Chai Demei said: "If you enter the hinterland of the country from the south, then the first thing you will face is the Shimazu naval army at the southernmost tip of Kyushu Island. The Shimazu clan has been one of the three wealthy clans of Kyushu since ancient times, and has long owned the two countries of Satsuma and Osumi, with Osumi Province controlling the southernmost Osumi Strait and Satsuma controlling the shipping lanes east of Koku.

If you make it to the Bungo Waterway at the western end of the Seto Inland Sea, you'll also have to face the Kono and Bungo Naval Forces of Iyo. It is a long way to take the eastern route of the country, and it is really worth the loss to meet these pirates, so few Kang merchants take these two waterways. ”

Chongwen smiled slightly and said, "Is it far away? I don't think so." ”

Chai Demei looked at Chongwen in surprise and asked, "Could it be that there is a new route to the sea?"

Chongwen waved his hand and said, "I'll talk about this later." He turned his head to look at Nohime and said, "If the Ouchi clan wants to monopolize the sea trade with Yuli and Dakang, it will always be inseparable from the Mishima Matsuura clan. ”

Nohime said, "As early as the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Matsuura clan and the Ouchi clan were allies. When the Ouchi samurai entered Kyushu, the Matsuura Navy was transported to Hizen Province by sea ship, and attacked the Southern Dynasty coalition army from behind, defeating the famous Southern Dynasty general Kikuchi Takemitsu in one fell swoop, capturing Dazaifu and conquering Kyushu.

The Ouchi clan wants to go to sea to obtain the sea goods of Dakang and the country, and the Matsuura clan wants to enter the Seto Inland Sea and trade with the whole country, and the Matsuura clan and the Ouchi clan are natural allies.

It's just that there are no permanent friends in the country, and this is a country where fathers, sons, and brothers can go to war at any time. In order to survive, for the sake of the prosperity of the family, anything can happen. In the country, betrayal and betrayal occur every day, and only the truly strong can survive. The Matsuura family will not pin their fate on the Ouchi family, and the Ouchi clan is the same, and friendship is temporary. ”

Chongwen sighed and said, "Yes, it is extremely difficult to survive anywhere. ”

When night fell, shrouded in the four fields, the stars were splendid, and Chongwen, Liu Guan and the general soldiers were discussing the sea route.

Based on the descriptions of Chai Demei and Nonghime, Chongwen sketched the general outline of the kingdom of Yu. Now that he has a star-pulling board, an accurate clock, and a straight rod, he can calculate the exact location of Dragon King Island. According to Liu's needle path, he was able to calculate the straight-line distance from Longwang Island to Nanjing and to Pingdo.

But this is not what he needs, this route has to cross more than 2,000 miles of vast sea, there is no reference, no supplies, it is similar to a blind man's hurry. What he was really interested in was the route from Zhangzhou - Tofan Island - Yaeyama Islands - Miyako Islands - Ryukyu Island - Amami Oshima - Ryuo Island, which sailed along an arc-shaped island chain, with references along the way, convenient supplies, and much safer navigation.

Now, he has such a self-made nautical chart in his hand, except for the route from Nanjing to Longwang Island, the others are not accurate, and only by really taking a trip can this map be perfected.

He suddenly raised his head and asked General Bingshun: "You seem to have said that although we have a headwind in winter, we can sail to the country of Qi in the same way?"

Chief Bingshun said: "Not bad. Pointing to Chongwen's rough chart, he continued: "To the east of this island chain, there is a current, the water is black and warm, flowing northward all year round. Along the Kuroshio, even if there is a headwind in winter, it can be carried down to the east coast of the country. ”

Chongwen lowered his head again and looked at the rough chart, and said, "That is to say, sail to the sea area of Osumi Province, the southernmost tip of the country, to the west, through the Osumi Strait, along the west coast of Kyushu, you can reach Goto and Hirado. ”

The chief soldier said: "Yes, the premise is that we defeat the Shimazu naval army of Fangzu and successfully pass through the Osumi Strait. ”

"Who said we had to go to Hirado, if we follow the Kuroshio all the way north, we will be able to go directly to the Kii Suido, and then to the west we will enter the Seto Inland Sea and go straight to the castle, and do big business with the rich people of the country there." ”

Liu Guan laughed and said: "That's very lively, according to Lao Chai, we not only have to defeat the Shimazu Navy, but also the Kumano Navy, as well as the Awaji Navy, and the Awa Navy." ”

Chongwen looked at Liu Guan: "Are you afraid?"

Liu Guan straightened his waist and said: "The demons are not afraid, but they are also afraid of a few barbarians, and the second dragon king island has not cut the squirrel, and the knife is very itchy." ”

Chief Bingshun said: "I'm afraid, we are not going to open up the route, but to send them to death." ”

Chongwen glanced at the two of them mysteriously and said, "If I show you something, you won't be afraid." ”

The chief soldier said disapprerovingly: "No matter what you conjure, I'm still afraid." ”

Chongwen laughed, dragged them out of the cabin, and shouted: "Catfish boy, with a lantern, lead the way in front of your head." ”

The catfish boy carried an air death lantern and showed them the way with a smile, and several people got off the springboard and stepped onto the beach. The wooden fence not far away is still only a section, and most of the wooden houses have not been roofed, but the prisoners they rescued still can't wait to live in, some people sing and dance around the bonfire, and the houses they build are comfortable to live in, even if there is no roof.

