Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 541 Mazu Becomes a Mountain Goddess
On September 15, the Yuanwang ship left Jinchuan Port (San Francisco) and headed straight for Tanzhou (Hawaii), 3700 kilometers to the southwest.

This route runs right along the northern edge of the North Equatorial Current in the Pacific Ocean. If you go directly west from Xiangxun Port, you will be right in the middle of the North Equatorial Current. The advantage is that you can sail faster with the ocean current, but the disadvantage is that there is a vast ocean in the middle, and there is nowhere to resupply. Even if there are some islands, most of them are uninhabited and deserted.

As Lu Jin mentioned before, Tanzhou (Hawaii) is located at one-third of the way along the Pacific shipping route from east to west. It has people, natural harbors, food, and fresh water, making it an excellent transit point and a very good supply point. Apart from being somewhat remote from ocean currents and natural shipping lanes, it has almost no disadvantages.

If they plan to visit Tanzania on their return journey, they can depart from a slightly northerly position, along the edge of the equatorial warm current. As long as they measure the latitude along the way, it shouldn't be difficult to encounter the Hawaiian Islands; they can see them by drifting with the ocean current.

By the time they returned, it was mid-September. The route from San Francisco to Hawaii was smooth sailing with favorable winds and currents, allowing the boat to easily reach speeds of over 13 knots. Although not as incredible as the speeds during the westerly winds, this speed was still quite fast. They could travel about 600 kilometers in a day and night, so it only took them six days to reach the waters off Hawaii.

On the seventh day after leaving Jinchuan Port, around noon, Zhang Chao and First Mate Wang Zong, who were standing on the deck learning from Wang Dayuan how to use a sextant to calculate latitude, suddenly heard the lookout at the top of the mast shout, "There is a large patch of smoke to the right front. Be on alert. There may be land."

Upon hearing the warning, everyone looked over and indeed saw a plume of smoke near the shipping lane. Wang Dayuan glanced at the nautical clock, calculated the distance traveled over the past few days, and immediately made his judgment.

"His Majesty said that there are active volcanoes on the Tanzhou Islands, which erupt fiery lava and smoke from time to time. This large amount of smoke may be caused by the volcanic eruption on Tanzhou Island. We should have arrived near Tanzhou by now."

"Have the helmsman turn the helm, and let's head towards the smoke to take a closer look."

"Yes!"

An hour later, as the group approached Hawaii and could see the southernmost island, they immediately noticed that smoke was rising from a mountaintop on the island.

Wang Dayuan immediately said, "It seems that I am right. This should be the Tanzhou Islands marked on the nautical chart."

This was the first time Chen Youliang had ever seen an active volcano that spewed fire and smoke. After a moment of stunned silence, he asked, "How can you be sure this is Tanzhou? Don't be mistaken, or it will be difficult to get back."

Wang Dayuan frowned, then glanced at the nautical chart and said, “The Tanzhou Islands consist of six slightly larger islands and two smaller islands, a total of eight islands, arranged from northwest to southeast. The second one from the west is Tanzhou Island. There is a mountain on the island called Honolulu. There is also a large bay on the south coast of Tanzhou Island, which the local natives call Honolulu.”

"In the local dialect, 'Honnu' means harbor, and 'Lulu' means barrier or screen. We just need to ask the locals to find out if this is Honnu Lulu."

"There are also four small islands in the middle, the largest of which is called Maui. Just ask the local natives and you won't get it wrong."

Chen Youliang nodded upon hearing this. It was only on the return journey that he truly felt what it meant to be terrified. After all, on the way there, they had almost always sailed along the coastline or jumped between islands, and could go ashore to resupply every few days.

On the return journey, however, they couldn't see land for several days. All around them was a vast ocean, and they couldn't even see a single seabird. This made him realize the terror of the deep ocean. The feeling of being neither on land nor in the sky was too uncomfortable. He was afraid that Wang Dayuan had gone to the wrong place. If they really got lost in the ocean, they would all die of thirst and starvation on the ship.

At this moment, Captain Zhang Chao asked again, "Sir, which island shall we dock at?"

"Let's go straight to Tanzhou Island. It seems that other islands don't have harbors or fresh water. I'm not sure about other islands, but Tanzhou Island definitely does."

