Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 577 Disappointment

The fleet did not stop in the northern part of the Southern Continent, but passed through the northernmost strait, turned around and headed south, and sailed cautiously outside the endless Great Barrier Reef. The experienced sailors were aware of the danger, and the fleet did not dare to enter the Great Barrier Reef.

At the beginning, the coral islands one after another amazed everyone, but the endless coral islands soon became boring. The days began to become boring, and everyone became more and more depressed. After 20 days of sailing, a lucky boat was near a coral island. After hitting the rocks, the personnel were transferred in time, but the ship finally sank in the vast sea.

The ship hit a rock and sank, causing everyone's dissatisfaction to explode. They found Fan Ning and unanimously demanded to return. This place is too far away from Song Dynasty. They have been sailing in the sea for two months, and moving overseas is far from what they imagined. Among the good things, they all prefer to choose the islands near Luzon.

Facing the menacing crowd, Fan Ning calmly said to the crowd: "Didn't you find out? Coral islands are getting less and less. We should sail out of this coral sea soon. Please give me another three days. If we can't land, then we will return."

A middle-aged wealthy businessman said: "If the islands and land on the other side of Luzon are all robbed, what should we do?"

This is what everyone is worried about. The southern continent is too far away. Many people have lost interest and regret following Fan Ning to go south. They are afraid that the islands and land near Luzon Mansion will be divided up and they will lose their share.

Fan Ning said to everyone: "This time we are going out to sea publicly for investigation. Even if we fancy islands and land, we can't buy them. We must bid collectively. The time to buy them will be this fall, about five months later, so don't worry."

"But we haven't carefully inspected the islands and land, and we still have to spend a lot of time to investigate. Too much time is wasted here."

Fan Ning sighed, and everyone said: "Let's do this! We will land in three days, and then we will divide our troops into two groups. Those who are willing to stay and continue the investigation can stay. If they want to return to Luzon Mansion, they can go north with the fleet."

Everyone wanted to say something more, but Cao Yu shouted: "I have worked so hard for more than two months, and if I don't land on the Southern Continent, wouldn't it be in vain? What if I regret it later?"

Cao Yi's suggestion convinced everyone, and everyone had to go back to the boat, and the fleet sailed south again. Two days later, the coral island gradually disappeared, and the fleet began to sail along the coast, and a long coastline appeared in front of everyone.

The coastline is full of vast sandy beaches, and above the sandy beaches are cliffs as high as tens of feet, covered with dense forests.

However, the draft of the fleet is very deep, and this kind of shallow beach can only be reached by boat.

Fan Ning stared at the colorful cliffs, and he felt that this should be the famous Fraser Island, famous for its sand, so the location of the famous city of Brisbane in later generations should be not far to the south.

These famous cities all have one common feature, which is to have a very good deep-water natural harbor.

Fan Ning immediately ordered: "Continue to go south!"

Except for a few people, most of the members of the expedition team had gloomy faces. This continent is too huge, which makes them feel a deep sense of powerlessness. There is no wilderness, and almost all are covered by dense forests.

At noon on the third day, a headland bay finally appeared in front of their eyes, and Fanning heaved a long sigh of relief. This was where Brisbane was located.

Although Da Song set up the first monument on the Kimberley Plateau, the real colony landed on the east coast.

The people on the boat finally eased their faces. The conditions here are not bad. The estuary of a big river is surrounded by plains on both sides. Although it is also densely forested, it is not a daunting rainforest, and the climate is not so hot. It can be built into a city. Song was still too far away. A cruel long journey dispelled most people's idea of ​​being kings and emperors overseas. They were all pampered and rich, and they could withstand the hardships of overseas development there.

It is their limit to invest in buying islands and land near Luzon.

The people got off the boat and returned after a short stroll for a long time. They voted on Fanning's flagship. There were two wooden boxes on the table. One was to return to Luzon Mansion, and the other was to stay and explore.

The result of the vote was almost as expected. Except for the four families of Fan Zhu and Cao Gao who were willing to stay, everyone unanimously chose to return.

