Episode 92 Back to Daming

On April 30, 1936, .

In the distance, on the broad surface of the Pearl River, there is a black, white and red behemoth, and the three chimneys above it are emitting black smoke. This is the Yongan Princess. Behind the first chimney of the Princess Yong'an, a thirty-foot-long red ribbon fluttered. On the water in the front, left, and right, three fireboats sprayed water high, like a guard of honor, guarding its side.

On the maiden voyage of the Yongan Princess, it encountered the Jakarta Tuhua storm and was delayed in the South Seas for a long time. On the second voyage, it was hijacked by pirates, and dozens of passengers on board died. Therefore, in the next period of time, rumors spread in the Ming Dynasty that the Princess Yongan was an inauspicious ship, a cursed ship.

In late March, Zheng's shipping company originally wanted to let the Yongan Princess run a Eurasian route, but because of this taboo, it had to cancel a flight because it did not sell more than one-third of the space for a long time. It was only at the beginning of April that half of the tickets were barely sold and bound for Europe. The red ribbon award for the westbound Eurasian route has been won by the company's Jade Zhang, and the company has not let the Yongan Princess deliberately break the record. Originally, with the horsepower of the Yongan Princess, it was still very promising to break the record of the Jade Can.

However, on the eastbound route, the red ribbon award is still maintained by other companies, and Zheng's shipping company must get it. The Yongan Princess ran wildly with all her strength, running at an average speed of 30.2 knots, setting the highest record for the average eastbound speed of the Eurasian route.

……

The Yongan Princess followed the pilot motorboat and was already approaching the Guangzhou Port wharf. The dock was crowded with people, and many people came to see the spectacular scene of the Yongan Princess hanging up the red ribbon and entering the port. Guangzhou Port is a large port, and many huge ships enter and leave every day. But this entry is so special. First of all, the protagonist is the Princess Yong'an, which is not huge as a passenger ship, but it is named after Her Majesty's Princess, which has a special significance. Secondly, the experience of this ship is too extraordinary, the maiden voyage encountered the Nanyang Tuhua storm, the second time it was hijacked by pirates, and then it was rescued by the destroyer, and the third time, it finally won the Red Ribbon Award......

But more importantly, there are a few special passengers on the fishing boat. What these special passengers did in Europe has been reported all over the world. Today, the citizens of Guangzhou have come to see the demeanor of these people.

There were a few people in the crowd, who seemed particularly excited. They craned their necks and stared at the Princess Yongan from afar on the river. Around them, a dozen reporters set up tripod cameras and had already surrounded them in the middle. Seven or eight camera lenses were all aimed at one of the young women.

The woman was beautiful, shy, with her head slightly bowed, avoiding the gaze of the people around her, and looking very uncomfortable in front of the camera. But she refused to hide behind the crowd, refusing to give up this position where she could look out over the passenger ship. Beside her, a young man of seventeen or eighteen years old was extremely excited, looking at the giant ship on tiptoe, and from time to time he was lying in her ear and laughing something.

Behind them, several large men in plainclothes were quietly vigilant, their eyes scanning the crowd like lightning, one hand in the pocket of their suits.

Slowly, the giant ship approached the dock, the thick cable was thrown up, the gangway was lowered, and the well-dressed passengers began to walk down with their suitcases, and reunited with the relatives and friends who picked up the ship on the dock, hugging and shaking hands, and soon the dock fell into a joyful atmosphere of reunion.

Suddenly, there was a cry of joy from the gangway, and a girl in a white gauze summer dress rushed down the gangway in three steps and two steps, and suddenly hugged a woman on the pier.

"Xiuxiu! …… Xiuxiu Xiuxiuxiu...... Xiuxiu !! ”

Qiu Yun hugged Xiuxiu tightly, and didn't care about other people's eyes, while screaming tiredly, she kissed Xiuxiu's cheek left and right, as if she was holding the cutest and most painful thing in the world.

“…… I want to kill you!! ”

The surrounding magnesium lights crackled and flashed, and the crowd watching the excitement also "coaxed" and laughed.

……

Xiuxiu was almost out of breath when she was hugged by Qiu Yun, but she was also very happy in her heart, and she also hugged Qiu Yun, tired of being with her, and the two girls laughed and shed tears.

But Xiuxiu's eyes passed through Qiu Yu's shoulders and continued to look up the gangway, searching with keen eyes, and her heart became more and more anxious.

Suddenly, Xiuxiu stared at the gangway in a daze, followed the figure to the dock, slowly approached, and leaned close to herself, staring at herself with a gentle, deep smile.

She looked at the face infatuatedly, and suddenly her cheeks burned red, and her heart beat tom, but tears poured out of her eyes like a broken embankment.

Qiu Yu finally sensed the abnormality, let go of Xiuxiu, first looked at her expression very strangely, and then turned around to see Xiang Xiaoqiang.

Qiu Yu suddenly understood something, let go of Xiuxiu in a sneer, and stepped aside with a grin.

……

Xiang Xiaoqiang approached Xiuxiu, suppressed the wild beating in his chest, and said softly:

"Xiuxiu, I'm back."

"Hmm."

"I've been gone for more than two months, and you've worked hard alone."

“…… Well. ”

Xiuxiu's face suddenly burned red, her head lowered, her voice was like a mosquito, staring at her toes. She suddenly felt out of breath, nervous as if she had seen Xiang Xiaoqiang for the first time.

