Eighteen drummers beat the drums, and to the rumbling of the drums, the chief shipwright commanded the soldiers to remove the giant logs that supported the giant ship one by one.

Every time a support is removed, there is a cheer in the field.

When all the support had been withdrawn and the cheers were at their peak, the giant ship had only slid a little before stopping.

The scene was silent, and everyone looked at the general.

But seeing Ashikaga Yoshimitsu calmly said: "Don't panic, the weight of the giant ship is too large, and the bottom of the ship is flat, so it's normal that you can't slide down." ”

"So what to do?" The crowd asked.

"General Ben has long thought about it, so he chose to build a ship in this position." Ashikaga shogun shook the paper fan proudly, looking like he was holding a pearl of wisdom.

Lake Biwa resembles an inverted lute, with the water wider and narrower the further north and south as it goes. When I arrived at the Tang Bridge, it was already as thin as a river, otherwise there would be no way to build a bridge across it.

In this way, the slipway is built on the east bank of the river, and it can also be pulled on the west bank of the river with a rope.

The crowd saw five thick ropes thrown down the side of the ship, and a small boat caught it in the lake. The soldiers then rowed the rope to the west bank to connect the herd that had been prepared long ago.

Twenty cows were divided into five groups, each of which was connected by a beam to which ropes were attached.

At the officer's command, the soldiers waved their whips together, urging the cattle to move forward together, stretching the ropes straight.

But despite the full strength of the twenty oxen, the giant ship remained unmoved.

"Twenty more!" Ashikaga Yoshimitsu gave an order, and the soldiers hurriedly connected five rows of cattle with a log.

In this way, the weight was increased until eighty cows, and the huge ship finally moved slowly with a loud creaking sound.

"Good!" Ashikaga Yoshimitsu waved his hand excitedly and said, "Add the last twenty heads!" ”

The monarchs and ministers of the Northern Dynasty and the guardian daimyo were also completely forgetful, shouting regardless of the image, cheering up a hundred cows, and the atmosphere in the field reached a boiling point!

In the end, under the desperate pull of a hundred oxen, the huge battleship finally fell down the slope and fell heavily into the water!

The huge splash of water continued, wetting all the people on the Tang Bridge. But no one cared, everyone screamed excitedly, they jumped and jumped, venting their joy in their hearts, and almost collapsed the bridge.

However, when the splash fell, the cheers on the bridge became quieter. Instead, there was the sound of hissing gasps.

Because they found that the huge ship was gone......

"Where's my ship, what about that big ship?!" Ashikaga Yoshimitsu also noticed the abnormality, his eyes were about to pop out, and he roared hoarsely, "Where did you get my ship?!" ”

The Tang Bridge was completely silent, and everyone's eyes widened, searching the surface of the lake, and it was soon clear that the giant ship had indeed entered the water, but it disintegrated the moment it entered the water.

After the ship disintegrated, all parts of the ship fell into the water, which is why it made such a big splash for so long.

The wreckage of the ship's hull floating on the surface of the lake is proof of this.

In particular, the castle tower, which is carved and painted, and which is also inserted to meet the banner of the Rijia 'two leads and two', was originally built on the deck of a giant ship, but now it is floating horizontally in the water.

"Anyway, it's really going into the water." Looking at Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's eggplant-colored face, His Majesty the Emperor said quietly, happy.

The others didn't dare to say a word, lest they become the general's punching bag.

"Get out! Get out! Ashikaga Yoshimitsu glared fiercely at the emperor and roared to drive everyone away, and he himself sat in a sedan chair and left Lake Biwa without looking back.

~~

As soon as he returned to the palace, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was shut up, and it took ten days to see Hatakeyama Kikuni.

The maid gently pushed open the shoji door, and Hatakeyama Kikuni bowed in, and saw his lord lying in the arms of several black-toothed and white-faced beauties, drinking wine and listening to the shamisen with open arms. The sense of depression is directly full.

"General, cheer up!" Hatakeyama Kikuni was so shocked that he hurriedly reminded: "The great cause has not yet been accomplished, and we must not be defeated by a temporary setback!" ”

"It's not a momentary setback," said the handsome young general, whose face was full of misanthropy, and wept to the accompaniment of the shamisen, "It's a hurdle that will never be overcome, Kikoku." ”

"It's not that serious, it's the first time we've built such a big ship, and failure is inevitable. Summarize the lessons and reinvent it! The young family boss cheered the general loudly.

"You don't understand." Ashikaga Yoshimitsu shook his head and said, "In the past ten days, those shipwrights have investigated the reason for the failure. ”

After a pause, he pointed and said: "Our wood is not hard enough, our ship has no keel, it is only made of thick planks, and it cannot support such a large hull at all." If it weren't for the logs, they would have fallen apart when they were built,"

Saying that, his sad tears were about to fall: "There's no need to bother studying the cannon, as soon as the cannon is installed, it can shatter the ......."

"None of this can be solved?" Kikuni Hatakeyama asked in a low voice.

"There's no way." Ashikaga Yoshimitsu muttered, "There is no timber to build big ships in the whole of Japan, and there are no shipwrights who know how to build big ships, so it's useless to just draw a scoop with a gourd......"

"As long as you know where the problem is, why don't you solve it little by little?" In order to make the lord no longer depressed, Hatakeyama Kikoku did not pour cold water and poured chicken soup instead. "No matter how far away it is, if you advance a little bit every day, won't you get a little closer to your goal?"

"You don't understand." Ashikaga Yoshiman said in frustration: "Well, actually, I don't understand. The previous group of shipwrights were bragging and tortured before admitting that building a treasure ship like the Ming Army requires hundreds of types of work to work together to complete, and we just try to find a few shipwrights from the Ming Dynasty, but it's useless. ”

"......" Hatakeyama Kikuni was also silent, and it really couldn't be solved.

"Then we have to face reality, General." After a while, he said in a deep voice: "The Ming army has already reached the Seto Inland Sea, and if we don't find a way to retreat from the enemy, the pressure on the government and the opposition will be too great." Those powerful daimyo who surrendered so easily will definitely be demons again. ”

"Hmm." Ashikaga Yoshimitsu nodded, closed his eyes painfully and said, "Accept the conditions of the Ming army." ”

"But General, it's not the same three anymore." Hatakeyama Kikuni said bitterly: "Every time we drag on for a while, Ming Guo will add one more, and now it is a full ten." Moreover, Article 4 also stipulates that for every day we delay, we shall compensate them an additional 1,000,000 taels of silver for their military expenses. It's been three months......"

"Sell me and pay them for it!" Ashikaga Yoshimitsu smashed the wine glass and said impotently, "What did you guys do earlier?!" ”

"It was the general who instructed Spo to delay time." Hatakeyama Kikuni said depressedly: "The general said that as long as we build a huge ship, we can counterattack, and Spo's pen has worked hard to drag it to today's ......"

"......" Ashikaga Yoshimitsu held back for a long time, and held back two sentences: "Why don't you advise?" It's all your courtiers' fault! ”

Kikuni Hatakeyama was so angry that he vomited blood on the spot.

(End of chapter)