"This cane is really sweeter than Brazilian cane, and it's not a little bit sweeter." Liu Fubo chewed bagasse in his mouth and said vaguely.

Zhang Jinhua took a peeled sugarcane from his hand, put it in his mouth and chewed it. It is true that it is much sweeter than the Maltese sugarcane introduced from Brazil, but the sweetness is still not as sweet as the varieties that have been improved many times in later generations. This kind of sugarcane should have a great future if it is introduced to Xinhuaxia Island, where the climate, precipitation and light are very suitable for the growth of this economically valuable tropical crop. It was on the island of Tahiti that the French navigator Bougainville stumbled upon this high-yielding, high-sugar sugarcane variety, and then introduced it to Mauritius and finally to the Caribbean, where it became popular throughout the tropics. It can be said that almost all the varieties of sugarcane that survived in later generations have Tahitian sugarcane bloodlines, which shows its value.

"When we return home, we will also find more to take away, and then introduce seeds to Xinhuaxia Island, which will surely make China's sugar industry climb to a new peak again. Brazilian sugar cane, haha, will be beaten to tears by us in the future. Zhang Jinhua said with a heroic smile: "Come to Meng, too, take them back." Look around the island and see if there's anything else good, I remember there's a vanilla here. Forget it, don't be too greedy, you can do your best. Anyway, we have found high-yield and high-sugar sugarcane, our task has been successfully completed, and what we can harvest next depends on luck, and we can't force it. ”

Everyone nodded, and then Liu Fubo spat the bagasse in his mouth on the ground, pointed at the Tahitian natives and said, "Captain." What do they do? We met them in the wild, and everyone didn't do anything, and they were all restrained. Gifts were also exchanged with each other. They seemed to be quite friendly, and they were very fond of the glass bottles, magnifying glasses, and other gadgets we handed over, but unfortunately they were poor ghosts, and they could exchange some coconuts and sugar cane for us. ”

"Hmm......" Zhang Jinhua groaned when he heard this, everyone was waiting for him to make a decision, what the fate of the natives on Tahiti Island was completely up to him at this moment. Sergeant Brown had even quietly opened the cowhide holster at his waist and grasped the handle of the flintlock pistol in his hand. There was an eerie atmosphere in the air around them.

"Let's be friendly with them first." As if he hadn't noticed anything unusual about the people around him, Zhang Jinhua said slowly: "We can't wait here for too long, and we will leave and return to Australia in July at the latest." Then continue to explore the route to Chile. After the Discovery departs, I will leave a group of people on the island, and it will be necessary to maintain good relations with the natives at this time. ”

Hearing Zhang Jinhua say this, everyone nodded yes. Then he talked about some of the livestock on the ship (2 cows, 2 pigs, 6 goats. At the same time, there are some corn, rice, and vegetable seeds on board, which can also be planted in the coastal plains, and if everyone arrives here again, there will be fresh food and vegetables to replenish.

Zhang Jinhua saw that everyone was talking nonsense, and he didn't stop it, just looked at the natives who were "dressed in strange clothes", and those natives seemed to feel that he was the one who was talking here. So he immediately opened his mouth and smirked at him. Zhang Jinhua looked at them with a smile and waited until everyone around him finished speaking. Only then did he say: "In this way, in the next few days, you will communicate more with these natives and contact each other." There must be a lot of natives on this island, and most of them are based on villages as natural units, and there is no unified government. Then we will connect with the natives we are in contact with now, collect more information about them, and maintain a good relationship at the same time. When we arrive next time, there may be more than one ship, and when several ships carry a few thousand immigrants and gain a foothold, the numerical advantage of these natives will not be significant. How should we handle them then, it's not a matter of words? So do it! ”

The crowd responded with a bang, and then soon someone made a guess with the natives. Zhang Jinhua was not interested in communicating more with these natives, but walked to the side to observe the direction of the wind. At this time, the southeast trade winds are becoming more and more powerful, blowing the flags on the masts of the ships, and it seems that the return from Tahiti to Australia will be very smooth, with a smooth wind and a smooth water, and there is nothing more pleasant than this. Of course, it may be a headwind when heading south from the east coast of Australia, but it doesn't matter, it's downstream, and there is also steam-powered assisted navigation, so there is no problem maintaining a speed of about five knots.

