People in the Song Dynasty were lawless

Chapter 487: Dragon Flags Everywhere

The diplomatic envoys' fleet sailed from the Pearl River into the South China Sea.

The dragon flag of the Song Dynasty above covered the sky and the sun.

As an official diplomatic mission, all kinds of preparations were naturally complete for this voyage.

During the voyage, there are experienced sailors and guides.

In terms of logistics supplies, there are clothes for all seasons to keep warm, and food includes various types of pickled meats, pickled vegetables, and tea to supplement the necessary nutrition.

In terms of weapons and equipment, they have a large number of muskets and artillery and extremely abundant ammunition reserves, so it should not be a big problem to destroy a few small countries in the Middle East.

More than one hundred ships of various types were spread out in a triangular cone shape.

In the front were ironclad ships leading the way, with the Pearl River navy providing support on the left and right wings, and in the middle were the escorted ships of the diplomatic mission.

If a general familiar with military affairs takes a closer look at the entire formation, he will find that this is not a defensive formation at all.

But it’s an offensive formation!

The Song Dynasty Navy is full of martial virtues. Even when protecting a delegation of envoys, it never thinks about defense, but instead eliminates all enemies it sees!

During the Song Dynasty, navigation between China and the West was already very smooth, with a variety of routes to choose from.

They sailed steadily southwestward along the Guangzhou coastline at an average speed of 6 kilometers per hour, and lighthouses were built on islands along the coastline to provide guidance.

This is because the speed was slowed down in order to protect the diplomatic delegation.

Otherwise, with a tailwind, the boat can reach a speed of 6 knots, or 10 kilometers per hour, at full speed.

For example, Zheng He of the Ming Dynasty could maintain a speed of 100-130 nautical miles per day when sailing to the West, which is equivalent to traveling 200 kilometers a day and a speed of more than 8 kilometers per hour.

The Song Dynasty's fleet was recruited entirely by experienced sailors and guides who were able to expertly master the patterns of trade winds and ocean currents on the west coast of the Pacific Ocean and the entire Indian Ocean, and could make full use of them.

Therefore, the voyage was naturally smooth.

It was late spring in March, the weather was clear and the South China Sea was cloudless. After one night, by the afternoon of the next day, they arrived at the waters of Hailing Island, south of Yangjiang City in later generations, a journey of about 160 nautical miles.

The biggest feature of sea transportation is that it can travel day and night. At night, if there are no clouds in the sky and the moon is bright, you can navigate by the stars.

But if there are too many dark clouds in the sky and your vision is blocked, you can rely on a compass and drive slower.

In this way, the ship can sail for 24 hours without stopping.

The South China Sea is like their own back garden, whether for the Jinghai Navy, the Pearl River Navy, or the recruited crew members and sailors.

The fleet sailed along the route with almost no obstacles.

On the contrary, the more than 100 members of the diplomatic corps and the 2,000 musketeers dispatched from Guangzhou were just like outsiders. They were full of novelty in the first two days, looking around on the deck and taking in the scenery.

After that, life became boring. Some people read novels, some played chess, some played cards, and lived a boring life on the ocean.

The good thing is that the entertainment culture in the Song Dynasty is relatively rich nowadays. Although there are no computers, mobile phones or wifi, all kinds of novels, chess and cards are popular, and we can occasionally catch some sea fish to relieve the boring life.

By the afternoon of the third day, they passed what is now Maoming and arrived at Xuwen County.

Generally, sea merchants would take two routes here. One is to cross the Qiongzhou Strait and first go to Jiangnan Prefecture in Vietnam, where they would trade Vietnamese specialties, and then go south along the coastline to Champa.

The other route is to go directly south, circle half of Hainan Island, from Haikou to Sanya, and then continue south to Vijaya, the capital of Champa.

Tan Wenxue and his group don't need to go to Yue Dynasty.

Because the many envoys sent out by the imperial court each had their own goals and went their own way and did not interfere with each other.

Later, the court would send another team to travel southwest by land to Dali, Viet Cho, Bagan, Haliphunchai, Angkor, Pegu, Alayu, Sina, Polo and other countries.

These places are Yunnan, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Bangladesh and other places in later my country.

There are some landlocked countries there, and it would be completely inconvenient for the diplomatic delegations to the Middle East to travel by sea.

Therefore, the delegation directly chose the second option, and their first stop was Champa.

Soon on the fourth night, they traveled more than 800 nautical miles and spent four and a half days, with a total journey of more than 180 kilometers. Starting from Guangzhou, they traveled about kilometers a day and arrived at Zhuyazhou, which is Sanya.

This is the southernmost tip of the Song Dynasty's territory today. Although the Jinghai Army has military bases in Mayit Island and Purozhong, which are the Philippines and Singapore, it is not Han territory after all.

In the future, if they want to become Han territory, a large number of immigrants will be needed. Therefore, it can be said that after moving south from Hainan Island, they officially went overseas.

