In his previous life, Zhao Yu studied ship design, of course, he had a dream of traveling around the world by boat, but he could not realize it, and he could only enjoy the process of sea trials or new ship delivery after the delivery, and the farthest track was to reach Southeast Asia, which was not as far as the current route. Therefore, it is not all nonsense for him to say to Ying Jieyan that he wants to sail all over the world, of course, to complete the world first, and discover the 'New World', which will be a great achievement in the annals of history and rewrite the history of world navigation.

However, this wish can only be buried in his heart, but Zhao Yu has not given up, but has been collecting hydrographic data, trying to obtain the route map of the maritime merchants, and sorting and supplementing it according to the memory of his previous life, hoping to draw a detailed and perfect navigation chart in the world at present. However, he also knows that the sea and land have changed greatly over the past thousands of years, and the terrain and landforms are changing with each passing day, and it is difficult to complete it without seeing it with his own eyes.

At the moment, although Zhao Yu couldn't go to see it in person, his years of hard work could finally come in handy. He knew that in order to make the most profits, he had to control the origin of the goods, but at this time many of the secrets of the spice route were in the hands of the Arab merchants, and this was also the capital of their fortune, so it was naturally regarded as a top secret, and not to be revealed to outsiders, so that the origin of these spices was not known.

In the "Maritime History" studied by Zhao Yuji in his previous life, a passage recorded by the Persian geographer Ibn Huldazbih said that in the Middle Ages, the spice trade was mainly controlled by merchants from *** and Gujarat, and European merchants could only trade within Europe. Hurdazbih also claimed that the spices were brought to Europe by Jewish merchants. According to other sources, it is written that in the late Merovingian and early Carolingian periods, the spice trade in Western Europe was also monopolized by Jews.

It is precisely because spices often change hands in many ways before they reach Europe, and the main trading terminal is Alexandria, Egypt. Therefore, in the impression of Europeans, spices are very valuable natural commodities. It is likely that none of the merchants in Alexandria knew the origin of the spices, so there were many rumors about the environmental conditions under which the spices were grown and the risks involved in harvesting and transporting them. It is these rumors, intertwined with mythology, romance and treasures, that constitute the pre-Columbian Europeans in the minds of the spices of the El Dorado.

Because spices are so legendary, European aristocrats have been addicted to drugs since the Roman Empire and have developed the habit of living without spices, and even regard spices as a symbol of high-quality life. Therefore, the spices that were the price of cabbage in the East became the price of gold in the West, and became a luxury necessity in Europe, and the price difference between the East and the West was as high as more than 10,000 times!

In ancient times, it was because of the origin of imported spices that Arab merchants played an important role in trade. Many people have made a fortune because of the prosperity of trading, and some have even soared because of it. Pu Shougeng, who was wiped out by Zhao Yu, has been focusing on spices for generations, so as to get rich and become a giant businessman in the Great Song Dynasty.

So whoever finds spices will get rich overnight. Not only greedy merchants, but also the state launched a seafaring campaign to bypass the Middle East and go straight to the source of spices, especially in medieval Europe, the thirst for spices directly led to the great geographical discoveries. When Columbus discovered the New World, the Spanish crown was disappointed that only gold had been found, but no spices. And when Magellan's expedition brought back the first shipment of more than 20 tons of spices for the first time, the whole of Europe was shocked, and no one doubted that Portugal would henceforth become the richest and most powerful country in the world.

Since Zhao Yu wanted to meddle in the business of incense, he naturally had to understand the varieties and sources. Of course, this kind of thing does not need to be checked in the market in person, but can be found in the account books of the city company. In this era, the prosperity of sea routes has opened up an unprecedented exchange of goods and technologies in Eurasia. From Japan and Korea in Northeast Asia, to various parts of Southeast Asia and the coast of India, and even ports in the Persian Gulf and East Africa, an active Maritime Silk Road trade network of "small globalization" has been formed.

Chinese mainland is a huge supply base for silk, porcelain, tea and other products, which are popular with foreign merchants, through horses, boats, hand-picked, shoulder-carryed, gathered in various ports on the coastline, and then loaded onto large ships and shipped overseas. At the same time, the products of foreign feudal domains were also imported to China, mainly coriander, cumin, pepper, cloves, sandalwood, cardamom, agarwood and other spices, as well as pearls, cat's eyes, amber, betel nut, and kapok from Dashi. It is generally traded through barter, or gold and silver.

