"I'm afraid it won't be easy to cover up." Gongsun Bu shook his head.
Niu Youdao asked: "The reason."
Gongsun preached: "I followed your instructions to check, but nothing was found. You were also sure that the other party would use sea ships to transport them, so my disciples asked experienced fishermen who often went out to sea to make detailed inquiries. I asked if there was anyone on the coastline. Young and old fishermen, because Qi State prohibits the private sale of war horses abroad, I have never heard of a ship specifically transporting horses."
Niu Youdao: "If there is no specialized one, why can't cargo ships do it?"
Gongsun Bu shook his head: "We have the same problem here. According to experienced old people, ordinary cargo ships cannot be loaded. It's not that they can't be loaded, but that most horses are used to being on land, on ships, and at sea. They will be unaccustomed to floating and have adverse symptoms, and problems will arise if they are crowded together, so they need to be separated individually and maintained by experienced horse breeders. If they are to be transported in large quantities, the interior of the cargo ship must be modified."
"And our people checked some suspicious ships on the coastline and found no ships that had been modified internally. According to Daoye, I'm afraid it can't be solved with just a few ships. A large number of ships are needed, and we can't do it for these horses. Are you going to deliberately build a large number of new ships? Building a large cargo ship that can go to sea requires specialized shipbuilding craftsmen. Building one cannot be done in a short time, and the possibility of building it in large quantities is even smaller. Besides, no similar new ships have been found.”
"After our people walked the coastline, they eliminated those places where ships could not dock. All areas where ships could dock were assigned people to patrol in sections every day. In the case of insufficient manpower, there may be fewer ships. Omissions cannot be discovered in time, but with a large number of ships, the situation will be discovered to some extent. So for now, the situation you mentioned has not been discovered yet. "
"Master Dao, could it be that your information is wrong?"
Niu Youdao thought silently. Although the Shang Chaozong wanted to form a special cavalry, for a territory as big as Beizhou, it would need more horses than the Shang Chaozong. Since Shao Pingbo had channels to get them, he wouldn't be petty. This guy's ambition must have at least tens of thousands of horses.
After thinking for a while, he asked: "Gongsun, I have never touched the ships of other countries. Please help me estimate how many ships are needed to carry 10,000 war horses."
Gongsun Bu was thinking, but Black Peony interjected: "Master Tao, a few of us monks often went overseas to look for spiritual herbs. We traveled on the sea many times, so we probably have some idea about the ship."
Niu Youdao said oh and turned to look at her, "Then tell me."
Black Peony said: "If there are ten thousand horses...it depends on the size of the ship. For small ships, it is very dangerous to sail long distances on the sea. The conditions on the sea are unpredictable. If there are big waves, the small ship can easily capsize. And horses are not cargo. They cannot be stacked, and a certain amount of space must be given, and a small boat cannot transport a few, so it is impossible to transport so many war horses in a small boat.”
Niu Youdao nodded: "That makes sense! How much can the big ship hold?"
Black Peony: "It's the largest sea-going ship I've ever seen. It's probably no problem to transport two hundred horses at a time, but there shouldn't be many such ships in any country. If you want to transport tens of thousands of war horses, the biggest possibility is that A medium-to-large sea-going ship that can carry hundreds of horses. Countries say there are many such ships, but not many, but not few either."
Niu Youdao looked at Gongsun Bu for confirmation, and Gongsun Bu nodded and said: "Mei Dan is right, that's what happened. I rarely went to sea before, so my experience in this regard may not be as good as that of Peony."
Niu Youdao hesitated and said: "In other words, we need at least a hundred large ships like this."
"Yes!" Black Peony nodded and said: "At least a hundred ships are needed. It is not that simple to transport so many living creatures over long distances on the sea. There will be various situations and you need to make sufficient preparations. Otherwise, you may not have much when you arrive at the destination. They can only survive. If you include the horses’ consumption of supplies on the way, there must be more than a hundred. I think they can’t transport so many horses and stop at the shore from time to time for supplies, right?”
Niu Youdao asked doubtfully: "Is it difficult to build a ship as large as a hundred or so? Do you think it was built secretly somewhere?"
"Impossible!" Black Mudan and Gongsun Bu denied almost in unison.
Niu Youdao glanced at the two of them and asked, "How?"
Black Mudan said: "As Brother Gongsun said just now, building such a large ship that can go to sea is not something that ordinary craftsmen can build. It is not comparable to the fishing boats built by some craftsmen that are usually seen in the inner lake. There is no comparison at all. Anyone who can build such a ship must be an experienced ship craftsman in the coastal area."
"Compared to ordinary people, they are still somewhat afraid of the boundless sea. Except for those merchants who take risks to make money, most people still focus on road transportation. People who make a living by fishing along the coast will not use such a big boat. I can't afford it. Even if I could afford it, to operate such a big boat, only ten or twenty people would be needed as crew members. How far would it take to go fishing? If you go too far, the fish you catch will be spoiled when shipped back. Do fishermen who fish in the offshore use such a big boat as a fishing boat?"
