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Text Chapter 560: Shaving and Setting Sail

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    On the bow of America 1, Lu Wan, who was in his prime, stood facing the wind, looking in the direction of Taiwan with satisfaction.  They are now located in the outer sea of ??northern Luzon, on the North Equatorial Current to be precise. The ocean current here comes from east to west, and when it encounters Luzon Island, it turns northwest, which is just enough for them to return to Taiwan.

    Speaking of their sea trial route this time, they first went from Taiwan to Manila, then went south around Luzon Island, and then turned to the southeast, just in time to catch up with the eastward equatorial ocean current. Then they followed the ocean current all the way east, but they didn't go  After half a month, when the crew was almost adjusted to the new ship, they immediately turned the ship's bow northward, entered the North Equatorial Current and returned, completing this sea trial.

    This sea trial not only made the crew familiar with the characteristics of the new ship and accustomed to life on the ship, but also made the crew familiar with sailing in the equatorial ocean current. When they actually sail, they will follow the equatorial ocean current all the way.  East, until it reaches America, and then completes the tasks of collecting seeds and drawing sea charts, it will return along the North Equatorial Ocean Current.

    Lu Wan¡¯s fleet has a total of eight specially-made sea-going ships. The hulls are not particularly large, but they are extremely strong and stable, and their performance in wind and waves is excellent.  Lu Wan named these eight ships America No. 1 to No. 8 respectively. There were fifty people on each ship, and the entire fleet had a total of 400 people, which can be said to be very large.

    Lu Wan looked back at the fleet behind him, with a smug expression on his face. He had made America the most important goal in his life. He had spent several years preparing before, and now he has finally completed the exploration fleet.  , and what follows is the final step of the efforts of the past few years.  That is where the true journey of discovery begins.

    Just when Lu Wan was feeling full of ambition, suddenly a shirtless man came behind him.  The man was scratching his body while still holding a glass bottle in his hand.  There was a light green liquid inside, which was being sprayed on the body.

    "Captain, do me a favor and sprinkle some potion on my back. There are so many people dancing on the ship that I can lose half a catty of blood just by sleeping!" The person who came was none other than Feng Shijie, but he had become accustomed to being at home in the past few years.  The wealthy life leads to some discomfort with the living environment on the ship, especially the fleas and lice.  It tortured him even more unspeakably.

    Lu Wan smiled after hearing this, took the deworming potion from the opponent's hand, and then wiped some of the potion on the opponent's back. Speaking of which, they had paid enough attention to hygiene on the ship, but parasites such as fleas and lice could not be avoided. After all,  There is no such thing as haircut in this era. Both men and women have long hair. Originally, this hairstyle was nothing on land.  It's just a little more difficult to take care of, but it's a big problem at sea because fresh water is scarce on the ship.  Therefore, the crew members usually don't even wash their hair and face. Sometimes they don't even drink enough water. Long hair is naturally prone to breed various parasites.

    I saw Lu Wan, who was applying lotion to Feng Shijie, suddenly stretched out his hand.  Catch a coquettish figure on the opponent's head, and then press hard with your fingers.  With just a 'pop' sound, the dancer who was full of blood was crushed by him.

    "The flea on clothes is easy to deal with. At most, you can just boil the sea water and soak it, but there is nothing you can do about the flea in your hair, unless you are like a monk who is born with no hair." Lu Wan held the flea bomb in his hand  Dropped it, and then said with a smile.  The monk he mentioned was the nickname of a crew member on the ship. He had a high fever when he was a child and his hair never grew again, so he was nicknamed the monk.

    However, Lu Wan's words reminded Feng Shijie, and his eyes lit up and he said: "This is a good idea. I might as well shave my hair. This way, even if there are lice on my body, they can be removed quickly."

    "Huh?" Lu Wan was stunned when he heard Feng Shijie's words. Although he was a pirate, he also knew that the hair, hair and body were affected by his parents. Except for those who became monks, he had never heard of anyone shaving their hair.

    Lu Wan originally thought that Feng Shijie was just joking, so he didn't take it seriously. But what he didn't expect was that when he saw Feng Shijie again the next day, he had already shaved his head, and he asked the chef on the ship to do it.  He is also a knife player, so his skills are naturally very exquisite. At least there is not a single wound on Lu Wan's head.

    "Shi Jie, you really did it!" Lu Wan looked at Feng Shijie's bare head and said speechlessly.  In fact, he forgot that although Feng Shijie was a Han, he grew up in the Japanese country. Feng Shijie didn't care much about some of the Han people's deep-rooted habits and behaviors.

    "Hey, it's so cool, and you're not afraid of getting lice. Fortunately, the captain, you reminded me, otherwise I really wouldn't have been able to think of such a good idea!" Feng Shijie touched his light blue scalp and smiled.  The crew members who passed by him were stunned when they saw him. In their eyes, Surveyor Liu, who was second only to the captain on the ship, could be considered a well-educated person. They didn't expect that he would be greedy for money.  1It was so cool that he shaved off all his hair. Could it be that he wanted to become a monk?

