The Rise of the European Emperor

Marin is still somewhat familiar with the Galapagos tortoise. After all, even in the 21st century with advanced information, this giant tortoise is considered a very rare species and has attracted much attention.

Galapagos tortoises live on the Galapagos Islands near the equator. Due to the influence of the Peruvian cold current, the island is relatively dry and hot. Therefore, tortoises can adapt to a dry and hot living environment. Although the Galapagos tortoise is large in size, it is a gentle herbivore. It mainly feeds on cacti, grasses, leaves, moss, lichens and berries on the Galapagos Islands, and it is easier to feed. The only disadvantage is that it is not resistant to cold, after all, it is an animal near the equator. What's more, it seems that I have to bask in the sun every day. Because it is a cold-blooded animal, it needs to bask in the sun to absorb heat.

These are the key points to pay attention to, and they must be told to the Ming Dynasty officials to prevent the tortoise from being raised to death. At that time, the credit will be gone.

For the proud ancient Chinese feudal dynasty, offering treasures is not as good as offering auspiciousness. Because what they pay most attention to is face, not profit.

Soon, under the leadership of the navigator, the fleet came to the northernmost island of the Galapagos Islands, which seems to be called Pinta Island in later generations. The Pinta Island Galapagos tortoise is also a well-known branch of the Galapagos tortoise. The famous Galapagos tortoise "Lonely George" that made news in 2012 is a Pinta Galapagos tortoise.

Of course, Marin doesn't care about the difference between the tortoise subspecies. Anyway, Galapagos tortoises are very big, and it is enough to pretend to be a black tortoise. Sending it to the Ming Dynasty is absolutely auspicious.

You know, in the palace, there are many statues similar to Qinglong, Baihu, Suzaku and Xuanwu. Even in the palace city of the Tang Dynasty, there was Xuanwu Gate and Zhuque Street. As long as you take it to the Forbidden City, you can see the statue of Xuangui. Those ministers must have seen huge statues. And the Galapagos tortoise is so big that it is almost close to the statue. It is hard not to be regarded as auspicious...

...

After arriving at Pinta Island, Marin immediately took a group of thugs and went to the island to catch turtles excitedly. Soon, they saw the Galapagos giant tortoises "rushing" slowly on the island. This giant tortoise walks very slowly, worthy of being a tortoise. Their walking speed is only two to three hundred meters per hour, which is less than a mile.

Several tortoises saw a group of people surrounded by Marin from a distance, and they were so scared that they ran for their lives. However, their escape speed was too slow, and Marin and his group walked slowly, and still caught up with the fleeing tortoises, and easily caught them.

Then, Marin and his men caught 15 Pinta Galapagos tortoises in one breath, and brought them to the boat, preparing to take them to Daming as auspicious offerings.

In fact, Marin originally planned to bring only 9 tortoises. Because the number 9 is auspicious. Especially for things dedicated to the emperor, the number 9 is the most popular. The 9 black tortoises, meaning "nine heavens tortoises", are definitely auspicious among the auspicious ones.

But Marin was afraid that some of these tortoises would die, so he caught a few more as spares. When the "Xiangrui" was presented at the end, Marin would still present 9 of them. As for the extra ones, just stay on Taiwan Island.

After catching the tortoise, Marin let the fleet return to the scheduled route and continue sailing westward. It is winter in January, whether it is the Atlantic Ocean or the northern half of the Pacific Ocean, it is calm and there will be no major storms. Therefore, the fleet sailed smoothly along the way.

When driving to the vicinity of the western boundary of the East 12th District after the International Date Change Line of later generations, Marin suddenly remembered that it seemed that there seemed to be a place called Nauru at the east-southern position of the angle between the western border of the East 12th District and the equator. small island.

This small island is covered with a thick layer of struvite, which is a very good agricultural fertilizer. Because struvite is transformed from the feces of seabirds. Feces already contain nitrogen, and seabirds eat fish, so struvite also contains phosphorus. At the same time, struvite also contains some potassium. Therefore, struvite is the only natural fertilizer in nature that contains nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. However, the content of potassium is slightly lower, only 23%, unlike nitrogen and phosphorus, which both contain more than 10%. Therefore, struvite is an excellent nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer.

Although he remembered the existence of Nauru, Marin did not change his course to find Nauru Island this time, but planned to send a fleet to find this small island again in the future.

why? Because Nauru's geographical location is too bad. It is deep in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and transportation is very inconvenient. Digging struvite in Nauru and transporting it back is better than making three kinds of fertilizers locally. After all, even the farthest apatite mine in Western Sahara is not too far from the mainland.

Moreover, even if Taiwan Island is to be developed in the future, there is no need to go to Nauru to dig for struvite. Because there are abundant struvite mines on Dongsha Island near Taiwan Island, there is no need to travel far and wide to Nauru to dig for struvite.

However, Nauru is also an important struvite reserve base in the future, and it still needs to be occupied first. Even if you can't use it temporarily, you can't make it cheaper for others. Therefore, Marin will send people to find the island, and then plant a flag to show that the island is his own. As for when to mine the struvite on the island, it depends on the need. But Marin estimated that the struvite on Nauru Island would not be used for a long time.

However, Marin actually wrote the struvite mine in Nauru into the "Notes of the Traveler" left to Caesar as a future reserve resource. Maybe it will come in handy one day...

Subsequently, the fleet entered the Micronesian Islands, which are densely covered with islands and reefs. Here, too, the navigators were much more cautious. Because, if one is not careful, the ship will hit the rocks. After all, volcanic islands and coral reefs are densely covered here, and there are also many submerged reefs. Some reefs are growing, and those that are about to emerge from the water are the most dangerous. Because, if you are not careful, the ship will run aground on it.

Therefore, these experienced navigators who participated in the previous route exploration cheered up one after another, avoided some dangerous areas according to the previous navigation notes, and passed the Micronesia Islands without any danger.

Then, the fleet followed the North Pacific warm current to the eastern part of the Philippine Islands, then turned north, followed the "Kuroshio Current" flowing northward to Japan, and sailed to the eastern coast of Taiwan Island. When passing the eastern coast of Taiwan Island, Marin also passed

Then, the fleet followed the North Pacific warm current to the eastern part of the Philippine Islands, then turned north, followed the "Kuroshio Current" flowing northward to Japan, and sailed to the eastern coast of Taiwan Island. When passing the eastern coast of Taiwan Island, Marin also passed