Taking advantage of the absence of the summer monsoon, all five sea-going ships raised their sails and headed south with the faint north wind.

From Champa to Srivijaya Kingdom, take the sea route to the south, the straight-line distance is more than 4,000 miles, and it will take more time to pass through thousands of miles of stone ponds.

It took too much time to send envoys to Annam and Champang, and if they delayed, it was estimated that they would not be able to keep up with the Hui Yi fleet that had already gone south, so Yang Congyi persuaded Dai to temporarily give up the envoy to Zhenla, and it would not be too late to send the envoy when the fleet returned. Master Dai also knew that there was too much time to delay, and it was definitely not appropriate to go to Zhenla again.

So after the fleet left Zhancheng, Yang Congyi took the two interpreters he invited and commanded the warships to sail in front and go all the way south to the country of Srivijaya Qi.

With the help of the pointer, the whole way down the wind was very smooth, and there were occasionally two reefs, but fortunately, the damage to the ship was not serious, and there was only one fresh water leak in the compartment, which did not have much impact on continuing south, and it was also considered to be dangerous.

"My lord, there are many ships on the sea ahead." Yang Congyi was unbearably hot and was meditating and resting in the cabin, when he heard the sergeant coming to report, he hurried to the cabin to inspect.

"It's here! In front of it should be the country of Srivijaya Qi. If you work harder, you will be able to dock tomorrow. Yang Congyi raised his eyes and looked into the distance, and was suddenly overjoyed.

Half a month after leaving the city, it was also on March 12 of the 19th year of Shaoxing, three days after the north wind completely disappeared, the five ships led by Yang Congyi entered the southernmost part of the South China Sea and arrived at the territory of Srivijaya State.

After Yang Congyi and Dai Cong landed on the shore, they were immediately taken to the residence of the Great Song Dynasty Hui Yi Tuan.

This piece of residence is rented by Lord Huang and the Three Buddhas, the area is not small, the lease period is ten years, and the price paid is not low, 100,000 catties of tea, 2,000 pieces of ceramics.

This accommodation is not a good port, but it is fortunate that there is a river nearby, and there is plenty of fresh water and supplies.

Here, Yang Congyi met Lord Huang, Tang Xun and others.

Yang Congyi and Dai Congyi's trip to Annan and Zhancheng, needless to say, had thrilling tribulations, but the final result was still relatively satisfactory.

The 100 sea ships led by Lord Huang did not have any thrills on the way south, they took advantage of the weakening of the north wind, but did not completely disappear to reach the country of Srivijaya smoothly, although they did not encounter much trouble on the way, but after reaching the country of Srivijaya it was difficult. The sea passage to the west was occupied, and heavy taxes were imposed, and a hundred sea ships full of goods, according to them, would collect the goods of ten ships just by collecting taxes, and the Great Song fleet naturally could not agree. Although Lord Huang saw the king of the Srivijaya Kingdom, the king did not have much right to speak, and he did not have much power in his hands, and the entire Srivijaya Kingdom was divided by five big families, and the king could not do anything. It was the royal family who had dealings with the Great Song Dynasty, and it was also the royal family who went to pay tribute before, and the others did not admit it at all, and the Hui Yi fleet finally docked, did not pay taxes, and the sea route was blocked, so it was impossible to continue to move forward. Later, I really had no choice but to rent a place here first, take turns to rest, and wait for Hui Yizheng, who represented the Great Song Dynasty and imperial power, to make Dai come to negotiate, and this wait was a month.

The sea route was blocked, which was expected by Yang Congyi, the Strait of Malacca is the main channel for east-west communication, and all ships coming from east to west must pass through here, so it is strange not to be stuck by them.

But ten taxes and one is indeed too much, the Great Song Huiyi fleet of 100 sea ships, so many goods, it took thousands of miles to arrive here, and before the transaction began, they had to give them ten ships of goods first, no matter who would not agree.

Now that Master Dai has arrived, it is his errand to communicate with the envoys, and it would be best if he could use political means to open up the sea route. If not, taxes can only be paid, or the fleet's journey ends here, and all goods are traded in Sriwijaya.

But whether it is to pay taxes, or to trade all here, it will greatly damage the interests of the Huiyi fleet, that is, the interests of the emperor, if the task of making money cannot be completed, it will eventually damage the interests of many people, including Lord Huang, Yang Congyi, Tang Xun, and many suppliers Jia.

Therefore, Lord Dai's responsibility is very heavy, and during the negotiations, Lord Huang, Yang Congyi and others repeatedly emphasized that the sea route must be opened, and as a righteous envoy, the interests of the emperor and the imperial court must not be harmed.

Lord Dai came out this time to obtain qualifications, accumulate meritorious deeds, so that he could go back and be promoted, Annan and Champa have been obtained, and the Three Buddhas Qi State is a tributary state of the Great Song Dynasty, and Lord Dai is very sure of them, let them get out of the sea and allow the Great Song fleet to go west.

After deliberation, the matter was handled by Lord Dai. Others hurried to resupply and were ready to set off for the west at any moment.

