The road to the south was long, and the two big ships went all the way south in the vast sea. Fearing that something would go wrong, I had to sail away from the coast. Luckily, the weather was always sunny and the wind and waves were not too big. Otherwise, Lin Jue was really worried that these two broken ships would not be able to handle this long-distance voyage.

As we move south day by day, the temperature has risen significantly. Worrying sea ice conditions are no longer an issue. Eleven days later, two large ships came to the sea beyond the mouth of the southeast river. After determining that it was impossible to freeze in the southeast sea, Lin Jue ordered the icebreaker's icebreaking hammer to be dismantled. I'm afraid that this thing will not be needed, and it will be placed in the bow of the ship, which will greatly increase the burden on the ship and affect the navigation of the ship. Second, it will soon enter the inland river, and the ice-breaking iron boat is too unique, and the two ice-breaking hammers are very eye-catching in the bow of the ship, and it is easy to be recognized that these are not two merchant ships.

With two heavy icebreakers falling into the sea and the bow shaft crossbar removed, the two large ships looked at least any different from ordinary ships. Because of its age, the iron sheet of the hull is also dark and the material cannot be seen clearly, and if you do not carefully identify it and inspect it closely, it will not be exposed.

After making all these preparations, Lin Jue ordered the ships to enter the river. The people who had been sailing in the vast sea for many days were in a better mood when they saw the gradually clear inland countryside. But at the same time, their nerves tensed. To travel a long distance from the Yangtze River to the Miyang River in Tangzhou is even more dangerous than sailing on the sea. Because the main waterways are patrolled by the naval vessels of the Great Zhou, once their identities are discovered, they will immediately attract attacks from all directions.

Before entering the mouth of the Yangtze River, Lin Jue made a detailed arrangement. Including how to deal with the interception of the water army, and how to deal with the interrogation. What to do when you have to, and so on. But the plan is the plan, which does not guarantee that everything will go well, it can only be said that everyone will not be too flustered when they encounter changes, at least there is a direction to act.

Along the river to the west, the inland scenery is in full view. Both sides of the Yangtze River are already in the south of the Yangtze River, and Lin Jue has not set foot in the south for two years, and he has a sense of intimacy when he sees the scenery along the way. The big rivers in the south are not frozen, so the boats on the rivers are frequent. On the wide river, boats come and go, white sails dotted, and it is very busy. This reminded Lin Jue of the scene when he used to watch the busy boats on the Hangzhou Canal.

When passing through Jiangning Mansion at night, when passing by the Qinhuai River estuary, the lights are brilliant from afar, and the scene of red lights flashing is very similar to the grand scene on the West Lake during the Oiran Contest in Hangzhou. Although the country has undergone drastic changes, some things remain unchanged in the southeast. As the saying goes, 'the merchant girl doesn't know the hatred of the country, and she still sings across the river. Garden flowers. Probably few people in the world know that Da Zhou is about to usher in an important decision without consequences. And no one seems to care about that.

Crossing Jiangning, going north to Huaishui, the road is smooth. The ships of the Great Zhou Navy encountered some, but they were obviously not interested in these two dilapidated ships. Only at the mouth of the Huai River encountered an interrogation by the Huaidong Navy and the Jianghuai Army. However, the sailors who went on board the ship for inspection were obviously not strict, especially after smelling the stench of seafood, they covered their noses and refused to enter the warehouse.

Lin Jue told them that he was a merchant who trafficked dry goods from Hangzhou to the northwest, and that he was a big merchant in Hangzhou, a merchant specializing in trafficking sea goods. The leading officer had no interest in interrogating the 100 taels of silver tickets after he had been in his pocket, and left the ship with the people and waved them away. The two large ships were able to smoothly enter the Huai River and continue westward.

If they were willing to take a little time to investigate, even if they couldn't find the armor materials among the stinky fish and shrimp, they would still be able to find everyone's mounts from the front compartment. Those are all war horses, which are obviously different from ordinary foot strength, and bear the imprint of the Great Zhou military. Just look for it. But they missed it. Of course, this is not necessarily a bad thing for them personally. Because once they found the horses, Lin Jue and the others would kill them all. In a way, they saved their lives, and they were lucky.

A few days later, the two large ships turned into the narrower Miyang River, which had already entered the territory of Tangzhou. Two guards led the horse ashore and galloped to the cottage to report the news, so that the Luoyan army sent men to meet them, and the big boat moved slowly through the winding river to avoid falling into a stranded situation.

It is rare for such a large ship to sail in the Miyang River, which has successfully attracted the attention of the government. There was no water army in Tangzhou, but there were soldiers and horses patrolling the river, and they were equipped with small boats. On the morning of the second day after entering the Miyang River, officers and soldiers and boats stopped the river and demanded inspection.

