China's maritime trade arose in the Tang Dynasty, with the emergence of large seaports in the southeast region, and the government set up a special management of maritime trade and the city of shipping envoys; During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, the southeast coast continued to develop. All of this laid a good foundation for the heyday of navigation in the Song and Yuan dynasties.

After the founding of the Song Dynasty, conflicts with the Khitan and then with the Dangxiang led to the obstruction and severance of the overland Silk Road. By the middle of the Song Dynasty, the "Maritime Silk Road" was in full swing, and China was able to sail directly to the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf, and for the first time reached the Red Sea and East African waters.

During the Song Dynasty, the navigation technique has been greatly improved, and the most prominent is the wide application of 'Sinan'. In the past, navigation guidance was generally based on celestial phenomena and celestial bodies to identify directions, with stars guiding the way at night and leaning on the sun at sun. By the time of the Northern Song Dynasty, there had been a major breakthrough in navigational skills, and fleets were able to use the compass to sail.

There has also been great progress in marine geographic identification and detection, the fleet can determine the direction according to weather changes, judge the environment, and have learned how to use long rope tethers to measure the sea depth, and judge the navigation position and situation from the seabed sediment adhered to the bottom of the stone. There are also safeguards in the area of safety of maritime navigation, with the use of carrier pigeons as a means of marine transport and the ability to carry out underwater repair work to prevent ships from leaking and sinking.

Zhao Ta's caravan used the disk-shaped compass he brought earlier, and the accuracy was greatly improved, and the application was simpler and more extensive, and sea navigation has generally relied on the compass to indicate the direction. In addition, the nautical knowledge accumulated by predecessors such as astrology, geography, trends, monsoons, etc., as well as the development of shipbuilding technology. In particular, the watertight bulkhead technique allows their ships to travel long distances at sea.

After more than ten years of hard work. With the foundation of his predecessors and the full support of Zhao Ta, Shengzhongtang not only opened the traditional routes of Southeast Asia, Fuso, and Goryeo. It also established trade with Western Asia and even sailed as far away as the Indian Ocean. After continuous accumulation, the Great Song Dynasty Navy has mastered the relatively accurate sea route map of the surrounding area, which provides more technical tools and technical knowledge for the Great Song Dynasty to further conquer the sea and develop maritime transportation. At the same time, it also laid a solid foundation for the development of trade, so that they could quickly form a scale and sail to the Eurasian continent after the opening of the port, and earn a lot of real money for the country.

After Zhao Ta ascended the throne, he needed a lot of money to rebuild the army. Rectify the rule of officials, resettle the displaced people and surplus people, but he was unwilling to use the method of increasing taxes to raise funds, and the only way to increase income was to further expand overseas trade, so the government adopted a series of incentives to improve the institutions of the city. Driven by the progress of navigation technology and the prosperity of foreign trade, the shipbuilding industry has made great progress and development. Shipbuilding, shipyards and shipyards are set up in many places, especially in Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Hangzhou and Mingzhou, which are the main bases for the construction of seagoing vessels.

Minnesota is known for its excellent maritime and inland transportation conditions. It has made great progress in the Taizong period, and it has become one of the three major trading ports in ancient China along with Guangzhou and Quanzhou. Zhao Ta not only set up this place as the two Zhejiang City Ship Division, but also arranged the naval army headquarters here, and at the same time used the power and resources in his hands. Mingzhou has been built into a warship production base...

Raising troops for a thousand days and using troops for a while, what is now presented in front of Zhao Ta's eyes are hundreds of warships, of which there are only twenty 'Shenzhou-class' warships carrying ten thousand pounds. Each ship was equipped with twenty guns and could carry a fully manned infantry battalion; The medium 'passenger boat-class' was also equipped with ten guns. I can carry soldiers of both. Because the Jin Army and the Great Song Dynasty were not a heavyweight at all, and their main task was to transport landing troops and combat materials. So there are also some transport ships with them.

The car left to Zhao Ta is a super giant ship, more than twice as large as the Shenzhou-class one, of course, in terms of this era, compared to the modern steel monsters, it is only a little brother, but in the era of thousand-ton sea ships is already a great masterpiece. The whole ship is divided into four layers, 40 zhang long, 29 zhang high, 7 zhang and 5 feet wide, with a total of six masts, which requires more than 150 sailors to operate. The lower deck of the ship is equipped with earth and stone ballast, fresh water and supplies, the second floor is occupied by soldiers, the third floor is the main operation place and gun emplacement, and the upper floor is the command and combat place and residence, with perfect facilities and quite comfort.

God finally opened his eyes, after Zhao Ta boarded the flagship and gave the name 'Shenwu', the wind suddenly increased and turned to the southeast, the trade wind finally arrived, and the whole army cheered in unison, all of them were surprised, all said that the emperor was psychic, attracted the trade wind, and the battle was won. And Zhao Ta also acquiesced in a long live voice, although this thing is weird, but he thinks it is just a coincidence, but it must not be said, people who often walk on the sea believe in gods, and now it is just a good time to boost morale.

