Finally, after a night of half-dreaming and half-waking up, the second sea surface turned out to be a rare sunny scene.

The sun rose high above the sea and shone on the docks, causing the workers who were loading goods to cover their eyes with their hands to prevent the scorching sun from harming them. At this moment, some experienced sailors were already making preparations for going to sea with their hands and feet.

In fact, there is nothing to prepare for, but to pull the boat that has been stranded on the shore close to the sea, or to straighten up the mast that has almost fallen apart by the sea breeze that has gone first.

Since the great military adventure of the "Red Lion Expedition", the people of Grand Pruss have become more and more familiar with the sea, and according to the statistics of the clerk of the port of Abbasquia, the number of 100-ton ships transiting through the port of Abbasquia in the last year has exceeded 1,000 on record, and this figure has reached more than 20 times that of 20 years ago.

According to the Imperial Ordinance on the collection of taxes on merchant ships that docked in port, these taxes were entirely owned by the Crown. Theoretically, the income earned by the current dock for one year alone would be enough for three years of the Imperial Palace's expenses. But in fact, the palace often makes ends meet, and often needs the emperor to take out a part of his ancestral property to subsidize the expenses of the palace, and the problems in this can be clearly seen by any official who understands taxation, but every one of them is tightly blocked by the expensive filial piety sent every year on the dock.

The merchant ships that passed through Abbasquia were extremely risky when they walked on the sea, but the goods carried on each ship were very profitable, and even though the port officials had already privately increased the tax rate for transit by three or four times, these maritime merchants were still able to fill their pockets with the money they earned.

However, in complete contradiction to the development of the great form, the large ship that could carry hundreds of people and their supplies during the southern expedition of the first emperor disappeared from the coast, and the only large ship returning from the south was struck to pieces by lightning on a stormy night and burned with the accompanying wildfires. Now the only foreign trade ships in the entire empire are the kind of merchant ships that can carry dozens of tons of goods, and the sailors who carry dozens of merchant ships, and those merchant ship owners who come and go carry the prosperity of this sea, and the workers and tax collectors on the docks are willing to call this kind of merchant "ship boss".

The ship's bosses were often a combination of seasoned sailors and seasoned merchants, and in the severe absence of the imperial administration, they became the nouveau riche of the seas.

They paid a large amount of taxes to the bureaucrats of the empire every year, and these taxes were also exchanged for a certain status, and in some coastal villages and towns, a wealthy "ship boss" carried even more weight than the local lords.

After a night of half-asleep and half-awake torment, Orlando actually lay on his back on the dock and fell asleep in the morning, a burly man looked around, and locked his eyes on Orlando who was sleeping on his back, the man walked up with an arrow, pinched his nose directly with his hand, and dragged him up from the ground.

"Seeing that I am about to go to sea, everyone has already arrived on the ship, only you call me to find it!"

For Orlando, a young nobleman, Will has no respect at all, like him, a down-and-out nobleman, Will can meet several when he goes to sea every year, these nobles can't even take out a gold coin in their pockets, but they are grinding like a big girl who is going to get married.

"Listen, you nobleman, I warn you once more that when you get on my ship, don't think of yourself as something superior. Knight? Are you a knight? Can you ride a horse at sea? At sea, only the sailor is my knight, you know?"

Orlando's nose ached, and as soon as he opened his eyes, he found that he had been caught by the vital point, and his martial arts had nowhere to be used, so he was put on the boat by the captain he found overnight last night.

Orlando is already that kind of medium-high figure, but in front of Will, who is half a head taller than himself, he can't show off at all, although if he compares to the fencing skills, Orlando is confident that he will not lose because of his height, but to pick up his fists, Orlando feels that even if two of himself are tied together, it is not enough for this man who looks full of muscles to make two punches

The first words of this "Captain Will" when he met him, Orlando can now recall clearly.

"Oh, you're a descendant of a nobleman, haha, I can tell you, there are more nobles who cry and want to get on my ship every year than there are prostitutes who cry and want to get into my bed every year. ”

In just one face, Orlando had completely lost to this man in momentum, and even the noble banner he was carrying in his arms became eclipsed the moment they met.

The situation on the ship was as Will's before, everything was already ready, and when Will jumped onto the deck with Orlando, the sailors who had been waiting for a long time untied the rope tied to the dock, and with a few shouts, the two rows of paddlemen under the deck of the ship worked together, and in just a few strokes, the ship left the shore.

Orlando looked a little dazed at the far away land, looked at the reins that the sailor had withdrawn from the shore, and nodded thoughtfully, which reminded him of the scene when he was leading his horse, and it seemed that the sailor of Captain Will was a knight of the sea, and it was not entirely a lie.

He lay down on the deck and looked at the belly of the ship, and the oars that stretched out reminded him of the four hooves of a horse, and with a few slides of the oars, the ship was running far from the shore.

Orlando watched with great interest at the sliding oars and the waves raised by the oars, but he felt that it was very novel, a scene he had never seen before.

The sailor who had just been tethered to the bow of the ship greeted Orlando with a smile, and Orlando was still a very good-natured young man anyway.

"Young man, have you ever been to the sea?"

Orlando withdrew his gaze, turned his head back to the deck, and replied a little lazily, "No, this is the first time in my life." ”

"Not afraid?" After hearing Orlando's answer, the sailor's face showed a look of surprise.