The capital of Champa was called Vijaya, which was later the Thai Binh Province of Vietnam. It is about 6 kilometers away from Sanya. Under normal circumstances, it takes 7- days to travel from Guangzhou to Vijaya, the capital of Champa.

The diplomatic mission was also going very smoothly.

Although there were strong winds along the way, they were southeast winds, providing continuous power for the ship. It did not rain and the weather was very clear, with high visibility at night.

Therefore, the fleet did not stop in Sanya. After bypassing Hainan Island, it headed straight towards Vijaya.

But on the fifth day, something strange happened.

In the early morning, Tan Wenxue and others were awakened by the sound of a horn.

There was a sudden panic in the cabin. Many officials of the diplomatic corps crawled out of their beds, quickly put on their clothes, and ran to the deck.

"What's going on, what's going on?"

"Why is there a horn sound? Did we encounter pirates?"

"Go and see."

The officials looked around and saw that the fleet was still sailing steadily, with sails fluttering around them, as if nothing was happening.

Even the formation hasn't changed much.

Only on the southern left wing, a Sea Falcon attack ship suddenly changed its course and headed southwest.

"what happened?"

Tan Wenxue was confused and didn't understand why the horn was sounded.

He and Zhang Youwei were the chief officers on this voyage.

However, the Song Dynasty is currently gradually stripping away the power of civil servants to lead wars.

Therefore, except for large-scale legionary battles, which were often led by civil servants such as Fan Zhongyan and Zhang Kang, ordinary wars, even smaller-scale wars to annihilate nations, were no longer subject to the intervention of civil servants.

For example, when Di Qing conquered the Western Regions, he did not send any civil officials. The whole process was led by Di Qing. Envoys such as Sun Youtong and Li Tao only played a role as envoys.

Therefore, when Tan Wenxue and his team went on a mission to the West, they did not have command power during the voyage. They only had diplomatic power when they went ashore to negotiate with foreign countries.

The military leadership was under the charge of Wang Shining, commander of the Jinghai Army.

The only exception is when they arrive at a country on a diplomatic mission and encounter war, they can discuss with Wang Shining whether to start a war or negotiate through diplomatic means.

"Doctor, it's a pirate."

The main ship was naturally guarded by soldiers. A captain of the Jinghai Navy was in charge. He stood by the side of the ship and looked into the distance with a telescope, then reported to Tan Wenxue and his men: "A pirate ship appeared in the south, but it has been driven away."

"pirate?"

Tan Wenxue also asked for a pair of binoculars from the soldier next to him and looked towards the southwest. Sure enough, he saw their Sea Falcon attack ship chasing a black dot.

But the black spot was so tiny that it could not be seen clearly even when viewed through a telescope high above the sea with an excellent view.

Judging from the magnification of the telescopes in their hands, the other party might be at least thirty kilometers away from them.

"Liu Dutou."

Zhang Youwei wondered, "Didn't they say that the Jinghai Army and the Guangzhou and Qiongzhou naval forces have fought against pirates many times, making them almost extinct?"

"How can it be completely extinct?"

Liu Dutou smiled and said, "It's just that the water near the coast is gone, so they don't dare to come to the shore to cause trouble."

"Well?"

Zhang Youwei frowned slightly. This was different from what he had heard.

Liu Dutou explained: "What you don't know, Doctor, is that the South China Sea is too big. Even if the Jinghai Army expanded tenfold and had a hundred ironclad ships, it would be impossible to patrol the South China Sea all the time and ensure maritime safety. Besides, it is impossible to really eliminate all pirates."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, this merchant carried hundreds of thousands of strings of money and goods each time he went out to sea, which naturally attracted the covetousness of bandits. The South China Sea was considered good. Before our Jinghai Army went to Purozhong, bandits were everywhere in Srivijaya, Chola and other places. It is said that there were countless pirates in the Arab side, and even many merchants were bandits themselves. If they encountered another caravan weaker than their own at sea, it was common for them to rob on the spot."

"It's really like this?"

Tan Wenxue and Zhang Youwei were both very shocked. They didn't expect the sea to be so chaotic.

"Ah."

Liu Dutou nodded and said, "In addition, these pirates are bandits when they go out and fishermen when they come in. They are from all the surrounding countries. Many of our Han people are also bandits. The Guangdong Transportation Bureau even suspects that some countries around the South China Sea are behind them. Although we are invincible at sea, it is easy for them to escape, and it is really difficult to kill them."

"So that's what it is."

The two of them suddenly realized why pirates appeared after they arrived overseas.

The South China Sea route is currently the most prosperous and bustling route in the world, connecting the three continents of Europe, Asia and Africa. The cargo carried by any ocean-going fleet is worth at least hundreds of thousands of strings of cash, and at most millions of strings of cash.

Since ancient times, money has attracted people's attention, and where there is wealth, there will naturally be plunder.

Therefore, as long as this route exists, it is impossible to eliminate piracy. The only difference is the intensity of the crackdown by each country.

