Tibet.

Chapter 1442: The Deep Sea at the End of the Year
On the vast sea, a team consisting of ten large ships with a capacity of 1,000 stones and 1,200 people was sailing eastward.

This fleet was none other than the expedition fleet led by Yang Liangyao, the envoy to the South Seas. It had set out in mid-October and had been sailing for two and a half months. It had passed through Brunei, Srivijaya and other countries, and had long since passed the South Seas countries. It was now sailing in the depths of the boundless South Seas.

Yang Liangyao's mission was to find the South Continent and the South Big Island. According to the map given to him by the emperor, he was already between the South Pacific Islands and the South Continent. After sailing for several days, he still did not see any trace of the coastline.

"Sir, there are a lot of clouds in the sky. There may be a storm ahead. We should turn south immediately!"

The speaker was Lieutenant General Wei Zhentao, who was also an experienced naval commander. He had been responsible for escorting merchant ships in Southeast Asia and was recommended to Yang Liangyao by Li Chengshi.

Wei Zhentao was also very interested in exploring the southern continent, and resolutely followed Yang Liangyao on a risky and unknown journey.

Yang Liangyao looked up at the clouds in the sky. They could judge whether there would be dangerous big waves based on the color of the clouds and the flight speed.

Yang Liangyao noticed that the edge of the cloud was slightly black and the flying speed was far beyond normal. He also realized that something was wrong ahead.

He immediately gave the order: "Order the entire army to sail south!"

The ten large ships were all steam-powered ships, driven by iron paddle wheels, and their power was indeed strong.

"Woo——"

The whistle sounded, and the first large ship began to turn around. The ships behind also saw the flag signals and followed suit.

It was already dark in the east, and it was obvious that a storm was approaching rapidly from the west.

Yao Chunshan, who invented the steam engine, was also in the fleet with more than 20 apprentices. This was the first time that the steam engine was used for long-distance voyages. As a technical maintenance worker, he had to follow his peers. The manufacturing of Chang'an's steam engines was in the charge of his apprentice Wei Jincheng, who is now the director of an agency. Wei Jincheng is better than his master and his technology in building steam engines has surpassed that of his master.

In addition, Wang Zhan, the director of the Shipbuilding Bureau, was also in the fleet. He was responsible for modifying the hull and installing the steam engine. This voyage was equally important to him, so he brought a dozen students to follow the fleet.

The wind and clouds changed suddenly. In just a stick of incense, the sky dozens of miles to the east had become as dark as ink. The dark clouds overhead were speeding and gradually gathered. The sea was surging and huge waves hit the large ship.

The sails had been removed and the ship was swaying from side to side. This was just the precursor to a storm. If they couldn't find shelter before the storm really came, they would be doomed.

At this time, Yao Chunshan rushed up from the bottom of the ship and shouted: "Send the order, shut down the steam engine immediately."

Yang Liangyao also hurriedly ordered: "Pass the order, shut down the steam engine!"

A dozen soldiers shot nine rockets into the sky, which meant shutting down the steam engine.

But it was of no use at all. As soon as the rocket was shot into the sky, it was blown away by the strong wind. No matter how many arrows were shot, it was still useless.

"Director Yao, how about not shutting down the steam engine?"

"It will explode, and the whole ship will be destroyed!"

Yang Liangyao's face changed drastically, and he shouted, "Go up to the mast and pass the order!"

A messenger was climbing up the mast with a signal light on his back. Halfway up, a huge wave hit him. The messenger screamed and was swept into the sea.

"And then on!"

The second messenger climbed up to the mast with difficulty, holding the signal light in his arms. The signal light was an alcohol lamp covered with a glass cover. The light was very bright and had strong penetrating power.

The messenger kept covering and flashing the alcohol lamp nine times in a row. After a quarter of an hour, he sent out the signal again, a total of three signals. Whether other ships could see it or not was left to fate.

At this time, the sky was completely dark as ink, and the strong wind stirred up huge waves. The waves were surging. In front of the waves dozens of feet high, the huge ship weighing thousands of tons was like an ant. The ocean roared as if the end of the world was coming.

The big ship rose and fell violently in the sea, swayed from side to side, was swallowed by the waves, and then emerged again. The excellent shipbuilding technology of the Tang Dynasty was fully demonstrated at this moment. The ship remained intact and was not torn into pieces.

"Land! Land!"

A soldier suddenly discovered land ahead and shouted excitedly.

The steam engine had been turned off and the hot water in the boiler had been released. Dozens of soldiers desperately stepped on the pedals and used manpower to drive the paddles to continue moving forward. They gradually approached the land, which was a big mountain. The ship sailed into the valley behind the mountain.

The mountains blocked the strong winds and huge waves, and the soldiers cheered.

Soon after, several ships followed into the valley. Yang Liangyao nervously counted the large ships entering the port: three, four, five, six, seven.
When the seventh ship entered the valley, there were no more ships following behind, and Yang Liangyao's heart seemed to sink to the bottom of the sea.

At this moment, a faint explosion sounded in the distance.

