On March 5, 1643, after arranging the work for the remaining soldiers and technicians in Gushan Harbor for the next period of work, the voyage fleet set sail and left Jinshan Bay in turn. Before leaving, Mo Ming also officially announced the pardon of all the Korean slaves captured in 1642 in the area under the jurisdiction of the Heishui Pioneer Team (Heishui Port, Gushan Port, and Jinshan Port), and registered them, and from then on they began to enjoy the rights and obligations of free people. After this order came out, the faces of the Eight Banner warriors and the officers and soldiers of the Standing Squad on the shore suddenly turned a little pale, and they realized that the evil they had done was estimated to be visible to the old chief.

Ignoring the careful thinking of these people, under Mo Ming's orders, Navy Captain Li Yi commanded four multi-purpose exploration ships, a flute-type transport ship (belonging to the East African Transport Company) and an armed transport ship to turn due east and sail in the direction of Jinshan Port. The other two flute-type transports, escorted by the fast cruiser Yangwu, turned due west and prepared to return to Fort Xinhua along the counterclockwise circulation of the southern Indian Ocean. After arriving at Xinhua Fort, they will transport a large number of grain, livestock, building materials and a small number of Malay slaves to Gushan Port from there, so as to fully guarantee the construction of Gushan Port, an important node.

The 400 tons of rice and wheat on board the "Merchant" remained unchanged, while the Baobab, a flute-type transport ship belonging to the East African Transport Company, was filled with cloth, wine, iron products and other goods, as well as some weapons and ammunition. The original shipload of weapons and ammunition was temporarily stored in the warehouse of Gushan Port, and when I was free in the future, I would find a way to transport it to Heishui Port.

After all the explanations are completed. Six ships left the shoreline. In the deep water, we headed for the port of Jinshan in the southeast corner. This time it took them only 11 days. At noon on March 16, six ships sailed into the harbor in anticipation of the 90 samurai of the Eight Banners who stayed behind in Jinshan Harbor and anchored steadily at the pier pier.

Compared with Gushan Port, Jinshan Port has not changed much, and it is still the same desolate and vast appearance when it first came last year. It is no wonder that there are only 90 Eight Banner warriors and about 150 Korean prisoners on their side, and what they can do is very limited. At the moment, it seems, they were able to dig up a large amount of coal. It is already remarkable that they have cultivated about 200 acres of farmland outside the village, at least Mo Ming is very satisfied with their work.

The fleet rested here for two days, and at the same time replenished the warehouses of Jinshan Fort with about 100 tons of grain, as well as some of the livestock that had been brought in, mainly cattle and vicuñas. Similarly, about 20 or so technicians from all walks of life have been retained, and they will also build brick kilns and ship repair yards here, just as Gushan Port did before. After giving some financial rewards to all those who stayed here, on March 18, Mo Ming led the fleet out of Jinshan Port again. Head to Blackwater Harbor, the final stop of the voyage.

Although it is against the southward East Australian Warm Current, it is infused by strong southeast trade winds. The fleet of the people on the east coast continued to move northward on the power of sails. After sailing into the northeastern waters of mainland Australia at a speed of 4-5 knots, the fleet overcame multiple adverse factors such as headwinds (northwest winds), variable currents, and hot climate, slowly but resolutely crossed this sea area (Coral Sea), and continued to dock near Rabaul to shore fresh fresh water and coconuts. During this last part of the difficult voyage, the two sailboats had to be dragged by steam ships with cables to dock near Rabaul, which was really hard. Only steam-powered ships can sail and dock freely in the windless, changeable weather, and complex ocean currents, and of course, only crazy people on the east coast will take such a desolate and remote and dangerous route.

After replenishing the fresh water, several ships left the hot and humid port of Rabaul on the same day, crossed the equator north, and then went all the way north, following the ocean current and the rising southwest monsoon, through the waters between Taiwan and Yonaguni Island, through the Tsushima Strait, and into the Tatar Strait.

The Strait of Tatar has been thawing for some time in late April, and six ships sailing in extremely low temperatures following the warm Japanese current and southeast winds. The farther north the fleet, the cooler the temperature; When crossing the sea near Sovetskaya Harbor and heading north, Mo Ming even saw that there were still some thin ice floes remaining on the surface of the sea. Although the area of the ice floes may seem small and the ice is thin, it is really creepy to see it again in this season.

Being in the strait, the waves were not very undulating, and some of the first-time sailors crowded onto the deck, looking with amazement at the island on the shore hidden between the snow and the trees. They donned their sky-blue navy winter uniforms, wore warm suede boots on their feet, and wore sealskin hats, and pointed to shore as they chatted softly.

