Black Water Ocean.

Since the Song Dynasty, navigators have called the Yellow Sea in later generations the Yellow Water Ocean, the Green Water Ocean, and the Black Water Ocean. Roughly speaking, the sea surface from the north of the Yangtze River estuary to the mouth of the Yellow River contains more sand, and the water is yellow, which is called the Yellow Water Ocean; Further east, the sea water is shallow, and the water is green, which is called Qingshui Ocean; Further east, as the water deepens, the water is blue, and it is called the "Black Water Ocean." ”

Two days ago, after the 20,000 Northern Expeditionary troops boarded more than 300 large and small ships on the riverside, the ships sailed straight down the Yangtze River estuary and into the Heishui Ocean. After sailing for a day and a night, at dawn the water below the fleet turned blue.

Zhu Guoqiang, who was in the stern of the boat in the morning light, held a sextant in his hand and began to measure the latitude, although he didn't know how to sail, but he also knew what navigation in this era relied on - experience.

This is also the reason why Li Ying chose the "Black Water Ocean" to go north.

In the Ming Dynasty, maritime merchants often chose the Yellow Water Ocean, that is, the near-shore route, which is also the reason for the popularity of ocean-shading ships, and the flat-bottomed boat shape is more suitable for offshore navigation with more sandbars. This was determined by the geographic navigation of ancient Chinese sea vessels, after all, the most commonly used navigation by Chinese ship owners was landmark. This method of navigation requires the captain to memorize the orientation and natural features of the islands, landmarks of the continental coast in the area he passes through, and to be able to identify them from all directions and in all climatic conditions.

In order to navigate correctly, boaters must keep in mind the topography of the sea and the seas on the continental margins. In order to pass on the navigation skills to future generations, some helmsmen drew maps of the situation of the mountains and islands along the line, and recorded the land mark, the water depth of the harbor, and the soil quality of the seabed in words.

Only a very small number of shipowners understand the Black Water Ocean, and can sail on the Black Water Ocean through sea color, wind direction, ocean currents and other technologies, which is why Zhu Guoqiang needs to recruit the "Peacock Flag" - those ship owners, including Li Ying, are not only proficient in navigation technology, but also familiar with the wind direction and currents in various sea areas. They have mastered the most advanced deep-sea navigation technology of this era.

Just like now, although it is the middle of winter, the north wind is blowing, and it stands to reason that the ship cannot go north, but because the Chinese sail as early as the Song Dynasty, "the wind comes from all sides, but the head is not feasible", that is, in addition to the direction of the head, the ship can go in the other 7 directions. So, although it is winter, the fleet can still sail in crosswinds. It was not until after the 16th century that Western navigators mastered this technique through the exchange of navigation technology with the East.

Almost at the moment when the ship entered the Black Water Ocean, Li Ying issued orders from time to time, and under his order, the sailors adjusted the sails and began to sail in the wind. And the fleet followed Li Ying's "Daifuku".

Although the voyage was very smooth, after half a day of sailing, Zhu Guoqiang once again used the "navigation clock", which is actually an electronic watch, measured the longitude with the "time method", and after marking the position on the chart with a ruler, he found that the speed did not seem to be as fast as he imagined.

"The speed of the ship should be around 12 knots, and it stands to reason that it should be here now, but why is it only here?"

Because he didn't want to hand over his safety to others, before boarding the ship, Zhu Guoqiang specially prepared a sextant to measure latitude and a "navigation clock" to measure longitude. With them, you can accurately grasp the days of the ship at sea, and even bring a nautical chart, maybe the coast of northern Jiangsu is not the same as the coast a few hundred years later, but Liaodong has not changed.

Just when Zhu Guoqiang was holding a pen and paper and was puzzled, the hatch opened, it was Emi, as a female "pirate", she didn't have as many rules as ordinary girls, otherwise she wouldn't have taken the initiative to invite Zhu Guoqiang to her ship, although the two were not in the same cabin, it didn't prevent her from coming to Zhu Guoqiang's cabin from time to time. Previously, she had been directing the "Jingwei" sailing on the top of the cabin, and when she entered the cabin, she saw him lying on the side of the table, so she walked and asked.

"What are you looking at?"

