough supplies and then heads east with eyes closed, it will definitely discover the New World!
At that time, I will make you the Eastern Emperor, and you can go to the New World to deal with the Indians. No, they should not be called Indians, but should be called "English savages" or "French natives".
Thinking of this, he looked back at the Pomeranian and asked with a smile, "Natalie, you are a Rakshasa lady, and you still know the situation in Western Europe?"
Natalie smiled and said, "So that the officials know that although I am a Rakshasa, I am a noble. My father is the bishop of the Principality of Galicia, so I have received education and know some conditions in Western Europe." .”
Zhao Kai was noncommittal and did not mention Ireland. Instead, he asked Zhao Lun, "What if no expedition arrived in England?"
"Then it will be possible to reach the Frankish Kingdom, which is south of England and across the sea from England."
What historians consider the "Kingdom of France" had actually already been born, when Hugo Capet, Duke of Ile-de-France, was elected king of the Franks. However, because Hugo Capet and several subsequent kings were called kings of the Franks, Europeans today do not know the existence of the Kingdom of France.
"There are also some small countries and a green food country to the south of the Frankish Kingdom," Zhao Chen said. "The land of the green food country was originally a place where believers of the Church of God worshiped, and was later occupied by Tianfang believers from North Africa. Conquered and established a green-clad and food-rich country."
Zhao Lun suddenly frowned when he said this, "However, these countries, including England, Franks, and the Green Shirt Country, are different from our Song Dynasty. They are extremely loose internally, with the power of the king falling apart, and the princes dividing themselves into one party. If it is completely Yan Xiebao can use the methods of the Central Plains to rectify the Eastern Roman Kingdom and the Rakshasa, flatten the princes, and centralize power. Then it is very possible to flatten the European countries and unify the world that worships God. Then it will be difficult to deal with."
This Zhao Lun has really studied the political systems of various European countries at this time, and he obviously put his thought into it. However, he still underestimated the force of those loosely-minded God-worshiping princes. Although this group of people could not fight in large groups because there was rarely a leader with enough prestige to unite them, they could still fight against public security once they were dispersed. Pretty awesome. Wanyan Xiebao wanted to rely on his Jurchen nation and the weak Eastern Romans to unify them, but there was basically no chance.
Zhao Kai did not tell Zhao Lun his opinion because he knew that Zhao Lun would never meet Europeans or Wanyan Xiebao.
If we really encounter it, it means that this is not the earth at all!
"Are the four expedition ships ready?" Zhao Kai asked about the preparations for the expedition ships.
"Everything is ready," Zhao Lundao said. "The four Shenzhou Ding 4 type 3000-stone exploration ships are all modified from the Shenzhou Ding 3 type under construction. The hulls have been reinforced and bulkheads have been added to the keel. . Therefore, the hull is extremely strong and can definitely withstand strong winds and waves on the sea."
The bulkhead actually has two functions. One is to prevent the hull from entering water and sinking; the other is to act as a floor plate to strengthen the hull. The space separated by the bulkhead can also be used to store supplies.
Zhao Kai asked again, "How many sailors are there in the four ships? How much food and fresh water can be carried when setting off from Japan? This time we are crossing the Atlantic, and we are not traveling along the coast. It is difficult to replenish food and fresh water. We must prepare It’s enough.”
Zhao Lun said, "Because there may be conflicts with the English, Franks and the Green-Eaters after landing, each ship brought 200 sailors. These sailors are all highly skilled in martial arts and are also equipped with Luoyang Armor and Divine Arms." Bows, thunder and other equipment and armor.”
There are 200 people in one boat, and 800 people in four boats. If they are all covered in iron armor, carrying divine arm bows and bombs, they can be regarded as a force in Europe.
In addition, the four expedition ships are equipped with a total of 48 5-pound long guns!
Zhao Lun went on to say, "As for food, we will prepare a year's quota, and each boat will also carry enough salt to marinate the captured prey.
Fresh water is not easy to preserve, so 2,800 kilograms of rice wine will be purchased in Japan and loaded on four expedition ships. Calculating that one person consumes 5 kilograms of rice wine a day, 200 sailors will need 1,000 kilograms of rice wine a day, which is about six or seven koku. One ship will load 700 kilograms. The wine is enough to last 100 days. Each boat carries some wine yeast, and if necessary, you can brew some wine yourself.
