Zhu Beiguo's eloquent words finally drew everyone's attention from the dangerous topic of finding a junior back to the military affairs, and saw that Cao Limei's face was also a little relaxed, so he didn't continue, but Brother Zhu's words made everyone nod yes one after another.

At this time, Wei @ Hong suggested, how about we simply occupy a few desert islands off the coast of Macao? Anyway, the Qing Dynasty can't control these islands, after all, the Qing court doesn't have any concept of territorial waters and sea power at present, otherwise it wouldn't have made such a thing as a sea relocation order, let's occupy an island, and then carry out construction on the island, recruit Han people to cultivate on the island nearby, and finally transfer these Han people to our side.

Wei @Hong's suggestion immediately sparked a big discussion, and many people shouted that this suggestion is very good, not only to facilitate immigration, but also to be a trade transit station!

Several old people present also nodded when they heard this, showing approval on their faces, but their concerns seemed to be a little different, Sun Lao touched his shaved chin and said, Wei @ Hong, this kid is good, I usually see him go to the computer library to study, and sure enough, his knowledge is getting higher and higher.

Teacher Zhao also nodded in agreement on the side and said, Well, this young man is also serious about doing things, he is a good seedling......

However, Wei @Hong's suggestion also ended here, because everyone was talking, and suddenly found that these topics were too far away, and they did not directly involve the topic of how to immigrate to find a girl, so everyone was not interested in discussing it in depth, and it would be over for a while.

As a result, everyone's symposium on the second voyage gradually came to an end amid everyone's various expectations.

Finally, after discussion at the General Assembly, it was decided that the fleet would sail on November 26, 1657.

It is said that this is the auspicious day of the zodiac set by many people after checking the yellow calendar, and from the yellow calendar, this day is suitable for sacrificial travel and marriage to settle down and break ground......

At 9 a.m. on November 26, all the people who stayed on the island gathered at the Red Wharf to see off the fleet.

Because Sun Lao got on the boat, everyone elected Lao Ba to temporarily replace Sun Lao's position.

Zhu Beiguo finally got on the boat, Cao Limei is a strong girl, the former president of the University Wilderness Survival Association, is very determined, and she is not born a small bird-like woman, she told Zhu Beiguo, rest assured to get on the boat, there are many sisters on her side to take care of it, besides, you are a man, what can you help? And they can't give birth to children for me, so it's not convenient to stay by my side all day long.

Besides, I also know your ideals and interests, as a doctor of history, I finally have the opportunity to see that historic city with my own eyes, and I can immerse myself in the historical scenery, and the attraction is definitely greater than that of my wife!

So, with you guarding me all day long, it is better to set you free and not force you, go ahead, not to mention that the Pride cannot do without you......

I have to say that Cao Limei's words actually moved Zhu Beiguo very much......

At nine o'clock in the morning, the two ships were ready to set sail, and a whistle on the Nicole told the people on the dock that the fleet was about to set sail in half an hour......

At 9:15 a.m., Nicole, Gu Jin ordered the fire to set sail in the cockpit, and the huge hull finally began to move slowly and left the dock.

At the same time, the Pride gradually unfurled its sails, honked its horn a few times, and sailed away from the dock first.

Everyone understood that the success of this trade trip would have a major impact on everyone's future, and the crowd on the docks did not disperse until the Pride became a small dot on the sea......

Nothing to say all the way.

On November 30, 1657, the fleet successfully reached the sea near Dazixia Island.

From the 26th to the present, the Nicole and Pride have sailed at an average speed of ten knots, riding the southeast trade winds all the way north, and finally reached their first destination 1,500 kilometers from Mornington Island five days after departure.

If it weren't for the long detour of more than a day to avoid the hurricane and sail in a straight line, the fleet would have only taken three to four days to arrive.

On this morning, at the bottom of Zixia Bay, everyone began to hurry up to build a wharf.

