"Woo-woo-"

At the beginning of May, when the horn sounded, the huge warships began to put away their anchors and head south.

On the coast, a simple pier is filled with people wearing Arab robes made of Ming silk.

They were waving goodbye to the fleet, and this was the city of Adan that served as a distribution center for trade gems in the Western Triangle.

At this time, the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula basically existed in the form of a city-state, and there was no powerful state.

Therefore, in the face of the Ming fleet, they all behaved very respectfully, and Zheng He, who led the fleet, was not greedy for anything, but honestly traded.

"This group of Chinese is so stupid to sell us so many things for the price of only five boxes of gems."

"yes, it used to take at least seven chests of gems."

"They said they would come back in a few years, haha...... I wish it was faster! ”

On the dock, the monarchs and ministers of the Adan Kingdom "laughed" at the trade methods of the Western fleet, and at the same time, on the treasure ship, Chen Xuan also drooled and opened a wooden box the size of a human head.

Inside the chest, all kinds of gems sparkled, and there was an endless stream of red sapphires.

"This group of merchants from the Adan Kingdom don't know where they got so many gems, and if these gems are handed over to the household department, it is estimated that they can be folded into at least 100,000 yuan!"

"More than that, there are five boxes here, at least 180,000 yuan." Zheng He, who was standing beside Chen Xuan, chuckled, as if he thought he had made a lot of money.

However, 200 pieces of porcelain and 1,000 pieces of silk and raw silk were at most 10,000 guan at the cost price of the Ministry of Industry, but now they sold them for a sky-high price of 180,000 guan, how could they not be happy.

"The group of merchants in the back also made a lot of money, right?"

Chen Xuan reluctantly put the box back, and at the same time glanced at the merchant ships of the countries and Jiangnan merchant gangs that were closely following the fleet behind him.

Zheng He glanced at it when he heard this, and responded without thinking: "Their cost should be three times that of ours, but judging from the transaction just now, they should also earn tens of thousands of yuan." ”

"So, now we're completely out of merchandise?" Chen Xuan had a toothache, because along the way, the more than 200 horse ships they brought from Liujiagang had been sold.

"There are also some goods seized from the cities of the Persian Gulf, which, after being shipped to the south and sold, will almost allow us to resupply them locally to Cape Kunlun and back."

Zheng He took out the nautical chart and looked at it, which had already marked the names of many countries, including Tianfang (buyer), Mamluk, Hedy Upia (Ethiopia), and Jaeder in the Red Sea.

Due to the lack of supplies, Zheng He did not go to these countries in person, but sent a detachment to establish basic exchanges with various countries, and did not set up a subject country pavilion.

They had enough supplies left over for them to sail to Mogadishu.

After arriving at Mugudushu, there are Zhubu, Manbarsa, Malindi, Shona and other countries all the way to the south.

These countries are not so much countries as some of the larger city-states.

They are not closely connected with each other, and they exist from the wooden bone bundle all the way south to Kunlunjiao.

Historically, Europeans have adopted bloodier policies toward these city-states, leading many to think that there is no civilization south of Ethiopia.

In fact, these countries have their own architectural art and language and culture, but they have died out because of the war.

If there were no city-states on the coast of Central Africa and South Africa, how could some small tribes support the tens of thousands of merchants after the opening of new shipping routes.

It was thanks to the presence of these large tribes and city-states that merchant ships were able to safely sail nearly 30,000 miles by sea from Western Europe to the largest trading city-state in East Africa.

Although Zhu Gaoxu is familiar with geography, he is not familiar with these foreign histories.

Therefore, in the face of unknown shipping routes, Zheng He chose to send warships to search for information in Khurumus, and only now did he obtain a more detailed map of East African countries, and roughly marked the population of each country.

These nations range from tens of thousands of people with wooden bones to thousands of shona, and the supplies they can provide to their fleets varies, and even their eating habits vary greatly.

If it can't adapt, the fleet won't be able to reach Kunlun Cape, let alone send an advance team to Dongzhou and Beizhou.

"If the south cannot be supported, then let Chongmingwei return to Kurumus first, and escort tens of millions of gold and silver coins back to Ceylon with Donghaiwei to wait for us."

Zheng He put away the chart and made an explanation, and Chen Xuan also nodded in agreement when he heard this.

Shaharu had already delivered the coins and credentials, which is why Zheng He and the others appeared here and returned the thirty-two cities to Shaharu.

