The immortal medicine presented by Hu Shang is really harmful. If it weren't for the immortal medicine, the King of Qi would not promise a alliance; if the King of Qi did not promise a alliance, he would not have withdrawn his bride; without withdrawing his bride, there would be no such marriage dispute as this kind of current, and it would not have led to a war.

Zhu Ao had five people supporting the attack on Qi - Zuo Kai had no good feelings for the people of Qi. Qi had blocked the expansion of Yue before and instigated the former kings to attack Chu without boundaries, otherwise why would Yue have been here? On that day, the court began to discuss the attack on Qi, and the Grand Sima Mansion also asked to come up with a plan to attack Qi immediately. This was a punishment-style war, not a battle to seize cities and destroy the country.

The voyage from Yingdu to Panyu was long. Xiong Jing, who was in Panyu City, didn't know that the two countries of Qi and Chu were going to go to war. After more than ten days of waiting, the entire fleet finally arrived at Panyu Bay. The monsoon was approaching, and he had many things to explain.

"From Panyu to take the monsoon south, take the 290th direction, you can reach the Hongyang Strait for about a month, and you will reach the islands on the west side of the Strait..." The map is placed on the table, and Xiong Jing is explaining the route.

There are not many problems going southwest from Panyu Bay, and at the very least, they can be protected by the Nanyang cauldron of Java. The problem is that he does not know which latitude is lower in the Strait of Malacca or Sri Lanka. Moreover, if the monsoon is north wind, then going northwest through the Strait of Malacca is almost equivalent to a headwind.

Xiong Jing paused for a moment, looked at the thoughts of the Taotie and the Shan Ghost, and asked, "Do you know where this trip is difficult?"

"Report to the king, I don't know." The strait leading to the Red Ocean is thousands of miles away, and the two of them have no idea about the sea conditions there.

"Here." Xiong Jing pointed to the strait, "If the monsoon comes from the northwest, it may not be able to pass; second," Xiong Jing pointed to the mouth of the Ganges River in the northern part of the Bay of Bengal. "If the wind comes from the north, it may be difficult to reach against the wind. Third, it is unknown which is higher and which is lower than the latitude here or the exit of the strait. If the strait is high, you can reach it directly west; if the strait is low, the strait will be heading west to Nanzhou. Furthermore, there are many reefs above the South China Sea and there are many reefs in the strait."

"Dare you ask the king, how to choose a waterway?" The latitude and reefs can be overcome, and sailing against the wind will be a headache. Miuzhi looked at the map. The northwest-oriented Red Ocean Strait is located at the mouth of the Ganges River in the northern part of the Bay of Bengal. These two are indeed problems.

"I don't know that I am not honest, I can only explore it." Xiong Jing had no choice but to draw the Indian Ocean current, which is what they must know. "In the south of the red ocean, the ocean currents flow backwards, and this is the case all year round. In the north, due to the monsoon, the ocean currents also flow backwards in winter, forming circulation; in summer, the ocean currents flow forwards in direction, forming circulation. It is not difficult to travel to the southernmost island in winter, because the ocean currents flow backwards, from east to west.

Furthermore, with the East China Sea, there will be hurricanes in the red ocean every summer and autumn, and the return should not be in May, June, July, and August, but in March and April.”

Xiong Jing remembers these things. It is possible to travel between the Indian Ocean by cargo ships in one year to reach Sri Lanka, but to reach the mouth of the Ganges River in the northern part of the Bay of Bengal, due to headwinds, it is impossible to reach within a year.

This made him worry about another thing: if you can’t return once a year, what should you do if you transport grain in the future?

In this era, India had a population of more than 20 million, and most of them lived in the Indus and Ganges river basins. He imagined that cargo ships transport grain directly from the Ganges port to return to China. If the cargo ships cannot reach the mouth of the Ganges river in winter, things will be difficult to deal with. I can only hope for larger ports in northern Sri Lanka and east of the Indian subcontinent.

Or, arrive in Sri Lanka before the end of the winter monsoon, wait until the monsoon turns next spring, and follow the monsoon to reach the estuary of the Ganges River, and then try to leave the estuary of the Ganges River, enter the Strait of Malacca, and return before the winter monsoon arrives.

Xiong Jing began to worry too much. In fact, there are many ports on the east coast of the Indian subcontinent, just like the west coast, and merchant ships do not need to go to the northern part of the Bay of Bengal to enter the Ganges and trade with the Indians. Three hundred years later, the Roman historian Pliny complained: "Every year from our empire, the money from Seris and Arabs is less than 100 million Seris despairs." Among them, 55 million Seris despairs flowed into India."

1 Seth Desert = 1/4 Roman Dinari = 1 Dramak. Five-five million Seth Desert is 13.75 million Drakhmak, which is 2291 tarants, equivalent to fifty-nine tons and a half silver.

This is a lot of money. Although this was trade three hundred years later, before the 18th century, the world's population was extremely slow to reproduce. The more recognized figure is that the population was 100,000 to 20,000 BC, 3 million in the late Paleolithic period in 100,000 BC, 4 million in 100,000 BC, 50 million in 100,000 BC, and only exceeded 100 million in 500 BC.