Hou Xianglin naturally served as the construction commander, and the bamboo and cement components were hoisted from the Nicole to the deck of the Pride, and then from the Pride to the shore.

There, the location had already been measured by a dinghy, and the cement piles were driven into the water with wooden hammers.

It's not the first time that everyone has done this kind of work, and almost everyone has a lot of experience in construction, so the construction of the wharf and the trestle bridge is very smooth.

The group worked together to drive piles from shallow to deep and lay prefabricated cement pieces, and soon the trestle of the small pier was extended to a depth of 2.8 meters, and the whole operation stopped.

If the pile foundation of the trestle wants to exceed this depth, it will need to use construction machinery such as truck cranes, and with the current conditions of the Pride, the 2.8-meter water depth pier is the current limit depth for the construction of non-floating docks.

The wharf was soon named Zixia Wharf, and a few years later, a thriving Zixia town was formed based on this wharf.

For now, however, there is only a lonely pier, and it is inconspicuously submerged in a sea of purple petunias and mutant lilacs.

The next step is road construction.

Hou Xianglin dispatched the group to divide into two teams, each of two people, and shoveled a dirt road less than two meters wide among the flowers with sapper shovels.

There were 10 people in each team, and all the crew members participated in the labor in shifts, from the open-pit coal mine four kilometers away to the Zixia Wharf, and the construction was carried out at the same time in sections, and almost every two teams had to shovel more than 100 meters of roads.

As a result, the four-kilometre improvised pavement was completed in just about three days.

Then it was time to dig and transport coal, and thirty tricycles carried it back and forth for four days, adding about 180 tons of high-quality anthracite to the coal bunkers of the Nicole and Pride.

Mr. Sun was very happy about this, because in this way he was able to turn on the living boiler and let the generator on the ship provide electricity to the kitchen and freezer, which were just decorations because there was no additional coal supply.

What's even happier is that the hot shower bathrooms on board are now open for eight hours.

On 5 December, the fleet was ready to set sail again, targeting Macao, which is 3,800 kilometers away from Zixia Island. Of course, this is a straight-line distance, and Gu Jin expects the actual sailing distance to exceed 4,500 kilometers.

Before the fleet set sail, in the crew dining room of the Nicole, all the crew members were gathered here for a meeting, and Gu Jin warned the crew that the continuation of the voyage in the future could be as long as a record fifteen days or so, and in order to hurry up, the fleet did not plan to dock, so all the crew members had to make all kinds of preparations, including physical and psychological preparations.

In fact, this is also an important training subject, and being able to persist in long-distance and long-term non-landing voyages is a sign of a qualified crew.

Gu Jin said to everyone, this is probably the last time he will give you a systematic and comprehensive training course, and if this round trip to Macau is successful, some of you will sail alone in the Pride.

Gu Jin said, as you all know, the family is currently trying to build a slipway, and if we can continue to obtain labor and do some training for labor, then it is expected that in the year after tomorrow, that is, in the first half of 1659, we should be able to assemble one or two sister ships of Pride.

Therefore, those who are interested in galloping all over the world, seize the time to train yourself, these ships need to be mastered by you, and the selection criteria for the captains and various management positions of these new ships will depend entirely on the results of your training on the Pride.

Gu Jin clearly announced:

"Our future captain will certainly come from the crew of the Pride, who will be both our trade backbone and our mobile nautical training school at sea."

The meeting was followed by the next topic: specific northbound routes.

Captain Gu told everyone that the first half of the entire northbound voyage was not a big problem, because there were many islands along the way, and they could land, replenish and take shelter from the wind at any time.

Therefore, there is nothing to discuss about this route, but what needs to be discussed is the question of which route to take after leaving the South China Sea islands.

Due to the scarcity of islands in the South China Sea and high winds and waves, most ships in this era took coastal routes, and only when there was no coast were ships forced to cross the deep sea.

The question before us now is: which route to choose to cross the South China Sea, there are many comprehensive considerations in the choice of route, which must be safe but not too detoured.