The Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 497: Sarawak River

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Sailing on the sea, you can still eat vegetables. It’s really rare. Zheng Zhilong should have taken out all the vegetables at the bottom of the press box. Zhu Youjian tasted every vegetable. The tesser that I’ve never tasted is the smoothest, tender and creamy. People should be a specialty of the tropics.

Zhu Youjian sandwiched another piece of light yellow bacon, took a bite, frowned, "Zhilong, how can bacon smell like smoke?"

"Master, the bacon is smoked, so it will take longer to leave it," Zheng Zhilong continued: "When the ship arrives in Baru, we will go ashore to buy some fresh vegetables, chickens, ducks and meat, but no pork. There are many ******s on the island. They don’t eat pork or raise pigs. These bacons were brought over from Fujian.”

"******?" Zhu Youzhen was shocked. This was a hotbed of extremist organizations in later generations. Daming established Lanzhu Province, but could not occupy it with religion. Buddhism and Taoism were not widespread in Daming country, or Promote Confucianism. Although it is not a religion in the strict sense, it is better than not. You can build more Confucian temples in Lanzhu, or Guanyin Temple and Guanshengdi Temple.

Zhu Youjian doesn't like pickles, but he appreciates cowpea and Tess. Most of these two plates of vegetables are digested by him alone. However, there are not many people at the table. In total, he and Zheng Zhilong are the only ones eating. Fu Xiaojian only Can caress the sword and wait on the side.

After dinner, Zheng Zhilong asked: "Master, will the boat sail overnight, or will it stay on the shore temporarily and wait until dawn?"

Zhu Youjian asked, "If sailing at night, will the sailors work too hard?"

Zheng Zhilong replied carefully: "The sailors are fine. They are used to night sailing. This area is all familiar with roads and won't hit the rocks."

"Then sail overnight. Lord, I want to go to Lanzhu soon." After Zhu Youjian finished speaking, he suddenly remembered one thing, "Zhilong, is the sea in the South China Sea calm? It is quite far away from the inland of Daming. Are there pirates?"

"If you return to the Lord, there are so many pirates in the South Seas," Zheng Zhilong bowed his hand. "But wherever the South China Sea Fleet goes, these pirates have long since fled, so don't worry, Lord."

"Master is not worried about the safety of sailing at night," Zhu Youjian said with a serious tone: "These pirates evaded the South China Sea Fleet, but they harmed the merchant ships in the past. They are all Han people?" Zhu Youjian is most annoyed by this kind of "home devils" The trick of "family" is to become a pirate and become lawless. They dare not rob the Westerners, but they specifically hurt the merchant ships of the Han Chinese.

"Lord, most of the pirates in Nanyang are Han people, but they basically fight each other and there are many hills."

"Originally, Nanyang was controlled by Westerners. We can't control it. Since the South China Sea Fleet controls Nanyang, no matter whether it is Han Chinese or not, they cannot do evil in Nanyang and interfere with the past boats," Zhu Youjian sighed, "I think they were born in poverty, most of them Forced by life, Lord gives them a way out."

"Master..." Zheng Zhilong himself was also born as a pirate. He was the most powerful Han gang in Nanyang at that time. For people like him, the court not only gave the opportunity to reform and rehabilitate, but also entrusted him with important tasks. He believed that Zhu Youzhen was definitely not cheating. Pirates, but I don't know if the court is going to recruit pirates like him.

"Well, after returning to your home port, you send a ship to all the pirates: don’t study the past. From now on, you can change your mind. You can work in agriculture and business with peace of mind. It’s even if you are engaged in overseas trade, but you must abide by the laws of the Ming Dynasty. Do anything wrong again," paused, and said: "Taiwan officials, Luzon Fusong, Lanzhu Kuching, choose any place, the government will allocate land to them, and they can land and build houses by themselves. If they don’t listen to advice, they will still do evil on the sea. No matter how you kill it, you will never be merciful!"

After all, it was forced by life before. Zhu Youjian was going to forgive the original sins of these pirates and launder their money. Once they were included in the law of Ming Dynasty, they were probably the earliest overseas businessmen and even entrepreneurs of Ming Dynasty. In his body, he is more adventurous than ordinary Han people, and there may be a trading group like the Dutch "East India Company".

"Master, the subordinates know what to do!"

"Zhilong, don't worry about this matter for a while. With your previous and current status, they should believe you a little bit, but there are so many Nanyang pirates that it's hard to stop it for a while," Zhu Youjian paused, his face turned fierce. , "For the pirates who continue to commit evil in the South China Sea, especially those targeting the Han people, we will be severely punished and not neglected, and we will do both. I believe that sooner or later Nanyang will become a sea of peace."

"Master, subordinates understand!"

Zhu Youjian didn't want the atmosphere to be too dignified, "Zhilong, let the ship go faster, I want to go to Lanzhu Island as soon as possible to take a look, I heard that there are huge tropical forests on the island, but you will never see it in the mainland of Ming Dynasty!"

Zheng Zhilong hurriedly stopped and said: "Master, it doesn't matter if you have to go ashore and take a look, but you can't go in the forest."

Zhu Youzhen puzzled: "Why can't we go in the forest?"

Zheng Zhilong said sternly: "Master, the forest on the island is too huge. There are not only elephants, tigers, orangutans in the forest, but also tiny unknown insects. When bitten, it can be very itchy and swollen. Fever and convulsions, even..."

