sweeping the world

Chapter 531 Worrying Journey

It is a good idea to use normal trade means to trade grain from Linyi Kingdom and Funan Kingdom. Before the small imperial court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty had no fear of food shortage, it was able to obtain cheap grain from South Asia. When the grain trade was most prosperous, the annual transaction volume exceeded million stone.

Not only the small imperial court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty had a history of trading grain from Linyi Kingdom or Funan Kingdom, Sun Wu knew that there was no shortage of grain in the southwest peninsula in the early days, and Sun Wu also bought large quantities of rice from Linyi Kingdom or Funan Kingdom every year.

One thing to be clear about is that at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the governor of Jiaozhou was the richest among all the princes. Unfortunately, the traffic in the southwest and the Central Plains where Shi Xie stayed was very inconvenient. Furthermore, there were not many ships suitable for sea navigation. The problem is Even in this way, a lot of grain can be transported to make good friends with Jingzhou and Yangzhou at that time.

The fact that Jiaozhi is rich in food was discovered in the Western Han Dynasty. At that time, the Western Han Dynasty had been expanding to the southwest peninsula in order to obtain enough military food when the three Lingnan counties were wiped out.The expansion of the army of the Western Han Dynasty in the southwest peninsula was only limited by the natural environment. In addition to the climate, there was also the mountain range called Changshan that stretched for more than a thousand miles.

The fact that there is no shortage of food in the southwest peninsula is unknown why it was ignored by the Central Plains dynasty.What is the extent of this neglect?In the early Ming Dynasty, Hu Weiyong used rice stalks from Zhancheng to persuade Zhu Yuanzhang that it was a blessing from God.In the Kangxi period of "My Great Qing Dynasty" with wild boar skin, some officials used Nanyang rice stalks to lie about auspiciousness.It's very fucking that this kind of thing happens, just because the rice stalks in Nanyang are thicker and bigger than those in the land of China, but those emperors ignored the number of rice ears and only looked at the rice stalks.

As a general of the Han Dynasty, Fu Wei ignored the peaceful trade without even thinking about it.

Today's military power of the Han Dynasty is extremely strong, and it is straightforward to fight against dissatisfaction. It has not even persuaded the fierce Hulu, so how could the natives who followed the southwest be counseled.

"Sun Wu and the puppet dynasty, the territory was invaded by barbarians, how can they bear it?" Fu Wei expressed that he couldn't bear it: "The big man is not Sun Wu, let alone the puppet dynasty. There is absolutely no reason to compromise!"

Yuan Fang has not returned to the mainland for a long time, and only knows some fragments of information.What he knows is that the Han Kingdom is still fighting on multiple fronts. The north has been fighting with Shijie Zhao and Murong Yan for six years.
Sun Wu will be counseled because they face the powerful military pressure of Cao Wei, and it is difficult for them to use large-scale troops in the southwest peninsula. Most of the young and strong in the country serve as soldiers all the year round. They lack labor and want to obtain cheap food in the southwest peninsula. They also selectively forget the fact that Funan Kingdom has not paid tribute for a long time.

The situation of the small imperial court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was similar to that of Sun Wu, with a strong threat from the north and domestic aristocratic families in power.The difference between the two is that the small imperial court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty lost the Central Plains as soon as they said they lost it, and a little territory in the Southwest Peninsula is nothing. As long as we can enjoy ourselves, we don’t want to regain any lost ground.Therefore, whether it is the Western Jin Dynasty or the Eastern Jin Dynasty, it is well-deserved that it is the biggest stain in the history of China. It is not only the history of the first Hu people to rule the Central Plains, but also the hedonic atmosphere and lack of progress in the country's difficult times.

"The general decided..." Fu Wei looked at the rain outside, squeezed his chin, and said: "With the advantage of the sea fleet, we will first launch a raid on the coast."

Wu Ding affirmed: "There are quite a few barbarian villages along the coast, and several important cities are also near the rivers that lead to the sea."

In the south of China today, the water system is criss-crossed, which makes waterline transportation more convenient than land transportation.

The southwest peninsula has more water systems than the south of China, and there are more rivers connecting the inland to the ocean.Because of the dense vegetation in the southwest peninsula, it is naturally difficult for large ships to go deep into the inland, but there are not too many restrictions on small boats.

"If that's the case, we should make some necessary preparations." Yuan Fang was born as a general, and he didn't dare to say anything if he felt it was inappropriate, but he had to say something: "This place has many rainy seasons all year round, and it is often in a humid climate, so iron objects are easy to grow. Rust, leather will swell and rot or mold when exposed to water. Moreover, the dense forest is full of mosquitoes and poisons."

