Constructing a trade system, even a few hundred sailing ships and carrier pigeons, is no less difficult than governing a country. Technology is particularly important for building this system, especially critical technologies.

A careful tally of the Spanish Pacific route during the Age of Discovery shows that the Spanish lost about 6% of their merchant ships in that era; If one carefully counts the European Indian Ocean route from Lisbon to Goa, the planned section of the Arakan Kuram port to the Dakhlacles Pillars, the loss rate is much higher.

During the decade 1592-1602, 38% of Portuguese merchant ships sank on this route. Of course, this period coincided with the Dutch strangling the Portuguese at sea, and hundreds of Portuguese merchant ships were plundered, sunk, or burned by the Dutch. Excluding the Dutch, the shipwreck rate on this route is also more than 10 percent, possibly close to 20 percent.

Because of the sun's irradiation, the earth is heated unevenly to form high pressure, low pressure, the whole earth has two fixed wind belts, one is about ten degrees on both sides of the equator, that is, the trade wind belt, or called the trade wind belt, the Pacific route back to Asia is the use of trade winds; The other is the westerly wind belt, which is around 40 to 60 degrees latitude, which is the path of the Pacific route to the Americas. The two wind belts are in completely opposite directions.

The geography of the northern and southern hemispheres is different, the main continents are concentrated in the northern hemisphere rather than the southern hemisphere, especially the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is located in the westerly wind belt of the northern hemisphere, and North America has the north-south trending Rocky Mountains, which make the westerly wind belt in the northern hemisphere extremely soft.

The Southern Hemisphere is completely different, only the southernmost point of the African continent and the southernmost tip of the American continent penetrate slightly into the westerly wind belt, which only has a slight obstruction effect, so the 40th parallel south latitude is called the 'roaring 40 degrees' by sailors. Almost every day there are big waves, and the wind is like a lion roaring angrily; If you go further south, to about 50 degrees south latitude, that's the 'furious 50 degrees,' and further south, to 60 degrees south latitude, that's the 'screaming 60 degrees.'"

The Suzaku-class flying shears cannot withstand the wind and waves of the Yizhou Strait, and it is very likely that they will not be able to withstand the wind and waves of the 'roaring forty degrees'. The fact that the losses on the Lisbon-Goa route were so high was not unrelated to the fact that merchant ships passed through the 'roaring forty degrees' westerly wind belt twice.

As long as there is a mature ship type and careful guidance, any country today can build gluttonous and Suzaku-class sea boats, and the woodworking skills of this era are beyond imagination. Palaces, mausoleums, coffins, all without nails. However, the pure wood structure has the disadvantages of wood itself, which is why it is difficult to exceed 70 meters in length of wooden ships.

I can't find the reason for the rupture of the Suzaku-class hull, so the use of huge iron keels and huge iron ribs is a must. It's just that the rolls of Jutiefu are indeed a bottleneck, and the rolled out of the Jutie Iron Sheet is too narrow to cover the thick ribs, and no matter how strong the iron and wood ribs are, they are also Wangmei to quench their thirst. As for directly forging ribs at a certain angle, not to mention the craftsmen who built the house, even Xiong Jing was confused.

After Gong Yin Dao and Gong Jian retreated, Xiong Jing spent a lot of time thinking about the technical problems of iron and wood ribs, but to no avail. That's when Alto pulled him back from his meditation.

"I heard that in the western countries of Central, every big soldier is no more than 100,000, so why doesn't the king send his army to fight and take the canal for himself?" The short-haired Otto was full of murderous anger, and when he was feasting with the Seleucid envoys and Indian envoys, he had learned that in addition to India, the Western countries had only a hundred thousand troops in Seleucid, Egypt, and Greece. In the world, the state of Chu alone has 200,000 troops, and the state of Qin has more than 3 million men, and it is easy to recruit millions of soldiers.

While conscription is one thing, it is another to concentrate on going out to fight, and that involves logistics. But he still despised Western countries, and these so-called empires only had more than 100,000 troops in the whole country, and the number of people who fought in major battles was often no more than 100,000. Since it is second-rate, then swallow it in one go, why go around tens of thousands of miles.

"Not at all." Before Xiong Jing could reply, Hong Jing immediately objected. "These several nations come from one line, and the rest of the nations that destroy one country will hate us, and the wars will not be continual, and it will not be good for business. And thousands of miles away, how can tens of thousands of soldiers rush there? How to collect grain? If the Qin people attack me at this time, what if so? ”

"What Hongqing said is very true." Xiong Jing smiled in his mouth, he appreciated Ou Tuo's idea, this capable Yue Ren was a fully qualified admiral. "The state of Chu cannot fight on both sides, and there must be a trade-off between sea and land."

"The people of Baiyue can take on this heavy responsibility." Ou Tuo bowed to Xiong Jing, "Baiyue can get 40,000 soldiers, and 40,000 is enough to destroy the country." ”

"No." Xiong Jing's voice was a little more stern, and then he said, "It's not time yet. Egypt, Seleucus, and Antigonus were all Greeks, and they were all in the same spirit, so how could they allow the Chu State to occupy the canal? With the constant war and poor trade, how to profit from India's grain purchases?

