At this time, it was the third day of October, and it had been twenty days since the fleet set sail and left the port of Chengshan.

Twenty days was nothing to the European sailors accustomed to long voyages, and with plenty of rum and sheep, they could go without docking for even two months.

But the sailors of the Ming Dynasty can't do it, they have just come out of the state of seclusion, and it is the first time in their lives that they have been floating at sea for such a long time, and they are still in a state of high mental concentration, and the accumulated fatigue and tension have reached a very high level.

So Zhao Hao discussed with Wang Rulong, and asked the soldiers to take turns to rest on Iwo Jima, waiting for the second and third fleets to come and converge.

As soon as the order to rest was given, cheers resounded across the sea.

"It seems that no matter how strict the military discipline is, it can't change people's likes and dislikes." Wang Rulong said with some dissatisfaction, in his opinion, these low-intensity battles are not enough to warm up.

"Hahaha, this is the real person." Zhao Hao couldn't help but laugh and said, "At all times, you must treat your soldiers as human beings, not cold killing machines." ”

"Let's go, let's go to the island and have a look." As he spoke, his gaze fell on the crater with curling eyes.

Iwo Jima was formed by a volcanic eruption, or rather, it is a crater in itself. The huge mountain is actually hidden below the sea level, and it is the continuous eruption of magma that continues to pile up the mountain pass to form this strange island.

There is also a nice harbor on the island, called Nagahamaura, and there is also a wharf. But the water in the bay is yellow, which is dyed by the sulfur contained in the sand and gravel layer.

There was a pungent smell of rotten eggs wafting in the air, and everyone covered their noses one after another, but Zhao Gongzi felt a little intoxicated.

"Ahem, that's what it smells like! Ahem...... "He opened his arms in high spirits, as if to embrace the island in his arms.

There is an inexhaustible supply of natural sulfur!

Natural sulfur mainly comes from volcanic eruptions, but there are few volcanoes in China, and most of them are in a state of long-term dormancy, so natural sulfur mines are scarce and exhausted before the Tang Dynasty. This point cannot be compared with Japan, people's volcanic earthquakes are like a common thing, all day long, spraying and spraying, spraying all the underground inventory to the surface, the result is that there are all minerals, but there is not much, so people call it 'mineral resources standard country'.

Of course, there are exceptions, such as gold, silver and sulfur, which are quite considerable, and most importantly, easy to mine. So since the Song Dynasty, most of the sulfur in China has been imported from Japan. In the tributary trade between the dynasty and Japan, sulfur was also one of the few commodities that Japan could use.

After the tributary trade was cut off, there was no natural sulfur in Japan, so the Ming had to rely on calcining pyrite, or sulfides in coal mines, to produce sulfur. Not to mention the low efficiency, the pollution is also very serious.

Pyrite on Xishan Island has been discovered for nearly a year, but Zhao Gongzi still hasn't made up his mind whether to use it to prepare sulfur and sulfuric acid. Because it's too polluting to make this thing in a primitive factory.

Although it is also a way to pollute first and then clean up, it is better not to pollute or not to pollute. Taihu Lake is the heart of the south of the Yangtze River, and he has already built three cement factories, a glass factory, and five blast furnaces for copper and iron smelting on Xishan Island. If there is another sulfur field, I am afraid that it will really not be able to protect the green waters and green mountains of Taihu Lake.

But sulfur is so important, it is the cornerstone of the black powder and chemical industry, and it must be done as soon as possible. So Zhao Gongzi set his sights on here. As far back as he can remember, the Japanese have been collecting sulfur from this island since the Kamakura shogunate, and it is the closest to Chongming and easy to transport.

It is also the gateway to the south of Japan's three islands, where a police station was built to mine and guard the waterways!

~~

On the old dock of Iwo Jima, Tanegashima Shiyao, the owner of Tanegashima Island, has been waiting with his retainers for a long time.

Zhao Gongzi didn't care about the seeds that were crawling on the ground, because after he landed on the ground with his feet, he felt dizzy and even wanted to vomit.

"It's because I've been on the boat for too long, and suddenly it's not shaking, but I'm not used to it." Sister Ma hurriedly picked up his hand and helped him massage the Zhongzhu acupoint in the depression between the 4th and 5th metacarpal bones.

"Then why aren't you dizzy?"

Sister Ma somehow, her extremely rare expression darkened, and then she smiled and said, "People and people's physiques are different. ”

"Your vestibular is well developed." Zhao Gongzi didn't know where he had touched Sister Ma's pain point, so many people were not good at asking in detail, so he was busy making a joke and holding her Rouyi with his backhand to show comfort.

Sister Ma's face turned red, and she hurriedly withdrew her hand and became the little secretary behind him.

"Get up." Zhao Haofang said to the Japanese who knelt on the ground.

"Thank you, Childe." That kind of Shiyao can speak Chinese, but there is nothing to make a fuss about, after all, Ryukyu merchants have been trading with Tanegashima for hundreds of years, and the Ryukyuan people all speak Chinese.

