Chapter 1038: The Legendary Gentleman's Kingdom (Part I)

What is the great wealth?

Zhao Xing didn't tell them directly. After preparing for two or three days, Zhao Xing took the "tongue man" provided by the Chen brothers and sisters, plus Wang Yuanyu, an immigrant from Huzhou whom Zhao Xing met on the dock, to sail the boat together.

Although the Chen brothers and sisters are descendants of the Fujian Chuanhai people, as long as the Chinese read the book, they are ashamed to go to the sea, because the education at that time believed that only cultivating and reading heirlooms was the most noble. Zhao Xing's "great wealth" did not lead them to go to sea with the ship, they just sent a few sailors and a few "tongue people" to board Zhao Xing's two ships as help.

The so-called "tongue man" is now called "translator".

In addition, Pu Yi'an did not go to sea with Zhao Xing, he was busy sorting out his business and had no time to play with Zhao Xing. Only on the two ships led by Zhao Xing, the sailors followed him one by one.

The sea is vast, and it is difficult to determine the direction on the sea, but after walking for a day, Liu San, the penny master, has already guessed a little about where Zhao Xing is going, he hurriedly broke into Zhao Xing's cabin, and asked anxiously: "Gangshou, are we going to Mayi?" ”

Zhao Xing was in the cabin, drawing patterns on a large piece of parchment, Liu San only glanced at it, and found that the other party seemed to be drawing a nautical chart, he hurriedly turned around as if avoiding suspicion, and confessed: "Zhao Daguan, I didn't see anything." ”

In this era, nautical charts meant treasure charts, which were passed down from generation to generation in families. Because of snatching a nautical chart, there are often bloody cases, which are not uncommon, so Liu San is so sensitive.

However, Zhao Xing did not avoid his meaning, he knocked on the table, pointed to the picture and said, "It's nothing, look at it, this picture is the treasure I promised you." ”

Liu San turned his face to look at the chart, and with his knowledge, he couldn't see what the vertical and horizontal lines drawn on the map referred to after looking at it for a long time. Since Zhao Xing said that this picture was a treasure promised to them, he no longer shy away from it, pointed to the lines on the picture and asked Zhao Xing: "Great official, what are these lines drawn?" ”

"This is the nautical drawing method I learned from Pu Daguan", Zhao Xing patiently pointed to the content on the map and explained: "You said that we are going to Mayi, yes, your sense of direction is very correct."

Look, we are leaving the port from Guangzhou City, and we should go in this direction to get to Mayi, but from the firewood stick, we have to go in this direction. Lo and behold, this cross line is the north pointed by the compass, and this diagonal line is the angle formed between the north pointed by the compass during the voyage...... Do you understand? ”

Zhao Xing explained the lines on the map in a few words, Liu San looked at this picture, was stunned for a long time, and asked Zhao Xing again: "Daguanren, we Song people all know how to sail from Guangzhou to Mayi, but we don't know the route from Dayue to Mayi, how do you use a pen to draw a stroke, you know what road we should take?" ”

When Liu San said this, his face was full of unbelievable reverence. Only then did he believe why it was often said in the book: "Xiucai doesn't go out, he can know the world's affairs." Zhao Xing went to the South China Sea for the first time, but he knew the way better than him, an old navigator, and actually used a pen to calculate the exact location of Mayi Island.

Actually, his reverence was wrong. Zhao Xing is a special case of this era, Zhao Xing told him that "Xiucai doesn't go out, he can know the world", which is actually misleading to him. Because under the education system of the foolish people, Xiucai went out, and he would not know the "world affairs" except for the sage books.

According to the "Book of Sages", if the reader knows the problems of the common people's crops and farmers, he is a "villain" - more than 1,000 years ago, the sage's disciples asked the master about the crops and farmers, and the master replied.

"It's not so difficult to calculate the direction of Ma Yi", Zhao Xing replied disapprovingly: "This technology has been available 1,500 years ago, and the big cannibal in black calls it 'trigonometric function', and it comes from a country called 'Greece'. ”

These words were too profound for Liu San to understand at all, he pointed to the drawings and focused on specific issues: "Daguanren, I will go with you to the Wa Kingdom, to Goryeo, to the Liao Kingdom, at that time, we sometimes have a ship guide, and sometimes, the place we go to is completely different from the destination on the ship...... Let's not talk about these, big officials, when we traveled all over the East China Sea with you, you once said: Promise us a splash of wealth and wealth, but what does Mayi have?

