The Rise of the European Emperor

When Marin was thinking about going to the Ming Empire in the future, Amerigo, who he was looking forward to, also led four ships, circled a large circle, passed the southern tip of South America, came to the Pacific Ocean, and headed north , finally arrived in Panama City under construction.

At this time, Panama City was just a castle with a crude port area, and there were only a few simple manual excavated docks in the port area. The small river on the edge of Panama City was also named the Panama River by the temporary governor of Panama City, Bald Aben.

When Amerigo's four new 250 armed merchant ships arrived at the mouth of the Panama River, they were not in a hurry to enter the Panama River. This is because, at the estuary of the Panama River, several of Aben's boats were parked, and some of the four of them couldn't squeeze in.

The bald-headed Aben saw that this was not acceptable. If the long-term voyage ship does not enter the Danshui River to repair and remove sea maggots, then it will not be eaten through the bottom by moths?

However, Amerigo did not wait for Aben to clear the berth for him, but directly anchored at the seaside, and then landed directly by himself.

"Teacher, why didn't you stop the boat in Hanoi? You can't get rid of sea maggots in the salty water area! Just wait a moment, I will order to vacate berths for your fleet!" Aben asked suspiciously.

In the captain's school, Columbus and Amerigo are the two most important professor-level teachers. And Ah Ben was the first batch of students in the captain's school. When he saw Amerigo, he naturally called him a teacher.

But Amerigo refused with a smile:

"No need, Ben, teacher, these four ships are not afraid of being eaten by sea maggots. They don't even need to be overhauled!"

"What?" Aben was shocked. As the first batch of outstanding students of the East Frisian Captain's School, Aben knew the difficulties of sailing. After each long voyage, due to the erosion of the bottom of the ship by sea maggots, as well as the beating of waves and some bumps along the way, major repairs are almost necessary. The main content of the overhaul is to replace a few wooden boards that have been severely corroded or damaged under the waterline of the ship's bottom. This requires a professional drainable dock to facilitate repair and maintenance by craftsmen. So Aben was surprised when Amerigo said his ship didn't need major repairs. After all, Amerigo's fleet sailed a long circle around America. If it is said that the bottom of the ship does not need major repairs, Aben obviously does not believe it. However, Amerigo is the vice-principal and navigation professor of the captain's school after all. He said that there is no need for major repairs, which is obviously not wrong.

"Could it be, sir, have you repaired it elsewhere?" Aben could only guess like this. After all, there also seems to be a small stronghold on Santa Maria Island off the coast of Chile. Could it be that a new repair dock was built in that small stronghold?

Amerigo shook his head and said:

"No, no, Ben, you misunderstood. The bottoms of the four boats of the teacher are all wrapped with special iron sheets, which are not afraid of sea maggots, and are not afraid of minor collisions and damage. As long as they do not touch large reefs, they hardly need major repairs. !"

"Iron skin?" The bald-headed Aben was taken aback, and then worried:

"But, teacher, the iron sheet won't last long, right? It's easily corroded by sea water! Could it be... a tin plate?" Aben recalled the last time he returned to China. He seemed to have heard that there was a tin plate in China that was not afraid of rust. However, last time he seemed to have heard that if the outer skin of tinplate is bumped, it is easy to rust... And the process of sailing, especially the process of exploring new sea routes, inevitably bumps and bumps, and tinplate is not worth it... …

The sailing regulations of the North Sea State are very strict. The first sailing is usually led by experienced sailors like Columbus and Amerigo. Then, they will record the coordinates along the way, and mark which section of the sea will have hidden reefs, which require special attention.

Moreover, at the bow of each ship, Marin also specially built an observation room, arranged sailors to be on duty to observe continuously, and used low-power telescopes to observe whether there was a hidden reef on the sea not far ahead, so as not to hit the reef.

Of course, this kind of observation is generally used when exploring routes for the first time. And with the success of the first exploration route, the logbook of the leader will clearly inform the later generations,

which paragraph is at risk.

Therefore, under such strict navigation regulations, as long as the subsequent captain sails strictly according to the coordinates provided by the previous logbook, there will be almost no danger. Unless, unfortunately, there is a hurricane or typhoon. Otherwise, it will be difficult to have an accident while sailing. Amerigo also sailed all the way based on the logbook provided by Aben before. Even the dangerous Strait of Magellan, they also safely crossed. At the beginning, when Aben's fleet passed through the Strait of Magellan for the first time, it almost lost two ships. If it weren't for the help of the fellow ships, it might be over.

Amerigo naturally saw Aben’s doubts, and told Aben cheerfully that the Grand Duke had created a new kind of tinplate (Marin didn’t tell them it was nickel-iron, and they didn’t know what nickel was anyway. Just tell them that it is new tinplate), not afraid of seawater corrosion. Moreover, after the bottom of the ship was covered with white iron, ordinary collisions would not damage the ship at all. Unless, straight hit the sharp reef. However, for navigators of the level of Columbus and Amerigo, that situation is very rare.

Ah Ben suddenly realized, and then warmly entertained Amerigo and his party. Today, although the concrete road from Colon Bay to Panama City on the Caribbean side has not yet been repaired, the road on land has been opened. As long as there is no heavy rain, the Port of Colon can already deliver some supplies to Panama City. In addition, Ah Ben will also exchange some sweet potatoes, peanuts and peppers from some nearby aborigines for food. What's more, Aben would sometimes send a boat out to sea for fishing. For example, to entertain Amerigo and his party this time, in addition to regular food such as bread and bacon, there are also fresh fish, roasted sweet potatoes, fried peanuts and other dishes, making Amerigo and his party who have been sailing on the sea for several months , very cool to eat.

After the reception was over, Aben began to order to help Amerigo and his party prepare fresh water for sailing.

The preparation method is very simple. It is to use the method of simulating canned steaming invented by Marin, put the whole bucket of fresh water in a large pot filled with water (you can also overflow the mouth of the bucket), seal it and steam it to boiling. In this way, the fresh water in the wooden barrel becomes boiling water, which is absolutely sterile. Then, the sailors put on gloves, used tools to pick up the bucket while it was hot, quickly plugged the cork and sealed it with mud, and then took it out to dry. When the surface of the wooden barrel and the sealing mud are dried, a sealed barrel of fresh water that can be stored for several months is ready.

According to Marin's prediction, this time Amerigo's fleet crossed the Pacific Ocean, because of the smooth sailing, it only took about 3 months. Therefore, it is not difficult to prepare enough fresh water. Moreover, within 3 months, the fresh water will never deteriorate.

Other than that, just help prepare some food. For example, Aben sent a lot of peanuts and sweet potatoes to Amerigo for them to eat during the voyage. Anyway, peanuts and sweet potatoes are also vegetables, they also contain vitamins, and they are relatively durable. Of course, Aben didn't understand these things. He only knew that Marin once said that it is right to eat more vegetables during the voyage. Moreover, he was right, the vitamin C content of sweet potatoes is very high. As long as they are stored properly, fresh sweet potatoes can be stored for three to four months, which is enough to survive this wave of voyages.

After preparing enough fresh water and food, Amerigo and the others got ready to go, boarded the ship again, left Panama City, and headed west all the way to Keelung, Taiwan Island of the Ming Empire, preparing to cross the Pacific Ocean...