Returning with a full load of extras

Ganning set sail in May, and by early July, it sailed to the northernmost end of Hokkaido that Zhou Yu had fully explored last year, the southern half of the Chiba Islands, which is to Zega Island and Defu Island.

The time was still very sufficient, so Gan Ning decided to sail at least one and a half months further north on Defu Island.

Especially at this time, it was late summer and early autumn, and the tropical island-seeking birds he brought with him were still available.

Unlike when Zhou Yu came last year, because it was the cold winter month, birds were unwilling to fly far away to find islands. Birds growing under warm conditions were not adapted to the water and soil in the severe cold.

With the blessing of the warship birds looking for the island, Gan Ning easily discovered north of Fu Island. In the direction of the previous island chain, there was obviously a subsequent island chain. He was very calm and the entire army was rushing to the north, which seemed to be endless, without fear.

On the ninth day of the seventh month, although Ganning missed three or four small islands north of Defu Island that were not strictly on the island chain extension line, those islands generally only cover an area of ​​more than ten square kilometers.

However, Gan Ning successfully discovered the "Xinzhi Island" which is more than the northwest of Defu Island, about 230 or 40 miles away.

This island also has an area of ​​more than 300 square kilometers. Although compared with Defu Island and Zhaga Island, it is only 20% or 30% of the latter, it is also the seventh largest island in the Chiba Islands and the fourth largest island discovered by the Han Navy.

And because it is also an island with active volcanoes, although there is no volcanic smoke and clouds at present, the volcanic cone is very high, three or four hundred feet long, and you can see it from a distance.

After discovering a new island in the north that Zhou Yu did not discover last year, Ganning's morale was greatly boosted. Walking back from the northernmost end of Shinzhi Island, it is already 1,300 miles from the northeastern end of Hokkaido, but it is only 1,100 miles from the tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula, which belonged to the later generations of the northeast, was only 1,100 miles from the tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula, which belonged to the Russians in the northeast.

Therefore, the journey of the Han people to Kamchatka and even the Aleutian Islands was officially over half, nearly two-thirds.

The rapid development of Ganning continued to use warship birds and island cloud observation techniques, and these practical navigation experiences became more and more proficient. In mid-July, Ganning discovered three or five islands in the Chiba Islands in a row, all of which were recorded on the nautical charts and repeatedly surveyed and checked.

In late July, we finally arrived at the northernmost part of the Chiba Islands and the last big island with active volcanoes.

July 28th, this was a day remembered by later history books. Gan Ning thought he saw a new island in the northeast direction and continued to voyage, but as he walked, he sailed for more than 400 miles for three consecutive days, but he did not see the end of this new "island".

In amazement, a new expectation arose in Gan Ning's heart: Could it be that this place is not an island, but a part of the mainland?!

In fact, he really guessed it right because he had arrived at the Kamchatka Peninsula.

Because it is already sailing against the land and not even the Mid-Autumn Festival, you don’t have to worry about not being able to return to the south before the cold (Siberia is still very hot in summer, it can reach 30 degrees, but autumn will quickly get colder).

So Gan Ning insisted on advancing rapidly and told the soldiers that they would continue to advance north rapidly for half a month. If the end of the island is not discovered on the Mid-Autumn Festival, then return and determine that this place is indeed a continent rather than an island.

The sailors also accepted this order, feeling that it could be executed without any risks, and finally sailed along the west coast of the peninsula within half a month!

This length is almost the same as the previous distance from Hokkaido to the southern end of Kamchatka. I still haven't found the end of the Kamchatka Peninsula.

Instead, the two islands at the westernmost end of the Aleutian Islands, about 300 miles away from the coast of Kamchatka, were discovered, with an area of ​​about 1,000 square kilometers.

Going further east, Gan Ning can actually discover that the Aleutian Islands belong to the American Alaska.

However, because there is an islandless area of ​​nearly 700 miles between the Russian part of the Aleutian Islands and the United States of Atu Island. This place exceeds the extreme observation distance of using the direct use of the warship bird and the Polynesian Island Cloud Viewing Technique.

Moreover, the Mid-Autumn Festival has passed, and the weather is rapidly becoming cold. Now Ganning is more than three thousand miles away from the northernmost end Zhou Yu has been to last year, and two thousand miles north.

If it were placed in the Central Plains, the gap between north and south was two thousand miles, which was basically equivalent to the difference in latitude between Youzhou and Yangzhou. Of course, the climate in autumn and winter would be much colder.

Zhou Yu was frostbite and frozen to death by Zhou Yu at the beginning of the twelfth lunar month. Gan Ning was in the location, and it is estimated that he would be frostbite and frozen to death in the October of the lunar calendar.

