(Thanks to: book friend 18672397 for the generous reward. Thanks to: guitar chord, moshaog, book friend 56872834 and other brothers for the reward.)
Lin Jue asked in a deep voice: "Where is the ship?"
"It's on the southwest sea. It seems to come from the inland of our country." Sun Dayong pointed to the direction of the dark sea and said.
Lin Jue looked in the direction of his finger, and sure enough, in the darkness, he saw several lights flashing on the sea in the distance. The lights sometimes appeared and sometimes disappeared, as if they were several large ships following the sea.
The waves were undulating. If it hadn't been for darkness, the light would not have been visible at such a distance. But it was early in the morning, and the light was eye-catching in the thick darkness, so it was still seen by the guards keeping watch despite being far away.
"Sir, in this isolated island in the sea, and in such a season, how can there be ships? My subordinates judge that this cannot be a fishing boat, it must be an official ship. It is coming from the inland of Shandong Road from the southwest.
The subordinates are worried that this is coming for us." Sun Dayong said softly.
Lin Jue frowned and said in deep thought that Sun Dayong's analysis was reasonable. If the news of his coming here was leaked and the court knew that he had come to Snake Island, it would be reasonable to send navy ships to hunt down and arrest him. But
The question is, how could the news of his coming here be leaked? He didn't reveal anything along the way. Even though he revealed his identity to Zhang Hanqiu in the capital, he didn't say he was coming to Snake Island. And Zhang Hanqiu couldn't have tipped off, otherwise
He couldn't even leave the capital.
"Don't panic, tell everyone to get ready. This ship is still far away. It's ten miles away on the sea, so it won't arrive that quickly. Besides... if they are coming towards us, do you think they need to be like this?
Is it blatant? There are lights on the boat. Doesn't this leak the news in advance? Generally speaking, if someone comes to deal with us, they should come to the island under cover of darkness, right?" Lin Jue said in a deep voice.
Sun Dayong nodded slightly and said: "It makes sense, this is indeed a bit unreasonable. No matter what, we cannot take it lightly. My subordinates then asked the brothers to get up and be prepared. If they find that officers and soldiers are coming, I suggest not to be forceful.
Come on, we'd better leave by boat."
Lin Jue nodded and said: "I will do as you say. Closely monitor the movements of the ships and be prepared to leave the island."
Half an hour later, the sky was already twilight. Lin Jue and others gathered in the open space below the watchtower, but the news from the watchtower was confusing. During this half hour, the ships on the sea did not make any progress. It seemed that
It's just floating on the sea and not close to Snake Island. It doesn't look like it wants to go to Snake Island, but it seems like it's just anchored on the sea.
It was still dark, and it was unrealistic for everyone to evacuate to the ship under the cliff on the east side. Walking through the rugged island thorny forest in such light was tantamount to seeking death. Therefore, Lin Jue and others could only stay where they were and wait for dawn.
During the long wait, the sky finally brightened up. The ships on the distant sea could be seen more clearly. They were indeed the official ships of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and there were three of them. They were seven or eight miles away from the island, but their eyesight was sharp.
Bai Bing, Sun Dayong and others could still vaguely guess that the yellow flag flying on the mast was the Yellow Dragon Flag of the Great Zhou Dynasty. In other words, it must be an official ship of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Lin Jue no longer hesitated and ordered to go to the eastern cliff to take a boat to evacuate. As long as he detours from the north of the island and is out of sight of the other party, he should be able to leave smoothly.
It took everyone an hour to reach the east coast of the island
, it was already bright at this moment. Because it was a gray and cloudy day, there was no grand scene of the rising sun. Such weather was also conducive to everyone leaving. When everyone set up the rope ladder and prepared to get down to the ice-breaking iron ship below, suddenly
Suddenly, someone pointed to the sea in the northeast and shouted: "There are ships coming over there too!"
Everyone looked at the sea in the northeast direction in shock, but they saw on the gray sea, among the waves a few miles away, several large ships were sailing vigorously and coming quickly in the wind. They got much closer in a short period of time.
"It's over, we're surrounded on all sides, we can't escape." Everyone thought with a chill in their hearts.
It is unrealistic to sail away now. Once the ship leaves the island, it will be in the opponent's sight and will definitely be exposed. The opponent will definitely pursue it. And those two big ships are dilapidated ships. It is unrealistic to escape the pursuit of the opponent's big ship.
The consequence of Yang Fan's rapid advance is likely to be a shipwreck and loss of life.
"Retreat to the forest immediately, don't act rashly." Lin Jue immediately issued the order.
Everyone quickly retreated to the woods on the side of the cliff, and looked at the movement of enemy ships from the gaps in the woods to the sea. Those warships came quickly, and soon rushed out of the mist, showing the whole picture before everyone's eyes.
"Huh? What kind of ship is this? How come... it looks like this?" Sun Dayong stared at the ship on the sea and said in surprise.
Everyone also felt the same. Several large ships sailing on the sea were of strange shapes. They were not large ships with flat heads and high heads like those of Da Zhou, but rather funny-looking building ships with pointed upturned ends. The ships were not too big, about ten or so.
It's only a few feet long, but it looks very stable. It can move quickly through wind and waves and is extremely stable.
"Look at the flag, what kind of flag is that? Could it be a Liao warship? Could it be... that the Liao and our Zhou warships are fighting here?" Someone saw the flag on the mast of the ship and shouted in surprise.
Everyone didn't know what was going on, and they were all stunned.
