Chapter 1,116 Sea Breeze, Maple Sugar and Golden Brook
"Huh? Gods and Buddhas, the sea breeze has changed again! It has changed from blowing towards the 'A' position to blowing towards the 'Mao' position..."
"What, it's blowing towards Mao? Doesn't that mean it's blowing due east? If the ship sails eastward, then this time it will be a completely favorable wind, and it can travel three hundred miles in a day!..."
"No, that's not right! Jin Shanshu, the wind is due east, but the coastline turns to the southeast, and the bow of the ship also veers south... So, it is still between half wind and tail wind, leaning towards the tail wind... I estimate that we can travel two hundred miles a day
Thirty or forty miles, a little faster..."
"Okay! Pu Shunfan, go and talk to Master Mi, the priest. It's more or less good news... hmm? Wait! Look ahead! Is there a big river mouth ahead?"
"Huh? It's really a big river mouth! No! The river mouth is muddy, but the sea mouth is clear... This blue and green look should be Haikou!..."
"Oh! That's right!...There is a bay in front of it, and it is surrounded by islands, not land...Wait! Master Mi, the priest, said that there is Jinxi Port with Jinshan Mountain, which is among a group of offshore islands...are we?
About to arrive?…"
"Jin, Pu! Let the sailors adjust the sails and enter through the wide waterway in front!... God bless you! Jinxi Port, the god of the kingdom, is more than a hundred miles east, at the end of this narrow bay!..."
"Ah? God bless you! Golden Mountain! Is the golden mountain promised by the priest about to arrive?...
Under the blue sky, there is a sky-blue sea. In the clear, mirror-like bay, the continuous green vegetation of the islands on both sides is reflected, as well as the rolling brown hills between the islands. These connected islands are not as flat as the sky and the sea.
, instead, it was like a mountain rock split open by the gods, broken into pieces high and low in the bay.
A solitary sea-going ship was passing through the bays of these islands. The three-sided sails on the ship changed from time to time, and it nimbly sailed along the rugged direction of the bay towards the eastern coast. And hundreds of miles of towering glaciers and snow-capped mountains
, is the most obvious sign of the distant coast!
"Witness the Lord God! There are obvious seasonal patterns in the wind direction changes on the far north coast! From May to September, the sea breeze blows along the far north coast, which is suitable for the return journey from northwest to southeast from the Shenqi Continent. And in December
In April, the sea breeze blows against the coast, which is suitable for traveling from southeast to northwest..."
"But from December to April, although the wind direction is suitable, it is the freezing period on the extreme northern coast. Only at the end of April, when the ice thaws from south to north, can we go north along the coast... Therefore, it is best to rush to the end of April and May.
At the beginning of the month, take advantage of the remaining northerly wind and sail as soon as possible!…”
"Generally speaking, the most suitable arrangement for the shipping route on the far north coast is to depart from Whale Harbor at the end of April, follow the remaining southerly winds and currents, go north to the Shenqi Island Chain, and arrive at Shendadi Port at the end of June...and early July
, return from the Shenqi Island Chain, follow the westerly north wind and go south, and you can return to Whale Harbor in mid-August..."
"Well, if you calculate it this way, it only takes three and a half months to make a round trip to the extreme northern coast of 6,000 miles! Of course, in order to have such an amazing speed, the longship must be modified and the longitudinal sail of this wind god sea ship must be used.
, come and take advantage of the wind!…The Lord God testifies! Building a schooner is really an urgent and important matter!…”
"As for the east-west communication on the five thousand-mile Shenqi Island chain, both galleys and schooners can be used together! In addition, a special fleet will be formed to continue transshipment during the half year of navigation. After all, Shenqi
The sea conditions in the island chain are too complex and difficult, so we rely heavily on Unanga sailors who are familiar with the sea conditions..."
"Blessed by the Lord God! As long as there are two schooner fleets of the Wind God, responsible for the Shenqi Island Chain and the Extreme North Coast respectively, and then expand the Shen Dadi Port on the easternmost side of the island chain, and establish a storage camp... then this Shenqi will go thousands of miles west.
