Chapter Twenty-Eight: A Sudden Storm This is also the place where Li Zhen covets Luzon the most, if the copper ore in Luzon is mined, although it may cause prices to rise in the short term, but in the long run, it is very beneficial to the national economy, at least in the future, there will be no shortage of copper in the Song Dynasty.
In addition to copper mines, Luzon is also a major producer of gold and silver mines, and Luzon, Masbat, Mindanao and other places are the main producing areas of gold mines.
Later, the Philippines was known as Asia's largest gold exporter, which shows how rich its domestic gold mines are.
And this is also Li Zhen's powerful counterattack to some people in the DPRK and China - didn't you say that I conquered a useless land, and conquered this place just to satisfy my desire to kill?
Now that I've found you so much treasure, see what else you have to say.
"By the way, I heard that Luo Lao once went to the Lion Country?"
Liu Renliang suddenly asked: "It is said that it is quite close to Tianzhu, can Luo Lao tell me more about it." ” As soon as Luo Hansheng said this, he was no longer as restrained as he was at the beginning, and began to talk eloquently: "Actually, there is nothing to say, the Lion Country is actually an island country, facing Tianzhu across the sea.
In fact, I have only led the fleet to go there once, and the customs there are similar to those of Tianzhu, so there is nothing to say.
However, the place over there is quite large, although it is said to be an island, in fact, in terms of area, it is a little larger than Qiongzhou Island and Yizhou Island combined.
There are a lot of spices that are scarce on our side, and we have purchased several ships in a big way, thinking that we will make a fortune from it, but who knows that on the way back, we encountered a great storm, and the whole fleet of dozens of ships finally ran back alive.
It was also because of this incident that the old man had a fear of the sea, retired to the rivers and lakes for more than ten years, and only recovered in recent years, and heard the news that His Royal Highness the King of Yue was building a giant ship in the wilderness, so he volunteered to join the command of the King of Yue, intending to break into the sea again......
So don't blame the old man for talking too much, Lord Liu, although the journey was smooth before this voyage, but adults must not slack off because of this, you must know that the sea is the most impermanent, the last moment is calm, the next moment will be the waves of the weather is not unseen, how many ships are capsized because of this sudden weather, adults must be careful and careful. ” "Don't worry, Luo Lao, I have also been running at sea for more than ten years, and I still know this truth."
Liu Renliang nodded, it is indeed as Luo Hansheng said, the sea is fickle, the most dangerous but, as long as the slightest carelessness, he will fall into a place of no return, as the leader of a fleet, he must be careful and careful.
A day later, under the guidance of Luo Hansheng, the fleet accurately found the Dongsha Islands, saying that they were archipelagos, but in fact, two of the three islands in the Dongsha Islands were reefs and did not appear on the water, only a small Dongsha Island was on the water, and the target on the ocean was very small.
Dongsha Island is a saucer-shaped sand island from northwest to southeast, with a length of about 2.8 kilometers, a width of about 0.7 kilometers, and an area of 1.8 square kilometers, making it the second largest island in the South China Sea Islands, second only to Yongxing Island in Xisha Island.
It rises about 6 meters above sea level on average, slightly higher in the northeast at 12 meters, and the second highest in the southwest at about 8 meters.
The whole island is in the form of high and low in the middle.
The central lowland is a lake, the depth of the lake is 1-1.5 meters, the mouth of the lake opens to the west, the terrain is narrow, the environment is harsh, and there is no human habitation, it is a desert island in the sea.
The groundwater on the entire island comes mainly from the fresh water in the sediment layer when it rains, and due to the infiltration of seawater, the fresh water in the sand layer is salted and undrinkable, so the fleet cannot be effectively replenished here, and can only be used as a temporary resting place.
But even so, it is also a rare experience for these crew members who have been adrift at sea for many days, especially since Dongsha Island is still a surprise for people who are adrift on the sea, although there is no water source on Dongsha Island.
After resting for two days on Dongsha Island, the fleet set sail again and continued its journey towards the unknown.
And the day after they left Dongsha Island, the fleet finally met their first challenge since going to sea.
Looking at the gloomy clouds in the distance, Luo Hansheng immediately commanded the crew to run back and forth: "The gale is coming, hurry, put away the sails, everything must be fixed on the ship, all irrelevant personnel immediately enter the cabin, and hold on to everything that can be grasped."
All the ships should be as close together as possible, and everything that could be connected by iron chains should be connected......"
Li Zhen knew very well how strong the wind and waves were on the sea, because before setting sail, the craftsmen had modified the cargo ship, that is, a few trebuchets were added.
As long as it encounters wind and waves, it can connect the two ships by throwing chains at the adjacent ships to form a structure similar to a chain ship, which greatly increases the ship's ability to resist wind and waves, and can also avoid the fleet from being separated in the waves, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.
The only disadvantage is that the ship carries so many more chains, and the corresponding cargo capacity is reduced a lot, and a lot of money will be lost on a trip, but the safety of the fleet is undoubtedly more important than the profit.
The fleet soon hit the typhoon head-on, almost instantly, the crew hiding on the ship felt a shock, and then shook violently, a few people who did not grasp it were swept out at that time, fell to the ground and kowtowed to break the blood, seeing this scene, everyone immediately subconsciously grabbed the fixed object in their hands, and even tied themselves directly to the pillar.
The situation in the cabin is not good, and the outside is even more unbearable, many people are directly swept up by the wind and fall down when fixing the supplies, and those who fall on the sea are fine, and when they fall on the deck, they are thrown to death, and the losses are heavy.
"Quick, the supplies are gone, let's talk about the cabin first."
Seeing this, Liu Renliang was in a hurry, standing at the door of the captain's room and shouting loudly, but he was unaware that a black object hit him with lightning speed, broke through the glass, and made an intimate contact with his cheek.
"Whoa."
"Smack!"
There was a crisp sound, as if he had been slapped on his face, Liu Renliang was beaten at that time, and when he came back to his senses and looked for the murderer who attacked him, he found that the so-called murderer turned out to be just a black sea fish, jumping around on the floor.
This unlucky ghost was swept out of the sea by the waves, and it happened to hit Liu Renliang in the face, but fortunately there was a glass in the middle, otherwise Liu Renliang would not have just been slapped in the face, it was possible for the whole person to be stoned to death by a fish.