The rain was still falling, and the raindrops were falling on the courtyard, on the roof tiles, and the water lines flowed down the dripping eaves.

At the time of the lantern, the catfish boy took Liu Guan into the hall of Emperor Chongwen, and then quietly retreated and closed the door. Liu Guan knelt down and bowed, and said: "Long live the minister Liu Guan, the minister has something important to report." ”

Emperor Chongwen was draped in a light robe, revealing a white middle coat, and he raised his hand weakly to signal Liu Guan to be flat.

Liu Guan stood up, lowered his head and said, "There is quasi-news in the Jingshi, and Queen Ma hanged herself with white silk. After King Yan entered Beijing, King Wu was demoted to King Luster, King Heng was demoted to King Huaien, and King Xu was demoted to King Huihui. Heard... I heard that King Wu and King Heng were imprisoned in Fengyang, and King Xu lived in the cemetery of Emperor Xiaoming. That, that Emperor Xiaoming was also demoted to Prince Yiwen, His Royal Highness King Yan is really... Damn it. ”

King Xu, King Heng, and King Xu were Chongwen's three half-brothers, and Emperor Xiaoming was Chongwen's father Sun Jun, who died young, that is, the eldest brother of King Yan. After Emperor Chongwen succeeded to the throne, he posthumously crowned his father as Emperor Xiaoming, and now King Yan usurped the throne, canceled Sun Jun's emperor title, and changed it to Prince Hejian.

Although Chongwen knew that King Yan would definitely deal with his brothers, he still felt that his heart was like a knife, and he coughed violently, and it took a long time to calm down.

Liu Guan stood silently, waiting for Emperor Chongwen to gradually calm down before continuing: "The veteran general Ou Bingwen was convicted, and the concubine of the horse Ou Rong sat to death, and the princess of Jiangdu was demoted to the county lord and confined to the house, I heard that she was seriously ill. ”

Princess Jiangdu is Chongwen's eldest sister, Emperor Chongwen was the most loved by his eldest sister when he was young, and now it is like this, Chongwen can't help but burst into tears, he knows that the person he loves the most is finished.

Liu Guan continued to say ruthlessly: "In the midst of the war, the prince did not know what to do, King Huai was only 2 years old, and I heard that he was also deposed as a concubine and handed over to the late King Wu to raise, but fortunately, his life was worry-free for the time being. ”

Chongwen wiped away the tears from his face and still didn't speak.

Liu Guan suddenly raised his head and said: "The minister is a martial artist, vulgar and unliterate, and does not know the righteousness of the Spring and Autumn Period. But for ... For the sake of flesh and blood, Your Majesty can't fall into ambition, always... You have to save them. ”

Chongwen raised his hands and covered his face weakly, it was unbearable to be cold from a high place, and how painful it was to fall from a high place, only he could understand the taste of each.

After a long time, Emperor Chongwen waved his hand and signaled Liu Guan to retreat.

Liu Guan was still standing there, and said stubbornly: "Hundreds of ministers' clansmen are also in the hands of His Royal Highness King Yan, and the ministers know that His Majesty is in pain, but he must escape from Zhongzhou first before he can recover his plan." The ministers and others privately planned that only by rushing out of the sea could they escape from the snare of King Yan. If God does not bless the ministers, the ministers will die in the sea with His Majesty. ”

Emperor Chongwen suddenly slammed his fist on the case, and roared angrily: "Why didn't Liu Mingshan come to see me?!"

Liu Guan was dumbfounded, he couldn't imagine that Emperor Chongwen, who had been stuffy like a gourd for so long, actually opened his mouth and the first thing he said was to accuse the person who saved him from the great involvement, this, how could this be the emperor's mental trick?

He didn't know that he had misunderstood Emperor Chongwen, and Emperor Chongwen, whose family was ruined, only wanted revenge for a while, and besides Liu Mingshan's naval army, what other strength could he rely on? And Liu Mingshan was obviously greedy for life and afraid of death, and refused to raise troops for him to rebel against the imperial court.

