prosperous age

In the garrison located in the center of the old port city, Chen Lin warmly received the special envoy from England.

When Master Bao reported to the garrison, he introduced Drake as the Queen of England.

Perhaps, if you are a pure Ming Dynasty businessman, you would find it incredible, or even completely suspicious, that the monarch of a country is a woman.

But Master Bao didn't have that. You know, the second King of Old Port appointed by the court was Shi Erjie, also a woman.

Since Old Port can be ruled by women, it is not an unacceptable fact that Britain has a queen.

Master Bao placed the status of Britain and the Old Port on the same level, so when communicating with Drake, he was more accepting of the fact that it was the Queen who sent them to sail around the world and open up new trade routes.

But there was a problem. Queen Elizabeth's letter had already reached Chen Lin, but the English on it was incomprehensible to Chen Lin.

He had a Portuguese translator, but he was not familiar with English, so he had to ask Drake to translate it into Portuguese first, and then convert it into Chinese based on the Portuguese.

In comparison, the Ming Dynasty and Britain had never had contact before, and this was the first time. Even the people in the Huitongguan in the capital did not know how to translate between Chinese and English.

After finishing all these, Chen Lin naturally wanted to give Drake a warm welcome.

Of course, helping with these things was not a big deal for Drake; it was just a piece of cake.

He was smart enough not to tell Daming that he had come all the way here with the purpose of robbing Spanish merchant ships.

In fact, this is how they plundered along the way.

However, up to now, the Spaniards did not know that they had arrived in Old Port and became the guests of honor of the governor of the Ming Dynasty.

"Two years from now, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty will be getting married. The imperial court will send ambassadors to Western countries to announce the emperor's will. If Mr. Drake has nothing to do, he can stay in the Ming Dynasty for two years and attend the Emperor's wedding."

At the banquet, Chen Lin told Drake the news of Emperor Wanli's wedding, which was an official notification.

"General Chen, I have heard Bao about this matter, but I am still carrying out the Queen's order and need to continue sailing west and return to London."

Drake would naturally not accept being asked to live in Ming Dynasty for two years just to watch the ceremony.

"So Mr. Drake, are you really just going west and eventually you can return to where you started?"

Chen Lin took the opportunity to start asking questions.

Although many assumptions and speculations have been made about Zheng He's voyages to the West in later generations because of the round-trip time, and some people believe that Zheng He's fleet may have traveled beyond the Asian and African continents, and many people even suspect that their fleet had reached Australia and the American continent, the documents handed down do not support this.

Moreover, at that time, the Ming Dynasty did not know that the earth beneath its feet was actually a sphere, even though perhaps some Chinese scholars had made such a guess a long time ago.

As for the important basis for later generations' conclusion that Zheng He discovered America, namely the "Kunyu World Map", it was actually completed in the late Wanli period, around the 36th year of the Wanli reign.

At this time, a large number of missionaries had entered the Ming Dynasty, so they brought the Western geographical discoveries to the Ming Dynasty, which gave the Ming Dynasty emperor and court officials a new understanding of the world.

The most important evidence is that Australia is not drawn in the "Kunyu World Map" because although Western explorers passed by the waters near Australia at that time, they were not interested in this continent. They may have just thought it was a small island.

It was not until a century later, around 1770, that British navigator Captain Cook discovered the east coast of Australia, named it "New South Wales", and declared the land to belong to Britain.

In 1778, Britain officially began to colonize Australia, and this continent gradually unveiled its mystery to the world.

Drake answered Chen Lin's questions patiently, and everything he said was recorded in detail by the clerk behind the screen.

Drake did not specify that they began to plunder Spanish merchant ships after crossing the Atlantic Ocean and reaching the American continent, but he mentioned that by going south along the continent and passing through a strait with complex climate and sea conditions, they could enter the Pacific Ocean, which is the sea outside.

Then continue west and you will arrive here.

Chen Lin listened carefully and paid close attention to the time Drake said, because from the time Drake took to cross the Pacific Ocean to the west, he roughly knew that the width of this ocean was more than 30,000 miles from east to west.

An extremely huge number.

"It's impossible to cross the Pacific Ocean eastward through that route."

Chen Lin asked.

“Without support from the trade winds and ocean currents, we can only move westward from the equator.

Perhaps, we can find a suitable route to America by heading north.”

The American continent has now basically become the backyard of the Spanish and Portuguese, and Britain has no ability to interfere here.

