Later, Li Guoyong learned that this group of Bantu people had contacted Zheng He back then, and Zheng He still wanted to meet their king, but it would be inconvenient for the two sides to communicate, and the royal city of Congo was far away from here, so the two sides did not get effective communication.

After Zheng He left, the Bantu people came again, but they didn't see the Ming people.

Seeing the landing again this time, they wanted to come and have a look, and there was no malicious intent, but because they happened to be close at night, they were holding weapons again, and they were shot by the Mingren.

Of course, everyone still can't communicate, and the Bantu people handed over a bunch of food, as well as local gems and specialty tree bark, and gave them to Li Guoyong, as if they wanted to exchange things for the Ming people.

Li Guo didn't say a word, let people take salt and sugar, and the Bantu people really nodded desperately, they needed this.

Li Guoyong took the legendary Cabinda bark, and then found a random tree on the side, compared to digging the tree, and also compared the size, the Bantu people immediately understood, and really dug a tree for Li Guoyong the next day.

Li Guoyong didn't know if he could live, so he would bring it to the ship first.

Then he chose the advice of the imperial court Jinyi guard before leaving, first to go to the later Guinea, and then cross the Atlantic, so that he could go to the east coast of Brazil.

The main reason for this is safety.

At this time, he crossed the Atlantic from Angola and could also go to Brazil, a journey of more than 10,000 miles, without any supply points in between.

In fact, on the entire 10,000-mile-long sea, there is still an island called Jamestown in the middle, which is also the island that Britain accidentally encountered in the Atlantic Ocean more than 100 years later, and it is also the first British colony in North America.

But no one in Janstown has found out yet, and if the Ming army can find out first, they can set up a supply point.

Li Guoyong chose to go north along the west coastline of Africa all the way to Guinea, and he did not need to worry about supplies in this process, and he could dock at any time for replenishment.

In mid-September, he came to Guinea and the vicinity of Côte d'Ivoire, went ashore to resupply and rest for a few days, when some of the crew developed fever and died.

This is the second time he has lost manpower, because it will be very hot in Africa, and ordinary Ming people are still a little unaccustomed to it.

In late September, he began to cross the Atlantic, and under normal circumstances, the distance to Brazil in South America had been reduced to 5,000 miles, a full half.

However, I don't know if it was the sea breeze or some factor, the fleet was a little more remote, and it happened to encounter headwinds, and finally it was not until the end of October that I saw the coastline of Brazil.

Their approximate location at this time was about the northern part of the later state of Pará.

Zhu Gaoxu didn't know that rubber trees were abundant there, only that Brazil had them, and the original suggestion was to start on the east coast of Brazil, and before Li Guoyong, there were indeed Ming people who came here, but the result was nothing, and he had not been able to return to the Ming Dynasty.

This time, Li Guoyong was lucky because he was out of the woods, and he happened to come to the eastern end of the Amazon River.

Pará is the last point of the Amazon River to the Atlantic Ocean, and rubber trees are abundant in the Amazon.

The crowd hurried ashore and found that the direction was probably wrong, originally to the east coast of Brazil, but now to the northeast.

But it would be too hot, and recently another crew member fell ill, so Li Guoyong gave up the idea of continuing to circle the sea and decided to go by land.

From the beginning of February to the beginning of November, Li Guoyong led more than 200 people, and after nine months, he found South America from Daming and created a miracle.

Two days before departure, he summoned Liu Baihu, Li Liang and others to discuss.

It is very difficult to travel by land, and if you want to maintain your physical strength, you can only walk forty or fifty miles a day at most, and according to the experience of the imperial court, you have to walk at least thousands of miles before you have the opportunity to encounter it.

This means going back and forth for at least two months or more, and without getting lost.

Therefore, the people who stay on the boat and on the shore must be reliable and able to endure it, and when they wait, they are afraid that they will get lost, and if they have not returned for three or four months, the people on the shore will run away first.

Li Guoyong was also a ruthless man, taking away all those who knew how to sail at sea, leaving almost all the sailors, with Li Liang as the person in charge, hiding part of the compass, compass, telescope, etc. on the ship, and said that they were all taken away.

That is to say, if Li Guoyong can't come back, you can't drive the boat, and you can't drive to the sea, and you will definitely not be able to return to Daming.

At this time, in fact, the morale was already a little low, before Malacca, they had been under the control of the Ming army, and they walked quite easily, after Malacca, they often stayed at sea for half a month or even a month, and there were dead people from Magal, and now they finally arrived in South America, and a few people died, and several were sick.

If not many of them were tenants of his family, Li Guoyong was usually better to his subordinates and gave a lot of money, I am afraid it would have been finished long ago.

In order to encourage morale, Li Guoyong summoned everyone: "We have arrived in South America and completed more than half of the mission. ”

"I will go out this time, whether it is successful or not, at most half a year, I will definitely come back."

"As long as you stay here for half a year, I promise you, after you go back, you will be rewarded with another thousand yuan."

Li Guoyong also fought hard, and the bounty was increased again, and the total payment was far more than the 100,000 taels of silver given by the imperial court.

Everyone's morale was originally a little low, but when they heard Li Guoyong say this, they felt better, and many people were already thinking that this deal was done, and they would get almost two or three thousand yuan after they went back, and they didn't have to worry about it for the rest of their lives.

It doesn't matter if you go home and buy ten pieces of land, build a house, or marry a concubine, you can live a good life.

In the end, Li Guoyong took about 50 people with him, including a doctor and a craftsman, and most of the rest were left for Li Liang, and a retired general flag was left for Li Liang.

They were to build a defensive line along the coast, stockpiling food and fresh water, and when they returned, they could return.

At the beginning of November, Li Guoyong took more than 50 people on the road, in order to hurry, everyone gave up the Ming army to the iron armor, brought light cotton armor, some people also proposed to bring winter clothes, Li Guoyong said that the winter here is not so cold, just bring less, to ensure that the night is not frozen.

Li Guoyong was quite well prepared, bringing a tent for every four people and taking turns to carry it.

The tent is very simple, there are not many supports, mainly oilcloth and ropes, and the supports are taken on the spot, which greatly reduces their load.

When you get here, you don't need to worry about supplies, fresh water and wild animals can be seen everywhere, and they also bring dried meat with them, which are obtained in various places along the road, and they try not to use them at present, and eat the local area first, there is really no supply, so they will use dry food such as dried meat.

Liu Baihu has been following Li Guoyong since he set off, looking behind him while walking, mainly to see the morale and spirit of these people, his legs are a little bad, so he walks slowly.

As a Ming army, Liu Baihu believes that after more than half a year of sea experience, as well as Li Guoyong's previous one-year training of servants, now these people can almost be half of the Ming army, at least it is difficult to endure hardships.

But Li Guoyong opened his mouth to go out for half a year, which was determined to find rubber seeds.

He thought about it for a while and couldn't help but say: "Let's try not to go out for too long, as time goes by, people's hearts will change." ”

"With all due respect, South America is so big, several times bigger than our Daming, if you can't find it in two or three months, I'm afraid you won't find it in a year."

Liu Baihu does not recommend being out for too long, and it is easy to get lost.