I have heard maritime merchants talk about Mayi, and legend has it that it is a 'country of a thousand households', and the poor people on the island can't even afford to wear clothes, so they use tattoos as clothes. The merchants of our Great Song Dynasty sailed there, and they could not afford to buy goods at all, so they had to borrow them on credit...... However, I heard that the credit of the people of Mayi Islander is very good, and they all say that it is a 'gentleman's country'.

I heard that whenever a Song boat docked in the country of Mayi, the people of Mayi would row a canoe to the boat, first borrow goods from the Song merchants on credit, and then row a small boat to a nearby island to trade with the local natives. Afterwards, the people of Ma Yi did not have a conscience, and they would definitely return to the Song ship by boat, and pay the Song merchants the slightest amount of money at the price agreed in advance.

I've heard that the Ma Yi people have been trading with my Great Song merchants like this for more than 100 years, and there has not been a single case of non-payment of debts - but this does not mean anything. Mayi Island, a shipload of goods is enough for them to eat for a few years. The Song merchants were generally reluctant to trade with them, for fear that they would not be able to eat a single shipload of goods, and if it were not for the storm and the cargo ship drifted nearby, the Song people would never dock at Mayi.

If the great officials promise us the wealth and wealth, it is Mayi Island...... I advise the officials to think about how to appease the crew now. ”

"You don't understand", Zhao Xing asked unhurriedly: "Do you know Nanzhu?" ”

"Of course, you know, aren't they pearls from the South China Sea...... Ma Yi has Nanzhu, but I have heard of it before, and the 'splashing of wealth and wealth' that the big officials said, if it is a single guide bead, it is still a little worse. ”

"You're wrong", Zhao Xing rolled up the parchment chart, patiently told Liu San about some modern pearls, his tone was like a father teaching his children: "The 'Nanzhu' you just mentioned refers to the pearl of the South China Sea silver-lipped oyster or golden-lipped oyster, strictly speaking, it should be called 'South China Sea Oyster Pearl' - some people refer to it as 'Nanzhu'."

The real 'Nanzhu' refers to the pearls contained in the white saucer shell. The pearl oyster is the largest of all pearl oysters, and the pearls it produces can be the size of broad beans, while the 'South Sea Oyster Pearl' is no larger than a pea. Only bigger than broad beans is the real 'Nanzhu'.

And the most precious of the 'South Pearl' is the 'Golden Pearl'...... Ever heard of the Golden Bead? 'Golden beads' does not refer to beads made of gold, it refers to a kind of golden pearl, a treasure in the southern pearl. Think about it, how much is a pearl the size of a broad bean worth with a golden glow? Isn't this a 'splash of wealth'? ”

Liu San was directly knocked down by Zhao Xing's words, he drooled, and thought about it for a long time before he came back to his senses, and questioned: "'Nanzhu' is on Mayi Island?" Daguanren, we have been to the Wa Kingdom, what do you think of the 'East Pearl' of the Wa Kingdom than the 'South Pearl'? Our country's pearls are not more than 10,000 yuan a year, and the big officials are not allowed to sell them......"

Zhao Xing shook his head: "You are wrong again, the Japanese domestic ones are not called 'Dongzhu', 'Dongzhu' is only produced in the Persian Gulf, which is clothed in black and eats, and only the pearls produced by the unique mollusk 'wing shell' of the Persian Gulf are called 'Dongzhu'." However, because the black-clothed food is on our west side, we mistakenly call 'East Pearl' 'West Pearl'. But I'll tell you, the real 'Dongzhu' is as big as a pea – a big pea.

The real 'West Pearl' is still further west, that place is called Beihai, and the pearls produced there are called 'West Pearl'. As for the 'Dongzhu' that we mistakenly think, its correct name should be 'Wa Zhu', which is also an oyster pearl, called Akoya, and the pearl contained in the oyster is only the size of a mung bean. ”

Liu San's mouth wet the deck, but he still didn't notice it, and he asked with awe: "Great official, these things are also written in the book...... I mean, you read all these things from books? ”

"There is a golden house in the book, and there is Yan Ruyu in the book", Zhao Xing sang meaningfully.

Liu San found that his saliva had wet his placket, he hurriedly wiped his chin, and asked: "Big official, since Ma Yi has such a big 'golden pearl', why haven't men and women ever heard of it, why don't big officials take this wealth by themselves?" ”

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