"So, the eldest brother will be able to take the Guanbazhou soon?"

Wu Haogu wore a sheepskin robe and walked by the water of Yunlong Villa in the south of Xuzhou City with his hands behind his back, while talking to his son Wu Yijiu.

Yunlong Villa is located on the edge of Yunlong Lake and Yunlong Mountain in the south of Xuzhou City, there are mountains and rivers, and it is a rare good place in Xuzhou. The surrounding area is full of mansions, which originally belonged to the dignitaries and wealthy merchants in the Xuhai area. When the city of Xuzhou was flooded by the Yellow River, it was soaked in water and almost deserted. Most of the original owners also fled to Jiangnan. Therefore, after the Zhou army entered Xuzhou, the manor of the "ownerless" (if you can't find it, it is ownerless) was confiscated. After the Great Zhou decided to take Xuzhou as the winter capital, he took it out for auction and sold it to the dignitaries of the Great Zhou Republic.

Wu Haogu spent 80,000 silver coins to buy the largest and most extravagant Yunlong Villa. Later, it was renovated with 20,000 silver coins and turned it into his residence during his stay in Xuzhou.

"It should be soon!" Takeyoshihisa said with a smile, "Now that it is a harsh winter in Japan, their Hokuriku and Nakasendo roads are blocked by heavy snow, and only the Tokaido Road is left to walk." After the Tama River, the samurai of the Japanese country of Sagami were already dead and wounded. Blockading Tokaido should be easy.

In this way, the eight states of Kanto have become a big urn, and you can catch turtles in the urn! With the ability of the eldest brother, before the end of the snowmelt season in the spring of next year, it should be possible to pacify the eight states. ”

"Good!" Wu Haogu laughed, "As soon as the eight states arrived, half of the Japanese kingdom would be destroyed. With the fertile soil of the eight states, we can resettle at least 50,000 military households...... There are so many military households, and sooner or later the whole of Japan will be ours!

Right now...... It's time to get ready to explore the Eastern Ocean! ”

The so-called Eastern Ocean is the Pacific Ocean!

For the vast majority of Zhou people, the Eastern Ocean is an unknown and mysterious sea.

However, there are not many people who are interested in exploring the Eastern Ocean, at least Wu Yijiu has little interest. In his opinion, it is more practical to explore the Eastern Ocean and find a place for Yin people to cross eastward, as well as strengthen the investment in the South and Western Oceans.

Now the Eastern Song Dynasty is going to the South and the West!

Just when Wu Yiyong liberated the Japanese people, Zhao Kai and Wu Meiniang, the invader couple, were planning the Chao Phraya River operation, preparing to brazenly invade the sacred territory of the Chenla Empire. Take the rich Chao Phraya River Plain (50,000 square kilometers) for yourself!

In addition, the Guangmingding Holy See of Ceylon also expressed its submission to the Eastern Song Dynasty!

This means that most of the land of Ceylon has become the territory of the Eastern Song Dynasty.

After gaining Ceylon, the Eastern Song Dynasty was able to continue westward to reach the legendary vast and wild Black Continent......

Isn't the known Black Continent a more ideal prey than the unknown Great Eastern Ocean?

Wu Yijiu's thoughts, of course Wu Haogu knows a little.

This kid doesn't want to invest too much public money in uncharted territory!

But it doesn't matter, Wu Haogu can still get the funds for equipping a few expedition ships.

"San Lang, the matter of exploring the Eastern Ocean has been properly arranged for the Father's Association." Wu Haogu looked at the bleak Yunlong Lake, "The Discovery exploration ship started construction the year before last, and it will be able to conduct sea trials next summer, and it should be able to start exploration in the spring of the year after that." ”

The Discovery is an exploration ship, a sailing ship used to search uncharted waters. The hull of the "Truth" class was used, with the addition of a three-masted soft sail. Only on the artillery deck, armed with 8 short guns of 12 pounds.

In order to allow the crew to last longer in the vast sea, the master craftsmen of Tianjin Shipyard have designed more comfortable cabins and larger cargo holds.

The number of sailors was limited to 90 in order to reduce the consumption of fresh water, food and other supplies.

By design, the Discovery would be able to stay on the ocean for four months with a single resupply, without having to stop at a port to refill with fresh water and food.

In addition, the Discovery will carry enough pickles and tea for 12 months to prevent the crew from contracting scurvy when traveling to and from the New World.

The Discovery also has a large amount of table salt and high-purity distilled spirits on board. The former was used to marinate meat or trade with natives - if there was a chance to find some small islands to hunt, the crew of the Discovery would not let it go. At that time, it is necessary to use table salt to marinate the meat. As for high-purity liquor, it is used to mix with water, and a certain alcohol concentration can avoid the deterioration of fresh water.

That is, with the availability of certain supplies, the "Discovery" was able to hold out at sea for a full 12 months!

From Japan to the Americas, there is a voyage of 7,000-8,000 kilometers, and even if you sail at a speed of 8 kilometers per hour, 1,000 hours is enough, that is, 42 days.

Wu Haogu has prepared enough redundancy for the "Discovery" to ensure that it reaches the other side of the ocean.

And in order to ensure the success of the exploration, Wu Haogu will increase the insurance coefficient several times. That is, 4 "Discovery" class ships are sent to form a team at a time.

