The road from Gaoshan Country to Meinong Country is not too far. Gaoshan Country is located in the south of the center of Fuso Thousand Islands, while Meinong Country is in the southeastern part of Fuso Thousand Islands. If the wind is favorable, it only takes ten days by boat. But now
The problem is headwind. In addition to using oars to sail against the current, the Hippo also has a detachable waterwheel installed at the stern to increase power. It is shaped like an agricultural waterwheel and uses sails to control the direction. The shape of the Hippo's waterwheel
It is simple. People drag the rope and rely on the friction of the rope to rotate the water wheel to provide power. It is very cumbersome and inefficient.
But this detachable water wheel was not Zhang Xiaowu’s idea or reminder, but the masterpiece of the Sheng Han boatmen. It goes back even further. As early as the Tiantang Empire, fishermen had invented the water wheel as a power source. However, because of the Sheng Han boatmen,
In the Forbidden Sea, water wheel power technology not only failed to flourish, but gradually fell behind the times. Therefore, only the Hippo and the Beaver, two thousand-stone ships, had spare water wheels, while the three-thousand-stone Sea Dragon did not have a water wheel.
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Water steamers are not high-tech products. On earth, they have been used on a large scale in the Northern Song Dynasty of China. Not to mention official records, even the folk tale "Water Margin" mentioned the loach boats of the Northern Song Dynasty navy.
The difference between the loach boat and the Hippo water wheel is that the water wheel of the Northern Song Dynasty had two water wheels on both sides, like a water bicycle in a children's water park, powered by the pedals of more than a dozen boatmen. The loach boat sails
It is not affected by the wind direction and can walk on the water like flying. However, due to the hardness and size of wooden products, loach boats could only appear in novels by the Ming Dynasty.
In Water Margin, it is exaggeratedly described that Liang Shan's navy stuffed water plants into the water wheel, causing the loach boat to be unable to move. Liang Shan's navy then scuttled the loach boat, leading to Gao Qiu's defeat. But there is no such story in the history books.
According to records, the Song Dynasty navy was on the Yellow River, and Liangshanbo was actually the flood discharge area of the Yellow River. If the water steamers of the Northern Song Dynasty navy entered Liangshanbo, the river would have to be dug again, which would inevitably cause floods in the Jianghuai area.
The boatmen of the Hippo dragged the water wheel in six shifts and sailed slowly.
Zhang Xiaowu looked at the water wheel for a while, then called the captain and suggested: "Do you know about donkey-pulling mills?"
"I know, sir."
"Call me Master Yi."
Now Zhang Xiaowu and Kuang Yi have switched identities, and Kuang Yi's pseudonym is Yi Guang, and outsiders call him Mr. Yi.
"As you command, Master Yi," the captain said.
Zhang Xiaowu said excitedly: "In the future, we will put a few donkeys on the boat, and we can use the donkeys to pull the turntable. Isn't it too labor-intensive for you to pull it with manpower? Let's see how tired the boys are."
The captain electric-towed, then thought for a moment, and suddenly said with a smile: "Perhaps slaves and prisoners of war can be used to pull the boat."
"Yes."
Ashishita Kohachiro wanted to have a conversation with Mr. Yi, because he felt that Mr. Yi's back was very familiar, but Mr. Yi seemed to be silent all day long, wearing a metal mask and looking like a servant, and carrying the knife in his hand anytime and anywhere.
The sword that is taller than him is too scary.
After thirty days of sailing against the wind, it was December of the fourth year of Yongding in the Holy Han Dynasty. The cold winter wind made many soldiers sick. Fortunately, they could recuperate in neighboring countries along the way. After stopping and going like this, the Hippo finally
Arriving at the outer sea of Mino Country, everyone found that the wind direction here was very strange. The wind direction was different in the morning, middle and evening. On the wide sea surface, it was very easy to form huge waves and cyclones.
Everyone was very nervous when they saw this, but Shimo Kohachiro didn't care. He pointed to the two small islands in the distance and said: "It is safest for our ship to pass there. The other places are very dangerous reef areas and whirlpools."
District. Everyone, the hydrology here is complicated. No one has the courage to survey and map the second road, so this is the Meinong country.
Because of the natural danger, as long as the Meinong people hold those two islands, the enemy will not be able to land. So you know why the beauty of Meinong is famous all over the world, but no one has conquered the country of Meinong, right?" He then ordered: "Change the ship.
, change the boat, hang the yellow flag to show peace, Meinong country does not allow a ship as big as the Hippopotamus to enter the country."
Everyone immediately changed into a 100-stone boat and rowed along the only waterway into the Mino Inland Sea. As soon as they entered the territory of Mino Country, the warriors of Mino Country immediately surrounded them. Fortunately, they knew Ashita Kohachiro.
, and brought them to King Onizuka Ryuzo.
Onizuka Ryuzo looked at the ten Han soldiers in front of him and said in surprise: "These people from the Celestial Dynasty are really tall."
Because the Han people have better nutrition than the Fuso people, they are generally half a head taller than the Fuso people, while the Meinong people are half a head taller than the Fuso people. As for Zhang Xiaowu, he is much taller than them.
Some Meinong warriors raised their heads and looked at Zhang Xiaowu in surprise, muttering in a low voice: "This man is really a giant."
But in fact, Zhang Xiaowu is only over 1.80 meters tall. He is considered tall among the holy men, but compared with the post-90s and post-00s generations on earth, he is just an ordinary person. However, how tall are these Meinong people? Zhang Xiaowu visually estimated
Their average height is 1.4 meters. Onitsuka Ryuzo may be taller than the other 50-year-olds from Mino, maybe 1.5 meters tall.
In such comparison, he is really a giant.
Onizuka Ryuzo sighed for a while, probably knowing that the other party could not understand Fuso dialect with Mino accent, so he sent Matsushita Heijiro, a Mino native who knew a little bit of Han dialect, as a guide. Ashita Kohachiro was originally going to accompany them, but
He had vomiting and diarrhea during dinner in the evening. After examination, the military doctor concluded that he had malaria and needed timely treatment, so he had to stay at the front line of Yadao for treatment.
The next day, Matsushita Heijiro led Chang Xiaowu's boat to sail to the main island of Mino Country.
The main island of Mino Country is not called Mino Island, but Honma Island. What is very interesting is that Honma Island only covers an area of 180 square kilometers at high tide, and is connected to the other two islands at low tide.
The area can reach 300 square kilometers, so Honma Island is also called Chaozhou. There are many beautiful places
The people of Nong country take advantage of the low tide to look for seafood and shellfish among the sand and rocks among the three islands. Even some big fish will be trapped in the mud and become delicacies on the tables of Meinong people. Meinong
People rely on this natural advantage to survive tenaciously in this small place.
When the boat arrived at Chaozhou, it happened to catch up with the low tide. Hundreds of people ran to the gaps between the islands in search of food. They were short in stature and had slightly dark skin. Both men and women were wearing straw clothes and carrying straw baskets, especially children.
While picking up shellfish and eating shellfish, the children's laughter could be heard from time to time. When the adults saw Zhang Xiaowu and others standing on the bow of the boat, they all straightened up and stared at the group of armored foreigners with curiosity in their eyes.
