Marin sighed infinitely, he didn't expect that there would be a huge worry about how to consume food. If his troubles were known to the other hard-pressed nobles in Europe, he might be beaten up in groups.

It was precisely because of the fear of group fights and the need for great voyages that Marin went to plan England. Truth be told, though, this part of England is too humid, with a lot of rain and fog. Therefore, when the British meet and greet each other, they ask how the weather is alive and sigh that the weather is good.

Had it not been for the importance of England to the Great Voyage, Marlin would not have been willing to seek to conquer this damp and foggy island nation. In addition, after England was concluded, it could also be regarded as an important retreat for the Hoffman family. If one day he was beaten by all over Europe on land, he might as well flee to England by ship and try to make a comeback and return to Germany. As long as England built a strong regular fleet, and had an unlimited supply of Chilean saltpeter, even if the whole of Europe united, it could not be feared. The two world wars proved that as long as the navy was strong, England could comfortably tear apart its opponents without fear of the fall of its homeland...... France and Germany have fallen, but England has survived both world wars......

In addition, once the era of the steam engine comes, England, which is rich in coal resources, and the Ruhr area of Germany will become the places with the greatest potential.

Because of the coal, British steam warships sailed all over the world. It is also because of coal that Germany dares to take on the whole world...... And poor France, there is neither coal nor oil. Later, he was forced to build a nuclear power plant......

The two great powers that rose in later generations, Laomei and Huaxia, both have extremely rich coal resources. If you don't have so much coal, how about developing a woolen industry? Just like Brazil in later generations, it is also a big country, but there is iron but no coal. Therefore, it can only sell iron ore, and the industry has not been able to go up, so it can only be at the same level as Ah Sanzhi and others...... As for Ah San, he has coal and iron, but he always thinks of some messy things in his head, and he is unwilling to do things well, otherwise, he will not be worse than Huaxia......

……

Just when Marin was sitting alone in the palace office, emptying his brain, and messing around, his subordinates suddenly reported:

"Grand Duke, Captain Ben is back!"

"Who?" Marin didn't react for a moment.

"Captain Ben, the ...... without hair on your head," the guard cautioned, a smile on his face.

"Oh, bald Aben!" Marin remembered that it was a Dutch young man who looked like Peter Pan, and he had the same premature aging as Luo Laohan...... Although the two have different appearances, they are both bald......

Marin thought for a moment, seeming to ...... At the beginning of the year, he sent Ben to explore the Panama Pacific route, and it was time to come back......

After all, this exploration is very simple, just start from Grenada and sail along the coastline of South America. Unlike before Columbus, who looked for India, he needed to cross the Indian Ocean. In the era when there was no satellite navigation, it was dangerous to cross the oceans, especially unknown ones.

Fortunately, now Marin has come up with a sextant and a navigation clock, by calculating the latitude and longitude, as long as he walks the route once, and goes again next time, he can continue to walk according to the original coordinates and will not get lost. However, it is certainly dangerous for those who cross the ocean for the first time. Because, there are no coordinates for him to refer to......

But this time, when Ben was looking for the Pacific coast of Panama, he sailed along the coastline of the South American continent, and there was a coastal reference, which was much safer than crossing the ocean. Although it was also the first time to go, it was much easier to compare it with the coastline. What's more, Marin also drew the outline of the South American continent, and what Ben had to do was just follow the coast of the South American continent and sail against the outline.

Sure enough, Aben's exploration of the route this time was indeed relatively smooth. With the coastline as a reference, and the ability to compare the contour map of the South American continent, all Aben had to do was record the latitude and longitude coordinates along the way. With these coordinates, the next time Ben goes over, or changes to another captain, as long as he sails strictly according to the instructions of the coordinates, it will be easy to find his destination......

Ben was originally an uneducated fisherman, and he commanded to go out to sea to fish in small fishing boats. It stands to reason that this kind of uneducated fisherman youth has no chance of getting ahead. However, when Marin was the lord of Texel Island, there was a serious shortage of talents, especially seafaring talents. It just so happened that Ben was more impressed by Marin (who made him more similar to Luo Laohan's characteristics), so he drove the ducks to the shelves, pulled Ben into his command, and trained the old sailors hired from Portugal.

Moreover, although Ben looks honest and has no cultural foundation, he is particularly talented in mathematics. Although I only studied for a few years, I learned simple angle calculations. Navigation, on the other hand, requires the latitude to be obtained by calculating the angle of the sun. and the longitude of the nautical clock and the height of the sun. Ben was gifted with mathematics and quickly mastered this knowledge, so he rose from the group of young fishermen to become a captain, and had the privilege of learning a lot about being a captain with Columbus. Last time, Marin asked Columbus to find the location of Panama City on the Pacific coast of Panama, but Columbus didn't want to go, so he recommended Ben by the way, so Ben got a great opportunity. And Ben lived up to expectations, successfully found the Pacific coast of Panama, and returned to return to Marin.

After obtaining permission to enter Marin's office, Aben respectfully presented the coordinates and hydrological data recorded during the voyage to Marin for his reading.

It can be seen that although Ben has no culture, he can't write any beautiful sentences in the logbook, but he is still very careful about the record of navigation charts and coordinates. Marin only gave a contour map, and Ben later not only copied the outline, but also marked the coordinates of the coastal shipping lanes in detail. Some of the inaccuracies in the contours have also been revised. It can be said that with just a few copies of these nautical coordinate maps, the next captain who knows how to calculate latitude and longitude will easily reach the Pacific coast of Panama.

Moreover, Marin had asked him to find an island off the coast of Chile as a stopover on the way to the voyage, and Aben also successfully found it, which was a small island in the sea near the later Chilean city of Concepción - Santa Maria, and marked the specific coordinates......

"Tell me, why did you choose this island, it seems that there are some small coastal islands in the north, right?" Marin asked after a moment's thought.

"Yes, Grand Duke, further north, there are still a few offshore islands. However, when I looked at the islands, I found that the coastal islands on the north side of the island seemed to have a very arid climate. On those small islands, we can't find fresh water supplies, there's no point in stopping there. Only this small island, although not large, has a river that provides fresh water and can be used as an important transit point......"

Marin nodded, and he remembered that the northern part of Chile was indeed very dry. It seems that it was affected by the cold snap in Peru. Although huge fishing grounds have been created, they have had a huge drought effect on the northern coast of Chile and the southwestern coast of Peru.

On the south-central coast of Chile, although the climate is more humid, there are rivers that provide fresh water. However, at the moment there is the sphere of influence of the Inca Empire. Based on the principle of not being able to clash with the indigenous people as much as possible, Aben chose the isolated island of Santa Maria. You must know that Chile can be regarded as the sphere of influence of the Inca Empire in this era, and it is not impossible to force a landing, but it will definitely attract an attack from the Inca Empire. Therefore, it is important to get a support point on the open continent now......

The coastal area of Peru, north of Chile, is drier. For example, the island of San Lorenzo off the coast of Lima, the capital of Peru, opposite Callao, is an arid island with no fresh water. Apparently, this is due to the cold snap in Peru. Most of the seas where the cold current passes seem to be relatively arid......

Further north, the coasts of Ecuador and Colombia. The island here is less arid. However, it is not far from Marin's intended destination, the Bay of Panama......

Sure enough, Ben pointed to the map, pointing to several small islands in the Gulf of Panama, and explained it to Marin......