The itinerary of the fleet has been determined before leaving Quanzhou, after leaving the port of Quanzhou to reach the country of Sriwijaya, the fleet will wait here until March, and when the summer monsoon in the North Indian Ocean begins, through the Andaman Sea, go north to the North Tianzhu countries near the Bay of Bengal to trade, and then wait until August or September, when the winter monsoon comes, the rest of the ships go southward downwind, and then go west to Dashi and other places in the Persian Gulf region, and when the summer monsoon begins in March and April of the following year, the fleet can go all the way east to Sriwijaya and return north before the winter monsoon begins.

If there were no major surprises, everything went well, and the entire trip of the fleet was just two years.

It is now the middle of March, the winter monsoon is over, the summer monsoon is about to begin, we must hurry up, the fleet must cross the strait before April to rush to Tianzhu, otherwise Yang Congyi will not persuade Lord Dai to give up the envoy Zhenla, and directly rush to the country of Srivijaya first, because the time is really not enough.

Lord Dai led the envoy group to negotiate with the king and the five major families in the palace all day long, and the progress was not very smooth, Yang Congyi and others were in charge of returning to Yi, and they had to make other preparations.

Before Yang Congyi and Master Dai arrived, Master Gao was still worried about the affairs of the fleet, and when they came, he completely let go and let them do it, as long as he could earn back the money.

Yang Congyi, Tang Xun, Zhao An, Jiang Kai, Shen Jin, and others gathered together, and they had to be prepared for Master Dai's return in vain, and they had to discuss ways to solve the problem and resolve the embarrassing situation of the fleet.

"Lord Yang, it's too risky, why does the fleet have to leave within half a month, wait a few more days, maybe Lord Dai can really find a suitable way." Zhao An didn't agree with Yang Congyi is opinion very much.

Tang Xun said: "General Zhao, ten taxes one, we will not pay such a heavy tax, and as far as I know, this ten taxes and one is only the collection method at the entrance of the strait, this strait runs through the east and west seas, thousands of miles long, this entrance collects taxes, and the exit at that end is difficult to guarantee that they will not collect taxes, if the two ends of the strait are controlled by different forces, the fleet will have to pay taxes twice as soon as it moves, and it will be paid four times back and forth, so we will suffer a big loss." I think Brother Yang's idea is feasible, we have more than 4,000 well-equipped Xuanwei troops, and we can completely negotiate with the king here on the conditions, and the control of the strait will be transferred from the hands of several major families to the king, and we should not refuse. But the time is indeed a little short, and I am afraid that it will be too late for half a month. After speaking, he looked at Yang Congyi again.

Yang Congyi replied: "This is also a last resort, the strait is controlled in the hands of several major families, and the Great Song Dynasty can only establish relations with the royal family, which means that no matter how much effort we make on the king, the family that controls the strait does not agree to let go, and our fleet will not be able to pass, so the control of the strait must be controlled in the hands of the king, once we help him recover some rights, the Great Song Dynasty will have a certain influence in the country of Srivijaya Qi, no matter what you do in the future, it will be a lot more convenient."

As for the question of time, why within half a month, in fact, it is very simple, the summer monsoon is about to form at sea, after May, it is the time when the summer monsoon is strong, the sea wind and waves are very strong, the wind is together, the waves are three or four feet high, and no matter how big the ship is, it is not safe. In the month before the formation of the summer monsoon, the wind was still relatively weak, just suitable for the fleet to sail north, from here to the north of Tianzhu seven or eight thousand miles, a month of tailwind should be enough.

Time is pressing, missed April, missed the best time to go north to Tianzhu, between May and August, the sea often breaks out of the wind, the boat is very dangerous, and after September, the north wind gradually comes, seven or eight thousand miles of sea, the difficulty of going north against the wind can be imagined, and once the right time is missed, the itinerary behind will be disrupted, at least to be delayed for a year, what accidents will happen in more than a year, no one knows. Therefore, we only have half a month at most to open up the sea route. Okay or not, everyone has an idea. ”

Tang Xun said: "Brother Yang, have you ever been to Tianzhu, how do you know the time of the wind?" ”

Yang Congyi said with a smile: "Just read more books, I have met a Taoist who travels the world before, and I have learned a lot of things." ”

Hearing this, Tang Xun was a little worried, and hesitated: "Brother Yang, this is about a hundred ships and more than 8,000 people, and the itinerary has been determined just by the words of the Yunyou Daoist, there will be no problem?" ”

Yang Congyi said with a smile: "If you set off at the end of March and arrive in the north of Tianzhu before May, there will be absolutely no problem." ”

Shen Jin said: "The issue of the sea route, except for Lord Yang, we don't know, I think we don't have to dwell on this issue, let's think about whether Lord Yang's proposal is feasible and how to implement it." ”

Jiang Kai said: "We don't have many supplies to come out, if we delay for one more year, there will be problems with the logistics supply of the fleet, the time cannot be delayed, and the itinerary of the fleet should not be disrupted, otherwise there will be a big mess." ”

He assisted Yang Congyi in managing the logistics and supply of the fleet, and asked Zhang Luo to eat more than 8,000 people, and a lot of food brought out from Quanzhou was consumed, although a batch was replenished here, but after leaving here, it was really a problem where to replenish the food, and the food security in other places was not safe, and it was difficult to say whether it was suitable for their taste.

In short, the more time delayed, the more difficult the logistical replenishment work becomes, and it is better for the fleet to go on the scheduled itinerary.