Bright Spring

As expected, the atmosphere gradually cooled down after a few days...

At this time, the fleet has left the river one after another and entered the sea.Numerous ships first form formation, and spread out the dense formation on the river, so that the distance between the two ships is more than [-] feet to avoid sudden collisions).

Continuous sunny days, low wind and low waves, clear sky.The signals of the flag bearers and drummers were very clear, and the air was filled with the sound of drums with different rhythms from near and far.Some slender small sailboats shuttled in the queue, timely conveying military orders.

The entire fleet gradually formed a formation similar to a wild goose formation, but Liu Ming was unable to observe the overall situation; because the area occupied by the fleet was too wide to be seen clearly by the naked eye.However, he heard that the ships of the envoy Wang Jinghong and the chief general Chen Xuan were all in the center of the brigade, so as to inform the two wings of the Chinese army's intentions in time.

When the sun went down, the drumming gradually stopped.The sea and the sky seem to have quieted down, only the even and calm sound of waves and the sound of wind can be heard.

Liu Ming was outside the official hall on the second floor, watching the scene on the treasure ship, as if thinking of the weather after the [-]th day of the first lunar month, and all the joy disappeared.There are still people coming and going above and below the deck, and the sailors, officers and soldiers are doing their own things in an orderly manner.

However, the situation is still very optimistic. There is a kind of calmness and comfort on people's faces, and everything is going well.

It's getting late today, and Liu Ming plans to go to the command cabin on the fourth floor to observe it tomorrow morning.He returned to the room and glanced at the Four Treasures of the Study on the wooden case. He felt restless and had no intention of writing.

So he got up again, went to the wall and took out the Guzheng from the package.

Liu Ming's family background was not well-to-do when he was a child, and he only read books such as the Four Books and Five Classics in the imperial examination since he was a child.However, it doesn't take too much skill to bring the zither and entertain yourself during the journey.

He adjusted the strings first, and then chose the pipa piece "Sunset Xiaogu" he had practiced, and played it with the guzheng.

The elegant sound of the piano is transmitted along the antique window lattice. The sparkling sea surface and the shadow of the boat on the water seem to be full of poetic and picturesque flavor in the music.

In a trance, Liu Ming seemed to be on the bank of the Qinhuai River, and the boat building in the distance was just the pavilions and pavilions in the beautiful and beautiful Ming Dynasty.The wild ocean is also endowed with the mood of Chinese civilization.

After the song, Liu Ming simply faced the wooden window with his hands behind his back, and began to sing in the sea breeze.

"The tide of the Spring River connects to the sea level, and the bright moon on the sea grows together. The twinkling waves follow the waves for thousands of miles, where the spring river has no moon. You can’t see the white sand on the upper reaches of the river. The sky in the river is the same color and there is no speck of dust. There is a lone moon wheel in the bright sky. Who on the bank of the river sees the moon for the first time? When does the moon on the river shine on people at the beginning?”

But seeing the gorgeous clouds in the sky, dotted between the sea and the sky, the scenery is extremely magnificent.

end of this chapter)

Chapter 874 The Eye of Divine Power

On the calm sea, most of the time, Liu Ming felt that the boat did not move at all, as if it just stopped quietly on the boundless water.It is probably because there are almost no obvious reference objects around, and the nearby ships also maintain almost the same speed, which looks more like stationary.

Only by paying attention to the bulging|inflating sails above the deck, or carefully observing the water below, can one feel that the ship is moving forward.

These are laymen's senses; in fact, the officers and men on board can estimate the speed of the ship, even if the treasure ship does not seem to be moving.

Liu Ming also probably learned something about it. The way is to release a buoy from the ship, and let the buoy continuously drag out a long rope from the stern;

At present, the speed of the fleet has also been measured, and it is maintained at a speed of 11 feet per hour.However, the direction of the formation is not a straight line.

After all the sails of the treasure ship are raised, it will still be slower than other ships.So Liu Ming could see that every once in a while, the soldiers and sailors would manipulate the long sculls to increase the speed of the treasure ship in order to maintain a distance from the surrounding ships.

The long sculls of the big treasure ship are located on both sides and the stern. When the sailors manipulate the scull, the tail end of the long scull moves like a propeller, which is much faster than rowing with ordinary wooden paddles.These structures are organs invented by people in their long-term experience.

Moreover, there is a tool to measure the distance of the ship on the command building. Through a mechanism to observe the height of the poop of the nearby ships, the distance can be roughly estimated.Then use the method created by Emperor Zhu Gaoxu of the Ming Dynasty to check the distance more accurately by measuring the azimuth angle and the distance of the ship in a certain direction.

For more than a month, Liu Ming has experienced several changes in his feelings.

The surprise and novelty at the beginning have long since disappeared, and it is inevitable to get tired of seeing the scene that almost never changes every day.Later, he experienced the torment of boredom, and even had hallucinations on sunny days, thinking more crankily than usual.However, after a long time, the supplies on board were sufficient and smooth as usual, Liu Ming gradually began to get used to it, and regained his calm and indifference...

