In the Song Dynasty, there was no law or order.

In the Constitutional Court, Chen Haizhong recounted his experiences in the ocean.

From noon to afternoon, even if everyone was hungry, they didn't even seem to notice.

When they heard about the thrilling things, everyone would exclaim again and again. When they heard about interesting and fun things, everyone would look at each other, laugh, have fun, and immerse themselves in it.

The funniest thing was that when they passed through Chukotka Island, they encountered an iceberg and the ship ran aground. With the help of the local indigenous tribe, they successfully landed and were forced to stay there for more than a year.

During this more than a year, the local indigenous people were surprised that the weapons and equipment of the Song people were extremely advanced, and their hunting efficiency was much faster than theirs.

In the past, when they faced polar bears baring their teeth and coming to the tribe to steal food, they could only flee in embarrassment and dared not speak out. The bows and crossbows of the Song people could kill strong polar bears and make clothes out of their fur.

For a time, the local indigenous people were very interested in the ocean-going fleet.

Because the two sides did not speak the same language, although Chen Haizhong and his team gave each other some weapons in order to thank each other. But the leader of the other side actually hoped that the Song people could stay, join their tribe, and become a part of their tribe.

The reason was that the tribe went to the colder seaside and the north because it was defeated by the tribe in the south. The men in the tribe suffered heavy losses, with only more than 800 men and more than 2,000 women.

Seeing so many people suddenly appear, and they were all yellow people like them, and brought so much food that was enough for the tribe to eat for several years, as well as more powerful weapons and armor, the local indigenous leaders naturally wanted to keep them and strengthen their tribe.

However, Chen Haizhong and his men had many people and good weapons and equipment, so it would definitely not work to use force. Therefore, after racking their brains, the local indigenous people actually came up with an idea, that is, the beauty trap, sending women to seduce.

Originally, the most uncomfortable thing for sailors when sailing was physiological needs. Now that it was delivered to the door, it was natural that everyone would accept it. For a time, almost all sailors fell into it.

When the ship was finally repaired, when Chen Haizhong and his men were about to leave, they found that the local indigenous people did not want them to leave at all.

More than a year is enough time to have a baby.

Many native women looked at the sailors pitifully with their children in their arms. How could they bear this?

Therefore, hundreds of sailors asked to stay and not continue sailing.

The other thousands of sailors were not ruthless, but the local natives actually practiced polyandry, which was difficult for them to accept.

Second, they all missed their homeland.

Third, and most importantly, it was too cold, even if they had fur coats, they couldn't stand it.

So most sailors were willing to leave.

The two sides fought for more than ten days. In the end, Chen Haizhong and Zhang Xianwen, who was already sick and feverish at the time, discussed for a long time before finally deciding to let those who were willing to stay stay, and the rest secretly sailed away.

As a result, at the end of last year, when they returned to the Chukotka Peninsula, the hundreds of sailors were looking forward to them coming back like the stars and the moon, and they really wanted to leave.

After all, it was just an impulse to stay at that time. No matter what, their roots were still in the old home of the Song Dynasty, so they regretted it after Chen Haizhong and his team left. Now that Chen Haizhong and his team finally came back, they almost cried and begged them to take them back on their knees.

So Chen Haizhong and his team had to return with these sailors and their families who had settled down there. Although these hundreds of people did not go to North America, they also traveled most of the voyage, which was not considered lazy.

Moreover, they lived in the local area for nearly three years and taught the local Chinese language. If the ships of the Song Dynasty go there again in the future, it would be much more convenient.

"It's really not easy for Chen Haizhong and his team."

In the evening, Zhao Zhen ordered the imperial kitchen to prepare meals, and everyone simply had a meal in the Political System Institute, listening to Chen Haizhong while eating.

After the meal, it was almost dark, and finally the meeting ended with Chen Haizhong being promoted to the governor of Yuezhou.

Although he was only promoted to the 5th rank prefect, Chen Haizhong's previous position was the 8th rank. His full title was the Supervisor of Maritime Customs, and he ranked below the 6th rank Maritime Customs Envoy, the 7th rank Maritime Customs Tongpan, the 7th rank Maritime Customs Supervisor, and the 8th rank Maritime Customs Lieutenant.

This means that this promotion was a direct promotion of six levels.

Going out for five years, 1.2 levels a year, for any other official in the Song Dynasty except Zhao Jun, it would be quite explosive. If the news spreads, I'm afraid that if the court has the next event, there will be countless participants.

However, Chen Haizhong's experience is obviously worthy of this promotion, and it is also a huge political achievement. In the future, as long as the Song Dynasty wants to expand overseas, he will definitely be reused.

