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On the fourth day of April in the second year of Daming Jingtai, the auspicious day of the zodiac, everything is appropriate. Weihai.

The wind blew from the sea, with a pungent salty smell, and the sea water also swelled with layers of waves, constantly slapping on the shore, making bursts of noise. At the same time, the sea also drove several large sea vessels parked on it to rise and fall.

These ships were newly towed from the dock to the sea, and standing on the wide deck, you could even smell the fragrance of wood and the pungent smell of tung oil. However, at this time, the crew standing on the deck did not appreciate the smell, and their thoughts were all on the shore.

On the shore, facing the vast sea, a huge incense table was opened, on which were placed huge candles burning vigorously, and in the tripod-shaped incense burner, a large number of incense sticks were inserted, and the cigarette smoke was going straight up. In the front, there are cattle and pigs, three animal tributes, and some other food and fruits, which are the most sumptuous sacrificial items.

In front of the incense case, there were hundreds of richly dressed people standing solemnly at this time, they were the representatives of the eunuchs and magnates and big businessmen in a province of Shandong today, and standing in front of them was Lu Jin, the governor of Shandong.

At this time, he was wearing a court dress that would only be worn during the court meeting, wearing a beam crown on his head, and his expression looked very solemn, as the people around him shouted that the hour was coming, he stepped forward, and inserted the three pillars of incense in his hand into the incense burner, and after bowing down three times, he took out a silk book from his sleeve, and read it aloud when he unfolded it: "Fu Wei Jingtai is two years, and the age is in the middle of spring......

This is a letter written by many Confucian scholars in Shandong after joint consultation and revision, with more than 10,000 words of worship to the sea. Because today, after nearly a hundred years, the Ming Dynasty officially sent a fleet to the sea for the first time.

Since ancient times, people have been in awe of the sea. This time, if such a fleet is to be sent to sea, it is natural to have a good sacrifice and hope to be blessed by the sea. So today's ceremony was quite solemn, and everyone responded to such a big event with the fullest emotions.

The only exception may be Lu Jin, who is reading from the script loudly at the moment. Although there was no pause in his mouth, and he kept reading out the sacrificial text, his mind was thinking about something else—

More than three months have passed since he returned to Shandong from Beijing. In the past three months, the opening of the sea has become extremely smooth, the port has been completely built, and the sea ships can be launched one by one, and even the local rich people, when they saw those tall and mighty sea ships, and the many goods that Lu Zhen brought from the capital, also added some confidence to this sea trade. As a result, more merchants and large households took out goods to enrich the sea ships, so that the three big ships were full, and also gave this trip to the sea a few more chances of winning.

And with the passage of time, approaching the sea, Lu Zhen also moved to Weihai and temporarily set his own position in this small county territory. It is precisely because of his move that the government's move to open the sea is more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, even those who are still disdainful of it do not dare to say anything more at this time.

Everything is developing in a good direction, and to this day, not only all the officials under their own are present, but even the representatives of the Shandong gentry class, who were obviously standing on the opposite side of the opening of the sea, have also rushed to the small place of Weihai to participate in this grand ceremony of going to sea.

This sense of accomplishment made Lu Jin's heart also excited, making his waist straighter, and the voice of reading the sacrifice became louder. Blown by the sea breeze, his voice spread far away, straight into the boundless ocean.

In any case, today will be a crucial day to change the entire history of the Ming Dynasty, when these merchant ships loaded with Ming specialties go to neighboring countries along the channel opened up by Zheng He, the Ming Dynasty, and even the entire Chinese nation, will turn a new page. In the next few hundred years, the Chinese nation will not be as closed and backward as it was in history, and we will also become the leader in broadening our horizons and navigating the great cause.

Under the surging heart, Lu Jin's tone of reading the sacrificial text became more subdued and frustrated, and it was not until the word Shang Fang finally came out that he slowly exhaled a breath. Then, he took the framed silk book lightly and brought it to the side of the candle, lit it, and put it into the brazier beside him.

Reading the sacrificial text to the sea is only a formality, and burning it can let the many gods on the sea know the hearts of the officials and people of Shandong.

As the tongue of fire continued to devour the hard-written sacrificial text, Lu Zhen and the others bowed down one after another and made a big salute towards the vast ocean. Then, behind them, as well as on the deck of the ship, the people and the crew also knelt down and worshiped the dragon king of the sea reverently, hoping that they would be blessed on this trip.