It may be a bit funny to say, but the use of bronze in the Southwest Peninsula is really more suitable than iron products. In view of this, the small imperial court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty specially prepared a batch of bronze weapons all the year round in Jiaozhi. It is absolutely necessary to use iron armor and leather armor. do not wear.

The fleet has already started unloading, and the busy soldiers are rarely seen wearing iron armor, and at first glance they are wearing summer shirts.Among the goods they unloaded, Chinese herbal medicines accounted for the vast majority, in addition to a large number of rattan armor.

Rattan products are ideal for armor in the southwest peninsula. If you look up the history of the southwestern peninsula, it doesn’t matter what country’s army is. Rattan armor is the most widely used armor, and bamboo spears are also the mainstream.They don't use iron armor because they can't afford it. Although the Southwest Peninsula is not the largest iron ore producing area in Asia, there is no shortage of iron ore. As Yuan Fang said, when there are no good maintenance methods, iron products are produced Rust is a big problem.

There are many ways to prevent iron products from rusting. The simple one is to apply enough grease. Grease is certainly not a problem with modern productivity, but with current productivity...there is not enough oil for people to eat. How can it be used in large quantities? Maintain ironwork.

During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, iron smelting methods appeared. Because iron is easy to rust, it is called evil gold. I am very satisfied with the dollar... that is, bronze will not rust.Of course, with the smelting technology at that time, bronze smelting had reached its peak, but iron, as a fresh product, had too many problems, such as being too brittle and easy to break as a weapon.As a result, when the Qin army unified the six countries, most of them still used bronze weapons, and iron weapons had to wait for the smelting technology to mature before becoming the mainstream.

Later, Yuan Fang found out that the southbound fleet had come prepared. Apart from some healing herbs, there were quite a lot of peppermint, pyrethrum, fly plum, and insect repellent among the supplies.

Many plants are inherently capable of repelling mosquitoes. For example, many nobles like to carry sachets. It’s not that they have turned them off, but because there are plants in the sachets that can repel mosquitoes. Lavender and jasmine are the most high-end sachets.What is more extravagant is to incense the clothes instead of carrying a sachet around the waist.

Yuan Fang also discovered that the army going south had prepared a large amount of rattan armor, but the styles looked familiar?
"Suppress Bashu and the capture of local tycoons in the south." Seeing Yuan Fang's surprise, Fu Wei was a little proud: "The south is suitable for rattan armor, isn't it?"

Don't think that the production cost of rattan armor is not high, if the quality of rattan armor is actually not lower than leather armor.To make rattan armor, you need to choose the right rattan to fabricate, and then you need to go through tung oil cooking again and again. The production time period is not short, and it has the obvious disadvantage of being very afraid of fire.

The landing troops were stationed in Bijing. Three days later, the rain stopped, but the sky still looked gray.

"This place is more than five hundred miles away from Zhuyazhou. The wind and sun are beautiful over Zhuyazhou, but it is like this here." Fu Wei has already considered this: "It only takes a day's sail from Zhuyazhou to Jiaozhi. The weather here is bad, so it seems that Zhuyazhou should be the place to station troops in the future."

In fact, the day is not correct, depending on the wind direction, when the monsoon is correct, it will be very fast, if the wind direction is wrong, it will take more time to use human oars.

However, Fu Wei was right about one point. Not to mention that it rains at every turn on Jiaozhi, and there are far more insects than on Zhuyazhou. Compared with Zhuyazhou, Zhuyazhou is more suitable as a place to station troops.

"Here, here, here..." Wu Ding kept pointing to some positions on the map of mountains and rivers: "They are all places where warships can reach the shore."

The map of mountains and rivers is based on the military map of the Jin army. The necessary verification and exploration will be carried out after the Han army is stationed. The current map of mountains and rivers has been proved to be correct and reliable.

"There is no need to worry about the water source. It should be noted that the road is not necessarily accurate." Wu Ding said with a wry smile: "The plants here grow very fast, even if the road is opened up, it will soon be full of plants again."

Fu Wei kept nodding.He has no jungle combat experience, and he doesn't even have the Han army who went south to the southwest peninsula. He still needs the assistance of the garrison here in Jiaozhi, so he looked at Yuan Fang.

Yuan Fang knew that this was her chance, and quickly promised: "I will definitely help you with all my heart."

Originally, the small imperial court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty did not have many troops stationed in Jiaozhi, especially after the Han army went south, the small imperial court even transferred all its troops to Yangzhou, and most of the local troops in the mainland were transferred. There is no need to leave much troops in the local area.