Therefore, Drake did not realize the impact of the questions raised by Chen Lin on them, so he answered them all.

It would have seemed much better to Drake if the Ming Dynasty could have explored the American continent from the west and come into conflict with the Spanish there.

So, following the experience of Europeans crossing the Atlantic, he made the decision that heading north might provide ocean currents or trade winds that could help sailboats reach the American continent.

In fact, it was not by chance that the Spanish opened up the "Pacific Route", but rather it was based on their experience in exploring the Atlantic Ocean.

In this era, Europeans were undoubtedly ahead of the Ming Dynasty in their understanding of the ocean.

Through the successive voyages and explorations around the world by a large number of explorers, they deepened their understanding of the planet and mastered a lot of knowledge that the Ming Dynasty did not know.

At the end of the banquet, Chen Lin asked to see Drake's nautical chart from America to here, but he didn't expect that Drake chose to get drunk at this time.

The reason why Chen Lin treated Drake in this way was because they had direct contact with many Europeans and heard from them many things that the Ming Dynasty did not know.

They are not interested in the so-called exotic customs, but it is impossible to say that they have no idea about the huge world mentioned by businessmen.

In fact, it was on the ship sailing to the West that Yu Dayou and Yin Zhengmao were discussing whether they should write up a detailed memorial and submit it after returning.

I used to think that the Ming Dynasty was big enough, but I didn't expect that after I really went out and traveled thousands of miles, I realized that the Ming Dynasty was just a small corner.

In particular, they knew about the "spherical earth theory" because of their contact with Europeans.

In fact, they were both scholars, but Yin Zhengmao was a proper scholar, after all, he was a Jinshi, while Yu Dayou could only be considered half a scholar.

Coincidentally, Yin Zhengmao was very proficient in various subjects, so when he had nothing to do at sea, he discussed this matter with Yu Dayou.

According to Zhang Heng's "Annotations to the Hun Tian Yi" in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Chinese later recorded that "the celestial sphere is like a chicken egg. The celestial body is round like a bullet, and the earth is like the yolk of a chicken, isolated inside. The sky is big and the earth is small. There is water inside and outside the sky. The sky surrounds the earth like a shell surrounds the yolk."

There is also a record in "Hun Tian Xiang Shuo" written by Wang Fan during the Three Kingdoms period: "The shape of the heaven and earth is like a bird's egg. The sky is wrapped around the earth, just like the yolk of an egg, circling around without end. Its shape is complete, so it is called Hun Tian."

Some people think that the ancient Chinese had realized that the earth might be a sphere, but this is actually wrong. In fact, they made judgments about the celestial bodies in the sky after observing them, but they did not realize or dare to believe that the earth under their feet was actually a sphere.

At the same time, the West was also seeking truth out of ignorance. Many people made similar speculations before the 2nd century AD, but the person who truly believed that the earth was a sphere was probably Pythagoras.

Although he had no objective basis, he simply intuitively believed that the sphere was the most beautiful among three-dimensional figures.

In the 3rd century BC, Eratosthenes, a scientist from Alexandria, established the concept of the earth using geometric methods. In the 2nd century AD, Ptolemy, a Greek geographer, also demonstrated in his "Almagest" that the earth is a sphere.

But for the next thousand years, Europe made no further progress.

It can be imagined that in an era when religion dominated thought, the theory of a spherical earth was simply a heresy.

It was after Magellan accidentally came across Pythagoras' book that he embarked on his journey to explore and find the solution.

However, until now, both of them still find it difficult to understand how the ground beneath their feet became a sphere.

However, Europeans have confirmed that if you start from the same place and sail from the east and west respectively, you will eventually meet each other. What they said about sailing in one direction can also return to the starting point has been confirmed by them. From this it seems that what they said is not wrong.

In fact, these discussions were also held among officers and soldiers of the South China Sea Navy.

It was so difficult to meet someone who was sailing around the world, so Chen Lin naturally wanted to get more information from him.

"Send someone back to the dock and tell his crew that Mr. Drake is drunk tonight and will rest here and return to the ship tomorrow."

Chen Lin was thinking about talking about it tomorrow to see if he could see Drake’s nautical chart.

As for Master Bao, he said goodbye and went back after Chen Lin arranged accommodation for Drake.

Back in the Old Port, he had not yet returned home, although the crew would pass on the news.