Lin Jue said in a deep voice: "That is not the warship of the Liao people. The Liao people have a wolf-head war flag, and this is not a wolf-head flag. This is an eagle flag. The style of the warship is also an enlarged version of a canoe. This is not the Liao flag."
The style of Chinese warships. The warships of the Liao people are almost the same as those of the Zhou Dynasty. If I guessed correctly, this is the warship of the Jurchens."
"What? Jurchen?" Everyone's minds turned into a mess.
"So, the imperial court really sent troops to help the Liao people quell the Jurchen rebellion? Not only did they send troops by land, but they also sent warships by water to fight the Jurchens?" Sun Dayong frowned.
Lin Jue shook his head slightly. He actually had some guesses in his mind, but he still needed to confirm whether it was really a Jurchen warship, and observe the subsequent movements of these ships before making a final decision. Although Lin Jue could almost conclude that the situation in front of him was
What's going on?
Several warships came quickly, and everyone's hearts were in their throats. The warships came towards the east side of the island. If they were close to the cliffs, the two iron icebreakers hiding between the cliffs would definitely be discovered.
.In that case, the other party will definitely suspect that there is someone on the island, and a fight will be inevitable.
However, those warships had no intention of docking. They sailed past the sea a few miles east of the island and headed straight to the sea south of Snake Island.
"Are we really going to fight against the imperial warships?" This thought came to everyone's mind.
"Sir, the time has come. They have passed. This is the best time for us to leave here. Let's get on the boat quickly." Sun Dayong suggested in a deep voice.
Lin Jue shook his head resolutely and said softly
: "Not busy, let's see what they are going to do first? Let's go south to see what they are going to do. I guess... they will never fight."
Everyone was stunned, but what Lin Jue said was a military order. Lin Jue said he would not leave, so everyone immediately gave up the idea of leaving. At that moment, Lin Jue took Gao Mu, Qing, Bai Bing, Sun Dayong and others through the woods and headed south. They climbed up.
After reaching a high cliff, the southern sea was in sight. However, I saw the five or six pointed warships heading straight for the two Dazhou warships cruising on the southern sea. Before approaching the Dazhou warships, the sails dropped and the ship
The speed slowed down. The two sides seemed to have some exchanges, and soon they got closer to each other. One of the pointed warships approached a Zhou Dynasty warship, and someone vaguely walked onto the Zhou Dynasty warship from the springboard.
At this point, Lin Jue felt bright and sneered, "It's just as I expected, it's exactly like that."
"This...what is going on? Did your Excellency already know that this would happen?" Sun Dayong said in astonishment.
Bai Bing and Gao Muqing also looked at Lin Jue, his eyes full of confusion. Lin Jue sighed and said: "At this time, I can determine the court's intention. The court's public news said that it would send troops to help the Liao Kingdom quell the Jurchen Rebellion. I heard
After this news, I felt suspicious. It was impossible for the imperial court to send troops to help the Liao Kingdom suppress the rebellion without any conditions. Is it really because of the century-old brotherhood between the two countries? I think that is pure nonsense. The Great Zhou and Liao Kingdom
The situation that has been repaired for a hundred years is indeed valuable, but it is indeed the result of compromise between each other. It is like two ligers and tigers. Neither can eat the other. In desperation, they can only choose to coexist peacefully, so as not to lose both sides in the fight. And the Great Zhou Dynasty is here
Among them, we are considered to be the humiliated party, because we need to pay tribute every year, and we have to call Liao our brother. There are many people in the Zhou Dynasty who feel humiliated and dissatisfied because of this. Not to mention Yelu in recent years.
After Zong Yuan came to the throne, he became arrogant and domineering, tearing up the Yanyun Alliance. The friction and fighting between the two sides intensified on the border, and they were already hostile. Under such circumstances, the imperial court sent troops for free to help the Liao Kingdom quell the rebellion. How does it look like?
A fake news, or a hidden conspiracy."
Sun Dayong nodded and said: "My subordinates were also suspicious when they heard the news. Your analysis is completely reasonable. However, after thinking about the centuries-old relationship with the Liao Kingdom, I think it is possible."
Lin Jue nodded and said: "This is the confusing nature of this matter. I am afraid that even Yelu Zongyuan believes that I, the Great Zhou Dynasty, will be willing to help him. After all, the two countries have deep exchanges, and the connections between the people and the imperial court are extremely close.
The cultural customs are also similar. To a certain extent, the Liao Kingdom is almost a replica of the Zhou Dynasty. But don’t forget that the Liao Kingdom is the Liao Kingdom after all, and the two countries are two countries after all. There are great differences.
"
Sun Dayong nodded in agreement.
Lin Jue continued: "After Guo Xu ascended the throne, I knew that he was unwilling to be mediocre. If he could do something earth-shattering, then his evil deeds of killing his brother and his father would be forgiven. And before he usurped the throne, he
I already had such an idea. He once wooed me. In my box at the Nancheng Grand Theater, he once revealed a shocking plan to me. From then on, he revealed his ambition to destroy the Liao Kingdom.
So, when I heard that the imperial court was going to help the Liao Kingdom, I didn't believe it. But I'm not sure what Guo Xu's intention was. And the scene you see before you is Guo Xu's plan.
"
Gao Muqing frowned and said, "My husband is saying...that the imperial court and the Jurchens...conspired?"
Gao Muqing's words pierced the window paper. Bai Bing and Sun Dayong were horrified, and they both looked at Lin Jue blankly.
