Chapter 346 The sails are like snow

On the first day of the fifth month of the thirteenth year of Yanhuang, at the wharf of Huating Port, tens of thousands of people gathered in one place, except for the local people in Huating Mansion, the train station was under martial law early in the morning, and the special train from Lin'an City loaded most of the imperial court. It was followed by a large team of scholars, businessmen, and low- and middle-level officials from Lin'an.

The people at the station calculated that at least 3,000 people chased the Son of Heaven from Lin'an to Huating Mansion.

Huating Mansion has become one of the most important ports in the Great Song Dynasty, that is, Qingyuan Mansion, and now it is slightly inferior to him, mainly because it communicates the four intersections of land, sea and rivers. The Huatingfu Railway Station on the land road is now the largest freight station in the Great Song Dynasty, even surpassing Lin'an; On the sea, it has the largest maritime wharf in the Great Song Dynasty at this time, and the merchant ships and fishing boats that enter and leave the port every day are no less than 100,000 hundred, and the merchants of the Wa Kingdom, Goryeo and other dependent countries gather here; It is second only to Jinling in terms of river transportation and river transportation, and is the second largest freight distribution center on the Yangtze River, where many ships are directly loaded and then transferred to the canal to the north.

Although facing the fierce competition of train transportation, the advantages of shipping are always there, the freight rate is low, the volume is suitable, and the cost is cheap, so after a short run-in, the shipping industry of the Great Song Dynasty has risen instead of falling.

"If you don't get to Huating Wharf, you don't know that there are many people here!"

Wu Wenying came from Lin'an, but he was also shocked by the surging crowd in front of him, he took a breath, and muttered for a long time. They couldn't squeeze in the first train, so they had to take the second one, so it was a little too late.

"Find a high place, be careful with things, don't break them...... This thing is very expensive, and the stakes are so high that we can't afford to make a difference. Wen Tong chattered, not at all like usual, Wu Wenying nodded, and told the two guys carrying the wooden box to be careful.

They were going to do something big that would keep him in history forever.

They found a bungalow near the dock, showed special documents to the guards who kept order, and were allowed to go up to the roof with their belongings, and when they were on the ground, all they could see was people, and when they got to the roof, the whole dock square was full of people.

And at this time, the cheers at the dock suddenly thundered.

Wen Tong looked to the northeast, and saw the sea and sky in the distance, the shadows of the ships were building, and it seemed that a fleet was coming in full force.

Fang Zhixing leaned against the railing, his body undulating with the waves, although the sun on the sea was very poisonous, he still stood on the deck, refusing to return to the cabin.

There were so many people like him, except for the sailors who were really inseparable, who were really out of their posts, out of the cabins, lying on the side of the deck, looking to the west, waiting for the landing.

Although they had rested for ten days in Liuqiu, they were still extremely eager for the land that was about to appear, because they had not yet returned to their hometown at the time of Liuqiu, and their current destination made them feel that they were back.

Governor Fang Zhi let out a long sigh and came back, when he signed up to join this fleet, it was to fulfill a dream he had for many years, that is, to set foot in the world and appreciate overseas customs. But after more than a year outside, he realized what his hometown meant to him. Even the old-fashioned and impersonal face of the old father at home seems to have become amiable and cute.

"Finally back......"

He let out another long breath as the horizon appeared in his sight, and uncontrollable cheers rang out in his ears, and happy smiles appeared on everyone's faces.

Although their trip is not considered a life of nine deaths, it is also full of crises, more than 20% of people are damaged, and those who can come back alive are considered lucky. Therefore, they were very happy to return to Lin'an.

Huating is in sight, will Lin'an be far away?

The ship slowly approached the harbor, honking and slowing down, the water near the harbor was very muddy, but Fang Zhixing did not pay attention to this, his eyes wandered over the harbor, and then he heard a louder cheer from among the sailors.

"Flag, flag!"

The old sailor pointed to the two flags on the tower at the port, and the left of the two flags was the five-clawed golden dragon sun and moon flag, and there was a huge "Song" character on it, which was the national flag of the Great Song Dynasty. On the right side, there is a green pattern on a blue background, far away, Fang Zhixing didn't know what pattern it was, and asked a sailor, only to know that it was the camphor flag.

For most of the sailors who came out, everyone knew what the camphor flag meant: the emperor of the Great Song Dynasty was here.

learned from the sailors that the Son of Heaven actually came to the port to pick them up, and even Fang Zhixing, a tired and homesick person, also felt that his blood was surging: this is something that can only happen if the sergeant who went out to fight a big victory!

"Ladies and gentlemen, there are few medals, now everyone has made a fortune and won medals, it can be described as rich and rich, great joy, great joy!"

