PS: The previous chapter forgot to state, Southern Molica, that is, South America.

It took a lot of trouble to finalize this plan, but several shareholders such as the British Duke and the Qianguo Duke did not agree, and the problem was very simple, they had never heard of this place in South Melica.

And listening to Liu Hongchuan, this place is tens of thousands of miles away from the Ming Dynasty, and the sea area through which it passes through is windy and wavery, and going to Southern Merica with the current merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty is almost seeking death.

It wasn't until Liu Hong gradually said that there was no less gold, silver, and rubber than the Ming Dynasty that he was moved, but it was still too difficult to implement.

First of all, there is a manpower problem, even if there is a mountain of gold and silver over there, it is not cost-effective to die halfway and not be able to move out, Zhang Weixian released the news to the employees below, and no one signed up at all.

I can't believe it when I go to recruit outsiders, and in the end, there must be brave men under the heavy reward, and I barely got together about 400 people.

Liu Hong gradually turned the globe and thought about it for a long time, and finalized the sailing plan of the fleet.

Eight large ships set out from Sakhalin and headed east across the Kuril Islands, northeast to the Bering Sea, and after crossing the strait, they followed the coastline of North Merica all the way south and finally landed at the junction of North and South Melica.

The whole journey is about 40,000 miles, and it is estimated that it will take 11 months to return the trip.

It has been a year since the fleet of Xishan Shanghe rushed to South Melica, and the last time the news came was more than half a year ago, and there has been no news for half a year, Zhang Weixian thought that this fleet of more than 400 people was swallowed up by the waves.

But who knew that at noon today, news came from Tianjin that the expedition fleet had returned, and it had also brought the seeds of the rubber tree that King Anguo had been thinking about.

"! Really? Liu Hong slapped the table excitedly when he heard the news.

Then Liu Hongjian didn't care about anything else, said hello to his wives, and took Lao Zhang and a team of guards to Tianjin.

Although the ocean-going Murica also carried tasks such as reconnoitering the colonization of Europa, its first purpose was to find and collect rubber tree seeds, which was too important for Liu Hongji.

Natural rubber has excellent resilience, insulation, water insulation and plasticity, and after treatment, it also has valuable properties such as oil resistance, acid resistance, alkali resistance, heat resistance, cold resistance, pressure resistance, and wear resistance.

In civilian use, rain boots, water bags, raincoats, insulated gloves and even swimming rings, drainage hoses, and hovercraft can be made......

The simplest thing is the tires, with this thing, the wheels no longer have to be wooden, have rubber cushioning, and no longer have to endure bumps.

Liu Honggradually had the intention of developing a bicycle when he first came to Daming, but he has not implemented it, except for being too busy and having no time, there is no rubber is the biggest reason.

Not to mention its role in national defense and military affairs, from sealed shock-proof equipment, artillery, and warships for scientific experiments, to storage boxes for shells and gunpowder......

If soap, glass and cement are the three sharp weapons of the traverser, then rubber is the artifact.

Because this thing can monopolize it, only in the Amazon jungle of South America.

After more than two years of development, Tianjin's Dagukou has gradually formed a commercial diversified port, where merchant ships from all over the world gathered, resulting in Huang Daozhou having to go to the imperial court and add Tianjin as a new pass.

When the group arrived at Dagukou, it was almost dusk, but the port area was still lively, and the largest number of people were the port porters who had only recently emerged in Daming, and the sailors shouted to indicate the direction of cargo handling, and there was a lot of noise everywhere.

Liu Hong gradually had no time to observe the prosperity of the port, and under the leadership of Zhang Weixian, he went to the location of the Xishan merchant fleet.

Xishan Shanghe set up a special office in Dagukou, and all the merchant ships gathered in the southeast corner of the port, but unlike the noisy scene that Liu Hong gradually expected, the Xishan Shanghe fleet was very quiet.

A group of dark and thin people sat weakly on the shore, each with a large bowl in front of them, and there was a lot of leftover food in the bowl.

"What's the matter? Who's in charge? Zhang Wei took the lead and shouted at the person in front of him.

"Grandpa Guo, wait a minute, Zhuge is in charge of his stomach and is in the back!" Everyone tried to stand up when they heard the voice, and one of them seemed to know Zhang Weixian, and whispered.

"Are these the heroes of this king? Why are they all listless? Didn't you go to more than 400 people? Why is that all there is left? ”

Liu Hong gradually rushed forward and asked several questions with a smile.

"Back to the prince, they are full of food, and we are the only ones who have come back from South Melica." As he spoke, Steward Zhuge slipped over from the back of the boat, this person was tall, but he was also so thin that he only had a shelf left.

"Hold on? How so? Don't have enough food? Liu Hong gradually frowned.

"Where can I be, my lord, when I set off, I brought two whole ships with only food." This steward didn't dare to slack off, and told Liu Hong about the experience of the fleet.

It turned out that the flotilla's one-month journey from Sakhalin to the Bering Sea was peaceful, and the crew was immersed in the hope of the first ocean voyage.

However, when they reached the Bering Strait, they encountered a storm, and although they eventually escaped, one of the supply ships sank and the other was flooded.

The journey from the Bering Sea to the coast of North Merica was the most difficult time for the fleet, as it was summer, and the rice and flour that had entered the water could not be stored for a long time, and all of it became moldy and spoiled within a few days.

Fortunately, there was no shortage of food at sea, and many sailors acted as fishermen.

After walking for more than half a month while fishing and drying nets, a group of people happily landed to find fruit and food, but were attacked by the indigenous Indian tribes of North Melika.

These people seemed to hate them very much, according to Zhuge Steward, they originally wanted to exchange the tea and silk they brought for some food, but as soon as they met, they were shot down by their arrows.

Fortunately, they also brought guns to repel the group of natives in time, but in this way, more natives gathered, and they had no choice but to live fishing again.

After a lot of hardships to land in South Melica, who thought that the hard days were finally over, who would have thought that just a few days after entering the jungle would get malaria, and only a third of the crew would fall in a month......

During the long voyage, no one knew what would happen ahead, and there was no turning back, so they had to suffer in boundless loneliness, and even two crew members could not support themselves and committed suicide by jumping into the sea......

"You ...... Great work.

You are the first fleet of the Ming Dynasty to go to Molica, you have brought rubber and wealth to the Ming Dynasty, and your experience will eventually go down in history. After listening to Zhuge Steward's narration, Liu Hong gradually frowned and couldn't calm down for a long time, and then sighed and said.

"Lao Zhang, give a pension of 1,000 taels to each of the brothers who died on the ocean journey, and add 500 taels of silver to each of the brothers who come back, and take it out of the account of Xishan Shanghe."

"Yes, Lord Wang!" Zhang Weixian also felt very uncomfortable when he heard it, and hurriedly agreed.

"What's your name?" Liu Hong gradually asked Zhuge to manage things.

The surname Zhuge is also rare in the Ming Dynasty, and Liu Hongjian only has a vague impression of Zhuge in his heart, so that he just knew that this steward had the surname Zhuge again, and thought that this person had some relationship with Zhuge Kongming.

Where did you know that Zhuge steward's words almost made Liu Hong choke.

"Back to the prince, my name is Zhuge Tie Niu!"

……