The reaction of Tiaoyu and others was much calmer.
They have had enough time to complete their psychological construction, unlike Lubaen and others, who have vague impressions of the ancient eastern country.
It was not until today that I felt deeply shocked for the first time when I saw the giant ship approaching.
The Ming Dynasty is known to be the most powerful country in the world today.
Look up and worship, it will be a balanced forward momentum;
But fear and cowardice must not exist.
Tiaoyu glanced at a dozen people and shouted loudly: "Follow the decree of our Lord, welcome the Ming Dynasty's envoy, and worship our Lord, Balance!"
Zhou Ruoyu, Zhou Wangshan and others looked solemn and said in unison——
"Praise the Lord, praise the balance;"
"Balance exists among all things!!"
It doesn’t matter whether the Ming Dynasty is strong or not.
Only balance is the only incarnation of the laws and order in the world.
It is precisely because of this scene.
The previously restless hearts of Lu Baan and others suddenly became peaceful;
It was as if there was a divine aura enveloping them in the dark.
The group set off.
On the palace high ground, Tiaoyu and others also saw the magnificent fleet on the distant sea level for the first time.
The excitement in my heart is filled with expectation and yearning.
One day, the banner of Balance will be like them, spanning the world.
A seed full of majestic vitality has been planted in their hearts.
Outside the palace.
Malindi's knights are in position.
The old Lubaen boarded the king's carriage and wanted to invite the divine envoy to sit with him, but he saw that Tiaoyu and others had followed Jolan and got on the horse.
As the knights in front shouted to open the way, the entire honor guard headed for the port terminal.
The city was already boiling.
The grand sight of the fleet in the distance spread throughout the city, and the people rushed to the harbor.
When arriving at the pier.
There are already crowds of people around.
The knight dismounted, cleared the road, and escorted the princes, ministers, and envoys to the front.
A minister in charge of maritime affairs and commerce said: "The size of that huge ship is unknown, but from a distance, I'm afraid it won't be able to dock, and it will have to anchor in deep water in the distance!"
At the same time, the fleet is still far away now, and the view from the port is not as clear as before from the heights of the palace.
After everyone discussed for a while, Gaza asked Yuyu for instructions: "The envoy, the minister of the kingdom suggested that His Royal Highness the Prince should go by boat and invite the Ming Dynasty envoy to enter the country!"
"The envoys of the gods are so noble that they cannot travel with them. When they land, His Highness the Prince will invite the envoys to come and pay homage to the envoys of the gods."
Jumping Fish is a little undecided.
If we take the initiative to welcome him, will his reputation as a balanced person be looked down upon?
But the huge ship could not dock. If they wanted to see the Ming Dynasty's shipbuilding achievements, they had no choice but to leave the port by boat.
Without waiting for him to speak.
Zhou Ruoyu couldn't wait any longer: "Honorable? Why are we noble! We are all balanced people, and only our true God is noble and supreme in the world!"
Tiaoyu was awakened by the words, and secretly praised the atonement in his heart, then said: "Let me go with the prince. That giant ship is rare in the world, so we should observe and refer to it."
The will is fulfilled.
The group quickly boarded the ship.
Only some old princes and ministers and the old king Lubaan were left on the shore.
A total of five boats left the port. The boatmen and sailors first rowed the oars. When they reached a distance, they raised the sails and cut through the waves.
…
Above the open sea.
"Tuk-"
The long sound of the horn resounded throughout the ship array.
At the bow and stern of the ship, there are flag bearers waving command flags to convey orders.
Not long after, shouts continued to be heard from ships everywhere——
"First-class treasure ship, lower six sails!"
"Yi Luo San."
"Bing leaves one."
With the same semaphore, the shouts continued to spread, and a speed adjustment of the ship was quickly completed.
There are more than 60 first-class treasure ships in the entire fleet, which are driven by sails. A giant ship with a hull over a hundred meters long requires nine masts to raise the sails.
The deck of a huge ship.
Everyone gathered to look into the distance, and a tall man stood at the head of the crowd. He was pointing at the land in the distance and the faintly visible size of the city——
"Where is this city?"
On one side, there were more than a dozen people in strange clothes, smiling, "...%#￥!"