So Zhao Zhen said with great emotion: "It is not an exaggeration to say that they have escaped from death. In addition to Chen Haizhong and the surviving crew members, they must be rewarded. Zhang Xianwen and other victims must not be treated unfairly and must be rewarded heavily. The court must also support their families."

"Of course."

Zhao Jun agreed: "It is not too much to give them a family privilege."

"More than 3,000 people, everyone will be given a family privilege?"

Everyone was shocked.

"This is a thousand gold coins to buy horse bones, which shows that the court attaches great importance to overseas development."

Zhao Jun said: "Of course not everyone will be given a family privilege, there must be meritorious performance. But this also shows that the court attaches great importance to this matter, and you didn't see how much gold and silver they moved off the ship. Didn't Chen Haizhong just say it? There must be more than 100,000 kilograms of gold and silver."

"Is America really so rich?"

Zhao Zhen couldn't help but said: "It's a pity. The distance is too long. If it were shorter, I don't know how many people in Song Dynasty would be willing to go."

"Actually, there are also short distances."

Zhao Jun pointed to the Aleutian Islands on the map and said: "This area has the North Pacific Ocean Current. If we follow the ocean current, we can reach North America in about thirty or forty days."

"Then why not?"

Fan Zhongyan frowned and said, "If we take this route, we may lose a lot of lives."

"On the contrary, if we take this route, more people may die."

Zhao Jun drew on the map and said: "Look, the straight-line distance from Kamchatka Peninsula to North America seems to be only four thousand kilometers, and there are more than a hundred islands in the middle where you can rest. However, the North Pacific Warm Current is actually south of the Aleutian Islands. Hundreds of kilometers away, not along the archipelago.

"Following the warm current, there is no supply along the way for more than 4,000 kilometers. It is an endless ocean. Once there is a storm, or the sea fog formed by the encounter of warm and cold currents, there is not even a place to be stranded. In the vast sea, it is almost impossible to survive. ”

"As for going along the Aleutian Islands, it is also a problem. There is no warm current to lead the way, and the ship cannot go very fast. And there is also a large area of ​​​​sea without islands in the middle. Even if we have a compass, if we encounter a magnetic field, sea fog, heavy rain, etc. Bad weather and loss of direction can also kill the fleet at sea. "

"So although it's a long way to go to the North Pole, except for the relatively small coastline when passing through the Thousand Islands, even if you go through the Bering Strait, there is Diomede Island in the middle. As long as you keep walking along the land, you will always be safe even if you encounter danger. Better than being in the sea.”

He finally said: "So this road seems to be a long way round, but from the perspective of development, it is the safest road. At least they did encounter a lot of dangers, but the best proof is that they were able to dock at the shore to rest every time. "

"Well, that's it."

Everyone looked at the map, and it was indeed as Zhao Jun said.

Almost 99% of this route is along the coastline, and the distance across the sea is almost pitiful.

Even if they encounter a storm, they can find a sheltered harbor on the coastline to stop and rest. It is indeed much better than encountering extreme weather without any land around them.

So it’s too far, but safety comes first. Even if it took five years and more than 20,000 kilometers back and forth, it was worth it to come back safely.

"Now I, Da Song, am finally on the right track. Years of hard work have paid off."

Zhao Zhen sighed, then looked at Zhao Jun and said with sincerity: "This is all the result of the great grandson."

Chen Haizhong just reported to them the specific harvest. In addition to dozens of varieties of fruits, vegetables and crop seeds, each weighing several tons, there were also large amounts of gold, silver, leather goods, copper mines, etc.

When we were on the ship, we had already roughly estimated that there were more than 8,000 Songjin of gold and more than 100,000 Songjin of silver, a total of about 75 tons, worth more than three million taels of silver.

This does not include copper mines.

In other words, Chen Haizhong and the others only explored along the coast and did not go deep. Otherwise, according to them, gold, silver and other items are everywhere over there. If they continue to deepen the trade, they will definitely gain more than this.

In fact, Zhao Jun believed what he said.

Because according to the arguments of later generations of economists and historians, between 1492 and 1803, about three hundred years, North America was plundered by European colonists about 160,000 tons of gold and silver, with an average of more than 500 tons taken away every year.

Moreover, at that time, the indigenous people of North America did not use gold and silver as currency, but used Baker beads and furs as currency. For them, gold and silver were often used as props for making works of art.

Therefore, North America at this time can be said to be a blue ocean. Before the European colonists continued to fish from the lake, gold and silver could not be said to be piled up in mountains. It could be said to be seen everywhere, and was thrown around like stones by the natives.

