Father can be an enemy country

Chapter 433 His Royal Highness Sets Out
That night, Zhu Zhen left the palace.

Then, holding the prince's warrant, he opened the Jinchuan gate and came to Longjiang Bao Shipyard.

He slept half the night in Tiju Yamen of the shipyard, and at the third watch, his eldest cousin woke him up.

After breakfast, Zhu Zhen dressed neatly, surrounded by guards, and came to the pier outside the shipyard.

At this time, it was not yet the fourth watch, and the sky and the earth were pitch black, but the docks were brightly lit, and the ten new warships in the city fleet were ready to go.

Yu Tongyuan and Liao Dingguo led the generals to wait on the pier for a long time. The mid-autumn river wind was already a bit chilly, but their hearts were burning.

The soldiers looked forward to it day and night, and they finally came to this day...

~~
Before, they received letters from the pirates, demanding to pay a huge ransom within a month, otherwise they would kill one person a day.

But one month's time is obviously too tight. Excluding the time for traveling, there is no time to maintain and repair the ten warships of Treasure Shipyard, and go into sea trials, let alone casting guns, installing them, and training and running-in.

But this will not trouble His Highness King Chu, His Highness has operations.

Zhu Zhen asked Mr. Luo to write back to the pirates, not only expressing his willingness to pay the ransom, but also offered to pay double the ransom as long as they did not mistreat the captured crew members and ensured that they would all return safely. !

The main thing is a pride.Anyway, there is a local tyrant behind bars paying the bill...

At the same time, Zhu Zhen also pointed out that 500 million copper coins are too heavy, and it takes at least [-] carts to pull them with an ox cart, so he suggested paying in gold instead.

Haikou didn't know what his reaction was when he received the letter, but he stunned Yu Tongyuan and Liao Dingguo first.They have been in the army for half their lives, and they feel that they have already seen through the things in the army.It is said that the coach should love his soldiers like his sons, but which one really takes the lives of his subordinates seriously?
Everyone was so moved that they said privately that they had nowhere to go and had no choice but to take refuge in a child.Unexpectedly, father and brother were blessed by the spirit of heaven, so that they would encounter the Ming Lord.Then he secretly made a decision, regardless of whether the rescue is successful or not, he will follow His Highness for the rest of his life.

A month later, they received a reply from Haikou, and Haikou was really happy.Even because of His Highness's generosity, even his tone became much more humble.

They said that as soon as they received the letter, they stopped the "forced labor" of all their crew members and treated the injured and sick, but the dozens of dead before could only return their corpses.

In addition, Haikou deeply agreed with His Royal Highness's proposal to replace copper with gold, and felt sorry for his ignorance.Therefore, the original one-month period was cancelled, and the delivery was changed to two months later near Huaniao Island in the north of Hangzhou Bay.

Zhu Zhen wrote back to agree.

After going back and forth again, I won an extra month.All the people worked day and night, hurriedly, and finally completed all the preparations for the expedition before the Mid-Autumn Festival.

~~
"Your Highness!" Yu Tongyuan and others bowed neatly to the prince riding the bull.

Zhu Zhen jumped off the 'Lamborghini' with a brace on his back.

With a bang, His Royal Highness the King of Chu forgot that he was wearing a heavy armor, and one of his subordinates almost knocked him because he didn't pay attention.

Fortunately, the eldest cousin had sharp eyesight and quick hands, and he supported His Highness, so he didn't make a fool of himself.

Zhu Zhen straightened the swallow-winged golden helmet on his head, coughed and asked, "Are you all ready?"

"Report to Your Highness, everything is ready!" Yu Tongyuan pretended not to see His Highness's mistake, and raised his head and said loudly.

"Okay, let's go." After Zhu Zhen finished speaking lightly, he walked towards the gangway with his hand on the seven-star sword at his waist.

"Your Highness, you don't need to go." Yu Tongyuan hurriedly followed up and persuaded: "Guns have no eyes, and naval battles are more dangerous than infantry battles! How can your highness be in danger with your body?!"

