The first-class concubine of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 203 Encountering the enemy
Liu Wei, who was still floating on the sea, didn't know Xue Li's determination, let alone how tough this woman was.

Now he just wants to rush to Huaqiu Island in a calm and peaceful manner.

But on the way to Huaqiu Island, he faintly noticed that something was wrong around him.

What was wrong was that the fishermen on the boat told Liu Wei that the fishermen had rich experience in going out to sea, and they said that the sea they walked through was too calm, so calm that there were not even seagulls.

There is only one reason for this situation, and that is that a fleet passed here before.

Liu Wei nodded after listening to the fishermen's words. He believed in these experienced fishermen, but he was a little helpless after nodding. The tools for going to sea in this era are too simple, and the enemy may not be far away from them, but they are separated by the vast the sea, he would not find them.

It would be nice to have a telescope, so that he can find the enemy's traces in the fastest way.

It's a pity that Liu Wei didn't think of this before going to sea, and it is obviously impossible to make a telescope on the ship.

After some contemplation, Liu Wei sighed softly, and then asked: "Mr. Zhuge, are there any other pirates besides Huaqiu Island in this sea area?"

"Yes, but they are all small pirates. Some of them wanted to get their hands on Huaqiu Island, but they were all driven away by Xue Li in the end. My lord suspects that the people who walked through this sea area are nearby pirates?"

Liu Wei nodded: "It's extremely possible."

"My lord, what should we do now?"

"Since a group of pirates also want to get their hands on Huaqiu Island, we might as well sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, and see the situation first."

Zhugepi thought for a while, nodded and said, "Okay!"

As the night darkened, several large ships were slowly moving in an area only a dozen nautical miles away from Huaqiu Island.

While the boat was moving slowly, a slender man appeared on the bow. The man had a short beard, but he looked plump and handsome. Under the moonlight, the man slightly raised his head to look at the bright moon, and then said coldly: "How far is it to Flower Ball Island?"

"It's still more than ten nautical miles to go back home. If we continue to move forward, we can reach Huaqiu Island at dawn. However, when we came, the military adviser Li Shengnan said that Huaqiu Island has a strange terrain and it is easy to get lost. Therefore, we ask them not to travel at night."

The man with the short beard originally looked slightly cold, but when he heard Li Shengnan's name, his eyes softened immediately, with a sense of respect.

"Mr. Li must have a deep meaning when he said this, so let's order the boat to stop and don't go any further."

"Yes!"

Some minions went down to order, and the short-bearded man turned around and entered the cabin. He was originally the leader of a small team in Shenwufang, but recently he received a message from Li Shengnan, asking him to lead a team of more than a hundred people to capture Huaqiu Island. In order to avoid identity leaks, everyone called him the master.

The man's name is Wu Dang.

After Wu Dang entered the cabin, he pondered for a while, and looked out through the window. Although the night was cool outside, it was quiet and beautiful. He murmured a little, what problems would there be if he continued to move forward under such a night?

After thinking twice, Wu Dang walked out of the cabin again: "Come on, keep going. The closer you are to Huaqiu Island before dawn, the better. They will catch each other by surprise."

As soon as the military party gave such orders, a minion hurried over: "The head of the family, the words of the military adviser..."

"The military adviser has never been here before, and I don't know the situation. The general is still out of line with the orders of the emperor. Listen to my order and move on."

The minion hesitated for a moment, but in the end he chose to move on.
-
Night is long, especially in this vast sea.

Surrounded by endless sea water, I don't know when it is the end, which makes the night seem to have no end.

But the night will pass, and the dawn will come.

When the first ray of sunlight shines, the sea water looks very soft and beautiful, like pearls, like the snow-white skin of a beauty.

Wu Dang woke up from his sleep, rubbed his eyes, wiped his cheeks with water, and then walked out of the cabin and asked, "How far is it from Huaqiu Island?"

A minion was sweating coldly on his forehead, and he didn't know how to answer the Wu Party's question, because according to their calculations, they should have reached Huaqiu Island by now, but they didn't even find the shadow of Huaqiu Island.

Wu Dang glanced at the morning sea, and quickly realized what had happened.

They lost their way in the sea, and now they don't know where they are, and when he looked up at the sky, there was a rising sun in the sky, but the sun was above his head, the sun was not poisonous, but it was really above his head.

"When did this happen?" Wu Dang's tone was very cold, as cold as a basin of blood in a world of ice and snow.

"Last night... that's all... that's it."

"why did not you tell me?"

"The head of the house was sleeping at the time, and the younger ones didn't dare to bother."