Zhao Hao looked at this dark-skinned little old man and couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

Nearly 30 years ago, Wang Zhi, who was still a small maritime merchant at the time, carried three Portuguese to Shuangyu Island to trade, but encountered wind and waves on the way and deviated, and ended up on Tanegashima.

It was this Tanegashima Shiyao who agreed to allow them to dock to repair their ships and trade with them. It was the first time Japan came into contact with the Portuguese, and it was also the beginning of the Nanban trade.

Tanegashima Tokiyao spent a huge price of 2,000 taels of silver to purchase the first two arquebuses in Japan from the Portuguese. and handed one of them to the 'forging pillars' at home to be imitated by the eight plates...... Tanegashima Island is home to iron ore mines and blacksmiths who fled from Kyoto, making it the center of knife making in southern Kyushu.

But after months of reverse development, it still ended in failure.

A year later, unwilling to accept defeat, Yaban Kiyoshi learned the art of making arquebuses from the Portuguese who came back to sail in exchange for his beautiful daughter. Finally, the so-called "No. 1 domestic one" Tanegashima iron cannon was successfully manufactured. It soon spread to every corner of Japan. Nowadays, if you don't raise an iron artillery team of hundreds of people, you are embarrassed to say hello to others!

This incident also reminded Zhao Hao once again that he must pay attention to the technical blockade. If you don't have technical barriers, you can learn it!

~~

"Did you build this pier?" While Zhao Hao asked, he looked around, and saw a small village surrounded by a high wall next to the wharf, and it was lush and green. Not surprisingly, volcanic ash is rich in nutrients and makes the land more fertile.

"No, but we've been using it for two hundred years." Tanegashima Tokiyao hurriedly replied, "The Shimazu family was tasked with managing the ...... 'Tsuta' and 'Inhuman' who were exiled to southern Kyushu. We, the Tanegashima family, as their retainers, were reluctantly transferred to this task, and sent people to the island every month to collect sulfur. ”

"So there's a four-legged village on the island?" Hearing these two words, Zhao Gongzi suddenly asked.

"Yes......" Shi Yao nodded, showing a look of disgust.

The so-called 'filthy' and 'non-human' are untouchables similar to the Li Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty. But the severity of Japan's hierarchy and the severity of discrimination against untouchables is incomparable. The untouchables of the Li Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty could still have contact with the common people and engage in relatively lowly service industries. Especially in today's Ming Dynasty, where etiquette is broken and people are everywhere, as long as you don't take the imperial examination, who cares where you come from, and what is your background?

But in Japan, where there is a hierarchy and immobility, untouchables are an 'untouchable' group of people. They were exiled to isolated islands, where they were engaged in the lowest occupations for generations, and could not even farm the land, but could only eat beef and mutton for food...... Because the slaughtering and leather industry, which is a killing industry, is all arranged by them.

It is clear that the sulphur miners on the island are untouchables. It's no wonder that the land is not so fertile, but there are no crops.

"But don't worry, this trestle is absolutely forbidden for untouchables to set foot on this trestle bridge." Afraid that Zhao Hao would be suspicious, Tanegashima Shiyao hurriedly explained: "The sulfur they cook every month can only be placed in the room in front of them. Our men would come regularly to take away the sulphur and put the next month's grain and salt in the house, so that the two sides could not touch. ”

Zhao Hao smiled at Wang Rulong when he heard this, and Wang Rulong knew that Gongzi had found a target again.

"Let's go back and build a fort here." He pointed to the high reef by the pier, and walked in as he commanded, and saw that he was about to get off the pier.

"Childe, you can't go any further." Shi Yao jumped to his feet and exclaimed, "That's the ground that has been trampled on by many filthy people." ”

"It's fine." Zhao Hao rolled his eyes, and all the soldiers also laughed. In the eyes of the Ming people, these Japanese people are not as clean as the untouchables.

Wang Rulong and the others hugged Gongzi and got off the trestle bridge and walked in the direction of the four-legged village.

"Lord, what should I do?" Several retainers looked at their head of the house in hesitation.

"Alas, you guys stay here......" Shi Yao made a great determination, and then gritted his teeth and took a step.

"Lord!" The retainers fell to their knees and wept as if they were looking at the righteous men who had died generously.

Shi Yao closed his eyes and stepped on it, feeling that his whole person was not clean.

"I'm dirty." Shi Yao shed two lines of tears, but for the safety of his family and the townspeople, he could only make huge sacrifices.

"Lord, I'm here to accompany you!" One of the retainers got up and rushed down the trestle as well.

"Lord, we're here too!" The rest of the people secretly scolded this second goods, so they had to follow and set foot in this forbidden place together.

"Okay, let's do it together!" Shi Yao was greatly moved to look at his subordinates, but saw that they were dumbfounded one by one.

Shi Yao looked back and almost fainted. That noble prince of the Celestial Empire actually walked into the four-legged village......

"Childe, don't!" Shi Yaoden fainted. If you knew this, you might as well not surrender.

But it's too late to say anything now, they're not clean anymore, and they can't go back......

Therefore, we have to vigorously promote the study of mind in Japan.