"Under the limitation of demand, in troubled times, there are not many people who want this kind of ship, and there are not many craftsmen who can make this kind of big ship. Even if it is a hundred ships, Master Dao, any country can build a hundred new ships of this size. It would be difficult to build a sea-going ship even if it takes only one year with the whole country's efforts. This kind of craftsmanship is very delicate, and it will be useless even if you recruit a bunch of monks to help. This cannot be done with high magic power. "
"Master Dao, I think what Brother Gongsun just said is right. It is very possible to modify the interior of the cabin. A carpenter can do this kind of work. It saves time and effort and does not require too much trouble. To build such a big ship and build so many, Spreading out a little can easily cause big noises, there is no confidentiality at all, and the other party probably won't do this."
Gongsun Bu also nodded, "That's the truth."
Niu Youdao nodded silently. He also felt that what he said made sense. He also understood some of the truth, but he had never been in contact with the sea ships here and was unsure, so he asked in detail.
Now it seems that it was a bit natural for him to want to transport the war horses by sea. He did not expect that there would be so many complications. He thought that the ship would be easy to find.
After thinking for a while, he asked again: "How many large ships like this do you think there are in various countries?"
Gongsun Xu said: "It's hard to say. I guess no one would pay attention to this among ordinary monks, but I have the impression that there should be more large-scale ships like Weiguo."
Black Peony agreed: "In terms of location, a desert and an insurmountable plateau separate the seven countries into two areas. The four countries of Song, Han, Zhao, and Yan are crowded together, and the three countries of Jin, Qi, and Wei are together. Among the seven kingdoms, the first four are relatively poor, and the last three are relatively rich. Among the last three, Jin is relatively poor. However, Jin is good at weapon forging and has the strongest force. It has a strong martial arts style and is also among the seven kingdoms. The strongest, however, cannot match the national power of Qi and Wei, and they have been suppressed by the two countries. Individually, no country is the opponent of Jin."
Niu Youdao couldn't help but laugh. He knew this. She didn't need to explain it. He just discovered that after arriving at Qingshan County Erran and witnessing some things, this woman had indeed changed a bit. He interrupted with a smile: "This has something to do with the number of ships in the Wei Kingdom." ?"
Black Peony: "Of course it has something to do with it. Qi is relatively wealthy because other countries have demand for its war horses, and they need to exchange a lot of money and materials for their war horses every year. However, Qi does not dare to let go of selling war horses. Similarly, Jin It is also unlikely that China will sell weapons to other countries in large quantities to threaten itself. Only Weiguo has a unique geographical location and climate environment, and the food grown can be harvested three times a year with little care."
"Every year, a large amount of grain is sold to other countries in exchange for money. If the four countries of Song, Han, Zhao, and Yan had not received food supplies from Weiguo, they would have collapsed long ago based on the domestic conditions of the four countries. As long as Weiguo was cut off, If we sell grain to the four countries, the four countries will collapse immediately. Of course, Weiguo will not dare to do this, otherwise if the four countries have no way to survive, I am afraid that the first unlucky one will be Weiguo."
"Of course, although the Wei State is rich, the people are not much better off. The only ones who are rich are those cultivating sects who steal from behind..."
Niu Youdao blinked as he listened, feeling that this woman was getting further and further away.
"Ahem!" Gongsun Bu couldn't bear to listen to this long speech, and interrupted with a dry cough, "Master Dao, what Sister Peony means is that Weiguo often transports grain to various countries by sea ships, so Weiguo's There are more ships in the big sea.”
Niu Youdao made a sound and asked him: "Approximately how many are there?"
Gongsun Bu shook his head and said: "I really haven't paid attention to this, and I don't know."
Black Mudan said: "Weiguo must have at least over a thousand such large ships, and the other countries combined may not have as many as Weiguo. But I guess it is impossible for Beizhou to use ships all from Weiguo. If hundreds of large ships came from one place, they would still be too eye-catching."
"With such an amount, it seems that it is not difficult to obtain. In this case, the possibility of transformation is indeed very high..." Niu Youdao rubbed his chin and muttered for a while.
Black Peony: "Master Tao, having said that, if our war horses want to take the sea route, we must prepare the ship as early as possible."
Niu Youdao said angrily and amusedly: "Preparation? How to prepare? It's so troublesome. We're just talking about preparation now. Our current manpower doesn't know how long it will take to prepare the ship silently. How can we prepare nothing!" Besides, I still don’t know if I can get a war horse. This is also my fault. I didn’t pay attention to it earlier and made a last-minute decision without making any calculations. The difficulty is beyond my imagination.”
Black Mudan asked: "Should we take the land route? I'm afraid it will be more troublesome and there will be more joints to open."
Niu Youdao ignored this, took two steps back and forth with his hands behind his hands, and suddenly waved to Black Peony, "Map!"
Black Peony immediately took the map, opened it, and hung it on the wall.
Niu Youdao stood in front of the map and said harshly, "I don't believe in evil anymore. Can so many ships be invisible? Regardless of other things, I must dig out Beizhou's ship. I must see the ship alive or die." If I want to see the corpse, I can’t get it, and even Beizhou can’t get it!”