After they finished speaking, a young man said: "Reporting to the envoy Zheng, the envoy with all his bones and bones said that this place is Malindi, one of the three countries on this coast."
"The situation is weak, with more than a thousand soldiers and horses;"
"But the number of black slaves is huge, and they are the largest among the Three Kingdoms!"
The so-called chief envoy of Zheng is Zheng He.
Take on the role of envoy of the fleet on this trip.
The young man's name is Ma Huan, and he is only fifteen or six years old.
This was his first diplomatic mission, and he held two positions: teaching and general affairs.
There are not a few young people like him in the fleet, most of them are from poor families, either good at boating to make up for their losses, or they can speak foreign languages.
The status of these people is relatively low.
But Ma Huan is from Jiangnan and his ancestral home is Kuaiji;
His ancestors gained wealth by doing business, so they were welcomed by scholars; and because they often did business with Arab merchants, they acquired proficient Arabic at an early age, so they were recruited into the regiment.
Compared with those who are mostly "self-taught", literati like Ma Huan, who "come from a scientific background" and are well-read in poetry and books, are particularly valuable.
Zheng He asked: "How far is it from this place to the last city?"
Translated by Ma Huan.
He added: "The envoy of Mu Gudushu said that if the treasure ship sails at the speed, it can be reached in three or four days, but now in the summer, the wind is not favorable, so if you go there and turn back, you have to wait for several months for the wind to blow before you can go north again.
"
On the side, another young supervisor said: "If we still have to wait for several months, I'm afraid it will delay our return."
Zheng He understood and said: "If this is the case, can the Malindi people send an envoy to summon the Kilwa envoy to come overland to meet us?"
After asking, Ma Huan said: "Yes!"
at the same time.
The formation of the fleet has quietly changed, the speed of the ships has slowed down, and more than 200 ships of A, B and C have gradually gathered together.
Flags were flying on the bow of the ship, and not long after, a messenger came over: "Report to the envoy Zheng, the ship ahead has sent a message, there are foreign ships approaching."
"Which ship sent the message?"
"Vice Envoy Wang's main ship."
Zheng He looked at the coastal city-state and saw that the distance was almost there, so he issued an order: "Every ship array will become a 'chain gate' and prepare to drop anchor!"
"Every army be on guard;"
"The people of rank six and above will be sent to meet up on Wang Jinghong's main ship."
"yes."
The trumpets sounded again and flags were waved.
There are countless mobilizers on board, and they are in an orderly manner;
This scene was extremely shocking to the Mugudushu (Mogadishu) pilgrimage mission who had just boarded the ship more than ten days ago.
They saw that the ship on the flank began to raise its sails and speed up, and formed a precise formation on the "markless" sea.
From the outside to the inside, multiple barriers are formed.
The front was protected by two first-class treasure ships. The two ships were swung sideways so that their muzzles faced outward.
It also extends the small boats like chains, linking more than 60 large ships at the core of the ship array.
The ship arrays are stacked on top of each other, and there is no place where fire cannons are not densely packed, and the range of the divine machine arrows is covered.
Ma Huan, who was still a young man, was full of admiration and showed the power of the Celestial Empire. He said to the foreign envoy:
"A few months ago, we traveled to Sumatra. The small foreign country was undergoing civil turmoil. Its prince was not polite to each other and acted slackly towards our Ming Dynasty. In the end, he even sent troops to intercept and kill him, with the intention of plundering our Ming Dynasty's treasure ship."
"However, our 20,000 soldiers in the Ming Dynasty were all good soldiers and generals. We suppressed the chaos in that small country with a sweeping force. We also captured the prince Su Qian alive and stabbed him on the ship. We will return to the Ming Dynasty for trial."
A group of envoys were dumbfounded and shouted that the gods were invincible.
At this time, a young man patted Ma Huan on the shoulder and reminded: "Ma Huan, don't make the foreign envoys fear our Ming Dynasty. This behavior shows the magnanimity of the Ming Dynasty's sacred rituals."
Ma Huan felt a little embarrassed and said, "I understand, Brother Fei."
The young man didn't blame him, because they had known each other for several months and had gotten along well.
