The King's Head Hotel, the largest in Dover, was filled with the aroma of mutton fat pudding and apricot jam, and Captain Edward descended the dimly lit staircase just in time to see the pretty-faced hostess accidentally spill a full quarter of a pint of ale on her chest, causing a round of applause.

He looked at the pennies thrown into the air with jealousy, and before the summer he could say that he was a wealthy Kerr, and that whaling was more profitable than anything else, and that he could even despise the Sain of those counties, who served the king year after year for the farms of the Kids, and exchanged the output of the land for horses and armor, and when there was no war to fight, there was naturally no opportunity to receive rewards and expand the estate. But as long as he goes to sea for a year or two, he can make his wallet as fat as a bishop.

The doom began when he was going south to try his luck, and he was carried away by the hope of riches and plunged headlong into the warm south. At first it was all wonderful, the shore was full of supplies, olive oil and towering pies delighted the sailors, who cut open the fluffy multi-layered crust and dripping the juicy duck blood, the Franks used to eat ducks – using the blood as a spice.

The sun has also become more beautiful, and the blood-red sun near the equator is always so bright compared to the pale and cold sun that hangs in the middle of the night on the Icelandic sea. Edward was not a painter, but he always felt that such a landscape should be painted, and it was much more magnificent than the paintings of the churches.

Captain Edward couldn't help but sigh, if it weren't for the damn wind direction, which made him shift a full hundred leagues to the southeast, he wouldn't have encountered those black galleons.

Everything was ruined, he lost all his wealth in the sea where boobies roamed, and in order to escape, the crew threw away eighty pipa stabs, which were full of the best whale oil! Fresh water was almost depleted before encountering the nearest British ship, and Edward almost sobbed at the thought of his lost men.

Life is fragile, and a sperm whale is the most artistic of life, with a large fumarole with valves above its jawbone, a yard long heart, arteries like water pipes, and a ten gallons of blood at each beat, yet such a powerful flesh machine can sometimes not resist even a javelin of a seasoned whaler.

At least I'm alive, thought bitterly to Edward, who had received a second letter from the Jew, the vile little man who had once called himself his agent and servant, but who now called himself a creditor.

He walked out of the hotel and ran headfirst into a black-robed man.

"Damned!"

Edward cursed and tried to leave, but was grabbed by the wizened hand.

"It's you!" Edward recognized the other person as the last person he wanted to see right now.

"You're hard to find."

"What, you have a boat?" Edward looked at the old man warily, he knew that the leech hated him—the man always suspected that he was having an affair with his wife.

"Let's talk." The other party pulled him into the hotel without saying anything.

"Two pints of the best beer!"

Edward glanced at the wart on the other party's nose in disgust, but heard him take the initiative to say, "You have been in the navy, right?" ”

"That was twenty years ago." Edward is a little strange, is this guy trying to blackmail himself? Many people know that he once participated in the fleet of the Earl of Tostig and fought at Stamford Bridge, but King Harold has been dead for twenty years, and now King Edgar of Wessex is on the throne, who cares about such old things?

"Enough!" The old man's reply was a little strange, "Good Edward, you know I haven't told you about the loss of my Osprey these days. To be honest, I have lost at least ten of the value of Haide Real Estate! ”

The captain didn't speak, he knew that the owner would not let him go in the end.

"Why don't you do one thing for me, and our debts will be written off?"

"Can I refuse?" Edward sarcastically said that this guy was more insidious than the Jew, and that it must not be a good thing to propose.

"You can choose the other way, Edward. But I promise, it's your best option at the moment. ”

As he left the King's Head hotel, Captain Edward finally let out a breath. The ship's owner's proposal was simple, let Edward go to war for him.

The county does not seem to object to this approach, the Earl of Kent's order is only to ask the Five Ports Alliance to provide corresponding fast warships according to the share of land, in fact, the warships have already been built, this time it is nothing more than compensation and taxation, but the paying Sein also needs to be the captain of the warship, Edward's owner is Saine of Kent, naturally in this levy, this old Seine has no suitable heir, which means that if he cannot personally serve the Earl of Kent, he can only be deprived of all the estate, Therefore, he will naturally use any chips in his hand.

Perennial traversing the deep blue sea of icebergs and anchoring in the "Land of Ice and Fire" in the Sakya, the threat of death is just a footnote to Edward's daily life, and war is something he tries to stay away from. This is why he was content to be a Geneat: the Seins were kings, and he preferred the freedom of the Icelanders, who had escaped the tyranny of the king of Norway, who, like the Athenians described by Isocrates, claimed to be free people who did not acquire land by conquest of other peoples, but only took pride in owning the blood of Odal (Othal, the land of the freemen of Norse society, not through the grant of kings and lords, and did not bear the corresponding feudal obligations). , the blonde king Harald canceled the status of a large number of Odar lands after unifying Norway, causing widespread discontent). Only this time, he can only be enslaved by money, and instead of Sein, who he despises, he will become a servant of the king.

In Dover Bay, the Earl of Kent's white horse flag finally flies, and the Royal Navy decides to conduct a pre-war drill while the weather is clear, and the Earl of Kent himself is accompanied by the Ansgar Warden to board the King's purple battleship.

"How many of these big ships do we have?" The young Prince Edmund asked with interest that a warship was a majestic work of art, and that a huge fleet was one of the most magnificent sights in the world.

"Only those with three masts can be considered a big ship, and we only have two serious large warships at the moment." It was Hatting, the son of Ansgar, who answered.

So Prince Edmund glanced at the foremast, which was firmly held by the stalks, and above it was a condescending lookout platform, which was empty above the masthead truss and the top mast crossbar.

In order not to delay the training, Prince Edmund didn't ask any more questions, but just told Ansgar that it was time to start.

Soon, the white sails were spread on the battleship with the oars retracted, and the sailors and officers climbed up and down from the soft rope ladders of the side skeins, and when the sails were full of wind, Edmund's battleship tilted a column and turned sideways downwind, he felt a little dizzy, and looked to the side, the ship's side glided smoothly on the sparkling sea like a bird's wing, and the lower mast fixed to the inner keel vibrated slightly, and in such a lively work scene, the Calais battleship sailed steadily at the sea breeze, and Edmund stood on the richly decorated stern, Looking back at the long, narrow white wake that dragged on the stern of the boat, it continued to stretch. As the helmsman skillfully maneuvered, the vertical tiller rotated nimbly, and the whole ship became more and more stable until the track on the surface of the sea was as straight as a sharpening.

After the flagship, countless fast warships were speeding to set sail, and the salty sea breeze made the sailors feel extremely reassured, and with such a good wind, the navy's warships could soar from the whale road all the way to Lübeck Harbor!