After the Han army marched into Jiaozhi, more than a thousand local Jin troops surrendered cleanly.This time Yuan Fang will bring at least 800 people to accompany Fu Wei on the expedition.

Under the gray weather, the well-prepared fleet pulled anchor and set off. They left Bijing Bay and headed directly to the west. Not long after they set off, the sky began to drizzle again.

"In spring, the wind direction is suitable for westward, and in summer the wind direction will change." This is the first time Yuan Fang has set foot on a warship of the Han army. He is very unfamiliar with this kind of warship that is different from the Huaxia building ship system. After many inspections and observations, it must be admitted that this is a ship for use at sea: "Our army's warships are all four-masted, and when the wind is favorable, they can land anywhere in a day."

The warships produced in the system tend to be more inclined to the Europa system, and if the age is identified, it should be a product around 1000 AD.It has to be admitted that compared with the ships of Chinese civilization, Europa's ship system is more suitable for sea navigation.

When the Han fleet was at war with the small imperial court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the inland river warfare could not give full play to the advantages of the system warships. In addition, the Han army did not have a qualified fleet command.

The small court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty had perished, and the Han Dynasty took over the navy of the small court, including the ships and naval officers.

In fact, the Han Dynasty has not yet completely eliminated the resistance forces in the south, which led to the slow reorganization process of those Jin troops who surrendered.Liu Yan decided to send a fleet to the southwest peninsula to plunder...uh, after expanding the territory, he had the choice to recruit some generals who are good at water warfare as a matter of urgency.

Wang Kan is now Fu Wei's lieutenant general. His military position in the Han army is at the rank of partial general, and he is specifically responsible for the coordination of the southward fleet.So although Fu Wei is the commander, he is actually not familiar with the formation of the fleet. Wang Kan is the one who really does the work.

In addition to Wang Kan, Li Mai, who had surrendered in the "Battle of the Three Counties" earlier, was also transferred to the navy.

Li Mai will be the second batch of southward commanders. If things don't change, the second batch of southwards will be the reorganized former Jin army navy officers and soldiers.

It should be said that the Han Dynasty intends to fully accept the Jin army generals who know how to use water warfare. Most of the original Jin army naval officers will also be reorganized. They will not only be used in the invasion of the southwest peninsula, but also rely on them to explore many islands in Southeast Asia. and pioneering.

Fu Wei was staring at a beam of light in the sky in a daze. It was sunlight cast directly from the dark clouds. Because there was only one beam, it looked like a passage to the sky.

You will see more wonders on the sea than on land, not only because of the wide field of vision, but also because the weather on the sea is more diverse than on land.

It is precisely because of the wide field of vision that Fu Wei not only sees the beam of light, but also the sky that seems to be cut out by a knife. For example, the top of their heads is gray, but there is a cloudless blue sky in the distance.

"Sail another ten or twenty miles, and we will arrive at this place." Wang Kan's hand pointed at the place marked as an island chain on the map: "This island has a large island and dozens of small islands. If the map is correct , there is a natural harbor to call on the west side of the Big Island."

They have just left Bijing Bay for about two hours, but the rain is getting heavier and heavier, and it seems that the wind is too strong. For the sake of safety, they need to find a port to stop temporarily, so the island with a natural port is a good place. where.

That island is now nameless, and it is called Hunguo Island in modern times.Most of the island is flat, with cliffs to the north and east, a bay to the west, and a sandy beach to the south.

The wind and rain were heavy, and the warship shook extremely violently. The sailors operating the ropes had to fasten safety ropes so as not to be thrown off the boat by the waves.If you fall into the water from the boat in this kind of weather, no matter how good the water is, you will definitely be swallowed by the sea if you don't get timely rescue.

Only those who have experienced it will know how terrible it is when the weather is bad at sea. It is a kind of embarrassment where the feet are shaking and making people unable to stand. At a glance, there are raging waves everywhere, and the sky is constantly thundering and lightning. Those who are timid should have a nervous breakdown.

The sound of vomiting constantly coming from the cabin made Fu Wei's stomach start to show signs of rebellion, and he said with a pale face, "If this goes on, the invasion may not be possible."

Wang Kan understood better than Fu Wei that soldiers could not adapt, and their bodies would definitely be weak after vomiting. It was one aspect of being unsuitable for combat, and the peak period of disease outbreaks would follow.

"This hellish place..." Fu Wei couldn't hold it anymore, bent over and gagged, and said intermittently, "Those servants must be sent here, especially the Japanese who are used to HNA... "

(End of this chapter)