The Song Dynasty’s navy was powerful, so it was able to eliminate pirates in the surrounding areas, but it was more difficult to deal with pirates in the distant seas offshore.

Firstly, the naval power of neighboring countries is very weak.

The navies of Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam, Champa, Srivijaya, etc. cannot be said to be very strong, but they can only be considered better than nothing.

Some pirates are even driven by these countries.

For example, there is a record in the fourth year of Qiandao in the Southern Song Dynasty that the Arab merchant Wu Shidian was robbed of all his goods by local pirates when he passed through Champa.

Later, the Champa King Jaya Indravarman IV sent envoys to pay tribute to the Song Dynasty, and it happened that Wushidian was also in Quanzhou.

He discovered that the goods that Champa paid tribute to the Song Dynasty were all the goods that had been robbed from him, so he reported it to the Quanzhou Maritime Customs, which involved a case of the state robbing merchants.

This shows how complicated the forces behind these pirates are.

Secondly, many of those pirates were fishermen from neighboring countries. The small boats they used were very fast. When the navy chased them, they fled back to their country even though they were dozens of kilometers away, and then immediately transformed themselves into fishermen and villagers.

Faced with this situation, the Song Dynasty Navy cannot go ashore and massacre villages in other countries.

So for now, the only pirates that the Jinghai Army and the navies of Guangzhou, Guangxi, Fujian and other places can attack are basically pirates in the near-shore waters.

In particular, the Guangzhou, Guangxi and Fujian navies were established to defend the offshore coasts, and at most they would patrol and guard the South China Sea.

The Jinghai Navy is the only fleet that can sail to the distant seas, but relying on their few thousand troops, even though they have strong combat effectiveness and can destroy some small countries in Southeast Asia, they can't do anything about the distant sea pirates.

"But you don't have to worry."

Liu Dutou smiled and said, "Our Great Song Navy is powerful. Those pirates always flee when they see our Great Song Dragon Flag. This time they just watched from afar and did not dare to approach."

"Since our navy is strong and will run away when they see the dragon flag, why do they dare to come and spy?"

Tan Wenxue discovered the problem.

"Look over there, doctor."

Liu Dutou was about to explain when he suddenly noticed countless black spots appearing in the distance. He took a look and then pointed to the distance.

Tan Wenxue was puzzled and raised the telescope in his hand again.

Then I saw another fleet appearing in the distance, it was very majestic. Under the observation of the telescope, the original small black dot became clearer and clearer. I could vaguely see that in addition to the sails, there were many flags fluttering on the ships.

"That is?"

Tan Wenxue was very surprised and asked, "Is that our Great Song's own caravan?"

He saw the bow of the ship was full of dragon flags of the Song Dynasty.

"No."

Liu Dutou shook his head and said, "That should be a merchant from the Arab world."

The dragon flag of the Song Dynasty was flying on the ship of the Arab merchants?

"I understand."

Tan Wenxue was not stupid, and he quickly guessed the reason: "Is it because the pirates fled immediately when they saw the dragon flag of the Song Dynasty at the beginning, so the merchants followed suit and hoisted the dragon flag to protect their safety. Later, the pirates noticed this and were afraid of our navy and the merchants who were bullying us, so even though they knew there was danger, they had to send ships to spy?"

"good."

Liu Dutou nodded and said, "Although this may be seen through by the pirates, it is much better than being robbed directly by the pirates as before. Moreover, the pirates come to spy, and they are afraid of being annihilated by our navy, so they dare not come with a large force. They only send one or two fast boats. Even if they see through that they are merchants, they still have to go back and report. This back and forth will waste a lot of time, which may allow the merchants to escape smoothly, or delay time until the patrolling navy appears, so that the safety of the merchants can be guaranteed."

"That's a good thing, but I remember there are rules and laws for the use of the national flag."

Tan Wenxue put down the telescope and asked in confusion: "They are foreigners. Did the court allow them to fly the flag of our Song Dynasty?"

"It's definitely not allowed, but the new decree of the Constitutional Council was issued two years ago, saying that as long as you register your company with the Song Dynasty Industry and Commerce Bureau and pay local taxes, you can fly the Song Dynasty flag and get the protection of the navy. If you fly the dragon flag without a registered company and pretend to be powerful at sea, you will be punished to death if you are caught by the navy."

Liu Dutou said: "The doctor also knows that the court has always attached great importance to commerce. After this decree was issued, the commercial tax of the Guangzhou Industry and Commerce Bureau was indeed much higher. Many people registered locally, and the Guangzhou treasury was full for a while."

"Yes, I remember now. The Constitutional Council did have such an order before. It turned out to be here."

Tan Wenxue looked into the distance. The fleet was getting closer and closer. As expected, they were all flying the flags of the Song Dynasty. They looked majestic in the howling southeast wind.

"If that happens, the sea will be covered with dragon flags!"

(End of this chapter)