Wang Hou made a special trip to visit some old friends, the Zhou Helm and Fan Helm of the Tea Horse Gang, and the Li Helm and Meng Helm of the Salt Gang were not on the ship, because they carried a lot of goods, they went to the farther cities to trade. The abbot of Putuo Shanhaimo, the master of Suzhou Menlemen, and the abbot of Yunxiang of Qixia Temple were not on the ship, and the Champa country was greatly influenced by China, Buddhism and Taoism prevailed, and the fleet was berthed for a long time, so it was speculated that the three of them might travel together. Among the seven sons of Wudang, only the third Yu Jiao was on the boat, Yu Jiao was reluctant to go more because of his withdrawn temperament, and the other six people and the lily fairy did not know where to go.

Of course, Wang Hou also visited the six brothers of the Mei family, the six brothers were quite surprised, they were all rough people, and the sixth brother shouted: "Good man, why are you here?" We wanted to look for you a few times, but we couldn't get on the 'Heavenly Pillar', you came just in time, let's have a good drink tonight." ”

Wang Hou knew that since the last dispute was mediated and settled, Tang Jing solved the problem they raised again, and the six brothers and a group of people no longer quarreled, and he really liked their rough and uprightness, and drank a few big bowls with the six brothers, and drank them to the point that they couldn't speak clearly. Before leaving, the boss took Wang Hou's hand: "You are us...... Big brother, if you have something in the future, let's talk about it, who are our brothers, who are with whom......"

Time passed, and on March 21, the fleet would depart early tomorrow morning. But when it got dark, all the ships were notified to stay in place for five days to avoid a typhoon four days later.

Wang Hou and the others were gathering in a room to eat, and after receiving the message, Sect Leader Liu was surprised with a little disbelief, and Zhuang Zhaoxue asked, "Master, what's wrong?" Sect Master Liu muttered: "It is very terrible to encounter a typhoon at sea, once encountered, you can only resign yourself to fate and pray for the blessing of the sea god Niangniang." So I wonder that Nanhai Gong can predict a typhoon four days later? There is a scene on the sea for ten miles, and the weather is changeable, is this prediction accurate? ”

Wang Hou once again remembered the nightmare he had, when the fleet left Changle Taiping Port, he had asked the Liu sect leader how to deal with the sea storms, at that time the Liu sect leader's face changed, and warned himself that he could not ask such a question on the ship in the future, otherwise he would have committed a taboo, now why not go to the side to the Nanhai Gong to learn how to deal with it? Thinking of this, he said: "Uncle Liu, I will accompany you to the 'Tian Yuan' and ask Nanhai Gong?" Sect Master Liu nodded in agreement, finished dinner, and the two of them walked out of the room one after the other.

Liu Hanyan watched the two go out, and said angrily: "This nerd, didn't you say that Guan Mu can only pass on the designated boat?" I'd like to see how he can go up with my father. Zhou Qingzhu grabbed her: "Sister Yan, don't be Laipi, didn't you say okay, and continue to fight at night?" Want to cheat when you win money in the afternoon? ”

Li Zhixian said with a smile: "Sister Liu, you don't need to go to see it, Sect Master Liu will definitely be able to get on the boat." Jin Min Huiqi said: "Why? …… Oh, I see, Brother Wang has a waist card, and Sect Master Liu is Brother Wang's father-in-law, of course he can get on the boat. ”

Liu Hanyan said: "Little stone, what nonsense are you talking about, my father is the captain, of course you can get on the 'Tianyuan', otherwise how to report to Zheng He when something happens, when I really don't know, I just want to follow and listen to what Nanhai Gong has to say." ”

"When did my junior sister become both martial arts and resourceful?" Zhuang Zhaoxue made a joke about Liu Hanyan on the side. Liu Hanyan shouted at Liu Zhaohui: "Brother, don't you want to take Senior Sister Zhuang Qingqing and me to go?" Don't interfere with our mahjong ......"

Wang Hou and Sect Leader Liu got on the "Tianyuan", Zheng He was talking to Nanhai Gong, and when he saw the two of them coming in, he stood up and said a few words. These days Wang Hou has not been here, Liu Sect Master is the first time to come, seeing the dome of the room painted, with an exotic atmosphere, I don't feel a little curious, I saw the statue of the concubine on the wooden case, and I bowed down three times. When I got up and saw the wide, low table in the middle of the room covered with paper, pen and ink, and rulers, with drawings of water and islands, I couldn't help but praise: "Good picture! It's different from what we usually see, and it's so detailed. ”

Zheng He asked with interest, "Oh, can Sect Leader Liu tell me what's different?" Sect Master Liu arched his hand and said: "The general soldier smiled, our sect is in Rizhao, Shandong, close to the sea, and often sails on the sea, and it is inseparable from the nautical chart, but the nautical chart we use only marks the islands, reefs, and coastlines, but it is not like this map, which not only marks the route and the distance from the coast, but also draws a lot of obvious signs on the islands, reefs, ports and coasts, and even writes the precautions, so that it is very convenient to sail." ”

"Sect Master Liu is worthy of dealing with the sea for many years, and he can see the content of this picture at a glance," Zheng He praised as he casually pointed with his hand, "Can Sect Master Liu see the meaning of this number?" Sect Master Liu took a closer look, thought for a while, and then shook his head in denial: "This should not be the depth of the sea, nor is it like the distance to the shore, I don't know what it means." ”