However, the Sinhalese ...... on the other side of the port of Arakan Kulan "According to the trade plan, the port of Arakan Kuram will become an important commercial port like the Portuguese port of Goa, and the Portuguese invested a lot of money in Goa to build Goa like Lisbon." As an important fulcrum of the Indian Ocean trade network, in the long run, it should not be placed in Pandia but in Sinhala.

Hearing Xiong Jing talk about Sinhala, Ou Tuo looked up, only to hear Xiong Jing continue: "...... Or you can find a port. ”

"The minister will find a good port in Sinhala." It was originally determined that Ou Neuon would lead the fleet to sail this year and next winter to explore the Red Sea and Xizhou routes to the west, and the Suzaku class crash would inevitably postpone the departure date.

"Or ask India for help." Red Mo suggested. "It is said that the prince of the Indian monarch once came to Sinhala to preach Buddhism. Dachu is friendly with India, and it is necessary to set up a port in Sinhala, so it is necessary to ask for its help. ”

"Yes." The Red Devil's suggestion is indeed useful, but today's Sinhala is like Baiyue, and there is no unified government at all. "The Tamils and the Sinhalese are hostile to each other, and India seems to want to use the Sinhalese to contain the three Tamil countries in order to make peace with the Lion State. The establishment of a port in Sinhala can be acquiesced in by India, and the rest can be left to the discretion of the Secretary of State. ”

Xiong Jing said this, and soon the map of Sinhala was presented. This is a map of Sinhala drawn last year while the Mountain Ghost was waiting for a gluttonous meal. Xiong Jing pointed to the location of Colombo in later generations and said, "The Sinhalese are all in the northwest, or they can set up a port here. ”

The Port of Colombo was established by the Arabs before the 8th century, and has since developed into an international port and the capital of Sri Lanka. Its earliest name was Kailani Tota, which means crossing of the Kailani River. Xiong Jing did not know any of this history, he only knew that it was the capital of Sri Lanka, which was controlled by the British during the Age of Discovery. Judging from the development of later generations, this should be a good harbor.

"Yui." The murderous aura on Otto's face appeared again, he hadn't fought for a few years, and his hands had long been itchy.

"If there are people here, maybe they can ......" Xiong Jing smiled, and he jokingly said a solution. …… Or people can go ashore to ask for a salute, saying: The goods on the boat are moldy, please allow them to go ashore and borrow a cow to dry. ”

Neither Ou Tuo nor Red Wood understood Xiong Jing's meaning, but fortunately, Xiong Jing continued: "The other party should allow the gift, and at this time, you can take out a piece of cowhide and cut it into thin bands and circles." ”

"This ......" the two couldn't help but be stunned, and Alto said: "If a commercial port is built, wouldn't a cowhide land be too small?" ”

"Not small." Xiong Jing said: "A cowhide cut into a thin strip, can be ......circled" He converted it in his heart, remembering that it seems that a cowhide cut into thin strips can enclose fifty square kilometers, which is larger than the entire Yingdu. "It can be about 114,000 acres of land, which is larger than Yingdu, and it is enough to build a commercial port."

"I see." Alto nodded again and again, although the red man did not approve of this deceptive method, but he waited until Alto retired before he said: "Alto is eager to make a contribution, or kill more." I'm waiting for the new arrivals ......."

"Sinhala is a barren land, and India will not object to it if it is only a barren land. On the other side of the strait, the Tamils and the Sinhalese have a lot of hatred and will only sit on the sidelines. However, "Xiong Jing took a sip of tea, he remembered that the Indian envoy once said that Queen Pandya had 130,000 infantry, 3,000 cavalry, and 500 war elephants, and if this was true, then Pandya's army was not weak. "However, if I really take this place and build a port, or there is an attack, fortunately, Pandya does not have a new wing."

The city was built with cement very quickly, there was sand on the beach and stones in the river. And when I went, most of the merchant ships were empty, and there was no shortage of transport tonnage.

"Who does the king want to send to guard this place?" Red asked. Taking advantage of the fact that there were Chu people around him, he added: "The minister heard that the more people rebelled, if all the people were more rebelled, what would he do if the more people rebelled against me?" ”

Hong's words made Xiong Jing's eyes a little complicated, on the one hand, the Yue people need to be united, and on the other hand, the Yue people need to be vigilant. In the end, how to unite and how to be vigilant, Xiong Jing still can't master this technique, and he doesn't bother to use such a technique.

"Why did the Yue people rebel against them?" He asked rhetorically. "If the Yue people rebel, how can they profit from this commercial port?"

"However, the king has allowed the Yue to make a young master's order-level sea boat, and has allowed Ou Tuo to go to the Xizhou Channel." Red Mo talked about two other things, both of which seemed to him to be very dangerous. "And there is an iron factory ...... from the ear (Hainan)"

"So what?" Xiong Jing still asked rhetorically. "If you have an iron factory, a merchant ship, and a shipping lane, you can be in charge of maritime trade?" In the confusion of the red mo, he said loudly: "Definitely! Sailing lanes are often fixed at a certain latitude, and trade cannot be guaranteed without the use of force at sea. ”

Hongqi had never seen a sail battleship, let alone dozens of twenty-four-pounder salvos, and he thought that Xiong Jing's so-called naval force meant a large-wing warship. "However, the Yue people also have big-winged warboats."

"Don't say anything about it. You'd better be ready to go to Dongzhou next May. Xiong Jing's face turned cold and he didn't mention it anymore.