Chapter 648: Sailing out to sea (seeking votes and subscriptions)
The fleet stayed in the bay at the estuary for a morning, and then turned back upstream, but they did not go very far, just found a place suitable for collecting clean fresh water and stopped.
A boat is so big, and the daily necessities it can carry are limited after all, so in addition to filling it with water and food as much as possible, it is also necessary to reduce unnecessary consumption, so layoffs become inevitable.
There are at least 70 people on each of the fleets led by You Fu, and more than 280 people on four boats, but in fact, if it is just for sailing, so many people are not needed at all. They are a long-distance pioneering group. Sailing is just a way of travel, but the more important thing is to go ashore to collect food, establish diplomatic relations or do business with strange tribes, draw maps of important places and routes, and explore the specialties and resources of various places, including population resources.
Such a comprehensive work obviously cannot be completed by a few sailors, so in modern terms, there are still a large number of "load experts" in the fleet, that is, professionals who are only responsible for special technologies and not responsible for trivial matters such as life and travel. However, at this time, even the load experts cannot be left behind.
Youfu took out the flagship in the best condition as the exploration ship. Although this is an "old ship" built last year, it has been a long time since I have been with it. It has never had any accidents in its journey. Now I can use it and feel at ease.
The personnel have been decided. Youfu himself will definitely go. Although the risk is relatively high, if he can come back alive this time, it will be a great achievement. Although he has no plan to be a county governor in a fixed place, who would not want to be promoted to a higher title? Moreover, if his status is high, the family can continue better.
In addition to Youfu himself, there were fourteen other people going out this time. The two guides only brought a spoon. The old man Akashi stayed behind in the fleet to introduce the local situation to the people who stayed behind. The captain of the flagship was also the helmsman. The four strong men who rowed the oars also served as samurai, cooks and craftsmen. The eight sailors, each in a group of four, were responsible for two sails. They were also archers, lookouts, and even took on the responsibility of fishing. Everyone had multiple duties. Even Youfu himself was responsible for recording the logbook and mapping the sea charts. Everyone was not an idle person.
Three days later, Youfu stood on the deck of the flagship with a list in his hand, and asked the dozen people on the ship.
"Has the hull inspection and repair been completed?"
"Report, the hull inspection is completed, everything is normal."
"The rudder is good, three compasses, calibrated correctly.
" "The anchor rope is normal, the oars are normal.
" "The sails are normal, and the two spare sails are complete."
"Thirty inflatable leather bags, normal, one landing lifeboat, normal."
You Fu nodded, then ticked a few boxes on the list in his hand and continued to ask.
"How much food is in reserve?"
"Report, fifteen people's dry food for thirty days, enough flour for six months, not much dried meat, but we can fish at sea, we have two fishing nets, and another 1,000 kilograms of charcoal."
"The fresh water reserve is sixty standard barrels, thirty jars of rice wine, and two hundred large and small water cans. The minimum drinking water is enough for fifteen people for four months, including the consumption of cooking, provided that the water does not go bad."
Hearing such an answer, You Fu couldn't help frowning, but he still nodded and didn't say anything.
Regarding the issue of drinking water for sailing, Youfu had heard from the chief before that pure fresh water sealed in a wooden barrel would also go bad, and the best drinking water for sailing was beer, or other low-alcohol drinks. In short, drinks with a little alcohol would not go bad easily and could be stored for a longer time. However, the Han tribe did not have beer, and the rice wine production capacity was insufficient, so the fleet carried very few alcoholic drinks.
However, there was no other way now, and they could only hope that the water on the ship would go bad more slowly, or that they could find a new supply point on the way.
After checking off these preparations, he asked again, "How is the preparation of fruits and vegetables going?"
"Report, we have collected and purchased a total of 1,000 kilograms of fruits and wild vegetables."
"Well, well done." You Fu nodded again, and then said to the rowers and chefs on the boat, "Let's eat the wild vegetables and fruits that are easy to rot these days, and save the fruits that take a long time to store for later."