The reason why Chongmingwei should lead the fleet back to Kurumus and escort the coins to Ceylon with Donghaiwei is mainly because Zheng He did not intend to return the same way after arriving at Kunlunjiao, but after returning to the Malindi, they directly crossed the Xiaoxi Ocean to Ceylon to join Donghaiwei.

However, what the specific situation is, we still have to see whether those small city-states in the south can still meet the supply of their ocean-going fleet of more than 12,000 people.

Thinking of this, Zheng He also looked at the sea level of the Gulf of Aden, and it was not until three poles in the sun that he and Chen Xuan returned to the ship's room.

For the next ten days, they could occasionally see small market towns along the coast, but they were too small to supply the fleet.

With only a slight purchase, the fleet bought out most of the fruits and vegetables in the market town.

Zheng He hired a few guides here who knew Arabic and the southern Swahili and Shona languages, and then continued south.

Half a month later, their fleet successfully reached the northern waters of Mukudushu, and Zheng and the others also stepped onto the deck after a long absence.

"What is the currency of the Wood Bone Bundle Country?"

Zheng He asked an Arab guide, who waved his hand and said, "As long as it is your currency, they will accept it, and they will use your currency." ”

"Using our currency?" Zheng He was a little surprised: "How did they get our currency?" ”

"The merchant brought it." The guide explained, and Zheng He didn't think much about it.

Just in case, he asked his guide to find out about the situation of the wooden bones.

However, it is a pity that because there are no special products, there are very few merchants who come here to trade, and the guides Zheng He and the guides they are looking for have only lived in Mugu Dushu seven or eight years ago.

In their memories, the Wood Bone Bundle was very poor, and except for some wealthy people in the country who would occasionally go to Adan to sell gems, under normal circumstances, they would not necessarily see the merchants of the Wood Bone Bundle throughout the year.

Moreover, their land was barren, and the country as a whole lacked water, so the fleet could get very limited supplies there, and even the guide advised Zheng He and them to go directly to Manbarça and Ma Woodland to get supplies.

However, after thinking about it, Zheng He still decided to go to Mugu Dushu to have a look.

"Let's go and see first, and if we can't communicate, let's go."

Zheng He discussed with Chen Xuan, and Chen Xuan nodded when he heard this.

After a short time, the fleet continued to sail towards the Wooden Bone Bundle, and when it was near the sea, it used a telescope to see the Wooden Bone Bundle on the coast.

"That yard by the sea is their checkpoint, but they're greedy and might charge you a lot of tariffs."

The guide explained to Zheng He, and Zheng He bowed his head when he heard this: "As long as it's not too expensive, some tariffs are nothing." ”

As he spoke, Zheng He motioned to Wang Ren, the official of the Thousand Households, to lead dozens of navies, put down the sand boat and go to the Mugu Dushu Customs.

Wang Ren was about thirty years old, and he was a specially selected general during Zheng He's voyage along the way.

Although his official position was not high, he was cautious and lenient, and he abided by discipline, so Zheng He prepared to let Wang Ren lead the lead to Dongzhou after arriving at Kunlunjiao.

This time, letting Wang Ren go to Mugu Dushu can be regarded as a test for him.

Wang Ren didn't think much about it, and selected thirty brothers and went to the customs in the wooden bone capital in the cuirass.

Outside the humble customs is a row of stone docks, but there are only a few dozen fishing boats with local characteristics, which looks like dozens of materials at most.

The sand boats they rode in were 200 gauges, twice the size of these fishing boats.

When Wang Ren passed by the fishing boat, he saw the Kunlun people who were darker than the Kunlun slaves in the South Seas.

Most of them have curly hair, broad mouths, wide noses, faintly yellow eyes, and thin figures.

When Wang Ren saw them, they all looked at Wang Ren and their ships numbly, and only many of them showed curious eyes.

The guide tried to communicate with them, but they did not say a word, and the guide had no choice but to take the king and let them row up to the rudimentary dock.

"You guys wait here, I'll go in and ask them about the price of the tariff."

The guide explained, and then walked towards the simple stone house of the so-called checkpoint.

Wandering outside the stone house were more than 100 soldiers armed with spears and dressed in coarse linen cloth.

They had no armor, and the shoes under their feet were shoes made of unknown animal skins.

Seeing that the king let them go ashore, they were also indifferent, until a short black fat man with a big belly came out of the stone house, and they were a little more energetic.

The guide and the black fat man said without a word, although Wang Ren and the others were only wearing cuirasses, but seeing that this group of people had no armor, they didn't have much vigilance.

"This is the official here, and he said he needs to look at our ships and then set the price to pay the tax."

