The dark shadow of the island is getting closer and closer.

Although it was not a full moon today, the night sky was cloudless, and the moonlight poured down like mercury, reflecting the sparkling surface of the sea and illuminating the great ship anchored at the edge of the island's dark shadow.

"Brother Yan, isn't that the bird-boat shape system on Daishan Island before?"

Zheng Haizhu asked behind the telescope.

Yan Siqi said: "It's not a bird boat, it's a sealed boat." ”

Zheng Haizhu became more and more surprised: "There is such a small sealed boat? ”

It was a boat used in the Ming Dynasty when sending envoys to Ryukyu and other vassal states to be canonized or rewarded. In order to show the prestige of the country, the imperial court sent a large number of sealed boats, often more than fifteen zhang, which is equivalent to fifty or sixty meters in modern times.

Yan Siqi was also curious: "Ah Zhu, you also know about boats?" ”

"Songjiang is not far from Taicang County in Suzhou Prefecture, where the shipbuilding industry is as prosperous as our Fujian, so I have also heard those craftsmen who come to Songjiang to blow some cowhides, and some say that the ancestors have built treasure ships to the West for the eunuchs of Sanbao."

"Oh," Yan Siqi explained, "those sealed boats built by the imperial court are indeed too big, and if the wind on the sea is not strong enough, I am afraid that they will have to spin in place." So not only did we make it much smaller, but we also changed the sails, masts, and trusses of the ships, just like the Franky ships. ”

Zheng Zhilong said with a smile on the side: "But we still learned the general appearance of the imperial court sealing the ship, majestic, anyway, the imperial court can't control us, there is nothing to encroach on." So when you look at the ship, it's ours. ”

However, in an instant, only a "poof" sound, a copper arrow and Zheng Zhilong's last words landed on the deck almost at the same time, nailed two or three steps away from the young man, and the tail of the arrow was still shaking.

"Ahh Zheng Zhilong reacted quickly and jumped back, glaring at the arrow.

Yan Siqi's face changed, and he hurriedly dragged Zheng Haizhu behind him, while instructing the sailors: "Put the cannon and tell the brothers on the ship that we are back." ”

The sailor quickly lit a bamboo tube, and several bright purple rays shot straight into the sky.

At this time, the distance between the two ships was only about ten zhang, and under the bright light of the flares, Yan Siqi, who was standing on the small boat, saw clearly the keel and the side of the ship on the opposite side.

He shouted in surprise from behind the telescope: "That's not our ship!" ”

……

When the ship on the opposite side suddenly slammed into bright smoke, Ma Xianglin and the Sichuan soldiers, as well as Liu Gonggong's brocade guards, all thought it was a fire gun, and instinctively lowered themselves on the deck.

Realizing that it was just a cannon with toner, Ma Xianglin was the first to straighten up and raise the telescope that he had been inseparable from for the past few days.

"Miss Zheng? Father-in-law Liu, Zheng, and Miss Zheng were on the opposite boat. ”

The lighting provided by the cannon suddenly gave Ma Xianglin a clear eyesight, but it also made him unable to believe his eyes for a moment.

How could Zheng Haizhu appear on this sand boat of unknown origin that was about to approach, and there was a tall man standing beside him.

In a short moment, Ma Xianglin, who was accustomed to quickly judging the enemy's cavalry commander on the land battlefield, had already seen that the man was not an ordinary sailor's dress and posture, but should be the captain of the ship.

"No arrows!"

Without waiting for Liu Gonggong to say anything, Ma Xianglin had already ordered the left and right arrows to face the deck, lifted two lanterns, jumped on the bow of the ship, and waved them in several directions alternately, using the sign language learned when going to sea this time, it is said that the sea ships in Fujian and Zhejiang should be able to understand.

On the opposite boat, Yan Siqi really frowned and said, "The other party asked us if we were in distress, let us lean over." ”

He was still hesitating, only listening to a few shouts from the other party sent by Haifeng, "Miss Zheng, Zheng Haizhu".

Zheng Haizhu snatched Yan Siqi's telescope and carefully identified the sign language under the lantern.

"Brother Yan, that's the guard general of our Weaving Bureau, well, I can see it clearly, he is next to Gonggong Liu, the commander of the Weaving Bureau."

Zheng Haizhu was overjoyed and surprised.

Fortunately, I didn't meet the official ship of the sea patrol.

Surprisingly, the opposite side was not the Weaving Bureau's lucky boat that drove to Yuegang, why were Liu Gonggong and Ma Xianglin on it.

She put down her binoculars and met Yan Siqi's equally suspicious gaze.

"Ah Zhu, how can the Weaving Bureau use the same small sealing boat as us? What about our ships? ”

Zheng Haizhu shook his head: "It's not the ship of the Weaving Bureau, maybe they drove out of Yuegang?" ”

"Impossible," Yan Siqi said categorically, "There can't be such a ship in Yuegang." ”

Years of experience in maritime trade have made Yan Siqi very adventurous, but since the boat opposite is a person from the imperial court, Yan Siqi immediately raised his vigilance and began to think about how to send Ah Zhu back on the premise of keeping a distance.