After careful consideration, Gan Ning also believed in his words and decided that the future would be long. He only explored about two-thirds of the coastline on the southeast coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula (he didn't know that he had walked two-thirds because he had not reached the end). In addition, the two islands belonging to the Russians in the later generations of the Aleutian Islands marked their locations and returned.

Of course, he had the chart given by Zhou Yu last year, so he knew that there was the Chiba Islands at the northeast end of Hokkaido, and there was Sakhalin Island, which grew giant vegetables on the extension line at the northwest end. Gan Ning didn't want to waste time, so he didn't choose to travel directly to Hokkaido when he returned.

But in late August, he returned to the tip of the southern part of the Kamchatka Peninsula and sailed directly westward, using the latitude navigation method to fix the north and south coordinates. For more than half a month, under a slightly headwind, he actually sailed 1,500 miles and arrived at the east coast of Sakhalin Island.

He confirmed it from the latitude chart and found that his location was at least one thousand miles northerly than the southern end of Sakhalin Island that Zhou Yu discovered last year!

In other words, either this is part of the mainland, or this large island has a north-south length of more than a thousand miles!

In addition to being shocked, Gan Ning thought that Zhou Yu found a giant dish here last year, and the latitude here is not as northern and cold as Kamchatka, which he originally arrived. Zhou Yu stayed at the southern end of Sakhalin Island until the middle of the twelfth lunar month last year, and he should be able to stay until October.

Gan Ning made a bold decision to circle Sakhalin Island for a week to find the truth.

From mid-September to the end of October, for a full month and a half, Ganning went north at 800 miles, sailed three to four hundred miles east-west, and then went south for nearly two thousand miles south, with a total mileage of 3,200 miles, which was considered to have taken Sakhalin Island three-quarters circle and returned to the southern end of Sakhalin Island where Zhou Yu arrived last year.

While Gan Ning tried to draw in detail, he roughly drew the coastline of Sakhalin Island and the Tatar Strait on the mainland. The surveyors and draftsmen carried in his fleet were also trained by Zhuge Liang himself. He was very dedicated and had a reliable level of business.

Finally, it became the first Han people's history to survey and map the entire island of Sakhalin Island around the coast and the Tatar Strait.

During the process, Gan Ning also needed three or four times to replenish supplies, killing the savages of the Ghost Kingdom to obtain food, including vegetables and fresh meat. He also tried to search for a batch of giant vegetables as much as possible. Because of the time and preparation, the types and seeds they were plundered far exceed Zhou Yu's harvest last year.

Starting from November, Gan Ning also entered the road to return from Hokkaido. However, in order to gain more achievements, he did not want to follow the old path that Zhou Yu had taken, so he chose to go to the sea of ​​Japan on the mainland coast.

The first time I surveyed and mapped the maps along the outer Khingan Mountains and the northern eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula. Finally, I arrived at Busan Prefecture from the coast of the Korean Peninsula, and then crossed the sea safely, entering the Seto Inland Sea in the first lunar month.

Anyway, no matter which way you take, the distance is actually not too different. At least in Gan Ning's mind, he felt that it was not too different at first.

Later, when I actually sailed, I found that the corner node bay on the east coast of the Korean Peninsula had to go deeper into it. It was only when the matter came to an end. It was too late for the sailors to regret it, and they all arrived.

However, because of this roundabout, Gan Ning also discovered two bays that seemed to be able to block wind at least on the terrain, and it seemed that there was potential to develop into a port in the future. As for the specific hydrological conditions of the waterway, he had no time to conduct a detailed survey this time, so he just marked it on the chart.

The two anchorages found around the Korean Peninsula Bay are Vladivostok in later generations and the Yuansan Port Bay in North Korea towards the Japanese Sea.

Ganning is considered to have discovered a new alternative port for North Korea and Northeast China in the direction of the Japanese Sea, which is also a merit.

...

After Gan Ning returned to Osaka Prefecture, Li Su met and commended him as usual, and also fully listened to Gan Ning's report.

In addition to geographical discoveries, there are several more critical information in the information brought back by Gan Ning: First, Sakhalin Island should be the northernmost part of the currently discovered territory, with large-scale agriculture.

At the southern tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula, there are also some ghosts who grow some vegetables a little, but they do not grow grains. Therefore, the local people's dietary structure is only seafood, beast meat and vegetables, and no rice, flour and grain.