Zheng He didn't answer, but looked at Nanhai Gong: "Nanhai Gong, this picture has condensed your hard work for more than ten years, you can tell me the meaning of this number." ”

"Don't be humble, brother of the chief soldier, how can you have these pictures without you? Not only did he draw thousands of "Nautical Charts" and "Crossing the Ocean and Drawing the Stars", but also extracted these seventeen star charts from them, who else could do it except you, the elder brother of the general army? Nanhai Gong stroked his beard and continued, "The sea often can't see the islands, coasts and other references, all of them are vast, this number can come in handy, it is the height of the sky, measure the distance between the ship and the North Star through the star drawing board, and then compare this map, we can know where the ship is in the sea, so this picture is also called "Star Sea Chart". ”

Sect Leader Liu had only heard of the foreign star technique, and when he saw it at this time, he was even more impressed and carefully inspected. Wang Hou remembered that on the night he rescued Nanhai Gong, Chen Xiong used the chart as a condition to induce Nanhai Gong to agree to his conditions, so he said: "Nanhai Gong, that night at the Flying Heaven Sect General Altar, I heard Chen Xiong say that he has a ready-made sea chart?" ”

Nanhai Gong sighed: "On my fortieth birthday, I thought about drawing a map to provide convenience for all seafarers, so sixteen years ago, when the elder brother of the general army went to the Western Ocean for the first time, I started this matter. It's been fifteen years, and only eight or nine out of ten have been completed until today, so I was very shocked to hear Chen Xiong say that there was a complete nautical chart that night, but then I thought about it, even if he said that the nautical chart drawn by the 56 coastal countries was put together into a complete one, it was just an ordinary nautical chart, and it was definitely not as powerful as the Xinghai chart. ”

Zheng He continued: "Every time I go to the Western Ocean, Nanhai Gong has to draw a large number of sea charts, and then try to refine and compress them. This move of the South China Sea will benefit navigation, and it will be a real merit! Nanhai Gong said with a smile: "I said that day, after the completion of the Xinghai map, my wish in this life has been fulfilled, so I will go to Daming with you and live by the sea." ”

Wang Hou asked with some curiosity: "Nanhai Gong, can Xinghai Diagram still predict typhoons?" Nanhai Gong was stunned at first, and then understood: "Hahaha...... General Wang, if even typhoons can be predicted, wouldn't it become a divine map? Wang Houqing knew that he was wrong, smiled awkwardly, and only listened to Nanhai Gong continue, "The formation of the typhoon, everyone has different opinions, some say that the dragon king is angry, some say that it is the thunder gong is powerful, and I have found that it is just a storm and clouds based on so many years of observation. ”

Nan Haigong said while gesturing on the table with his hand: "This is the sea, this is the hot air rising from the sea surface, and then the cold air around it is replenished, and it circulates repeatedly, and the hot air continues to expand, forming a big whirlpool." The whirlpool is very fast, it can travel forty or fifty miles in a quarter of an hour, several times faster than a fast horse, and after going ashore, while destroying houses and trees, its own strength is slowly dissipated until it disappears, but judging from the range of destruction it destroys when it goes ashore, this whirlpool is usually four hundred miles in size. ”

Wang Houyi stuck out his tongue: "Four hundred miles in size? If the man and the ship meet, won't there be no way to avoid it? "Once a person is caught in a typhoon, no matter how big your ability is, you are just like an ant, and if you are on the shore, you can find a place to hide." But when you meet it at sea, there is no other way than to pray for the blessing of the sea goddess. Speaking of this, Nanhai Gong seemed to think of something and asked, "Sect Master Liu, if you unfortunately encounter a typhoon, how should you command the ship?" ”

Sect Leader Liu muttered: "First of all, we must see the direction of the wind, if the wind rotates from right to left, we should drive with the starboard side of the bow against the wind, and if it rotates from left to right or the wind direction does not change, we should drive with the starboard stern to receive the wind. But I don't really encounter many typhoons, I only know what they are, but I don't know why they are. ”

Nanhai Gong gestured on the table again: "Sect Master Liu is right. This is a typhoon, this is a ship, according to the change of wind direction, comprehensive wind and waves, ship turbulence, adjust whether to move on the starboard side of the bow or the starboard side of the stern, and keep the ship at a certain angle with the wind direction. Ships can neither get too close to each other, nor pull too far, too close, ships will collide, too far, and they will lose contact in strong winds and waves. ”

When Wang Hou heard this, he asked: "Nanhai Gong, I still have two things that I haven't figured out, first, the transoceanic star pulling technique, the star position will change in different seasons, such as ensuring that it corresponds to the star sea chart?" Second, how can you predict a typhoon in four days? ”

Nanhai Gong glanced at Zheng He and said with a smile: "These two questions, I still ask the elder brother of the chief soldier to answer you." Zheng He responded: "The star position mentioned by the general will change with the seasons, it is true, although the position of the North Star is constant, but every time the fleet docks, it will use the star drawing plate to measure the height of the North Star, and compare it with the numbers on the map to calculate the difference, and then it can be inferred, so the numbers on the star chart are still very important." As for how to predict the ...... typhoon"