Everyone hurriedly ran to the deck, and several old seafarers pointed to some strange waves in the distance and said, "Mr. Chen, this is the return of the waves encountering a large reef or island. Pen Fun Pavilion www.biquge.info if you take a closer look at those waves, they are not straight, some places are crossed, and if you look closely, they are not pushed forward horizontally, but a large arc. That's when the waves swirl up after being blocked by the island. There will definitely be shallow water or reefs near the island, so either change course or wait for the night until dawn. ”

Chen Jian followed the gesture of the old crew member, squinted his eyes and carefully distinguished the so-called round waves and cross waves, and after looking at it for a long time, he could see some doorways, hurriedly opened his navigation diary and drew a rough picture, asked a few more questions, and recorded it word for word.

The sailors were already busy, using the mirrors on the masts to light the ships in front as a signal to signal them to be careful.

The ship in front also sent back a signal to indicate that it was already aware and was lowering its sails and waiting.

Seeing that it was already dark and the telescopes were useless, even during the day they were sometimes not as good as the old crew's eyes for observing the waves.

Different islands have different blocking effects on the waves, often forming reflection waves on the front, and forming some strange cross waves or small whirlpools in the upwind direction of the current or wind, and the reverberating waves that encounter the reef often make the ship shake up and down as if the bottom has hit a boulder, which is something that Chen Jian does not know, unless the old crew who has been soaked in the sea for a long time can be keenly aware of it.

It shouldn't be the land of Qi, and it's still early to guess according to the distance.

The sailors came out one after another, lowering the jib on the bow and lowering the mainmast, adjusting the direction of the sails, allowing the ship to move very slowly to the northwest, avoiding the possible reef area brought by the island.

It was already dark, it was an area of sea that almost no one had visited, and the inaccuracy of the map meant that no one knew there was an island.

The captain advised, "The weather is not bad, the island is already on the northeast side, we can go around it." ”

Jian Chen shook his head and said, "Since it's an island I've never seen, let's go up and have a look." If there are animals, birds and beasts, you can also improve the food. Anyway, it's not all about business, it's just going to go around. How far can it be? ”

"It's not far, and if it's a good day, you might be able to see it with a telescope. But when it's dark, this thing is not as good as the old crew's feeling, and you can feel the changes in the waves by the shaking of the hull. You have the right word, there is no risk anyway, if you want to go and see it, you can take a look. ”

Jian Chen gave the order, and the fleet deviated slightly from the direction of the island, slowly circling in circles.

The intern who measured the depth of the water did not dare to slack off, and meticulously measured the depth of the water with a plumb.

The old crew member came to Wei Yuan proudly, Wei Yuan was also willing to gamble and lose, praised again and again, asked a few more questions, and listened carefully to the old crew member explain some small skills that Wei Yuan did not know.

Jian Chen didn't feel sleepy, knowing that it might just be a small island, but the thrill of discovering an uninhabited island in the vast sea was still exciting after all.

Looking up at the North Star, the starry sky on the vast sea was extraordinarily brilliant, indescribably bright and empty.

It's not going to be a special island, it's just a very ordinary island sandwiched in the sea, and it's too close to have any crops that haven't been there.

But this island is also a question, who is such an island that no one cares about?

The next morning, the observers on the mast found an island, which was not very large, and the ship slowly approached the island, and when the water reached a certain depth, it dropped anchor and stopped, not daring to go any further.

Small rafts were lowered from both sides of the boat, and several trainees and sailors paddled over with plumb, measuring the depth of the water as they rowed to ensure that the boat could pass safely.

At ten o'clock in the morning, the raft returned safely.

"Mr. Chen, the boat can continue to go inside, the water depth is enough. There is a small river on the island, there is fresh water, there should be no people, there are a lot of birds, and there are some turtles on the beach by the sea. There are trees on the island, nothing special. ”

Jian Chen nodded and said, "Then lean along the waterway, I want to go to the island to have a look." Since there is fresh water, stop on the island and boil some boiling water in a bucket. ”

Before setting off from Mincheng, these people knew that Jian Chen was not all for business, otherwise they would not have to try a sea route that no one had traveled.

Anyway, there is fresh water and turtles on the island, so it's good to take a break and eat some good things, normal boat owners are always busy with business and basically won't stay on such an island.

Leaving the necessary men on board, the rest of the men stepped on the beach with empty barrels or rafts with gunpowder, guns and hourglasses, and lit incense sticks that had not been extinguished from Mincheng.

There are fish in the small river on the island, which is crystal clear, and it should be no problem to drink it after boiling it.

Sailors were busy catching turtles on the beach or shooting nearby seabirds with guns, while cooks cut down trees to cook food.

It seems that there are really no people here, and the gunfire has thought that a flock of birds will fly up in Ulala, and they can shoot down one at will.

Fresh ingredients are an indispensable spice in seafaring life, and the morale of the sailors is high.

