Chapter 41

Under Yu Lian's command, the "East Shore Eagle" anchored near the coast.

Lu Ming came down from the bridge, patted Yu Lian on the shoulder, and encouraged him with a smile, "Well done, my navigator!"

Yu Lian smiled, looking at the navigation school students who were busy lowering the dinghy, and said, "To be honest, I'm enjoying this life a bit. These kids are very hardworking. As long as they keep up this effort, they will eventually become excellent naval officers. I know you've always been training them to the standards of officers."

"Of course, they are all my children, and I've always been proud of them." Lu Ming hugged a student who was nearby, tidying up the ropes, and patted his head, saying, "Jiwen, I'm going to test you guys soon. If you get the questions wrong again, I'll make you saw wood for a week."

"Hehe." The boy named Jiwen wasn't afraid of him at all. He struggled out of his embrace and said with a smile, "Principal, Yuri always gets the questions wrong, but he hasn't had to saw wood for a single day."

Lu Ming, who had been exposed, wasn't embarrassed at all. He laughed heartily and pretended to kick Jiwen, then walked and talked with Yu Lian along the deck.

"Yu Lian, have you ever thought about bringing your family over? Look, John Stone and others have already brought their families from Britain or the Netherlands. Why don't you? We appreciate your character and knowledge, and the children like you very much. You like them too, right? Why can't we all work and strive together? We might have been enemies in the past, but we aren't now. You know our attitude. Don't you have confidence in our cause?" Lu Ming looked at the seabirds flying freely on the sea and asked Yu Lian.

"No, it's not like that." Yu Lian sighed, "I don't have many relatives left in Franche-Comté, just an uncle. Actually, I have some reasons that I hope you can understand..."

"Ha, okay, you have the right to keep your privacy." Lu Ming smiled generously and then said, "Let's go, let's see how the kids' first landing goes."

Two small boats had already been lowered from the ship's side, floating on the sea. Eight navigation school students and 24 artillerymen converted to marines climbed down the rope ladder.

The crew who arrived on the ship first raised a small square sail. After everyone successfully boarded the small boats, the sailors on the "East Shore Eagle" untied the ropes securing the small boats. The crew on the small boats began to row hard, and with the help of the northeast wind, the two small boats quickly headed towards the shore.

This was the outer sea of the Patos Lagoon. The Patos Lagoon has a narrow channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean at its mouth. After passing through the channel into the Patos Lagoon, the crew on the two small boats would land on a peninsula on the south side of the lake (present-day Rio Grande) to collect rock and plant samples. This was a joint effort by the industrial and agricultural departments, using the navy to conduct a preliminary survey of the area, gathering information for potential large-scale development in the future.

Lu Ming looked far away with a telescope and saw that the crew on the small boats were measuring the depth and flow rate near the mouth of the channel. This was a crucial step, as it would determine whether large ships could directly enter the Patos Lagoon in the future. According to the information provided by Gao Mo, the coal mines in the future were located near Porto Alegre on the north shore of the Patos Lagoon. This meant that to develop the coal deposits, the穿越者们 must reach the innermost part of the Patos Lagoon. From a transportation perspective, it was essential to ensure that the Patos Lagoon could accommodate large transport ships; otherwise, the coal extracted would be meaningless if it couldn't be transported out.

Lu Ming and Yu Lian watched for a while and then left to go to the sailors' lounge on the forecastle. The lounge was filled with the remaining navigation school students. Each student had a small wooden board in front of them and a charcoal pencil in their hand, waiting quietly for Lu Ming to arrive.

Lu Ming took off the captain's hat he had been wearing and smiled at the students, saying, "Alright, let's start the exam. The 'East Shore Eagle' sails at 8 knots from São Vicente, along the coast of Brazil and the Río de la Plata, through the Strait of Magellan with the westerly current to South Africa, and then north along the west coast of South Africa. How many days will it take to reach Luanda? Draw the sea chart and the route yourself. Note that the specific route and time for each segment must be listed separately. You can refer to the knowledge you learned in class. I'll give you half an hour. Start now, kids!"

