Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Chapter 829 Big Storm

The sailors were very excited to see the harvest they were about to get. They used ropes to pull the hunted whale to the middle of the two ships. The head of the whale pointed to the stern of the ship, and then they cut a hole in front of its fin and pulled it. Take out the whale oil, pass the halyard through it, and tie it to the winch under the mainmast. Then the sailors climbed onto the whale's carcass and used sharp knives to cut a three-foot-wide spiral strip into the oil. In the body of a large fish, the blubber is about a foot thick and is easily separated; then the winch lifts it up, tilting and turning the whale's body at the same time, so that the blubber is separated from the whale like noodles. .

On the deck, the sailors chopped up the whale oil and threw it into a large iron pot. They lit a fire below to boil out the whale oil. The remaining whale oil residue could be used as fuel. When all the whale oil was on the deck, the sailors split open the whale's head and scooped out the spermaceti oil inside with a large spoon. The viscous liquid solidified quickly when it encountered the air, becoming a very The beautiful white wax is said to be used to make the finest candles for use in the emperor's palace.

After harvesting the most valuable part of the whale, the sailors began to relax. While calculating how much they could get, they began to decompose the meat, baleen and bones of the whale. If the latter two could be brought back to shore, they would also Can be sold for money. On the third day of successful whaling, the fleet raised its sails and continued sailing northeast along the coastline. The sea wind began to become stronger and the temperature became colder. The sailors put on fur coats or woolen woolen cloths to protect themselves. Resist the cold wind blowing from the north.

"This is the strength of the Ezo land!" Suda pointed to the brown land in the distance, which is a rocky land covered with lichen and moss: "But there is a big island to the north, and there are also Ezo people on it!"

"Is there gold on that big island?" He Wu asked enthusiastically.

"I don't know!" Sutuo shook his head: "There is only a small port for fishermen and whaling ships to dock temporarily. Apart from that, there are only a few pastures. My father set up a military horse farm there and settled He gathered hundreds of herders to herd war horses and various livestock!”

"Raise horses here?" He Wu asked in surprise.

"Well, actually, it's a good place to raise horses here. The grass is rich and fat, the water is plentiful, and the population is sparsely populated. The most important thing is that this is a big island, and there will be no invasion by foreign enemies!"

"Okay!" He Wu sighed in disappointment: "It would be great if there were undiscovered gold mines here. I think the gold mines here should not be owned by your father, right?"

"Hahaha!" Sutuo laughed: "If you really want to find gold, you can always stay in Zhenbei Fort!"

"Is there a gold mine over there?" He Wu was delighted.

"The area around Zhenbei Fort is covered with snow for half the year. It's either a forest or a swamp. I don't know if there are any gold mines! But that's the mouth of the river. As long as you take a small boat upstream, you can trade with the barbarians on both sides. There are gold sands, gems, amber, everything! It all depends on your luck!”

"Luck? What do you mean?"

"If you're lucky, you can get treasures in exchange. If you're not lucky, it's not surprising to be shot to death by barbarians!" Sutuo smiled: "But this is what I heard from the veterans who came back from Zhenbei Fort. , may not be true!”

"I'm not afraid of danger!" He Wuqiang said with a smile: "There are many dangers on the sea, as long as you can make a fortune!"

It seems to be to confirm the truth of what He Wu said. Two days later, when the fleet was passing through the Tsugaru Strait between Honshu Island and Hokkaido, the weather at sea changed.

At daybreak, Sota walked onto the deck. The sky was clear, the wind was getting stronger, blowing strange and unsettling gusts, the sky and the sea were equally turbulent. There was chaos, but there was no land in sight, not a drop of land at all, which meant the ship had left its intended course. The first mate who was on duty that night was still on the deck, discussing a new route for the fleet with He Wu. This route should allow the ship to skirt the headland while staying within striking distance of land—just far enough so that they don’t have to worry about their ship being blown onto the shore reef, but close enough for the fleet to Able to see land landmarks clearly.

"How long will it take for us to pass through the strait?" Sotuo asked.

