In May of the eighth year of Hongzhi, the port of Xiamen was still the same as in the past, and the merchant ships began to load goods and sell them to the Wa Kingdom and Nanyang.

Suddenly, a black spot appeared in the distance, and someone couldn't help but look up and start watching.

Gradually, the dark shadow began to grow larger, and many people by the harbor began to show surprised expressions.

That, it seems, is a fleet.

Zhang Ru, who was also fishing on the beach, got up suddenly, ignoring the fat perch on the fishing rod, and looked into the distance tremblingly.

Three years, three full years of waiting, the fleet on which he had pinned all his hopes has finally returned.

Although at this time he was not sure whether it was the fleet led by Chen Guang, he didn't even know whether the fleet was friend or foe.

It's close, it's close!

The fleet was getting closer and closer, and the big yellow Daming dragon flag above the flagship was fluttering in the wind, and Zhang Ru was so excited that his heart was about to jump out of his throat.

As the dense crowd of ships approached, the small merchant ships leaning next to the harbor all took the initiative to give way, knowing that this was a huge fortune.

After about half an hour, all the ships were ashore, and a general on the flagship, with dark skin and worn armor, jumped from the ship laughing.

The first thing he did was jaw-dropping, he fell to his knees, and his laughter gradually turned to sobs.

His mouth kissed the dusty earth hard.

After a long time, he stood up and raised his head to the sky and roared: "My Daming, I'm back!" ”

"You stay here first, and I'll go back." Zhang Ru left the next sentence and left Gulangyu Island as if flying.

On the small boat, he kept urging the temporary boatman Fan Tong: "Hurry, hurry, hurry up!" ”

Over there, the black-armored general roared after getting off the boat, turned around and yelled at the people on the boat: "Brothers, line up, get off the boat, go home!" ”

There was a thunderous roar from the ship: "Go home, go home, go home!" ”

One by one, the soldiers in the same rags stepped down from the ship, their waists still straight, their backs still strong, but black and thin.

The surrounding onlookers burst into warm applause, and they all welcomed these heroes with their own practical actions.

"Let's go, let's see Master Hou!" The man in black armor is none other than Chen Guang, the commander of the Fuzhou Navy Division.

This honest Fuzhou man can no longer see his former appearance at all, standing here, just like a Kunlun slave.

A young man panted and rushed over to block Chen Guang's way: "General Chen, slow down, Master Hou said that he would personally greet the heroes of the Ming Dynasty!" ”

Chen Guang was overjoyed in his heart, and then said unhappily: "How can there be a reason to let Hou Ye personally greet him, you lead the way, and you will say hello to Hou Ye at the end." ”

The man was also a little anxious: "General Chen, Master Hou has an order, you can't..."

"What can't be! Will Master Hou still scold me! Chen Guang said angrily.

"Hahahaha, you have been out for three years, but you want me to die, don't embarrass the little brother below as soon as you come back, it's hard for me to scold you!" Zhang Ru's hearty laughter came from the crowd.

Subsequently, Chen Guang saw a grizzled Zhang Ru.

In order to rush over to greet him as soon as possible, Zhang Ru walked too quickly all the way, and fell several times before Chen Guang left the harbor with his soldiers.

Chen Guang was greatly moved when he saw it, and gave Zhang Ru a bear hug without saying a word: "Master Hou, I'm back." ”

When he said this, Chen Guang's voice was choked.

No one knows except themselves how many hardships they have endured along the way.

Zhang Ru gently patted Chen Guang's back: "It's good to be back, it's good to be back." ”

It took a long time for Chen Guang's mood to stabilize, and he pointed to the team of about 6,000 people behind him and said, "Master Hou, the brothers who came back alive this time are all here." There were also 2,000 brothers who remained in Slow Basa, where they built ships, and the people there were all subservient to the power of the Ming Dynasty. ”

"Slow Baza?" Hearing this unfamiliar name, Zhang Ru was very surprised.

However, he didn't immediately ask what the place was in Slow Basa, but took Chen Guang's hand and walked forward together: "Let's go, let's go home and talk." Fan Tong, pass the order, open 3,000 jars of wine tonight, and my brothers and I will not get drunk and return. ”

When the group returned to Gulangyu, naturally there were people on the island who were responsible for guarding the property on the giant ship, and Chen Guang sat down and didn't even drink hot tea, and he was almost crying when Zhang Ru said a word.

Zhang Ru pulled Chen Guang to sit down and looked at it for a long time, and suddenly said: "You are dark and thin." ”

Chen Guang patted his chest and said, "Serving the imperial court, it should be." ”

Zhang Ru patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't be so excited, sit down and say." Tell me, how did you get all this way? How did you go so long? Do you know that after you left, I lived like a year! ”

Getting back to the point, Chen Guang scratched his head embarrassedly and said: "Originally, we didn't plan to go too far, we just wanted to come back after taking a turn in Nanyang."

However, things are not as easy as imagined, and we did see gold everywhere when we were in the South Seas, where the people were slackly armed and vulnerable to attack. And there are similarities in appearance with the people of the Central Plains. Many people speak the Central Plains dialect, so we are embarrassed to attack them.

Later, I met a mud man, and said that if we went further west, there would be gold everywhere, and then we went all the way west, not to mention, the appearance of these people was getting more and more different.

At first, many brothers were afraid and didn't dare to fight with them, but those people didn't know what to do and took the initiative to attack us. After the death of a few brothers, our anger also rose, and a round of Frann cannons passed, and those people were so frightened that they were urinating. That's when we realized that these people were bluffing.

As soon as this head opens, it will be difficult to collect, and gradually the hearts of the brothers will also be ambitious, so we will go all the way to the west.

That's why it took so long to come back. ”

He said it lightly, but Zhang Ru saw pain and hardship in his eyes. It is conceivable that this journey will definitely not be as simple as Chen Guang said.

As he spoke, the banquet was ready, five or six thousand soldiers were seated together, accompanied by thousands of people from the island, and this battle seemed to be not small.

This is the first fleet sent out by the Ming Dynasty, and it is also the largest fleet, and it is the fleet that Zhang Ru has been looking forward to.

After everyone sat down, Zhang Ru picked up his wine glass, stood up and said loudly: "Brothers, you are all heroes of the Ming Dynasty, come!" Zhang is here, a cup to the brothers! ”

After speaking, he drank the wine in the bowl in one gulp, and then bowed deeply to these soldiers who had endured countless hardships.