"Yes." Zhang Chao agreed and immediately directed the Yuanwang ship to head towards Tanzhou Island (Oahu).

Meanwhile, the native Hawaiians on the island were gathered on the beach, dancing the hula in the direction of the volcano on the southern Big Island.
Yes, the Hawaiian hula dance, also known as the hula dance, is a ritual performed by the local indigenous people. They worship the volcano goddess Pele, believing that Pele controls fire and creates the land, and is a goddess who embodies destruction and rebirth.

The volcanic eruption was seen as the wrath of the goddess Pele. The indigenous people not only held regular ceremonies every year, throwing shoes, knives, coins and other miscellaneous things into the crater to show their worship and reverence for the goddess, but also held temporary sacrifices during the eruption, which is the grass skirt dance we see today.

However, just as the natives were devoutly worshipping the volcano, a white, four-masted giant ship suddenly sailed towards them from the direction of the large island to the south. The natives were stunned, wondering where the ship came from and what its connection was with the volcano goddess Pele.

After a moment of stunned silence, seeing that the large ship not only showed no sign of leaving but was getting closer and closer to them, the local Kapu priest presiding over the ceremony immediately gave a shout, and everyone began to kneel and worship the ship, fearing to anger the volcano goddess Pele.

As the Yuanwang slowly approached, Chen Youliang, Zhang Chao, Wang Zong, and the others were all dumbfounded. Just moments before, they had seen the island's natives dancing the hula, but as they drew closer, they began to kneel and kowtow to them in droves.
Chen Youliang looked puzzled and asked, "What are they doing?"

Wang Dayuan frowned and pondered for a moment, then looked back at the volcano behind him and immediately guessed, "His Majesty said that the natives of Tanzhou have a custom of worshipping volcanoes. It seems that there is a mountain god on that big volcano, and the mountain god is a woman. Whenever the volcano erupts, the natives here have to perform sacrifices."

“They were probably worshipping the mountain god just now, and then we happened to arrive. This place is located deep in the ocean and has not been in contact with outsiders for thousands of years. They may have never seen outsiders before, so they regarded us as the mountain god or the mountain god's messengers, which is why they bowed to us.”

Upon hearing this, everyone suddenly realized what was going on, and Wang Zong immediately asked, "So what should we do now?"

Wang Dayuan thought for a moment, and then a sudden inspiration struck him. He immediately said, "Since they regard us as messengers of the mountain god, why don't we turn the tables on them?"

"How do we turn the tables on them? Shall we pretend to be divine messengers?" Chen Youliang asked, puzzled.

Wang Dayuan nodded affirmatively, and then explained, "Tanzhou Island is the most important supply point and transit station in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, without exception. It has food, fresh water, pork, and natural harbors. It would be best to take over these islands directly."

"But the natives here are not to be trifled with. His Majesty said that they number in the hundreds of thousands, while we only have a little over three hundred people and one boat. How can we possibly control so many people?"

"Since these island barbarians regard us as messengers of the mountain god, why don't we go with the flow and acknowledge her? It just so happens that the mountain god is also a woman, and these island barbarians don't even know what the mountain god looks like."

"In a little while, we will give them a portrait of Mazu Tianfei from the ship, and also a statue of the goddess. We will tell them that this is the mountain goddess. In addition, we will give some rewards to the chieftain of the island and ask him to make offerings and build a Mazu Tianfei Temple on the island. They will pay offerings every year. In the future, whenever we pass through here, we can rest in the Tianfei Temple and the islanders will voluntarily offer supplies. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

Everyone was stunned upon hearing this. This Mr. Wang really knows how to play games, using Mazu to impersonate a mountain god. Hmm, that doesn't seem right either. Isn't Mazu supposed to bless seafarers? Then the islands in the sea must also be under Mazu's jurisdiction, right? Well, that actually makes sense.
"Tsk~" Chen Youliang clicked his tongue, feeling a headache coming on. "Will this work? What if they find out we're not divine messengers after a while?"

“It will take a long time. Once we have a foothold on the island, we can send troops directly, find any excuse to wipe out that chieftain, abolish the chieftain system, and register all the people. Then the whole island will belong to the Ming Dynasty. Isn’t that simple?” Wang Dayuan said immediately.