"Before dark today, if everything goes well!" He Wu's tone was not so sure: "The weather may change at any time, even if the northwest wind blows fiercely - we can still change the course and sail to leeward, close to the shore of the big island side - we can still round the bend, but before we go round it, you see, a south-westerly wind, or even a strong westerly wind, can block our path at this time, and we are very afraid of the south-west. The wind will probably blow us to pieces on the rocks!”

The sun sank into the purple clouds, and the soft wind completely stopped. In the intervals between one wind and another, the currents of the sea caught the fleet and carried it tightly to the northwest; and near noon, the terrible southwest wind carried a sharp howling sound. Come.

Over the next few days, the screams rarely abated. Sometimes it would rise to a manic high pitch, threatening the safety of the mast itself, and sailors on deck having to wrap their ears in soft cloth, and people having to yell to talk to each other. The weather became colder and colder, frost and ice began to appear on the deck, rigging, and sail yards. The frozen seawater droplets turned the canvas as hard as a board, and the cables froze on the pulleys, making people miserable. The ground was suffering, and in order to avoid frostbite, the captain ordered everyone to grease their exposed skin. But even so, most people were more or less frostbitten.

Everyone prayed to the gods and Buddhas that the situation would get better, but the fact was that the situation became worse, the wind became more violent, the rolling waves became bigger, their white, torn by the wind The wave crests are four to five hundred steps away from each other, with deep gray-green wave valleys in between. In order to avoid being capsized by wind and waves, the captain ordered all ships to furl their sails, leaving only one section of the main sail. On the most terrible day, the whole violent day, the whole surface of the sea - peaks like waves, troughs and all - became a mixture of air and crushing water, and under these huge waves, the Herring Like a small boat, unable to cross two waves, its route became a zigzag road that rocked violently back and forth.

This violent rocking almost killed He Wu, who was on his way to the lower deck at the time. At the same time, the Herring's bow struck the green wall of the waves, pointing her bowmast almost straight to the sky. He threw He Wu, who had lost his balance, forward. Unfortunately, he tumbled all the way down the stairs and landed among a pile of barrels filled with blubber. He was lucky enough to have no broken bones, but his body was covered in bruises and sprains. The doctor on the ship had to tie him to the bed with a rope to prevent him from falling off the bed.

Almost at the same time, snow began to fall in the sky, and the sea breeze mixed with snow flakes was as fierce as arrows. During lulls in blizzards, sailors clear snow from sails and decks. While the sailors were busy, the mainmast's lugs and gaffs suddenly broke, and they broke almost at the same time. The huge momentum brought by the sea wind immediately pressed on the sail itself, and the sail immediately burst from the stitches. The mainmast sail shook violently, and it looked like the mainmast was about to break.

"Quick, go up and cut the sail, otherwise the mast will be broken and the Herring will be doomed!" the first mate shouted.

The two sailors climbed up the mast with the agility of a cat. They lay on the top of the mast, braved the whistling sea wind, and cut the canvas hard to make the sail fall. However, the sail fell and brought one of them down. He fell from mid-air and landed far outside the side of the ship, and immediately disappeared in the terrible sea. The remaining man struggled to hold the mast tightly, avoiding being caught by the falling sail, and then slowly climbed down. "Hero, an incomparable hero!" Looking at everything in front of him, Suta's eyes were already filled with tears: "Bring this sailor here, I want to reward him!"

The sailor was brought over. He was a lean man, his face was bruised and bruised by the sea breeze. Sutuo grabbed his hand, pulled off the gold necklace around his neck and hung it around the other man's neck: "What's your name?" What name? This is for you. I will give you a piece of land from my territory after we get ashore. You saved all our lives!"

The sailor looked at the gold necklace around his neck in surprise. He seemed to have not recovered from the sudden surprise. A few minutes later, he whispered: "My name is Xie Jishan! Thank you for the reward, Master!"

