A fleet sails north, led by a teenager.

The young man's name is Chen Li, he just turned nineteen years old this year, and his father is Chen Shuangxi, a pirate who went to the meeting with Wang Yuan alone.

Chen Shuangxi's transformation was very smooth, those pirates in the Zhoushan Islands were formed by him into a maritime merchant gang, and at its peak, there were more than 80 sea ships in the gang - most of them belonged to offshore ships, focusing on domestic route trade, transporting goods from the south to Tianjin and Lushunkou, and then transporting goods from Liaodong and Hebei to the southern ports.

Of course, there are also more than a dozen large ships, specializing in Sino-Japanese trade, and they are one of the main trading partners of the Ouchi clan and the Niko clan of Japan.

The Ouchi clan and the Niko clan have been attacking each other for many years, and the Maori Yuan has become independent in the first two years, and the Niko clan has been in turmoil. These two families fought to the death all day long, and the people in the jurisdiction lived in hardship, but they fed the Ming merchants.

Just last year, Chen Shuangxi was shipwrecked and sank several boats in a storm, and Chen Shuangxi's body has not been found.

When the news came back to Zhoushan, the three sons immediately made a fuss, and a son-in-law was involved in the fight for the family property.

The eldest son won a great victory, the second son died, and the son-in-law asked the elders of the Shang Gang to mediate.

As the youngest son, Chen Li was assigned a big boat, and the price was that he had to go to other countries. Either go to the far east, or go to the Indian Ocean, and you must not return to the coast of the country.

Since the age of fifteen, Chen Li has been running boats with his father, and he has a lot of experience at a young age. He lobbied the maritime merchants of Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong, and even pulled up a team of twelve ships to go to the far east to obtain gold and silver treasures.

"Decheng, say goodbye, I wish you a smooth journey!" Fang Lingxi hugged his fists.

Chen Li hurriedly returned the salute: "Take care, sir!" ”

Fang Lingxi, a child of Lehu, studied in the School of Physics for several years, and was hired by maritime merchants as soon as he returned to Hangzhou. He is now a teacher at the Hangzhou Industrial and Commercial School, and many maritime merchants have funded him to set up a laboratory, and he usually conducts research while taking students.

This time in Beijing, Fang Lingxi received an invitation to participate in the founding meeting of the "Physics Society", and happened to take Chen Li's downwind boat to the north.

The fleet docked at Tianjin Port, Fang Lingxi landed and left, but the fleet still had to unload and replenish.

Hundreds of ragged refugees, seeing the fleet coming, immediately rushed over: "Master, take us out to sea, my hometown really can't survive!" ”

Regardless of whether they were forced or not, some of the first few batches of Shandong and Beizhili people who went to sea went to Nanyang, and some went to the Americas, and they have brought back some goods to their families one after another. These news spread quickly, and it turned out that going to sea was really not a death, and even money could be made to send it back to home!

As a result, the poor people in the coastal provinces have another helpless choice, gathering in the ports all day long to beg and survive, waiting to follow various fleets to the sea to make a living.

The Sea Tooth Man is here!

They signed contracts with maritime merchants and ranchers, and accompanied ships to search for refugees in coastal ports. Loans are made to refugees to pay for sea travel, and they are sent directly to work overseas, and the loans are slowly recovered from the refugees' wages.

Single young women are very valuable because there are too many singles in the South Seas. There are even lawbreakers who secretly kidnap women to go to the South Seas, and they can be sold for a good price.

Chen Li said to his henchmen: "Go and choose the able-bodied, give them some food, and after three days, if you don't find any disease, you will load them all on the ship and take them away!" ”

"Yes!" This henchman is the old man left by Chen Shuangxi.

Chen Li used to follow his father to run a boat, and he had heard countless rumors of the Far East, and he not only wanted to earn gold and silver, but even planned to build a country.

He shipped many goods from Nanyang to the north, ready to be sold out in Tianjin and Japan. With only food, water, cotton, armor and people, he went to the Americas to occupy a piece of territory, and then found an opportunity to get gold and return to China, learning the model of Tanhaibo and growing stronger.

After years of exploration, the American route has become relatively mature, and even the nautical charts have been leaked.

It's riskier to go because there are almost no islands along the way.

The return voyage is very safe, because the North Pacific Ocean, close to the equator, is full of large and small islands. Several of these large islands have even become fixed supply points, and the natives on the islands prepare food and water, waiting for the Ming fleet to come and trade goods.

Occasionally, people who are sick should not sail long distances, so they simply stay on the island to recuperate.

The Marshall Islands, which in later generations were an important nuclear test and missile base for the US military, conducted 67 nuclear tests before and after.

As for this time and space, the chief of the Marshall Islands is Lin Chun, a native of Guangzhou. Because of the disease, this cargo got off the ship to recuperate, and actually married the chief's daughter and taught the natives advanced farming techniques. He also used the money he saved to buy weapons and lead the warriors of his own island to conquer other small islands around him. As soon as the chief died, he succeeded to the chieftaincy, and all of the chief's sons died inexplicably.

Lin Chun went to sea because his family died, and he didn't have any worries in Daming, so he simply devoted himself to developing in the Pacific Ocean. He declared his own state, named the archipelago "Guanghai State", and even sent envoys to Beijing with the ship to ask the emperor for canonization.

Zhu Houzhao was really canonized, because the "Guanghai State" is an important supply base in the Pacific Ocean, and it is very far away from the continents on both sides. Killing all the natives of the archipelago will make it very cumbersome to resupply and collect food and fresh water yourself. Even if it is occupied, few people are willing to stay and garrison, it is better to let this Lin Chun rule the natives.