At this time, Captain Li Yi on the flagship issued an order, and the six ships gradually gathered their formations and sailed cautiously northward at a speed of 5-6 knots. Fearing that some ice floes would be encountered during the night voyage, even if they were not in the way of the size of the ice floe, it was always a good idea to be careful, so several ships docked at anchor when it was just dark, waiting for the dawn to sail again.

The next day, the sailors raised their sails immediately after breakfast, and sailed until mid-afternoon, when they sailed into the port of Blackwater, which had been absent for more than half a year, under the leadership of the pilot ship. The entire fleet departed from the Zhenhai Harbor Wharf on December 10, 1642, and after circumnavigating half the world, it arrived at the Far Eastern Port of Blackwater on April 29, 1643, a voyage that lasted four months and twenty days. Of course, this speed should be increased even more if it is replaced by a full sailing fleet, and the whole voyage should be controlled between 80-90 days. But even with a mix of slower transports, the East Coast Voyage Fleet is still not slow, if not a little fast.

This is due to the fact that they have a general understanding of the climate, currents, and wind direction of the sea they pass through, which greatly increases their speed. Don't look at a simple map map of ocean currents, as well as some knowledge of geography and climate such as trade winds, which is absolutely invaluable in this day and age. It took the Europeans hundreds of years, sunk countless ships, and countless brilliant scientists to come to the conclusion that it had a huge effect on navigation that could not be underestimated.

After several months of ocean voyages, whether it is four multi-purpose exploration ships or two sail transport ships, they are all gray and embarrassed at the moment, and they urgently need to be maintained and repaired in the dock. The first to react were the two sentries standing on the watchtower of the pier, and when they saw the shape of the leading ship and the red sword and the goshawk flag hanging high on the mast, they immediately ran back to the city to report the news.

In a short time, a large number of men poured out of the city, all dressed in thick cotton coats and fur hats on their heads, rushing to the docks, waving their arms vigorously and shouting to their heart's content. After a few months of living like savages, they all burst into tears of excitement when they saw the local fleet coming.

After more than half a year of construction by 600 Koreans and more than 200 warriors of the Eight Banners in the city (no work could be started after the snow), the port has now begun to take shape, and at least the facilities it should have are available. There is no shortage of houses, warehouses, canteens, bathhouses, city halls, watchtowers, fences, etc., and even a dry dock has been dug up, where the fishing boat, which has more than 100 tons stolen from the North Koreans, is placed.

Accompanied by Li Yi and others, Mo Ming walked into the city on the remaining snow, just like when he was in Gushan Port and Jinshan Port, the Eight Banner warriors in the city couldn't help but cheer immediately after seeing the old chief appear, which made Sergeant Johnson, who had managed them all winter, extremely envious. The city was littered with a large number of houses, and many North Koreans wearing cotton coats from the east coast stood silently at the door, looking at the big people on the dock with awe-struck eyes. Only some ignorant children came close to watch with snot, and they were also wearing cotton clothes that had been changed from adults to small ones, and their little faces were red from the cold wind.

Mo Ming beckoned, and his orderly immediately handed over a cloth bag. Mo Ming walked towards these children with a smile with this cloth bag in his hand, and as he walked, he took out some small snacks from the cloth bag and distributed them to these children. Most of the children scattered in fright when they saw him coming, except for a few who were still standing there stupidly. Mo Ming walked over and touched their heads, and then handed out snacks one by one: coconut sugar, maltose, cocoa powder, cashew nuts, longan, beef jerky, and so on. The novelty of the food eliminated the barrier between the two sides, and these innocent little children immediately began to eat with a smile.

"Thirty-eight people died last winter." After receiving Li Yi's hint, Sergeant Johnson immediately stepped forward to report to Mo Ming, who had taken office as a new official: "Among them, there are 13 Eight Banner warriors, 1 left-behind sailor, and the remaining 24 are all Koreans. The 14 people who died on our side all died because of the deterioration of their physical health; The causes of death of those North Koreans are varied, ranging from poisoning to eating unknown things, to fighting each other, and dying from charcoal poisoning, but most of the deaths are due to being too old or too weak to survive the cold weather of winter. ”

Mo Ming just nodded, but did not speak.

Sergeant Johnson peeked at him, then continued, "We found the coal mine in the mountains before it snowed last year. The coal mine is very shallow, the texture is quite good, and the degree of carbonization is quite high. We dug a couple of shafts in the mountains, dug up some samples and sent them back. Later, because the mountain was about to be closed by heavy snow, we withdrew. A few days ago, I sent someone to the mountains to take a look, and several wells were still there, and they could be used again after a little tidying up. Hehe, Captain Mo, there was a fox that fell into a well, and it was all frozen. But the skin is not broken, just to make a shoulder for Captain Mo. ”

"Oh?" Mo Ming finally turned his head with some interest, and he didn't know if he was interested in the coal mine or the fox. (To be continued......)