Why is it difficult?

Although Columbus had great ambitions, he lacked the means to realize them. He has no money to build ships and recruit sailors, and he has no choice but to rely on the power of the royal family. 1484, he formally suggested to Portuguese king John II to equip his own fleet and go west and east. As a result, his plan was rejected. With disappointment, Columbus came to Barros, Spain, where he was warmly supported by Father John Perez and was introduced to the palace. 1486 In May, Queen Isabella summoned Columbus for the first time. Columbus's loyalty, self-confidence and rich geographical knowledge left a deep impression on the king and queen, and they decided to submit the plan to the expert Committee for examination. However, the plan handed over was like a stone, and there was no reply. Once again frustrated, Columbus was very depressed. He presented the plan to the king of England and the king of France through his younger brother, and it was not understood and supported. Helpless, 1488, Columbus once again asked the Portuguese king for help, just as the navigator Dias returned triumphantly from the Cape of Good Hope in the southernmost part of Africa, and the king lost interest in Columbus's ingenious plan. After Portugal was completely disappointed, he had to return to Spain for support. 1490, the plan reviewed for four years was rejected, but the attitude of Queen Isabella left Columbus with a glimmer of hope. Columbus invited his plan several times. Although it didn't succeed, it didn't discourage him. 1492, once again invited Columbus of the West Airlines project to pack his bags and prepare to go to France after the talks broke down. St. Tenniel, the king's finance minister, visited Queen Isabella and stated the importance of funding the Columbus Plan. The queen was tempted and immediately sent an urgent messenger to recover Columbus. At this point, eight years of hard lobbying finally made him get what he wanted. 1492, he signed an agreement with the king to appoint him as the commander-in-chief of all newly discovered islands and continents, and appointed him as the deputy king and chief ruler of the discovered and occupied islands; Have the right to possess one-tenth of the seized property; All titles and powers have the right of inheritance.

The work got off to a bad start. Because the queen agreed to his plan, but she lacked confidence in the success of the voyage and refused to spend a lot of money to take risks, she only gave him three broken warships to try her luck. The largest santamaria is only 130 tons, Pinter is 90 tons, and Yaning is only 50 tons. Success, millions of profits; If you fail, give him away for nothing.

It is also quite difficult to recruit sailors. Because the theory that "the earth is round" was not popular at that time, the bottomless ocean theory was widely circulated. Therefore, few people are willing to risk their lives to go sailing. If you fall into the bottomless pit, you will never come back. Moreover, the sea is vast, and the wind and waves are high. In the foreseeable future, the boring sailing life may even be swallowed up by the sea or eaten by monsters. Who wants to suffer such pain and suffering! Columbus had no choice but to suggest the king and queen, forcibly recruited a group of criminals, and pieced together an expedition of 87 people, including doctors, translators, secretaries, royal supervisors, king notaries, fleet managers, helmsman and captain, and prepared enough food for one year and the products of western civilization-primitive small cannons, hats, flowered shirts, mirrors, etc. After more than three months, everything was finally ready.

Dangerous maiden voyage "New World"

1492 At dawn on August 3, the crowds in Barros Port, Spain were bustling, and people came to see Columbus's fleet off. Columbus was in high spirits. Under the escort of the escort, he boarded the flagship "Santa Maria" and raised the Spanish flag. He ordered, "In the name of God, let's go!" Three ships slowly left the dock. Helpless sailors bid farewell to the visitors with tears in their eyes. They feel that they are heading for the dark edge of the earth and the terrible bottomless pit of the ocean, and there is no hope of survival. At this point, Columbus's mood is not calm. He knows how dangerous the waves in the Atlantic Ocean are, but he is even luckier. Now he is the master of his own destiny. He felt that there were no enemies in front of him, only unknown oceans and the world were waiting for him. According to the plan, the fleet sailed for the Canary Islands.

Unfortunately, Pinter got off to a bad start, the rudder loosened again and again, the cabin leaked water, and finally she had to stop sailing for maintenance. They replenished fresh water, food, etc. In the canary islands, and set sail into the dangerous and unknown Atlantic Ocean on September 6th.

In the first few days, the voyage went smoothly. The sky is clear and the sea is quiet and blue. There are no sea monsters that eat people, and there is no shadow of a bottomless pit. Only seagulls fly by the boat and fish swim around in the water. It seems that the ocean is nothing to be afraid of! The sailors gradually dispelled their fears and doubts about the ocean.

However, as the days passed, the crew felt that life at sea was monotonous: from morning classes to evening prayers, the time was announced every half hour according to the hourglass (an ancient timing tool), and the shift was changed every four hours, repeating day after day. The canary islands behind have disappeared, and there is an endless sea in front of you, and there is no shadow of land at all. People are inevitably afraid again. On September 16, a meadow suddenly appeared in the distance, which looked like land. Everyone is very excited. Columbus was even happier when he thought that he had arrived in East Asia so soon. However, when the fleet approached, people were disappointed, because it was not land at all, but seaweed floating on the water. What is even more worrying is that when measuring the depth of seawater with a sounding hammer, hundreds of meters of rope can't touch the seabed, indicating that there is little possibility of land nearby. Moreover, seaweed is endless, like a vast sea grassland. The fleet sailed hard on the grassland and could not see its head for days and nights.

"Will something happen?" Even Columbus was anxious, but he pretended to be calm. The crew began to get impatient and could hear complaints and complaints anytime and anywhere. After sailing in the seaweed area for three weeks, I got rid of the annoying entanglement. Later, I learned that this is the center of the Atlantic circulation, covering the sea surface of the sargasso sea with an area of about 4.5 million square kilometers.

After crossing the algae sea, there is still a rough sea in front of us. Suddenly, one night, a sailor exclaimed that he had seen land, and people were very happy. However, the facts of the next day told them that the "land" they saw was only a mirage. They live in an isolated environment, and the hardships of life are self-evident. Only one hot meal is served at noon every day. Bread is moldy and worms, and clothes are difficult to form because of sweat and water. Coupled with the empty and white ocean in front of us, the crew full of fear can't stand it, and the dissatisfaction has happened again. They urged Columbus to change course and sail back to Spain, or throw him into the sea.

In order to cope with the coming "storm", Columbus stayed up all night and persuaded them with the utmost patience. He said that it is far from home now, and it is difficult to go back. Getting closer and closer to the destination, he promised to give everyone some money and stick to it for a few more days. Only in this way can the crew's mood settle down.

But no matter what difficulties he encountered, Columbus always meticulously insisted on recording the temperature, the direction of current, the change of velocity, the deviation of compass pointer and the flight of birds in the log book, and drawing charts. These complaints did not shake his confidence in westbound airlines. In the diary, he wrote: "Once we decide to reach India, we will continue to sail until we find India with the help of God." It is this fearless spirit and tenacious will that led the crew to their desired destination.

The wind helps the ship navigate. On June+10/October 1 1 day, 65438, the crew saw a branch with leaves and a branch full of flowers floating in the waves. Columbus quickly told everyone that this was a sign that there was land nearby. Everyone listened, very excited, staring at the front and searching carefully. At about 10 in the evening, Columbus vaguely saw a faint light flashing on the horizon, but he was not sure whether it was an illusion or a fire on land. At two o'clock the next morning, the sailor on the Pinter suddenly shouted, "Land! Land! " Captain Song Ping fired a shot at the agreed signal. The sound of guns pierced the night sky and alarmed the whole fleet. Everyone was very happy. They hugged and kissed each other. All the people saw the land in the morning light. The 36-day Atlantic voyage is finally over.