"Yes, captain, don't worry about that. We have got a lot of good things from the old man Chibuti in the past few days. Except for the wild vegetables that we dug ourselves, the fruits were exchanged by him and us from the surrounding tribes. The locals said that these two kinds of fruits can be stored for a long time." One of the chefs, who was nearly 30 years old, said, holding the strange fruit.
One of the green fruits is round, crunchy and sour, and is very similar to the wild apples found around the Han tribe. However, the wild apples in the Han tribe are red when ripe, and this apple is also green when ripe, according to the locals. If stored properly, it can be stored for half a year, but that is the second half of the year. It is too hot in summer, so I don’t know how long it can be stored, but at least one month is fine.
Another kind of fruit is a local specialty, with a hard peel and yellow flesh. It tastes sour and sweet, and it is a bit numb if you eat too much. It is called ground thorn fruit by the locals. When I was in the Tang tribe a few days ago, Tang Ji used this thing to entertain You Fu, and other people in the Han tribe also liked it.
It’s just that Luo Chong was not here, otherwise he would definitely recognize that this is a pineapple, or pineapple, but it is slightly smaller than the pineapple in the previous life, and the taste is more astringent. It is still an unimproved native variety.
You Fu was very satisfied with the well-prepared supplies. He explained the follow-up matters to the three ships left behind, and ordered the flagship to set sail.
In the first year of the Han tribe's founding, on the morning of June 21st, You Fu led fourteen brave warriors from the mouth of the Liuyang River to the endless ocean. In the middle of the afternoon of that day, the flagship once again arrived at the bay it had visited a few days ago.
While it was still early for sunset, You Fu ordered the flagship to continue sailing at full sail. The purpose of this trip was to find the route to Zhudao from the sea. According to the direction of the Liuyang River flowing southeast, if you want to find Zhudao now, you should sail west along the coast. In theory, it is possible to find Zhudao.
Zhudao is connected to the mainland, with a strait about 20 kilometers wide in the middle. In this case, it means that Zhudao is not out of the continental shelf. As long as you look along the coastline, no matter which direction you go, you will find Zhudao one day. So You Fu is not worried about the direction of this trip. The only thing he can't let go of is that he still doesn't understand the weather at sea and the shelf life of the fresh water on the ship.
In late June, the weather at sea was very good, with white clouds floating in the clear sky. The blue sky in the distance merged with the sea. If there was no sun in the sky, the boat under your feet would be bumpy in the waves, which would really make people feel like a space fan, unable to tell which side is the sky and which side is the sea.
The moderate wind blew evenly on the two sails, blowing the canvas bulging. The mast also drove the entire hull to sail quickly to the west. The waves were not high, no more than half a meter, which was considered calm. As a result, many people were idle, such as the chefs who did not have to row when there were sails, and began to think about finding something to do.
"Captain, now we are in the sea, we haven't eaten fish in the sea yet, how about casting a net?" One of the chefs suggested to You Fu, who was standing on the second-floor deck and looking at the mountains on the right side of the continent.
You Fu didn't think much about it, just looked at the sun in the sky and estimated the current time, and then agreed with the chef's suggestion.
Several strong men and three sailors who had nothing to do began to use trawl nets to fish at the stern. This was also You Fu's idea. Before dark, the ship could not stop. In this way, fishing with trawl nets while moving became the best method.
Trawl nets are used behind the boat. When the boat is moving, fish will be caught in the trawl net at the back. After more than ten minutes of casting the net, several people felt that there was already a heavy object in the net, which seemed to be a lot of fish. They were very surprised. It was too fast.
So except for the helmsman, sailor and lookout, all the other idle people on the boat came to help pull the net. After a few strokes, a full net of sea fish was pulled out. There were more than a dozen kinds of fish in it, which opened everyone's eyes. Even the so-called knowledgeable spoon was amazed. He didn't expect that the people of the Han tribe had this fishing skill.
