The Ming Dynasty’s Prodigal Son - Chapter 1243

[1243. Chapter 1186 Coming on the Wind]

Many of the officials were old and dizzy.

In fact… they are not worried about the dangers of this trip.

Such a big ship is not sailing into the deep sea, so presumably it won’t sink.

As for going to fight with the Franconian ships.

This…

this is a joke!

Everyone has already left Dengzhou and headed south. Not to mention that it is a clipper, even a ship of the Ningbo Navy will not be caught up.

Therefore, this so-called attack has more symbolic meaning.

It is equivalent to His Majesty not being angry at what the Spanish did in France, and announcing to the world that from then on, the Spanish became the mortal enemy of the Ming Dynasty.

But… even so, this is still against the rules.

Fang Jifan’s attitude was very arrogant.

How can you say get out?

To put it more seriously, if you are wallowing in this boat, you are about to go to sea.

Do you, Fang Jifan, have any conscience? You gave me a loan, took away my coffin book, and bought your house. You still want to kill me?

Everyone looked at each other, with faint twitching on their faces.

Just bear with it.

If someone’s father dies, death is a big deal.

At this time, being serious with a person who has lost his father will only lower his own status.

So…

Fang Jifan walked away. He didn’t have any temper at all.

in the cabin.

Fang Jifan and Zhu Houzhao stared at the chart. On the ship, dozens of staff officers were writing and calculating. They were calculating the fuel situation and the voyage.

Zhu Houzhao held a slender stick in his hand and kept pointing it at various sea areas.

Fang Jifan stared in the direction where the stick was pointing, and he seemed very calm.

“According to calculations, we can catch up. We hung up the jib, which can save a lot of fuel. In addition, we also have spare coal in the bilge for ballast… enough to last until Quanzhou… Of course, this is under the condition that everything is going smoothly. If there is a headwind, it is impossible to say.”

“And the Franconian ships are faster than the Ningbo Navy ships, the report said. I can’t catch up. I think it’s a bit exaggerated…” As Zhu Houzhao said, he put down the stick in his hand and began to lean down. He started to calculate with a charcoal brush and finally raised his head: “Lao Fang, the day after tomorrow. If we can catch up before noon, it will be a big deal.”

Fang Jifan nodded: “Let all the sailors and gunners rest now. They will be busy then.”

Zhu Houzhao put down his pen and said, “Old man. Fang, don’t worry, no matter what, we will help you get revenge.”

“Revenge for what?” Fang Jifan said calmly.

Zhu Houzhao said: “My father’s hatred.”

Fang Jifan’s face was numb: “My father is not dead yet. Look, has there been a message from Golden Continent? If my father passed away, there would definitely be a message. This battle is not a personal enmity, but a Public battle!”

Zhu Houzhao wanted to explain that based on his many years of experience in operating on people, if he was stabbed for more than thirty times, he would definitely be dead. According to Zhu Houzhao’s sincerity temper, he must be more sincere.

But after thinking about it, he shook his head and forget it.

As the giant ship headed south, the sky darkened, and then it welcomed the early morning light, the scorching sun, and the surging sea water. Following the established route, the chimney continued to billow with black smoke, and the huge hull swayed in the air. Between the sea and the sky, travel at full speed.

In just one day, dozens of people fell.

These people had vomiting and diarrhea, and were all carried into the silkworm cabin in the ship to rest.

Even those who haven’t fallen down are all sick.

I’m afraid this old bone will have to be confessed here.

People encourage each other and lament each other.

Emperor Hongzhi was in the cabin. This was originally a command cabin and was not small, but with His Majesty here, Fang Jifan and Zhu Houzhao had no choice but to go to other cabins in despair to formulate combat objectives.

Fortunately, there is tea in the boat.

Emperor Hongzhi drank tea while Xiao Jing stood aside.

Li Dongyang has already gone to Jamshi. Xie Qian is from Jiangnan. He is accustomed to water and can maintain a bit of the demeanor of a cabinet minister. However, the so-called demeanor is also very limited. He is still pale.

Ma Wensheng, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, also knelt and sat on the side. There were also some ministers such as Liang Chu, all of them…knelt in silence.

Emperor Hongzhi sipped his tea.

He was quite proud.

Surprisingly, I didn’t get seasick.

Having been on the boat for more than a day, I am still not used to it, but I can understand the hardships of these boatmen and sailors.

“Your Majesty, you can’t stay in the boat. It’s hard, but these boatmen and sailors have been wandering in the sea all year round, but they still have to work as coolies. How can they endure it?”

Some ridicule made everyone laugh. I am speechless.

“Your Majesty, we have been at sea for more than a day, is it time to return?” Ma Wensheng couldn’t help but ask.

Emperor Hongzhi said calmly: “Where is the ship now?”

“This…” Everyone, look at me, and I’ll look at you.

We have no idea about this… We only know that we are on the boat, and life on the boat is very difficult. Others…

Emperor Hongzhi was a little speechless, but it was difficult to say anything, especially the death of Duke Lu in the battle and the death of Dengzhou. The attack made him angry and had nowhere to vent, so he raised his head and glared at Xiao Jing: “You don’t know either?”