Lin Xi, the captain of the ship, who was also the captain of this fleet, also came to the sailors, and he did not have the majesty of the Governor of the Great Song Dynasty at this time, but with a happy look on his face. Hearing his words, both the sailors and the ordinary crew began to congratulate each other, and there was a little excitement that they were about to return home.

After more than half an hour, the boat finally came ashore, and everyone saw that among the red carpets spread on the dock, there was a smiling and groaning figure, he was wearing a beaded crown and a dragon robe, it was Zhao and Ju, the emperor of the Great Song Dynasty.

Wen Tong watched this scene from a high place, he was already ready, and immediately ordered two attendants to open the box, set up the tripod, and then put a small wooden box on the stand, and a tubular thing stretched out of the wooden box.

Wu Wenying also stared closely at Zhao Heju who was standing in front of the ship, looking at the supreme ruler of the Great Song Empire, but he was thinking about Deng Ruoshui and Zhao Jingyun who were imprisoned.

did this earth-shattering thing...... Will Deng Ruoshui and Zhao Jingyun be saved?

The tubular thing was aimed at Zhao and Ju.

The two guards noticed that something was wrong on the roof of the building, and quickly climbed up, and one shouted, "What are you doing!" ”

Wen Tong ignored them, he was engrossed, all his energy was focused on Zhao and Ju, and with Zhao and Ju's pace, he slightly adjusted the angle of the tube.

Wu Wenying was alarmed by the reprimands of the guards, and hurriedly greeted him, with a smile on his face, and took out his special certificate: "I was ordered to do something big here." ”

One of the guards took his certificate, confirmed that it was specially issued by the imperial court, and looked at Wen Tong suspiciously: "What is that thing?" ”

A hint of strangeness flashed on Wu Wenying's face, and for a while, he didn't answer his question.

At this moment, Wen Tong had already found the best opportunity, and Lin Xi, the captain of the fleet, landed on the board of the ship and saluted Zhao Heju, while Zhao Youju smiled and stretched out his hand to him.

"This is the time!" He screamed in his heart, and then pressed.

There was a "bang", the fire rose, and the two guards were stunned, and it took a full three seconds before they reacted and pounced on Wen Tong, twisting his whole body.

"What are you doing?" Wen Tong only knew them at this time, and shouted loudly.

"Assassin!" The two guards were very annoyed that they had allowed the assassin to assassinate the emperor under their noses, which was not only a great crime that could not be forgiven, but also a great shame for them!

Looking at the Son of Heaven again, Zhao Youju had already grabbed Lin Xi's hand tightly, and Lin Xi had just bent down and stood up straight after bowing.

"It's a coincidence, and it's so good!" Zhao and Ju laughed heartily.

"The minister is terrified, this trip to Dongshengzhou is fortunate to live up to the mission!" A proud smile appeared on Lin Xi's face.

The fleet he led did not take the northern route, but took the southern route, passing through the islands in the South Sea, New Island, and the Eastern Ocean, and then arrived at Dongshengzhou, which was the direction in which Reverse Lin Xi returned from Dongshengzhou for the first time. Their ships were specially built sail and steam boats, and although there was some sacrifice in terms of capacity, the main purpose of the trip was to confirm the safety of the waterway, and the cargo carried with them came second, so the issue was not considered.

This trip to Dongshengzhou is the second ocean voyage organized by the Great Song Dynasty, with the popularity of Qiushuang's "Journey to the East", the Dongshengzhou, which is rich in gold and rare fruits, has become a place that many adventurous Song people yearn for. After Zhao and Ju became pro-government, the people organized no less than five eastward trips, hoping to find the large land and the gold in it, but they all failed. In the ninth year of Yanhuang, in order to make the treasury richer, after solving the great enemy of Mengyuan, Zhao and Ju turned their attention to the ocean again, and spent two years to prepare, he formed the largest fleet in the world, which was divided into two, one went west to explore the shipping route to Europe, and the other set off in the late autumn of the eleventh year of Yanhuang to expedition to Dongshengzhou again.

This expedition to Dongshengzhou was not Zhao and Ju alone, but many families in the Great Song Dynasty contributed together, especially the clan, after getting the guarantee of Zhao and Ju, they invested a lot of wealth in the expeditionary fleet, thus making this expeditionary fleet the first overseas business consortium of the Great Song Dynasty, Zhao and Ju themselves occupied 20% of the shares, the clan occupied 10% of the shares, the Great Song treasury occupied 40% of the shares, and the wealthy families and bureaucrats and doctors of Lin'an, It also purchased the remaining 30 percent of the shares in Dasong Bank.

