Chapter 129                                                             

Wang Zongmu was also a little worried when he was on the sea.

Because this set of the most convenient waterway is a waterway far away from the coast.

In this era, the mainstream waterway is still a waterway close to the coastline, or in other words, there are small islands or islands in the middle of the waterway. As a road sign, this waterway has nothing, and can only be achieved by the star-shaking positioning method.

In fact, Zhou Mengchen promoted the development of astronomy and improved the positioning method of using stars. He introduced the latitude and longitude. Beijing Forbidden City as the starting point of longitude, that is, zero degrees. The latitude is naturally forty degrees. Zhou Mengchen found two or three people from the Beijing Imperial Heaven Supervision to participate in this journey. These people are also Zhou Mengchen's disciples.

Wang Zongmu did not believe in this method very much. He also used the star-shaking positioning method.

Both methods are used simultaneously.

Even so, Wang Zongmu was already worried.

Because I looked on the boat and saw that the sea was vast and nothing could be seen. The fleet of hundreds of ships was a huge figure on the port, but on the sea, it gave people the feeling that it was not bigger than a water bird. Although I had not encountered any danger, Wang Zongmu still couldn't sleep all day long.

He was not seasick. As a Zhejiang native, he was quite familiar with the sea. But he was still afraid that there was a problem with the course, such as destiny, trekking, etc., which caused a very bad start to carry out the shipping. In this way, Wang Zongmu felt that he would not forgive him for his death.

A dark mountain in the distance was revealed. Wang Zongmu was relieved.

This is the corner of the mountain.

That is, the farthest point of the Shandong Peninsula going deep into the sea.

It is also a daunting journey for shipping.

If you follow the traditional navigation method and go north along the coastline, it will be very dangerous here in Chengshankou. On the one hand, there are many reefs, and on the other hand, because of the peninsula, the wind and waves are particularly strong. It is easy to get into trouble and become a natural barrier for sea transportation.

There was even a proposal for the Jiaolai Canal in the Ming Dynasty, which was to build a canal from the Shandong Peninsula for navigation in order to avoid the corners of the mountain.

Only Wang Zongmu's route is more than 100 miles away from Chengshan Corner. When the sun is particularly good, he can only see a little background color. Compared to those ships heading along the coastline, when they see Chengshan Corner, they are worried, fearing that they will be buried in the sea if they are accidentally killed.

When Wang Zongmu saw Chengshanjiao, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Because these are the few coordinates on this route, after seeing Chengshanjiao, he can turn and enter the Bohai Sea. After entering the Bohai Sea, whether it is the Miaojie group behind, the Shandong coast in the south, and the Liaodong coast in the north, they can be used as coordinates.

Although it is still in the sea, it gives people an extraordinary sense of security.

However, there is a little problem with this, that is, after entering the Bohai Sea, the ocean currents gradually weaken. Moreover, the veterans of the Sand Boat Gang are not very clear about the sea conditions in the Bohai Sea in recent years.

The reason is very simple.

Although the Ming Dynasty's sea ban was very relaxed, the Bohai Bay was still different. What was this place? It was simply the heart of the empire. The Ming Dynasty attached more importance to this sea than other sea areas. Moreover, the previous article also said that until the Denglai Navy was destroyed in Taihu Lake, this navy always existed. Their mission was to transport grain to Liaodong Town, and to be responsible for the safety of the Bohai Bay.

Therefore, the sand boats help these half-black and half-white sea merchants dare not come here. Even if Zhou Mengchen calls some sailors of the Denglai Navy through Qi Jiguang's relationship, it can only serve as a pilot. After all, there are so many ships, it is impossible for each ship to arrange one person.

The last section of the sea route is very short, but it also lasts two or three days.

However, it is no different from being here and going to Tianjin.

Especially after just after passing Chengshankou, several ships were seen on the sea surface. Seeing such a huge fleet, these ships did not dare to approach. Half a day later, dozens of ships came over and dared to come forward to ask questions. It turned out to be the Denglai Navy.