A broken settlement in Guangzhou, actually became a king of the sea, and was officially canonized by the Ming Emperor, which immediately aroused the ambitions of countless people, and Chen Li was one of them.

After months of sailing, Chen Li's fleet came to Oakwood Bay.

Looking at the dense oak forest, Chen Li's eyes were red, this Nima was indeed a heaven-sent shipbuilding base. It's a pity that this is the territory of the imperial court, and Chen Li didn't dare to grab it.

A middle-aged man in sackcloth, walking with local immigrants, hugged his fists and said, "But Tan Haibo's fleet? ”

Chen Li got off the boat and saluted back: "We are a sea exploration fleet formed by private businessmen, and our surname is Chen, and our name is Li, and the word is Decheng, and we dare to ask Your Excellency for your honorable name." ”

The middle-aged man praised: "Good name, the monarch and the minister, father and son, the elder and the young, and then the etiquette and righteousness." Under the surname Zhang, the name Zhuo, the word Yunhe. ”

Chen Li smiled bitterly in his heart, his words were taken by his father who paid for a famous teacher, and now he thinks about it is particularly ironic.

The name is established, the word is virtuous, and it is the virtue of etiquette and righteousness, implying that the monarch and the minister, the father and the son, the elder and the young. But as soon as his father died, the three brothers fought over the family property, the eldest brother killed the second brother, and exiled himself overseas, how can there be any courtesy?

Chen Li clenched his fists and said: "It turned out to be Mr. Zhang, but I didn't expect to meet scholars overseas." ”

"Ashamed, wearing a sinful body, unworthy of seeing people." Zhang Zhuo said embarrassedly.

Zhang Zhuo, 42 years old this year, was originally a teacher of the government school, but was reported and imprisoned for colluding with students to cheat in the imperial examination. This is a very serious crime, in order to save his wife and children, Zhang Zhuo voluntarily exiled to North America.

Chen Li said: "I heard that there has been a long-term shortage of salt in the Far East, so I brought a lot of salt here and wanted to exchange for some food and fresh water. ”

Zhang Zhuo said with a smile: "There is no shortage of salt in Oak Bay, can it be exchanged for iron?" ”

"No shortage of salt?" Chen Li was surprised.

Zhang Zhuo said: "We can already cook our own salt. ”

During the Zhengde period, the method of drying salt had been invented in the south, but the whole country was still mainly boiled salt. In order to prevent the stove from cooking privately, the imperial court also divided a pot into several parts, and several stove households were needed to get together to boil the salt.

In order to jam the necks of immigrants with salt, Tanhai Bo Zhuhai has not brought a large iron pot to boil salt, and even deliberately does not let the stove households become immigrants.

Zhang Zhuo learned the teachings of this house, but quietly communicated with the natives and made huge pottery. He himself was born in a stove household, and he gained fame by the imperial examination, and boiling salt belonged to Zhang Zhuo's family heirloom.

Using his own salt, Zhang Zhuo not only sold it to two other immigrants in the vicinity, but also annexed the first indigenous tribe that Zhu Hai encountered.

There were only two or three hundred people in that tribe, and now all of them have migrated to Oakwood Bay.

The Han people taught the indigenous advanced farming techniques, the indigenous people taught the Han people to hunt and gather, and there were even cases of free marriage between different races.

When Chen Li came to the Americas for the first time, he felt strange to see everything, and took the initiative to go to the Oakwood Bay immigrant settlement.

The immigrants brought in a lot of fresh meat, and every household was drying the meat, Chen Li was curious: "You here, the food is very sufficient, everyone can eat meat?" ”

Zhang Zhuo explained: "Whether you go from the south or the north, you can climb over the mountains and level the land, and there are a lot of bison. I thought, can I arrest and domesticate, and organize people to arrest it a few days ago. The calves were all raised, and the big calves were skinned and eaten, and they could not eat all at once. ”

This cargo led people to dig a big pit, had iron tools to dig quickly, and then covered it with turf to hide, and sent the natives to drive the bison herd into the pit, and grabbed more than 30 large and small bison at one time.

As for whether the bison can be domesticated or not, no one can say for sure, but it managed to feed two calves anyway.

Passing by a clearing, Chen Li saw a group of children practicing calligraphy on the ground with tree branches, and he admired: "Mr. is a great talent, the outer land also teaches the way of sages." ”

Zhang Zhuo said with a smile: "These are all indigenous children, and if you want to naturalize them, you have to start with Chinese dialect and Chinese characters." I said to these natives that the Han people and the natives have the same ancestors, and they are both descendants of China. Their ancestors were the old people of Yin Shang, who crossed the sea here because of the war. I think that this extreme eastern place should be called Yindi and Yinzhou, and the natives here can be used by me! ”

Chen Li's eyes lit up suddenly, this idea was too good. In the future, if you want to build a country, you don't need to kill all the natives, just turn the natives into Hanmin!

Zhang Zhuo whispered to Chen Li: "Leader Chen, we might as well make a deal." ”

"What deal?" Chen Li asked.

Zhang Zhuo said: "Next time you come over, transport some carpenters and blacksmiths, and then get some carpenters and blacksmiths." We can smelt iron by ourselves and build cars and ships by ourselves. I don't have anything to give back now, and when I prosper in the future, I can sell you the ironware of cars and ships in Yinzhou. ”

Chen Li asked, "Why don't you ask for Haibo in this matter?" ”

Zhang Zhuo said: "Tanhai Bo is guarding us, I am full of oak here, but I can't even make wheels." ”

Chen Li suddenly smiled: "Deal!" ”