Many things, in the hands of those who understand it, are priceless. If you don't understand it, it's worthless. For example, calligraphy and painting, many people love it very much, and for me, I feel that it is nothing......

By the time old Tucker returned in the midst of all the attention, he had washed and stripped himself, and had changed into clean clothes, and even his beard was shaved like a different person. I handed him the treasure map again, and gave him twenty gold coins in front of everyone!

The old guy took the bag with a smile, checked it casually, took out a gold coin from the middle, put it in his mouth and bit it, and suddenly shouted with a smile: "The payment has been received!" Captain! ”

I scoffed and said, "If you get it, hurry up and get to work!" Tell me more about your treasure map. Don't grind! ”

Old Tucker's eyes flashed with a gleam, he unfolded the treasure map and put it on the table, muttering, "Look, captain, this treasure is in the southwest of Negros Island......" As soon as the words fell, he suddenly frowned, rolled up the treasure map, and asked mysteriously, "Captain, are you sure you want to see the treasure map here?" ”

It dawned on me, I slapped myself on the head, shook my head, and said, "Damn! Put away your stupid treasure map! I'll wait on the sidelines! Go back and tell me about it! Damn it! Why didn't you remind earlier! ”

Old Tucker immediately donated the treasure map and put it back in his arms. His eyes were looking around suspiciously, for fear that someone would see or hear something. His expression was very ashamed, but he was thinking about me, and I was not in a position to criticize him......

In fact, while everyone around them was laughing at Old Tucker and his treasure map, almost everyone wanted to know what was hidden in this guy's treasure map. Unexpectedly, today's legendary treasure map was sold for a high price of twenty gold coins! All of a sudden, the legendary treasure map has once again added a magical color!

And just now, people clearly heard the old Tucker say the words "southwest of Negros Island", the speaker was unintentional, the listener was intentional, and many people had already started to think about this.

And after I received this treasure map, I was visibly distracted. Although a few more people later came up with so-called information, and I gave them a lot of gold coins, they were not as expensive as this treasure map.

In the same way, there were also a few navigators who recommended themselves to me, and I looked at them, and they were all mediocre people, only one in the middle, a descendant of the Chinese named Xu Kun, who claimed to be good at surveying, if it was true, it would be usable.

But I invited a few of them to my ship—on the condition that they start as trainee navigators, of course, and these long-lost fellows have no objection.

The wine was drunk until the sun went down, and I told some of the navigators to go back and pack their things, and to report to my house on Le Dao Street to-morrow morning. So I took the group, oh, and old Tucker, and went with Shi Shiran in the eyes of everyone.

Early the next morning, several navigators came to my house to report for duty. I handed them all over to Arashi to arrange, after all, they are just a few trainee navigators, so let's arrange a place to investigate first! Moreover, they are ready to sail today, and they have come at the right time.

Negros Island is an island located in the Visayas archipelago in the central part of the Philippines. It is far northwest opposite the island of Panay, separated by the Strait of Guimaras; To the east, Cebu Island is separated from it by the Strait of Tagnon in the distance. To the north of Negros Island is the Sea of Visayas, where we sailed, and to the south is the Sulu Sea, which is the only way to Tuao.

However, at this time, Tuao was still the world of kangaroos, and the British prisoners had not yet been sent to the island! Therefore, there were very few opportunities for navigation in the Sulu Sea, and no official shipping routes were opened.

According to Mavi, the inhabitants of Negros are mostly Visayans with a mild disposition; And there are black dwarves in the mountains, which sound fierce, but in fact they are not easy to deal with. It is said that the best way to deal with them is with a musket, and I let out a long "oh", which I am good at!

The northern part of Negros Island is volcanic, with fertile volcanic soil and dense forests. There are also two volcanoes in the south. The northwest coast is an alluvial plain. The temperature does not drop all year round, averaging around 28 degrees.

The island is dry in the dry season, rainy in the rainy season, and the rivers are short and navigable. The island is rich in sugarcane, coconut, rice, tobacco, etc., especially the production of cane sugar accounts for more than half of the Philippines! The island is rich in timber, as well as coal, sulfur and other mines. All in all, a very rich island.

However, since it has been summer lately, there has not been much rain, so I need to be more wary of the island's indigenous people. Therefore, the preparation before the voyage is mainly weapons maintenance...... As for the sailors and ships, they were all ready-made - I still took my five medium-sized sailing ships of the Ming Dynasty, most of the sailors were brought from the Ming Dynasty and Dongying, and a few locally recruited sailors, because most of them had the same linguistic environment, and they quickly blended in.

The sailing was scheduled for mid-January, and during this time I studied the news I had bought from other sailors. One of the sailors took me ten gold coins and gave me the message that "in the hands of the Cardinal Bishop of the Lord of Manila, there is a golden Holy Cross sword sharpened like clay." It didn't take much effort for me to let the Nine Ghosts Masaki and them confirm the truth of this news!

Because, this golden holy cross sword is playing with it in my hand at this time. And I also quietly released the news that I got this sword through secret channels.

I don't want to fall out with Cardinal Bishop, who represents a force to be reckoned with on the island, but I still have to. I'm going to show my strength, right?

