Marin left on a good day—on January 1, 1510, the New Year of the Western calendar, the fleet left Panama and sailed westward along the North Equatorial Current, north of the equator in the Pacific Ocean.

This latitude happens to be the prevailing east wind belt, with both wind and water. The ones in charge of piloting are naturally the sailors who explored the Keelung route in Amerigo before. America had returned home, but the sailors and navigators had not, and they were responsible for piloting Marin.

After the flotilla had sailed some distance to the west, one of the navigators, while bragging to the sailors on board, said:

"You know what? It is in this dimension, to the south, that there is an archipelago with a giant turtle on the island. Before you arrived, our captain took us out to sea to fish, and we happened to arrive in this archipelago, and then saw a huge turtle the size of a table on the island! After saying that, the navigator also gestured the size, which provoked the exclamation of the sailors.

And Marin, who was leaning on the railing to watch the sea, frowned when he heard this, as if he had thought of something......

"Giant turtles? Is he talking about the Galapagos tortoises in the Galapagos Islands? ”

Marin suddenly remembered, it seemed that the Galapagos tortoise was the largest sea turtle in the world......

Its length can reach about 1.2 meters, and its weight can reach two or three hundred kilograms, that is, five or six hundred catties, which is very rare. The length of the turtle in China is generally more than ten centimeters. In front of the giant Galapagos tortoise, like a turtle grandchild......

Marin smiled and continued to think about his own business. At this time, Marin's brain suddenly skipped a beat, and he thought of a history he had seen before crossing over, what is it called, I want to be the first assistant. It is written that the protagonist travels to the Jiajing Dynasty of the Ming Dynasty to be a prodigy, a champion, and finally a story of becoming the first assistant of the Ming Dynasty. There is one thing mentioned in this book, that is, the Ming Dynasty people regarded the Galapagos tortoise brought by the Spaniards as a mythical beast. Then, the local officials offered the giant tortoise as an auspicious ......

Speaking of this auspicious rui, it was very marketable in the ancient feudal dynasties of China. The so-called auspicious signs refer to auspicious signs, which are considered by Confucianism to be natural phenomena that express the will of heaven and are beneficial to people. For example, colorful clouds appear, the wind and rain are smooth, the grass grows double spikes, the earth comes out of the sweet spring, and strange birds and beasts appear, etc.

And the Galapagos tortoise is precisely the last of these - the appearance of strange birds and beasts......

After all, such a big turtle has never been seen in the land of China. The most important thing is that in ancient Chinese myths and legends, among the four sacred beasts Qinglong, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Xuanwu, Xuanwu is an image of a turtle and a snake.

Moreover, Xuanwu is the god of water, living in the North Sea, which is a symbol of wind and rain. At the same time, the turtle has a long life, and Xuanwu is also a symbol of immortality......

Smooth weather and immortality are precisely the two supreme goals pursued by the rulers of ancient feudal dynasties. Therefore, the tortoise was considered an auspicious animal in ancient times. The bizarre turtle is regarded as auspicious, and is also known as the turtle.

Moreover, the Book of Songs. Lu Song. The last sentence in "Panshui" is "Looking forward to Huaiyi, come to offer Qichen, Xuangui and ivory, and bribe Nanjin". The turtle tusks here are giant turtle tusks, which were rare in ancient times.

But in any case, in Huaxia, there is absolutely no giant tortoise with a length of more than 1 meter. Ordinary turtles are only a dozen centimeters long, and there are large turtles twenty or thirty centimeters long, which can be regarded as auspicious.

Moreover, for the ancient Chinese feudal dynasties, offering wealth and goods is far less pleasing than offering auspiciousness. For the ancient Chinese feudal dynasties, which regarded themselves as the center of the world, they did not look down on barbarian wealth at all. Even if it is not available in the Central Plains, it is just a rarity.