He said this in a moment of anger, and then he regretted it. Chongwen immediately realized that he was no longer the Great Kang Heavenly Son who looked down on all beings, Liu Mingshan had no obligation to hit a stone with an egg for him, and relying on the strong was the law of survival in a barbarian society.

He understood too late, in fact, whether it was Chen Xuan or Li Jinglong, they could all become loyal ministers, and Liu Mingshan could also be, provided that he himself was the winner, just like his grandfather Emperor Gao.

And he is not, in a barbarian society, there is no natural king. He only has a few guards in his hands who accompany him to the end of the world, even these few people, he can't give them anything, they are even more willing to obey Liu Li and Liu Guan, at least the Liu brothers gave them a place to hide, gave them a possible way out, what is he in their eyes?

Liu Guan knelt down slowly, and said bitterly: "Zhenhaiwei commanded Liu Mingshan, every move is in plain sight, even among these thousands of households, it is difficult to say whether there is a fine work of the Son of Yongji." When he comes here, he may expose His Majesty's hiding and bring unspeakable disasters, so he is cautious in his words and deeds, also to protect Long live. ”

Chongwen was silent for a long time, and finally waved his hand weakly and said, "Just do as you say." ”

On July 26, the 34th year of Shenwu, the silent Wusong Thousand Households were boiling, and more than 300 large and small warships from the four Thousand Households of Zhenhaiwei gathered to Wusong Port, stacked one after another, and the sails were like mountains, covering the sky and the sun.

On the wharf, groups of red-clothed soldiers put on their helmets and armor, and after assembling the whole team, they boarded the ship under the orders of officers at all levels. Groups of auxiliaries in green clothes were carrying supplies, food and drinking water, medicine and arrows, vegetables, fruits and bacon, and countless other marine materials such as tung oil, lime, ramie, cables, iron nails, and so on.

From the pier, the tallest is a five-masted Fuku. According to Dakang's calculation, this Fufang called a thousand-material warship, with a load of 5,500 stones, or 660,000 catties. The ship was as tall as a building, with a wide bottom and a high tail and a gun bed in the bow, and the muzzles of the black holes were chilling. Under the bow waterline are steel horns, like the steel teeth of a sea beast.

Looking up, on the third deck is the anchor room, with arm-thick chains hanging down into the depths of the water. The stern tower is three floors, surrounded by thick parapets and gun emplacements, and looks impregnable. The amidships have four decks, the top of which is the sail control and battle deck, which is densely covered with side straps that hold the sail canopy. The five main masts that the two of them hugged were towering into the sky, and the canopy in the ingot mooring state was all lowered, and you could see the thick sail ropes like spider webs, but you couldn't see the battle flag, you didn't need to see the battle flag, everyone knew that this was the ship of the Zhenhaiwei commander.

Guarding this majestic warship are more than 20 500 material blessings. However, in front of the flagship, these No. 2 Fufu are not even little brothers, they can only be regarded as sons. In the harbor lined up are 4 hundred sentinel ships, 3 hundred sea cangs, 2 hundred bird ships, in addition to sailors and helmsmen, bird ships can also accommodate 30 soldiers. There are more than 200 of these warships, and various sampans shuttle to various berths, responsible for police beeping, communications, transportation, reconnaissance and other tasks.

In the early morning mist, 6 or 7 men came to the port area with a pale young man and hurriedly walked up a bird boat along the trestle. This bird ship has more than 300 materials, the board is 5-inch old material, the key parts are reinforced with iron bars, there are ramming angles underwater, and there are gun emplacements on the upper deck, which looks mighty and light.

An officer came up, clenched his fists, and said to Chongwen: "Mark the hundred households of Wusong to try a hundred households Bai Jie, Xi is the captain of this ship, and he will be dispatched by Sun Daguan." ”

Chongwen nodded expressionlessly, this was the first time he had seen the sea, the first time he had boarded a warship, and he was a little overwhelmed.