The opportunity must not be missed, Zhao Ta immediately arranged it, and announced to the world that the Jin soldiers were on the border, killing our border people, violating our border, attacking the army, and the Great Song Dynasty would send troops to the Northern Expedition, and the gold thieves would never be allowed to run rampant. What is said in this edict is four points true and six points false, so it can't be said that the Great Song Dynasty, a state of etiquette, provoked a war! Although Koubian's 'truth' is suspected of deceiving the people, how many people know the truth of history?

As soon as the edict came out, it was really the anger of the crowd and the support of the imperial court to use troops, but there were also smart people who tasted something from it. However, their doubts were too weak, and they were quickly drowned out in a killing voice, and now they are all thinking about revenge, who cares who fired the first shot!

Five days later, the emperor's imperial pen issued a letter to ask for gold sent to the national state capital, informing the world to recruit the Jurchens, and at the same time, the holy driver set off for the north under the escort of a large group of people, but the people did not know that the throne on the dragon boat was empty, at this moment he had already boarded the ship and sailed out of the south of the Yangtze River for a few days, even the spies of the Jin Kingdom did not have enough time to send the news back when they learned the truth...

"Cheng Dutong, where are we now?" Zhao Ta climbed onto the deck early in the morning and looked north, but now the water and sky were the same, and there were waves rolling everywhere, and he couldn't tell where it was.

"Your Majesty, we have passed through Chuzhou last night and entered Haizhou Bay!" Cheng Xishou looked at the water color and said, and marked the location of the emperor on the chart.

"Well, Haizhou is a big port, there should be merchant ships in and out, why is there no trace on the sea?" Zhao Ta nodded, holding a telescope and looking around, there was a formation of sailors sailing everywhere he could see, but he didn't see a single merchant ship entering or leaving the bay.

"Your Majesty, in order to ensure the secrecy of our actions, the humble official has ordered the closure of the port in the name of the transfer of warships, and all ships are not allowed to enter or leave the bay except for warships, and now is also the time when the trade winds change, and few merchant ships travel, so Your Majesty cannot see the merchant ships entering and leaving!" Cheng Xi said.

"Well, how are the preparations going over there in Dengzhou?" Zhao Ta asked again, in order to ensure safety, the formation from Mingzhou to the sea has been sailing offshore, all the way is also smooth, although not fast, but the advantage of taking a boat is that as long as there is a wind boat, it can not stop moving, unlike on the land road every once in a while people and horses must stop to rest and supplement their diet, overall it is not much slower than riding a horse, after Haizhou as long as you bypass the Shandong Peninsula you can enter the Bohai Sea and arrive at Dengzhou.

"Your Majesty, the 1st Marine Brigade in Dengzhou is the first Marine Battalion to be formed, and the quality is the highest, and the wolf generals and leopard generals have been assisting them in boarding and transshipment training since they arrived, and now they have completed their pre-war training and preparations. Yesterday they had been ordered to board the ship according to the plan, and to sail tomorrow afternoon to meet us off Long Island. Cheng Xishou replied.

"This mobilization of 50,000 troops will go deep behind enemy lines, and the transportation of grain, grass and materials will depend on your naval forces before the end of the battle, and you must not be careless!" Zhao Ta nodded and said, this landing behind the enemy can be said to be a 'self-throwing net', and it is about to be a deep winter, and the transportation of materials will be cut off after the coast freezes, and then replenish can only wait for the beginning of spring or after returning to the division with the other two troops, he can't be cautious.

"Your Majesty, rest assured, sea ships are different from cao boats, each ship can transport 2,000 stone of grain, and after a calculation, it only takes more than 70 passenger boats to ensure the food of 50,000 troops for 50 days, even if you count horse grass and ammunition and other materials, there are 200 ships left!" Cheng Xishou is worthy of having done business for so many years, and the account is very clear, "After the landing, the lowly plan will set up a material transfer point, and the baggage brigades of the generals will be responsible for further transportation, and the unloaded ships can return to Dengzhou to transport them again before the freeze, which can ensure the needs of the army for a hundred days of combat!" ”

"Very good, I hope we can successfully capture the Kyushu after Youyan Mountain in this battle, so that the Great Song Dynasty will be immortal!" Zhao Ta breathed a sigh of relief, looking at the rising Chaoyang Dao, everything he could think of had already been done, and whether he could achieve a battle depends on the will of heaven.

"Your Majesty is wise and martial, this battle will definitely be successful, bless me Song Zhongxing!" Cheng Xi bowed and saluted.

"Hehe, these days have passed, I don't know how the two battles in Ludao are going, if that kid is not fooled, we will have to have a fierce battle after landing!" Because the sea communication relies on clippers and carrier pigeons, but the fleet is mobile, the information is often sent unilaterally, and it is difficult to receive, now the fleet has almost entered the battlefield, but the situation is not clear, Zhao Ta is a little anxious, he is worried that the vulture will see through his plan, and he will not enter the set.

"Your Majesty doesn't have to worry, even if Wushu refuses to be fooled, as long as our army cuts off his retreat and cuts off his reinforcements, even if he is trapped, he can be trapped to death in Yanjing City!" Cheng Xishou said with a hideous face, he was full of confidence in this battle... (To be continued......)