The four people walked through the construction area, turned right, and entered Namsan Mountain. The chief soldier didn't say a word, Liu Guan became more and more curious, and asked: "What is it, it is still tightly hidden." ”

The catfish boy smiled: "When you go to sea, you know at first sight, not at this moment." ”

There are always 3 or 4 miles of mountain road, turn a mountain pass, and on the side of the open stream, there is a waterfall with a drop of more than 10 meters. There were lights in the distance, and there was a row of wooden houses, and when I approached, it turned out to be a workshop, and in the workshop you could see the smelting furnace anvil, in addition to the hammers, chisel files and other tools taken from the ship, there were also large and small casting molds.

This is the first workshop on Longwang Island, with Benito as the head craftsman and steward, and Li Er and Qin Lu, carpenters who were pulled onto the ship by Liu Guan before going to sea, are the deputies. The first batch of apprentices are the young refugees on the island, there are always 3 and 40, these guys from the north and south of the mountains are not the same, it is difficult to say how many of them can learn the craft.

When Chongwen and his gang arrived at the workshop, the old pirate Benito was nibbling on a lobster and drinking a large glass of cane wine with a few henchmen, and Xu Hai was chatting happily with them. Seeing Chongwen and the others coming over, Monk Hua hurriedly greeted him, and Chongwen asked, "How is it, is it cast?"

Xu Hai said: "It's two, isn't it just tomorrow to test the gun? Why did you come at night?" ”

Chongwen said: "I can't wait, so I brought them over, take them out and let me see." ”

Old Benito waved back, and a craftsman took a firearm from the house and handed it to the old pirate. Different from Dakang's musket, this gun has a dragon head, a trigger, and the rear is made of wood**, which can be easily shouldered, especially the barrel is made of wrought iron, which is different from the bronze musket.

Benito wrapped the arquebus around his shoulder, ignited the end of the rope, and clamped it in the dragon's mouth. Then use a cane to put **lead into the barrel, tamp it, and fill it in the fire door***. This medicine room is covered, connected to the yin and yang machine, after installation, the fire door cover is closed, which can prevent the wind from blowing away, and can also prevent rainwater. When the trigger is pulled, the fire door cover is opened, and at the same time, the faucet is pressed, the open flame ignites the ** fire, and the lead is discharged.

Old Benito tested a shot, which was not only convenient to shoot, but also had better range and accuracy than the musket, which aroused great interest among the visitors, who came up to inquire one after another. The old pirate explained: "Lead is used here, which does little damage to the chamber of the gun, and the barrel can be used for a long time. Moreover, the lead is relatively soft, the tightness of the barrel is much better than that of the iron, and there is not much air leakage, so the range and power are much better. ”

The chief soldier asked, "If it is lead, armor piercing is always better than iron." ”

Benito said with a smile: "The power of the bullet depends on the speed of the discharge, even if the lead is softer than the iron and cannot break the iron armor, it is enough to break the bones and tendons of the person who is shot, as if he has been hit by a heavy hammer, where can people withstand it, rest assured, this gun will never be weaker than the fire gun." ”

The second went to sea and grabbed this arquebus early and fiddled with it by himself. Chongwen asked, "Is there a hydraulic lathe so soon?"

Benito shook his head and said: "How can it be so easy, I have built a bicycle lathe, even this is much faster than hand, each person can drill a barrel in about 5 days." These people on the island are too stupid and don't understand the language, and if they are proficient, they may be even faster. ”

The second person on the side had already loaded the sub-medicine, and fired a shot at the wooden target 30 steps away, but missed. Unconvinced, the second went to sea to continue to charge, but the chief soldier came over and asked old Benito: "How many shots have you made of this firecracker?" I can see that this kind of firearm is better than ours. ”

Benito said: "There are three guns loaded, but we have built seven barrels and will soon be able to equip a first-class warrior." This is the first batch of products, the safety is the largest, the barrel is on the thick side, the individual shot is still slightly heavy, and after improvement, maybe it will be lighter. ”

With that, Benito instructed the craftsman to take out two more firearms from the workshop for the visitors to test-fire.

Chongwen asked again: "I'm afraid it won't work with this kind of firearm alone, we still have too few people, how about the cannon I let you get?"

Benito said: "Don't think about the heavy artillery for the time being, but we have made two large guns operated by two people, and we just conducted a test firing yesterday." ”

Chongwen's eyes lit up and said, "Mother, why don't you take out this good thing." ”

Benito smiled, "I hope to surprise Your Excellency." ”