Han Du looked at the towering tree in front of him, his eyes widened, and he said dissatisfied: "Are you kidding, this is red sandalwood? Can red sandalwood grow so big? If red sandalwood grows so big, how many years will it take to grow? Three thousand years. .....Or five thousand years?”
Zhu Biao was also stunned when he saw it, but he agreed with Han Du that this was probably not red sandalwood. If it were red sandalwood, it would be too exaggerated.
Fu Yong lowered his head and smiled bitterly, "The Crown Prince and the Marquis did not dare to expire, and the common people did not believe it when they first saw it. But the common people have a steward who loves all kinds of precious wood very much, and is very interested in exploring all kinds of precious wood. Deep. This was also the first place he discovered, and he also gave the grassroots a piece of evidence."
"What evidence?" Han Du asked immediately.
Zhu Biao also looked at Fu Yong with a puzzled expression.
Fu Yong quickly took out a cloth bag from his arms and opened it layer by layer, revealing a piece of wood in his hand. "He cut this from the tree here. Your Highness, the Marquis, please take a look."
Zhu Biao reached out and picked up the piece of wood and looked through it twice. After just two glances, the look on his face suddenly became surprised, "This, this does look like red sandalwood. But is the red sandalwood so tall?"
Zhu Biao raised his head in confusion and looked at the towering tree in front of him.
Han Du took the wood piece from Zhu Biao's hand and after looking at it for a few times, he felt that it looked very similar to red sandalwood.
"Are these really red sandalwood?" Zhu Biao looked at Han Du with some uncertainty.
Han Du bit his teeth and said viciously: "You will know if you cut down one tree. Wang Heng!"
"The general is here." Wang Heng immediately bowed and clasped his fists.
"Go and mobilize five hundred soldiers immediately. By the way, ask them to bring the guys who cut down the trees."
"As you command, I will come as soon as I leave." Wang Heng immediately turned around and left quickly.
He listened carefully to the conversation between His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the Marquis just now. He is also eager to know whether these towering giant trees are red sandalwood. If it is really red sandalwood, you will make a fortune.
As long as the navy is rich, every Handu will have different rewards for the soldiers. Even if it's not a reward, when cutting down these giant trees, some branches must be removed, right? Don't underestimate these branches. Wang Heng saw it just now. Many of the branches of these towering trees are thicker than the trunk of an ordinary red sandalwood tree.
And rosewood is a treasure regardless of its thickness. Of course, the thicker the rosewood, the more valuable it is. But fine rosewood also has its value. It can be said that it can be made into some small wooden boxes. Even the thick ones like chopsticks are useful. It can be made into the holder of a writing brush, which is also valuable.
The five hundred soldiers were all powerful and powerful, swinging their axes to chop down the huge tree trunks again and again. Soon, a big tree was chopped down.
Han Du and Zhu Biao stood in the distance. When they saw the trees falling, they couldn't wait to step forward.
After a careful inspection, Han Du looked up at Zhu Biao, nodded and sighed: "It is indeed red sandalwood."
After Zhu Biao looked at it, he nodded in agreement with Han Du's words.
Han Du looked at the thick and straight tree trunk that fell to the ground, and couldn't help but said to himself: "The bigger the red sandalwood is, the more valuable it is, and the bigger it is, the more big things can be made. How much is such a big red sandalwood worth?" "
These words made Zhu Biao silent. Even he didn't know how much such a piece of red sandalwood could be worth. Suddenly, he saw Zhu Biao and Fu Yong looking at him, obviously wanting him to give a rough price.
Zhu Biao pursed his lips immediately and said, "Don't look at me, I don't know how much this one is worth."
Seeing the disappointment in their eyes, Zhu Biao paused and said, "As far as Gu knows, my father's dragon bed is made entirely of rosewood, not even Gu's."
Han Du suddenly became happy. No matter how he looked at it, the value of such red sandalwood was far beyond his imagination. But there are so many here...
Han Du raised his head and looked at the vast expanse of forest. If these were all red sandalwood, "Then why would I travel tens of thousands of miles away? Cutting these red sandalwood back would be enough to make a fortune."
Fu Yong on the side listened and nodded in agreement. Although he makes a lot of money from sea trade, the biggest transactions he has made in so long are still no-cost transactions like this.
Looking at the vast red sandalwood forest, Han Du sent people to chop down more than a dozen trees at once. Just as he was about to continue cutting, he was stopped by Zhu Biao.
"A dozen trees are enough. Who do you plan to sell them to after you return to Beijing? Besides, even if you cut down the trees, how are you going to transport them back?"
The fleet originally came back full of Western-style equipment, and now the available load capacity is very limited. It is good to be able to transport a dozen red sandalwood sticks back, but there is really no way to transport more.
A dozen red sandalwood trees are really nothing compared to a drop in the bucket for this forest. Han Du's hard work of cutting down was like scratching the itch of the forest.
Han Du wanted to cut down all these red sandalwood trees in one fell swoop, but his strength did not allow him to do so, so he could only leave with a dozen huge red sandalwood trees in anger.
