It was the time of sunrise, and the ship was full of sails and carrying the wind, and its speed was astonishing. Soon the scenery on the shore was no longer visible, and all that could be seen with the naked eye was the vast sea water.
Not only have they never been to the sea, but Datou and others are also the same. Going to sea for the first time makes them feel a lot of novelty, and at the same time they can't help but feel nervous and panic. The sea is far more than a river, it is endless and unfathomable. The big boat under your feet is the only place to stay.
Being in a vast sea, once an accident occurs, it is not only extremely difficult to deal with, but also has nowhere to escape.
Since there was no need to paddle from the cabin, the captain and the crew stood on the deck waiting for orders, because until this moment they did not know where the destination of their trip was.
He didn't tell everyone where the ship was going, but just asked the boss of the ship to move to the southeast. Naturally, the boatmen were confused about such an order. They knew that everyone was confused and curious, but they didn't explain it in detail, because as the leader, he had no obligation to satisfy it.
The subordinates are curious and have no obligation to tell them their specific plans.
After pointing out the general direction, he led Datou and others to inspect the big ship. The big ship has five floors, two floors below the deck and three floors above the deck. The water area at the bottom is where the boatmen row and rest, and the second floor is where the boatmen paddle and rest.
In the storage area, the third floor is the kitchen and dining room, the fourth floor is several spacious guest rooms, and the highest floor is an observation deck for observing the situation.
They settled down in the guest room on the fourth floor with Datou and others. Although they had not slept all night last night, they were not sleepy. After settling in, they went to the fifth-floor observation tower. There were not only places for people to lie down in the observation tower
Bed, and a table for eating and drinking tea. .??.
Since the ship was very large and had a deep draft, it was not bumpy even though there were ups and downs during the voyage. When he saw the tea set on the table, he ordered Da Tou to go down and fetch some tea leaves.
Not long after, the boss came back with hot water and tea, and the boss of the boat came up with him.
The boss of the ship came to inquire about the destination, but he was worried and did not answer the call immediately.
Seeing the hesitation, the boss of the ship said cautiously, "Master, please don't misunderstand me. We accept your money and we should do our duty. We will never pry if we shouldn't pry. But the sea is not like the land. The sea surface looks flat, but in fact there are many things under the water."
The reef, we must know where we are going in order to chart a course and avoid risks."
Hearing the words of the boat boss, he turned to look at Big Tou, who nodded, indicating that the boat boss could rely on him.
"Maritime map." He stretched out his hand.
After hearing this, Datou hurriedly took out the maritime map sent by the Ministry of Rites and handed it to him. He took the maritime map and spread it out on the table.
I had seen the map many times when I was in charge of the Yushitai and the Ministry of Finance, but it was not until I spread out the maritime map that I realized that the maritime map was different from the common maps. There were no mountains, rivers, and only a few islands on the maritime map.
And a long dotted line, with several forks at both ends of the dotted line, and each fork is marked with a place name.
The maritime map is much simpler than the map. Not only can it be understood, but also Datou and others can understand it. The long dotted line is undoubtedly the route from China to Japan.
route, and the branches at the beginning and end of the dotted line are several offshore cities in China and Japan respectively.
The boss of the ship knew the rules very well. When he saw the maritime map unfolding, he hurriedly lowered his eyebrows and lowered his head to avoid suspicion.
"Come and take a look." The boss of the ship waved.
Hearing the call, the ship's boss stepped forward and looked at the maritime map on the table. This maritime map was written by the Ministry of Rites. It was all Chinese characters. The ship's boss knew the characters and just glanced at it to know where everyone was going.
"My boss is really going to Japan." The boss of the ship seemed to have expected it.
Seeing that he turned to look at himself, the captain of the ship hurriedly explained, "My boss has prepared so much water, rice and food, so naturally he has to cross the sea for a long journey. There are only two foreign countries in the East China Sea, Silla and Japan. Silla is due east here.
, and Japan is in the southeast of here, so if my boss wants to go southeast, he naturally wants to go to Japan."
"Have you been to Japan?" I asked casually. People in my party call the Japanese Japanese or Japanese pirates, which is a hostile and derogatory term. In fact, the name Japan has been used hundreds of years ago. In addition, Japan has had frequent exchanges in recent years.
The Tang Dynasty sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty, so the people of the Tang Dynasty knew about the existence of Japan.
"No," the boat boss shook his head, "It takes a big boat to cross the sea, and the furthest the smaller one can go south is Lingnan Road."
Seeing the disappointment on the faces of Datou and others, the captain of the ship hurriedly said, "My boss's chart clearly marks the islands along the way. With this chart, I will be able to safely send my boss to Japan."
"Do we have to take this route?" he asked with a frown. The maritime map of the Ministry of Rites was drawn based on the description given by the envoy sent to the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, the Japanese pirates must also know the route marked on the maritime map.
"You can only take this road," the boss of the ship said, pointing to the maritime map. "This road has been walked by the person who drew the map. This is the safest road. If you change the path at will, you may not only encounter undercurrents, but also run aground on rocks.
Danger of shipwreck.”
"What is the undercurrent?" Datou asked the question he wanted to ask.
"Back home, the seemingly calm sea is actually not calm. There may be undercurrents and vortices hidden under the sea. If you don't know why you sail into it rashly, the ship will get stuck in it and won't be able to sail out."
Yu Yi vaguely guessed what he was worried about, so he said, "Your Majesty, are you worried that they will set up an ambush on this road?"
The captain of the ship knew that these people were not ordinary people, but he did not expect that they were actually the prince. Hearing Yu Yi's words, he couldn't help but tremble. However, he was well-informed and mature, so he pretended not to hear it even if he heard it.
He did not answer Yu Yi's question, but looked at the boat boss again, "How long does it take for us to sail on this route?"