His name is Fei Xin, and he is also a general and a teacher.
It's just that compared to Ma Huan, his foreign language is far inferior, and he is all self-taught.
Along the way, he also benefited a lot from Ma Huan.
And the two of them have something in common: they were both drafted into the army when they were teenagers.
It's just that Fei Xin went to sea for the first time with the army in the seventh year of Yongle last time. This is the second time.
After the small interlude, a medium-sized ship came alongside.
A group of dozens of people transferred to the middle ship and headed to another treasure ship at the front of the ship array.
Due to Zheng He's order, people of sixth grade and above gathered at Wang Jinghong's place.
Wang Jinghong is also a "eunuch" and serves as the deputy envoy of this trip.
In addition, there are dozens of other "eunuchs, supervisors, young eunuchs, and internal envoys" scattered among the main ships to preside over branch fleet affairs.
The eunuch here is not a general term for eunuchs, but a rank of position.
The lowest ranking is within the rank of eunuch, and the rank of chief is the fifth rank; the rank of junior eunuch is the fourth rank;
For example, Zheng He, Wang Jinghong and other chief eunuchs were of the fourth rank.
Among them, Zheng He and Wang Jinghong should be the leaders, supplemented by commanders and several deputy commanders.
When the ship they were on set sail.
Many ships set off from various parts of the military formation at the same time, bringing envoys and generals from various places to gather together.
Soon after.
Nearly a hundred people gathered together.
Wang Jinghong stood on the bow of the ship and pointed to the five small boats floating in the distance: "When they left the port, there was a warning on the ship in front of them. Now that we can see the size of the ships, they should not be hostile."
Hear this.
There was a chuckle in the crowd.
Such a landing operation might be disadvantageous to the Ming fleet, but since their first voyage overseas, they have never seen anyone who dared to challenge the Ming fleet.
The size and number of ships in the Ming Dynasty fleet are overwhelming in the world.
Someone asked: "Perhaps this Malindi man also heard about our arrival, saw the fleet coming, and went to sea to greet us?"
"It's very possible! This coastal city-state has many trade exchanges and dense connections, so it can get news in advance."
Wang Jinghong looked at Zheng He again: "What do you think, the envoy?"
Zheng He said: "Since we are a friendly country, we can repair and supply supplies here, and also visit this foreign land, conduct trade with them, and obtain exotic treasures and rare animals for the present."
Everyone was happy to get off the boat after hearing this.
Although there is nothing missing on the boat, who doesn’t yearn for the earthy smell and down-to-earth feeling while sailing on the sea?
A general wearing armor said: "Then if you see that they don't carry weapons, can you 'switch' them and let them go?"
"Can!"
Waiting for the reply to drop.
The call came again.
at the same time.
Five boats in the distance are approaching.
With every inch they got closer, the shock in their hearts deepened. From a distance, the giant ship that was the size of a palm now had the size of an elephant.
And they are still far from the fleet formation.
Zhou Wangshan said: "I can't imagine how huge the ship will be under that giant ship..."
He looked at Zhou Yusheng: "Yusheng, are you confident in creating such a giant ship?"
Everyone looked sideways and their eyes were a little complicated.
The secret laws and principles given by our Lord are naturally supreme.
But you must know that today's well-balanced boats are all used for fishing.
The newly developed "transport ship" still uses two boats spliced together to barely improve its stability and carrying capacity.
You can go down the "Gold River" (Sacramento River) from the No. 2 city to reach the newly built main health city and provide construction materials.
Seeing the fishing rope, he was slightly silent.
Tiaoyu immediately spoke to smooth things over: "Don't put too much pressure on the fishing rope. The fishing rope can pass many tests and serve as the leader of the ship research team. This is recognized by the chief inspector."
"Besides, isn't the purpose of coming here this time to learn the Ming Dynasty's shipbuilding skills?"
Everyone nodded.
But at this moment, Yusheng suddenly said: "Such a giant ship is not the direction of research on shipbuilding in the Kingdom of God..."
"Tiaoyu is right. The reason for coming here is to learn from the Ming Dynasty's shipbuilding achievements, but it is only to absorb its useful experience for reference."