A moment of silence fell over everyone. Chen Youliang then spoke up, "Alright, what do we do now?"

"Change your clothes, put on your fine clothes, dress up, then we'll bring the ship closer, fire a few cannons at the shore to intimidate these island barbarians, then we'll go ashore, summon the local chieftain, appoint him as the Pacification Commissioner of Tanzhou of the Great Ming, give him some rewards, and ask them to build a Tianfei Temple for us, along with food and drink offerings."

"Hmm, that works. I'll have someone arrange it right away." Zhang Chao agreed and immediately went to the cabin to give instructions. After a while, to the astonishment of the natives, the Yuanwang came closer and closer to the shore. Then, the ship suddenly stopped sideways, and five gun ports on the side facing the shore rose up, pushing out five thick, dark cannon barrels. Suddenly, it fired several shots at the crowd on the shore.

Of course, it wasn't loaded with shells, just gunpowder and a wooden stopper. It could only produce a loud bang, flashes, and smoke, but it couldn't hurt anyone. Its purpose was just to scare them.

Sure enough, after this salvo, although the island's natives were terrified and their faces showed horror, they also confirmed their previous guesses.

This ship is indeed the messenger of the volcano goddess Pele; otherwise, why would it spew fire and smoke like a volcano and make such a loud noise? It makes perfect sense.
Then the natives became even more devout in their worship.

A moment later, there were two splashes, and two small boats were lowered from the Yuanwang. The group of eighty people went down the rope ladder into the boats and rowed towards the shore.

The natives were even more shocked—there were people on the ship! The high priest quickly ordered everyone to step back, making room for the divine messenger to land, while also keeping their distance from him.

First mate Wang Zong led a group of soldiers ashore first. These fifty men, each clad in bright silver lamellar armor, carrying flintlock muskets and with sabers at their waists, immediately lined up in two rows after landing, forming a human wall.

Then both rows of soldiers simultaneously fired their guns into the sky opposite them, unloaded of ammunition, of course.
A burst of gunfire rang out, shocking the natives even more. It turned out that not only could the ship spew fire and smoke, but the weapons these people were wielding could too! They really were divine messengers; these must be the warriors under the command of the volcano goddess Pele.

After Wang Zong finished leading the welcoming ceremony, Wang Dayuan, Chen Youliang, Zhang Chao, and others, dressed in brightly colored brocade robes, jumped ashore. Wang Dayuan flicked his robe, straightened his clothes, and with a sword hanging at his waist, he led the way through the passage formed by soldiers, with Chen Youliang and Zhang Chao following behind him on either side.

The social structure of the Hawaiian natives is a hereditary aristocracy, with secular hereditary noble leaders and religious hereditary priests. At this moment, they are watching Wang Dayuan and his group intently. These people who came down from the divine ship can not only operate fire-breathing and smoke-emitting sticks, but their clothes also shimmer in the sunlight, making them clearly not ordinary people.

Just then, several figures who looked like leaders walked out from among the mountain god warriors. They looked very dignified. The leader glanced at the natives on the shore and immediately saw the hereditary chief holding a bone spear at the front of the crowd, as well as the old priest next to him. Their eyes met, and the next moment, Wang Dayuan waved to them.

The current leader of Oahu, Kanejoro, and the priest, Pellecasiko, exchanged a glance and immediately got up and walked towards Wang Dayuan.

Wang Dayuan glanced at the two of them, then immediately pointed to the ground beneath his feet, "Here, Honolulu?"

Canejoro was surprised, then nodded repeatedly, "Honolulu."

Wang Dayuan, Chen Youliang, Zhang Chao, and the others exchanged glances. It seemed they had come to the right place; this was indeed Tanzhou.

After Wang Dayuan finished asking his question, the leader, Canejoro, pointed towards the large volcano on the southern island and asked them, "Pelle? (Goddess of Volcanoes)?"

When Wang Dayuan saw him pointing towards the volcano, he knew he hadn't guessed wrong. These locals really did regard them as messengers of the female mountain god. So he nodded immediately, then shook his head, "It's not Pelle, it's Mazu."