When Lu Zhen led the crowd to get up, he turned around and lectured to the group of officials led by Yang Zhen who were about to go to sea by boat: "A hundred years ago, Emperor Taizong sent the Three Treasure Eunuchs to lead my Ming fleet to the Western Ocean, which created a very prosperous situation for all countries to come to the court. Today, our descendants will follow the example of our ancestors and go to sea again to open up trade routes for our Ming Dynasty. I also hope that you can work together to overcome difficulties and create brilliance this time! With a wave of his hand, someone brought the wine he had prepared.

The more than 100 civil and military officials hurriedly said yes, took the wine glass, touched it with Lu Jinxu in front of him, and drank the wine in the cup together.

"Okay, after today, everything will depend on you!" Lu Zhen said, turned his head and shouted at the big ship on the sea: "Raise the sails!" ”

As soon as he gave the order, the three ships burst into crackling firecrackers. When this commotion passed, someone dragged out his tone and shouted again: "Raise the sails!" ”

A loud and firm trumpet sounded, and in the midst of a loud and firm sound, the sails laid out on the deck were raised one by one by the sailors, and climbed up the thick mast until they were near the top, and then stopped. It's not really the time to set sail yet, so we'll have to wait a little longer to get the sails full.

Seeing this, Lu Zhen gave another order: "Get on board!" ”

Some of the officials and soldiers, and even some of the merchants who were going to go overseas with them, after bowing deeply to the governor, walked to the big ship, and then followed the long pedal into the relatively wide big ship.

At this time, Lu Zhen stopped Yang Zhen, who was just about to board the ship with everyone: "Brother Yang, this time I went to sea, everything depends on you, and I have wronged you." ”

"What Lord Lu said, the lower officials are just doing their duty as officials." Yang Zhen shook his head and said: "Actually, when I heard the old people mention that the Three Treasure Eunuchs led my Ming fleet across the sea, I already longed for it. It's great to have such an opportunity to realize my dream now. ”

"It's a bit of a gaffe. But Brother Yang, before you leave, I still have some things to tell you. Lu Zhen said.

"Your Excellency, please speak."

"The future of going to sea this time is unpredictable, the wind and waves at sea are changing rapidly, no better than on land, you must not be reckless, you must listen to the advice of those old people who accompany the ship, after all, they have been to sea, experience is more important than anything else at sea." During this period of time, whether it was the government or Lu Renjia's side, they found many old people who had gone to sea decades ago for Lu Jin.

Yang Zhen nodded: "The lower officials have written it down, and they will definitely not be stubborn." ”

"In addition, although we are going to sea this time to trade with other countries, we must not weaken the momentum of our Ming Dynasty. If you encounter a provocateur, don't worry, just do it. Above the vast sea, there is a world of the jungle. Lu Zhen said with a serious expression: "For this reason, I have asked each big ship to be equipped with twenty ballistas, within a few tens of zhang, which is enough to penetrate ordinary ships." It's a pity that my Ming Dynasty's artillery is too big now, otherwise it should be equipped with them to be more deterrent. ”

Although some people feel that Lu Zhen is a little worried, after all, with the prestige of the Ming Dynasty now, which overseas country dares to provoke them? Eventually, though, he nodded his head in response.

"The last point is something I personally want you to pay attention to."

"Your Excellency, please speak."

"On this voyage, in addition to purchasing special products such as spices from other countries and bringing them back to my Daming in exchange for benefits, I hope you can help find something else. One is completely transparent glass, the other is a firearm that is smaller and lighter than my Daming artillery, and finally, their local food ......" As he spoke, Lu Zhen carefully described to Yang Zhen the appearance of corn, sweet potatoes and other things.

He didn't know if any of these things had been shipped from overseas to East Asia, but it was always good to keep an eye out for them. If only one or two of these can be found, the course of history may be changed. In particular, the impact of crops such as corn and sweet potatoes on agricultural civilization was subversive and decisive.

Yang Zhen didn't really understand how important these things were, but since Lu Zhen mentioned them so solemnly, he also carefully remembered them. Then, after respectfully bowing deeply to Lu Jin, under his gaze, he stepped on the pedal and got on the largest sea ship in the middle.

"Raise the sails, set sail!" With a shout, the three sea ships lifted anchor and sailed at the same time, and under the gaze of everyone on the shore, the sea ships slowly started to move and slowly sailed away from the Weihai port.

Lu Zhen took two steps forward, watching these sea boats, and the dozens of smaller fishing boats behind him, move away little by little, and finally become like a little black shadow, disappearing at the end of the horizon. His fists clenched violently, telling himself that this was the real, the beginning of changing history, and the beginning of carrying the changes of the Ming Dynasty!

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