When Wang Xian saw that the time was almost up, he said to Tan Wenxue and Zhang Youwei, "You two, everything is ready. Do you need to make any other preparations?"
"No need."
Tan Wenxue understood what he meant, shook his head, and said, "After sending you a thousand miles, we must finally say goodbye. Brother Youwei and I have been entrusted with the Emperor's orders, so we should depart early."
"Okay, then I wish you all a safe journey!"
Wang Han bowed in return.
Su Yan also said: "You have traveled across the ocean to promote the prestige of our Song Dynasty. The journey is long, so please take care."
"I have received the Emperor's order. Please ask Wang Caosi and Su Taishou to convey our message to the court. We will fulfill the order and bring the envoys from various countries with us on our return trip to participate in next year's New Year's court meeting!"
Tan Wenxue said seriously.
Zheng He's next trip to the West lasted about two years, but that was because he stayed in the local area for a long time. He often visited a certain country and stayed in the port for several months.
In fact, under normal circumstances, it doesn't take that long at all.
According to the records of Zhao Ruoshi, a geographer of the Southern Song Dynasty, in his "Records of Foreign Countries", it only took Arab merchants 160 days to reach Quanzhou from the Persian Gulf, sailing with favorable winds and trading at various ports.
And it was not a direct route, but had to go south from the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Aden, then to the Yemeni Dynasty and the Saghwey Dynasty (Ethiopia), and conduct East African trade with the local people first.
After replenishing the goods, they continued south to trade in Bipaluo (Somalia) and Chengba (Tanzania), and finally went to the Song Dynasty.
Such a one-way voyage would take more than 5 months, and a round trip would take a year, and there would be trade in between.
If you go directly from the Persian Gulf without going to Africa, it will only take more than two months to reach Quanzhou, a distance of about 11,000 kilometers, an average of about 150 kilometers per day.
The Song Dynasty's envoys did not need to engage in trade. They only stopped at the ports of various countries along the way and, in their official capacity as the Song Dynasty court, invited local countries to attend court meetings in the Song Dynasty. Therefore, they spent most of their time on the road and did not stay in any place for too long.
Therefore, after many communications and exchanges with local merchants, the Guangdong Transportation Office finally determined that if everything went well, it would only take half a year for them to travel back and forth.
Even if there is an accident, it will not exceed ten months.
In this way, if we set off in March, we should be able to return before December at the latest. Then we can take a boat to Xiangyang and take a direct train to Bianliang to attend the Song Dynasty's annual meeting next year!
"Wonderful!"
Wang Han nodded, raised his hand and shook Tan Wenxue's clenched fist, saying, "I'll wait for you guys to come back in Guangzhou!"
"Everyone, take care!"
"Take care of yourself!"
Everyone said goodbye to each other.
Wang Han and others got off the boat and stood on the shore.
Tan Wenxue and others also stood on the side of the ship and waved to them.
“Woo woo woo!”
With the order to set off, the whistle sounded and the Guangzhou took the lead in starting preheating.
The ship behind moved slowly and left the dock.
Tan Wenxue and others' main ship gradually moved towards the wide surface of the Pearl River.
Wang Han and his men were still standing on the shore, waving.
After a while, the fleet officially deployed on the Pearl River. Under the coordinated command of the Jinghai Navy and the Pearl River Navy, various flags were flying and they left the port in an orderly manner.
"The chancellor said that the Song Dynasty must show the world how powerful we are. This time, we are going to publicize the might of our Celestial Empire!"
Wang Han stood with his hands behind his back and said softly, "This time, we should follow the example of the Han people."
"Even back then, the Han Dynasty only terrorized the Western Regions, but this time, we're going to terrorize the entire world!"
Su Yan responded.
The two looked at each other and then burst into laughter.
The ironclad ships carried enough coal fuel. As long as the Guangzhou was there, a battleship and some small and medium-sized warships carrying hundreds of cannons, plus more than two thousand soldiers with rifles, would be enough to intimidate the West!
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