However, Xiangrui is different. For feudal dynasties, the will of heaven and the will of the people was very important. There is auspiciousness in the world, which is definitely a major event worthy of celebrating the National Day. Because, this shows that the emperor is the true son of heaven. The hundred officials are also "all righteous and prosperous", all of them are virtuous...... Everyone felt a sense of dignity. And if the court has face, it will definitely not be stingy......

In fact, the ancient emperors and ministers were very keen on the pursuit of auspiciousness. Some emperors have even reached the point of perversion in their pursuit of auspiciousness.

Among them, the most perverted one in the pursuit of auspiciousness is Song Zhenzong of the Northern Song Dynasty, that is, Song Renzong's father......

Song Zhenzong is the son of Song Taizong, and he has no outstanding achievements in his life. However, he has a record, that is, he is the sixth and last emperor of the Chinese feudal dynasty to enshrine Zen in Mount Tai. Of course, he is also the most shameless one......

Why? Because, the five emperors who were enshrined in front of him were - Qin Shi Huang, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Tang Gaozong and Tang Xuanzong......

Take a look, the first five emperors, all of them have merits, and they have the face to seal Zen. The Qin Emperor and Han Wu will not talk about it, and he is recognized as the male master. Emperor Guangwu was also a famous monarch who restored the Han dynasty, Tang Gaozong laid down the largest territory of the Tang Dynasty, and Tang Xuanzong also had a prosperous Kaiyuan Dynasty......

And what does Song Zhenzong have? was beaten by the Liao State and forced to sign such a shameful agreement as the "Tanyuan Alliance", and he was embarrassed to go to Mount Tai to seal Zen?

It was also said that people were embarrassed and had a thick skin......

Moreover, Song Zhenzong sealed Zen, which is very technical. People forged or let their subordinates forge the "Book of Heaven" - you see, the sky is auspicious, I am the king of destiny, go to Mount Tai to seal the Zen......

During the reign of Song Zhenzong, the entire Song Dynasty fell into a frenzy of discovering and offering "auspicious rui". But those who have offered auspicious rui are mostly rewarded. Even, Wang Qinruo, who offered the "Book of Heaven", also became the prime minister...... Ding Wei, another prime minister of the Song Zhenzong period, was also good at making and offering "auspicious rui...... These two goods are typical representatives of the prime minister by offering auspiciousness......

And Emperor Jiajing during the Ming Dynasty, because of his hobby of cultivating immortals, was also very interested in auspiciousness. For example, the treacherous minister Yan Song offered the "Five-Colored Divine Turtle", as an auspicious rui, and won the favor of Jiajing. But unexpectedly, this "turtle" was accidentally raised to death by the palace maid. In addition, there were rumors that Jiajing wanted to use the menstrual blood of the palace maids to refine the elixir and Jiajing's harshness to the palace maids, which eventually led to the "Renyin Palace Change", and the palace maids almost strangled Emperor Jiajing......

Of course, Yan Song's "five-colored turtle" is fake, and it is an ordinary turtle that Yan Song found someone to paint with paint. The tortoises on the Galapagos Islands, on the other hand, are real, and they are more vigorous and can live in arid areas. After all, the Galapagos Islands are arid regions.

However, the Galapagos Islands are located in the tropics, and tortoises may not be adapted to the cold climate of the north. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to cold protection. Otherwise, if the turtle dies, Marin will also be implicated......

However, the reigning person now is neither Song Zhenzong nor Emperor Jiajing, but Emperor Zhengde. Emperor Zhengde is not interested in superstition or anything, but this product loves to play and likes rare treasures. And the giant tortoise of the Galapagos tortoise is just a strange beast, which can win the favor of Zhengde. As for those ministers of the DPRK and China, they can also be regarded as auspicious. Because, with auspicious appearance, it can prove that the country and the people are safe, and it can also prove that they are all "virtuous......

Thinking of this, Marin decisively summoned the navigator and ordered:

"You, lead the way! Let's catch the big turtle! ”