Dozens of pairs of eyes were staring at them, and seven or eight cameras were aimed at them, and the reporters held their breath and pulled the shutter, ready to snap a wonderful shot.

"Adult ......"

Xiuxiu raised her head, muttered with a red face, and her chest fell together. She glanced around at the camera, unable to say what she wanted to say. Xiuxiu quietly pointed to the side and said softly:

“…… Ziyu also came. ”

Next to him, Ye Ziyu was wearing an army uniform and carrying the rank of second lieutenant on his shoulders, with a heroic hair, looking at himself with a smile. He first "snapped" and saluted, and then hugged Xiang Xiaoqiang.

Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and patted his arm, looked at his military uniform, and said with a smile:

"Ziyu, how is it?"

Ye Ziyu is now a trainee of the Army University Committee and selected by the People's Guard. Ye Ziyu was finally able to get his wish, as an army cadet, he entered the People's Guard and followed his brother-in-law. The Army University will also be where he completed his higher education.

"Brother-in-law, it's very good! I now go to Lu University every day to attend classes, and in the afternoon I go back to the headquarters to follow my sister...... No, Shang Adjutant is still practicing and helping to deal with intelligence, which is enjoyable! Hey, brother-in-law......"

Xiang Xiaoqiang looked at the reporters around him, lowered his voice and smiled:

"You kid listen well, it's not easy to get you into Lu University, you have to study hard, and my brother-in-law will rely on you to help you in the future! …… Don't think that your brother-in-law is Xiang Xiaoqiang, so you don't have to worry about it...... You know, how many pairs of eyes are staring at us. ”

"Brother-in-law, where do you want to go!" Ye Ziyu smiled, "I was about to tell you, you sent me to Lu University, it's really the right one!" I found out that I was the stuff for the soldiers! Training together every day, running, doing push-ups, it's fun! ”

"Is it enough to just enjoy it? How many classes are there now? ”

Ye Ziyu smiled, stretched out two fingers and gestured:

"Eight courses, four public, four majors. Foreign Languages, Advanced Mathematics, Geometry, Physics, Military Systems, Ordnance, Ballistics, Strategy. Hehe, brother-in-law, I'm not coaxing you, I'm not ambiguous in any of them! ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang nodded, this is believed. Ye Ziyu, like his sister and Qiu Yu, was born to be a top student in mathematics, physics and chemistry. If it's you, just those "advanced mathematics", "geometry", "ballistics", don't say to learn it, listen to the name and your head will explode.

Xiang Xiaoqiang introduced three old advisors to them, and after everyone met, they set off to take the train. The reporters on the side did not take the "wonderful photos" they were expecting, so they all "coaxed" and followed, crowded to their sides, and began to talk about the interview.

But Xiang Xiaoqiang hugged Xiuxiu and shook his head at them politely, while speeding up his pace. Several plainclothes agents next to him saw that the adults were not being interviewed, and immediately stepped forward to block in front of the reporters. Although there are more than a dozen reporters, and only a few agents, these people seem to have magical skills, and they don't move roughly, so simply block it, and no one of the more than a dozen reporters can get close to Xiang Xiaoqiang and his party.

The group boarded the train at the railway station in Guangzhou Port and headed north to return to Nanjing.

……

Xiang Xiaoqiang left Daming on February 23 by Yongan Princess, and returned to Daming on April 30 by Yongan Princess, a total of 68 days, exactly two months and one week.

During this period, he traveled 20,000 kilometers, circumnavigated half the world, intervened twice to stop the Tuhua storm, and participated in and witnessed the short-lived Nanyang War between the Ming and Netherlands. During the occupation, 4,000 aborigines were executed to avenge the death of 2,000 Chinese victims. Later, on behalf of the Ming Dynasty, he negotiated with the Netherlands and negotiated back a generous compensation for the Ming Dynasty that no one dared to imagine: the strategic oil-rich island of Sumatra, 180 million Ming Ocean, and the permanent cession of three port cities.

In the Strait of Malacca, he led the destroyer Kuimulang to rescue the hijacked Princess Yong'an, and immediately made a decisive decision to retaliate with a tooth for a tooth, completely destroying the pirate's lair and killing the pirates.

In Germany, he held many talks with Hitler and the leading figures of the Third Reich, and issued the "Mingde Joint Communiqué", which fulfilled the main political purpose of the trip - one more world power recognized the land north of the river as belonging to the Ming Dynasty, and at the same time, the Manchu Qing in the north lost another heavyweight country with diplomatic relations.

One of the things that greatly benefited Daming from this trip was that it initially finalized the cooperation intention of exchanging grain and minerals for a large number of advanced technologies. This has an immeasurable effect on the rapid increase of strength in a short period of time, especially military strength.

However, what excites Xiang Xiaoqiang the most is that he has successfully recruited a large number of German military talents. Among them, the one that shines the most dazzling light is Guderian, the father of armored mobile warfare, the hero of blitzkrieg, and the expert of armored troops. At this time, no one in the Ming Dynasty recognized his value. Even in Germany, Hitler recognized some of his value, but gave him away for a set of tank drawings. But what Hitler sees now as Guderian is only the tip of the iceberg. If he suddenly had the insight of the 40s now, he would have to die alive.

……

On May 1, 1936, Xiang Xiaoqiang and his entourage returned to Nanjing, which had been absent for two months.