At the end of June, the weather changed a bit. When Liu Ming returned to his bedroom before nightfall, he obviously felt that the hull of the ship was undulating.However, the general on the ship told him not to worry; and with many days of experience, Liu Ming was very confident in the stability of the treasure ship.He went to bed in peace.

What's more, according to the military's report, the fleet's recent location is between Guangdong and Fujian; everyone is still within the border of the Ming Dynasty, which will also give people an inexplicable sense of peace of mind.

Liu Ming was woken up on the bed by rolling over.He opened his eyes in a daze, and suddenly saw that the surroundings were spinning!A lantern hanging on the roof of the cabin was flickering and flickering, as if it would go out at any moment.

Liu Ming was startled, and quickly sat up on the bed, then put on his clothes and shoes.

At this moment, a sergeant opened the door, leaned on the door panel, and clasped his fist at Liu Ming in a strange posture.Liu Ming asked, "What happened?"

The sergeant said, "The fleet encountered a big storm, and the sails of all the ships have already fallen. Mr. Liu needn't worry too much."

Liu Ming looked for the surrounding places of leverage, and said, "I will go to the command building to have a look."

The sergeant persuaded, "Liu Shijun had better not go out, there is a pillar over there, we just hold onto it and wait."

Liu Ming could no longer stand still, so he agreed with the sergeant and crawled to the side of the wooden pillar in a embarrassed posture.The sergeant obviously had experience in going to sea more than once, his figure was very flexible, he swayed around like a monkey, and quickly reached the place where the lantern was hung, and he stretched out his hand to lift the lampshade, and the light inside was immediately blown out by the strong wind.

The surroundings were plunged into darkness.

The sergeant's voice came from just now, "I'm afraid the lantern will fall and catch fire."

Liu Ming responded and hugged the pillar beside him tightly, with nowhere to go.

The heaving and turbulence of the hull became bigger and bigger, and Liu Ming could hardly stand still while holding on to the pillars, so he had to sit on the floor.Suddenly, he felt his body getting lighter and lighter, as if he was about to float away, so he hurriedly grabbed the wooden pillar with all his strength.

Then the whole ship seemed to make a loud noise of "cracking", and the surroundings were clanging and clanging, and miscellaneous things seemed to be bumping in all directions.

"Boom!" With a loud noise, Liu Ming was shaken to the ground. He felt that the hull of the ship seemed to fall from the air to the ground!In the huge noise, he seemed to hear the sound of wood breaking.

A sense of fear shrouded Liu Ming's heart belatedly, as if a chill had formed in the soles of his feet.

"Liu Shijun! Liu Shijun..." the sergeant shouted in a worried voice.

It took Liu Ming a while to come back to his senses, and replied, "I'm here, brother, are you alright?"

In the darkness, the sergeant let out a long sigh.Only then did Liu Ming feel that his body had been splashed by the sea water, no wonder he felt the coolness just now.

The big waves have not stopped, and they will come again after a while.The roar of the wind made it almost impossible to breathe. Sometimes the shouts of the sergeants in the same cabin and Liu Ming could not be heard.

The terrible incident caught people off guard. Liu Ming realized that he and the people on the whole boat were like death row prisoners on the execution ground, and could only wait for the judgment of fate.He couldn't do anything but suffer while hugging the wooden pillar next to him; like a drowning man clutching desperately at a straw to save his life.

The wind and waves are really too big, and the huge treasure ship is also in the midst of the wind and rain.Occasionally, Liu Ming felt that death was imminent, but he kept a trace of luck in his heart.

After an unknown amount of time, the sound of the wind suddenly quietened down, and the heaving of the hull gradually became gentler.There were cries for help and shouts from outside.

Liu Ming exhaled a long breath, and sighed, "It's like walking through the gate of hell!"

He slowly touched the cabin door and walked out. The faint light outside finally allowed him to see the environment clearly.He hurried to the wooden stairs, when a general recognized Liu Ming and shouted, "Mr. Liu, Commander Tang is not up there, he is in the rudder tower below."

So Liu Ming turned around and walked downstairs.The cockpit was busy with people coming and going, and Tang Jing's voice came quickly, "Don't rush to the medical building, tie the injured to the pillars and railings!"

Liu Ming walked over following the sound.Tang Jing also found Liu Ming, but didn't say anything, just looked at Liu Ming and nodded.

"Send people up and tell the commander upstairs to light all the glazed lamps, and beat the drums to warn, don't let other ships crash into it by mistake." Tang Jing pointed to a sergeant and shouted.

"Decree!" The sergeant clasped his fists in response, turned around and ran out.

Tang Jing's palms kept holding the steering wheel, and he had no intention of leaving half a step away.

think.Why didn't he go to the command building?It stands to reason that there should be a person at the helm on the ship, and the officer should preside over the overall situation in the command building.Liu Ming didn't know the reason, but seeing that Tang Jing couldn't pull away, he wisely didn't ask any further questions.

Liu Ming looked at Tang Jing's face, only feeling that this general suddenly became very strange at this moment.