"Look at our location!"

"You know where we are? You know ...... too."

The words stopped abruptly, staring at the exquisite chart on the table, Li Huimei said with wide eyes.

"This, this is a chart?"

The fine nautical chart made Li Huimei dumbfounded, although it was just an ordinary simple nautical chart, but it was undoubtedly an existence against the sky in this era, even if the northern coast of Jiangsu was different, but it was nothing, after all, the map of this era ...... Generally imprecise.

"This is where we are? How did you prepare us for being here? ”

"With this sextant it can measure latitude, as well as a nautical clock, and with the time method it can calculate the longitude and then ......"

When Zhu Guoqiang explained that these nautical instruments that had to wait a long time to be invented, Li Huimei listened very carefully, and she certainly knew the importance of the sextant and the two-legged gauge, protractor, parallel ruler and other nautical instruments on the nautical chart for navigation.

After all, the most important thing at sea is to find your bearings.

"All these things are yours? Where did it come from? ”

Faced with Emmi's question, Zhu Guoqiang did not explain, but just smiled.

"Do you want to learn? I'll teach you later, but our speed is too slow, and according to the route I have drawn, at least half of our route is a waste of time. ”

"It's not a waste of time, you don't know that rushing north is a risk in itself, and you have to find the right position when sailing on the Black Water Ocean, and from here to here, it's actually to find the right direction......"

Listening to Emi explain how they found their way to find their way on the sea, Zhu Guoqiang smiled.

"Now we haven't sailed near these navigation points at all, after all, with these instruments, we will definitely be able to find our position at sea!"

Pointing to the sextant and the two-legged gauge, protractor, parallel ruler and other nautical instruments on the nautical chart on the table, Zhu Guoqiang frowned, what he needed now was to persuade Li Ying. But how can you convince such an old seafarer to believe in himself?

Seeing that Shiziye's brows were furrowed, Emi thought for a moment and asked.

"You want to get to Liaodong as soon as possible, don't you?"

"Well, the faster the better, the longer the night and the more dreams, and the longer you sail on the sea, the more disadvantageous it is!"

"That's good!"

Li Huimei stood up violently and said to Zhu Guoqiang.

"Let's go, Lord Shizi, let's go to the top of the cabin, from now on, the "Jingwei" will follow the route you said! ”

"Your dad's side? And the fleet! ”

didn't wait for Zhu Guoqiang to say how to persuade over there, only to see Huimei smiling and her eyes bent into crescents.

"As long as my Jingwei has the upper hand, my dad will definitely have to follow, you can see! ”

All right!

And for good reason! Even if your father is the king of the pirates, he is also a daughter slave, otherwise he would not have given his daughter a battleship when he was twelve years old!

"Look, owner...... It's Miss's ship, and she's changed course! ”

The report of his subordinates made Li Ying's face change suddenly, and he hurriedly picked up the telescope given to him by the prince of the world, looked at his daughter's boat, and saw the signal from his daughter's ship, and he snorted with a frown.

"Keep up, this crazy girl, when she catches up, and then clean her up, she has to find someone to teach her the rules well, otherwise how will she be a princess and a princess in the future......"

…… It is even possible to become an imperial concubine!

"What the owner said is very true, Miss does need to learn some rules, but the owner ......"

As soon as his words fell, the young man next to him in a scholar's robe smiled.

"Don't forget, the prince is on the young lady's boat, maybe it is the course that the prince asked her to change,"

As the third master of the Peacock Flag, of course Shen San knew that in addition to the young lady on that ship, there was also the prince of the world, not so much that the young lady changed the course, but that the master made the young lady change the course.

"It is rumored by outsiders that the prince is the god of fire, what if the prince can really know the direction on the sea?"

For that master, Shen San can be said to have been famous for a long time. Even in the Peacock Nest, there is the story of the master told by the storyteller, whether he is the god of fire or not, no one knows. But what is certain is that the young lady is obedient to that master.

"Big boss. This can be regarded as a husband and wife. ”

Shen San's words made Li Ying frown, although he was happy to see that master go to his daughter's ship, but when it came to the risks at sea, he couldn't help but worry.

"This ...... So casual, what if you lose your course and lose your bearings? ”