In addition, each ship would carry 10,000 bolts of silk. This is used to exchange supplies with the English, Franks and the Great Eaters, as well as to donate to the king of England, the Franks and the Caliph or Sultan of the Great Eaters. "
Zhao Lun also prepared three certificates of nationality, one for England, one for Frank, and one for the monarchs in green clothes, which was quite thoughtful.
"By the way, are there horses on the boat?" Zhao Kai suddenly thought of horses at this time.
As far as he knew, there were no horses in America before the Europeans arrived there, and the only ones that could be ridden were alpacas. If the first Song people to land in the New World had horses and could form a small cavalry, that would be awesome. .
"Ma? I'm not prepared for this." Zhao Lun shook his head.
There are horses in Europe, and I have silk with me. Can I just buy it when I get to Europe?
Zhao Kai ordered, "Each boat should be equipped with twenty or thirty horses!"
"My son, I'll send someone to take care of it right away." Of course, Zhao Lun didn't dare to disobey his father's wishes, so he had no choice but to agree.
Zhao Kai nodded, "No need, just go to the imperial city stables to get some horses and don't miss the right time! Madam Bo, go ahead and do it!"
It turns out that today is a good day for the expedition fleet to set off, it’s February 18th, it’s going to be launched!
Natalie, a Pomeranian, accepted Zhao Kai's doubts and did not dare to neglect at all. She immediately led several female classmates and went to lead the horse with Zhao Kai's gold medal.
Zhao Kai thought for a while and felt that he had nothing to say, so he said to Zhao Lun, "Let the bows of the four ships come to meet you!"
The bows of these four expedition ships were all senior navy bows carefully selected by Zhao Lun. Because the Northern Song Dynasty Army did not have a navy a few years ago, these bows were all transferred from the Southern Song Dynasty Navy.
Among them, the name of the bowman of the Ping An is Sheng Xin, who is from Yuhang. He is in his forties. He was born as a Jinshi in the Southern Song Dynasty. He has been serving in the navy since his death. Later he became Zhao Shu's confidant and followed Zhao Shu to join the Northern Song Dynasty navy. He also Metropolitan control of this expedition.
The name of the bowman of the Yong'an is Yang Qin. He is about the same age as Sheng Xin. He was originally a fisherman from Dongting Lake. He was recruited into the navy. He first served in the Yangtze River Navy and then transferred to the navy. He served under Zhao Shu and Zhao Buqiu. He served under his subordinates, and finally joined them to join the Song Dynasty court.
The heads of the Tai'an and Fu'an were both from Southeast maritime merchants and had rich sailing experience, especially the routes to Japan.
The four people were quickly brought to Zhao Kai, bowed to him, and then stood in a row, waiting for Emperor Zhao to lecture.
Zhao Kai looked at them and said solemnly, "Today is the day for you to leave Nanjing and set foot east to find a route to Europe.
I have a hunch that you will definitely gain a lot from this trip, and your name will go down in history in the future. Ever since Xu Fu traveled eastward to seek immortality, none of us Chinese have thought about exploring the vast sea in the East, right? What a pity! "
Great harvest? What can be gained?
Zhao Lun and the four bowmen didn't understand what Zhao Kai meant. What was in the sea to the east? It can't be an island where immortals live, right? And the route to Rome doesn't seem to matter. What does it matter if it is discovered or not?
Zhao Kai had already shown a smile at this time, looking far-reachingly at the east direction of the river, and said to himself, "If my prediction is correct, the age of great navigation will begin from today. And people of my generation can In this life, I can still accomplish a lot, it is really worthy of this life!"
At this time, there was a sound of horse hooves downstairs in Yuejiang. Zhao Kai stretched his neck and looked down, and saw Natalie had arrived with some people and more than a hundred horses. These horses were royal horses. Although he is not Qinghai Cong, he is still strong enough and he is not too old. It is the time when his physical strength is at its best.
Along with these horses, there were dozens of carts of horse feed, which were provided for more than a hundred horses on their way to Japan.
When Zhao Kai saw that the horses had arrived, he smiled and said to the four bows, "It's almost time. You can board the ship. I'm waiting for your good news in Nanjing. I hope you won't let me down!"
The four of them bowed together and said, "Please rest assured, officials, I will live up to my orders!"
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