The wind blows away the waves of May and brings the heat of June.
Acharya looked at the endless sea, then turned to look at the distant continent, and finally raised his head to look at the sky, where the sun and moon flags were fluttering in the wind.
That is the symbol of the Ming Dynasty. This ship is the mobile territory of the Ming Dynasty!
All of this seemed to be created by gods, beyond his imagination. Even though Zhang Guanshan repeatedly explained that it was done by humans, Acharya still did not believe it and worshiped the sun and moon flag devoutly every day.
Zhang Huiming became the darling on the ship. This little guy had a sweet mouth and could tell stories about Huo Qubing, Yue Fei, Wen Tianxiang and others. He was cute and cute, and brought everyone a lot of joy during the boring voyage.
Xiang Datong sat on the bow of the boat, letting the hot light shine on him and just looking at the distant coast.
Suddenly, my whole body felt cooler.
Xiang Datong raised his head and looked at Zhang Guanshan: "No need to hold an umbrella, where are we?"
Zhang Guanshan fixed the umbrella stand and then sat next to Xiang Datong: "I asked Sun Xu and based on the comprehensive judgment based on the chart, direction, coastline, mountain trend, etc., the place called Panama is ahead."
Xiang Datong looked at the mainland in the distance and asked, "Is Zheng Guogong really in the west?"
Zhang Guanshan nodded heavily: "This time the imperial court used 70% of the elite navy to find us, and even brought out the most advanced steam engines and ships. Zhu Neng and Luo Guanying were only part of the manpower. Zheng He and Wan Qinglin were in the west. .”
Xiang Datong frowned: "I've seen the chart. There is no river to cross there. How can we meet them?"
Zhang Guanshan smiled and said: "Of course it is a landing. It is more than 160 miles wide and it is not difficult to walk there. When the time comes, we will use the ships of Zheng He's fleet, and they will use our ships to return to the Ming Dynasty."
Xiang Datong didn't understand: "Why is it so troublesome to just return to Ming Dynasty?"
Zhang Guanshan said sternly: "If we meet them successfully, it will prove that the planet we live on is round, which also means that this voyage is a true circumnavigation of the world. Since it is a circumnavigation of the world, do you think these brothers Will we walk half the way back? No, everyone is eager to actually complete the journey!"
Xiang Datong understood.
The global feat is a rare experience and a lifetime honor for every naval officer.
His eyes were a little dazed.
Xiang Datong looked at the umbrella above his head and said, "No need to hold an umbrella, where are we?"
Zhang Guanshan frowned slightly and looked at Xiang Datong.
Xiang Datong seemed to have noticed something and asked, "Did I say such a thing?"
Zhang Guanshan shook his head: "No, I just came and you just asked. I asked Sun Xu, now we..."
Luo Guanying knocked on the map and said to Zhu Neng: "We can dock."
Zhu Neng nodded: "I don't know if Zheng He and the others are here. We are still a little late."
Just as Luo Guanying was about to speak, he heard loud gongs and drums outside.
The sergeant quickly reported: "The lookout sergeant found a smoke column, heading southwest."
"It's them!"
Zhu Neng was shocked.
Luo Guanying breathed a sigh of relief and observed with a telescope in the helm house. There was indeed a smoke column in the distance, and the smoke column seemed to be on the mountain.
The fleet slowly approached the mainland and anchored more than twenty feet away from the shore.
Zhao Shiyu and his deputy Kang Shan took the lead in landing by boat, and took five hundred sergeants with them, carrying black oil, felling trees, choosing a safe area, and lighting the smoke column.
When the black smoke billowed up, Zhu Neng, Luo Guanying and more than 11,000 soldiers had already landed, and there were 10,000 soldiers left on the ship waiting for the handover.
west.
Zheng He, Mao Zhoutai, Wan Qinglin and others climbed onto a mountain that was not too high and surveyed the surrounding terrain.
Wan Qinglin pointed to the south and said, "Look, it's like the middle part of a saddle. There are mountains on both sides in the distance. Looking at it, the topography of the saddle seems to extend to the east. It's an ambush." A good place to fight.”
Zheng He put down the telescope: "This is indeed suitable for an ambush, but there are no enemies worthy of our ambush here."
Wan Qinglin nodded.
Everyone has seen the indigenous people. They still live in a relatively primitive era. Some tribes don't even have writing, let alone civilization. There are only a few of these people, and even if there are more of them, they are no match for the Ming Dynasty Navy.
"Mao Zhoutai, what are you thinking about?"
Zheng He looked at the silent Mao Zhoutai.
Mao Zhoutai asked seriously: "Why do you think the imperial court sent Prince Ning to Africa to use all possible means and strategies to dig the Suez Canal and connect the Mediterranean and the Red Sea?"
Zheng He and Wan Qinglin were a little surprised. This was Central America, not Africa. Why was Prince Ning and the Suez Canal suddenly involved?
Wan Qinglin frowned and said: "Only by digging the rivers of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea can the Ming Dynasty's ships enter the Mediterranean unimpeded, and then control the coastal countries of the Mediterranean to prepare for deterring, weakening and even controlling the European continent. You also have the map there. You see, once the river is successfully excavated, it will definitely be one of the most important waterways."
Mao Zhoutai naturally knew this and asked: "How long is the Suez Canal?"
"About four hundred miles."
Wan Qinglin replied.
Mao Zhoutai raised his hand and pointed at the valley-like basin extending into the distance in front of him: "According to the map, it should not be more than two hundred miles from here to the sea on the opposite side. If the imperial court can dig a canal here, how can we There is no need to change ships, and the ships can be sailed directly to the waters of eastern America."
Zheng He looked at Mao Zhoutai in surprise, and then looked at the saddle mouth terrain in front of him.
This is true.
If a canal can be opened here, the fleet can completely cross it. In the future, when going to Dongping City in Yan State, they can completely avoid the African road and start directly from Dingyuan Province, arrive on the west coast of America and then go north through the canal.
This is an extremely convenient river, which can shorten the voyage, save time, and strengthen the connection and trade between Ming Dynasty and Yan State.
Two hundred miles!
It is half shorter than the Suez Canal.
However, this is still an impossible task.
The main force in digging the Suez Canal was the Mamluk dynasty. There were plenty of people there, and material support could be mobilized from around them. This place is so wild that even if we pull out the indigenous savages to dig the river, they won’t be able to dig it if there are too few people, and they won’t be able to feed them if there are too many people...
After Zheng He said that it was not feasible, he sighed: "Undoubtedly, this idea still needs to be reported to the court. If it is not feasible now, it does not mean that it will not be feasible in the future. In the next fifty years or a hundred years, there is no way that the imperial court will be able to do this. Dig a canal to connect the east and west."
Mao Zhoutai nodded.
From a strategic sense, there are rivers here, and the Ming Dynasty's connection with the Yan Kingdom will become particularly close. Although it is the Yan Kingdom, it is still the Yan Kingdom of the Ming Dynasty.
