The patrol boat sailed out of the swelling estuary and turned south, bypassing the sea in front of the lighthouse under construction, where the bustling freshwater port finally came into view.

Chu Mei saw that the patrol clipper she was on did not enter the lively port in the breakwater, but continued to travel south along the outside of the breakwater, and finally couldn't help the strong curiosity in her heart, pointing to the hundreds of ships of all kinds moored in the port, the strange and hurried characters on the pier, and the buildings with various flags and signboards, and asked Zhu Daolin non-stop.

Zhu Daolin was very patient, telling Chu Mei how to distinguish which ones were fishing boats, which were cargo ships, which were war ships, and what was the difference between ocean-going ships and offshore ships from the type of ships, and then from the different flags hoisted above the ships, he could distinguish which were cargo ships from all over the Ming Dynasty, and which were Spanish cargo ships or Japanese ships.

Before Chu Mei could figure out what was going on, the warship that the group was riding on had already entered the entrance of the southernmost breakwater, slowed down and leaned towards the military dock where several large warships were moored.

On the three flagpoles standing high above the wharf, the battle flag was hunted and waved in the wind, and thousands of officers and soldiers lined up above the battle flag to greet them.

Zhu Daolin smiled slightly, whispered a few words in Chu Mei's ear, Chu Mei immediately retracted her scattered thoughts, pretended to be calm, followed Zhu Daolin to the shore together, and surrounded by more than ten generals such as Yang Dading, accepted the commander of the naval fortress force. Salute of Colonel Amos and 5,000 officers and soldiers.

After Zhu Daolin returned the salute, he gently hugged Amos, who warmly greeted him, and held Amos's hand and praised loudly: "The soldiers are neatly lined up, the military appearance is neat, and the morale is high...... You can see that the efforts you have put in in the past few months have begun to bear fruit. ”

The bearded Amos puffed out his chest very proudly, and said with a fluttering eyebrow: "Dear general, this is just the beginning. Give me another half a year, and our naval fortress unit will definitely become the strongest combat unit in the whole army! ”

Zhu Daolin just showed an encouraging smile, Yang Dading, Liu Yongqing and others behind him were unhappy, and they sneered coldly, and Amos, who was so angry that he loved face, turned red and blew his beard. Several adjutant generals behind Amos saw that the army's unpleasant remarks could not be tolerated, and they stepped forward to fight back.

Fortunately, Zhu Daolin raised his hand in time, and the generals of the two sides closed their mouths unwillingly, and then respectfully accompanied Zhu Daolin and Chu Mei to inspect the officers and soldiers of the fortress troops.

After reviewing the troops, the enthusiastic Zhu Daolin ordered Amos to order the disbandment. Surrounded by dozens of generals, he climbed Fortress Mountain with Chu Mei.

In an instant, the entire Tamsui Port and the blue sea within a radius of ten miles were in full view, and the beautiful scenery that had never been seen before made Chu Mei, who had climbed high and looked at it from afar, dizzy and excited.

……

……

In the following three days, accompanied by Zhu Daolin and relevant civil and military officials, Chu Mei visited the textile printing and dyeing factory, which has more than 3,800 female workers and more than 2,000 looms. More than 000 Chinese and foreign craftsmen built ships while building ships at the same time, six factories, including the Yingzhou Arsenal, which is located in the deep valley on the south bank of the Tamsui River, and six towns with a total number of 200,000 people have been inspected, and Taipei County is under construction. What she saw and heard all shocked Chu Mei, who had just arrived.

When Chu Mei finished visiting the Hot Spring Town School at the mouth of the Sancha River on the north bank of the Tamsui River, four days and four nights had passed.

Chu Mei held the familiar textbook that she had compiled and printed by her hand, and held back the emotions stirring in her heart, carefully looked at the brand-new campus with a large area and complete facilities, and finally looked at the more than 300 children who had lost their parents bouncing on the playground. Uncontrollable tears burst out of his eyes, and finally under the stunned gaze of dozens of generals and old gentlemen, he threw himself into Zhu Daolin's arms, and cried bitterly, making everyone look at each other. Hurriedly avoided.

In the dead of night, everything is silent.

Zhu Daolin and Chu Mei stayed in Ziyang Guanli, a hot spring town that had just built two partial halls, and Chu Mei, who had been silent for most of the time, finally hugged the man she loved and hated tightly, and put forward her request very firmly: "I have decided, I want to go to Jinling!" ”

"What!?"

Zhu Daolin's heart was suddenly shocked, he was silent for a long time, and he hugged Chu Mei to the stone slab under the thousand-year-old camphor tree, and asked solemnly, "You really decided?" ”

Chu Mei pinched the soft flesh on Zhu Daolin's waist fiercely, and stared at his eyes full of resentment: "No matter how great you are in this time and space, how much you are loved by the soldiers and civilians under your rule, but you have also done a lot of things that are sorry for me, my father and mother, do you admit it?" ”

Zhu Daolin nodded honestly: "Indeed, I admit this, otherwise I wouldn't have invited Mrs. Wang, Sister Qin and Sister Chu to accompany you in the past few days." ”

"Look at me, don't dodge! You premeditated, didn't you? Chu Mei asked nonchalantly.

Zhu Daolin sighed: "Although I can't use my involuntary self as a reason to prevaricate, what has happened in the past two years or so has indeed made me helpless and fall deeper and deeper......"

"In fact, at the beginning, I just wanted to make a fortune by reselling cultural relics on both sides, and I planned to let go of everything when I made almost a fortune, slip away, go back to honor my parents, and enjoy life to the fullest, but I still fell into it unconsciously, and now I can't extricate myself, alas!"

"Fortunately, there is still room for redemption...... We're going to leave this sad place tonight, and you can reconsider our relationship when you go back, and whatever decision you make, I'll listen to you, after all, I'm sorry for you first. ”

Chu Mei's hot tears fell like pearls again, she covered her face sadly, sobbed for a long time, and slowly leaned into Zhu Daolin's arms: "Don't you think it's too late to tell me this...... It is true that you didn't want my body, but you took my heart, my love......"

"I'm sorry, Chu Mei, I'm sorry!" Zhu Daolin hugged Chu Mei tightly, only to feel that his nose was sour, his heart was like a knife, and his eyes were instantly filled with helpless tears.

The breeze is gentle, and the stars and moon are shining.

Chu Mei, who was tired of crying, finally wiped away her tears, raised her head, and said quietly: "I still want to go to Jinling!" ”

Zhu Daolin was entangled for a while: "This ...... Can you tell me why? ”

"I want to meet Xia Yuying, the second-grade lady who makes your people praise, to see how she is better than me, and... I want to take a good look at Liu Rushi and Gu Mei, the two little goblins, to see where they are beautiful, and let you be willing to work hard for them! ”

The more Chu Mei spoke, the more hateful she became, and finally pinched the soft flesh under Zhu Daolin's ribs and turned it, so painful that Zhu Daolin bared his teeth and hummed, but he didn't dare to move. (To be continued.) )