What surprised the spoon even more was that fishing in the sea was so easy. Just cast the net and pull out a net of fish in a short time. This method of producing meat is really amazing. Could it be that the Han tribe must come to this sea for this reason? Thinking of this, the spoon couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
The Han tribe members on the boat did not think too much, but were immersed in the joy of harvest. As soon as the fishing net was shaken open, thousands of fish gathered together and rushed out, fluttering all over the deck.
The silver knife fish were the most numerous and the most conspicuous, with silvery scales shining brightly under the sunlight. The jumping yellow croakers were no less impressive. Several half-meter-long squids stretched out their tentacles and hung on the net, refusing to come down. There were also plate-like rays lying flat on the deck, twisting their slender tails hard but unable to move.
These strange fish were nothing. What surprised everyone the most was the half-meter-long lobster, which was holding up two huge claws and looked very majestic, and a green-haired sea turtle as big as a basin, which was also trying to escape from here with its short limbs.
"Wow, there are turtles here!" A sailor suddenly shouted loudly. Everyone recognized him immediately. He was one of the first members of the Ao clan to join the Han tribe. The tribe used the giant turtle as its totem. Seeing such a big turtle again so far away from the tribe made him feel close to the sea.
Others pointed at these fish they had never seen before and started to discuss them.
"Hey, look at these shrimps, are they shrimps? How come they are so big and have two big claws? When I was at home, I often took my son to the canal beside the field to touch shrimps, but the biggest shrimp was only about the size of a finger. The shrimps in the sea, my God, must weigh more than ten pounds."
"I think this flat fish is more interesting. It lies there like a plate. I just don't know if it can be eaten."
"Hey, look at this, this thing can spray ink. Hahahaha, this guy must have read a lot of books and his stomach is full of ink." A chef laughed while pulling a squid on the fishing net. He grabbed the squid's body with his hand, and the squid immediately sprayed out a stream of ink.
Everyone around was amazed when they saw it. You Fu even had the urge to collect some ink to write, but he was immediately amused by his own idea.
"Okay, okay, stop making a fuss. Clean up these fish. We'll kill them later, salt them, and air dry them. I see there are a lot of fish here. Let's cast a few more nets now so we don't lack meat for the whole journey."
"Okay!" Seeing so many fish, everyone's enthusiasm for fishing was also high. They hurriedly cleaned up the fish on the deck and cast another net. After a while, they caught another full net. Everyone was naturally overjoyed.
After casting four nets in a row, the boat could no longer fit so many fish. The full fish on the deck also attracted a lot of seabirds to come and grab food. Some of them took the fish and ran away, while others even hung themselves on the boat, allowing the sailors on the boat to catch a lot of them with one net.
The crew members handled the fish quickly, and they were very excited. Spoon, who was watching the whole process, was deeply shocked. It had only been a short time, and the Han tribe's boat had caught so much fish. They stopped because there was no place to put it on the boat, not because they couldn't catch any fish. You can imagine how many fish there are in the sea.
What if the four boats of the Han tribe came? What if the Han tribe had more boats? What if the Han tribe had a bigger boat? Wouldn't it be possible to feed everyone just by eating fish?
"No, I must tell the leader when I go back, and the Tang tribe must also find a way to get a share." Spoon thought so.
You Fu was also moved. He finally understood why the leader said that the sea was a good place. There were countless marine resources. The endless salt that could be dried out from the sea water alone was a huge wealth. He didn't expect that the fishery resources the leader said were actually true. They just cast a few nets casually to harvest such a huge amount. If a fleet was specially organized to come here to fish, it could at least feed several counties.
However, what Youfu didn't know was that they were taking advantage of the estuary. The Liuyang River merged with other tributaries downstream to form a large river. The thousands of kilometers of freshwater rivers carried a large amount of organic matter into the sea, making the river estuaries a paradise for marine fish. There were no less than a thousand species of fish gathered here, and the number was extremely large. It was far beyond the capacity of the Han tribe to digest them. The fishery resources here were enormous.
(End of this chapter)
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