Lin Jue knew that the officers and soldiers located near the left side of Funiu Mountain were extremely vigilant, and they might not be able to fish in troubled waters. Rather than pestering them, it's better to ignore them at all. So he ordered the big ship to rush forward at full speed. The small boats blocking in front of them scattered and fled under the impact of the large iron boats, and several of them were directly smashed by the collision. This move immediately triggered a reaction, and by the afternoon, all the officers and soldiers of Tangzhou on both sides of the river had arrived, and the big boats were moving along the coast, and arrows were constantly shooting at the boats.

Lin Jue was unmoved, he didn't care about the soldiers and horses of Tangzhou, because as long as the Luoyan Army arrived, these guys would have to be scattered. Lin Jue simply let the big boat stop in the middle of the river and wait for reinforcements, and the people on the boat were only responsible for organizing the officers and soldiers who tried to board the boat in a small boat, and ignored the officers and soldiers on the shore at all.

The stalemate lasted until evening, when the soldiers and horses on the shore suddenly dispersed, and the boats on the river also dispersed. Lin Jue and others guessed that reinforcements must have arrived.

Sure enough, not long after, hundreds of cavalry were the first to arrive, led by Guo Kun and Ma Bin. The officers and soldiers of Tangzhou were obviously extremely afraid of the Luoyan Army, and only a few hundred cavalry rushed in, and they immediately fled when they got the news. I am afraid that I have retreated into the city again.

Lin Jue let the big ship dock, and everyone was very happy to see each other. Seeing the slowly armor materials in the cabin, Guo Kun and Ma Bin were surprised and smacked their tongues. When the sky was dark, the 4,000 infantry of the Luoyan Army arrived under the leadership of Liang Qi Shen Tan and came with a large number of vehicles. Everyone worked together to carry the materials into the car and transport them to the Funiu Mountain overnight.

When leaving the ship, Lin Jue called the dozens of boatmen and gave each of them three times the salary. And warned them that the two ships had been targeted, and they could only return home by land, and Lu Fei Linjue naturally paid separately.

Lin Jue also drafted a letter on the spot and asked them to hand it over to Zhang Hanqiu, the county magistrate of Bohai County, after they returned. In the letter, Lin Jue thanked Zhang Hanqiu for taking care of him in Bohai County. At the same time, Lin Jue told him that he had left an iron box at the old shopkeeper of the Sihai Inn in Bohai County, and asked him to take it away, which he left for him.

On the day Lin Jue left Bohai County, Lin Jue deposited the iron box with five thousand taels of silver tickets at the shopkeeper of the Four Seas Inn. Lin Jue told the shopkeeper that after a while, Zhang County Ling would come to pick up the iron box, and there was no need to make a noise before that. Lin Jue knew that it was impossible to return the two big ships he had borrowed, and he didn't want to embarrass Zhang Hanqiu. If the Bohai County Commander was a dumb and greedy person, Lin Jue would naturally not care about him, but Zhang Hanqiu is still a good person, at least he is a good official who worries about the country and the people and does things for the people. Lin Jue didn't want him to be unable to explain to the military. Five thousand taels of silver is enough to buy these two broken ships, and this matter will definitely not make Zhang Hanqiu embarrassed.

There was also a letter in the box, in which Lin Jue identified himself and apologized to Zhang Hanqiu. In fact, even if there is no letter, these shipwrights will naturally report what they have seen along the way after they go back, and Zhang Hanqiu will definitely guess their identity.

After that, Lin Jue ordered people to set fire to the ship. Under the blazing light of the two large ships, the convoy of the Luoyan Army escorted hundreds of carts full of supplies to set off overnight and rushed back to Funiu Mountain.

The journey was safe and sound, and the officers and soldiers did not even have the courage to poke their heads out. After the failure of the last imperial expedition to attack the mountain, the Luoyan army has become a nightmare for the recent state capital Xiang army. Although Guo Xu left tens of thousands of troops to defend the area near the left side of Funiu Mountain, what they could do was to strictly defend the turtle in the city, and a large area outside the city could actually be passed through by the Luoyan army at will, and they did not dare to come to encircle and suppress.

The convoy traveled slowly until the next afternoon, when it reached the Dongshan Gorge Pass. When we arrived at Luoyan Valley, it was already sunset.

The Luoyan army and the people all went out to greet them, and the wives and concubines of the Lin family also waited at the top of the mountain early, and the joy of seeing Lin Jue and others return can be imagined. Lin Jue walked for nearly forty days. I left at the beginning of November, and it was already the twentieth day of the month when I returned to the cottage. Lin Jue fulfilled his promise to rush back for the New Year, and unscathed, bringing back a large number of important materials and equipment urgently needed by the cottage.

That night, a banquet was held in the lobby of the county government to catch the wind for Lin Jue and others.