The group of men selected by Guantuo is indeed very smart, but the most important thing in navigation is not to avoid the storm, but to calculate the position of the ship.

What was the rate of Spanish galleon loss across the Pacific Ocean? According to Dr. Cruikshank, there were 263 galleons from Manila and 353 from Acapulco, for a total of 616 voyages in 250 years. During the galleon trade, there were approximately 30-40 shipwrecks, robberies, fires or other accidents, with a loss rate of about 6 per cent.

This is the case for the Pacific route, and although no one has done shipwreck statistics in the sailing era for the Indian Ocean route, the loss rate should not be too high; Only the Atlantic route is more dangerous, but when the state of Chu opens up the Atlantic route, the steamship - damn pipe (without which it is difficult to have a high-pressure steam engine) - should come out. Even if it doesn't come out, a large sailing ship using a steel keel can greatly improve the ship's resistance to wind and waves, and reduce the occurrence of shipwrecks.

Storms at sea are not important, only those who know nothing about navigation will think that it is the storm that hinders navigation, and that it is the position determination of the ship that really hinders navigation. Calculation of navigation method and trajectory presumption are not feasible in this era, and the positioning of land markers (needle path diagrams) can only be used for coastal routes, not in and out of the deep sea, and can only be used for astronomical positioning.

Another trick is to make sulfuric acid, then you can make batteries, and then you can make spark gap radios, and finally set up radio stations on islands to locate them by radio. This is perhaps a little simpler than making a marine clock.

Xiong Jing had some more fantasies, and he eventually banished radiolocation from his mind. Once the star map (perhaps he will have to spend a few years on the other side of the Pacific Ocean to observe the star map) and the moon phase are recorded, then the longitude can be determined by observing the moon, and finally the position of the ship can be calculated. This involves some trigonometric calculations, and these future navigators don't know if they can understand them.

The teaching materials are all read by the students themselves, and Xiong Jing comes over every once in a while to answer questions. Compared to these selected smart boys, the cadets of the sailor class are much more stupid. There are many people who can't calculate the half-day tide, they can only remember the tide when they look at the time, but fortunately, the mast is very neat, and the monkey rubs it up at once, and it is not good to come down, and it is necessary to jump into the water with a tom.

The use of sails has also become more and more proficient, and with a mast and a mainsail, it is already possible to adjust the sailing. Factually, sail handling is a sailer's main job, especially when the wind is blowing. The sails were heavy, and the adjustment required the concerted efforts of all the sailors. After getting acquainted with one sail, you can operate three crosssails on one mast and twelve sails on three masts on a ship (including three shanghangs on the first oblique truss).

The rest is some sailing experience. For example, the lookout and collision prevention in the shallow sea, the familiarity with the sailboat itself and temporary repairs, and the familiarity with the marine environment and life at sea. Vietnamese students may be more experienced in this area, and they are familiar with the hydrology and tides of the Zhoushan Islands and the East China Sea. Perhaps, at this time next year, Shao Si will be able to go to sea if he has a good life.

"Greetings to the king." The Lady Xiang sailed a few laps around Shaobi, and finally rested on the dock area, when a servant rushed up. At this time, Xiong Jing was drinking afternoon tea under the warm autumn sun.

"What?" The official is a fat man in the Advice Museum, in addition to building a house, the Bear Award also has a lot of things to offer, such as sulfuric acid and transparent stone.

"Tell the king, today Hu Shang came to offer transparent stones. The Hu people don't want a bounty, they just want to drink with the king. The official said.

"Oh." Xiong Jing put down the teacup, which was exactly what he wanted. "What about others?"

"Your Majesty, Hu Shang is on the shore." The official pointed behind him, and he brought Hu Tanshao with him.

"Yes. Bring him up. Xiong Jing glanced ashore, and there were indeed two bearded men looking from the shore, and one of them was carrying a sheepskin bag.

"The villain Hu Tansuo has seen the king of Chu." After following the customs, Hu Tansuozhi and his servants bowed to Xiong Jing after they got on the boat.

"No courtesy." Xiong Jing said lightly, "Where is the transparent stone that you don't want?" ”

"Tell the king, the transparent stone is here." Hu Tanshao Zhiya was a little out of tune, but the transparent stone he offered made Xiong Jing have no time to pay attention to him.

Clear stone is the name given at the time of the bounty to make people remember its characteristics. Its real name is calcite, or more precisely, it should be called ice island stone. The reason why it is called Ice Island Stone is because the place where it was first discovered on a large scale was in Iceland, so it is called Ice Island Stone. The first to use the ice island stone for navigation was the Vikings, who were at high altitudes and could hardly see the sun, but it was different with the ice island stone, which could also refract the sunlight on cloudy days to determine the latitude of the ship at the time of the isodimensional route.

After refracting the double shadows with the Ice Continent Stone, Xiong Jing approvingly: "It is indeed an unwanted transparent stone, but one is not enough." ”

"The villain knows where there is a transparent stone, and he is willing to help the king transport it, but he ......" Hu Tanshao was overjoyed, and he brought all kinds of jade with him, which was to establish a huge iron trade with the Chu State.