The plants in the jungle in the distance were just ordinary tree species, nothing special and could not be anything special, and a few sailors walked up the river, digging up some sorrel grass that had just grown and chewing it.

Before eating, Jian Chen took out a dragon flag that had been prepared a lot, cut a long wooden pole, tied the flag, and planted it away from the tide.

All the sailors and trainees on the shore, according to the custom of the ship, looked up at the flag with their hands behind their backs, and sang a song that the Enlightenment School had learned in the Great River.

There were neither tears in his eyes nor emotion, but he just obeyed Jian Chen's request and walked a form.

When Jian Chen announced that this small island would be the territory of Huaxia in the future, everyone just smiled and joked: "Congratulations to Mr. Chen for expanding the territory of Huaxia, hahaha......"

"Mr. Chen, what's the use of such a small island? Besides, the territory of China cannot bring us money. ”

In a word, Jian Chen was speechless when he asked, and smiled awkwardly: "Who knows if it will be useful in the future?" If the new route is really feasible, this is a necessary route from Mincheng to Qi State, where fresh water can be replenished. I'm going to invest some money, are you interested? ”

A few people shook their heads and said, "Isn't it a waste to throw money here?" We don't have as many silver coins as you, Mr. Chen. ”

Jian Chen sighed and said, "How can it be a waste?" There was fresh water, the land in the woods seemed to be fertile, and there was a small harbor to shelter from the storm. What is Speculation? When everyone else sees the opportunity to make money, will it still be your turn? ”

Some people were puzzled and wondered: "If there is gold and silver on this island, then we will be rich." But if there is no gold or silver, what is there to make money on this island? ”

Indeed, at this time, there is really no place to make money on such a small island.

Jian Chen didn't say much, he had already measured the latitude here last night, and asked the two disciples of Mr. Benchu, who could watch the sun and shadow, to calculate the current time, and then compared the time in Mincheng after the hourglass and the incense burning.

It is about twenty minutes earlier than the time in Mincheng, and according to the latitude and longitude here, the island should be at 32 degrees 47 minutes north latitude and about 4 degrees east longitude.

This is the first island of great monumental significance to be roughly marked with the latitude and longitude of this side, and after eating, Chen Jian took a dozen sailors with guns and Wang Zhe and others up the river.

There are no signs of human activity here, but there are a lot of trees, all of which are timber for shipbuilding, and there is a large struvite mine on the north side of the island.

The shape of the island was roughly drawn, and it looked like a turtle lying on the ground with a head and legs, so it was named Turtle Island.

The harbor, which could accommodate the passage of boats, was in a good location, and the sailors who stayed there measured the tidal range, about three meters, which was very suitable for ships.

This island will be Chen Jian's first step to go out sailing, just like this kind of uninhabited island, who will it belong to in the future? How to manage? These are all difficult first steps to take, and a clear answer is needed.

The wealth of the island is this fresh water and is in the middle of the future trade with the Qi country, plus the struvite on half of the island, which is also a huge wealth, especially after the rise of cotton cultivation.

This is different from foreign trade, Chen Jian needs to convince the Chinese people that some seemingly unpopular islands or continents, as long as they are managed properly, are huge wealth, and arouse people's enthusiasm to go to sea.

Once the new direct shipping route is available, there will be more and more trade between the two sides, whether smuggling, official or unlimited trade in the future, it will become an important transit point.

Shipbuilding, the mining of guano phosphate fertilizer, this is a long-term plan.

And the fresh water and land here, getting some livestock to come and store them, providing meat, wine, and fresh water for passing ships, providing a safe haven when a storm comes, installing lighthouses, and so on, are all easy ways to get rich.

Just like the question of those who came before, how can these lands make money? Chen Jian had to find a way to tell them that overseas land was very valuable, so that he could cultivate the enthusiasm of these people, raise funds from Mincheng and involve more people in the boom of foreign investment.

In addition, starting from Mincheng, some criminals can also be thrown on this island and engaged in some labor as cheap labor.

The sailors were not very interested, and several people walked along the river to see if there was anything like doghead gold in the water, but they were all disappointed.

After staying on the island for three days, a tree as tall as a mast was selected as a new flagpole and the dragon flag was hoisted again.

He chose a stone, engraved the year, month, day and the name of the person who landed on the island, and led the sailors to build a simple log cabin above the tide line on the island, leaving a barrel and half a bucket of beans.

Then all the crew boarded the boat, sailed north for a while, and then took advantage of the westerly wind belt of the Northern Hemisphere, which was already far from the coast, and pulled the sails and went east at full speed downwind.

There were no dangers along the way, the wind and waves were high, but the speed of the ship was also fast, and it was lucky that there were no major storms, only one of the sails of the ship was slightly damaged, and everything was normal after a little repair.

Six days after the departure from the island, the lookout sailors on the mast let out a cheer.

In the circular world of the telescope, he saw several ships, as well as a vague coastline with the flag of the Qi country flying on top of the ships.