When Wang Xuance saw the merchants walking away, he stepped forward and said: "Prime Minister, Duke Wei, the place to stay has been prepared. You two are tired from the long journey, so you might as well go and have a rest first, and wait until Pei Changshi returns in the evening.
A banquet will be held to welcome you two and wash away the dust."
Fang Xuanling shook his head and said: "It's not tiring to go down the river by boat." He glanced at Li Jing and said: "I am surprised now and eager to see this lighthouse worth 600,000 yuan. I don't know how to defend it."
Are you traveling with me?"
Li Jing smiled and said: "You are not the only one who is surprised? This old man's heart is almost scratching his head. When he thinks of the figure of 600,000 yuan, he is simply astonished! If you don't see this so-called lighthouse, I'm afraid it will
I can’t even sleep tonight!”
Fang Xuanling said politely to Wang Xuance: "So, please help me, Brother Wang, to lead the way for us."
Wang Xuance said hurriedly: "I don't dare to take it seriously. Just call me by my first name... The big ship you two are traveling on is not suitable for going to sea. Please wait for a while and let me call you a warship."
Fang Xuanling and Li Jing followed suit and stood on the dock, curiously looking at the busy merchants around them, while waiting for Wang Xuance to personally mobilize the warships.
Li Jing smiled and said: "That Erlang of yours is really good at winning people's hearts. Just now Wang Xuance would rather let two merchants reprimand us two than say anything to stop him. It shows that your words Xuanling have made this person unhappy.
.Haha, I do not hesitate to offend you, the father-in-law, but I also want to protect your son. He is really loyal. This person has a bit of a military style, not like the slick and sophisticated officialdom, which is good."
The military has its own system, and subordinates are absolutely loyal to their superiors, which is completely different from the officialdom where everyone is good and everyone is good.
Therefore, it is said that "it takes ten years for scholars to rebel", but when military generals rebel, there will always be a group of close followers who will fight to the death...
Fang Xuanling nodded and said: "This son is a distant relative of the Wang family in Taiyuan. He has always been unpopular with the family. When he was cut off by Quanzi at a young age, he naturally burst into tears with gratitude. In fact, he is indeed a person who values affection and righteousness, and he is very
If you have talent, you are a talent."
While they were chatting, they saw a huge warship with a cut head and sharp bottom approaching slowly upstream. Wang Xuance stood on the bow of the ship, ordered the warship to dock, and helped Fang Xuanling and Li Jing board the warship.
When Fang Xuanling arrived, Li Jing and Li Jing boarded the warship. The sailors had already raised a huge dragon flag to the top of the mast. The warship slowly sailed out of the Wusong River with the current. When it reached the Yangtze River, the sails were full.
, the river wind was blowing, the sails were fully swollen, the scissor-shaped bow split the river water, and it was galloping as fast as a galloping horse!
*****
The ocher-colored rocks, surrounded by yellow and blue seawater, look like a magnificent and vast picture from a distance.
This is Sheshan Island...
If the Yangtze River is compared to a giant dragon, then Sheshan Island is the eye on the top of the dragon's head.
The warship that looked huge and mighty in the Wusong River was like a drop in the ocean at this moment, bumping on the vast sea, surrounded by wind and waves. Fang Xuanling and Li Jing, who had never been to sea, were dazzled and looked at the crossing.
Come to the islands and reefs that are getting closer and closer, feel the majestic sea, and appreciate the insignificance of human beings.
At the bow of the ship, the sea breeze made Fang Xuanling and Li Jing's robes rustle fiercely. Wang Xuance was a little behind and said: "On the sea, the wind blows and the waves are often so turbulent that it is impossible to sail. Therefore, it is very difficult to build this lighthouse."
It’s just that when it is completed, the lighthouse that stands on this island will guide the ships sailing in the wind, rain or night.”
As he spoke, he pointed to the southeast of Sheshan Island and said: "That's the most dangerous place in the entire Yangtze River Estuary, Chicken Bone Reef. All the reefs are tightly a few feet above the sea. In stormy weather, you can't even see the rocks hidden in the waves.
There are no reference objects around the reef below, so it is difficult to locate it in the vast sea. Every year, countless ships are stranded here, and the nearby seabed is full of sunken ships and dead bones. However, after the lighthouse on Sheshan Island is built, ships traveling to and from the island can reach it from a distance.
Once you see it, you can locate the Chicken Bone Reef and no more ships will hit the rocks and sink here."
Fang Xuanling was silent for a moment.
I always thought that my son's creation of such a lighthouse was just a joke, but I never imagined that it could actually have such an effect?
As long as it can help ships avoid the Chicken Bone Reef, the 600,000 gold is well spent!
The warship cut through the waves and soon arrived at Sheshan Island.
What is this island called?
It's basically a huge rock protruding from the sea...
Under the invasion of years of wind, rain, and fog, the rocks on the island have been washed clean, the rocks are exposed, and there is no vegetation growing. But at this moment, dozens of ships are docked next to the island.