"Yes!" Wang Ren nodded and motioned for the soldiers behind him to get out of the way.

But what they didn't expect was that the black fat man fell in love with their armor and weapons at first sight, and directly started to snatch the cuirass on Wang Ren's body, and he didn't know what to say with a muttering mouth.

Wang Ren pushed the black fat man who was less than five feet away, and the black fat man immediately shouted angrily.

"He said he wanted the armor of all of you." The guide translated.

......Hearing this, Wang Ren frowned: "You tell him that we can send him some armor later, but now we can't take off the armor." ”

Wang Ren's temper has already been calculated, if Chen Zuo comes ashore and this black fat man dares to do something to him, then it is estimated that the body of the black fat man is already floating on the sea.

But what he didn't expect was that after the guide translated, the fat black man's face was obviously not good-looking.

In the next second, his eyes lit up, and he pointed at Wang Ren and said something again.

"He said he wanted that thing on your waist too." The guide wiped his sweat, apparently sensing that the official was greedy.

"What's on my waist?" Wang Ren subconsciously touched his waist, but what he touched was his military registration card.

After the reform of the New Deal, the military registration cards of Qianhu officials were all copper-clad and iron-clad gold, so they looked very bluffing.

"You can't give him this thing, and it's just copper-clad iron, if he wants copper coins, I can give it to him."

Wang Ren took out a string of Yongle Tongbao from his arms, at least consistently.

In the face of his actions, the official hurriedly ran forward, snatched the usual Yongle Tongbao in his hand, played with it in his hand, and looked at Wang Ren greedily with his eyes.

He muttered a lot of words, but the guide's face changed when he heard it.

"What did he say?" Wang Ren sensed that something was wrong, so he asked the guide, but at this time, the guide was stumbling.

"He said... He said...... Forehead ......"

"There's something to talk about!" Rao is Wang Ren's good temper, and he can't help but be angry by the greed of this black fat man.

"He said he wanted this kind of money, and he also needed the group of people behind you to be his slaves......"

"I'm in the mother's house!"

Hearing this, Wang Ren's face was gloomy, and the naval soldiers behind him scolded directly.

Seeing that they dared to scold, the black fat man immediately whistled, and more than 100 soldiers in the courtyard rushed up.

Instead of confronting each other, they chose to do it directly.

If it weren't for Wang Ren pulling that guide, it is estimated that he would have confessed here.

"I told you not to come here, they're all savages!"

The guide was taken aback, and the Ming army behind Wang Ren formed a formation in an instant.

"Do it to Lao Tzu!"

Wang Ren shook off the guide, drew his sword and rushed forward.

The spears of the soldiers were nothing more than wooden poles, and although Wang Yi's party did not carry spears, their swords and wooden shields alone were enough to resist their attacks.

However, as they threw their spears, several unlucky Ming soldiers were stabbed in the arm or thigh because they were wearing only cuirasses.

At the same time, the soldiers in the wood-bones sounded their whistles, and someone immediately lit wolf smoke in the courtyard.

"Withdraw first!"

Seeing this, Wang Ren ordered a fight and retreat, and everyone jumped back into the boat and cut the ropes tied to the stakes with a single sword.

Without a fixed rope, the sand boats began to float to the sea, while the soldiers who were bound with wooden bones kept throwing spears, and the wooden shields of the Ming army were unstoppable, and there were not a few wounded.

"Back to the army!"

Wang Ren was so angry that he was a character like him, and his arm was also pierced in the battle just now.

"It's okay, it's not quenched!"

The guide checked the spear that fell on the ship, and was glad that the spear was not quenched, and several soldiers who jumped onto the boat with the Ming army were also stabbed by the Ming army, and their corpses were thrown into the sea.

The rest of the men did not rush into pursuit, but threatened the king with bows and spears on the shore and let them go.

Since going to the West, except for some embarrassment in Ceylon, Wang Ren has never been so embarrassed.

At this moment, Rao is known as "Mu Suzi" in the army, and he can't help but think about revenge.

Soon, he led the wounded Ming army to retreat to the fleet, and Zheng He on the deck of the fleet also saw their embarrassed appearance.

"What's going on?"

"Wounded, must have been ambushed!"

"! Someone who dares to hit us! ”

For a while, many generals on the deck scolded, but Chen Xuan said steadily: "Let's listen to the truth first." ”

"Get on board and get them on board." Zheng He also gave a military order with an ugly face.

Soon, the fleet approached Wang Ren and them, lowered the ladder, and connected them to the deck.