In contrast, the ripped ghosts on Sakhalin Island have food, which is roughly a kind of black wheat, with a short growth period and a much lower yield than the rice and wheat in the Central Plains. However, the advantage is that they can spend the winter in an extremely cold environment and harvest in autumn in early summer.

Gan Ning not only provided this information, but also brought back a lot of rye samples or seeds.

The crop of rye, which originates from ordinary barley and wheat, is the Mesopotamia of the Middle East and is considered a bifurcated subspecies of primitive wheat. Because of its cold tolerance, after differentiation, it quickly spreads from the Middle East to the north to the Siberian primitive people, spreading to the east to Kamchatka and Sakhalin Island, and to the west to the Scandinavia Peninsula in Northern Europe.

In later China, the inland Xinjiang area, which is relatively close to the north, is the largest rye cultivation area in China because its environment is similar to the Persian Plateau in the Middle East.

However, during the Han Dynasty, the Han people obviously did not pay attention to this kind of crop that was relatively low-yield in the Western Regions, and did not expect to deliberately introduce rye with much worse yields than ordinary barley and wheat, which was dark under the lamp.

Gan Ning's exploration of rye this time is not the real "first time for the Han people to discover rye", but it is indeed "the first time the Han people realize that rye is a grain that can grow in extremely cold environments."

The discovery and introduction of this trait means that Zhao Yun will gain more advantages in the future development of the Northeast. In places where it is not by big rivers and lacks modern irrigation, rice cannot be grown. At least, you can plant rye.

Rye does not need to be fertilized and watered. The labor intensity is very low. It is enough to rely on natural irrigation by snow and rain. The organic nutrients of the black soil in the northeast are also naturally sufficient. It is especially suitable for an environment where the land is vast and sparse, the land is not valuable and the manpower is valuable.

Even if a mu of land (standard mu, not a mu of Chinese mu, and a mu of Chinese mu must be 0.3) can only harvest two stones of grain, about two or three hundred kilograms of Chinese mu. But as long as there are enough fertile vacant land in the Northeast Plain, a person will only plough and sow, without watering and fertilizing, and it will be fine to plant hundreds of mu extensively, and it can still feed a lot of people.

In addition, except for the above areas where agricultural production is found in Ganning, other places, including all islands in the Chiba Islands, and the two islands in the westernmost part of the Aleutian Islands are mainly volcanic islands.

There are certain trees on the island, but not many. There are many trees in the Chiba Islands. Aleutian has almost no big trees, only shrubs and tundra. They are all blown by cold tides and strong winds, and the big trees are extinct.

These islands do not even grow vegetables, but they live in savages from fishing and hunting nations, but they live entirely on meat and fish. They eat moss lichens without vegetarian food (the purpose is to supplement vitamins, but Gan Ning does not know the scientific principles. This is just the survival instinct experience summarized by the savages over thousands of years)

This means that if you want to continue voyages in the future and obtain supplies from these places, you will not be able to replenish fresh vegetables and grain, and you can only replenish meat and fresh water.

...

"Xingba did a very good job in this exploration! Although Gongjin first helped you summarize the experience of monsoon, he gained more than Gongjin last year. He found that 'rye' was a great achievement. He would continue to work hard in the future. When he returned to the Central Plains next year, he would summarize all the contributions of Xingba, indicating that you are the right general, and additionally a fief."

After listening to the report, Li Su directly expressed a huge reward to Gan Ning, and Gan Ning was also very excited.

Before, he made few military contributions to Fusang and Sanhan, and both he and Taishici stopped at the General of the Four Conquests.

Now, he can finally make more contributions to the geographical discovery than Taishi Ci, and also discover new food crops that were not originally introduced in Zhongyuan!

Even if it is not high enough and even has a low yield, it has at least adapted to some cold arable land in the north that the Han people in the Central Plains could not have developed! It can also be regarded as a supplement to a shortcoming of the Han people's farming.

It is not an exaggeration to say that this contribution is 10% of the achievements of "Shennong". Isn't it too much? It is a joyful congratulation to the right general.

In Liu Bei's court, the old system of the Han Dynasty was always adopted, with the generals in front, back, left and right, and the status was higher than that of the four battles and four towns, second only to the Great Husband.

When he arrived at the right general, he was one level higher than Taishi Ci and Gao Shun! He was also two rounds higher than Xu Huang and others from the four towns.

Only Zhou Tai, because he was lucky enough to follow Zhuge Liang, caught up with the final interception of Cao Cao and took Cao Cao's head. He was also considered a general in front, back and left and right.

