The catfish boy smiled: "This is a net knife, and the sailors have one in their hands, and it is a must-use household item for knotting ropes." You see the sailors climb up to the mast to repair the canopy, all with one hand to tie the knot, and with the other hand to cut off the end of the rope with a net knife. It can also be used to fill the leak, use the tip of the knife to stuff the hemp head into the seam of the ship, and then seal it with ash. Another example is pearl diving, which involves cracking open the mussel shell with a net knife. To pick oysters, you have to pry them off the reef with a net knife. People who cut kelp, scrape fish scales, and beg for a living at sea can't live without a net knife for a day. ”

Chongwen asked, "The sailor is also going to be good at using the net knife?"

The catfish boy flashed his eyes and said: "Exactly, a good sailor can kill people with a net knife, within 10 steps, every shot." My grandfather was a master of using a net knife, and he said that the poor fisherman had no bow and arrow, and there was only one way to die when he met the officers and soldiers. ”

Chongwen thought to himself, how do you know the power of the strong bow and crossbow, it is a hundred-step killing technique, and how to resist the ten-step killing technique. He pondered for a moment and said, "You teach me how to use a net knife, and I teach you how to shoot arrows, okay?"

Catfish Boy said excitedly: "That's good." He handed over the net knife in his hand and said, "I only have this knife, give it to the eldest brother, how can a sailor do without a net knife." ”

Chongwen sighed secretly, this child is from a poor family, only has a net knife, but he gave it to himself without hesitation, and he was born with a generous heart. He solemnly took the net knife, and there was nothing on his body except for the piece of Kunyu. I could only untie the knife on my waist and said: "This knife saved your life at that time, and it is also related to you, so I will give it to you." ”

The two exchanged swords, although they were worthless things, but their hearts were closer. Chongwen thought, when he and his brothers can be so unrestrained, in that cold imperial city, they can only kneel at their feet, saying long live, they can only call them King Xu, King Heng, how could he ever have such a heart-to-heart brotherhood.

The outlaws on board were surprised to find that the mysterious nobleman had actually stepped out of the cabin, received a bow and arrow from the straight storehouse, and led the servant to shoot on the balcony of the stern.

The noble man was very good at archery, and once shot a flying fish 60 paces away with an arrow. The sea is windy, and no matter how heavy the arrow is 30 paces away, there is no accuracy, and this male archery is so exquisite that even the old archers on the ship sigh to themselves. They didn't know that Chongwen's arm injury was not yet good, and if he sent all his strength, his archery skills would be even more amazing.

But in the heart of the bird ship, in the compass cabin and the helm room, there was a dead silence... They lost course.

Under the brilliant starlight, the compass cabin is as light as a bean. The general soldier is pointing forward with his left hand holding the star-pulling board, the bottom surface of the board is level with the sea level, and there is a cable in the center of the star-pulling board, and he holds the noose close to his right eye in his right hand to observe the height of the North Star. There are 12 pieces of the star-pulling board from small to large, the smallest is half an inch square, the height of this board is one finger, and the largest one is 12 fingers.

If the lower edge is aligned with sea level and the upper edge is level with the North Star, that is the North Star altitude. If none of them fit, there is also an ivory plate with notches at the four corners, and the notches are divided into four equal parts, each of which is a corner, and the four corners are equal to one finger. Together with this ivory board, you can accurately observe the height of the stars.

The general soldier measured that the height of the North Star was 7 fingers and 2 angles of flat water, and the Japanese port of Hirado marked on the needle book was 8 fingers and 3 corners of the North Star flat water, and one finger was about 850 miles of sea distance, that is, their location was 3 corners north of the port of Hirado, about 640 miles of sea distance.

However, the chart only marked the direction and distance on the route from Wusong to Hirado, and now that he had deviated from the course, there was no reference, and he could not determine the east-west direction, and he did not even know whether he was east or west of Hirado.

Liu Guan stared at the chart, meditated hard, and then said: "From the southwest of the country, all the way to Tokushima, Amami Oshima, to the Ryukyus, Miyako Island, Yaeyama Island, and Dongfan Island, there are hundreds of islands of all sizes on a north-south line. ”

The chief soldier shook his head and said: "If it is wrong, we will go to the depths of the ocean, maybe we will not be able to meet anyone for a month, then we will be all finished." ”

Liu Guan is reckless and not cautious. Sometimes when you make a decision, you will win a big victory, and if you are unlucky, you will lose everything. But at this time, he hesitated, the whole ship of more than 40 people in the deep ocean, if he can't find land, he will die of thirst and starvation, this is really terrible, he can't afford it.

The two sat side by side, speechless for a long time.

At some point, a dark shadow appeared in the cabin, and the figure stood quietly, unable to even hear the sound of breathing, like a ghost.

Chief Bingshun raised his head and said in surprise: "Sun Daguan, why are you here?" ”

Chongwen said softly: "I heard what you said, we lost our course, how can I sleep?"