It's fast approaching the middle of January, and the day of departure is approaching. Despite my best efforts to block the news, unfortunately, the news that I am going to Negros Island in search of treasure still spreads. On the day I was ready to go to sea, even Little Pence made a special trip to the dock to see me off.

Standing on the wooden board of the dock, Pence Jr. gave me a heavy hug and whispered something in my ear. Then we let go of each other and said a lot of blessings and thanksgiving. I waved goodbye to Xiao Pence, and said goodbye to the onlookers who ate melons, before turning my head to my flagship, the Ningyuan.

The boat started slowly, and the palm trees of Manila grew farther and farther away in the morning light, until later, only a few small black spots remained, and soon disappeared into the shoreline.

I brought nearly 700 sailors with me on the five boats, including nearly 100 well-trained musketeers—about 40 of the elite of the fire, 20 of them who joined the training later, and about 40 of them were Saga people, who had enough of living a life of hiding and thought that there was a future for them to follow me, so they applied to Shigehide Suzuki.

Although Shigehide Suzuki took a lot of my bonus, it was still not easy to feed so many people, so it was equivalent to half selling and half giving away, and these skilled musketeers became my subordinates.

We set sail from Manila and soon passed by Nasugbu and saw the small island called Lubang Island. The inhabitants of the island, seeing the boats passing by, walked to the shore and waved to us in a friendly way!

We wanted them to return the salute and watch the children chase after my fleet, shouting and running forward.

After Lubang Island, not far away is the coastal city of Bunduro in Piluan, and we have no intention of stopping, but continue to watch the city pass by.

It's a city, but it's just a bigger town. The largest city in the Philippines at that time was about the same size as Jizhou east of the Ming Dynasty, that is, the size of a county.

When the fleet arrived near Panay that night, Mavi was rather silent, and I knew that he was the kingdom of his homeland, located on Panay Island. This is also for the prince who has left his homeland! I thought to myself, aren't all the people who end up doing a great career in the novel from this background?

However, Mavi was quite knowledgeable, and he did not ask to get off the ship now and return to his homeland to reminisce about the past, but stared at a few boulders on the seashore with twinkling eyes, silently distracted.

I patted him on the shoulder and said softly, "When I come back this time, I will build you the largest and most luxurious monument on the original site of the kingdom!" ”

Mavi's eyes flickered, but she didn't make a sound, but finally nodded heavily, and then twisted her head to the other side.

I sighed slightly, it was always sad to be uprooted, and I understood that deeply.

At this moment, a hoarse voice suddenly came from behind him: "Captain, I suggest, land in Bacolod!" "It's Old Tucker, who is my guide at this time, and it's part of the agreement between me and him that if he leads me to the treasure, he's the third mate on my ship. Of course, if you can't find it, then take his twenty gold coins and get out!

Mavi and I came back to my senses, and before I could answer, Mavi frowned and asked, "The waters of Bakolod are not open, and our ships are relatively dangerous to navigate in them. It is better to send a port near Dumaguete or San Carlos, although it will be a little more walking, but it is much safer, and there will be no unknown situation on the water! ”

I looked at old Tucker, who had been dressed in pea-green clothes since he boarded the ship, looking very historical, and with a dark green scarf wrapped around his head...... Yes, dark green, the cultural differences are terrible!

The old man was holding a wine bottle in his hand and said vaguely: "No, no, no! Just land in Baccolod! The waterway is narrow, and naturally there is the advantage of a narrow waterway!! ”

Mavi said unhappily: "You bastard liar! Aren't you afraid to bring the fleet to a dead end? ”

Old Tucker was not angry, he gently moved his right leg with a wooden stick prosthetic, made a "knock" sound, and smiled at the same time: "Young man, believe in experience. I'm a guide, after all...... Captain, do you believe me? ”

I picked at my cheek with my right index finger and smiled, "Of course, my old Tucker guide, I've believed in you since you came out to sell treasure maps!" See what you said, we landed in Bacolod! ”

Old Tucker gave me a deep look, laughed a few times, took a sip of wine, and shook it off.

Mavi stared at Old Tucker's back hatefully, angrily struck the railing on the side of the ship with her palm, and gritted her teeth in a deep voice: "Captain, why do you believe this liar? And I've already told you before, the people of the Kuhn Chamber of Commerce are on the side, aren't you afraid that you will be ambushed if you come to a strange sea so rashly? ”

I patted Mavi on the shoulder again and chuckled under my breath, "Young man, oh yes, you're two years older than me. Well, young man, I believe him so for a reason. Please trust my judgment as much as I trust you, okay? ”

Ma Wei looked at me for a long time, then shook his head helplessly, sighed, and went to the foredeck to check how Xu Kun measured the angle.

The Nine Ghosts walked up behind me silently and said softly, "Sir, it's all ready." ”

I stared at Mavi's back, nodded slightly, and after a while whispered, "I hope everything is as I expected, otherwise, I will be very disappointed!" ”

......

When the first rays of dawn appeared in the east, the navigator Tucker Sr. told me that Negros and Bacolod had arrived!