It is as tall as a mountain, floating on the waves, with a brocade sail and a bird's head, yielding to the dragon.
Looking up at the approaching behemoth, even Zhao Mengqi was amazed. This was definitely the largest ship in the world.
During the reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty, in order to go to Korea as an envoy, he ordered Mingzhou to build two Dendrobium ships. In the Song Dynasty, one Dendrobium was worth five buckets, and two Dendrobiums were one stone. The Wanhu ships were actually five thousand material ships.
When it came to Song Huizong, who liked "Fengheng Yuda", he felt that this was not enough to show his strength, so he ordered Mingzhou to build two even larger ships, called "Shenzhou".
When he went to Goryeo as an envoy, he also hired six 2,000-ton boats called "guest boats". They were more than ten feet long, two feet and five feet wide, and three feet deep. All the shape data of the Shenzhou boats were the same as those of the passenger boats. times, the load reached more than 20,000 stone.
The appearance of the Shenzhou is roughly the same as that of the passenger ship, because the Song Dynasty created the shipbuilding technology of ship model setting out, which is to first make a small ship model to experiment with the ship shape, and then enlarge it in proportion. The size is enlarged three times, and the theoretical volume is enlarged twenty-seven times. A little smaller actually.
The divine boat in front of Zhao Mengqi was naturally not from Huizong's time, but was ordered to be rebuilt by Ning Zong in the twelfth year of Jiading.
At that time, there was a fierce war between the Song and Jin Dynasties. The war affected all areas from the upper reaches to the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The situation was very tense for a time. Some ministers suggested building such a large ship. The purpose was not stated clearly, but everyone knew it.
As soon as the Shenzhou was built, Ning Zong died. After Zhao Yun succeeded to the throne, he found out about this and felt that he was well prepared, so he ordered Qingyuan Mansion, which was the former Mingzhou, to take good care of it and ensure that it would be available at any time.
After Zhao Mengqi arrived, he intended to focus on developing marine power, so the Shenzhou was naturally on his mind.
In his opinion, leaving such a treasure idle was simply a waste of resources, so he immediately had it repaired and renovated, and conducted multiple trial voyages to collect data so that it could be further improved and mass-produced in the future.
Shenzhou needs nearly two hundred sailors, all of whom are elites from the Ding Navy. There is also a battalion of soldiers from Dongwei, and the battalion commander is Shi Cheng from the original Hengshan Island garrison camp.
After installing about 600 people, it was still more than enough to install Zhao Mengqi's entire Chinese army.
In addition to more than 500 officials, civil servants, and guards in Jiedu Prefecture, this Chinese army also had more than 500 people from the military hospital and the propaganda team.
Most of the nursing staff in military hospitals were women, while the propaganda team was entirely composed of women. They were all in military uniforms at this time, and the difference from the male soldiers was not obvious, so the common people did not notice.
When they started to board the ship, the onlookers discovered the clues and were amazed. After all, although there were female generals and soldiers in Chinese history, they could only be said to be rare. In fact, they were very rare.
"Uh, why are you bringing women with you to the war..."
"Hehe, King Yan is talented in literature and naturally romantic in nature. Not to mention that in his youth, isn't it normal to have some pretty maids and concubines?"
"This is too much. It looks like there are at least three to four hundred people. Can he handle it alone? I think he is probably a camp trick..."
"Fuck you, even if you have never been to the Xincheng Military Hospital for treatment or read the Tianxia Daily, you have always heard people say that this is a female guard who saves lives and heals the wounded, not a camp actress!"
"Female guards!? I just saw the face of one of them. She is so beautiful that it dazzles the eyes. If all the female guards are so beautiful, wouldn't it mean that all the soldiers are rushing to get injured?"
"This is the brilliance of His Highness King Yan. Not only can he receive timely treatment when he is injured, but he can also be cared for by a beautiful young woman. For the big-headed soldier, it is like turning a bad thing into a good thing. How can he be afraid of being injured? When he goes into battle, he will definitely Everyone strives to be the first.”
"Don't talk about them, even if we saw it, we couldn't help but want to join the army..."
"It's a dream in broad daylight. Who can be King Yan's soldier? You have a body like a thin dog and you don't know a few Chinese characters. I'm afraid you're not even qualified to sign up."
At this time, Qian Duo, who was serving as a female soldier, had just stepped onto the deck. He covered his face and secretly looked over the side of the ship to where Zhao Mengqi was. He was relieved when he saw that his back was to the ship and he was talking to the people who came to see him off.
When she was boarding the gangway just now, because she was quite nervous, she almost fell down when she stepped in the air. Fortunately, Ji Ni caught her in time, but her twisting body caused her face to change.
Totally exposed.
So she was worried that if Zhao Mengqi happened to see him, her plan to assassinate Chen Cang would be in vain.
Immediately, Ji Ni grabbed her arm and said, "Go quickly, it's safe to enter the bottom cabin..."
At this time, Zhao Mengqi, Cheng Yuanfeng and other ministers said goodbye one by one, and it was Lin Yaban's turn.
"Old man, I've been away for who knows how long. My father and the palace are all dependent on you to take care of me. You should work harder and be more vigilant and don't let others take advantage of you. Also, drink less and you'll give me everything when I come back. You make it up."
Old Man Lin rolled his eyes and said angrily, "What's wrong with you, do you still need to teach me how to do things!? It's up to you. The sword on the battlefield has no eyesight. Don't take risks easily, otherwise your father will end up with a white-haired man and a black-haired man. But Don’t blame me for peeing on your grave.”
"Bah, bah, bah, you old crow..."