In the 200th BC, that is, the later period of Xiongjing, the population reached 150 million. In the era of Pliny, the population was only 20 million, that is, more than 170 million people. The difference is three hundred years, but the population changes are not large. Moreover, the world's main population is concentrated in East Asia and South Asia. Europe only increased by about five million in these three hundred years, from 26 million in 200 BC to 31 million in the first century AD.

From this, we can also judge the tonnage of merchant ships required for world trade at this time. In the middle of the voyage, that is, in the 1680s, the world population was about 530 million, and at this time, the total tonnage of merchant ships in the Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean was about 1 million tons (excluding the tonnage of merchant ships in Arabia, India, and East Asian countries). According to this ratio, 150 million people with the same production level required at least 280,000 tons of merchant ships. Even if the production technology is backward, the improvement of navigation technology and shipbuilding technology has reduced the transportation cost, and the tonnage of merchant ships in the world should not be less than 150,000 tons.

As long as there is no war in India, the Eastern Mediterranean, trade has always been frequent. Xiong Jing did not know the Indian Ocean in ancient times and thought there was no port on the east coast of the Indian subcontinent. After thinking, he suggested that the fleet sail straight to Sri Lanka, and the more north the better the possible situation, the closer the north, the closer the estuary of the Ganges River.

If you miss Sri Lanka, then just go to the Gulf of Aden to see if the Pharaoh Canal can be navigated. He lucky enough to remember the Red Sea Monsoon: Suez can be arrived in autumn and winter, Gulf of Aden can be basically unavailable in spring. The Persian Gulf is also one of the targets of investigation. According to half of the Greeks, this place has been a prosperous place since ancient times, and trade has gathered. Unfortunately, Xiong Jing does not know the monsoon situation in the Persian Gulf, so he can only explore it by the fleet itself.

"Horse is the most important thing. If there is an eight-foot-high stallion, you must buy it back." After the discussion on the route, Xiong Jing once again explained the horse.

"If there is a stallion, he will take it back." Wu Gou Chang replied very seriously. The horse is eight feet long, and even if Xiong Jing doesn't remind him, he will get it back when he sees the eight feet long stallion.

"The business of merchants can be handled by a special person." Xiong Jing turned to trade, "not seeking profits, but seeking to open up sales. Especially agricultural tools, weapons, Lu Li, porcelain, and paper are the key. We must also be wary of pirates," Xiong Jing asked, "Do you know what a pirate ship is?"

"The pirate boat is large, and there are many soldiers. They fight to seize the money and goods of others." Wu Goulong's judgment is roughly accurate. The purpose of pirates is to grab ships and goods, and there must be many people to achieve this goal.

"This is a professional pirate." Xiong Jing used an uncommon word, "Ordinary maritime merchants are both business and thieves, and they must not be slackened."

"Yi." Wu Gou Chang thought that thieves were thieves, and he had never heard of both business and thieves, but the words were said by the king, so he immediately chose to believe them.

"If you encounter an unexpected accident, be sure to send a letter back to Ying." Xiong Jing said again. "Next year, the Vermilion Bird Sea Boat will be launched, so you can quickly reach the Red Sea, Persia, and India."

Speaking of pirates, Xiong Jing didn't know why he talked about the unexpected. In fact, the Shangui and Taotie were equipped with sufficient military weapons, and the sailors were also doubled. Two-thirds of them were the soldiers of the boat. In addition to using spears, they also specially practiced the Romans' tortoise shell shield formation.

"Yi." Wu Gou Chang felt a heat in his heart, and the heat flow from his back rushed to his brain, and he had goose bumps on his body.

"The unchecked is too cautious." Xiong Jing smiled mockingly. "In today's world, I think no pirate can seize the unchecked sea boat. The biggest worry is the big-wing warship."

"Big-winged Warship?" Wu Gou Chang was very surprised. He thought that only Chu State had a Big-winged Warship.

"There are many seas in the earth." Xiong Jing nodded, not feeling that it is not bad to admit that the Big Wing Warship comes from the Mediterranean. "The sail is not as fast as the Big Wing. If it is blocked by the Big Wing, it is better to ride on the boat and fight. If it hits..., don't act cautiously. There should be translators in each port and just hire money."

"Vei." Wu Gou Chang replied again, his face really darkened this time.

"If there is watermelon, be sure to bring some back. After the melon rots, there will be seeds, and if there is no melon, you will bring seeds." Xiong Jing deliberately said something delicious. He hasn't eaten watermelon for many years. "The same is true for cotton. Just carry cotton seeds, and bring back the spinning and weaving tools. All other things that are not available in the world and not available in the Chu State can be brought back."

In addition to horses, the importance of cotton cannot be underestimated. If cotton is available, cotton can be used to make cotton coats, and then cotton can be used to weave cloth. Knot hemp can be weaved, but there is one process for knot hemp, which is degumming. The so-called "the pond at the east gate can be fermented" refers to the degumming process, and you have to pound hard at night. Instead of this, it is better to plant cotton. Cotton rolling is more than degumming, which saves trouble. If the Chu people don't plant, they can teach Qi people to grow.

"There are also flax." Xiong Jing mentioned another important thing. "The sails are used as linen. However, the hemp in the world is different from the hemp in Xizhou. The hemp in Xizhou may be stronger than the hemp in the world. Using this to weave sails, it may be more solid."
Chapter completed!