Lu Ming and Yu Lian walked back and forth in the sailors' lounge, occasionally watching the children solve the problems. These students, in addition to learning navigation, also studied mathematics, geography, and basic physics. They were taught by a group of middle school teachers from the穿越者s, who even wrote their own textbooks. In this era, where knowledge was wealth, these children were already quite well-versed in some areas compared to European naval officers.

"Yuri! No peeking at others' answers!" Lu Ming walked slowly behind a half-grown boy with blond hair and pulled his ear.

Yuri was so scared that he dropped his charcoal pencil, and a light laugh echoed in the room.

These children had only been studying for about a year, and their foundation was very weak. Many of them had never been exposed to mathematics and lacked logical thinking skills. Lu Ming had put a lot of effort into teaching them, treating them equally and spending almost all his time on them. Sometimes, to clarify a problem he wasn't good at, Lu Ming would actively ask the teachers to give private lessons to the students who didn't understand.

Even so, although the children's level had improved rapidly over the year, their knowledge was still somewhat lacking. There were also differences among individuals, as everyone had different talents.

"Time's up!" Lu Ming said, checking his watch. After each child stopped writing, he and Yu Lian collected their small boards, which contained their answers to the questions.

"Yuri. Oh my God! I asked you to go to Luanda, but where did you go? Santiago? You went to the Pacific?!" Lu Ming held up a small board and exaggeratedly shouted, causing everyone to burst into laughter.

"Kyle, you are truly the most fearless explorer among us. You even reached Lourenço Marques. Did I ask you to go around the Cape of Good Hope?"

"Oliver, you're a bit less adventurous than Kyle, but you successfully discovered the Gold Coast."

"Johnson, your route is wrong. According to your route, you might still be drifting at sea when your supplies run out."

"Nick, you're even more terrifying than Johnson. You successfully circumnavigated Tierra del Fuego. Do you want to spend your life with penguins?"

"Only... Jiwen, only Jiwen got it right!" Lu Ming put down the last small board, rubbed his forehead, and said, "Unfortunately, only Jiwen got it right. The 10 yuan monthly performance bonus will be given to Jiwen alone, of course, you can ask him to treat you."

Ignoring the children's subsequent playful antics, Lu Ming and Yu Lian returned to the bridge. At this time, the naval commissioner Wang Qian was discussing with some穿越者 artillery officers about applying to the executive committee to expand the naval force. After all, the "East Shore Eagle" would be officially commissioned after its sea trials, and the personnel were still not in place.

Lu Ming wasn't really worried about whether the executive committee would approve Wang Qian's request. It was obvious that the ship had already been built and couldn't just sit there empty. The "East Shore Eagle" was rated for 30 crew members, some gunners, and a few marines. There were many positions that had already been eyed by a large group of people, and many had even started lobbying Wang Qian before the ship was even launched.

To be honest, Lu Ming didn't want to be the acting captain at all. After the ship's sea trials, his acting mission would be over, and he had no intention of competing for any position. He just wanted to get back to the school and be with the children. The 33rd class of 90 students, who were admitted two months early to the navigation school, would soon be enrolling, and there were many things waiting for him at the school. He had to make sure everything was in order so as not to affect the students' studies. As for the captain and commander roles, he would leave them to others.

In the afternoon, the two small boats completed their mission and rowed out of the Patos Lagoon. With the help of the sailors on the ship, they all boarded the "East Shore Eagle."

Their mission was relatively successful. The 8 students from the 32nd class of the navigation school, with the help of some experienced sailors, not only recorded detailed hydrological information about the channel and the southern part of the lake but also landed to collect some rock and plant samples and drew a simple map. During the entire process, they did not encounter any Indians and found no signs of human activity at the landing site. After they returned, the "East Shore Eagle" completed its last task.

Three days later, the "East Shore Eagle" returned to Tartan Port, and the sea trials were a complete success.

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