Because of Matsuura's praise, Zheng Sen maintained a high degree of vigilance on the way from Nagasaki to Tokyo, and when he slept at night, he almost always had one eye open. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info In addition, the Zhenjiang must travel along the coastline of Japan and maintain visual contact with the coastline. (This way, in case something does happen to the ship, it will be easier to escape.) But it seems that the large number of wishes that Zheng Sen made to Mazu Niangniang before his departure worked, and the journey was smooth and smooth. A few days later, one afternoon, just after the hour, the port of Edo came into view.

Zheng Sen raised his binoculars and looked over there. It's a not-so-big port, and it seems to be a little smaller than the pier at the Port of Nagasaki. There is a stone pier jutting out into the sea from the shore, and on the pier are a few small morning boats, a few customs boats, and a large ataka boat. The appearance of the "Zhenjiang" obviously made the people in the port very nervous, the small morning boat had already gone offshore, several customs ships were busy raising their sails, and the Anzhai ship also raised its sails and stretched out its big oars. There is also a battery next to the port, and the cannons on it are placed in the open air, and soldiers can be seen busy next to it. This is clearly preparing for defense.

The "Zhenjiang" put away its mainsail and stopped at a considerable distance from the port to show that it had no malicious intent.

Although they saw that the "Zhenjiang" had closed its sails and almost stopped, the Japanese on the opposite side obviously did not relax their vigilance because of this. The Ataka boat had already left the docks, and to say that they were really efficient. Naturally, several other ships have sailed out of the port. Even a puff of green smoke came out of the fort, and after a while, the faint sound of cannon came slowly.

Firing at such a distance, it is certainly impossible to hit any target. Zheng Sen knew that this was only a warning shelling, and this cannon was not even loaded with shells, because there was no water column on the sea. Zheng Sen knew that this was also a very correct thing to do, so as to avoid exposing the range of the guns on the battery. (Of course, the defenders can also deliberately hit the cannonballs very close to mislead the opponent) although the performance data of several guns on this turret is not a secret to the Zheng family. (Because these cannons were sold to them by the Zheng family)

At this time, Matsuura Dong also came to the deck, and when he heard the sound of cannons on the opposite side, he clapped his hands and said, "This must be treating us as Xiyi." Oops, it's long overdue to hang up our flag. ”

Zheng Sen smiled and said, "It's useless to hang up, because they also have to wonder if we are impersonating." At sea, it is not uncommon for pirates to fly flags indiscriminately. ”

Matsuura Dong also laughed when he heard it, in fact, Zheng Zhilong and Matsuura have not done anything about hanging flags on the sea.

At this time, a ship began to approach them. However, given their speed, it is estimated that it will take a little time to get closer. Originally, the ships were set up by pirates to collect tolls from the seas, and later became the main combat vessels of the Japanese navy. This kind of ship was originally designed for the purpose of intercepting passing ships and buying road money, so it paid considerable attention to speed performance. This type of boat can erect a sail, but it is mainly powered by oars. The speed on short distances, especially the acceleration ability, is good, but this speed is good, and it depends on who you are comparing. If compared with the speed of about three knots of the Ataku ship, the Guanchuan is naturally a fast ship, but if it is compared with the "Zhenjiang", the Guanchuan can only be regarded as a slow ship. As for the more small early boats, although the speed is faster than that of the closed boat, it is an all-human rowing boat, and the speed of the outbreak is okay, but it cannot last. They can only move around the shore for the most part.

"Zheng Yu, you see that the Ataku ship in the distance is the biggest 'Tianxia Maru' in the shogunate. The boat is 125 feet long and 53.6 feet wide, and the two operate 100 large oars. It is the largest ship ever built in Japan. Matsuura pointed to the Ataka boat road in the distance:

"Yes, a good boat." Zheng Sen nodded.

"But it doesn't really work." Matsuura shook his head again, "Although this ship has a sail, the sail is too small and can provide limited power. Although there are many large oars, it is a pity that the boat is too big to row. If you can't go far, the sailors won't have the strength. Therefore, this ship is just placed in the harbor to make a show. If you really want to take it out to fight, don't say anything else, lend me the 'Zhenjiang', I can fight ten of such a house-going ship." The 'Zhenjiang' is a really good ship. Except that it doesn't quite fit the goods, it's just perfect. It's a pity that Japan won't make it, but it's a pity that ......"

Zheng Sen knew what that pity behind Matsuura meant. That is to say, even if Japan could build such a ship, it would not be useful because of the ban on the sea and the closure of the country. But Zheng Sen didn't think so, but Zheng Sen didn't say it.

The two of them talked for a while, and the ship was close to the "Zhenjiang". A man who looked like a samurai shouted from the bow of the ship, "Where did you come from, don't you know that the ports of Japan are forbidden to enter?" ”

Some of the sailors on the "Zhenjiang" who had run the Japanese route and could speak Japanese replied loudly: "We are from the Ming Dynasty, and we have Zhu Yin." ”

"You can't do it with the seal," the samurai shouted ......, "the ship from the Ming Dynasty can only go to Nagasaki." This is Edo, you're in the wrong place! ”

"We are the ship of the Zheng family in Fujian of the Ming Dynasty, and there are our young lord and the lord of your Hirado domain on board. We came to Edo at the invitation of your country, the Tokugawa shogun. The sailor replied.

This answer seemed to have come as a surprise to the samurai, who visibly hesitated, and after a moment he cried out, "May I see the letters sent to you by the Shogun's Palace?" ”

Zheng Sen looked at Matsuura, Matsuura shook his head and said, "An inferior samurai doesn't see if he has such qualifications. What a faux pas! Inoguchi-kun, you go and tell him, let him go back to Youji for verification, but the letters from the general's hall are not qualified for him to read. ”

"Hello." One of the samurai replied on his knees, then ran to the side of the boat and repeated the words to the samurai on the other side.

When the samurai on the ship heard this, he said no more, and ordered the ship to turn the bow and sail back.

"It's so rude!" Matsuura still seemed to be unhappy, "Even the samurai of the General's Hall can't be so rude!" ”

It was only after such a toss, and after more than half an hour, another ship approached, and on the bow of the ship was a middle-aged man dressed as an official and holding a folding fan who shouted to the people on the "Zhenjiang": "I am Nobuhito Okubo, the port director of Edo Port, and I welcome Zheng Ji here on the order of the Shogun's Palace." Please allow me to board the ship to greet Zheng Ji. ”

Zheng Sen looked at Matsuura, but Matsuura said with a smile: "This is the person who should come, and I ask Zheng Yu to allow him to come up." ”

Zheng Sen nodded and ordered the captain to make preparations, and after a while, that Okubo Nobuhito boarded the "Zhenjiang".