"What's there to be afraid of, our big ship is so stable, I've heard a lot of people get on board and get on it, but now it seems that it's just that, and I'm riding a horse worse than I am now. ”

The sailor's face showed a little inexplicable smile that made Orlando a little, looked at the calm sea, and said meaningfully: "I hope that after a while, you can enjoy your current life as you do now." ”

At this point, Will walked out of the captain's quarters.

It's the captain's room, but it's just an area where a few wooden planks are added to the bow of the ship, just enough for those who observe the sea to have a place to rest.

Now that the sea was calm, he naturally had nothing to do, so he simply went to the deck and chatted with a few passengers, most of whom were businessmen he had worked with for a long time, and he just went over to say hello to them, and walked to Orlando's side.

He habitually reached out and patted Orlando's shoulder, and when his palm was about to fall on Orlando's body, he suddenly remembered that Orlando was not his sailor brother, and he might be slapped by his big hand, which was not light or heavy, but it was impossible to withdraw his hand at this time, and he had to watch his broad palm fall on the shoulders of this nobleman who seemed to be weak.

"Smack!"

Will stretched out his other hand to hold Orlando, but he reached out, but it was empty.

Orlando was still lying on the side of the boat, and if you just looked at his expression, you couldn't tell that there was a mountain.

Will was stunned for a moment, and then as if he thought of something, he quickly stretched out and shook Orlando's body, and said repeatedly

"Hey, son, are you alright?"

This time it was replaced by Orlando with a wry smile, although Will's slap was very heavy, but compared to the stick he had received at the time, it was really nothing, but he couldn't directly practice his own kung fu by being beaten, so he had to answer

"Captain Will, I'm not as fragile as you think. I'm a knight. ”

Will pursed his lips, and after being sure that Orlando was really fine, he stretched out his hand and slapped Orlando twice as if he didn't believe it, and the two slaps were even heavier than just now. On the one hand, he also plans to try the bottom of this, after all, the sea is still very risky, if Orlando really has some ability, at least one less oil bottle at sea, on the other hand, he also wants to announce a personal vendetta and respond to the so-called "knight".

But Orlando still looks expressionless.

This time, he really meant to force a smile, but in order to give the captain named Will "the impression that a knight should have", he decided to put up with the slight tingling feeling on his back a little.

Will's palms were slightly red, and he looked at Orlando's seemingly weak shoulders again, and couldn't help but admire

"Alright, knight, you're a good person. I'm here to tell you, I'll throw your luggage in the compartment on deck, and when I'm free, go pack up and stay. ”

Orlando nodded, but he didn't have any intention of leaving, it was still early, and it was the first time he came to see the sea, so he naturally wanted to enjoy the beautiful scenery on the sea for a while, otherwise wouldn't it be in vain for him to have such an expensive ticket for a horse?

Seeing this, Will just shrugged his shoulders and left, after all, when to clean up the room is a guest's freedom, he just came over to give a note.

The sailor came up with some envy.

"It's good luck that you can sleep in the same room with the boss, I've been on this boat for more than ten years, and I haven't been able to get this treatment. ”

Orlando scratched his head in confusion. He remembered Will's muscular body and the smell of fish, and goosebumps rose on his body.

The sailor looked at Orlando's inexplicable expression, and he looked a little iron-clad and steel-clad of steel. "Why, you're not satisfied, or I'll take you to where the sailors and the general passengers sleep." ”

Orlando rubbed his eyes, thinking that there was nothing to do now, so he might as well go and follow the sailor for a spin.

He climbed down the deck after the old sailor. There were no wooden steps at the junction of the cabins, and a sturdy ladder was used to pass it. Even in the white, the underground of the deck was surprisingly dark, so that Orlando could see the situation clearly and find a place to stay, the old sailor had to light an oil lamp, and when the oil lamp was lit, a puff of black smoke rose from the bottom of the lamp, and Orlando even smelled the smell of grilled fish.

Through the dim light, Orlando finally saw the scene below deck.

What he didn't expect was that the deck that was so high for two people was divided into two layers, and the middle deck was so hard to stand upright. A few sailors were lying crookedly on the thatched mats laid in the deck,

This was a bit of a surprise to him, because, although he had never been on the boat, he had heard something about his past in Lister's conversations. At the time of the southern expedition, the cabin was almost wide enough to run horses, and a hundred soldiers and a considerable number of sailors lived on one ship.

He asked, reaching out and tapping on the plank underground

"What's down here?"

"It's nothing more than some cargo, and a few oars......"

Orlando continued to climb, the lower level was much more spacious, but it was hot, a few sailors walked back and forth in the cabin, and some people shook their oars vigorously.

The old sailor climbed down from it with his lamp in his hand, and he stood still in a spot, and then continued to explain

"This level is loaded, and in addition, these oarsmen live here. ”

Orlando walked around twice with some curiosity, but he didn't find any place to stay.

A sailor in the cabin said with a smile

"You don't have to look for it, the place where they paddle is their residence. ”

As he spoke, he took something out of his waist and struck it at the man who was rocking the oar, and judging by the sound it made, it could be a whip.

The oarsman didn't seem to resist, but let out a little dull wail, and then went on with his work.

"He let you do that?" Looking at this scene, Orlando was not only a little puzzled.

The sailor who had done it earlier explained nonchalantly,

"Your Excellency, you don't know, they don't deserve to ask us anything. ”

As he did so, he whipped the oarsmen with a whip for each of them.

Everyone