The two sides fell into a silent confrontation, hearing only the sound of waves crashing against the island's reef.

Suddenly, the silence was broken by the question of Gonggong Liu on the sealed boat.

"Over there! How does it seem to be a galleon of the Francis? ”

Yan Siqi heard this sentence clearly, and hurriedly turned around and raised the telescope.

Sure enough, on the sea not far to the south, two ships appeared, and the shape of the sails was quite obvious under the moonlight.

One of them is clearly a hard bamboo sailing boat common along the coast of the Ming Dynasty.

The other, larger ship, with a sword-like mast stretched forward, lifted a square sail that reflected a miserable white light.

"It's the Franques who occupy Luzon." Yan Siqi said in a deep voice.

The ship of the Spaniards? Zheng Haizhu had a vague sense of foreboding.

But I heard Yan Siqi continue: "The one next to it, like the ship of the Ming Sea Patrol, is it expelling these hairy monkeys?"

"That's not right!"

Yan Siqi suddenly raised his voice, put down his binoculars, and shouted to the sailors: "The foreign ship is coming, they are going to shoot this way!" Turn the sails, turn the sails, and rudder! To the east, go to the deep water! ”

The sailors, in a series of trembling and rapid commands from the great masters, began to act like parts that suddenly turned at high speed.

However, a moment later, the sparks under the deck of the Spanish sailing ship shone brightly, "boom, boom......", and the shells had already flown straight over.

"Boom ......"

The deflected shells exploded the nearby reefs, and the huge shock wave shook Yan Siqi's sand boat and Liu Gonggong's sealed boat, both of which shook violently, and the flying debris hit the hulls of the two boats with a ping bang, and even stones jumped onto the deck, hitting two or three sailors who could not lie down, causing them to scream.

As soon as he saw the fire light on the opposite side, Yan Siqi, who was about to push Zheng Haizhu into the cabin, opened his arms, wrapped her in his chest like a hen protecting her cubs, and threw herself on the deck.

In the chaos, Yan Siqi and Zheng Haizhu also cheered when they heard the sealing boat closer to the shore than them.

The rising anchor chain sounded, and obviously, Liu Gonggong and Ma Xianglin realized that they had to restore the fast movement ability of the sealed boat in the shortest possible time, and they could not sit idly by in this unreasonable attack.

"Boom, boom......"

Two more cannon shots rang out in quick succession.

Although one of the shells was too far off and landed directly in the bushes on the edge of the island, the other flew past the tail of the boat, blasting the vertical truss that built the semicircular lookout like fireworks, but fortunately did not damage the nearby mast.

"Fuck, the hairy monkey who killed a thousand knives, what are they going to do!"

Gonggong Liu, who has always been elegant and gentle, couldn't help but scold in shock and anger.

"Father-in-law, will they recognize the wrong ship," Ma Xianglin said loudly, "Hang up the flag of the imperial court!" ”

Liu Shimin allowed and instructed his subordinates around him: "Hang the flag, hang the flag quickly, and the lanterns of the Weaving Bureau." ”

He believes that General Ma's judgment is most likely correct.

Anyway, today, he and Ma Xianglin have met with the people they should see at sea, whether it is silver, or some important news about Jingshi and Jiangnan, they have also been brought, and at this time the brand of the Weaving Bureau is re-played.

But Liu Shimin wondered, why did the ship of the Daming Patrol Sea Road and the galleon of Frankie who fired the cannon on the opposite side look like they were sailing together?

At this time, Zheng Haizhu on the sand boat also saw the big flag and lantern quickly raised on the boat.

"Brother Yan, there are firearms on the ship of the Weaving Bureau, so we can carry them when we run for our lives, we must go up."

"What if those two ships aren't aimed at us?" Yan Siqi was still hesitating.

"The sea is so big, they're so close, do you think we won't be wiped out?" Zheng Haizhu's tone was raised, "Besides, how do you know that we are not the target." In the middle of the night, this desolate island is not a wharf for maritime merchants, why did two ships, one official and one foreigner, come over like this, and fire their guns without saying a word. Francis, Franky in Luzon, think about who you just offended? ”

Yan Siqi stared at Zheng Haizhu, and he saw that the woman's eyes were brighter than firelight.

Yan Siqi turned around suddenly, and his eyes swept over the five or six men on the sand boat, including Zheng Zhilong.

He clearly remembered that these brothers, in the port of Luzon, killed the Franques the hardest.

They shouldn't betray him.

Zheng Haizhu was angry, at this time, where did Yan Siqi's decisiveness go.

She turned to the side of the boat and looked down at the height, and said, "I don't want to accompany you to death, you don't lean over, I'll swim over by myself." ”

Yan Siqi dragged her over, turned around and ordered the helmsman: "Go and connect with Feng Zhou!" ”

On the sealed boat, some sailors saw the intention of the sand boat and reported: "They want to come, do they want to mention people?" ”

Ma Xianglin grabbed in front of Liu Shimin and said: "Mention, mention, the one at the helm, you slow down, otherwise how can the brothers put the soft ladder?" ”

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