Nothing happened that night, and soon dawn came, marking the beginning of a new day.

If Drake was pretending to be drunk at the banquet, he actually fell asleep while pretending.

When he woke up, it was already the next day.

At the garrison, Chen Lin prepared a sumptuous breakfast for him.

Many people say that British food is dark cuisine. This is actually because traditional British food is relatively simple and boring.

Its national representative food is actually fish and chips, which has a very low technical content. The only English breakfast worth mentioning only includes fried eggs, baked beans, bacon and sausages. Overall, these foods taste monotonous and not very delicious.

Although authentic Chinese food is difficult for Westerners to accept, the rich flavor can still leave a deep impression on people who eat Chinese food for the first time.

After all, the ancestors of the Chinese were really good at eating. They were willing to try everything, and the sources of food were diverse, far beyond the comparison of British food.

Drake's stomach also suffered along the way.

They did not dare to enter the port, so they could only plunder food from the Spanish ships. They did not dare to use the fruits and vegetables found in the exploration area, so they could only obtain meat through fishing.

Or, as Bo Shu did, they could trade food with the local natives.

Entering the Old Port is like returning from the wilderness to the big city.

Regardless of whether he could accept the taste or not, Drake ate heartily in the garrison and filled his stomach first.

Well, if the Ming people can eat it, then he can eat it too.

When he met Chen Lin again, Chen Lin had someone prepare gifts for him and personally sent him back to the ship. When he mentioned the nautical chart, Drake reluctantly showed their nautical chart to the city.

However, he also obtained the nautical chart of the Indian Ocean from Chen Lin.

Yes, although Drake had a general idea of ​​the Indian Ocean, nautical charts were very important confidential documents in that era. He did not have charts of the Indian Ocean, so he could only rely on them to explore it personally.

Thanks to its contact with Portuguese merchants and the information from the Ming Dynasty, Jiugang has roughly outlined the topography of the Indian Ocean.

The exchange with Chen Lin will also provide them with greater security when they return to the UK in the future.

"We should be back in England in half a year. I will report to Her Majesty the Queen at that time. If nothing unexpected happens, I believe Her Majesty the Queen will send a special envoy to congratulate the Emperor of Ming on his wedding."

After two days of rest in the Old Port, the crew took turns to rest in the city for a night.

The crew members couldn't stand drifting on the sea.

Letting them take turns visiting the city is also a way to relax their tense spirits.

Drake also used these two days to calculate the new storage quantity and used the looted silver to buy a batch of Ming Dynasty goods from the Old Port, including porcelain, silk, and spices, which he planned to take back to Britain to sell, taking the opportunity to make a fortune.

In the original time and space, the Ming Dynasty did not have any influence in Southeast Asia, so Drake naturally had no way to contact the Ming government.

The Golden Hind sailed through Southeast Asia and entered the Indian Ocean only after it robbed a Portuguese merchant ship and obtained a nautical chart from it, which enabled it to successfully cross the Indian Ocean and return to Europe via the Cape of Good Hope at the southernmost tip of Africa.

This time, when exchanging nautical charts with the Ming Dynasty's South China Sea Navy, they naturally no longer needed to obtain the charts by robbing Portuguese merchant ships. As long as they calculated the food and water on the ship, as well as the supply port, they could successfully cross the Indian Ocean and return to Europe.

When choosing a supply point, you naturally have to try to avoid the Portuguese strongholds.

After all, the Indian Ocean is the territory divided by the Portuguese, and they may not welcome the British who suddenly intruded.

The Indian Ocean chart provided by the Ming Dynasty perfectly solved the troubles he was facing.

As for disguising themselves as Portuguese and resupplying at their docks, that was almost impossible.

The Ming soldiers could all notice the slight differences in hair color and facial features between the British and Portuguese, and the Portuguese naturally understood these even better.

After completing the supply in the old port and determining the new route, Drake said goodbye to Chen Lin.

"For the record, the cannons of the English ships are mainly distributed on both sides of the ship, which is obviously different from the Spanish warships."

Seeing the Golden Deer leaving, Chen Lin suddenly said to the clerk beside him.

He had just discovered that the position of the cannons on the Golden Deer was the same as Yu Dayou's idea, with guns mounted on both sides to facilitate concentrated firepower to attack the enemy.

Previously, both the Ming army and the Spanish were accustomed to placing cannons at the bow and stern, with fewer cannons on the sides. (End of this chapter)