"Even small bugs are so powerful?" Zhu Youjian felt that what Zheng Zhilong described was more terrifying than the Savage Mountain in northern Myanmar. "It is said that there are local natives living in the mountains, but aren't they afraid?"

"Lord, there are natives in the mountains," Zheng Zhilong didn't know how to explain. After a long time in the ink, he said: "These natives have tamed a lot of giant beasts, and... Moreover, they are not afraid of mosquito bites, which is really strange!"

In fact, it is not a weird thing. The natives have lived in the mountains for a long time, and it is not uncommon to domesticate some giant beasts that are much stronger than humans. The Toungoo dynasty of Myanmar once domesticated an elephant soldier!

As for the natives who are not afraid of mosquito bites, Zhu Youjian knows that this is not surprising. They are bitten by mosquitoes more often, or antibodies have been formed in the blood, which is like immunity to later generations, or they know to relieve these toxicities. Herbs.

Where there is poison, there must be an antidote within a hundred steps, otherwise the nearby creatures will be killed by the poison

Although the language is not clear, as long as you follow the natives, you can definitely find the detoxification herbs.

However, it should not take a short time to find out these herbs. Zhu Youjian is afraid that he will not have the opportunity to visit these tropical rain forests. This is also a great regret during his trip to Southeast Asia.

The fleet sailed along the coast for six days and arrived at Balu in the evening, which is the northeastern part of Lanzhu Island and the first supply base established by the South China Sea Fleet on Lanzhu Island.

Balu has only a simple civilian dock. Most of the ships dropped anchors in the open sea. Only two lucky ships docked. Go to the island to buy fresh vegetables and add some meat. The transport ship also docked to let the horses go ashore. , Gnaw some grass by the way.

There are too few vegetables stored in the base, because they want the freshest, and they have to buy them temporarily on the farmer’s land. The delay will be longer, and the ship will not return to the sea until it is close to Hai.

All the ships stopped on the sea, and everyone finally had a delicious meal.

Zhu Youjian saw that it was about to be important, and the sailors had been traveling continuously at night. The sailors were very hard. "Zhilong, it's already late today. Let the sailors rest and sail after dawn."

This small unit of the South China Sea Fleet spent another five days and four nights at sea, and finally reached the open waters of Kuching at noon.

"Master, do you land now?" Zheng Zhilong couldn't help asking when Zhu Youjian had been observing the island on the west side.

"Of course we have to land," Zhu Youjian retracted his gaze and smiled slightly, "We have been sailing for so long at sea, so we should go to land to move our tibia."

"Master, my subordinates understand!" Zheng Zhilong bowed and retired, and hurriedly conveyed the order to dock to the soldiers.

Kuching is the capital of Central Lanzhu Province. On the southern bank of the Sarawak River, there is a commercial terminal at the estuary of Bending Port. However, there are too many ships in the South China Sea Fleet. The flagship of the "Nan Hai" itself is too large, so the ships are all Moored on the south bank of the Sarawak Estuary.

Zhu Youjian originally wanted to take a boat trip in the Sarawak River, but he has been staying with Zheng Zhilong on the flagship. Now it is very inconvenient to change the boat, so he gave up his plan. Anyway, there will be time in the future.

After the "Nanhai" stopped at the pier at the mouth of the river, Zheng Zhilong and Wang Mujiu took the lead with a dozen soldiers to get off the ship to protect the land before Fu Xiaojian accompanied Zhu Youjian to land.

"Zhilong, Mu Jiu, don't be so nervous!" After Zhu Youjian landed, he felt his feet on the ground, "Is this a commercial terminal? Don't affect the normal operation of the merchants."

Zheng Zhilong bowed and replied: "Hey, the commercial wharf is in Hanoi, Sarawak. This is just a spare wharf for parking large ships and merchant ships."

"Oh," Zhu Youjian answered casually. He looked around, "Huh? Why can't you see Kuching? Isn't Kuching a castle?"

"Master, Kuching is a castle, although this castle is not big," Zheng Zhilong squeezed Wang Mujiu behind and temporarily acted as Zhu Youjian's tour guide. He was separated from Fu Xiaojian on both sides of Zhu Youjian. Jin, there are still seventy li, if you land in Bending Port, it will not be far away."

"Master, since there is such a long distance, why not ride a horse!" Fu Xiaojian spoke in his mouth, and caressed the hilt of the sword on his waist with his right hand inadvertently, scanning the unfamiliar surroundings with his eyes from time to time.

"Well," Zhu Youjian understood. If you walk for such a long distance, you will definitely not be able to reach Kuching City before dark. "Zhilong, the sailors and soldiers on the ship, let them do it yourself. Lord, there are small swords. Mu Jiu and the others will do."

Zheng Zhilong was uneasy, his voice raised five degrees: "Master, this is Kuching. It has just been recovered, in the city..."

"If there are too many people, it will cause others to suspicion," Zhu Youjian laughed: "If you people wrap your master tightly, then you can just stay in the palace, and why do you come to Nanyang?"

"Master..." Zheng Zhilong wanted to say something, but he stopped talking. He called a soldier and whispered a few words. The soldier borrowed a piece of fast horse from Wang Mujiu's people and walked away.

Zhu Youjian and the others also stepped on their horses and ran towards Kuching City along Sarawak because they were greedy for the stilt houses on both sides of the strait. When they arrived outside the East Gate of Kuching, the sky was completely dark.

Only then did Wang Mujiu remember, "Master, it's about this time, the city gate should have been closed long ago?"