Thinking of that scene, Zhao Mengqi couldn't help but shudder. The old man was really bad.
Finally, Huang Gou accompanied the two sisters Zhao Han and Zhao Feng to say goodbye.
Huang Gou babbled a lot, "...Alang, I just hope you can come back safely as soon as possible."
Although Huang Gou was particularly mother-in-law at this time, Zhao Mengqi listened to him patiently, "I know, you don't have to worry too much. If you hear any bad rumors, don't believe them easily. Just take care of your family. "
Then Zhao Han ran headlong into the arms of Zhao Mengqi, who was wearing iron armor, and hit his forehead with a loud noise on the goggles. However, he seemed not to feel the pain. He tried his best to hug his brother's waist and choked with sobs, "Fourth brother, you must be early." Come back, otherwise Jian Niang will be very sad if she misses you too much."
"Silly girl, I'm already done..." Zhao Mengqi took off his gloves and stroked his sister's red and swollen forehead, "If you feel bored staying in the house, you can go live with your mother. Okay, my fourth brother will be back as soon as possible. "
Zhao Fei's red eyes were also moist, and she stepped forward to hold Zhao Mengqi's arm, "Fourth brother, I am only one brother, and I will never let you get lost!"
"You are already out of the government, but you still have horse urine on your face. Are you ashamed?" Zhao Mengqi stretched out his thumb to wipe away her tears.
Then he realized something was wrong, "Hey, where is that girl Qian Duo?"
"She has been depressed recently. Yesterday she said she wanted to go back to Qian Mansion. She is probably still angry with you, so she didn't come to see you off today." Zhao Fei explained casually.
Back to Qian Mansion?
Why didn't Qian Tao mention it just now?
Zhao Mengqi was a little confused and was about to ask Qian Tao to come over and ask. At this time, the drum trumpet representing the auspicious time sounded, so he had to give up.
"Okay, I'm going to board the ship, you should go back early."
After saying that, he stopped lingering, turned towards the gangway, stepped on it, and when he reached the top of the ladder, he turned around and waved to the farewell crowd.
Cheng Yuanfeng took the lead and bowed his hands, "O ministers, I wish your highness a triumphant return!"
Other subjects saluted and bowed one after another, and tens of thousands of people gathered together to shout, "I wish your highness a triumphant victory!"
Amidst the noisy prayers, Zhao Mengqi looked up at the Lin'an city wall in the distance, and silently said in his heart, "Goodbye, Lin'an!"
After the three-wheel drum trumpet sounded, the Shenzhou pulled anchor and set sail, merged into the waiting fleet, and then sailed eastward collectively.
The reason why Zhao Mengqi only led more than 10,000 troops first was mainly because the Qiantang tide was coming and he could only get so many ships in a short time.
In fact, the southeast wind prevails this season, which is not suitable for sailing south. Fortunately, the Chinese-style hard sail is not only relatively easy to operate, but also can adapt to various wind directions, which is commonly said to be able to catch winds from all directions.
Even if there is a headwind, you can "adjust" and take a "zigzag" route, and you can still sail to your destination, but it will take much more time.
However, due to the size of the ship and limited communication technology, it was difficult to command and could easily cause chaotic collisions. Therefore, after the fleet left Hangzhou Bay, it was divided into five small fleets and traveled separately.
Under unfavorable wind conditions, Zhao Mengqi's fleet arrived in Fuzhou eight days later after non-stop sailing day and night.
After docking, I learned the latest news. The information from Tingzhou and Shao Wujun had been completely interrupted, and a large number of bandits had appeared outside Fucheng of Jianning Prefecture and Nanjianzhou Prefecture.
.
Although they did not attack the city, they wandered around the villages and towns, plundered property, and then brought the people into the team. Therefore, the team of bandits grew bigger and bigger like a snowball.
The local governments were powerless to do anything about it and could only huddle in the city and tremble.
Moreover, there was no peace in Fuzhou anymore. After being incited by others, the miners in Gutian Jinkeng and Dayan Silver Market killed the officials who managed the mines and gathered a crowd to surround Gutian County.
Gutian is less than 150 miles away from Fuzhou City. Even though there are 800 left-wing troops and 1,500 Wuji Navy troops in the city, the officials and people in the city are still panicked.
When they saw the imperial reinforcements arriving and the crown prince arriving in person, the people breathed a sigh of relief and were no longer so panicked.
Fuzhou, as the administrative center of Fujian Road, has many yamen, so the scene to welcome Zhao Mengqi was very grand, firstly to flatter him, and secondly to calm the people's hearts.
Zhao Mengqi originally didn't like this kind of sexual intercourse, but considering the current situation, he didn't show it and could only go through the scene patiently.
After all the officials were dismissed, Zhao Mengqi couldn't wait to drag Chen Wei to start the discussion, without even asking him if he was willing to come back and accept the appointment.
"Bachelor, the military situation is so strong that Xiao Wang will no longer play nonsense with you. In this situation, where do you think we should start?"
Seventy-seven-year-old Chen Wei did not expect that King Yan would act so resolutely. He couldn't help but be stunned for a while before slowly speaking, "Your Highness, do you know the real source of this chaos?"
"I know! Because some people are crazy!" Zhao Mengqi's face was full of disdain.
Chen Wei is really old. When sitting in a chair, he has to support the cane with both hands to straighten his upper body to avoid being rude.
He nodded slowly, and then let out a long sigh, "The hearts of the people are incompetent. These people are unwilling to spit out what they have eaten even if they die. Your Highness's appearance made them panic, so they tried to He used the civil uprising to force the imperial court to achieve his own selfish goals."
