Freshwater port.

The sound of the cannon came from the battery at the mouth of the river, and the people gathered in the harbor let out bursts of cheers, and a beautiful three-masted Ahat ship was successfully moored at the No. 1 pier of the harbor under the guidance of a sampan.

The hustle and bustle lasted for a long time, some people set off firecrackers on the pier, and the people on the boat stood on the side of the boat, waving excitedly to the people on the pier, and when they saw the familiar faces, they jumped up and down, and tears flowed in their eyes.

This is the Egret returning from the South Seas, and this ship carries too many expectations of a trading company.

Last year, she sent some sailors who wanted to return home, and now she has brought back the relatives of those who chose to stay in Tamsui, hugging and crying when they see each other.

The South Seas sailors who had been bullied in William's fleet were now in the climate, some were officers in the escort team, some were in charge of the merchant fleet, and some were trusted to work beside the top brass of the trading company, and they were uncontrollable in their excitement about the safe arrival of their families today.

In the wide area of the wharf, a tent was erected, where the people who had just come off the ship drank tea and rested and complained to each other, and when the people were almost down, Li Zhaoji boarded the Egret and came to the stern, and at the door of the VIP room he heard the cries of women and children.

Li Zhaoji grabbed Tang Mu's neck and said, "Wait a little longer." ”

The two stood at the door and rested for a long time, and when the movement inside was small, Li Zhaoji knocked on the door: "Sixth brother, can I come in?" ”

Chen Liuzi opened the door, Li Zhaoji walked in, and there were two mothers and daughters inside, and two other girls followed.

"Chunya, this is our eldest brother." Chen Liuzi hurriedly introduced Li Zhaoji to his wife.

Li Zhaoji called his younger brother and sister, and said hard work to her, but suddenly felt itchy on his legs, and saw a little girl carved in pink and jade was teasing the jade pendant on her sword, Li Zhaoji squatted down, untied the jade pendant, handed it to the little girl, and said, "Baby, is it okay to hug you." ”

The little girl held the jade pendant and looked at her mother, but was hugged into her arms by Li Zhaoji and asked, "Brother and sister, what is the name of this child." ”

"I haven't come up with a name yet, so it's better for my eldest brother to give me one."

Li Zhaoji kissed the little girl's delicate little face and said, "My jade pendant is not as beautiful as the girl's face, so let's call it Meiyu." Chen Meiyu, how is it? ”

Without waiting for the adults to speak, Chen Meiyu nodded, and with a hmm, Li Zhaoji liked her more, and got off the boat in his arms.

got into the carriage and went home, as soon as she entered the door, Gu Jinniang walked out, took Chen's hand, and said, "Sister, come and see if you are satisfied with this house?" ”

Chen Liuzi said: "Big brother, thanks to my sister-in-law, she helped me take care of it these days, otherwise, this family might not be what it looks like." ”

All kinds of furniture of the Chen family have been placed in place, the living room and bedroom have also been renovated, even the yard has been planted with flowers and plants, two cages of bamboo chickens have been raised in the corner, and a pure black puppy is lying on the side of the door.

Although Chen's in Pattani is much better than Chen Liuzi, who had no food and clothing, she is just a peasant girl, where has she ever lived in such a good house, she is very novel and satisfied with everything she sees, Gu Jinniang even prepared some dolls such as cloth tigers for the child, and also made new clothes for Chen Meiyu, which made the little girl laugh non-stop.

"Jin Niang is really attentive, your family comes, and there is indeed a lot less trouble." Li Zhaoji nodded with satisfaction, and said in his heart that his wife is knowledgeable.

Chen Liuzi said: "Big brother, my family has arrived, so go north to Nagasaki, and there is no longer any concern." ”

Five days later, Tamsui Port.

The wind blew from the southeast, but it was a stormy weather, it was almost noon, but the weather was gloomy and terrible, at the mouth of the river, four armed merchant ships lined up side by side, masts like spears, two deep into the river on the stone embankment, soldiers lined up, carrying supplies, boarded the battleship.

