That night, Zhu Zhen left the palace.

Then with the warrant of the prince, he called open the Jinchuan Gate and came to the Longjiang Bao Shipyard.

He slept for half a night in the shipyard, and on the third watch, his eldest cousin asked him to get up.

Zhu Zhen dressed neatly for breakfast, and came to the dock outside the shipyard surrounded by guards.

At this time, it was not yet four watches, the sky and the earth were pitch black, but the docks were brightly lit, and the ten newly entered warships of the city fleet were ready to go.

Yu Tongyuan and Liao Dingguo led the generals to wait on the dock for a long time, and the river breeze in mid-autumn was already a little cool, but their hearts were hot.

The soldiers looked forward to it day and night, and finally looked forward to this day......

~~

Previously, they had received letters from the pirates, demanding a huge ransom within a month, or they would kill one person a day.

However, the one-month time is obviously too tight, and excluding the time to hurry, there is no time to maintain and repair the ten warships of the Bao Shipyard and enter the sea trial, not to mention the installation of guns and training and running-in.

But this is not difficult for His Royal Highness the King of Chu, His Royal Highness has an operation.

Zhu Zhen asked Mr. Luo to write back to Haikou, not only expressing his willingness to pay the ransom, but also offering that as long as they did not abuse the captured crew members and guaranteed that they could all return safely, the king could pay double the ransom!

The main thing is a heroism. Anyway, there is a vote paid by the local tyrant behind bars......

At the same time, Zhu Zhen also proposed that the 5 million copper coins were too heavy, and at least 700 carts should be pulled by ox carts, so he suggested that gold should be used for payment instead.

I don't know how Haikou reacted when he received the letter, anyway, he stunned Yu Tongyuan and Liao Dingguo's gang first. They have been in the army for half their lives, and they feel that they have long seen through the things in the army. It is said that the commander should love his soldiers like a son, but who really takes the lives of his subordinates seriously?

One by one, they were moved, and they all said in private that they were desperate and had no choice but to take refuge in a child. Unexpectedly, my father and brother were blessed by the spirit of heaven, and they actually let them meet the master. So he secretly made up his mind that no matter whether the rescue was successful or not, he would follow His Highness in this life.

A month later, they received a reply from the pirates, and the pirates were delighted. Even because of His Highness's generosity, even his tone has become much more humble.

They said that as soon as they received the letter, they stopped the 'forced labor' of all their crew members and treated the wounded and sick, but the dozens of people who died before could only be returned to the corpses.

In addition, Haikou deeply agreed with His Highness's proposal to replace copper with gold, and apologized for his lack of knowledge. Therefore, the original January schedule was cancelled and the delivery was changed to two months later, near Bird and Flower Island in the northern part of Hangzhou Bay.

Zhu Zhen wrote back to agree.

After going back and forth, I bought an extra month. Everyone worked day and night, hurrying and hurrying, and finally completed all the preparations for the expedition before the Mid-Autumn Festival.

~~

"Your Highness!" Yu Tongyuan and others neatly saluted the prince who was riding a bull.

Zhu Zhen supported the back of the ox and jumped down from the 'Lamborghini'.

With a bang, His Royal Highness the King of Chu forgot that he was wearing heavy armor, and he didn't pay attention to one of his subordinates.

Fortunately, the eldest cousin was quick and helped His Highness, so he didn't make a fool of himself.

Zhu Zhen straightened the swallow-winged golden helmet on his head, coughed and asked, "Are you ready?" ”

"Back to Your Highness, everything is ready!" Yu Tongyuan pretended not to see His Highness's mistake, and raised his head and said loudly.

"Alright, let's go." After Zhu Zhen finished speaking lightly, he held the seven-star sword at his waist and walked towards the gangway.

"Your Highness, you don't have to go." Yu Tongyuan hurriedly followed up and persuaded: "The guns have no eyes, and the naval battle is more dangerous than the foot battle!" Your Highness's golden body, how can you risk your life?! ”

"How many cannons are there in Haikou?" Zhu Zhen actually had an ideological struggle, whether to go into battle in person or not.