Another gust of wind interrupted Sutuo's words, and everyone began to busy fixing all the objects that might move on the deck. They re-knitted the broken rigging, transported the injured below the deck, plugged the cracks, and shook the water pump. Drain the water from the bilge. It was not until noon the next day, when the wind and waves subsided slightly, that Sutuo came exhausted to the bottom of the deck to check on the condition of the wounded.

"How are these two?" he asked, pointing to the wounded man in the hammock.

"I don't know!" the first mate sighed: "I doubt whether the two of them can survive. One person's thigh was crushed by the falling sail pole, and the other fell from the mast and hit the ground head first. What's wrong with your hand?" He pointed to Sutuo's left hand wrapped in cloth in surprise.

"It's just that a few nails were torn off. I didn't feel it at the time, but I just discovered it!" Sutuo said with a bitter smile.

"You'd better take care of your hands first, and then go to sleep immediately!" the first mate whispered: "Your face looks ugly. Really, it's just better than a dead person!"

"Okay!" Sutuo smiled bitterly: "Then I'll go back to the stern building first. If anything happens, wake me up immediately!"

When Sutuo woke up again, it was already late at night. He looked at the wound on his left hand that had been wrapped and stood up. Hearing the noise, Chongjing walked in: "Master, you should sleep a little longer. More rest will do you good!”

"I've slept enough!" Sutuo yawned: "How is the situation outside? Is the wind still that strong?"

"It's much smaller already!" Chongjing's expression was not good-looking: "But only one ship was found, and the West Wind and Chengshan were both missing!"

Sutuo let out a long breath: "I hope they were just blown away!"

"Well, the wind and waves were too big in the past two days!" Chongjing sighed: "There is still something outside. Do you want to eat something?"

Sutuo nodded, and Chongjing took two pieces of dried meat, a plate of dried berries, and a pot of water mixed with light rice wine. Sutuo ate a few mouthfuls and felt that the dried meat was as hard as a stone. He had to cut it into finger-sized pieces with a knife, throw it into the water and soak it until it softened before eating it.

When the sun broke through the clouds again and descended on the sea, the wind and waves finally calmed down. Although there was still a stubborn north wind, the Qingyu and his escort ship Weiyang were still able to sail northwest in a zigzag pattern. Sutuo was determined to make the most of the big waves he encountered. The losses caused by wind and waves were recouped. But from another perspective, the situation became worse. Because it was always cloudy and rained and snowed from time to time, the sailors' clothes were always damp. The sailors themselves were horribly cold and often depressed. It was even found that several people had the first symptoms of septicemia. Suda ordered all the oranges in the bottom tank to be taken out and distributed to the sailors, but the effect still did not improve.

The cold, hard work, and illness wore everyone down, leaving even the most optimistic people without a smile. Sutuo tried to ask the kitchen to cook something good to eat, but the kitchen said that the previous storm had destroyed many of the reserves in the bottom cabin, and now the only sufficient supply was cured meat and dry biscuits, which were no different from firewood in the mouth.

Stern cabin.

"Master, Master, the situation in the bottom cabin is very bad!" Pushan lowered his voice. Compared with when he got on the ship, he became darker and thinner, almost a completely different person: "Many people are very worried about the future. Desperate, they feel that if they continue north, everyone will die, so they want to start a rebellion and take control of the ship!"

"Starting a riot?" Sutuo frowned: "How many people participated in it?"

"I don't know how many people are involved, but there must be a lot of people!" Pushan smiled bitterly: "If it weren't for the master, maybe I would have participated. Everyone was frightened by the storm a few days ago. Even the old man Sailor, I don’t want to continue anymore!”

Sutuo and Chongjing exchanged glances. Both of them understood that Pushan probably didn't lie. The reason why there has been no rebellion until now is just because the storm and waves in the past few days tortured the sailors too much. Until now, Only then did they gradually recover and have the margin and strength to stage a rebellion.

"Who is the mastermind?" Sutuo asked.

"I don't know exactly who it is yet!" Pu Shan said: "But it should be among the prisoners who boarded the ship later. I will continue to investigate, but they are very careful and it will take time!"

"Yes!" Sutuo nodded: "Be careful! Don't hurt yourself!"