"Pay attention to everything, keep your feet on it, protect your ammunition and don't get wet in the rain." Liu Shun shouted.

But his voice was still overshadowed by the wind and rain, and the wind mixed with heavy raindrops smashed into his throat and the eye, beating him in the face so much that he couldn't even open his eyes.

Beside him, dozens of soldiers lined up to board the ship, everyone pulled their cloaks, and protected the arquebus, gunpowder and other things that did not dare to get wet, and many people cursed the bad weather with broken thoughts.

"Damn, this isn't a good weather to go to sea." Liu Shun listened to the sea breeze blowing the sails and ropes crackling, like a ghost howling.

But Haruki on the side said, "I think the weather is good." ”

"yes, tell me, what's good." Liu Shun asked.

"If the weather is bad, no one will come to the pier to see them off, and for us Kedagran, it's the best." Haruki's braided hair was wet from the rain and stuck to his face, with only a mouthful of white teeth, which was unexpectedly shiny.

Haruki is right, here to the north of Nagasaki, Li Zhaoji prepared four ships, the Dongfang, Lingdingdao, Bailu and Hongyan, although the Tamsui is the largest, the most cargo, but the speed is relatively slow, was left in Tamsui, between Tamsui, Manila and Macau on the triangular route.

In addition to the four armed merchant ships, 150 people were also drawn from the escort team and the volunteer team, of which 100 were from the volunteer team, and counting the soldiers in the fleet who were in charge of armament, this fleet had 200 soldiers.

The families of the volunteers are all inland, and if the weather is good, no one will see them off.

Liu Shun smiled faintly, pulled Chunshu to board the Dongfang, and after entering the cabin, there were people everywhere, and the deerskin cloak was wet from the rain and stuck to his body. The weight of weapons and supplies hurt all over the body, and many people fell on the deck after boarding the ship.

"Take care of your weapons, and all of you need to protect your weapons." Liu Shun ordered in a loud voice, and seeing Chunshu and the others unloading cold weapons such as knives and spears, he said: "This firearm is good for everything, but I am afraid of rainy days." ”

Haruki said: "Then you are wrong, all weapons are afraid of rain, but as long as the firearms are taken care of, they can also be fired in the rain, but the bow and arrow are not used in the rain." ”

Although Liu Shun is now in charge of the army, he is not from the army, and he will not use bows and arrows, so he naturally does not know the details.

Haruki said as he counted the number of people, and the team he was in charge of had already boarded the ship, and the weapons, blankets, and various utensils were ready. After he finished checking, his heart was at ease, and he said: "Liu Shun, didn't the big shopkeeper say that we went north to do business with the Japanese people, since we are doing business, why do we bring so many soldiers." ”

Liu Shun sat cross-legged on the blanket and said, "This is because we are doing a profitable business. ”

"Is there anything that doesn't make money buying and selling?" Haruki was still puzzled.

Liu Shun said: "Doing business is to make money, but there is so much money in the world, and if we make it, others will make less money." Taking away people's money is like killing parents, and those who make less money naturally hate us. And our big business affects many people, and the Zheng family in Fujian is the most affected.

Therefore, the big shopkeeper said that overseas trading must be doing business with a sword, and there is no sword in hand, where is the silver in the pocket. ”

Haruki thought to himself that this is indeed the truth, even among the Kaida Gran people, doing business depends on strength.

When everyone had boarded the ship, but the ship did not leave, hot rice and ginger soup were brought to the docks, so that the soldiers of the expedition could enjoy a good meal after the wind and rain.

On the stern of the Dongfang, Li Zhaoji looked at the dock that had disappeared far away, gradually turning into a black shadow, he knew that today was not a good time to open, but he had to come according to the plan.

