Chapter 329: Sailing
As March approaches, the temperature begins to warm up and spring ploughing has entered the preparation stage.

At the same time, the Tenglongwei merchant ship is about to set sail for Jiangnan.

That day Yang Zhengshan came to the dock again.

At the dock, large quantities of goods are already being loaded onto ships, all of which are provided by various merchants.

For example, the dry goods were provided by the Lu family, the Yang family and the Tianqing Sword Sect.

For example, medicinal materials are provided by the Hengdao Sect, the Tianqing Sword Sect, and the Jing'an Shang Family.

The sources of fur are more diverse, with each company providing some.

As for the serpentine jade, it was provided by the Zhang family in Liaoan.

These goods were purchased in the name of the government, and after being transported to Jiangnan and sold, all the money belonged to the government.

Looking at the busy dock, Yang Zhengshan asked Yu Tonghai: "Are you ready?"

"Well, everything is ready and we can set off early tomorrow morning!" said Yu Tonghai.

For this voyage, Tenglongwei dispatched a total of 17 battlefield ships and 8 merchant ships.

The warships included one Dafu ship, two Haicang ships, four patrol ships, and ten eagle ships.

The warships also carry some cargo, and together with the eight merchant ships, the total value of the cargo they carry is about 80,000 taels. If all of them are sold, they can make a profit of almost 20,000 taels of silver.

The profit is not high, which is normal. After all, the goods are shipped to Jiangnan, and the profit is actually the freight saved compared to land transportation.

The most profitable part of maritime trade is naturally foreign trade. By trading within Dayong, one can make easy money without much profit.

However, this is Tenglongwei's first time going out to sea, so the main focus is to accumulate experience, and making money is secondary.

During this voyage, Yu Tonghai was the general captain in charge of coordinating all affairs, and Sun Cheng was the steward, assisting Yu Tonghai in managing the fleet and handling commercial cargo shipping transactions and other matters.

Yu Tonghai is good at naval battles, but he doesn't have a deep understanding of maritime trade and needs Sun Cheng's assistance.

Sun Cheng has been traveling on the sea all his life and knows it better than Yu Tonghai.

To be honest, Sun Cheng is the talent that Yang Zhengshan values ​​most.

Although he is older and an ordinary person, he is familiar with the routes of all the maritime dynasties around Dayong and has a deep understanding of the forces in the northeastern and southeastern waters of Dayong. He can be said to be knowledgeable and experienced.

In addition to Yu Tonghai and Sun Cheng, Yang Zhengshan and Wu Chongzhe will also study on board.

That's right, this time Yang Zhengshan will also follow the fleet to Jiangnan. He is on the ship with an attitude of learning. Although he has learned a lot about navigation during this period, he is still a landlubber and has never really been to sea.

This was the first time that the Tenglongwei Navy went out to sea, and also the first time that Yang Zhengshan went out to sea.

The distance from Tenglongwei to Jiangnan is about three thousand miles, and the speed of ships in this world is about sixty miles per hour. With a tailwind, it can reach eighty miles, and against a headwind it may be around forty miles.

On average, it is about 60 miles per hour, and can sail more than 1,400 miles a day. A round trip, including loading and unloading of cargo, takes about eight to ten days.

Of course, this is the case if things go well. If not, you may end up drifting in the ocean and never come back.

Yang Zhengshan checked the dock for a while, then returned to Tenglongwei and arranged things in the yamen.

In fact, there is nothing to arrange. Now that everything in the Weisi Yamen is on the right track, it will not have any impact even if he leaves for a month.

Nothing happened that night, and the next morning, the sky was just getting light.

Yang Zhengshan and Yu Qingyi got up, and Yu Qingyi put a thick fox fur coat on Yang Zhengshan.

"Come back early, otherwise Mingzhao will miss you!" Yu Qingyi said softly.

Yang Zhengshan laughed, "Will Madam miss me?"

Yu Qingyi rolled her eyes at him.

Yang Zhengshan put his arms around her waist and kissed her fair face hard.

"I'll miss you ma'am!"

"Haha~~"

"Stop making trouble, Qingxia and the others are still outside the door!" Yu Qingyi said shyly.

Yang Zhengshan restrained his playful expression and stretched his sleeves. "It's getting late. I should leave now. I'll leave the house to you!"

"Ok!"

Yu Qingyi nodded.

The two of them didn't say anything more and walked out of the bedroom one after another.

Yu Qingyi was originally a child of the Jianghu, and she didn't have that much of a girlish air of being reluctant to part. Although she hoped that Yang Zhengshan could come back soon, she wouldn't say it on her face.

"Greetings to the master!"

Walking out of the bedroom, Qingxia, Hongyun, Nanny Song and other maids all greeted them. Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly, "Take good care of the lady at home!"

"Yes!" the maid replied.

Yang Zhengshan nodded to Yu Qingyi again, then strode out of the house.

Outside the gate, twenty personal followers and Yang Mingcheng were already waiting with a group of guards.

Twenty of his personal followers would go out to sea with him. Yang Mingcheng and his men would only take them to the dock and bring their horses back after they boarded the ship. "Let's go!"

Yang Zhengshan jumped on his horse and galloped towards the dock in a mighty manner.

In March, Liaodong was still very cold, especially in the morning, when the moon was bright and the stars were sparse, and the cold wind was raging. Even though Yang Zhengshan was wearing a fur coat, he still couldn't keep out the cold.

