Chapter 329 Sailing at Sea

As March came, the temperature began to warm up, and spring plowing entered the preparation stage.

At the same time, the Tenglongwei merchant ship was about to go to Jiangnan.

Yang Zhengshan came to the dock again that day.

At the dock, a large number of goods were already being loaded, and these goods were all provided by various merchants.

For example, dry goods were provided by the Lu family, the Yang family, and the Tianqing Sword Sect.

Another example is medicinal materials, which were provided by the Hengdao Sect, the Tianqing Sword Sect, and the Jing'an Shang Family.

The sources of furs were more mixed, and each family provided some.

As for the serpentine jade, it was provided by the Liao'an Zhang family.

These goods were bought in the name of the government office, and after being transported to Jiangnan, the money from the sale also belonged to the government office.

Looking at the busy dock, Yang Zhengshan asked Yu Tonghai: "Are you ready?"

"Yes, everything is ready, and we can set off early tomorrow morning!" Yu Tonghai said.

For this voyage, Tenglongwei dispatched a total of 17 battlefields and 8 merchant ships.

The warships include one Dafu ship, two Haicang ships, four sentry ships, and ten eagle ships.

Warships also carry some goods. Together with eight merchant ships, the total value of the goods carried is about 80,000 taels. If all are sold, they can earn almost 20,000 taels of silver.

The profit is not high, which is normal. After all, it is shipped to Jiangnan. The profit is actually the freight saved compared to land transportation.

The most profitable part of maritime trade is naturally foreign trade. Circulating within Dayong is just making convenient money, without much profit.

However, this is the first time that Tenglongwei has gone to sea. The main purpose is to accumulate experience, and making money is secondary.

This time, Yu Tonghai is the general leader to coordinate all affairs, and Sun Cheng is the steward to assist Yu Tonghai in managing the fleet and handling commercial cargo shipping transactions.

Yu Tonghai is good at naval warfare, but he does not know much about maritime trade, so he needs Sun Cheng's assistance.

Sun Cheng has been sailing all his life and knows more about the sea than Yu Tonghai.

To be honest, Sun Cheng is the talent that Yang Zhengshan values ​​the most.

Although he is older and an ordinary person, he is familiar with the routes of all the maritime dynasties around Dayong, and has a deep understanding of the forces in the northeastern and southeastern waters of Dayong. He is knowledgeable and experienced.

In addition to Yu Tonghai and Sun Cheng, Yang Zhengshan and Wu Chongzhe will also learn on the ship.

That's right, this time Yang Zhengshan will also follow the fleet to Jiangnan. He is on the ship with a learning attitude. Although he has learned a lot about sailing during this period, he is still a landlubber and has never really been to sea.

This is the first time that the Tenglongwei Navy has gone to sea, and it is also Yang Zhengshan's first time to go to sea.

From Tenglongwei to Jiangnan, the route distance is about 3,000 miles, and the speed of sea vessels in this world is about 60 miles per hour, up to 80 miles with a tailwind, and up to 40 miles against the wind.

On average, it is about 60 miles per hour, and it can sail more than 1,400 miles a day. A round trip, plus loading and unloading of goods in the middle, takes about eight to ten days.

Of course, this is the case when everything goes well. If it doesn't go well, it may drift on the sea and never come back.

Yang Zhengshan checked the dock for a while, then returned to Tenglongwei and arranged the things in the yamen.

In fact, there is nothing to arrange. Now everything in the Weisi Yamen is on the right track. Even if he leaves for a month, it will not have any impact.

There was no conversation that night. The next morning, it was just dawn.

Yang Zhengshan and Yu Qingyi got up, and Yu Qingyi put a thick fox fur coat on Yang Zhengshan.

"Come back early, otherwise Mingzhao will miss you!" Yu Qingyi said softly.

Yang Zhengshan laughed, "Will the lady miss me?"

Yu Qingyi rolled her eyes at him.

Yang Zhengshan put his arms around her waist and kissed her fair face hard.

"I will miss my wife!"

"Haha~~"

"Stop it, Qingxia and the others are still outside the door!" Yu Qingyi said shyly.

Yang Zhengshan restrained his playful expression and stretched his sleeves, "It's getting late, I should leave, and I'll leave the house to you!"

"Yeah!"

Yu Qingyi nodded.

The two of them didn't say anything more and walked out of the bedroom one after another.

Yu Qingyi was originally a child of the rivers and lakes, and she didn't have so many little girlish feelings of being reluctant to part. Although she was thinking that Yang Zhengshan could come back earlier, she would not say it on her face.

"Greetings to the master!"

Walking out of the bedroom, Qingxia, Hongyun, Song Mama and other maids and servants all greeted them, and Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly, "You take good care of my wife at home!"

"Yes!" The maids and servants responded.

Yang Zhengshan nodded to Yu Qingyi again, and then strode out of the house.

Outside the gate, twenty personal followers and Yang Mingcheng were waiting with a group of guards.

Twenty of his followers would go out to sea with him. Yang Mingcheng and his men would only send them to the dock. After they boarded the ship, they would bring their horses back.

"Let's go!"

Yang Zhengshan jumped on his horse and galloped towards the dock.

In March, Liaodong was still very cold, especially in the morning. The moon was bright and the stars were sparse, and the cold wind was raging. Even if Yang Zhengshan was wearing a fur coat, he still couldn't keep out the cold.