"Envoy, Master Hou, this group of Kunlun slaves deceive people too much!"

Back on the deck, Wang Ren told what had just happened, Zheng He and Wang Xuan listened to everything with black faces, and the generals scolded directly:

"You should wear heavy armor, if you wear heavy armor, even hundreds of people can be slashed!"

"Mother, let's talk about so many eggs, Zheng He, Hou Ye, let's send troops!"

"Troops!"

For a while, the voices of the generals echoed in Zheng He's ears, and the observers on the mast of the ship also blew the wooden whistle.

"Beep-"

When the wooden whistle sounded, Zheng He immediately walked to the side of the ship and looked at the customs with a telescope.

I saw that a group of people had gathered there, and Zheng He also opened his mouth when he saw this: "How far is it from the shore?" ”

"About three miles!" The observer responded loudly, and Zheng He said without thinking: "Go forward one mile!" ”

He had already seen the position of Wang Ren just now, and he had to say that the waters of Mogadishu were not bad, at least the fleet would not run aground.

"Beep-"

Under Zheng He's military orders, the fleet group began to advance towards the offshore sea of Mukudushu, which also brought commotion to the Mukudushu soldiers on the shore.

Fishing boats at sea fled back to shore, and the smoke from customs grew, and the number of people on shore grew.

With the passage of time, Zheng and them were less than two miles away from the customs.

Seeing this, Zheng He decisively ordered: "Fixed shooting loading, the target wood bones are bundled, two miles away, test fire one round, give me a base!" ”

Although the gunpowder of the fleet was not so sufficient, Zheng He couldn't swallow this breath.

"Order!!"

After receiving the military order, the generals began to get busy, and more than a dozen treasure ships and more than thirty warships at sea began to draw their rudders, and the waterproof plates on the side of the ships were opened, revealing the black hole of the cannon hole.

"All of them, ready...... Ignition! ”

With the order of the hundred household officials in the cabin, the gunners lit the fuses one after another, and in the "snort" of the fuses burning, everyone waited for the venting cannon sound.

"Boom, boom, boom—"

Gunsmoke and cannon fire appeared, one after another, endlessly.

Due to the huge power of the naval guns and the fact that the distance was not far away, almost as soon as the soldiers on the shore heard the sound of the cannons, they panicked, and the heavy shells of 20 catties smashed into the pile.

"!!Uhh

It doesn't matter if the language is the same or not, but the screams are the same.

Twenty pounds of granite shells were fired at such a distance, and in just a moment, they smashed through more than a dozen people, and the stumps and broken arms flew to the ground.

There is no need to aim, the dense crowd is the best target.

Nearly a thousand pieces of artillery fired, and a quarter of the assembled crowd was killed on the spot almost instantly, and the rest were either paralyzed to the ground in fright, or ran behind them in fright.

"Check if there is a reef, if not, the fleet advances, and continue to shell the wooden bones for me!"

Seeing that a round of shelling could achieve such results, Zheng He hurriedly ordered the march.

Under his orders, the sand ships were lowered and a safe passage was found offshore, while the fleet's artillery did not stop during this period, advancing and shelling.

The wood and bones are bound to live in stone houses, but these stone houses are not reliable.

Faced with 20 pounds of granite bullets falling from the sky, these houses often collapse completely after two hits.

For a moment, the whole wooden bones were in chaos, and everyone ran in all directions, avoiding the stones that fell from the sky, thinking that this was a punishment from the gods.

As for the fat black man who caused all this, he hid in the customs.

However, his fate has long been doomed, because the stone house of the customs is the object of key attention.

In the face of more than a dozen stone bullets, the stone house was crushed into ruins, and the black fat man was completely buried alive.

"Wang Ren!"

"The last general!"

Seeing that the customs were crushed, Zheng He called out Wang Ren's name without looking back, and ordered with a dark face: "Order you to lead the headquarters of thousands of households to land and find the culprit for me!" ”

"The last general commands!" Although he was a little injured, Wang Ren, who was holding back the fire in his belly, was no longer in serious trouble after simple treatment.

He put on heavy armor early, and now that Zheng He's military order was issued, he no longer hesitated, and led the thousands of households in his headquarters to sail to the dock on a sand boat.

Seeing that they were far away, Zheng He also ordered to stop the shelling.

Soon, the "thunder" that shrouded the wooden bones disappeared, and many people from the country knelt on the streets, covered in dust to plead to heaven.

However, what they invited was not the forgiveness of the heavens, but the thousands of armored Ming troops who had already landed in the wooden bone capital......

(End of chapter)