With his original character, safety must come first. But Xu was subtly influenced by his brothers, and he began to feel that he couldn't always shrink back. You have to go into battle when it's time to go into battle, otherwise how can you gain the allegiance of the soldiers?

In addition, there is a reason to say it to scare people to death, so that he has to be on board. But because it scares people to death, I can't say it for the time being.

"They really don't have a few guns, but they have to be on guard." Yu Tongyuan persuaded bitterly.

"In case of emergency, this king will choke to death if he drinks water." Zhu Zhen said angrily: "I'm afraid of this, I'm afraid of that, I'll just wipe my neck directly." ”

"But the battlefield ...... It's dangerous. Yu Tongyuan said helplessly.

"Nan Anhou, listen." Zhu Zhen stood still and said: "This king is not for heroes, but because I proposed the new tactics." And I haven't used it before, if I don't get on the boat, the soldiers will definitely muttered in their hearts, can this method of war work, the king of Chu won't be on paper, right? ”

"......" Yu Tongyuan was speechless, because His Highness had spoken.

The time was too tight, and they only practiced for ten days, only practiced the formation, and did not fire a single shot on the ship at all......

This is because one is to keep it secret, and the other is that there are not enough shells and gunpowder in a hurry, so they can only save it for use on the battlefield. Therefore, the gunners relied on dry comparisons, simulated training, and silent artillery.

Therefore, it is inevitable that there is a lack of confidence from top to bottom, and if it is not for the rescue of comrades, the soldiers may even refuse to be promoted.

"So this time the king must get on the boat, and the soldiers will have confidence when they know that I am here. And confidence is the key to winning any war! After Zhu Zhen finished speaking, he walked up the gangway without looking back.

"Your Highness......" Behind him, there was a hesitant voice from Nan'an Hou.

"What's wrong again?!" Zhu Zhen was completely impatient.

"I'm on the wrong boat. The flagship is that one. Yu Tongyuan caught up with him and whispered.

"Uh......" The sixth man blushed and coughed, "This king will get on this boat first and visit the brothers, do you have any opinions?" ”

"No, no." Yu Tongyuan hurriedly shook his head and said, "My subordinates will accompany His Highness to inspect." ”

~~

The soldiers were pleasantly surprised by His Highness's arrival.

When he heard that the king of Chu was still on the expedition with them, he was even more happy. The doubts in my heart were instantly thrown out of the clouds, and the morale was visibly higher with the naked eye.

The soldiers' cognition is very simple, the life of the prince is much more expensive than them, and the sum of their boatload is not as valuable as His Royal Highness.

Therefore, His Highness dared to get on the ship, which shows that he has absolute confidence in his new tactics, rather than a whim and talking on paper. In this way, everyone will naturally feel much more at ease.

When he came, Zhu Zhen inspected the source of his confidence - the bronze cannons he had installed at great expense.

In order to keep it secret and to protect the expensive cannons, the carpenters of the Treasure Shipyard also created a cassette for each cannon. At this time, a cannon lay quietly in a wooden box, and no one could guess what was inside.

looked at the lonely Zhu Zhen, and communicated with the gunner again. Because there were too many guns and not enough gunners, it was impossible to have a gun crew for each gun, as he expected. Rather, an artillery crew was responsible for the left and right guns.

"Fortunately, there are still a few when the two cannons are fired at the same time." Liao Dingguo sneered: "If there is really such a time, just let the sailors come over and help carry the shells." ”

"Good fellows." Zhu Zhen said in his heart when he heard this, this old Liao is really a natural capitalist. He smiled at the gunners: "If he goes home to the local master, you must not go to his house to carry the work, otherwise you will die of exhaustion." ”

"What the prince said is that we wrote it down." The gunners laughed.

In the midst of talking and laughing, ten warships pulled anchors and raised their sails one after another, and in the faintly bright morning light, they went east along the rolling Yangtze River.

(End of chapter)