When they arrived at the dock, the warships and merchant ships on the dock were ready, waiting for them to set off.

Without further ado, Yang Zhengshan simply said a few words to Yang Mingcheng, and then boarded the Dafu ship surrounded by Yu Tonghai, Sun Cheng and others.

Then, a series of shouts rang out, and the boatmen raised the sails and adjusted the direction. One by one, the boats slowly left the dock.

The speed of sailing was a bit slow. It took half an hour for the big boat Yang Zhengshan was on to leave the dock, but the speed soon increased. Yang Zhengshan stood at the bow and felt it. The speed should be more than 30 kilometers per hour.

It is still March now. The northeastern sea area of ​​Dayong is mainly northwest wind, which means that they will have a favorable voyage next.

More than 20 large ships are distributed around, floating on the vast sea, which makes Yang Zhengshan feel proud and many poems from his previous life emerge in his mind.

"The wind blows the white waves and rolls the light smoke, and the vast sea allows the sails to sail."

"The vast waves shake the sky, and the vastness purifies people's hearts."

...

Well, there are not many, Yang Zhengshan can barely remember these two sentences.

"Sir, it's cold outside, you can go to the ship's tower to rest!" Sun Cheng came behind Yang Zhengshan and said after making sure that all the ships had caught up.

Yang Zhengshan turned around and smiled: "Okay, Mr. Sun, please chat with me!"

"Haha, please, sir!" Sun Cheng's attitude was still very humble.

The Dafu ship is as big as a building. As the main battleship of the navy, this Dafu ship is not only fully equipped with various equipment, but also very gorgeously decorated.

There are three floors on the ship. The top floor is a terrace for observation. The third floor is the captain's room. The second floor is a rest space, and the lowest floor leads to the cabin.

The cabin also has three floors. The lower floor is equipped with ballast stones, the second floor is a place to store supplies, such as fresh water, food, etc., and the second floor is the living area for soldiers and boatmen.

Yang Zhengshan ignored Yu Tonghai who was commanding the fleet on the third floor, and took Sun Cheng to the lounge on the second floor.

This lounge is still very large. Not only does it have four or five rooms for sleeping, but also a tea room and a study.

As the main ship, this was originally a place for the officers to rest. Since Yang Zhengshan was on board, he naturally occupied the lounge here.

When Yang Zhengshan came to the lounge, his attendants had already made tea.

"Come, sit down and talk!"

"Thank you, sir!"

The two sat down, and Yang Zhengshan smiled and said, "Can you talk to me about the forces on the sea?"

"What aspects do you want to know?" Sun Cheng said.

There are many forces on the sea, and the composition is also very complicated.

Yang Zhengshan thought for a while and said, "Let's talk about the forces in our Liaohai first!"

Liaohai is the sea area in the eastern part of Liaodong.

"There are not many forces in Liaohai. Liaohai is adjacent to our Darong in the west, Li Sheng Dynasty in the north, and De Sheng Dynasty in the east. The only special place in this range is the sea area around Heishan Island!" Sun Cheng said.

"Heishan Island?" Yang Zhengshan's expression moved slightly.

"Well!" Sun Cheng stood up, took a sea chart from the cabinet next to him and opened it, "Sir, please look, this is Heishan Island."

This sea chart is very simple, but you can see many islands in the Liaohai area from it.

Heishan Island is probably located in the south of the Lisheng Dynasty, far from the Liaodong area, and close to the Desheng Dynasty.

"What's so special about this Heishan Island?" Yang Zhengshan asked.

Sun Cheng said: "There was nothing special about Heishan Island before. About ten years ago, a group of pirates suddenly appeared on Heishan Island. This group of pirates was very cruel. They not only hijacked ships, but also killed people, and their strength was extremely strong."

"Now in the Liaohai Sea, merchant ships have reached a consensus, that is, if they encounter Heishan Island pirates, they will abandon the ship directly. Abandoning the ship still has a chance of survival, and staying on the ship will only lead to death!"

Yang Zhengshan frowned slightly, "Are you saying that the pirates on Heishan Island appeared more than ten years ago?"

"Not entirely right, there are more than 30 large and small islands on Heishan Island. There used to be pirates here. There are pirates everywhere, but those pirates are relatively weak and act fairly. They usually only rob ships and don't kill people! "

"About ten years ago, for some unknown reason, their style of behavior changed. Almost all merchant ships that encountered them were killed, but they seemed to rarely attack, only two or three times a year! "

"In recent years, the route from the Li Sheng Dynasty to the De Sheng Dynasty has changed. Everyone deliberately goes around Heishan Island, and the number of merchant ships robbed and killed by them has become less and less!"

Yang Zhengshan's eyes flashed, and his mind was full of thoughts. He felt that this Heishan Island was a little strange, but he couldn't tell where it was strange.

"About three years ago, the Li Sheng Dynasty sent a navy to attack Heishan Island, but it was defeated in the end! Since then, Heishan Island has become even more famous." Sun Cheng continued.

"They can even defeat the navy of the Li Sheng Dynasty?" Yang Zhengshan was even more surprised.

Although the Li Sheng Dynasty was only a small dynasty, it could be described as weak compared to Dayong, but no matter how weak it was, it was still a dynasty.