Yao Chunshan sighed, "The steam engine must have exploded!"

The violent storm raged for two days and two nights. On the morning of the third day, the storm finally stopped.

The three missing ships might still be alive, but everyone knew that the possibility was extremely slim. It was basically determined that the three ships sank and more than 300 soldiers were unfortunately buried in the sea. Yang Liangyao led the remaining more than 900 soldiers and craftsmen to mourn for the victims. After resting for another half a day, the Tang army turned around to look at the island. According to their experience, the island was quite long and had a long coastline.

"Envoy, could this be the Southern Continent?" asked Deputy General Wei Zhentao.

Yang Liangyao shook his head, "I don't know, I need to explore around!"

"Then I'll go!" Wei Zhentao said immediately.

As a rule, it is necessary to circle the coast to confirm the size of the island.

Wei Zhentao took a large ship and started the steam engine to sail around the island.

At this time, Yang Liangyao saw that there were many coconut trees on the island, and immediately ordered more than 200 soldiers to pick coconuts and replenish fresh water.

Yang Liangyao sat in the cabin and opened the map to take a closer look. It was a copied map. He kept the map given to him by the emperor as a treasure.

They had been away from the South Pacific Islands for many days and had traveled at least one or two thousand miles.

He suspected that he was between the South Continent and the South Island, where there happened to be an island that didn't look small.

He took out his logbook again, ready to record the storm, when he was suddenly shocked to find that today was the first day of the Lunar New Year.

On the first day of the first lunar month in the third year of Jiaxing, he had not yet celebrated the New Year with the soldiers!

At this moment, there was a shouting outside, and the sound of running footsteps was heard. Soon a soldier reported, "General Yang, the soldiers have captured more than a dozen natives!"

They met many natives along the way, who were basically simple and friendly. The biggest advantage of finding the natives was that they could find fresh water.

Yang Liangyao came to the deck and saw soldiers escorting a dozen dark-skinned natives wearing leather skirts. One of them was a little older and should be the leader.

"Sir, these natives were looking around and observing us. We have surrounded them and captured them all!"

The natives were brought on board the big ship. Yang Liangyao had a way to communicate with them. They drew more than a hundred pictures, such as drinking water, eating food, etc.

Yang Liangyao took out a picture of an island and placed it in front of the leading native. He pointed at the picture and then asked, "What is the name of the island?"

The native leader looked at the pattern in confusion for a moment, then suddenly understood. He turned around, pointed at the island and said to Yang Liangyao: "Ka Ka!"

It turned out that the name of the island was Titicaca Island. With the concept of the island, things became easier. Yang Liangyao took out another picture, which showed a person walking on the island. The sun rose and set. Yang Liangyao pointed to the island and gestured again.

The native understood. He pointed at the sun rising, setting, rising and setting four times in total, and then he made a motion of running in place.

What he meant was that it would take four days to run across the island.

The surrounding soldiers all laughed, and a dozen natives also laughed along with them.

Yang Liangyao then gave each native a dagger, which they immediately loved. Yang Liangyao then invited them to have dinner and drinks together to celebrate the New Year.

Two days later, the natives bid them farewell and took a dozen soldiers to the island. After walking for several miles, they found a lake and found fresh water.

Yang Liangyao has already obtained information from the natives. This island is about two hundred miles in radius, which is not small, but it is not the southern continent they are looking for. There are three native tribes living on the island, with a total population of more than five hundred people, who make a living by fishing and picking. The island is rich in a kind of small fruit, which is the same as the cherries in the Tang Dynasty and is their staple food.

Soon, Wei Zhentao also came back. He circled the island and confirmed the area of ​​the island, which was about the same size as Jingzhao Prefecture. There were mountains, forests and rivers. The whole island was very narrow and long, in the shape of a mallet.

Yang Liangyao pointed to the mallet-shaped island on the map and said with a smile, "That's it!"

The island painted by Li Ye is the New Caledonia Island in later generations.

The South Continent is just a few hundred miles to the west. Yang Liangyao smiled and said, "The native leader told me that they have been to the South Continent, but they dare not settle there because there are groups of wild beasts that will eat them. I looked at the picture he drew and it should be wild dogs or jackals. Let's make a plan and get ready to set off!"

Yang Liangyao decided to use Titicaca Island as a logistics point. After going to the South Continent, he would prepare for the next step to go to Ilha do Sul.

Yang Liangyao left behind a batch of daily necessities and twenty temporary soldiers, asking them to teach the local natives skills such as pottery making, shoe making, fire making, wine making, clothes sewing, etc., and also teach them how to grow wheat.

Titicaca Island is not small in area and is of course the territory of the Tang Dynasty. These natives will also become the subjects of the Tang Dynasty. The location of Titicaca Island is very important and it can be used as a transit point between the South Continent and the South Island in the future.

The fleet set sail westward, and the leader Tu asked three natives to row a canoe in front to lead the way.

A few days later, a coastline that stretched as far as the eye could see appeared in front of them. The soldiers cheered because they had found the southern continent.

(End of this chapter)