Bai Jie turned to Liu Guan and said: "The father of the mark is the red head under the official account of the late Quguo, and this ship is ordered by the commander to serve Brother Guan from now on." ”

Li Qiqian suddenly pointed at Bai Jie and said, "I remember, you are here to rescue our guy in Hushu Pass." ”

Bai Jie said: "Bai Song, the official of Wusong Qianhu Town, is the younger brother. ”

Liu Guan said coldly: "In this case, now I am the captain of this ship. Bai Jie, you are now the ship's Aban, in charge of the sails and masts. Huang Qian, you are the Minister of Finance, in charge of the direct treasury. Ah Shun, you are the fire chief, in charge of the compass and the helm. I also serve as the captain of the ship, personally leading the third-class soldiers, leading the first-class commander, Lao Lin, you are the second-class commander, and Li Qiqian, you are a thief and a bird, and you are the third-class commander. ”

Everyone bowed down to receive the order, and shouted in unison: "Oh!"

Li Qiqian wanted to say something, Lin Yanghao pulled him and made a color, Li Qiqian suddenly remembered the words of the chief soldier, the captain of the ship was big, and the words that were not spoken were swallowed into the stomach, so he had to take the order like others.

Liu Guan continued to order: "Catfish boy, you serve Sun Daguan to board the long cabin." ”

The catfish boy bowed down to receive the order and led Chongwen to the stern.

Liu Guan pondered for a moment and said: "Huang Qian, you go to check the Zhiku, I want 1 month's grain and drinking water, and there is enough arrow medicine, especially the drinking water in the fresh water tank, if it is not enough, let the shore make up for it immediately." ”

Huang Qian took the order and left.

Liu Guan turned to Lin Yanghao and Li Qiqian and said, "Lao Lin, Lao Li, Bai Jie will take you to each armor roll call in a while to check their armor and equipment. After pulling the anchor and setting sail, the top three take turns to go to the terrace to be on guard, each shift is 4 hours. The first class was me, then Lao Lin, and finally Lao Li. ”

Lin Yanghao and Li Qiqian responded in unison: "Oh!"

Liu Guan took two steps on the deck and said, "Bai Jie, after placing the two of them, you call the two carpenters to come up." ”

Bai Jie was a calm and steady character, and he couldn't help but be surprised when he heard Liu Guan's request, he thought he hadn't heard clearly: "What?

Liu Guan looked at Bai Jie and said: "Look at the firearms on the ship, the bow of the ship is a big hair, and there are three bowls on the stern, but the gun position is dead, and the gun port is forward, what if the enemy comes from the sideboard?"

Bai Jie said: "Bird ships never fight the enemy alone, they all fight in multiple ships, covering each other's sides. ”

Liu Guan smiled mysteriously: "This time to go to sea is different, maybe we have to fight with a single ship, so the gun position can't be dead." I want a carpenter to come on board and build a four-wheeled gun carriage with a muzzle that can be pointed in any direction at any time, and I can also disembark and fight. ”

Bai Jie was full of suspicions, he didn't know where the young master would bring this boat, so he didn't dare to ask in person, so he had to give up his hand and say: "The captain is smart, I'll arrange it immediately." ”

Liu Guan waved his hand and said, "Go ahead." ”

The people around him were sent away, Liu Guan took a deep breath, the sea breeze was blowing, and the familiar sea life from his childhood came back, Liu Guan was excited and worried.

Looking around, the men were busy on the deck, tying up the ropes and checking the sails. Tsubaki was checking the spare iron anchor, and Kamito was looking around from the high mast, waiting for the flagship's orders. The wrench beckon is installing a beckon pad on the bow, the boat is in a reef area where the wind is high and the waves are strong, or the current is turbulent, and the stern rudder alone cannot guarantee the course, and a wrench is needed to help adjust the direction of the bow of the ship, just like the head fin of a fish.

Liu Guan walked to the guardrail on the side of the ship and looked in the direction of the sea through the dense mast that pierced the sky. The harbor was full of waves, and the unknown seabirds flew over the fleet, and the cry was heartbreaking. In the distance, a rainbow hangs in the air, the east rainbow wind, the west rainbow rain, the wind is about to rise, it is the season when the northwest wind prevails, and it is about to run to the sea, where is the future of the fugitives.

------------------------------------------- end of volume 1