Shen Daoxun was the nephew of Shen Jiyuan, the prisoner of the Joseon Dynasty. He came from a famous family and had a noble status.
But now, he can only stay in Jeju Island, being a Jeju pastor with no one paying attention and an uncertain future.
Just because although Shen Jiyuan was one of the heroes of "Injo anyway" and was quite trusted by Injo, Shen Jiyuan strongly opposed being close to Hou Jin.
But now that Hou Jin is strong and powerful, there are already many people in North Korea who rely on Hou Jin's power to occupy high positions in the court.
Especially after Ding Mao's chaos, fear of Hou Jin's military might, the peace faction within North Korea became stronger and stronger.
As Shen Jiyuan's nephew, Shen Daoxun could not establish himself in Seoul, so he had to come to the remote Jeju Island, which was equivalent to being exiled.
When the envoy sent by Li Chong announced the news of the visitors from the Ming Dynasty, Shen Daoyuan instinctively thought there was something fishy.
What is the current situation of the Ming Dynasty? North Korea knows very well.
I heard that the rebellion in Shandong was very big, how could we still send an envoy?
But Li Chong's words were conclusive, and Shen Daoxun did not dare to neglect. He hurriedly set off from Jeju City, bypassed Halla Mountain, and spent a day and night finally meeting Zhang Keda.
Seeing the warships in the harbor, Shen Daoxun was very excited.
"Are you here to save the small country from the fire and water?"
Is Zhang Ke confident that this person is sick?
After learning the fleet's intentions, Shen Daoxun was disappointed and lost interest.
Upon seeing this, Li Chong hurriedly presented watches, clocks, glass and other items to Shen Daoxun.
"Lord Zhou Mu, although the angels of the kingdom cannot send troops, they have brought such a divine object. We must have enough resources for all our plans. How about..."
Of course Li Chong and Shen Daoxun are in the same group.
Which official who can be sent to Jeju Island is not exiled?
Shen Daoxun immediately understood what Li Chong meant.
Although there were no reinforcements from the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of Heaven did send wealth.
They denounced that if the peace faction wanted to defeat their political opponents, slogans alone would not be enough; money was also necessary.
With money, you can win over allies, recruit troops, and control the power of the country.
After thinking about this, Shen Daoxun immediately changed his attitude.
"Please also ask the angels for permission to allow us to sell these sacred objects to North Korea."
During the day and night they stayed in Dajing County, Zhang Keda, Bai Dasheng and others were not idle. They had already learned all about the current situation in North Korea.
From Zhang Keda's perspective, North Korea is indeed in danger.
As the Ming Dynasty retreated steadily in Liaodong, Hou Jin, without military pressure from the west, would sooner or later take action against North Korea.
Although North Korea is small and weak, it is an ally of the Ming Dynasty after all. Once North Korea is lost, the Ming Dynasty will have one less direction to deal with Hou Jin.
Even for Shandong, North Korea is a place that needs to be conquered.
In this way, it is an inevitable measure to help North Korea retain some of its strength.
Moreover, Shandong’s goods need to develop sales channels. No matter how poor North Korea is, it is still a market.
After considering the two aspects, Zhang Keda made a preliminary decision.
"I agree in principle that this kind of goods will be sold on your behalf. However, these matters are not my responsibility. I also ask Shen Zhoumu and County Magistrate Li to be patient. A specialist will come to contact you later."
Shen Daoxun and Li Chong were overjoyed and thanked them profusely.
It originally took three or four days to prepare food, grass and drinking water, but under their supervision, they were delivered to the ship within two days.
Zhang Keda left some of the goods carried on the ship to Shen Daoxun and Li Chong, which was regarded as paying the cost of food and grass.
Then the fleet set sail again, heading east.
Once we find Jeju Island, the route becomes clearer.
The fleet traveled along the southern coastline of North Korea at a slow speed, but it did a good job of mapping the terrain along the way.
There are telescopes on the ship that can see far away, so it is easy to avoid ships along the way.
All the way out to the Tsushima Strait, the fleet began to enter tense mode.
"In front of you is Busan in North Korea on the left, and Tsushima Island in Japan on the right. The width of the strait is 120 miles, and it cannot pass through it in the daytime."
After the combat staff reported the situation, the decision could only be left to Zhang Keda, and Bai Da won.
Gu Lei
Bai Dasheng was very hesitant.
"Do you really want to go through here?"
The Tsushima Strait is different from Jeju Island. Once they are discovered here, it will cause a huge shock.
At that time, both North Korea and Japan will come out to inquire about their identities.
Zhang Keda stared at the map and kept observing the sea conditions with a telescope.
He now understood a little bit why Zuo Menggeng always emphasized that those who dare to enter the sea are the real warriors.
Their current ships are all Ming Dynasty fortune ships, and the weapons on board are very ordinary. If they are besieged, they will not have any advantage.
This undoubtedly increases the difficulty of consideration.
But thinking about the different map he had seen before, and Zuo Mengeng's instructions, Zhang Keda felt that this risk must be taken.
"Let's go through it at night."
As soon as this statement came out, everyone was shocked.
In today's maritime navigation, there is no radar, the charts are not that accurate, and even the lights are not enough.
The dangers involved in sailing at night can be imagined.
But everyone also understands that if you really want to cross the Tsushima Strait, you really can only do it at night.
Otherwise, it will definitely be discovered.
Although Japan invaded North Korea decades ago and fought life and death on both sides, they later signed a contract and today's business relations have returned to normal.
Japan reopened its Japanese museum in Domopo, Busan, and the Tsushima clan was ordered by the Tokugawa shogunate to specialize in diplomacy and trade with North Korea.
Therefore, the Tsushima Strait during the day can be said to be extremely prosperous with constant traffic.
Night is the only chance.
"We have a compass and a relatively detailed map. As long as the fog is as heavy as that day and all the ships are connected, the possibility of passing through the strait is very high."
Zhang Keda cheered everyone up.
"Do you have to pass it?"
Bai Dasheng stared at Zhang Keda.
He had already felt that Zhang Keda seemed to be hiding some secret.
Zhang Keda said resolutely: "We must pass."
Noticing Zhang Keda's calm expression, Bai Dasheng understood that the secret was not something he should know.
In other words, it's not something he should know yet.
"Okay, I agree with the political commissar's opinion."
He understands what's going on, and naturally the others are not bad either.
That night, all the ships in the fleet were lined up end to end again.
Zhang Keda and Bai Dasheng's flagship took the lead personally and carefully sailed into the Tsushima Strait under the vast darkness of night.
Zhang Keda personally held the oil lamp and did not dare to take his eyes off the compass.
Beside him, Bai Dasheng personally checked the charts and directed the course.
Just like that, when the fish belly was white in the East, the fleet quietly passed through the Tsushima Strait and entered very unfamiliar waters.
"Our mission this time is to explore a new route. If we can do it, then our colleagues will be saved."
After crossing the Tsushima Strait, Zhang Keda became different.
He took out a new map, a map that no one had seen before.
On this map, the area north of the Tsushima Strait becomes very clear.
Combined with the Ming Dynasty's Nuergandusi map, many people suddenly discovered that there was a huge world here.
In their eyes, the pen in Zhang Keda's hand clicked on a place name.
Yongning Temple.
Later generations would prefer to call this place...
