After leaving Dodo Island, the South African Express continued to sail for two days, and another island appeared in the southeast. That was Rodrigues Island in later generations, of course, it is now called "Peace Island".

Nearly a thousand islanders are engaged in agriculture and fishing, which can provide salted fish, livestock and vegetables. And the most valuable thing is that its Topaz Bay is surrounded by mountains and is a natural shelter when hurricanes hit.

However, the hurricane season in the Southern Hemisphere had passed by then, and there was no need for the two clippers to stop at the sheltered island, so they continued to sail 15 degrees east by northeast.

Next comes the most difficult part of the route, which requires crossing 4,500 kilometers of sea to reach the next stop.

Therefore, other ocean-going ships in the Western Ocean Shipping Company would not do this. After leaving Mauritius, they would sail to Diego Garcia Island, 2,000 kilometers northeast, to replenish fresh water on this central island in the Indian Ocean, and after a short rest, they would either sail to Ceylon, 1,800 kilometers north, or directly to the Sultanate of Aceh, 2,800 kilometers away. Of course, they could also use the equatorial countercurrent to sail through the Sunda Strait, 3,600 kilometers away.

The only military base of the United States in the Indian Ocean in the future has such an advantageous location. However, no matter which one, it will be affected by the equatorial doldrums and it is difficult to increase the speed. Therefore, Diego Garcia Island will have to wait until the advent of motor sailing ships to truly shine.

The clipper naturally disdained to take this slow route. With the help of the prevailing southwest wind in the Indian Ocean at this season, the South African Express crossed the Indian Ocean in just nine days and arrived at the Cocos Islands 8,000 miles away... Of course, it is now called the "Yuebu Islands".

The Yuebu Islands were originally more than 20 uninhabited coral islands with a total area of ​​a little over 14 square kilometers. With blue sea and blue sky, silver sand and coconut trees, and a wide variety of flowers that bloom all year round, it is as bright as a paradise on the sea.

At the beginning of the 9th year of Wanli, Jiangnan Group "divided Nanyang" and made this archipelago, 1,000 kilometers west of Java Island, the boundary of the Java Administrative District and placed it under the jurisdiction of the Java Administrative Committee. Now there are more than 500 people working and living on this island.

In addition to providing supplies and simple repairs for the clipper boats, the main job of these 500-plus people is to cultivate coconut seedlings and then row boats to various coral islands to plant coconut trees and harvest coconuts.

Today, the first few thousand coconut trees cultivated artificially on the island have begun to bear fruit. Together with the wild coconut trees scattered throughout the island, nearly five thousand old coconuts can be picked every day.

Workers collect the old reddish-yellow coconuts, dig out the flesh, dry them into copra, and then load a full boat back to the oil mill in Java Coconut City. The oil mill crushes the copra and squeezes out the coconut oil, and the remaining coconut residue can be used as animal feed.

For thousands of years, the indigenous people of Nanyang have been eating coconut oil, and coconut oil can also be used as fuel for oil lamps. With the large-scale influx of immigrants into Nanyang, the demand for oil is increasing day by day, so the Yuebu Commune on the island has achieved profitability just by relying on this item.

In addition, a confidential document that was declassified many years later showed that the reason why the great and wise Zhao sent people to the island early was not for the ridiculous purpose of collecting coconuts - is there no coconut tree on Java Island? Jakarta is also known as the Coconut City! What was the purpose of Zhao Gongzi choosing a place far away instead of a place near?

According to the confidential document, the original purpose of sending people to the island was to set up an observation station of the Java Meteorological Bureau of the Nanyang Meteorological Bureau.

Although, apart from Luzon, the South Pacific Islands are rarely visited by typhoons because they are close to the equator, this does not mean that God will let them go. Tsunamis frequently occur in the Indian Ocean, causing serious damage every six or seven years on average. Although the frequency is much lower than that of typhoons, the damage caused is far beyond that of typhoons.

Zhao Hao knew that in order to let the Chinese people take root in Southeast Asia, he had to do his best to protect the lives and property of the immigrants. He also knew that tsunamis had almost no power in the deep sea. Only when the seabed suddenly rose before landing would the accumulated power burst out.

Therefore, as long as there is an advance warning and the ships are sent to the deep sea, they can safely survive the tsunami.

Therefore, as soon as he took control of Nanyang, he ordered the establishment of a long-term tsunami warning system.

Zhao Hao had a nice idea at the time. He thought that although the observatory might be idle for several years, as long as the early warning was successful, it could save tens of thousands of lives and hundreds or even thousands of ships. The investment was definitely worth it.

As a result, in the second year after the observatory was built, huge fluctuations in the surrounding water bodies were observed, and the observatory immediately released specially bred long-distance flying pigeons.

And then, nothing happened...

Because this tsunami comes so damn fast, it can cross the ocean within a few hours, and the wave speed is faster than that of a pigeon, not to mention an airplane.

After the early warning failed, Zhao Hao summed up the lesson and found that this problem has no solution at present. The key is that there is no beyond-line-of-sight communication method in this era that can exceed the speed of a tsunami...

So until the long-distance telegraph was developed, this observatory was of no use.