A large square base has already stood up, white and majestic, and particularly eye-catching.
On one side of the island, due to the weathering and peeling of sandstone, a magnificent landscape of thousands of cliffs has been formed. There is a platform on the cliff that goes straight up and down. There are several booms lifting the huge white stones one by one from the ship docked under the cliff.
, not far above the platform, is the huge square base of the lighthouse.
Fang Xuanling just took a look at the scale of this project from a distance, and couldn't help but sigh in her heart: His Majesty Li Er built the Zhaoling Mausoleum by digging out rocks, which was probably nothing more than that...
The warship slowly docked not far from the cargo ship. Wang Xuance led Fang Xuanling and Li Jing off the ship. They saw a wooden frame made of huge trees standing on the edge of the cliff. A square lifting platform on top was tightly tied with ropes.
After descending, several civilians covered in blood were carried by the soldiers and rushed towards the docked clipper.
Wang Xuance said: "This island is full of steep rock walls. There is no way to go up. We can only take this lift."
As he said that, he led Fang Xuanling and Li Jing into the wooden frame and stood on the lifting frame made of thick wooden boards. There was a small red flag placed aside. Wang Xuance pulled it up and shook it at the top, and felt
After struggling with the rope, the lifting frame slowly rose, and soon we reached the island.
Li Jing raised his feet to get off the lifting frame, and saw a huge winch on one side, which was used to twist the rope to control the lifting frame. He couldn't help but nodded secretly. This was quite like the device used to lift the suspension bridge at the city gate. It was very simple, but very effective. In the end,
The most exquisite thing is the lifting frame. The square thick wooden board is sandwiched by eight thick giant trees on the front, back, left and right. There are slides on all sides. It is stable and smooth when lifting. It is an ingenious workmanship.
As soon as we arrived on the island, we saw the huge lighthouse base.
Looking at it from a distance on the sea, you don't feel anything different. Now, standing under the pedestal and looking up at the pedestal that is more than 20 feet tall, you can feel the shock!
The Great Wall of Qin is probably nothing more than this...
Not far in front of the pedestal, there was a group of people standing there, one of whom was yelling.
"How many times have I told you, what is most important? Safety, safety, or safety! The lives of civilian husbands are not lives? In order to catch up with the construction deadline, you can disregard human lives, regardless of the life and death of those civilian husbands? They still have wives, children, and children at home.
How can you bear to lose this life here? Erlang has written to me many times, telling me to protect the safety of the people no matter what. Please teach me. If something like this happened and more than a dozen people died, what do you want me to do?
Explain to Erlang?"
This man has a stern voice and look, and judging from his figure and official uniform, there is no doubt that he is Pei Xingjian.
Some people couldn't help but said: "Pei Changshi, if something like this happens, we are naturally responsible, but this is an accident after all, no one wants it! Besides, what's the big deal if someone dies? When Erlang was in Niuzhu
They killed the Shanyue mob in Ji, and later they killed the native monkeys in Nanyang. Thousands of them were killed until rivers of blood and corpses littered the fields. The natives of Linyi State even nicknamed them 'Two Hell Kings'... Oops!"
Before he could finish his words, he was kicked by the furious Pei Xingjian and fell to the ground with a scream.
Pei Xingjian scolded: "Mother! You dare to talk back to me, right? The people who are dying now are the people of the Tang Dynasty. Can they be comparable to the Shanyue mob, the indigenous monkeys of Linyi State and other beasts? The lives of the Tang people are supreme.
!Come here, this person will be given thirty military sticks and handed over to the commander of the army to deal with him according to military law!"
"Here!"
Someone nearby stepped forward, detained the man, and pushed him aside.
The man turned pale with fright and loudly begged for mercy: "Chang Shi, please spare me once, my subordinates will never dare to do it again!"
Pei Xingjian scolded: "Military law is like a mountain, who dares to forgive? Today you dare to contradict me in front of me, and tomorrow you dare to question military orders in front of the battle. If you are not punished today, are you waiting for tomorrow to kill a group of soldiers or even lead to a catastrophe because of your disobedience?"
Defeat? Go and receive your punishment quickly. I will let it go. If you dare to make noise again, you will be dealt with severely!"
The man quickly shut his mouth, his face was filled with despair, and he did not dare to beg for mercy.
The navy has strict military discipline, who dares to make a mistake?
When Pei Xingjian looked back, he suddenly caught a glimpse of Fang Xuanling and Li Jing. He was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly walked over, bowed to the ground and saluted: "Prime Minister of the House, Duke Wei, I have an urgent matter to deal with in my humble position, so I can't come to Huating in person."
I’ll greet you at the town dock, and I hope you’ll forgive me.”
Li Jing stepped forward to help Pei Xingjian up, patted him on the shoulder, nodded and smiled, appreciating Pei Xingjian's performance just now.
Especially the sentence "How can the fate of the people of the Tang Dynasty be the same as that of the mob and the natives?" It spoke to his heart. In the final analysis, he, Li Jing, is also a pure Han chauvinist...