Nowadays, there are only people like Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and Ma Chao, above Gan Ning and Zhou Tai. They are equivalent to the highest status among the generals except for the Five Tiger Generals in history (higher than Huang Zhong, Huang Zhong came later in this life)

"The last general is promoted to Prime Minister Xie! Prime Minister is impartial! No general is dissatisfied!" In a very happy mood, Gan Ning of course gave Li Sulian a great gift.

...

When Zhou Yu, who was in Yueshan County, learned that Gan Ning had received rewards, it was already halfway through the first lunar month of 209, and the Spring Festival had already passed.

Zhou Yu heard that Gan Ning was promoted to the right general after Li Su returned to the Central Plains, and he was eager to make contributions.

After all, he felt that although Gan Ning was reckless, he discovered more and was more determined in voyages, he summarized the monsoon rules and exploratory navigation methods at the beginning.

Of course, he couldn't say he was jealous. After all, he was a surrendered general and his status was much lower than that of Gan Ning. Even if he made contributions now, he had just changed from a miscellaneous general with a messy title to the lowest-level four-X general, and had no competition with Gan Ning.

Zhou Yu just felt that the Prime Minister had promised him to farm well in 208 and to have a clear division of labor with Gan Ning.

During the slack season between 208 and 209, he had been thinking about this matter. Finally, he built the docks, simple shipyards, cities, and logging farms in Yueshan County in the area of ​​Niigata in the later years.

In order to rush to work, Zhou Yu didn't care about Fusang slaves who died thousands of people and tens of thousands of Essians. He just opened up land in a new swamp plain and built a city port by the sea. It was very difficult. In the primitive living environment, it was normal for early slaves to have a high mortality rate. Anyway, as long as the most difficult and dangerous work is not allowed to be done by the Han people, Li Su would not care about it.

Zhou Yu's purpose is very clear: he knew that Gan Ning had been sailing for eight months in a year, which was twice as long as he had the previous year. In terms of time, Zhou Yu could not have more potential to tap.

So he had to discover the geographical dividends farther, and there were only three directions of effort: First, the terrain along the coast has been explored, and at that time, he could directly choose not to sail against the shore, but to take straight lines and make fewer turns, which could speed up by about one or two percent.

Secondly, it is to wait for the lighter ship to be built, but this matter is not overnight. We have to summarize the experience of seaship application in recent years, improve and test it, and then go to the Juzhang Shipyard in Kuaiji County to build it. The shipyard in Fusang can only be repaired, and it definitely does not have the industrial strength. This factor is not controlled by Zhou Yu himself.

The last idea is to establish a springboard base that is further north. These places do not necessarily have to live in a large number of people under the rule of the Han Dynasty, but there are simply some port facilities. A sufficient amount of solid wooden houses, firewood and food reserves for wintering will make it easier for the fleet to return to Osaka Bay to spend the winter. They will naturally be able to invest in long voyages faster in the coming year and avoid going back.

In a nutshell, it is to push the forward base forward.

Zhou Yu has now been assigned to the Japanese Sea side to be responsible for local construction and governance. If he wants to surpass Gan Ning's exploration, he can only rely on Yueshan Prefecture, the northernmost Niigata Plain, as the starting base. He will start his voyage north from here in April, saving more than a thousand miles of round trip, and he will be able to travel 600 more miles in the same time.

In the future, maybe we can also build a winter shelter base without permanent population in the safe haven in the southern part of the Hokkien Island to reserve some food, so that we can save another thousand miles.

With such considerations, Zhou Yu, who was stimulated by the title of marquis and generals, frantically developed the infrastructure around Yueshan County and began to explore the islands outside Yueshan County, namely Sado Island, to see if there are available bay ports and available replenishment assets.

It’s true that luck always favors those who are prepared. After learning that Zhou Yu had spontaneously implemented this plan, Li Su finally could not be suspected of being foresighted and directly follow the flow and order to let Zhou Yu officially open up Sado Island.

After the spring plowing in 209, during the slack season of the summer of this year, Zhou Yu's subordinates discovered sand gold in the small riverbed on Sado Island for the first time.

The result of this exploration shocked Zhou Yu directly. The news came back to Osaka. Li Su, who was ready to return to the Central Plains to make a comeback, was also very excited, and a stone finally fell to the ground in his heart.

In the past two years, although there have been no other great achievements, Ishimi Yinshan has not yet been discovered, but has discovered giant vegetables that can be moved to plant for two or three years before deterioration, and found rye that can withstand cold-resistant planting in paddy fields in Northeast Africa, as well as a small number of Sado gold samples.

The plan to develop Fusang can finally be recognized by His Majesty and the court.

In the past two years, I haven't come in vain.
Chapter completed!