Xiao Jing hurriedly bowed down: “Slave…Slave…” Although he wanted to talk nonsense, but After thinking about it, in this sea, even nonsense has a poor vocabulary: “I don’t know.”

“What are you doing for food?” Emperor Hongzhi said

angrily: “What do I need you for?” Xiao Jing’s face turned pale with fright, and he said hurriedly: ” “My slave, I will ask you now.”

Emperor Hongzhi said sternly: “Ask? People are busy and their feet are not touching the ground. What are you going to do to cause trouble?”

Xiao Jing didn’t dare to say anything anymore. , Kneel down obediently and do whatever you want. Eighteen years later, you are a good eunuch again.

Ma Wensheng wanted to say something, but he hesitated. Forget it, let’s stop talking.

The food on the ship was tasteless.

This thing is too crude.

Late at night, many people could not sleep. After all, the vibrations and noises from the ship were too great in the dead of night.

Sometimes, it is inevitable that some people worry unfoundedly. If a wave hits, they will die without knowing it.

In this anxiety, I reluctantly fell asleep, and the next day I was awakened by countless trumpets.

The officials arrived in the cabin obediently, but they couldn’t stand it anymore. When everyone gathered together, they had to quickly ask His Majesty to order a return trip.

Dozens of ministers have arrived at the command cabin.

Emperor Hongzhi didn’t look good either. After all…it was too much suffering on the ship.

All the ministers saluted, and Ma Wensheng was the first to say: “Your Majesty, we have been traveling for more than two days. I really can’t stand it anymore. I beg your Majesty to be considerate of you and return to the voyage. Besides, when your Majesty sets sail, the capital must be there. Anxious, although Duke Liu is in the cabinet, I and others… are worried about the people of the world…”

Emperor Hongzhi sat blankly in the cabin, he seemed a little lost in thought, the death of Duke Lu in battle seemed to have touched him something.

“I think back then, the Duke of Lu just sat on a boat, crossed thousands of miles of ocean, and walked for countless days before arriving at the Golden Continent. Wait, sir, it only took two days to do this, then… Duke of Lu… is here How many sins did you suffer on the way?”

The ministers were silent.

“It’s just…” Ma Wensheng gritted his teeth: “Your Majesty ordered the attack. The original intention was to annihilate the Spanish invading enemies, but… Your Majesty, how can we catch up? The Spanish clippers, the Ningbo Navy’s clippers, even They couldn’t catch up. What’s more, they set out from Dengzhou, while I and others set out from Tianjin Wei. How far apart they were on the way. When I set sail, I didn’t dare to say it, for fear of spoiling His Majesty’s interest, but… Now, I feel like I have something stuck in my throat. I have to say, Your Majesty… I can’t catch up with Fran’s machine ship. The Duke of Qi wants to catch up. This is because his father passed away and he was full of hatred between the country and the family, so he became irrational. , knowing that you can’t do it, but… it won’t help, what’s the point?”

After hearing Ma Wensheng’s words, the officials nodded: “Yes, if you can catch up, you should work hard to catch up, but the distance is too big. Judging from the reports from Quanzhou and Ningbo, those Franchise ships come and go like the wind. Your Majesty… must not be obsessed with it anymore.”

Everyone tried to persuade him.

Emperor Hongzhi also smiled bitterly.

In fact, he didn’t know that it was impossible to catch up.

The reason why he agreed to Fang Jifan’s request was just to comfort him, and at the same time, he also wanted to vent his anger against the Spaniards.

This time, the Spaniard gave himself a slap in the face. This slap was very painful and is still burning to this day.

Emperor Hongzhi just couldn’t swallow this breath.

Of course, if he could catch up, Emperor Hongzhi would not have brought all these officials with him. He was the emperor, and even if he had to take the risk to fight the Francois, he would definitely have someone drag the prince off the ship. Let the prince supervise the country and order hundreds of officials to escort him back to the capital.

Emperor Hongzhi fell into silence. He weighed it in his mind for a long time and sighed: “Summon the prince and the Duke of Qi.”

A look of joy suddenly flashed across the faces of Ma Wensheng and others.

I already knew I couldn’t catch up. You see, I’ve been chasing him for more than two days, and I didn’t even see a ghost. Finally… I can go home.

Go home…

these two words are particularly kind to them. It turns out that as long as this person goes to the sea, he will have an inexplicable obsession with going home.

Xiao Jing was busy setting off, preparing to summon the prince and Fang Jifan.

He had just reached the cabin door.

Suddenly, bells were ringing loudly outside.

Suddenly, the entire ship seemed to be boiling.

In the distance, there was a roar.

“The thief was found, the thief was found, southeast, southeast!”

“Get ready, get ready, His Royal Highness ordered everyone to be on alert, prepare for battle, sailors and gunners return to the cabin!”

“Put down the canvas, put down the canvas!”

Xiao Jing’s calf He shivered and suddenly shivered.

He saw people on the deck who were originally walking quickly. All of a sudden, they were jogging. Everyone was jogging crazily towards their posts. On the mast, the watching sailors kept looking down. With a semaphore.

Damn… I really caught up…

(End of chapter)