After returning from the Northern Expedition, Zhu Youjian gave the North Sea Fleet the task of not only finding a suitable port on the coast of Daming, but also exploring eastward, looking for sea lanes and islands suitable for navigation in the east of Ryukyu.
When Zhu Youjian summoned Wei Xin, the commander of the North Sea Fleet, he specifically told him that the fleet would pass through the Osumi Strait south of Kyushu Island in Japan and north of Tanegashima Island in Ryukyu, all the way to the east, looking for temporarily uninhabited islands in the Pacific Ocean. , He also gave Wei Xin a simplified map of the Pacific Ocean, which marked the Hawaiian Islands.
However, Zhu Youjian does not know the exact location of Hawaii. He does not even know the current name of Hawaii. As for the islands that he will encounter before he finds Hawaii after going east from the Osumi Strait, Zhu Youjian will change the location. He knew nothing, so he repeatedly reminded Wei Xin that the North Sea Fleet was really exploring, and after sending the fleet east out of the Osumi Strait, it must accurately mark the location of the island it encountered before establishing an official route.
For the North Sea Fleet, leaving Ryukyu to the east is a completely unfamiliar sea area. Commander Wei Xin sent a small fleet from Qingdao's home port.
The commander of this fleet is named Mourning. He was originally a commander of the North Sea Fleet. He took eight ships, two hundred and forty sailors and two hundred and forty soldiers, under the guidance of a compass, from Qingdao to the southeast. Driving.
The compass in Mourning’s hand has been improved by the Daming Academy of Sciences. The base of the compass is a circle. The circle is engraved with twelve large grids, and each large grid is divided into five small grids, so there are a total of Sixty cells.
According to Da Ming's measurement, the entire circle is divided into three hundred and sixty degrees, and each small grid is six degrees. This kind of compass with scales greatly increases the accuracy.
When Mourning set out from Qingdao, he always asked the recorder to observe the position of the compass. His target was Tanegashima, which is the land of Ryukyu, and Ryukyu has always been a vassal state of Ming Dynasty, and he has always been very friendly with Ming Dynasty.
On Da Ming’s chart, the location of Tanegashima has been marked, but Mourning is not at ease, wondering if the location previously marked is accurate.
The fleet sailed on the vast sea for five days and five nights. When the sun came out on the sixth day, the observers finally saw the land, "The regiment, there is land in front of it."
"Land?" Mourning was overjoyed. He followed the direction of the observer's finger and saw a group of dark shadows. Because of the light on his back, he could not see the true appearance of the island temporarily. "After five days and five nights sailing at sea, he finally can On land."
"Group seat, keep going?"
"Of course, go to the vicinity first, and then look for the landing site." Mourning has been standing on the deck, completely ignoring the sea breeze.
About an hour later, the fleet came to the east of Tanegashima, but the east was cliffs and there was no beach to land on.
"Go around and look for the port where you landed," Mourning said to the recorder again, "Write down the location of Tanegashima."
To the north of Tanegashima, there is a narrow beach. A fishing boat is parked on the beach. It should be a port.
Mourning slowed down the speed of the ship, and slowly moved closer to it, as expected, the ship could be docked.
He took an interpreter and personal soldiers and boarded Tanegashima. About one mile from the port, Mourning was surprised to find that there were Japanese people living on the island, with a large kimono, a hair bun, and clogs, a Japanese man. Man dressed up is hanging out on the island.
"You are..." Seeing Mourning and others, the man was more surprised than Mourning.
The interpreter came up and said: "We are from Daming, may I ask, is this Tanegashima?"
"Tegashima?" The man frowned into the last quarter of the moon, obviously not welcoming these uninvited guests from Da Ming, "This is Yakushima, you are on the wrong island, leave soon."
"Yakushima?" Mourning opened the chart and found Tanegashima in the northeast of Yakushima. "We will leave soon. Where is that kind of island?"
"Tanabe Island is in the northeast. Find it yourself."
Seeing the unfriendly attitude of the man, Mourning really wanted to give the whole island to one pot. Thinking about it, he could bear it. He just arrived here, everything is strange, "Is this Japan or Ryukyu?"
"Of course it is Japan. Didn't you see my dress? Can the lowly Ryukyu have this kind of costume?"
Mourning swallowed his anger and left Yakushima. The only thing he could be sure of was that the man was right. Tanegashima was in the northeast of Yakushima. "Write down the exact location of Yakushima. We will come back sooner or later." Mourning said viciously.
The fleet turned to the northeast and sailed for two hours before stopping at Akaogi Port on Tanegashima Island.
After Mourning landed, what he saw was still Japanese attire.
A middle-aged man who was basking in the sun was obviously disturbed by Mourning and the others. He stared at Mourning and the others nervously with his eyes widened and slightly closed.
The interpreter approached him, and he soon returned, "Tuanza, this is Tanegashima, and he is the owner of the island Tsukuharu Shima."
"Shimazu Kuharu? What a coincidence?" From the name and costume, Mourning estimated that this is another island belonging to Japan, but he still didn't give up: "Does this belong to Japan?"
"Yes, Shimazu Kuji said, this was their territory a long time ago."
Mourning can’t help it. It’s noon. He doesn’t have any other target islands. "You go and tell him that we are passing by here and need to stop for a while, and ask if there is food and fresh water on the island. Oh, you take it. Put on these porcelains and give them to the island owner to express our goodwill."
"Yes, group seat." The interpreter continued to negotiate with Shimazu.