It can be seen that the imported items from the outside world are mainly spices, but the country has always been ignorant of the place of origin, and even once thought that pepper was produced in the Western Regions and transferred from Shu to the mainland. In terms of the variety of spices, Zhao Hao first realized that the spice trade is a two-way street, the West needs spices from the East, and the East also needs spices originating from the West. As a person from later generations, he certainly knew that the spices that originated in the West were limited to a limited number of spices such as coriander, cumin, and saffron.

The spice that the West craves is also the spice that has been traded the most since the Middle Ages until the present - black pepper, which was only produced on the Malabar coast of India at that time, and the same varieties of white pepper and green pepper, which are widely used in cooking, and can also be used to make tonics, stimulants, and even pesticides and aphrodisiacs. At that time, cloves were only produced in the Moluccas, and at this time they were used as chewing gum by the Chinese people; Nutmeg, like cloves, is native to the Moluccas.

Cinnamon bark, which was only produced in the west and southwest of Sri Lanka at that time, was easily confused with cinnamon with cinnamon, which originated in China, but was not as good as cinnamon, and could not only be used for flavoring, but also for makeup, medical treatment, anointment, fragrance, etc. And only ginger is native to China and India. It can be seen that spices were mainly produced in the tropical regions of South and Southeast Asia, and because the Arab Empire and later the Ottoman Empire were stuck in the middle, they completely monopolized the spice trade......

Zhao Yu opened the map, and what made him a little strange was that ancient China had contacts with those countries in Southeast Asia, and even the sea routes to the Western Ocean passed through these countries, but he did not find huge business opportunities under his nose. Based on what he learned in his previous life, he knew very well that China was a country with a typical monsoon climate, and the wind direction along the coast was mainly characterized by monsoon.

Every year, when the northeast wind rises in winter, the ocean current flows from northeast to southwest with the wind direction. When the southwest wind rises in summer, the ocean current flows northeastwards with the direction of the wind. The Sea of Japan has warm and cold currents from both the north and south directions. The Liman Current, which originates in the Tatar Strait, washes the coast of Russia's Primorsky provinces and moves south along the eastern shore of the Korean Peninsula.

On the other hand, the warm current from the south flows northward along the Ryukyu Islands through the Taiwan Strait and through the Korean Strait, forming the Tsushima Current, which flows northeast along the west coast of the Japanese archipelago until it reaches the Tsugaru Strait and the Soya Strait, and then divides into tributaries and gradually weakens. In addition, in China's coastal waters, the mixing of river and seawater also forms a coastal current of a freshwater nature, so that the route along the East China Sea coast varies according to the season.

In summer, during the peak of the southwest monsoon, the water along the coast of Zhejiang moves northward and merges with the Yangtze River and the Qiantang River outside the mouth of the Yangtze River, forming a strong flush current, which connects with the Tsushima Warm Current in the northeast direction of Jeju Island, and part of it joins the Tsushima Warm Current into the Sea of Japan. In winter, the flow of the Yangtze River is greatly reduced, and the coastal flow of the East China Sea is also weakened, and under the northerly monsoon blow, the fresh water of the Yangtze River and the Qiantang River meet the fresh water, and go south along the coast of Zhejiang and Fujian, and cross the Taiwan Strait directly into the South China Sea.

The ancestors took advantage of the changes in the monsoon and ocean currents to go to the sea for trade, and the routes coincided with the sea areas through which the trade winds passed, so the countries that had traded with China successively amounted to more than 50 countries, including: Champong, Chenla, Srivijaya, Mentoxin, Gudi, Longyamen, Luoyue, Sri Buddha, Heling, Guluo, Gokuluo, Shengdeng, Bolu, Lion, Nantianzhu, Brahman, Xinduhe, Tiroluhe, Dashi, Daqin, Persia, Baida, Majia, Yilu, Gulin, Xilan, Dengliumei, Zhongli, Pulilu, Kugenda, Sgariya, Mulan Pi and other countries.