"It depends on where we merge from," the ship's boss said, pointing to the maritime map, "If
If you go straight south, you can merge into it in two hours."
"No, then it ran back to Huating County." He shook his head repeatedly. They snatched this big ship from the Huating County Pier in Jianghuai. If they went straight south, they would return to that sea area.
"Then move slightly southeast and merge later. In short, the further away from the coast, the longer it will take and the greater the possibility of us running aground on the rocks." The boss of the ship said seriously.
He did not answer, but frowned slightly, thinking anxiously in his mind. If we rob the ship, the Japanese pirates would immediately think that they were going to kill the Japanese mainland. As the Japanese pirates who had just arrived by boat, they must be familiar with this round-trip route.
After the incident, it is very likely that ships will be sent eastbound into the sea to observe the situation from around the route and wait for opportunities.
"In addition to these three large ships, there are many passing merchant ships on that pier," Yang Kai said. "Those merchant ships may not be able to cross the ocean, but we can set sail first to make sure we really want to go east."
It is possible to cross Japan. Moreover, after we grabbed the ship, we went around in a circle. If they really sent the ship, they would have already gone ahead of us. No matter where we cut into this route, it would be impossible.
Avoid them."
After Yang Kai finished speaking, Yu nodded and continued, "Yang Kai is right, if we want to avoid them, we must not take this path."
"Are you worrying too much?" Shi Xuanming raised his eyebrows and said, "What will happen even if they find us? Can they stop us? Besides, if we don't let them see us, how will they know where we are going?"
"We can't take it lightly," he shook his head and said, "In order to avoid alerting the enemy, Yang Kai and I did not explore the reality of Qilin Town before. We don't know how many purple energy masters the Japanese pirates in Qilin Town have. If they really take the boat first and stay guarded along the way,
They will never send out just a few minions to see if we have really gone to Japan. Instead, they will send out all the purple energy masters. Once they find that we appear on that route, they will immediately take action to draw out the firepower.
Eliminate future troubles."
"We don't seem to be afraid of anyone in a fight." Shi Xuanming was full of pride.
"Haha, we are definitely not afraid of a fight," Datou said with a smile, "but are you afraid of them burning our boat?"
"This must be scary, but don't you have a bird?" Shi Xuanming raised his finger and asked, "What's it left for? Let's all cheer up. Once we find their boat, go over and throw tung oil first, so we can strike first.
To be strong."
"Why don't you go over and throw it?" Datou curled his lips, "It doesn't hurt to stand and talk. Do you think throwing tung oil is easy? If you fly too high, you won't be able to throw it accurately. If you fly too low, you may be hit by a hidden weapon."
"I don't have any birds. If I want some, I'll go and throw them away," Shi Xuanming said.
"Yes, you don't have any birds, so you squat down to urinate." Big Tou said with a smile.
He waved his hand to interrupt the bickering between the two, and turned to look at the boat boss on the side, "If we don't take this route, what are the chances of an accident happening?"
Seeing that everyone did not shy away from talking about it before,
The boss of the ship knew that everyone had great trust in him, and he was deeply moved. When he heard the question, he immediately pointed to the maritime map and said, "Masters, please see, there are five forks in the Tang Dynasty that merge into this route, and there are five branches in Japan.
There are three forks that merge into the route, which means that only this route is safe. If other routes are also passable, there is no need for these eight forks to merge with this route."
He nodded and said, "I understand this truth, but I don't know the specific conditions at sea. Before this, I didn't even know that there were rocks and undercurrents in the sea. You only said that if we didn't take this route, there was a high chance that we would have an accident.
?”
The ship boss thought for a while, frowned and said, "Ninety percent."
"The risk is too high to take this risk," the final decision was made, "merge into this route as soon as possible."
After saying that, he rolled up the maritime map and handed it to the boss of the ship, "You are the boss of the ship, take this."
The boss of the ship took the maritime map with both hands and said, "Thank you, my boss, for your trust. I'll go down and lead someone to change the sail and turn the ship."
"Thank you for your hard work." He waved his hand.
"My boss, you're welcome, this is all part of my job." The boss of the ship bowed and retreated.
Suddenly I remembered something, "By the way, when sailing on the sea, which one is faster, a big boat or a small boat?"
"Going back to my boss, if the draft is the same, the boat will still be faster." The boss of the boat replied.
nodded.
After the captain of the ship retired, Da Tou began to make tea for everyone. He took his seat and said, "If nothing else happens, we will definitely have a battle with the Japanese pirates at sea. If everything goes well, we will go back after the battle."
"If we can only go back and forth this way, we won't be able to go back by boat." Datou said.
"We'll talk about it then." He said.
"Why is it so complicated?" Shi Xuanming clicked his tongue.
He said, "There is no way. We wasted a lot of time recuperating from the previous sneak attack on the Four Mountain Villas. After that, the Japanese pirates attacked Shuzhou at night, and I lay down for another half a month. I also wasted a few days on a trip to Tangzi Mountain.
The Japanese pirates have been ahead of us for more than half a month, and now we have lost all the opportunities. We can only use this method to lure them back to Japan and regain the opportunity."
As soon as he finished speaking, Miss Bai from high up suddenly let out a cry.
Everyone heard the sound and hurriedly opened the door and went out, looking around.
I thought that Miss Bai had discovered the traces of Japanese pirates, but after looking around, she found that there were no ships on the sea.
"Your Majesty, look." He raised his head and pointed.
Hearing the sound, he followed the direction pointed by the big head and looked into the sky, only to see a huge black bird flapping its wings and flying westward from a high altitude.
The black bird was at least several hundred feet above the ground. Because it was flying too high, I couldn't see clearly what kind of black bird it was. I could only vaguely see a graceful woman in yellow sitting on the back of the bird.