My Daming New Empire

From the Java Sea to the Banda Sea, the fleet sailed slowly against the southeast monsoon.

In these two seas, there are hidden reefs and small islands everywhere. The fleet can only follow the formation of long snakes, and there can only be three ships in parallel at most.

The Java Sea is the shallowest sea in the world, with an average water depth of only 50 meters.Because it is located on the equator, it is also the mildest sea in the world.

However, when the fleet passed through the Lesser Sunda Islands, it entered the Banda Sea. The different water depths caused many undercurrents here, and the sailing was a test of the sailor's skill.

After a week of sailing, the fleet finally arrived in Ambon, the capital of Maluku.

This is an angle formed by two islands, and the city is built at the inner end of the angle.Although this is the capital of Maluku, in later generations it was only a city with a population of less than 40. In this era, the population has only exceeded [-], which is not as large as a county in Ming Dynasty.

The fleet brought the porcelain, tea, and cloth they needed to the Maluku Kingdom, and Zhu Zhanji was also welcomed by the Maluku Kingdom.

But this city is too small, not to mention meeting the needs of the fleet, they can't even provide fresh water for the fleet.

Moreover, the spice purchase point set up by Daming in Maluku is not here, but in the North Maluku Islands, which is the main production area of ​​spices.

Therefore, Zhu Zhanji did not even get off the boat, but met the Maluku royal family on the boat, and then set off to leave Ambon.

Since then, no civilization has appeared during the fleet's voyage, and all routes need to be explored by themselves.

The determination of the route was a very difficult task in the past, because it involved complex positioning calculations.

In the vast sea, when there are islands, you can still locate them. When there are no islands, you can only rely on the sun and stars in the sky to locate them.

When the fleet came to the area south of the equator, the positions of all the constellations changed, and the Big Dipper, which was used as a positioning standard for the entire northern hemisphere, completely disappeared. If it weren't for the appearance of the sextant, the fleet would not be able to locate at all.

At this time, under the guidance of Zhu Zhanji, the astrologers of the Sitianjian also changed to the Southern Cross constellation as the positioning standard for the evening.

These people can be said to be the hardest group of people other than the navigator during the boundless journey.

Because every day, they need to calculate the fleet's position based on the date, the rising sun, and the angle across the sky.

What's more, all the information should be made into a chart as the basis for future navigation, and there should be no mistakes in it.

The navigators of the fleet record the route and ocean currents by positioning changes every day. These are the top secrets of a country in this era.

In the age of great voyages, Spain has made a fortune in more than 200 years because of its mastery of the Pacific Ocean currents.

Now with Zhu Zhanji's arrangement, Daming has a sextant that can accurately locate, and then makes a longitude and latitude table to locate various routes. No one can match Daming's navigation technology.

On the detailed map of Nanyang and Nanzhou that Zhu Zhanji took out, each small island is marked, named, and each route is drawn. These will become the most precious wealth of Ming Dynasty.

In order to avoid the southeast monsoon, the fleet sailed against the sun.After passing through the Vatu Bella Islands of later generations, the fleet came to the south of Turtle Island.

The entire Turtle Island, which is later known as New Guinea Island, 80.00% of the area is covered by primitive rainforest, and the remaining 20.00% is also a snow-capped mountain that will not melt for thousands of years, and a swamp that is not suitable for human habitation.

Hundreds of years later, humans developed some farmland along the coast of the island.But at this time, there is no other civilization on the island except for some cannibals who do not know when they lived on the island.

Turtle Island is the highest island in the world. Mount Jaya is nearly 5000 meters high and is known as the highest peak in Australia.

Although it is close to the equator, the snow on the top of the mountain has not melted for thousands of years, forming a beautiful picture.

But this place is not suitable for human survival at all, because the whole island is composed of a mountain range, and there are very few flat lands.

There are tropical rainforests everywhere, and in the tropical rainforests, there are countless poisonous insects, snakes and ants, as well as miasma spreading everywhere.

In the 21st century, this place has not been fully developed, and countless areas are still restricted by humans.

In this era, it is even more difficult to conquer here.

But the location here is very important, because only this island can provide clean water to go to Nanzhou.

Although June was chosen to sail to South Africa, the southeast monsoon can provide power for the fleet sailing southwest, and this period is not a typhoon period in the southern hemisphere.

However, this kind of voyage is also affected by the high pressure in central Australia, and no one can guarantee the speed of the fleet.

Just from the island of New Guinea to Brisbane in eastern Australia, the distance of more than 3000 kilometers may not be reached in two or three months.

As for landing from northern Australia, Zhu Zhanji never considered it.

This place is one of the famous forbidden areas for human beings in later generations. The climate is so hot that people cannot survive, and the alternating high and low pressure makes it windy all the year round.

In addition to minerals, it is also suitable for grazing.However, this is also the most famous poisonous insect base in the world. There are seven kinds of the ten most poisonous snakes in the world, and there are several kinds of the most poisonous spiders here.

Developing to immigrate here now will only be thankless.

In addition to building a few small defense points in the coastal area first, Zhu Zhanji does not plan to develop the northern region within 100 years.

The first step in the development of Nanzhou, Zhu Zhanji will be placed in the Melbourne area of ​​later generations, which is one of the few areas in Australia with fertile land. More importantly, there are six of the top ten gold mines in Nanzhou in the southern region. And there are two right by the sea.

Although there are several gold mines in the northern region, as well as world-famous iron mines, iron mines are the least valuable for development in this era, let alone inland.

The several gold mines in the north are also inland, in areas not suitable for human habitation, those mines should be reserved for future development!

The fleet drove slowly along the south coast of Turtle Island, and at intervals, you could see the mouth of the river emerging from the forest.

But Zhu Zhanji was unmoved. Until this day, the forward fleet reported that the big river designated by Zhu Zhanji had been found.

Turtle Island is a mountain-shaped island. A mountain range rises from east to west. Along the mountain range, hundreds of rivers flow down the mountain.

To find the river designated by Zhu Zhanji, it is necessary not only to survey the terrain according to the map, but also to accurately locate it according to the sextant.

Otherwise, it would be difficult to determine which river course Zhu Zhanji requested.

This river is called the Dimeka River in later generations. On this poor island, the town of Dimeka is the wealthiest town in Indonesia, because it is owned by a company, and this company is the most profitable in Indonesia. Company Freeport Corporation.

The company owns the ownership of the largest gold mine in Indonesia, which has brought more than one billion US dollars in revenue to Indonesia every year since it was mined in the 70s.

Until the 21st century, this gold mine is still among the top ten gold mines in the world, and its stable production is almost unmatched by any gold mine.

And this gold mine is very easy to find, because it has a remarkable feature, that is, on its east side, is the famous Jaya Peak.

In order to mine, the gold mining company even blocked Jaya Peak for a time.

Later, under the intervention of the international mountaineering organization, they opened the northern mountaineering route and still blocked the southern mountaineering route.

Now that Daming wants people to emigrate to the sea, he can only use the most lucrative gold mines to attract people.Without gold mines, no one would be willing to leave their hometown and leave Daming to survive overseas.

And the same is true here, if there is no gold mine, even if he arranges a fleet to station here, serving as a supply point for the ocean-going fleet.But the harsh environment will also lower morale, and it won't be long before everyone runs away.

It is different to have a gold mine. Whether it is a fleet or a clan, they are willing to endure hardships and develop here for the sake of gold.

Although the natural conditions of the island of New Guinea are harsh, it can be said to be rich in natural resources.It only needs to cultivate a small area of ​​land to maintain food for everyone.

If the people are not afraid of death, then lure them with profit.

Gold is the best tool.