"How?" Xiong Jing handed the transparent stone to Chang Jiang, and one piece was not enough just his casual remarks. If Hu Tansuo couldn't bring more Ice Continent Stones, he could have people break down this palm-sized and two-finger-thick Ice Continent Stone, and one or two pieces per merchant fleet would be enough.

"The villain asks the king to allow the sale of huge iron to the villain." Hu Tansao hurriedly asked the servant to take out all the gems he had brought. These gems are housed in beautiful wooden boxes that sparkle in the sun.

"This is ......" Xiong Jing picked up a piece of Xuanlin, a bright blue gem that seemed to have a blue flame inside. In "The Legend of Mu Tianzi", after arriving at Juluo, the locals offered forty stones of Zhisi. According to the compilation of the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" to view the season, Zhisi Stone is Xuanlin.

"Your Majesty, this is Sesser." Hu Tanshaozhi thought that the king of Chu would like white mutton fat jade.

"No, no. This is lapis lazuli. Xiong Jing said a word that Hu Tanshao didn't understand. He seemed to have heard that in ancient times, lapis lazuli in the world came from only one place, and that was somewhere at the foot of the mountain to the west of the Green Ridge.

"Where are you from?" Xiong Jing looked at Hu Tanshaozhi, saw that his eyes were deep and his nose was high, and his eyes were green, and he asked, "Are you a Persian?" ”

"Persia?!" Hu Tanshaozhi's expression became extremely strange, he couldn't imagine how the king of a state in a remote region could know about Persia. The Persian Empire ceased to exist, and after the Battle of Gaugamela, the defeated Darius III fled to Bactria (northern Afghanistan) and was killed, and the Persian Empire fell.

"Does the king know about Persia?" Hu Tanshaozhi's expression changed, no longer as flattering as before, but with more respect.

"I know Alexander." Xiong Jing smiled and talked about the most famous in the ancient world.

"You know everything." Hu Tansuozhi had already heard some rumors about Xiongjing, and there was a rumor that he knew everything.

"You're not a Persian?" Xiong Jing asked again. He wanted to know where Hu Tansuozhi was from, if he was a Persian, he must know about the Mediterranean world, if not, his news might be very closed.

"Honorable King, I am a native of Sogdiana." This was the first time Hu Tansuozhi introduced himself to the people of this land.

"Sogdiana?" Xiong Jing learned his pronunciation, repeated the word in front and back, and said, "You are Sogdian?" ”

"I am a native of Sogdiana, Great King." Hu Tansuozhi didn't understand what Sogdia was, and he thought that Xiong Jing was wrong.

"You're from ......" Xiong Jing dipped his fingers in some tea, and drew on the low table the Amu Darya, Syr Darya, and the Aral Sea in the middle of the river - this is based on the "Classic of Mountains and Seas", and the ancestors who compiled the Xishan Classic should have traveled to the middle of the river. …… Here? ”

"Yes, honorable king." Hu Tansuozhi was instantly impressed, as a merchant he also knew the Amu Darya, Syr Darya and the Aral Sea in the middle of the river.

"You know Alexander?" Xiong Jing nodded, he was sure that the Hu man in front of him was the Sogdian, the ancestor of An Lushan.

"Great King, Alexander died more than eighty years ago." "But the Mahadulas rule my homeland, they are a group of greedy and cruel devils, and the god of light is already punishing them. ”

"Mahatula?" Xiong Jing read this word, and after silently reciting it, he realized a little: "Macedonians? ”

"......" Hu Tansuo was at a loss again. Mahatule is the antiphon of the Greek Μακεδονεs and Macedonia in Macedonia. After defeating Darius III, Alexander conquered Bactria and established a vast empire across Europe and Asia, which was divided into several pieces after his death. At first, the empire was divided into the Cassandian dynasty of Greece, the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt, and the Seleucid empire, after which the Cassandian dynasty was annexed by Rome, and the Seleucid empire split into the Parthian kingdom (the Sabbatarian Empire) and the Bactrian kingdom (Bactria kingdom). The Kingdom of Bactria was being established by the Greco-Macedonian colonial governor.

Hu Tansuzhi was full of hatred for Alexander, Alexander carried out a brutal massacre of the city when he conquered Bactria, and the previous battle of Su against Sana (located on the banks of the Syr Darya River, near the western mouth of the Ferghana Basin), more than 30,000 Sogdians put up a stubborn resistance by virtue of the terrain, more than 20,000 people died in battle or jumped off the cliff, only more than 8,000 women and children survived, and the final conquest was through peace, Alexander married the daughter of the leader of the resistance.

Hu Tanshao had come for business, and under Xiong Jing's inquiry, he spoke of the tragic past of the Sogdians. And Xiong Jing also knows the world west of the Kunlun Mountains: the most recent is the Kingdom of Bactria, established by Greek descendants, the king is called Diodortos II, who has been on the throne for nine years, but the situation of the Rest Empire and the Seleucid Empire, Hu Tansuo Zhi does not mention anything. He deliberately did not mention it.