"Shiyi, have you really decided, it is impossible for you to come back for at least three years when you go to Europe?" In the Yue Wang's Mansion in Guangzhou City, Zhao Yan asked Hu Yanqing, who had just arrived here, with a serious face.

"Inspector rest assured, since I arrived here from the grassland, I have naturally already made up my mind, although the place I want to go this time is a little farther, but there are some new challenges waiting for me, in contrast, there is really no enemy around our Great Song Dynasty that can interest me, even if it is a Jurchen, it is just a turtle in an urn, just waiting to be slaughtered by us one day, although this is a good thing for the Great Song Dynasty, but for people like me, it is really a little boring." Hu Yanqing said calmly at this time.

Hu Yanqing seems to be a very wise and calm general on the surface, but in fact, he is essentially a war maniac, and only on the battlefield can he feel the meaning of his life, so since he graduated from the military academy, he has been fighting everywhere, the war in the north is temporarily over, he came to the south, and when the north starts the war again, he runs back, and now the threat to the entire north has almost been eliminated, he is worried that there will be no war to fight in the future, but he didn't expect the imperial court to go on an expedition to Europe, So when he heard about this from Zhao Zongwu, he almost didn't hesitate to agree to go to Europe with Zhao Jia.

Seeing that the expression on Hu Yanqing's face was so resolute, Zhao Yan finally showed a pleased smile, Hu Yanqing is not only his student, but also a member of the Huyan family, there is absolutely no problem in terms of loyalty, as for ability, there is nothing to say, among the young Zhuang faction in the army, Hu Yanqing's ability can definitely be ranked in the top three, with him assisting Zhao Jia to go to Europe, Zhao Yan can finally rest assured.

A few days later, Zhao Jia, Hu Yanqing and others finally finished their preparations. Then board the battleship in the port of Guangzhou and prepare to set sail, for this expedition to Europe, the Great Song Dynasty did not deliberately publicize it, so not many people knew about it, but on the day the fleet set sail, Zhao Yan and Xu Yuan and others all rushed to the port to see them off. Among them, Zhao Yan looked at Zhao Jia who was standing on the bow of the boat, and his eyes couldn't help but feel a little moist, after all, it would take several years for his son to go, and there were risks everywhere at sea, which made him a little worried, fortunately Cao Ying didn't come, otherwise she would definitely cry bitterly.

Compared with Zhao Yan's worries, although Zhao Jia on the bow of the boat was also a little sad, he was more excited. Because he has dreamed of crossing the seas since he was a child, his biggest goal is to drive a sea ship around the earth, although their purpose is only Europe, but they also bypass the small half of the world, which is also an extremely unforgettable sailing experience for him, and can also accumulate some valuable experience, so he is also very much looking forward to this voyage.

As the battleship slowly started, Zhao Jia's mood became more excited. This time, all the ships that left from Guangzhou were the main warships of the navy, as well as some other supply ships. These supply ships still use sail power, after all, the use of steamships is still somewhat limited, and they can only transport supplies to the African side, and then the supply ships will get supplies from there, and then leave with the warships to rush to Europe.

Watch the crowd on the dock get smaller and smaller. However, no matter how far he went, Zhao Jia could see his father still waving to him, which made him cry, and it was not until the dock was finally blocked by the sea level that he returned to the cabin with Agnes.

After leaving Guangzhou. Zhao Jia and their warships sailed along the route to the South Seas, this route is also the busiest route in the Great Song Dynasty, the ships coming and going are like swimming fish in the sea, many of them are steamships, Zhao Jia made a rough count of these ships, and found that the number of steamships has exceeded half, and he also knows that the number of steamships is increasing in an astonishing number every year, and it is estimated that in a few years, steamships will completely replace sailboats.

"Brother Jia, what are you looking at?" Zhao Jia, who was standing on the deck and was thinking about the popularity of steamships, suddenly heard someone behind him speak, and when he turned his head to look, he found that Hu Yanqing was standing behind him with a smile on his face, speaking of which Hu Yanqing was his father's student, so the two were considered brothers, but Hu Yanqing was Hu Yanping's cousin, and he was a generation higher than him, so he usually regarded Hu Yanqing as an elder.

"Uncle Qing, I'm thinking about the problem of steamboats, now nearly half of the civilian ships are using steamboats, in addition, the design of our navy's steam warships has also been completed, I heard that several prototype ships have been manufactured, and now they are being tested, as long as the test is completed, it can be manufactured in large quantities, and the navy's warships will be unified and replaced." Zhao Jia said with a smile.

