This is probably the Ming Dynasty version of Robinson Crusoe... and it's not a version with just one person, but a version with many people.
Listening to Monk Zanghai's story, Zhang Shou couldn't help but have such a thought in his mind, and felt quite sad.
Countless people in later generations thought that America was a wonderful place. Not to mention the free air, many people also yearned for the climate and environment. Most places were not too hot or too cold, and the land was fertile, suitable for the growth of crops. There were seasides, waterfalls, the Great Lakes, and Yellowstone... It was a place of development and scenery.
However, compared with the interconnected continents of Asia, Europe and Africa, the early American continent was completely isolated and had no cultural or economic exchanges. It could only work alone. Moreover, compared with wheat and rice, which were relatively easy to domesticate in Asia and Europe, it took many years for corn and sweet potatoes to be domesticated from their initial form to their later forms.
Moreover, in an era of complete isolation, no external enemies, and at most city-state wars, there is no natural enemy and no great motivation for development. Even if you develop to the extreme of slavery... years of natural disasters will knock you down.
Zhang Shou still remembers that until later generations, he often heard about various hurricanes and tornadoes in the United States in the news, which often blew down houses and caused urban flooding. From this, we can know that if we go back hundreds or thousands of years, the living environment there was definitely not good. In addition, people would sacrifice their heads to the gods and heavens for no reason. The so-called amazing civilization did not even enter the Iron Age...
Therefore, in that place, it would be really not easy for a small group of seafarers who had no strong ships, whose powerful cannons were probably sunk, and whose muskets were not sure whether they could be used, to guide the natives to climb the technology tree when their own technological level was not high enough. Moreover, the population and settlement of the natives, the resistance of the ruling class, the enemies of the external city-states, and various natural disasters were all big problems.
It is impossible to develop such a huge continent without the support of a strong country.
The Ming Dynasty was a powerful country, but how could a fleet that sailed across the ocean to America and then encountered a shipwreck receive strong assistance from the country? Moreover, based on the information he had obtained indirectly from Weinan Earl Zhang Kang, at least he had never heard of an official fleet going to the eastern continent according to the records on the globe, and merchant ships were probably even less interested in taking such a risk.
Whether it was because the Ming Dynasty already had enough land and was unwilling to waste money on ocean voyages, or for some other reason, it is unknown.
Moreover, Zhang Shou couldn't help but think of another deeper question. Does the Buddhist name of Monk Canghai have any other meaning? This guy can tell the story so well. Is it true that he just heard it, or has he experienced it personally? These two people... maybe there are more crew members. They can't be so bored that they go to look for the new world, right
This is not like Columbus, who was funded by the Queen. Who in the Ming Dynasty would fund such a meaningless move? Merchants were too busy doing business in the sea trade to have time! If someone funded it, then they must know exactly which continent it was, and that there were certain people living on that continent! And from what Lao Xianyu revealed yesterday, they had been there more than once!