In this case, a large fleet of thousands of people came with countless goods to trade with the North American indigenous people for the food, wine, clothing and other daily necessities they needed. Naturally, there were a large number of followers.

A large number of indigenous people came with unnecessary gold, silver and jewelry in exchange for food and daily necessities. Chen Haizhong and others also made a lot of money, with profits exceeding a hundred times.

Although they only brought back more than three million taels of silver in five years, the cost they paid was more than one million taels.

But the most valuable thing about the first pot of gold is not the gold and silver wealth.

But seeds.

With these seeds, the productivity of the Song Dynasty will be raised to another level. With the help of Champa Rice, the people will not go hungry at least until the population exceeds 340 million.

"I only guided the direction of development and followed the laws of history. The real credit lies in my wise leadership."

Zhao Jun said with a smile.

"Oh? Do I really have that much merit?"

Zhao Zhen opened his eyes wide.

"Of course it is."

Zhao Jun said without blushing: "Brother, think about it, when I was young and frivolous, I was blaming the sky and the earth. A different emperor would have killed me long ago, and only you, brother, who have the magnanimity to tolerate others, can achieve today's great success." The prosperity of Song Dynasty.”

"Hahahahahaha, how can I be so good? In fact, our ancestors and grandchildren are of the same mind, and their strength can defeat gold."

Zhao Zhen smiled from ear to ear. He had suffered so many insults and grievances back then, but he had finally recovered in the past two years.

It's really not easy.

And Zhao Jun just looked at him and smiled. He had long lost his youthful vigor and his bad temper that pointed at their noses and scolded them whenever they disagreed.

As I get older and enter society and officialdom, I gradually learn a lot of things.

He learned intrigues from Lu Yijian, resourcefulness from Wang Zeng and Yan Shu, the golden mean from Sheng Du and Wang Sui, and flattery and flattery from many people who flattered him.

In the past, he would have scorned and despised conspiracy and flattery, but now when he meets such an excellent teacher, he will only take out his pen and write it down.

Many times, you need to have momentum, but you must use it in the right place. If you just do it recklessly, in fact, many things will not be accomplished.

So when you need to take the wrong turn, you should talk nicely when you need to, and you should also have your own measure.

Seeing that their ancestors and grandchildren began to praise each other again, everyone felt a chill again. Yan Shu quickly interrupted: "By the way, Hanlong, what should we do next? Should the Constitutional Yuan have a new charter?"

"How about just like the great voyage of the West, let's start to develop a new world. Those Western movies I watched were quite interesting. There are gold mines everywhere. Isn't there a San Francisco in the United States?"

Cai Qi said.

"I think we should slow down. We have just come back now, and we still narrowly escaped death. If the people are provoked to go sailing, no one will cultivate the land in the country."

Song Shou had different opinions.

"Now that we have brought back the seeds of high-yielding crops such as sweet potatoes, corn, and potatoes, are we still worried about food shortages? The population will soon increase."

"You think people are like vegetables and they can grow as long as they grow? Even if there is enough food, it will take at least thirty-four years to double."

"In my opinion, you can definitely give it a try. The return of Chen Haizhong's fleet will be the best publicity effect. If the newspapers and newspapers are more advanced, they will definitely set off a wave of people and bring more gold and silver to the Song Dynasty. "

"You can't do things too hastily. You should familiarize yourself with the route first. It's also best to establish supply points along the route. Otherwise, letting the people go is tantamount to letting them die."

"This is the truth. I agree with the opinion of the king. The imperial court spent more than one million yuan to prepare sufficient supplies. It took five years to reach North America. If the people were allowed to go, I am afraid that even Korea would If you can’t get there, you will die on the road.”

"Didn't Chen Haizhong say that they already have a stronghold on the Chukotka Peninsula? And they also brought back local indigenous women and children. If the Han people go there again, they will definitely welcome us there and they can definitely establish towns."

"It's a joke, what's the use of just one town? I think there need to be at least dozens or hundreds of towns along the line to maintain it. You guys, are you really just thinking, can't you look further ahead?"

The Lu Party, the Royal Party and the Neutrality Party, more than a dozen people were all talking to each other, and they were all jealous of the profits in this ocean.

"Dasun, what do you think?"

Zhao Zhen turned around and asked Zhao Jun.

Zhao Jun touched his chin, thought for a moment, and then seemed to think of something.

Suddenly he raised his head and looked around at everyone.

Everyone was confused.

I saw him smiling and saying: "Everyone, I have a new idea."

I really want to lie down, reading so many words every day is so tiring.