When they arrived at the dock, the warships and merchant ships on the dock were already ready, waiting for them to set off.

Without further ado, Yang Zhengshan simply said a few words to Yang Mingcheng, and then boarded the Dafu ship surrounded by Yu Tonghai, Sun Cheng and others.

Then bursts of shouting were heard, the boatmen raised the sails, adjusted the direction, and the boats slowly left the dock.

The speed of departure was a bit slow. It took half an hour for the Dafu ship that Yang Zhengshan was on to leave the dock. However, the speed of the ship soon increased. Yang Zhengshan stood at the bow and felt the speed. It should be over 30 kilometers per hour.

It is still March, and the winds in the northeastern waters of Dayong are mainly northwesterly, which means they will have a tailwind voyage next.

There were more than twenty large ships scattered around, floating on the vast sea, which made Yang Zhengshan feel proud and many poems from his previous life emerged in his mind.

"The wind blows the white waves and the smoke rolls up, the vast sea is open for sailing."

"The vast waves shake the sky, and the vastness purifies people's hearts."

……

Well, actually there aren’t many. Yang Zhengshan could barely remember these two sentences.

"Sir, it's cold outside. You can go to the deck and have a rest!" After making sure that all the boats had caught up, Sun Cheng came behind Yang Zhengshan and said.

Yang Zhengshan turned around and smiled, "Okay, Mr. Sun, chat with me for a while!"

"Haha, please come in, sir!" Sun Cheng's attitude was still very humble.

The Dafu ship is as big as a building. As the main warship of the navy, this Dafu ship is not only fully equipped, but also very gorgeously decorated.

There are three floors on the ship. The top floor is a terrace for lookout. The third floor is the captain's room. The second floor is a rest space, and the lowest floor leads to the cabin.

The cabin also has three floors. The lower floor is filled with ballast stones, the second floor is where supplies are stored, such as fresh water, food, etc., and the third floor is the living area for soldiers and sailors.

Yang Zhengshan ignored Yu Tonghai who was commanding the fleet on the third floor, and instead took Sun Cheng to the lounge on the second floor.

This lounge is quite large. It not only has four or five sleeping rooms, but also a tea room and a study.

As the main ship, this was originally a place for generals to rest. Since Yang Zhengshan was on the ship, he naturally occupied the lounge here.

When Yang Zhengshan arrived at the lounge, his personal attendant had already prepared tea.

"Come, sit down and talk!"

"Thank you, sir!"

The two sat down, and Yang Zhengshan said with a smile: "Can you tell me about the forces on the sea?"

"What do you want to know, sir?" Sun Cheng said.

There are many forces on the sea, and their composition is very complex.

Yang Zhengshan thought for a moment and said, "Let's talk about the forces in Liaohai first!"

Liaohai refers to the sea area in the eastern part of Liaodong region.

"There are not many forces in Liaohai. Liaohai is bordered by our Dayong to the west, Lisheng Dynasty to the north, and Desheng Dynasty to the east. The only special place within this range is the waters around Heishan Island!" said Sun Cheng.

"Black Mountain Island?" Yang Zhengshan's expression changed slightly.

"Yes!" Sun Cheng stood up, took out a sea chart from the cabinet next to him and opened it, "Sir, please look, this is Black Mountain Island."

This nautical chart is very simple, but you can see many islands in the Liaohai area from it.

Heishan Island is probably located in the south of the Li Sheng Dynasty, far away from the Liaodong region and close to the De Sheng Dynasty.

"What's so special about this Black Mountain Island?" Yang Zhengshan asked.

Sun Cheng said: "There was nothing special about Heishan Island before. About ten years ago, a group of pirates suddenly appeared on Heishan Island. These pirates were very cruel. They not only hijacked ships, but also killed people. They were also extremely powerful."

"Now in the Liaohai Sea, merchant ships have reached a consensus that if they encounter pirates from the Black Mountain Island, they should abandon the ship. Abandoning the ship still gives them a chance to survive, but staying on the ship will only lead to death!"

Yang Zhengshan frowned slightly, "Are you saying that the pirates on Black Mountain Island appeared more than ten years ago?"

"That's not entirely true. There are more than 30 islands of varying sizes on the Black Mountain Island. Pirates have occupied this area in the past, but those pirates were relatively weak and behaved fairly. They usually only hijacked ships and didn't kill people!"

"About ten years ago, for some unknown reason, their style of doing things changed. Almost all merchant ships that encountered them were killed. However, they rarely attack, only two or three times a year!"

"In recent years, the route from the Lisheng Dynasty to the Desheng Dynasty has changed. Everyone deliberately goes around Heishan Island, and the number of merchant ships robbed and killed by them has become even less!"

Yang Zhengshan's eyes flickered, and his mind was filled with thoughts. He felt that this Black Mountain Island was a little strange, but he couldn't tell what was strange about it.

"About three years ago, the Li Sheng Dynasty sent navy to attack Heishan Island, but they were ultimately defeated! Since then, Heishan Island has become even more famous." Sun Cheng continued.

"They can even defeat the navy of the Li Sheng Dynasty?" Yang Zhengshan was even more surprised.

Although the Li Sheng Dynasty was only a small dynasty and could be described as weak compared to Dayong, no matter how weak it was, it was still a dynasty.

(End of this chapter)