The following days passed in such a monotonous and boring situation, and Zhang Jinhua even went fishing in the offshore lagoon for this reason. However, just because he was bored, that didn't mean that his men were also bored, and these people, with the help of some natives, climbed the mountains and mountains in search of various plants endemic to the island. Of course, there were also some suffocated sailors who paid for their knick-knacks and had some well-known relationships with scantily clad aboriginal women.

And when the end of June arrived, a group of sailors who had rowed their dinghys to explore the rest of the island returned with a roar. They brought back a few natives, and then the leader excitedly handed over a dozen or so black beads to Zhang Jinhua's hands.

"This is ......" Zhang Jinhua carefully looked at the round and jade object in his hand and exuded light, and only said hesitantly after a while: "This is a black pearl?" ”

"Yes, Captain, this is the Black Pearl." One of the expedition members excitedly said, "We've made a fortune, these natives have hoarded a lot of black pearls, and we can exchange them for our 'white pearls' (i.e., glass balls), haha, it's a great business." ”

"Could it be that this is where the black pearls are made?" Zhang Jinhua couldn't help but muttered to himself.

"That's right, Captain, these natives were taken from the shells of some shellfish mollusks off the coast. That kind of creature is everywhere in the lagoon near the sea, and although the probability of producing a single pearl is not large, it is better because of the large base, and after so many years of accumulation, it is not surprising that some natives on the island have a large number of black pearls in their hands. "It seems that the environment around here must be very suitable for the breeding of shellfish that produce black pearls, Captain, this may be a great treasure." We could even adopt the method proposed by the Ministry of Agriculture to artificially nucleate these shellfish animals to stimulate the production of black pearls. ”

In fact, the expedition member was right. Tahiti was the main source of black pearls in later generations, accounting for more than 95% of global production. The sea temperature (24-29°C) was ideal for the growth and reproduction of the black lipped oysters, and later generations of Tahitian people obtained large quantities of pearls through guò captivity, in which seedling traps were placed on the seabed to catch the seedlings. These pearls come in round, semi-round, oval, button-shaped and even ring-shaped shapes, with diameters ranging from 8 to 16 mm, and are not all black, but also come in a variety of colors such as malachite green, purple, brown, light gray, etc.

In the 19th century, the pearls were harvested in large quantities by Chileans and Americans, and then exported to East Asia and Europe, making a staggering profit. In Europe, it was originally used as a button on clothing, but in China, it was used as part of jewelry and was called South Sea Black Pearl, which was very expensive.

Expensive things naturally attract extreme covetousness from outsiders, so by the 60s of the 20th century, the black pearl resources in the entire sea area of French Polynesia were almost completely depleted. As a last resort, the locals began to cultivate pearls through guò artificial cultivation, that is, through guò to implant pearl nuclei in the body of the black lip oyster, in order to stimulate the shell mantle to secrete the nacre layer and form pearls.

At this time, of course, the East Coasters can do the same, and there is no insurmountable technical hurdle. As long as you explore and experiment more, you will always find a set of methods for artificially cultivating black pearls.

"Find a way to trade all the existing black pearls in the hands of the natives, and everyone will also make some extra money as compensation for this trip." Zhang Jinhua looked at everyone and said happily, "In the future, we will completely occupy this island!" We are going to grow sugar cane, lemons, pineapples, bananas, herbs, and black pearls here, and this island will definitely become the richest place in the entire East Coast Republic of China in the future, there is no doubt about that! ”

On July 10, 1648, seeing that there had been a month's delay on the island of Tahiti, and that almost all the things that should be found had been found, Zhang Jinhua ordered everyone to board a ship and return to prepare for Australia to rest. When they arrive in Australia, they will inform the Jinshan Port to send a group of people and equipment to the island, which is of great value, both economically and strategically (in the southeast trade wind belt, a key link in the South Pacific circulation), and it would be a pity to give up. In later generations, several major powers fought over the ownership of the island, and finally the French took control of this vital South Pacific island.

It was on the basis of this consideration that Zhang Jinhua did not evacuate everyone, but left 16 expedition members and 16 able-bodied sailors on the island, and at the same time left them with weapons, supplies, livestock, and all the seeds, so that they could wait in their existing camp for a few months, and then a ship from Australia would send someone to replace them.

After arranging this qiē, the "Exploration" expedition ship slowly left the lagoon with a large number of preserved sugar cane and lemon plants, and then sailed into the ocean and sailed in the direction of Australia. (To be continued......)