Originally, the plan of the steam warship had been put forward many years ago, and even the steam ship was originally intended to be used in the military, but because of some conceptual reasons, many admirals did not trust the steam ship very much, so it began to be promoted in the people, and now the advantages of the steam ship have been seen by everyone, so it has become a logical thing to equip the army with steam warships.

"Hehe, I've also heard about the plan of the steam battleship, but although the steam battleship is good, the sail battleship is estimated to not be eliminated in a short time, for example, like our expedition to Europe, we can only use the sail battleship." Hu Yanqing said with a smile, he has been in the navy for so many years, and in terms of military quality, he is no worse than ordinary admirals.

"What Uncle Qing said is very much, I estimate that in the next ten or even twenty years, the sail warships will still occupy a certain position in the military, until we can establish ports around the world that can supply steam ships, and then it will be time for steam warships to completely replace sail warships." Zhao Jia also agreed at this time.

Zhao Jia and Hu Yanqing usually don't get along much, but at this time they are chatting very speculatively, plus they are going to cooperate in attacking Europe, so there are many topics to talk about, which also makes their journey less boring.

The fleet went all the way south to the South China Seas, and then passed through the Strait of Malacca, and finally arrived at the Tianzhu Sea, in order to be cautious, Zhao Jia deliberately went to the steamship supply ports set up by Zhao Yan, and found that these ports were indeed as his father said, all of them had the ability to supply steam ships, which also made Zhao Jia and them finally completely relieved.

After a period of sailing, Zhao Jia and they arrived at the southernmost lion country of Tianzhu, that is, Sri Lanka in later generations, which is famous for its abundance of gems and Buddhism, and even enshrines a piece of Buddha bone relics here, but Zhao Jia and Hu Yanqing do not believe in Buddhism, and Agnes is only interested in local gemstones, so they just stayed here for two days before setting off again.

Leaving the Lion Country all the way to the west, soon came to the African continent, although you can also see the ships of the Great Song Dynasty, but the number has decreased significantly, because compared to other places, although the African continent is rich in specialties, but the folk customs are too barbaric, the black tribes on the land are very difficult to communicate, and the fleet is easy to be attacked by the locals when it arrives here, but the greater the risk, the greater the benefit, the ivory, gold, gems and other specialties of the African continent are still very attractive, so there are still many Song people who venture here, However, most of the Song people who dared to come here to do business had the strength to protect themselves, and ordinary native tribes did not dare to provoke them.

There are also supply ports for steamships on the African continent, some of which are the settlements of the Song people here, and some are ports built by the Great Song Dynasty in cooperation with the local native leaders, although they are very simple, but they can provide the supply of steamships, and those merchants have the most acute sense of smell, after discovering these ports, there are many Song people who come to do business with steamboats, anyway, the speed of the steamship is extremely fast, even if you encounter pirates at sea, as long as you are not besieged, you can escape with speed.

Along the coastline of the African continent all the way south, the supply ports here were also inspected by them, and no major problems were found, and many of these ports located in Africa are not on the African continent, but on the islands near the African coastline, this is mainly because the number of natives on the islands is small, and it is not easy to have problems, on the contrary, although the ports on the African continent are convenient for the transportation of various materials, but the closer to the south, the more barbaric the natives on the continent are, and the influence of the Great Song Dynasty here is already very weak, Therefore, it is natural to avoid conflicts with these natives.

Zhao Jia and their fleet finally came to a supply port located at the southernmost tip of the African continent, this port is located on a large island at the southern tip of the African continent, in fact, it is the fourth largest island in the world in the future, Madagascar, because there are many bison on the island, so the Song people generally call it Niudao Island, and the name of the port is Niutou Port, because Niutou Port is located in the northernmost part of the island, it looks like the head of Niudao Island.

Although the area of Niudao is vast, but the island is sparsely populated, the whole island of the native people together is not more than 10,000 people, in addition to the island's abundant products, there is a coal mine not far from Niutou Port, plus Niutou Port itself is a natural excellent port, it can be very convenient for passing ships to provide supplies, and here is far away from the African continent, do not have to worry about being attacked by large-scale natives, so it has been selected by the Great Song Dynasty as one of the most important ports in Africa, the whole port is built very neatly, There is even a naval fleet stationed here to provide armed protection for all African ports.

When Zhao Jia and their fleet arrived at Niutou Port, they saw that there were many supply ships moored in the port, and these supply ships were ships that were about to go to Europe with them, and they had already arrived here in advance to wait for them. However, just when Zhao Jia's warship had just docked at Niutou Port, they encountered an unexpected surprise. (To be continued.) )