Fan Ning stood by the river and looked at the wide estuary in front of him. Cao Yi knelt down and dug a handful of soil, spread it on the palm of his hand, carefully identified it, smelled it, and smiled at Fan Ning: "It's the best humus soil. , the soil quality is very good and very fertile, and it is very suitable for the development of agriculture.”

"Father-in-law give this place a name!" Fanning laughed.

Cao Yu thought for a while and said: "The Cao family's ancestral home is in Zhending Prefecture, so let's name it Zhenzhou! In the future, a county will be built here, and it will be called Dingnan County, and this river will be called Dingnan River. How about it?"

Fan Ning praised with a smile, "That's a good name!"

Seeing Fan Ning's bitter smile, Cao Yu comforted him and said, "These people are enjoyment-oriented people, not suitable for pioneering. They think of going overseas too easily. Next time, they will directly recruit in Da Song. With a large population, there is absolutely no problem in recruiting tens of thousands of people who are willing to come to the mainland to develop.”

Fan Ning sighed: "It's because I think overseas development is too simple. I always think about accomplishing great things in ten or twenty years. Now it seems that without a hundred-year operation, it will be difficult for Dasong to take root in the Southern Continent."

"Take your time! We don't have enough time, let our children and grandchildren follow."

Fanning nodded. He had already taken this step, and he would not look back.

Two days later, eighteen large ships sent the disappointed noble families and wealthy businessmen back to Luzon Mansion, leaving ten large ships to form a new fleet.

In the flagship meeting hall, Fan Ning, Ming Ren, and Ming Li brothers represent Zhu Lin and Zhu Yun of the Zhu family. Zhu Lin is the third grandson of Zhu Yuanfu and the eldest son of Zhu Xiaolin. He also gave his name to his son, and Zhu Yun is The second grandsons of Zhu Yuanfeng, they represent the two families of the Zhu family.

The Cao family consisted of Cao Yi and Cao Ping, as well as Gao Shilin and Gao Xuan of the Gao family. Nine people represented the four families sitting in the meeting hall.

At this time, Fan Ning hung up a map. This is a complete map of the South Pacific Ocean. It took Fan Ning a year to draw it slowly with a little bit of memory from his previous life. He has forgotten many details. This is just a sketch.

"Don't ask me how I got this map. Anyway, I put a lot of effort into it. The island we want to buy is here!"

Fan Ning pointed to the two islands in the east on the map, "These are two big islands, called North Island and South Island. Kunzhou has a mild climate, which is very suitable for farming and wheat cultivation. Both islands have high mountains and canyons, and endless grasslands. The Fan family and the Zhu family decided to buy the North Island, and the South Island to the Cao and Gao families. What do you think? how?"

"How far are the two islands from here?" Gao Shilin asked.

"Equivalent to the distance from Quanzhou to Luzon."

Cao Ping and Gao Shilin glanced at each other quickly. It would take at least eight days to sail, but it was still too far away.

Fan Ning glanced at everyone, and said slowly: "I might as well reveal a secret to everyone, we are now developing a new kind of power, using coal burning to propel the boat forward, once this machine is invented, from Quanzhou to It only takes three days for Luzon, and a large ship of [-] shi only needs [-] crew members. It currently takes one and a half months to get here from Quanzhou Port, but with the installation of new machines, the large ship will arrive here in half a month at most. , which is equivalent to the time it takes to travel from Yangzhou to Luzon."

Everyone cheered up and asked, "When will the new machine be invented?"

"It started last fall, and I don't know the specific progress."

Fan Ning glanced at Zhu Yun and asked, "Has your grandfather revealed any news to you?"

Zhu Yun also shook his head, "Grandfather has stayed in Chenliu County since the end of last year. He didn't even come back for the Chinese New Year. He didn't come back until late January. We asked him about the situation, but he didn't reveal anything."

Fan Ning said with a smile: "When we go back in autumn, it will probably come out."

"Then when are we going to Niijima?"

Fan Ning thought for a while and said, "I need to make some arrangements on the mainland side, and then we will take two ships to the new island."

(End of this chapter)