    ¡°However, there are also people who are very in favor of Feng Shijie shaving his head, such as the crew member nicknamed Monk, who fully supports it.  In the past, he was ridiculed by other crew members because of his lack of hair. Now there was finally someone with a bald head like him, and it was Feng Shijie, who was second only to the captain in status on the ship. This made him feel proud and proud, and even  Promoting the benefits of bald heads everywhere, such as being clean and free from lice.

    However, I don¡¯t know whether it was Feng Shijie who took the lead, or whether the monk¡¯s promotion of the benefits of bald heads had an effect. A few days later, a few bold fools actually shaved their heads. In their words, it was better to go to America this time anyway.  I don't know how long it will take. Everyone stays on the boat without seeing anyone else. It doesn't matter if they are bare-headed for the time being, and by the time they come back, their hair may have grown out.

    The above statement really made many crew members excited. After all, they are all year-round sailors. They have come into contact with many people from foreign countries and know that many countries have the custom of cutting hair. In addition, they are also a bit rough.  He had no education and didn't pay much attention to etiquette. In addition, Feng Shijie and others took the lead. Therefore, the crew members on the ship were ready to make a move. They even thought of shaving their heads. After all, they were covered in lice and lice.  It's not a pleasant thing for people to come.

    However, Lu Wan was immediately shocked when he discovered that the crew members were all showing signs of shaving their heads. He even called the crew members for a meeting. The content of the meeting was not to prevent the crew members from shaving their heads, but to ask everyone to tolerate it for the time being.  I will wait until I return to Taiwan this time and then officially shave my head.  After all, it was just Feng Shijie's few bald heads who were not conspicuous, but if the fleet returned to Taiwan with a group of bald heads, it would definitely cause a news sensation and might even attract criticism from some people. He did not want the fleet to return to Taiwan.  No, it caused a lot of scolding.

    Lu Wan's fleet arrived in Taiwan soon, and was personally received by Li Min. However, when he saw Feng Shijie with a bare head, he was also stunned. He used to think that long hair was difficult to take care of, but he didn't.  Dare to shave his hair short like later generations, after all, given his status and living in this era, if he dared to do this, it would be simply too deviant.  Later, as he gradually got used to it, Li Min no longer felt there was anything wrong with having long hair.

    But what he didn¡¯t expect was that Feng Shijie took the initiative to shave his head because he couldn¡¯t bear the troubles of fleas and lice. Moreover, Lu Wan also reported to him that most of the crew members on the ship had this intention, so he hoped that he would not blame him.

    For this kind of thing, it was too late for Li Min to be happy, so how could he blame it?  After all, after the crew shaved their heads, there were fewer parasites on their bodies, which also greatly reduced the incidence of infectious diseases. You must know that in a relatively closed environment like a sea-going ship, if an infectious disease breaks out, it will be very serious.  It might kill everyone on the ship, which is how many unmanned ghost ships on the sea came to be.

    Even Li Min is still thinking about whether he should issue a law to encourage sailors who go to sea to shave their heads. It is not necessary for all sailors to shave their heads, as long as they have short hair, which is easy and clean.  However, after thinking about it again and again, he gave up the idea temporarily. After all, shaving his hair seemed like a small thing, but it marked a tradition that has existed in the Central Plains for thousands of years. This tradition can only allow people to change spontaneously and slowly.  It is not suitable for official intervention, so the matter of hair shaving should be allowed to develop freely.

    Lu Wan, who came back from the sea trial, reported the situation to Li Yan. At the same time, some minor problems encountered by the ship and various parties were also submitted to the relevant parties for resolution. As a result, it took more than a month to finally prepare everything.  , the fleet is available at any time.

    Originally, the fleet preparation was in September, but it was between summer and autumn, and it was also the peak season of typhoons, so Li Min finally postponed the date by another month. By then, it had already entered early winter, and there were very few  A typhoon will form during this period, which is a good time for Lu Wan and others.

    On October 11, the 20th year of Zhenguan, an exploration fleet composed of eight Americas arrived at the port of Keelung. Li Min and Princess Xiao Wenxin saw off the fleet, and the people who had already heard the news spontaneously came to the port to support them.  To see him off, the entire pier was full of people, estimated to be more than 10,000 people afterwards, and this was because of the limited space. There were many people outside the pier who couldn't squeeze in, and other ships in the port were also full of people coming to see him off.  of people.

    Among those who saw them off were not only local residents of Keelung, but also businessmen and gentry who came from Dengzhou, Shanghai, Tainan and other places. Although they may not know the significance of this trip, people felt that this exploration would  It was a pioneering work in the history of navigation. It was such a meaningful thing that they naturally wanted to witness it with their own eyes.  (To be continued)
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