As soon as the minion finished speaking, Wu Dang couldn't help but slapped him. The minion was thrown to the ground by the slap, and quickly stood up again. The corner of his mouth was bleeding, but he didn't dare to wipe it.

However, after this slap, the military party did not continue to embarrass that minion. He ordered the boat to sail at night, and he was also responsible for getting lost.

"Don't worry about distinguishing, and rush to Huaqiu Island as quickly as possible."

After Wu Dang said this, a person with rich sea experience came out. That person stood at the bow of the boat and looked at the sky and the sea. It is really strange that through astronomical observations, it is impossible to tell the east, west, north and south."

Wu Dang frowned slightly, and felt a little anxious: "Then what should we do now?"

"We can only go back the same way and then identify the direction, or we can go in all directions, but this is more time-consuming."

Wu Dang was anxious and wanted to get angry, but after all, he had received special training from Shenwufang, and he was able to maintain his calmness under such circumstances: "Go back the same way."

The members of the military party returned the same way, and the news quickly reached Xue Li on Huaqiu Island. After hearing this, Xue Li showed a slight smile, and then said: "Although the enemy has returned, they will not let it go. , so our vigilance cannot be relaxed."

"Yes!"
-
Liu Wei's boat entered the waters of Huaqiu Island in the afternoon. When they entered, they could clearly find that someone had stayed here, because there were filth left by some people on the sea.

But they didn't pay much attention to these things, because after they entered the waters of Flower Ball Island, they found that they quickly lost their way.

Zhugepi was a little frightened when he discovered this, and hurried to Liu Wei to report the situation, but Liu Wei was not surprised after hearing this, and only ordered: "Go to my room and get the box on the table."

Zhugepi was dubious, but he brought the box according to Liu Wei's instructions.

After handing the box to Liu Wei, Zhuge Pi asked with some puzzlement: "My lord, what's in the box?"

"compass."

"Compass?" Zhuge Pi was puzzled, and asked again: "What is it for?"

"To identify the direction."

As Liu Wei said, he opened the box, and then took out a very small needle from the box. There was a very light thing on the needle, which could ensure that the needle would not sink to the bottom of the water. There was also a round bowl in the box. There was water, and after Liu Wei put the needle into the water, the needle twisted back and forth in the water, and finally stopped.

Liu Wei nodded after looking at it: "The place where the needle points is the south, and Huaqiu Island is in the west. We should go this way."

Liu Wei pointed to the west and said, and said very definitely.

But Zhuge Pi, Zhan Qing and the others stood there in a daze.

Can this thing work? If it points to the south, it is really the south. What if it is wrong?
Everyone looked at each other, and Zhuge Pi said, "My lord, this... can this be done?"

Liu Wei smiled: "Of course it can be done. This compass is simplified by the officer based on Sinan. After all, it is not easy to build Sinan on this ship, but there is no problem with its accuracy. In sea areas where the direction can be distinguished The officer has tested it many times."

"Si...Sinan?"

Zhugepi was a little surprised. He had never heard of the compass, but he had heard of it. There was a saying in "Guiguzi·Mou Chapter [-]" written by Guiguzi during the Warring States period, so Zheng Ren's choice of jade was also recorded in Sinan's There is no confusion about the car; in "Lunheng" written by Han Wangchong, there is a ladle of Sinan, which is thrown on the ground, and it is not a guide.

It's just that although these things are recorded, Sinan belongs to the royal family. Outsiders may just hear about it, and not many people have seen it.

And Zhuge Pi was shocked by other things, and he was also shocked that Liu Wei was able to simplify the compass from Sinan. If this compass is really feasible, it will be much more convenient and simpler than Sinan. Liu Wei can recreate it, it is indeed worth it people admire.

"My lord has met Sinan before?"

Si Nan was usually stored in the palace, and Liu Wei was the son-in-law, so Zhuge Pi naturally thought so.

Liu Wei didn't know that Sinan was stored in the palace, so he smiled and said: "No, I just read it in a book. As for the compass, I also learned it from the book."

"Books... learned from books?"

Zhugepi was dumbfounded. He thought that the compass was recreated by Liu Wei based on Sinan, but he didn't expect that he learned it from a book. What kind of strange book is this? Why haven't he heard of it before? ?

"I don't know where the adults learned from that book?"

This time, Liu Wei was dumbfounded. He was just talking casually, but he didn't expect Zhuge Pi to ask endlessly. Should he say that he learned it from textbooks like elementary school students entering science?

Liu Wei smiled wryly, and said: "I learned it from a book called "Mengxi Bi Tan", in which there is a saying: Fang's family can use a magnet to sharpen a needle to guide it."

(End of this chapter)