This way, even if one or two sailboats are lost during the voyage, the remaining ships will still be able to complete the exploration mission.

Now the construction of four "Discovery" class ships has begun at the shipyards in Tianjin and Lushun, and by the spring of the 15th year of the Republic, they will be ready to set sail.

The New World will soon be discovered!

……

Wu Haogu, who was preparing for the exploration of the New World in Xuzhou City, probably never dreamed at this time that in the city of Jiangning Mansion, there was also a big man who never forgot the story of "Yin Ren's Eastward Crossing".

And he also owns a sailboat similar to the Discovery.

This person is Zhao Kai, Wu Haogu's good son-in-law.

It's still too dangerous to be on the side of the big couch!

Therefore, we must try our best to find a way out...... may there be a place where "Yin people cross east"?

You don't have anything to lose by looking for it, right?

It was with this idea in mind that after the appearance of the soft sailing ships known as the "Shen Boat", Zhao Kai did not think of using them to form a fleet - since the Zhou State began to attack the Japanese State, Zhao Kai believed that peace between the Great Zhou and the Eastern Song Dynasty could be maintained for at least ten years.

Therefore, the Eastern Song Dynasty did not need to upgrade its fleet immediately, and could wait until larger and stronger sail gunboats appeared before refitting them.

Before that, it was a good choice to use the "Shenchuan" type sailboat for long-distance expeditions.

……

"Your Majesty, where do you want to explore?"

In the Chongzheng Hall of the newly completed Jiangning Imperial City, Zhao Kai asked the right thing about the navy of the Eastern Song Dynasty.

He was originally the head of the Ji family's warfleet, and later "Zhao'an" became a naval general of the official army. Later, he was arranged by Ji Yi to serve as the commander of the East China Sea Naval Division, and now he is the leader of the Eastern Song Dynasty Naval Division.

"What about the ocean east of Japan?" Zhao Kai asked. "It is said that there is a huge land there, and it is the land where the Yin people crossed to the east."

"This ......" Cheng Gui was really a little speechless.

Why is this son of heaven so unscored?

What is "Yin people crossing east", just a legend...... And I don't know where it came from?

Anyway, I, an old navy who has been running the sea all my life, has never heard such a ridiculous story.

Even if there was a Yin tribe who crossed east when King Wu was fighting, it was also going to Japan, how could it be possible to go east?

Where is it so easy to sail? If you don't go up to an island the size of Japan, why go east?

Sailing is to kill!

"Your Majesty," Cheng Gui said, "Yin Ren's eastward crossing is nonsense...... On the basis of nonsense, it is not advisable to explore the Great Orient. Moreover, if you want to explore the Great Eastern Ocean, it is best to start from Japan, and Japan is being attacked by the Zhou State, so it is a misunderstanding for us to go.

If Your Majesty wants to explore the open sea, it is better to conduct a comprehensive exploration of the Nanyang Islands. You may be able to find some fertile islands suitable for Han Chinese to immigrate. ”

Although the Republic of the Great Zhou Dynasty and the Eastern Song Dynasty both went to the South Seas, their activities were limited to the vicinity of the Sriwijaya Strait and Java Island.

The eastern part of the South Sea Islands has not been explored in depth.

However, both the Zhou and Song dynasties knew that there were some islands in the eastern part of the Nanyang Islands, which were not bad, because the merchants of the Zhou and Song dynasties would purchase spices from some of the islands in the eastern part of the Nanyang Islands.

Cheng Gui, who coveted the wealth of the Spice Island, wanted to organize a large-scale voyage to the South Seas at the right time. See what of the island's natives can be indoctrinated......

"That's it......" Zhao Kai thought for a while, "That's fine."

By the way, Cheng Gui, have you heard Diyuan say? ”

"Earth Circle?" Cheng Gui was stunned.

"That is to say, the earth we live on is not flat, but a huge ball." Zhao Kai explained, "It sounds a little ridiculous, but after my research, I have come to the conclusion that it is right.

So theoretically, our ships can reach the waters of the North Ocean as long as they sail all the way to the south. ”

How can it be? Cheng Gui thought to himself: There won't be anything wrong with the official's brain, right? He actually studied that the earth was round, and thought that the ship could finally reach the waters of the North Ocean all the way south...... Isn't this a matter of being a scholar and being stupid?

Fortunately, the Great Song Dynasty (Eastern Song Dynasty) is the second holy dynasty, and the queen is in charge, so that the country can flourish!

Zhao Kai didn't feel that there was anything wrong with him at all - in fact, he had calculated the circle of the earth through astronomical calculations. Before the outbreak of the Central Plains War, Yuntai School Palace (Yuzhou Island) and Qingcheng School Palace once joined forces to make an astronomical observation about the circle of the earth. Several observatories were set up in Jingzhaofu, Xijing, Kaifeng, Yingtianfu and Haizhou. Through observation and calculation, the conclusion of the circle of the earth was reached, and the circumference of the earth was also calculated to be about 30,000 li.

In addition, a simple optical observation can also prove that the earth is round, because with the use of the most sophisticated telescopes, the visual distance of a person changes depending on the altitude at which one is located. As long as the calculations are made, the conclusion of the circle of the earth can be drawn.

Therefore, Zhao Kai wanted to organize a round-the-world voyage to prove the correctness of the "theory of the circle of the earth".