Shanghai County.
The weather today is very sunny, adding a little warmth to the cold winter in the south.
The sun is shining high, the blue waves are rippling, and there is a gentle breeze today. The sea in Shanghu County is a calm scene.
But in Zhoushan Port, at this moment, war drums are rumbling and flags are fluttering.
Today is a big day, whether it is for Li Jin or everyone in Hong Kong, today is particularly important.
Today is the day of the expedition. It is the day that Li Jin has been planning for a long time to verify the strength of his navy.
In Zhoushan Port, a huge warship is located in the center of the port. This warship looks larger than the surrounding warships. It is Li Jin's flagship.
The giant ship was dotted with flags, each with a big Chinese character "Li" embroidered on them.
Li Jin, wearing a helmet and armor, holding a telescope in his hand, stood majestically on the bow of the flagship.
The guards beside him were all muscular, carrying muskets on their backs, and carrying long knives on their waists. They looked around with murderous intent.
Lan Yu followed Li Jin and looked at Li Jin with complicated eyes.
Ever since she saw Li Jin's military appearance, Lan Yu knew that she could not grab the position of commander, so she had no choice but to follow Li Jin aboard the ship as if resigned to her fate.
Standing on the huge ship, Li Jin felt that everything around him had become very small, and he felt like he could see all the small mountains at a glance.
This giant ship is the largest one built by Longjiang Shipyard so far.
Since Li Jin handed over the drawings for building the Galen ship to Longjiang Shipyard, the old shipwrights have continued to improve the Galen ship based on Li Jin's drawings and their own practical work experience.
After countless renovations and improvements, this unprecedented giant was built by these shipwrights.
These ships are fifteen meters tall, about thirty-five meters long, and carry a terrifying three thousand water capacity.
Even the largest treasure ship recorded in later history had a maximum water capacity of only 2,000 pieces of water.
Even a treasure ship with two thousand materials was still huge and unrivaled in this world, let alone the huge treasure ship under Li Jin's feet.
The displacement of three thousand materials allows this ship to accommodate more artillery. The number of guns carried on the upper and lower decks has reached 170.
With such terrifying firepower, Li Jin was confident that with one shelling, he could cripple the opponent's ship, or even directly sink it.
Of course, the cargo capacity and passenger capacity have also increased exponentially.
However, because of the huge size of the ship, a lot more sailors are needed.
In particular, the number of sailors responsible for operating the mast must be doubled to make it possible to control the ship skillfully.
However, compared to the increased firepower and huge loading capacity, Li Jin felt that all of this was a waste of money.
On both sides of the giant ship were four smaller Galen ships, and in addition there were more than a dozen auxiliary clippers responsible for guarding.
The fleet carried a total of 5,000 men to sea to exterminate the Japanese pirates. Except for 3,000 regular soldiers, the rest were all sailors or civilians on the ship, used to transport items.
These people were all hired by Li Jin. Although the people were naturally afraid of war, there must be brave men under the heavy reward.
Li Jin also promised that if the Japanese pirates were wiped out, both sailors and civilians would be eligible to share the spoils.
This move completely impressed many sailors and civilians, and Li Jin was able to recruit 2,000 people to assist in the battle.
After seeing that everything was prepared, Li Jin immediately ordered the messengers to send out flags and go out to destroy the Japanese!
...
...
The residence of the Duke of Wei.
Xu Da finally returned home, and the whole house was naturally happy, as if celebrating the New Year. Even the front door of the house was rarely hung with red lanterns.
Xu Da went to Shanghu County for half a year. Although he occasionally wrote letters to his family, he could not relieve his longing.
"Dad, you are back!"
Hearing that Xu Da returned home, the happiest person was Xu Da's eldest daughter, Xu Miaoyun.
He rushed out of the house immediately to welcome Xu Da back home.
Xu Da was naturally overjoyed to see his good daughter whom he had not seen for a long time, and said happily:
"I haven't seen you for a few days, but my good daughter has become much more beautiful."
Xu Huizu and Xu Zengshou also came out to greet Xu Da one after another. After seeing Xu Da, they saluted politely and said:
"Meet Father!"
Xu Da had a very strict upbringing, especially his two sons.
As the leader of the military generals of the Ming Dynasty, Xu Da was extremely favored throughout his life. He was awarded the title of first-class Duke during his lifetime, and was posthumously given the posthumous title of King of Zhongshan after his death.
In the process of Zhu Yuanzhang's pacification of the world, Xu Da's figure can be seen in basically every battle. Xu Da is actually unrivaled and is a very popular minister.
It was only Zhu Yuanzhang's trust in Xu Da that prevented Xu Da from ending up as a lackey and a good man.