"How many cannons are there in total for the pirates?" Zhu Zhen actually had an ideological struggle, whether he should go to battle in person.

With his original personality, safety must come first.But perhaps because of the subtle influence of his brothers, he began to feel that he couldn't always stay behind.When it's time to go to battle, you have to go to battle, otherwise how can you gain the loyalty of the soldiers?

Besides, there was another reason to speak out that frightened people that he had to be on board.But because it will scare people to death, I can't say it for the time being.

"It's true that they don't have many cannons, but they have to be on guard." Yu Tongyuan persuaded.

"Just in case, I will choke to death if I drink water." Zhu Zhen said angrily, "I'm afraid of this and that, so I just wipe my neck."

"But the battlefield...it's really dangerous." Yu Tongyuan said helplessly.

"Marquis of Nan'an, listen." Zhu Zhen stood still and said seriously, "I am not trying to be a hero, but because I came up with the new method of warfare. And I have never used it before. If I don't board the ship, the soldiers will You must be thinking in your heart, whether this method of warfare can work, the King of Chu is not just talking about it on paper, right?"

"..." Yu Tongyuan was speechless because His Highness had to speak.

The time was too tight, they had only practiced for ten days in total, they only practiced the formation, and never fired a single shot on the ship...

Because one is to keep it secret, and the other is that there are not enough shells and gunpowder in a hurry, so we can only save them for the battlefield.Therefore, the gunners rely on gestures, simulated training, and silent shooting.

So going up and down, it is inevitable that there is a lack of confidence. If it is not for the rescue of the comrades, the soldiers may even refuse to march.

"That's why I have to board the ship this time. The soldiers will have confidence knowing that I am here. And confidence is the key to winning any war!" After Zhu Zhen finished speaking, he walked up the gangway without looking back.

"Your Highness..." Marquis Nan'an's hesitant voice came from behind.

"What's the matter?!" Zhu Zhen was completely impatient.

"You're on the wrong ship. That's the flagship." Yu Tongyuan caught up with him and whispered.

"Uh..." Lao Liu blushed, coughed and said, "This king will get on this boat first and visit the brothers. Do you have any objections?"

"No, no." Yu Tongyuan quickly shook his head and said, "This subordinate will accompany His Highness to inspect."

~~
The soldiers were all pleasantly surprised by His Highness's arrival.

He was even happier when he heard that the king of Chu was going out with them.The doubts in my heart were thrown out of the sky in an instant, and the morale increased a lot visible to the naked eye.

The understanding of the soldiers is very simple, the life of a dignified prince is much more expensive than them, and the sum of their crew members is not as valuable as His Highness alone.

Therefore, His Highness dared to board the ship, which showed that he had absolute confidence in his new tactics, rather than a whim, just talking about it on paper.In this way, everyone will naturally feel more at ease.

Now that it’s all over, Zhu Zhen inspects the source of his confidence—those bronze cannons that he spent huge sums of money to install.

In order to keep it secret and to protect the expensive cannons, the carpenters of Treasure Shipyard also made a box for each cannon.At this time, one after another cannons were quietly lying in the wooden box, and no one could guess what was inside.

After seeing a lonely Zhu Zhen, he communicated with the gunner again.Because there are too many artillery pieces and not enough gunners, it is impossible to configure a battery for each artillery piece as he expected.Instead, a gun group is responsible for the left and right artillery.

"Fortunately, there are still a few times when the two cannons are fired at the same time." Liao Dingguo said embarrassingly: "If there is such a time, just ask the sailors to help carry the shells."

"Good guy." Zhu Zhen said heartily upon hearing the words, this old Liao is really a born capitalist.Then he smiled at the gunners and said, "If he goes home to be the owner, you must not go to his house to do the work, or you will die of exhaustion."

"What the lord said is true, we have written it down." The gunners laughed.

Amidst the chatter and laughter, ten warships pulled anchor and set sail one after another, heading east along the rolling Yangtze River in the faintly bright morning light.

(End of this chapter)