With a wave of his hand, Wang Dayuan immediately sent soldiers carrying a ceramic statue of Mazu, which was over a foot tall, and a scroll depicting Mazu. As the statue passed by, the soldiers on both sides straightened their backs, while Wang Dayuan and Chen Youliang respectfully bowed to the statue.

Upon seeing this, the local chieftain and priest exchanged bewildered glances. When they saw the female figure of the statue, they suddenly realized what was going on and quickly followed Wang Dayuan and the others in bowing to the statue.

When the soldiers brought the statues of the gods to them, Wang Dayuan pointed to the statues and introduced them to the two men, saying, "Mazu, Tianfei, and Pelle." Then he pointed to the large volcano on the south island.

The chieftain and priests became even more devout and immediately knelt down to kowtow and worship the statue of Mazu.

After the men kowtowed several times, Wang Dayuan called them to their feet. Then, he had his soldiers bring up two sets of brocade robes. One set was a bright red cross-collar brocade robe with intricate patterns, along with boots, trousers, and so on. The other set was a white one, which was for the religious priest.

The leader immediately recognized that this thing was the same as what the divine messengers were wearing. He pointed incredulously at the clothes and then at himself.

Wang Dayuan immediately nodded and had his soldiers help him change his clothes.

So the chieftain Canejoro and the priest Perecasico, under the watchful eyes of the natives behind them, changed into the same clothes as the messengers of the gods.

The fifty-something-year-old Canejoro and the sixty-something-year-old Pellecassico were both in high spirits and cautious. The divine messenger had just come up and given such an extraordinary reward. This was too good to be true.

Then Wang Dayuan took a goose-feather saber and placed it in Canejoro's hand, showing him how to draw it. After Canejoro drew the saber, he was immediately shocked by the forging patterns and the gleaming cold light on it. He looked at the chilling blade and immediately understood what it was. The divine messenger had actually bestowed such a divine weapon. It was truly an act of divine intervention. No, it was the God of Pele, no, it was Mazu manifesting her power!
Then Wang Dayuan brought over a folding fan and a writing brush, and handed them to the priest. The priest was flattered and repeatedly bowed to the statue of Mazu.

Then the two consulted Wang Dayuan for divine guidance. Wang Dayuan waved his hand, instructing them to disperse the natives on the shore, clear some land for them, and bring food to offer to his group.

Canejoro and the priests dared not delay and immediately dispersed the crowd. They then arranged for food to be served to them. Seeing that there were quite a few people, they were afraid that it would not be enough, so they ordered people to gather as much food as possible.

Watching the natives gradually retreat, Zhang Chao asked curiously, "Is that all?"

"Whether it works or not, let's replenish our food supplies first. It seems they believe us. Let's stay here for a few more days and try to negotiate with them to set aside a piece of land in the port for our use. Then we can ask them to provide materials for us to build houses."

After thinking for a moment, Wang Dayuan added, "It would be great if we could leave some people here and establish a base."

Chen Youliang and Zhang Chao exchanged glances, then said in unison, "Next time."

Zhang Chao also said, "The people on the ship have been out for more than a year, and everyone wants to go back. Besides, we didn't plan to establish a base in Tanzhou this time. Maybe we should make preparations next time and bring more people back."

Wang Dayuan nodded. "That's fine too."

Not long after, Oahu chief Canejoro sent over a lot of food. The main dishes were sweet potatoes and potatoes, as well as bananas and coconuts. Of course, the most shocking thing was several whole roasted pigs, which made everyone's eyes widen and their mouths water.

Heaven have mercy! The crew of the Yuanwang had been at sea for a year and a half, and apart from some cured meat and ham that they had brought with them, they hadn't eaten fresh pork once. Moreover, after such a long time, the cured meat on board had long been gone. When they saw these whole roasted pigs, they were like a pack of hungry wolves, their eyes practically glowing with ravenous greed.
As for potatoes and sweet potatoes, they weren't interested; they had eaten enough of those back in the Aztecs!

The group immediately began to devour the food. Wang Dayuan even asked the leader, Canejoro, to bring them some more roasted pig, since there were still more than two hundred people on the ship who were eyeing it.
(End of this chapter)