But such great wealth must be handed over to his son after all. Once he goes west, if his son does not know how to advance or retreat, and refuses to obey discipline, the emperor will not tolerate such an existence.
Xu Da thought deeply and could naturally think of what happened after his death. Xu Zengshou treated Xu Huizu very strictly.
He just hoped that these two sons would not cause disaster for the Xu family in the future, and would be content to hold on to their wealth for the rest of their lives.
However, Xu Da treated his daughter very favorably and was very casual in front of her.
Therefore, Xu Huizu and Xu Zengshou treated Xu Da with great respect and did not dare to go beyond him. Xu Da was both their loving father and their strict teacher.
Xu Miaoyun, on the other hand, is much more casual and does not have the tension of her two younger brothers.
When Xu Da saw his two sons, he was very pleased, but his face instantly became meticulous. He asked the two to stand up, and then the four of them entered the mansion hand in hand.
At this time, Mrs. Xu had ordered people to prepare a banquet at home. When she saw Xu Da and his children entering the house, her eyes were slightly red with excitement.
Since marrying Xu Da, Mrs. Xu and Xu Da have been together less and more apart. During the late Yuan Dynasty, they were fighting everywhere, coupled with the Northern Expedition in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Xu Da was almost everywhere, except at home.
Xu Da felt that he owed a lot to Mrs. Xu, but as a man, he naturally put state affairs first. How could he waste his official duties because of his children's personal affairs?
Pulling Mrs. Xu to sit down slowly, they unknowingly started chatting about home affairs.
Xu Da remembered that Empress Ma had been trying to match up her eldest daughter and their fourth child before, and wondered how the two were progressing.
Seeing Xu Miaoyun's innocent look, Xu Daruo asked pointedly:
"Miaoyun, you come in and out of the palace every day, do you know what the fourth prince is doing recently?"
Xu Da planned to ask sideways, how did Xu Miaoyun feel about Zhu Di?
Xu Miaoyun was stunned for a moment, and then answered casually:
"I wonder what Zhu Di is doing these days?"
"Last time he said he went to a particularly interesting place, and it seemed to be a certain county."
"I haven't seen him since."
Xu Da was thoughtful, thinking that Zhu Di must have gone to Shanghu County again. It was really unseemly for a prince to go to Shanghu County every day.
However, that place in Shanghu County is indeed interesting, and it is natural for Zhu Di to be addicted to it.
But he wanted to know more about Xu Miaoyun's impression of Zhu Di, so he continued to ask:
"What do you think of Zhu Di?"
"He is focused on making achievements and only wants to march and fight, which is not interesting at all."
After Xu Miaoyun finished speaking, she seemed to have thought of something, her eyes became strange, and she asked:
"What do you want to do?"
Xu Da noticed Xu Miaoyun's eyes, touched his nose awkwardly, and said:
"Nothing, just asking."
"As a man, it's normal to think about making achievements and being a wolf."
When Xu Miaoyun heard this, his face was full of ridicule and he said:
"Seal the wolf to live in Xu? Go to sea to seal the wolf to live in Xu?"
"Going to sea? What do you mean?"
Xu Da's face was full of doubts. What does sealing Langjuxu have to do with going to sea?
Xu Miaoyun explained lightly, with strong disbelief in her tone:
"He wrote a letter two days ago, saying that he had joined the navy and would be able to go to sea and make great achievements soon!"
"Every fool knows that the emperor has issued a sea ban, so how can he go to sea? I think he is..."
Xu Da's head suddenly exploded. He didn't hear what Xu Miaoyun said, but after hearing the words of joining the navy and going to sea immediately, Xu Da felt that his whole body was instantly cold.
It was as if my thoughts were frozen and I lost the ability to think.
The majestic King Yan of the Ming Dynasty, the fourth son of the current emperor, actually secretly ran away to join the army, and it was also the most dangerous military branch, the navy? ?
Xu Da really couldn't believe this was true. If this was true, then Li Jin's expedition would be a big deal! !
"Dad...Dad! What are you thinking about?"
Xu Miaoyun saw that Xu Da's eyes were straight, as if he had lost his soul, and he shouted several times quickly.
Xu Da came back to his senses and asked nervously:
"Zhu Di really said that he is going to sea to fight?"
Xu Da felt like his heart was in his throat. Even when he faced Wang Baobao's 200,000 troops, he had never been so nervous.
But Xu Miaoyun's next words completely extinguished Xu Da's last bit of luck.
"That's what Zhu Di said in his letter. I feel that he was very excited when he wrote this letter. It doesn't look like a lie!"
"Stop eating, Miaoyun, come with me and enter the palace immediately! Now, immediately!!!"
