As the "Flying Divine Wings" airborne ended, the time gradually arrived in late December, and the New Year was getting closer and closer. The New Year atmosphere in various places in the Sui Dynasty began to become thicker. It has been snowing heavily in Guanzhong in the past few days, and goose feathers were flying.

Like snowflakes, Daxing has been decorated into a world of ice and snow.

The snow was so heavy that it covered the road. Originally, this was not a good thing because it meant that this winter would be too cold. However, the old farmers were smiling because the heavy snow meant that the coming year would be a good year.

Auspicious snow heralds a good harvest is the experience accumulated by farmers from generation to generation. Although Yang Tong does not understand agriculture, he knows that whether it is to develop business or industry, the premise is that everyone will not go hungry. Agriculture has been the foundation of all industries since ancient times. If agriculture thrives, all industries will prosper.

With the decline of agriculture, all industries will wither. This is a hurdle that no dynasty can get around. This also strengthened his support for Zhou Shaozu's voyage to the Americas to find high-yielding crops. If he could find a few, it would be a supplement to traditional crops.

In particular, sweet potatoes have extremely strong vitality. You only need to cut off the branches and insert them into the soil to survive. The spreading vine leaves can be fed to livestock, and another crop will grow after each crop is cut.

In the Qianqiu Hall on the west side of the Liangyi Palace, Yang Tong and the civil and military ministers of the DPRK and China are receiving the sailing 'core team' headed by Zhou Shaozu, who has been in the dust for a long time. This team has a total of fifteen generals. Because they have lived at sea for a long time, their skin is dark and shiny.

He seemed extremely energetic.

"General Zhou, why do you suddenly want to go sailing?" Yang Tong asked with a smile.

"Your Majesty," Zhou Shaozu cupped his hands and said, "In the end, I will go out to sea for training from time to time, and I will encounter all kinds of weird things. For example, the dragon sucks water when the sky meets the water. For example, the bottom of the sea will sometimes roll like boiling water. The city wall is as high as

Waves are even more common. Hurricanes pass through every summer. Strong winds roll up huge waves like mountains and roar towards the islands. Wherever they pass, even the biggest trees are uprooted... Over time, people will eventually think

Traveling across the ocean, seeing those weird things, even if you die under the huge waves, you will still feel very happy..."

Yang Tong understood that this group of people were really bored staying on the island. When they were idle, they became full of curiosity about the vast sea, and gradually came to the consensus of going on a long voyage. But this was a good thing.

"In addition, from time to time we see mountains, boulders, palaces, and even people and animals appearing in the vast sea. Overseas fairy mountains and Penglai Fairy Island may really exist in the sea." Zhou Shaozu added.

When everyone heard it, they were upset.

The emperors of the past dynasties had a crazy obsession with immortality. Not to mention Qin Shihuang, who built his mausoleum into mountains, rivers and lakes, and the stars on the earth, and even Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty were destroyed by the desire for "immortality"... It can be said that the Yue Dynasty

It’s the wise emperors who become more and more obsessed with immortality. It’s not that they want to be emperor forever, but they are people who pursue perfection. They feel that other than themselves, their descendants are not as good as themselves, so they hope that the empire will be perfect in their own hands.

, and then handed it over to future generations, but life is limited, so they hope to obtain immortal magic to extend their lives, so that the empire can be perfected step by step according to their own vision.

Emperor Yang Tong was also a wise and powerful emperor. If he was bewitched by Zhou Shaozu and made the mistake of seeking immortals and demons in the sea, he would be in big trouble.

It’s scary to think about it…

"That's a mirage, don't believe it." Yang Tong, who didn't know the minister was worried, shook his head, "Actually, mirages are not unique to the sea. Snowfields, deserts, and lakes all appear from time to time. Hu merchants come and go in the desert.

They have seen mirages everywhere. When walking on the desert, they often find that the oasis seems to be close in front of them, but it is far away in the horizon. Many hungry and thirsty merchants move towards the oasis, and end up getting lost in the desert. These

The oasis seems to be a hope of survival, but in fact it is a death trap."

Speaking of this, Yang Tong solemnly said: "There are no fairy islands and sacred mountains on the sea, and the elixir of life is even more illusory. As for Xu Fu, when people didn't know about the Japanese country, they thought he really went to the fairy mountains and fairy islands. But as time goes by,

The Japanese country is well known, and Xu Fu's whereabouts are no longer a secret. If you discover new islands and countries in the sea and are regarded as fairy mountains, a hundred years later, with the development of navigation, people at that time must have felt

, it’s the same as us who are familiar with Japan.”