Through sea routes, we can communicate once or twice a year, truly establishing a channel for trade exchanges!…”
In the captain's cabin at the stern of the ocean-covering ship, the knowledgeable Mickey held a charcoal pencil, looked at the unfolded divine sea chart, and carefully wrote the logbook of the voyage. The white bear Gaowa sat next to him, holding a tree bark
A wooden jar, use a small wooden spoon to scoop out the syrup inside and eat it.
"Weng, take a bite...it's so sweet!..."
"Well, I won't eat it. White Bear, please eat slowly... We only traded two cans of maple syrup in the Purple Bay of the Eyak people, but the sea route is still long!..."
"Hmm? But, aren't there other ports ahead? Isn't it difficult to make this kind of sweet and delicious syrup?..."
"Well... I've seen how local tribes make this kind of maple syrup, and it's not complicated. It's just that it takes a lot of time to make, and it requires sugar maple trees that produce sweet juice... Speaking of which, this is indeed extremely delicious.
It is a specialty product of the north coast, and like fur, it is a rare trade item that can be transported back to the kingdom!…”
After hearing Gaowa's inquiry, the knowledgeable Mickey pondered for a while, then opened the small wooden window of the captain's cabin and looked at the undulating mountain islands on both sides. Soon, he saw a large 20-meter-high gray bark forest.
The crown of the tree is clustered with emerald green palm leaves, but it is one of the common maple trees on the far north coast, the sugar maple that produces sweet sap.
"Gaowa, look, this is the sugar maple tree! This kind of tree only grows on the far north coast and the northern end of the west coast, places where the winter is very cold and the summer is relatively warm... Whether it is the Eyaks, the Chingits, the Chin
Xi'an people...these coastal tribes in the northwest will cut the bark of sugar maples and insert a wooden pipe in the cold March of late winter and early spring to collect the slightly sweet sap..."
"Then, the collected sap is frozen in the cold snow. As it freezes, the sap freezes and separates into two layers... The ice layer floating on top is not sweet and can be removed directly.
The slurry layer sinking to the bottom will become sweeter and sweeter... After freezing it several times, most of the ice will be removed, leaving only a shallow, golden-brown layer of syrup. This syrup is like
It’s...like honey! It can even solidify into blocks and become rare maple syrup!…”
"A maple tree collects two months of sweet sap to fill a large wooden barrel. Only after repeated freezing and de-icing of the sweet sap in a large wooden barrel can there be syrup in a small wooden jar... just like you are scooping now
The food is as big as this small can!…”
"Ah?! This is a wooden jar the size of a fist. Does it take two months to collect the syrup inside?..."
Hearing this, White Bear Gaowa blinked and looked at the wooden jar in her hand. Even her eyes reflected the honey color of amber. Then, she licked the wooden spoon and carefully held the wooden jar in her arms, but she was reluctant to eat it.
Just took a bite.
"Well. Gao Wa, actually collecting sweet sap is not troublesome. The trouble is freezing and de-icing... This must be done at the end of winter in March and April, so that it can be naturally frozen into syrup with the help of cold weather. But now it's time
In summer, the sweet sap collected will go bad in two days, unless a large amount of firewood is used to boil the sugar..."
"But for tribes everywhere, fuel is the most precious necessity. How can it be easily wasted on such things?... Even the fuel for boiling salt is not enough!..."
"Weng? From October to January in autumn and winter, won't it be cold and freezing? You can freeze delicious syrup..."
"No! You can only collect the sap in late winter and early spring without hurting the tree... If you collect the sap in late autumn or early winter, the maple tree will not survive the winter and will be gone next year..."
"Ah, that's it! ... Weng! You know a lot, just like an old shaman! But your hair is not white..."
"Haha! Gao Wa, if you stay with me... you will see the day when my hair turns gray..."
Mickey the Knowledgeable smiled slightly and shook his wife's hand. Then, he strode out of the captain's cabin and looked at the rugged mountain islands on both sides and the green bay in front. And at the end of the bay, that distant area
Against the background of the pure white snow-capped mountains, there is a faintly visible mountain island, shining golden light in the setting sun.
"Praise the Lord God! At the end of the bay, at the foot of the snow-capped mountains, is the Kingdom's God Jinxi Port!..."
"Blessed by the Lord God! This sparkling harbor, this green and sparse island, merges into the streams blending upstream... And under these shining golden streams, it is the extension of the God-inspired Jinshan Mountain, the Jinxi mineral vein given by the Lord God
