The sailors on the boat immediately cheered when they saw the whale leaping out of the water in the distance.

Zhao Tai immediately shouted: "Lean closer!"

Zheng Yingbo quickly set the rudder, and the sailor adjusted the sail so that the bow of the ship was facing diagonally in front of the whale swimming.

The whale was swimming at about the same speed as a whaling ship, and the distance between the two sides quickly shortened.

At this time, after the hull was adjusted, Zheng Yingbo immediately ordered the sailors to prepare weapons.

The sailors and fishermen on the deck were busy for a while. Everyone picked up their harpoons and javelins and stood on the side of the ship, watching the whales in the distance.

On several other boats, sailors and fishermen were also ready.

However, facing such a giant thing, everyone will inevitably feel a little nervous.

After all, when they were recruited, they thought they were just fishing, but they didn’t expect to catch such a big fish.

At this time, on the bows of the two whaling ships, the crossbowmen lifted off the oilcloth covering the large crossbows, revealing the huge crossbow bed, and loaded the arm-thick crossbow arrows.

A thick hemp rope is tied to the tail of the crossbow, and the hemp rope is fixed to the winch.

This thing is the key to catching whales. Zhao Tai walked over and watched several sailors operating the crossbow bed, aiming at the whales in the distance.

At this time, the whaling ship followed the whale and sailed for half an hour. Everyone on the ship held their weapons and stared at the sea.

Suddenly, the whale jumped out of the water again. At this moment, another whaler, unable to hold on, fired its crossbow first.

Everyone only heard a "swish" sound, and saw a spear-like crossbow arrow, dragging the rope and shooting towards the whale, but failed to hit.

Seeing this, Zhao Tai quickly shouted, "Shoot!"

The crossbowman hammered it down, and there was only a clang sound. The crossbow with a thick arm dragged the hemp rope and shot out with a "whoosh".

The "buzzing" crossbow string vibrated, and the circles of ropes on the ship were rapidly reduced by the crossbow arrows. At this moment, the modified arrow shot directly into the leaping whale, causing the behemoth to let out a shrill cry.

Neighing.

At this time, before everyone could be shocked, Zhao Tai shouted loudly: "Pull over here!"

The arrowhead of the crossbow has a barb, which makes it difficult to pull out when it is shot into a whale's body.

After the whale was trapped, it felt pain and dived quickly. The rope on the ship was pulled out in an instant, driving the winch to rotate.

The sailors and fishermen on the ship reacted and quickly controlled the rapidly rotating winch. The rope suddenly straightened, and the entire whaling ship was pulled by a huge force. The ship's hull shook violently, and everyone on the deck fell down.

The giant whale was so powerful that it seemed like it was about to overturn the whaling ship. Zhao Tai shouted hurriedly: "Don't pull it too tight, let the rope go, and let other ships surround it and hunt it."

The sailors on the boat now loosened the capstan and tightened it again to fight the whale.

Another whaling ship approached, and the sailors on the ship attacked the whales with harpoons and javelins from time to time, and the two sides fought fiercely.

The whale dragged the whaling ship and sailed on the sea, diving from time to time to avoid human attacks. The fishermen on the ship waited for it to come up for air before attacking with harpoons.

After fighting like this from morning to afternoon, when everyone on the boat was exhausted, the huge whale body finally surfaced and stopped moving.

At this time, looking at the floating whale, the exhausted people seemed unable to believe that they had actually defeated such a huge monster.

On the deck, people lying in various directions climbed to the side of the ship and looked at the scene in front of them. They were silent for a long time, and then suddenly they lay on the deck and burst into cheers.

Zheng Yingbo walked up to Zhao Tai and said, "Ms. sir, we succeeded."

Zhao Tai looked at his skinned hands and smiled, "Yes! It worked!"

Zhao Tai came to the side of the ship and looked at this giant thing, feeling very happy.

The best whale oil can be presented as tribute to the palace and sold to the dignitaries in Lin'an, while the lower quality can be used as raw materials for soap.

Whale skin can be used to make leather goods and armor, and the meat can be eaten. It can be said that the whole body is full of treasures.

At this time, the sailors on the deck were happy. Zhao Tai looked at the huge whale and said: "Let everyone work hard and adjust the course immediately and return to Donghai Island!"

Zheng Yingbo also realized that the weather was hot and the whale must be towed back as soon as possible, otherwise the carcass would rot and its value would be greatly reduced.

"Everyone get up! Adjust the navigation first!" Zheng Yingbo immediately ordered.

The sailors on the ship could only drag their exhausted bodies, adjust the rudder and sails. The ship turned a corner on the sea, and then dragged the huge floating carcass of the whale and sailed towards the East China Sea Island.

It was past August 15th, and the weather was not as hot as in summer, but the dead whales still decomposed very quickly.

The fleet could only sail with full sail while laying iron plates on the deck, covering it with sand prepared in advance, setting up iron pots, then dismembering the whales, and starting to refine the oil and marinate the fish.

Six days later, the whaling fleet returned to Donghai Island, which immediately caused a sensation among the military and civilians on the island.

This trip to sea was relatively successful for Zhao Tai. He not only learned about the situation along the coast of Shandong, but also captured whales.

The only pity is that the whale was already highly decomposed before it could be towed back to Donghai Island by the whaling ship, and a large part of it had to be wasted.

In this regard, Zhao Tai gave Zheng Yingbo a solution, but it was more cruel.

That is to let them hunt for baby whales the next time they hunt, and then use the baby whales to attract the mother whales, lead them to the island, and then hunt them.

At this time, the ship docked, and the sailors took the grease and pickled fish off the fishing boat for processing.

Zhao Taize followed Sun Li and others who came to greet him and returned to Donghai Town.

On the way, Sun Li said: "My husband has come back just in time. Li Zhongquan is back and is about to report to my husband the results of his visit to Yidu to meet Li Fen."

Zhao Tai was pleasantly surprised, "I came back so soon. It seems I brought good news."

Zhao Tai's task for Li Zhongquan was to persuade Li Fen to sign a secret peace treaty with him, in which both sides would call off their troops and make a truce, with no one attacking the other.

If Li Fen doesn't agree, then Li Zhongquan will definitely have to persuade him and find connections to lobby, and he won't be able to come back so soon.

Now that he has returned to Donghai Island, it means that he has met Li Fen and received a response.

Zhao Tai smiled. He returned to his residence, sat down and took a sip of tea, then smiled and said, "As long as Li Fen is willing to talk, let Li Zhongquan come see me!"

Sun Li took the order and left. As soon as he left, Zhao Hu clasped his fists and said, "My lord, Zhao Gui has sent a letter from Yidu. Please take a look at it!"

Zhao Gui was sent to Yidu by Zhao Tai to contact Yang You and establish an intelligence base in Yidu to collect intelligence about the Li family.

Zhao Tai took the letter and opened it to read. After just a few glances, he frowned.

"Ms. Sir, Li Zhongquan has arrived!" At this time, Sun Li's voice sounded.
Chapter completed!