Liu Guan said depressedly: "I brought everyone here to join the mother, and now I am in a dilemma." ”

Chongwen said: "There must always be some opinions, and it is not a way to sit and sigh like this." ”

Liu Guan said: "Now it's not moving, it's not moving, I don't know the direction, I may go farther and farther, and I will never reach the country." ”

Chongwen didn't speak, he walked to the long case, pondered and picked up a star-holding board, looked at it in his palm, and raised his hand to hold a bright star. The normal transoceanic astrology is that the lower edge of the plate points to the sea level, but he lifts it to the middle of the sky, and no one knows what he is measuring.

The star-pulling board was not suitable, so I changed a few more pieces, and finally found a suitable one. He had words in his mouth, and he used his pen to write down a set of words on the long case. Liu Guan and the general soldier looked at the probe, and the long case read: The river drum is biased by 5 fingers. Liu Guan and the general soldier looked at each other, not knowing what this meant.

Chongwen didn't care about the two of them scratching their ears and cheeks, and continued to observe the stars, remembering while leading. A few more sets of words were filled in on the long case: Dousu is biased to 5 fingers and 2 corners, and Jianxing is biased to 4 fingers and 3 corners. After writing down this group of words, Chongwen no longer observed, he sat down slowly, staring blankly at the starry sky outside, like a wood carved clay sculpture.

After a long time, his eyes turned to the long case, there was a pair of wooden chopsticks on the case, he pulled out the net knife at his waist, cut the wooden chopsticks into several sections as a calculation chip, and put it on the table to calculate.

In the dim light, he focused on fiddling with his calculations, and the sea breeze blew his unkempt hair flying, but his hands did not stop. After thinking for a while, he threw down the calculation chip, pulled over the chart on the case, and pointed with his index finger, as if he was comparing the route from Nanjing to Hirado Port, and knocked it on the place of Hirado. Finally, he raised his head and said, "We have crossed the Kaguni archipelago, and we are now east of Hirado. ”

The chief soldier was speechless, and Liu Guan asked, "How can you see it?"

Chongwen said: "If I remember correctly, today is Bailu, and there is no difference between the top and bottom for a day or two. Now is the first shift, according to the song recipe of "Astronomical Solar Terms", at this time Zhongtian should be Hegu Star, Dousu and Jianxing. ”

Seeing that Liu Guan and the general soldier seemed to understand whether they understood or not, Chongwen recited: "The August Festival is white dew, the Tianshi is faint into the tail of the kei, the river drum is changed at the beginning of the fight, and the Tiangang is missing the division. That's what it means, but you see. The two looked up together, and Chongwen pointed them out one by one to recognize the stars. Chief Bingshun said: "These stars don't seem to be in the middle of the sky, and they are deflecting to the west. ”

Chongwen said: "That's exactly the case, why is this happening? That's because the star map and song recipe were made in the Qintianjian in Nanjing, and we are thousands of miles away from Nanjing, of course, there will be deviations. Liu Guanxi said: "How much deviation there is, how far we are from Nanjing!" Chongwen smiled: "That's right." ”

The chief soldier stretched his neck and asked, "How far is it from Nanjing?"

Chongwen said: "The sun, moon and stars rotate 365 degrees a week, 80,000 li. I used the North Star as a benchmark and measured that these stars were about 5 fingers away from the west, which is about 10 degrees. I have calculated that we are now about 2,200 li from Nanjing, and Hirado is about 1,500 li from Nanking on the chart, which means that we are 700 li east of Hirado and 360 li north of it. ”

Liu Guan slammed his right fist into his left palm, heheed, pointed to the chart and said: "That is to say, we hit the great luck of the sky, and inadvertently crossed the waterway of more than 100 miles between Yakushima and Kounoshima, and it was just that a reef was not encountered, and a boat was not touched. ”

The chief soldier said thoughtfully: "Could it be that the Mishima Gang is rampant, and this sea ship is extinct?" He turned his head to look at Chongwen, and said sincerely: "The great official is amazing, I, Ah Shun, have been on the ship all my life, and today I have seen the ability of a master craftsman." ”

Chongwen said: "This is all an estimate, and the deviation is very large, I dare not say that it must be accurate." ”

Liu Guan laughed and said: "The big officials are people in the sky, how can they not be allowed, that's it! Ah Shun, turn the rudder Kunwei, sail to the country, let this barbarian state in the corner of the sea see the means of my Dakang kingdom." ”

Chongwen grabbed Liu Guan and said: "I said, I may not be accurate, have you forgotten your brother Shaoqu Gong's dying words, be cautious and cautious in case of trouble." ”

Liu Guan looked at Chongwen blankly and said, "You are the emperor... That, how could you be wrong. ”

Chongwen smiled bitterly: "If I were good, how could I end up in this field." ”