Unconsciously, they have been sailing for more than ten days, and the seasickness symptoms of Li Shan and others have gradually subsided.

Zheng Peng, a veteran helmsman with 20 years of sailing experience, can be said to be familiar with the routes in this part of the South Seas. Li Shan's fleet on this trip was looking for his people, and Li Shan's main ship was also helmed by Zheng Peng himself.

"Pipe band, where are we now?" Li Shan asked Zheng Peng.

Titles like captain and first mate are all Westerners' fleets, and in ancient China, the captain was called the pipe belt, and the sailor was called Cangtou.

Zheng Peng said: "It is estimated that we will be able to see the land in two days, and that is the only way for us to go to India, and we will walk half the way there." ”

Li Shan knew that what Zheng Peng was talking about should be the Strait of Malacca, and said with a smile: "Then we will be able to land in India in about half a month?" ”

Zheng Peng shook his head and said: "At least a month, after crossing the strait, our course will be reversed, and then we will travel against the wind, and the speed will not be as fast as it is now." ”

Sailing against the wind was a major change in sailing. In the Tang Dynasty, people had already learned to use the wind to march, the wind came in all directions, but the front could not move forward. If it's a sideways headwind, just take a zigzag and you're good to go. Li Shan naturally can't do this kind of technology, and he needs an old crew member to dispatch.

Li Shandao: "This road is calm, although there is wind every day, but there are no big waves, I am really lucky." ”

Zheng Peng's rough laughter sounded: "Boss, don't worry, with my Zheng Penghang's boat, it won't capsize on this sea." ”

In Li Shan's impression, the voyage should only encounter dark clouds and strong waves and downpours from time to time. In fact, this is not the case, there are storms and waves at sea, but there are also calm periods. When the winter wind blows, the sea surface temperature is low, and rain clouds are not easy to form, and in this part of the South China Sea, there are only such huge waves when the summer monsoon arrives. This is why the ancients would have chosen winter when sailing.

Li Shandao: "That's good, as long as there is no wind and waves, everything will be easy to do." ”

Zheng Peng said: "That's not necessarily, boss, didn't you notice that there was a small boat following us behind us all the time?" ”

Li Shan was stunned when he heard this, Zheng Peng took the telescope to Li Shan, and sure enough, there was a small boat with a small hull that was not big, but with a big sail followed behind their fleet, because the boat Li Shan was sitting on was their head ship and was responsible for leading the route, so their ship was in front of all the ships, and the small boat was behind all the ships, and there was a distance, if it wasn't for the telescope, it would not be visible at all.

Zheng Peng shook the telescope in his hand and said: "This thing is really a good thing, if it didn't have this telescope, it would be impossible to find that spaceship." ”

The so-called airship is what they call this kind of ship. Because of its light hull and large sails, this small boat is very fast and maneuverable when it is fully engaged in the wind. With the same wind force on the same waters, a building ship like Li Shan will never be able to outrun a flying ship.

However, although the speed of the airship is fast, the cargo capacity is far less than that of a building ship like Li Shan, so shipbuilders will never use such a flyship as a cargo ship. But there is one group of people who are very fond of such airships, and that is pirates. It is said among the people of the ocean that the airship is a ghost who knocks on the door when it comes to the shallows.

Li Shan frowned and said, "You mean we are being targeted by pirates?" ”

Zheng Peng said: "Yes, but the other party may not necessarily start, a large-scale building ship caravan like the boss is not something that such a flying ship can eat." Maybe they're just on the same path as us. There are indeed some pirates in this area, but they are not large-scale, and usually rob some lone cargo ships, like the boss, a caravan of ten cargo ships, I have not seen anyone robbed. ”

Li Shan nodded, Li Shan had seen some stories about pirates, and even watched many movies about pirates of the Caribbean. Although it was very refreshing to watch at the time, I felt that as a pirate, it was very enjoyable to gallop on the sea.

But when the character turns bad and Li Shan becomes the prey in the eyes of the pirates, this pleasure disappears, and turns into hatred and disgust. However, Li Shan is not very worried, after all, there are more than 2,000 soldiers in his ten ships, and there are more new firearms, Li Shan has brought all the artillery, which is newly invented from Dali, and it is the world's leading weapon.

Li Shan asked, "So should we do some prevention?" ”

Zheng Peng said: "It's okay, tell the other people on the boat to pay attention too." Be cautious and vigilant, lest you be caught off guard when a pirate really comes. ”

Li Shan got the order to execute it first, and Li Shan did not refute Zheng Peng's words at all. After all, Li Shan is just a rookie in navigation, and there is still a lot to learn. Although Li Shanneng used modern knowledge such as monsoons and ocean currents to explain why they did what they did, there were too many details to pay attention to in specific matters, and Li Shanneng needed a little bit of learning to learn.

However, because Li Shan is forward-looking in his understanding of the world, he learns these things very quickly, such as the compass. The Tang Dynasty people already knew how to use the compass for orientation, but the voyage method used by the Chinese during the Tang Dynasty was geographic positioning, which used the compass to identify the direction and the route through the identification of unique geographical features. Because most of the routes on the Maritime Silk Road are near-sea routes. The South China Sea itself has many islands, which provide people with a lot of positioning signs. For the Don, geolocation is easier to master.

But Li Shan knew that if he wanted to really sail, what he needed was astronomical positioning. Positioning the route through the stars is a way of long-distance navigation that the Arabs have always mastered. It is clear that the methods of the Arabs are more flexible and have a wider range of applications. Later, when Europeans explored the New World, they also used astronomical positioning methods.

On this voyage, Li Shan not only wanted to make money, but more importantly, to learn the techniques of the voyage and prepare for exploring new routes. For Li Shan, there is no land in the world that he does not know, but no one else knows. This is wealth, and for him, the gold is there, and it's up to you to get it. And Li Shan will definitely not let go of such an opportunity, what he has to do is to be the first person to eat crabs, what Columbus, Macallan, etc., stand aside, Brother Quan of this world has already won. (To be continued.) )