It's not impossible to go to sea, but there is no fairy island in the sea, let alone the elixir of life! If Zhou Shaozu and others were stupid enough to search for immortals, high-yielding crops would not be available. Therefore, Yang Tong emphasized that in order to completely dispel their desire to seek immortals, not only correcting

His erroneous views led him to take out several large mirrors and conduct a light refraction experiment, deciphering the secret of mirages on the spot.

"I will be ashamed." Zhou Shaozu and others looked ashamed, but when they looked at Yang Tong, they no longer had the same suspicion as before.

"The way of light and shadow seems very magical, but after we understand its principles, we will not be confused by some illusions."

"Here."

"I strongly support you to go sailing, but I am not asking you to find imaginary fairy mountains. Instead, I am asking you to draw navigation charts, explore unknown areas on the sea, and establish connections with unknown countries."

"Your Majesty, drawing a navigation chart will not make it clear, but establishing diplomatic relations with an unknown country, what is the explanation?" Zhou Shaozu was a little confused.

"The unknown country is a vast area beyond our knowledge. Take the Western Region of the Sui Dynasty as an example. Everyone knows the Western Regions west of the Sui Dynasty, and everyone knows Persia west of the Western Regions. However, there is also a powerful Byzantium to the west of Persia. However,

We don't know what country is west of Byzantium. This is true in the west, but what about the east?" Yang Tong paused and then said: "We know that there are Japanese slaves in the East China Sea, but what country is east of the Japanese slaves? This is us

Unknown existence, there may not be a country in this sea that is more developed and more powerful than the Great Sui Dynasty. If we find these unknown countries one by one, we can then open up the Maritime Silk Road and open up new trade channels for our Great Sui Dynasty.

, and contribute to the prosperity of the Sui Dynasty."

"I second the proposal!" Yang Gongren has been thinking about the pros and cons, and after making up his mind, he said: "The biggest feature of the Maritime Silk Road is the convenient transportation, large ship capacity, the ability to sail day and night, and no dangerous terrain to block it. If we find these countries, we will

It has completely opened up countless routes and is far more efficient than the land Silk Road."

Luo Shixin hesitated for a moment and said: "Our navy can no longer play a big role at home. How about going to the sea to declare the power of the Sui Dynasty."

"This is not possible." Yang Tong objected categorically. If he had listened to Luo Shixin's suggestion, the Sui Dynasty would have made the same mistake as the Ming Dynasty.

The most famous diplomatic event of the Ming Dynasty was Zheng He's seven voyages to the West.

The length, scale, and scope of Zheng He's voyages to the Western Seas were unprecedented in the feudal dynasty. Zheng He's naval soldiers on each voyage to the Western Seas exceeded 27,000. If you include the crew and various logistics

The number of personnel in the mighty fleet is at least 50,000.

Later generations have given countless praises to the seven voyages to the West, which promoted the power of the Ming Dynasty and made great contributions to the political, economic and cultural friendly relations among Southeast Asian countries. Some even say that it strengthened the ties between the Ming Dynasty and overseas countries.

, is a great event in the navigation industry.

But Yang Tong believed that it was an act of the nouveau riche to show off their wealth. There were countless people in the country who were in need of food, but those in power rewarded the Ming Dynasty's wealth and anointing to the Western countries, bringing economic benefits to the Western countries, and the Ming Dynasty

The boy who scattered wealth gained nothing, except that the country's power was emptied, and there was no benefit at all. It is no exaggeration to say that it was an act of defeating the country.

Compared with Zheng He's seven voyages to the West to show off his wealth, Yang Tong admired Columbus, Vasco da Gama, and Magellan more. They discovered the American continent with a fleet of less than 300 people, opened up new shipping routes, and inspired a craze for ocean navigation in Europe.

Bring huge benefits to your country.

"If we don't let other countries see the power of our Sui Dynasty, how can they have the confidence to trade with us in the Sui Dynasty?" Luo Shixin said in confusion.

"The purpose of opening up maritime trade routes is to consolidate the country of the Sui Dynasty. If sailing is a waste of people and money, then what is the point of sailing? Moreover, we can attract so many kings and envoys from other countries to come to Daxing, relying on the overall strength of the Sui Dynasty.