The Denglai Navy also breathed a sigh of relief and began to escort. After all, although Zhou Mengchen didn't care much about them, Zhou Mengchen, as the governor, also had certain command power over Shandong. As a civil servant, Wang Zongmu had a command from the governor, so they naturally did not dare to neglect them.

It was just after Wang Zongmu's first sea transport reached the last journey. It was estimated that it would be able to arrive in Tianjin in one or two days. Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang joined forces to complete the cleaning of the Zhoushan Islands.

Compared to what Wang Zongmu was doing, everything went smoothly. Yu Dayou was not going smoothly at all.

Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang joined forces to seize more than a dozen islands in a row.

If there is no harvest, it is not without it. I have seized dozens of ships and a batch of cargo. After all, the foundation on which Wang Zhi relies on was never to fight wars, but to connect with trade. As the largest ship owner at sea, Wang Zhi would never forget to do business.

It's also true during the battle.

Wang Zhi’s whereabouts are unknown. He has never returned here after the Battle of the Yangtze River Estuary. Even his confidants have not come back. His wife and children are in Japan, and here are just a few concubines. Such women are not valued at all in this era.

Wang Zhi’s whereabouts are unknown, and the other ministries have no idea to maintain this place at all.

Some pirates even snatched Wang Zhi's things before leaving. So, the place was even more messy.

Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang dispatched more than 10,000 people, and more than 100 ships of all sizes, but they only made some rags. No, the greatest value is that they captured a group of sea merchants following Wang Zhi to the sea, and some people who were looted to the sea, with a total of 10,000 or 20,000 people.

After all, Wang Zhi gathered so many pirates. He always had to provide the most basic supply to the pirates. In addition, there were still some logistics personnel to maintain the operation of the entire pirate system, which is why Wang Zhi dispersed his fleet to many small islands.

Because this is not the case, such a large fleet cannot be maintained.

These logistics personnel, as well as the goods left by Wang Zhi under the pirates, and other things, were not considered empty-handed. However, it was not the purpose of Yu Dayou's fight so much.

Qi Jiguang could only comfort Yu Dayou and said, "General Yu, no matter what, going back like this is enough to explain to the superiors."

Yu Dayou said: "One day of thieves is a trouble for several generations. I don't believe that Wang Zhi died like this. Wang Zhi must have escaped. Wang Zhi has not died for a day, and the Japanese pirates will not be calmed down. And I also inquired, a large group of pirates led by Xie He rushed to Fujian, so what will happen in Fujian?"

Yu Dayou understands the situation in Fujian very well.

There was no problem in Fujian, because Zhou Mengchen allowed the policy of acquiescence. It was also because local officials and gentry who communicated with the Japanese, and the power among gentry who communicated with the Japanese, and the power of pirates or maritime merchants compromised each other. Only then can both parties make a fortune peacefully and fool around.

But Xie He and this group of people joined in, and this balance of power was broken.

The power of maritime merchants has increased greatly. Can the power of the gentry of the Japanese dynasty suppress the power of these maritime merchants? Not to mention anything else, can pirates who are used to robbery be transformed into maritime merchants who are used to doing business? Similarly, these maritime merchants who are connected to Japan have almost solved the problem in Zhejiang, Nanzhili, and Zhejiang. Will they think the court wants to deal with them? Will they take some measures, such as raising thieves to respect themselves?

Wait, many complex problems emerge one by one.

Yu Dayou sensitively judged that the main battlefield for the future of the Japanese to be suppressed will be in Fujian. And if the Japanese still occupy a considerable part of the Japanese pirates in Zhejiang, it will be different in Fujian, and it is more of a problem caused by the Fujian people themselves.

As a Fujian native, how could Yu Dayou not think about his hometown elders? But although Qi Jiguang also made such a judgment, he was not from Fujian after all, so he could not empathize with it. He said, "After going there, I will report to the adults, and the adults will deal with it naturally."

Yu Dayou said in his heart: "I hope so." He immediately began to end the battle and prepared to set up a few hundred households here to see if there are any farming conditions for nearby islands, and leave a group of people here to guard the sea for the country.

This is also one of Yu Dayou's ideas. It is important to pacify a place, but more importantly, to safeguard the people's system and let the place become king and no longer follow the thief.
Chapter completed!