The entire fleet consisted of fifteen steam-sail ships, with a total carrying capacity of more than 240,000 hulls (12,000 tons), 3,000 men, carrying light field guns, muskets, and other weapons, as well as fifty war horses. After spending two and a half months sailing, at the end of the eleventh year of Yan Huang, they arrived at Dongshengzhou and found the old land fifteen years ago, and Zhao Angelica, the boy who was brought from Dongshengzhou fifteen years ago, became an important figure in this huge fleet. It took nearly a year for the fleet to travel all over the west coast of Dongshengzhou, and at the same time establish a permanent residence in Zhao Angelica's hometown of Tianci Harbor, Zhao Angelica was appointed as the governor of Tianci Prefecture, and he led five hundred people to stay here, and their most important job was to teach his people the Song language and Chinese characters. The fleet then divided into several parts, some of which headed north, to find the place where the first expedition had landed, where there was also a stone tablet written by Zhao and Ju himself, and where it was said that there were gold mines in the vicinity for gold. The other, and the main part, began to move south, arriving at Changchang, and after demonstrating the power of muskets to the kingdom of Qimu, the king of this kingdom willingly asked to become a vassal state of the Great Song Dynasty, and at the same time sent an army as a guide to lead the Great Song naval army of marines over the mountains, from the canyon to the depths of the jungle. The result of the expedition was bags of gold, silver, jade, and all sorts of treasures.

After a year and a half, the fleet finally returned from Dongshengzhou after losing three ships and one-fifth of its manpower. The same ship brought back, there were gold, silver and precious stones beyond everyone's imagination, they encountered a storm while begging, had to stop the ship to rest, and at the same time sent an envoy to spread the news to Zhao and Ju, it was this news that Zhao and Ju used as a weapon to divide the clan and scholars.

This time alone, the money invested by the clans has turned into more than twenty times the profit, how can Zhao Shanxiang not be happy!

Not only that, Zhao Youju is also ready to fully "hype" the success of this expedition, what is there in this world that can make scholars and doctors forget Zhao Jingyun's bold remarks for a while? Naturally, it's the yellow gold.

"Your Majesty, the minister also brought two hundred native boys on this trip." Lin Xi reported in a low voice: "Sixteen of them fell ill on the way. ”

Zhao Heju nodded, there are still some differences between the natives of Dongshengzhou and the Song people in appearance, so in addition to educating them locally, a large number of them should be selected and sent to the Great Song Dynasty, so that they can see the strength of the Great Song Dynasty with their own eyes, live with the people of the Great Song Dynasty, and experience the attraction of an ancient and civilized country. When they became adults, they were sent back to Dongshengzhou to become the leaders of the native people of Dongshengzhou, and the culture and influence of the Great Song Dynasty would naturally spread with them. In a sense, they were missionaries of the Great Song culture.

"Lin Qing has worked hard, and the reward for Qing has been set, and he will know when he returns to Lin'an." Zhao Heju patted Lin Xi's shoulder again to express his appreciation for his actions. Then he waved his hand back, and the ship's crew disembarked.

"Let me go, I'm here on the orders of Qin, and you treat me like an assassin!" Wen Tong was still entangled with the two guards, Wu Wenying saw that the situation was not right, and saw that there was a guard general outside who he had always known, so he shouted, and after the guard general climbed to the top of the building, he still saw Wen Tong being held down, and couldn't help but be dumbfounded after asking about the situation.

"Ahh The general of the Guards was about to speak when he suddenly heard an exclamation.

At the same time as the crew disembarked, the cargo on board was also transported, and each box was placed in the small square in the center of the dock, and someone opened the lid of the box, and in the sun, the yellow and clear gold made everyone present feel dry mouths and dizzy eyes and tinnitus. It was the two guards who held down Wen Tong, and they couldn't help but swallow their saliva when they saw this scene.

Boxes were removed, each as large as the rags of the people's homes, each containing gold, silver, and precious stones, and after the initial shock, the next thing was to count the number of chests.

"The whole harbor went crazy that day, and the gold, silver, and precious stones that everyone had seen in their lifetime combined did not see as much as they saw that day! I counted chest by chest, twenty chests of gold, five hundred chests of silver, and dozens of jewels! At two hundred Song Jin per box, the wealth here is enough to buy the whole world! ”

A large food merchant who was present at the scene wrote down everything he saw that night with trembling notes.

Note 1: Between 1502 and 1660, the Spaniards plundered 200 tons of gold and silver from the Americas, respectively, and 18,600 tons, and countless of them were not registered. And the Song people plundered from the Americas this time to accumulate two thousand years of wealth, this data should not be much.