When the fleet set sail, Han Du couldn't help but look back in the direction of the red sandalwood forest.
Zhu Biao looked a little dissatisfied, smiled and joked: "Well, those red sandalwoods have been growing there for so many years, and no one has touched them. Are you still worried that someone will steal them? Besides, there is also the Governor The palace is guarding it, no one can steal it."
After Han Du heard this, he had to leave just like that no matter how unwilling he was.
The fleet sailed all the way to the southeast, and soon saw the long islands of Sumatra again.
Zhu Biao stood on the bow of the ship and watched the fleet sailing forward. The farther forward, the narrower the islands on both sides became. After observing it carefully for a moment, he praised: "As you said, this is indeed a very important pass."
Han Du nodded, looked at the island that was about to appear in the middle of the strait, and said: "As long as the Ming Dynasty occupies this place, then whoever wants to enter Nanyang must open this strait. On the contrary, if this place is occupied by outsiders, then Their entry into Nanyang will be unimpeded, and the Thirty-three Governor's Mansions on the countless islands in Nanyang will all be under the enemy's military front."
"Yes, this place is like a Great Wall, dividing overseas and Nanyang." Zhu Biao nodded, "I understand. When I go back, I will report to my father and implore my father to establish a water stronghold here. No matter what, We must also keep this strait firmly in the hands of Ming Dynasty."
Han Du nodded immediately. Since Zhu Biao had such an idea, the matter of establishing a fortress in the strait was stable. Even if Lao Zhu disagrees, he will definitely order to build a fortress here after Zhu Biao ascends the throne.
Finally seeing the old port again, whether it was Zhu Biao, Han Du or Tang Ding, everyone's faces were filled with the long-lost feeling. Originally, I wanted to take a good rest in the old port. After all, they had sailed for nearly 20,000 miles, and both Han Du and others, as well as the navy officers, were exhausted.
But the warship had just docked at the port. As soon as Han Du and others got off the warship, they saw Wang Yuanji who was already waiting on the plank road.
"Your Majesty, Wang Yuanji, pays homage to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, the Marquis of Zhenhai, the Marquis of Suyi..."
"Excuse me, why are you here?" Zhu Biao looked at Wang Yuanji and asked curiously.
Wang Yuanji raised his head and said with a wry smile: "I didn't come here, but..."
Before Wang Yuanji could finish speaking, a young eunuch carrying his robe hurriedly ran over from a distance.
Han Du was obviously surprised when he saw the eunuch. This is in Old Port, thousands of miles away from the capital. Why would the eunuch come here? Suddenly, Han Du suddenly thought of something, and his expression suddenly changed.
Zhu Biao obviously thought of it, and his expression suddenly became solemn. There is only one possibility for the eunuch to appear here, and that is that he was sent by his father.
And since Lao Zhu sent eunuchs here, it was probably because something big happened in the capital, and he couldn't even wait for himself and others to return to the capital, so he had to send eunuchs here.
"My slave, I pay homage to Your Highness, my slave..." The eunuch came to Zhu Biao and immediately knelt down in a hurry.
Before the eunuch could finish speaking, Zhu Biao's face darkened, he waved his hand to interrupt him and asked, "What happened in the capital?"
"Capital? Nothing happened in the capital. Everything is fine." The eunuch was confused by Zhu Biao's question.
Hearing that nothing happened in the capital, Zhu Biao felt nervous, thinking that there was something wrong with Lao Zhu, so he sent the eunuch here so eagerly. "What about father?"
"In response to your highness, everything is well with you, your highness. Please don't worry," the eunuch replied quickly.
Seeing the eunuch's calm expression, Zhu Biao immediately felt relieved, and then asked curiously: "Since there is nothing going on in the capital and my father is fine, what are you doing here?"
Only then did the eunuch react. His Royal Highness asked him two questions in succession, but he almost forgot about his imperial order. He quickly bowed to Zhu Biao and replied: "Replying to His Highness the Crown Prince, the Emperor was worried about His Highness' comfort, so he sent his servants to look for His Highness. And the Emperor has an order for His Highness to return to the capital as soon as possible. Now that I see His Highness, my heart is filled with joy. Put it back in your stomach. This is the emperor's handwriting, please read it."
After speaking, the eunuch took out a letter from his arms and presented it to Zhu Biao with both hands.
Zhu Biao reached out and took it, opened it and saw that it was indeed his father's handwriting. There is only one sentence in the handwriting: after Zhu Biao sees the handwriting, no matter where he is, there should be no delay at all, and he must set off immediately and return to Beijing as soon as possible.
Between the lines of the handwriting, Zhu Biao could still feel the urgency in his father's heart when he originally wrote the handwriting.
After pondering for a moment, Zhu Biao suddenly closed the oracle, turned to Han Du and said, "I'm afraid we don't have time to rest. We order the fleet to hurry up and replenish fresh water and food, so that we can return to the capital in the shortest possible time."
"I obey." Although Han Du didn't know what happened, he obeyed Zhu Biao's order without hesitation.
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