"Wooden shipbuilding is extremely expensive. Not to mention the procurement of wood, processing and anti-corrosion treatment, it will take several years to settle."
"It's certainly quick to set up, but the prerequisite is that the materials are readily available."
"But it is mentioned in the Mysterious Code of Laws given by our Lord that large wooden ships wear out very quickly. If they are not maintained and repaired all year round, they will soon be scrapped; but the cost of ship maintenance is not simpler than building a new ship."
"For example……"
It seems that Zhou Yusheng is going to have a long speech.
The three law monks from the ship research team beside him immediately interrupted: "Actually, our mission on this trip is not to learn the blueprints and techniques for building giant ships. It is enough to obtain the techniques for small and medium-sized ships."
"This will satisfy offshore shipping and connect the sea and land from the Kingdom of God to the city-state alliance."
"The next step is to replace wooden shipbuilding."
"This is for transitional use only."
Zhou Yusheng nodded quickly when he saw the three team members summarizing for him.
But everyone was stunned. In their minds, there was only the concept of making boats out of wood.
Zhou Ruoyu asked: "What should I replace it with?"
Zhou Yusheng was straightforward this time: "Steel!"
"We need to build a steel warship. Only in this way can it be indestructible when walking on the sea!"
He felt proud and looked into the distance: "No matter how big the wooden giant ship is, it will be easily shattered by the impact of the steel warship!"
"How can wood be stronger than steel?"
Zhou Ruoyu exclaimed: "Steel? Will steel not sink when it enters water?"
The other law monks pondered, and then said in shock: "If we can design the buoyancy to be equal to the weight of the displaced water, we can indeed make a heavy object in a closed space float on the water!"
Zhou Yusheng looked at the man suddenly and said in surprise: "Yes, this is the concept of ship displacement in the law of ship creation!"
"You haven't read the secret ship book given by my Lord, but you can reveal the true knowledge in one sentence... You can join my ship research team!!"
The man quickly waved his hand and said: "No, no, no, I still like gunpowder creation and chemical laws! In fact, as the Temple Mount monks improve their understanding of physical laws, there will be countless people who can contribute to ship creation."
"My lord!" Zhou Ruoyu exclaimed, "You can actually build a ship with steel!!"
Tiaoyu smiled and said: "So Wu, Chief and Ruonan asked you to practice the rules diligently, otherwise you will be an ignorant person with no knowledge and skills in the future..."
"Zhou Ruoyu, great wisdom Ruoyu? Then can you still bear the name bestowed by our Lord?"
Zhou Ruoyu felt offended and snorted: "Brother Tiaoyu, you are jealous of me!"
"Hahaha, whatever you think."
While everyone was talking.
A group of Malindi people were stunned to hear this.
Qiao Lan quickly asked Gaza: "Gaza...Uncle Wang, what else are the envoys discussing?"
Gaza looked stunned. He couldn't believe his ears. After listening to it for so long, he could only understand the first half.
Gaza said: "The divine envoy said that the Kingdom of God will create a giant ship made of steel, and the Ming treasure ship in front of us will be vulnerable to that steel warship..."
"Just like, how can a wooden sword be worth a long iron-edged sword?"
Hiss!!
Everyone gasped.
Before they could express their emotions, a shadow fell over everyone's heads.
They looked up in a daze, only to see giant ships as huge as hills arriving in front of them.
The five boats were as small as the meerkats at the feet of the elephants.
Benedict——
The horn sounded, deafening.
Another shout came from an unknown ship: "According to the order of His Majesty Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty, we are visiting the Western countries to promote the virtues of the Ming Dynasty and to promote the goodwill of friends and neighbors..."
The declarations and chants were loud and clear, which made people confused.
Gaza didn't have time to translate it, because the distance was too far, the sentences were vague, and the Ming accent was different from what he learned when he was a child.
On the contrary, Tiaoyu and others, after experiencing the practice of balancing the accents of various tribes, can roughly listen to the words before and after, and form the meaning of the phrase.
Wait until the singing is over.
A huge ship used the winch rope to lower the small boat and sail towards them.
Fei Xin and Ma Huan stood together and smiled.
The latter said in proficient Arabic: "Your Majesty, we are waiting for you to board the ship to meet us!"