Zhao Hao felt ashamed, so he turned around and went back to work on things that would make him look good. As for the Sunflower Observatory in the Yuebu Islands, he asked Fatty Tang, who was in charge of Nanyang affairs, to take care of it.

What kind of person is Tang Youde? He is even smarter than Zhu Bajie when it comes to hair. Although the young master always emphasizes "cost control" and "control costs", he knows very well that costs are not only tangible money, but also intangible goodwill - the most valuable goodwill of the group is the young master's brilliant image of being able to predict things like a god, being omniscient, omnipotent, wise and brave, and seeing far away!

How could I give sunspots this kind of excuse? They are the best at using a single black dot to negate the entire sun!

So Tang Youde instructed the Java Management Committee to convert the dozens of meters high concrete shelter tower built for the observatory into a lighthouse. He also forced the Yuebu Islands into the list of transoceanic routes for Western shipping... even though there were no transoceanic routes passing through here at the time.

But didn’t you always teach us that leaders must be forward-thinking?

Three years from now, when the clipper ships are put into use and express delivery to South Africa is launched, won’t it be useful?

Well, at that time, the clipper still had a lot of defects, and it was at the stage of running fast and sinking fast. Fatty Tang didn't dare to say that the South African express delivery would really be launched in three years.

So he forced the management committee to move the coconut plantation originally on Java Island to the Yuebu Islands...

In fact, the oil extracted from coconuts that have been shipped for a long distance has a strange smell. In order to ensure profits, the oil company could not sell at a lower price, so it had to distribute it to each commune. As a result, the immigrants did not like to eat it and could only use it as lamp oil...

After several such incidents, people had long forgotten their original intention of landing on the Yuebu Islands. As a result, the image of the group and the young master was not damaged, and everyone was happy.

However, the 500 members of Yuebu Commune could not understand why they had to do such a far-flung thing on an island?

But seeing as there are considerable dividends every year, no one asks. If you have that much free time, you might as well plant a few more coconut trees...

~~

The two clippers stopped at the Sunflower Station Wharf in the Yuebu Islands for two days to replenish fresh water and food, and to allow the crew and passengers to have a good rest. The clippers were too fast, and if the sea conditions were slightly bad, they would be thrown upside down, and even the experienced sailors would vomit...

Two days later, the clipper set sail again and reached the Sunda Strait in just two days. And the time had just come to May 27, the fifteenth year of the Wanli reign.

The 10,000-kilometer journey took only 27 days. In less than a month, the South African express was delivered to Java's doorstep!

Before entering the strait, the captains of both clipper ships had ordered the sails to be reefed and the speed to be reduced.

Because the Sunda Strait is the gateway to the modern dynasty. According to the group's regulations, all ships are not allowed to break through the gate without authorization, otherwise they will be resolutely destroyed.

In order to pass customs smoothly, ships, people and goods must pass through customs one by one.

The ship's nationality must be verified and its license checked; the identity of the person must be verified and he must hold a passport issued by the group and his visa must be valid; the goods must also be truthfully declared before they can enter the customs.

But entering the customs is only the first step, and ships cannot enter the port immediately. The ships must be led by pilot boats to Wenye Island in the strait to dock.

Wenye Island is the later Rakata Island. This 10 square kilometer island guards the entrance to the strait, much like Chenmei Island at the mouth of Yongxia Bay. Its function is similar to Chenmei Island. In addition to stationing a large-scale Sunda Strait patrol squadron, a huge quarantine dock was built on the other side of the island.

All incoming ships must dock here, and relevant personnel will carry out epidemic prevention and disinfection of cargo on the ships and quarantine and isolate the personnel.

Usually, the disinfection period for ships and cargo is seven days, and the quarantine period for personnel is fourteen days. The extra seven days are used by the customs tax department to calculate taxes based on the declaration. When people come out of the quarantine camp, the tax bill and the bill for the past half month are also delivered to the accountant. After paying the money obediently, the crew can return to the ship and sail to the registered destination with a full set of credentials.

Six years ago, when this very cumbersome and unfriendly process was first implemented, it really caused fierce opposition from the maritime merchants in Nanyang, India, and the Ottoman Empire, who believed that they were even more excessive than the Portuguese! Violent resistance to the law and forced entry into the customs occurred frequently. However, they were all suppressed by the newly formed Nanyang Customs and Strait Fleet with more intense means.

Seeing that the hard approach didn't work, the sea merchants in the West and Southeast Asia tried the soft approach, using the tried and tested silver bullet method, trying to evade customs clearance by bribing the customs officials.

However, what shocked them was that there were cats in the world who didn't steal fish. All the merchants who tried to bribe not only failed, but were caught and had their masts hoisted...

Customs officers are not made of special materials, and they are not immune to the temptations of the police. But once they are caught, the consequences are too terrible.

At least at this historical stage, if you try to take action, you will almost certainly be caught.

Apart from the Inspection and Supervision Committee that is responsible for preventing corruption in the group, what is even more frightening is that there is also a department that is independent of the Jiangnan Group - the Anti-Corruption Investigation Foundation!

This is Zhao Hao's ultimate weapon against the thieves in his house...

ps. Let’s see tomorrow…