Originally, the fleet would have departed in April, but Chen Huaiyu had bought a water flag in Fujian for May, and other affairs of the trading company had been delayed for a long time, so Li Zhaoji had to hurry up and leave before the typhoon-prone season arrived.

"Sixth brother, this rain is not a good sign." Li Zhaoji said to Chen Liuzi, who had finished arranging the formation and approached him.

Chen Liuzi stretched out his hand and let the raindrops fall on his palm, he said; "Big brother, look, when this rain falls, it can only splash a splash in the palm of your hand. It's better than a rain of arrows and bullets, and when that thing falls, it's a blood spark. ”

Li Zhaoji said: "But we went to Nagasaki to trade, didn't we, to do business, to do business, what we want is smooth and smooth sailing." ”

"That's what a serious trader thinks." Chen Liuzi said with a smile.

Li Zhaoji laughed, and said in his heart that he attached too much importance to going to Nagasaki to trade, so that he was worried, and he joked: "The sixth brother means that I am not serious." ”

Chen Liuzi said: "The eldest brother pays attention to people and conquers the sky. ”

Li Zhaoji nodded: "You're right, whether it goes well or not is not up to God, it's up to me to control it." ”

In addition to the wind and rain, the first ten days were quite calm, and the fleet took advantage of the southwest wind, crossed the Taiwan Strait, and began to sail along the coastline of the southeast coast, all the way densely covered with islands, but the fleet included sailors who were familiar with this needle road, and every island, every high mountain on the land, in their eyes, was a marker to guide the course.

But on board the Vostok, there were English navigators who taught European sailing skills, many of whom were immigrants from Macao, and they were no strangers to it.

The voyage was a little lonely, but the sailors on the ship were never sullen people, and whenever they had their spare time, there were people singing and dancing, although the fleet encountered wind and rain when they set sail, but all the way was extremely smooth.

"How's it going, is it in the right place?"

Just now, in the area of Miaozi Island, which the sailors mentioned, the fleet met some fishermen, bought a lot of fresh food from them, and also confirmed the news from their mouths, and not only determined the correct location, but also heard from the fishermen that seven days ago, a foreign fleet did pass by here, four boats, one large and three small, and some of them were in small boats with Fujian accents.

"Fetch the charts."

Tang Mu spread out the chart, the islands in the eastern part of Zhejiang jumped on the paper, there are islands everywhere, hundreds of large and small, sprinkled on the East China Sea like a pearl, Miaozi Island, where the fleet is located, is located on the periphery of the Zhoushan Islands, and Langgang Island, which was agreed with Zheng Sen, is only a one-day voyage.

Nalanggang Island is located on the outermost part of the archipelago, and it is a good place to kill people and sell goods, whether it is an ocean voyage or an offshore voyage. If you go north, it is the Shengsi Islands where pirates gather, and if you go south, it is the place where Zhoushan will participate in the generals, and official ships are frequent.

According to Zheng Sen, he would find a way to drag the Friesian fleet there until the 14th of May, and it was already the 11th of May.

"Very well, time is pressing, we must set off at once, and when the Dutch fleet is destroyed, we will talk about resting." Li Zhaoji said to Chen Liuzi.

Chen Liuzi said, "No, we should leave four hours late, so that when we get there, it will be morning." But the two ships of the volley were supposed to depart two hours in advance. ”

Li Zhaoji thought for a moment and nodded slightly: "It's okay, sixth brother, you take the Hongyan and the White Heron, and leave the rest to me." ”

"Okay, the key is the announcement ship." Chen Liuzi reminded again.

There were two ships in the Fries' fleet, the Castellcous, which was a Yahat, and the Rose, a sloop.

The Castelliku was slightly larger than the Wild Goose, but it was also more or less similar, with the trading company's ships being able to run faster with their advanced sails, while the Rose was light and swift, and the sloop was the favorite ship of the pirates of the Caribbean, which showed its speed.

Only by controlling the Rose can the Fries' fleet not escape.