When the translator came back again, smiles on his face: "Tuan Zuo, Shimazu Kuji said that there is no food supplement on the island, but some fresh water can be supplied. In addition, he is grateful for the porcelain that Tuan Zuo gave him. He wants to invite the group. I have lunch."
Mourning said in his heart that his mission this time is to find Tanegashima, which will expand eastward in the future. Maybe Shimazu Kuji can provide some useful information, so he accepted Shimazu Kuji's invitation.
Shimazu Kuji was the guide, Mourning and the translator followed him, and within two miles, he came to Shimazu Kuji's home.
Along the way, Mourning discovered that the island’s terrain is very low and there are no mountains and rivers. It appears to be very flat. It should be a good food producing area. However, a lot of land has not been developed. It is likely that the island’s population is insufficient.
Shimazu’s home is just like his figure, with two rows of low huts. The living room is in the middle of the front row of huts. This is very similar to the Han Chinese house structure.
However, there may be many servants in the Shimadzu family, and a table of banquets was quickly reorganized.
The dishes on the table, in addition to a variety of wet and dry seafood, are the goose, duck and vegetables produced on the island. The wine is sake, and the alcohol content is about the same as that of Da Ming's rice wine. Mourning picked up the wine cup and sniffed it. It was rich in sugar and had a strong taste. It should be a strong wine.
After a few glasses of wine, Shimazu's words will increase. It is not his talkative, but the stimulation of alcohol. It seems that Shimazu should be a boring show at ordinary times.
From Shimazu's words, Mourning learned part of the history of Tanegashima.
About hundreds of years ago, Tanegashima was called Shimadzu Island, and it was owned by the Shimadzu clan. However, Tanegashima was invaded by Shimadzu’s retainers, Tanegashima clan, and the name was changed to Tanegashima more than two hundred years ago.
It was not until the sixteenth generation of island owner Tanegashima was transferred to another land for a long time a few decades ago, and Tanegashima returned to the hands of Shimadzu and became a direct territory of Shimadzu.
Speaking of the nearly 200-year history of Tanegashima being invaded, Shimazu Kuji lowered his head and drank sullen wine on his own. Perhaps it was the cowardice of the family that made him feel ashamed.
Mourning saw that Shimazu was in a bad mood, so he had to accompany him for a few drinks.
When Shimazu looked up and drank, he saw the flintlock beside the translator and was startled. He quickly got up, bowed and walked into the inner room, and after a while, took out a musket.
The interpreter was nervous for a while, ready to raise a gun to defend himself, Mourning held his shoulder and motioned him not to worry.
Shimazu Kuji handed the musket to Mourning. Mourning took it and looked at it. It was a musket, which was a generation behind the flintlock that he used. Daming is now starting to install the musket.
The matchlock itself is not surprising, but the Japanese also had a matchlock, which surprised Mourning.
From Shimazu's mouth, Mourning learned about the history of Japanese muskets.
Japan's first musket came from Tanegashima.
In August of the 22nd year of Ming Jiajing (AD 1543), a Portuguese ship bound for Da Ming Macau lost its way at sea and docked at Akaogi Port in Tanegashima, the 14th owner of Tanegashima. Shi Yao discovered that the Portuguese had a very powerful weapon, so he used the Ming interpreter on the ship to translate Wufeng and bought two muskets for two thousand taels of silver.
Later, Tanegashima Toshiyao asked the "exercise pillar" at home to make a copy of Baban Qingding, but Baban Qingding has been unable to make the trigger.
In the second year, another Portuguese ship was blown to Tanegashima by a typhoon. The Portuguese blacksmith on the ship was asked by the Portuguese blacksmith on the ship, but he was unwilling to teach him. There was no way, and he married his beautiful daughter to the Portuguese blacksmith. Only in exchange for the manufacturing technology of the musket.
This is the first musket produced in Japan.
Ten years later, musket manufacturing technology spread to all parts of Japan, and played an important role in the wars of Japan's major names. However, the domestic production of iron smelting was not high, and the lack of nitrate and other materials, the production of muskets was not large.
The musket that Shimazu Kuji took out just now was the musket produced by the Japanese themselves.
Shimazu asked Mourning to see Daming’s flintlocks. Mourning didn’t refuse. She would see if they could, but they would not sell them, let alone sell the technology. Of course, no one in the current fleet would produce them. Flintlock.
Looking at the flintlock gun, Shimazu's eyes revealed a glimmer of light, "Mr. Mo, can you sell me two?"
Mourning shook his head.
"One?" Seeing Mourning still disagree, Shimadzu was in a hurry, "Mr. Mo, you make a price."
You just married your daughter to me and I dare not sell guns. Mourning smiled and said, "I'm really sorry, Mr. Shimadzu, it's not a question of money. This is the latest firearm that Daming has just developed. If I lose one, The head is gone."
Shimazu Kuji made no secret of the disappointed look in his eyes.
Mourning estimated that if he had a daughter, he might be willing to let him trade her. "Mr. Shimadzu, after a few years, after Daming develops a new firearm, this kind of firearm may be available for sale. "
Shimazu Kuji lowered his head and muffled to a glass of sake.
Mourning asked the translator to put away the flintlock, and accompanied him to a drink.
Although Shimazu Jiuji could not speak Chinese, he yearned for Daming, a great country in the heavenly dynasty, rich in products, rare and exotic treasures, endlessly emerging, it is Mourning's flintlock, which also makes him dream.
When Mourning was about to leave, Shimazu Kuji told him that there are two small islands to the east of Tanegashima, Hachijo Island and Blue Island. The residents of the islands are all Han people, and they are related to Xu Fu, who flew to the east. .