These include the rich spices of Chenla, Srivijaya, Lion, Tianzhu and Brahman, while some countries still had tributary relations with the Great Song Dynasty and accepted canonization. Of course, the names of ancient and modern countries and the scope of their affiliation, Zhao Yu can only judge according to the approximate location marked on the ancient navigation chart, which should be the area of modern Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Of course, Zhao Yu didn't know whether these countries still produced spices in modern times in his previous life, but he dared to conclude that there must still be now. Because of the rise of the Mongols and the westward conquest and the rise of Turkey, the traditional land transportation was cut off by the Mongols, and the sea was gradually monopolized by Venice by controlling the shipping route from the Mediterranean to Alexandria. The discovery of a new sea route to break through the Venetian monopoly was an economic impetus that became an important source for the Age of Discoveries in Europe.

After more than 100 years of exploration, the Portuguese were the first to discover the southernmost shipping route in Africa, not only establishing numerous supply points along the route in search of the best southward current, but also finding a new destination for spice merchants, the Southeast Asian countries collectively known as the Malay Archipelago, which are now Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Ports such as Malacca and Singapore have also flourished because of spice exports.

Later, the Dutch East India Empire took control of the Spice Islands, and the spice trade system reached its peak until the stumbling upon the West Indies, igniting the century-old scuffle between European maritime powers over resources in the global market. Eventually, France and England obtained the seeds of spices and introduced them in their colonies of Mauritius and Grenada, and spices became commonplace commodities that were no longer valuable. It was then that the last mystery of the Spice Islands finally vanished, and it was no longer a secret of the maritime merchants......

"See Your Majesty!" After receiving the edict, Shangguan Hong rushed to Lin'an from Quanzhou, and hurried to see him without taking a break.

"Shangguan has worked hard all the way, sit down!" Zhao Yu raised his hand to signal him to be exempt from courtesy.

"See Zheng Dutong, the head of the village!" Shangguan Hong didn't dare to sit down, and said to Zheng Yonghe and Zhuang Shilin who were present. Although they were all acquaintances at the beginning, both of them had higher positions than themselves, and they didn't dare to be rude.

"Shangguan, sit here!" Zhuang Shilin smiled, got up and returned the salute, and pulled him to sit down beside him.

"Today's edict is not for anything else, but because the monsoon is about to rise, and our merchant ships will go to sea. The ceremony was over, and after a few words of greeting, Zhao Yu got straight to the point.

"Your Majesty, please give orders, no subordinates dare to disobey!" The three of them saluted in unison.

"You're welcome, this is in the temple again, you don't have to have so many courtesies, let's be casual." Zhao Yu waved his hand to excuse everyone, and said to Wang De, "Everyone has already arrived, and they must all be hungry, so tell the dining room to serve food!" ”

"Thank Your Majesty for the meal, and now it has been spread in Beijing, saying that since Your Majesty has been stationed in Jiqing Temple, everyone who has tasted the vegetarian banquet here has praised it, and his subordinates have also been stained today." Zhuang Shilin rubbed his hands and said with a smile.

"Alas, I've been eating for more than 20 days, and the birds are fading out of my mouth, even if I get a few dried fish to eat, it's good, you like to eat with your belly open!" Zhao Hao smiled wryly and waved his hand.

"Your Majesty has worked hard to keep the spirit here, and I can't even eat a piece of meat!" Shangguan Hong was deeply sympathetic, as the head of the procurement office, his main job was to purchase daily necessities for the little emperor and collect rare things, so he naturally knew that he was not happy. It is the first time in more than ten years that he has not eaten meat for more than 20 days, which shows how hungry he will be.

"I don't have meat to eat, I can still bear it, but what I'm anxious about at the moment is that my bag is empty!" Zhao Yu made a bitter face and pointed at Zhuang Shilin and Shangguan Hongdao, "You two are my money bags, you should know that I have given you all my wife this time." But the Queen Mother wants me to prepare for a big wedding again, and she can't even afford the bride price at the moment. ”

"Does Your Majesty want your subordinates to raise some money as soon as possible? The money that can be allocated has already been used by the subordinates to prepare cargo, repair ships and recruit sailors, and there is not much money left in their hands! Shangguan Hong's face immediately darkened when he heard this, where did he raise so much money for a while......