Rather than just making people jealous of the honor guard." Yang Tong shook his head.

"The Holy Spirit's words make sense." Li Jing agreed: "I don't even know if there is a country in the vast sea to the east of the Japanese slaves. I rashly send the navy there in a mighty manner. Who are you protesting against? The sea fish?"

Everyone burst into laughter.

Luo Shixin scratched his head and stopped talking. He felt that he was really not a candidate for politics.

"Your Majesty, Wei Chen also supports navigation and hopes to open up the Maritime Silk Road, but Wei Chen has a problem." Yang Shanhui stood up and saluted Yang Tong.

"But it doesn't matter." Yang Tong said.

"Here." Yang Shanhui bowed his hand and said in a deep voice: "The Silk Road developed by the Han Dynasty went through a lot of hardships. It took nearly a thousand years of improvement to reach today's scale. During this period, countless lives and costs were paid. And we are now

We know nothing about the vast sea, and there is no reference at sea. If the fleet is blown off course by strong winds and waves while sailing, how can we ensure the accuracy of the route? All Weichen believe that ensuring that the fleet does not lose its way at sea is a top priority.

It is very serious. If this problem cannot be solved, the risk of navigation will be too great."

As a famous general of the Sui Dynasty, Yang Shanhui was very sensitive to the direction of the terrain, and he immediately realized the huge problems in navigation.

As soon as these words came out, even Zhou Shaozu and others frowned deeply. If this problem was not solved, their sailing would be an act of death.

"When General Zhou and others submitted their request for navigation instructions, I had already asked the Ministry of Industry to further improve the compass and use the thread suspension method to invent a compass needle suitable for navigation."

Shen Kuo, a famous scientist and reformer in the Southern Song Dynasty, recorded four methods for making compasses in his "Mengxi Bi Tan", namely the water floating method, the bowl lip twisting method, the nail twisting method, and the thread hanging method.

The water float method is to put a few rushes on the magnetic needle to float on the water surface, which can indicate the direction. The bowl lip rotation method and the nail rotation method are to place the magnetic needle on the edge of the bowl and on the nail cap to indicate the direction. As for the thread suspension method

Just apply some wax to the middle of the magnetic needle, stick a piece of silk on it, and hang it in a windless place to indicate the direction.

Disadvantages of the water float method: A slight sloshing of the water surface will affect the measurement results. Although the bowl-lip spin method and the nail spin method are flexible in rotation, they are easy to fall and are also not suitable for sailing in constant wind and waves. The compass made by the thread suspension method

It is undoubtedly the safest method.

Although these methods are simple, they all embody the supreme wisdom and hard work of the ancients. Even compasses in later generations are made based on these principles.

Compared with compasses that only have eight rough directions, the new generation compass made of celestial stems and earthly branches not only adopts a more reliable hanging method, but also indicates more accurate directions. It may not be as good as the compasses of later generations, but it can be used to identify the correct direction.

The route direction is more than adequate.

When the compass was taken and tested by being beaten, all the ministers found that its direction remained unchanged and they all felt relieved.

Yang Tong asked someone to take out the world map he had drawn and dozens of hand-drawn books on crops that had been treated with moisture-proof treatment, and handed them to Zhou Shaozu, "Your mission this time is not to trade, let alone conquer foreign countries, but to exercise

Form a fleet suitable for ocean navigation and draw a detailed chart. You learn as you go and draw the chart as you go."

"The plants on this booklet were drawn based on Hu Shang's description. These things are non-toxic and edible. If you encounter them, you can collect them for supply... These are high-yielding crops. If you get some seeds, then my great Sui general

No worries about food shortage…”

Before the meeting ended, Zhou Shaozu and others felt extremely moved after listening to Yang Tong's tireless advice and teachings.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. The general and others will definitely walk all the way, learn all the way, carefully explore this vast sea, and open up a maritime Silk Road channel for Your Majesty and our Sui Dynasty. Even if there is only one person left, we will bring these crop seeds with us."

Come back." Zhou Shaozu took a stack of maps and hand-drawn books with both hands.

"Don't say these unlucky words! Remember, safety is the priority in everything. No matter what happens, you must bring your soldiers and crew back alive with me! As long as you return safely, your feats will be engraved in the annals of history. It is completely unfair.

inferior to Zhang Qian of the Han Dynasty."

"I will definitely live up to the great trust of the Holy One."
Chapter completed!