On the watchtower of Weiyuan, Wang Yuanzheng, the second son of Wang Haibin, holding a telescope in his hand, was watching the endless sea level with great enthusiasm. Suddenly, a tower spiral slowly rose from the sea level and landed on it.
Wang Yuanzheng's sight immediately made him roar with excitement. The roar was not important, and the sailors all over the boat cheered and excitedly. Then, the cheers roared like a whirlwind in the huge fleet, and the sounds were waved.
Rolling straight into the sky, the many sea birds flying back and forth between the fleet were so shocked that they all flew to the high place in panic.
"It's here, it's finally here!"
The entire fleet cheered, but the only general Lin Hu did not shout, standing alone on the bow of the ship, staring at the gradually taller Alexandria Lighthouse with wet eyes, and bursts of excitement rolled in his heart.
It's not easy. The seven-month maritime expedition was hard to describe. Although Li Xian sent Hangzhou Governor Le Sihui to dissuade him, Lin Hu still insisted on following the boat.
Not only that, he also chose the most difficult and long route of Dashi, but did not choose the relatively safe route of Japan. This journey was not only baptized by the storm, but also experienced several bloody battles in Pu
Luozhong (now Singapore), in Sanfoqi (now Sumatra), in various places of Sondo (now India), in order to establish camps, they have had many conflicts with local indigenous peoples, and have also been with Sondo Pirates in the Indian Ocean.
/After working a few battles, although the six escort warships accompanied by were not in full swing, they were all covered in scars. The two thousand elite soldiers they carried were deducted from the more than 600 people who stayed at the camps everywhere, now
Only a thousand left, more than 300 soldiers were buried on the long journey. Now, they are finally about to reach the destination of this trip. Why is Lin Hu not very excited? As the main general, he is satisfied with the main general.
Even though Lin Hu's majesty was filled with tears, he did not want to show any disrespect. He just stood quietly on the bow of the boat, his burly figure as steady as a mountain!
"Uncle Hu, I will be able to dock in half a day of voyage. Haha, my nephew has heard my father talk about the prosperity of Alexandria. This time I can see the last one with my own eyes!"
Wang Yuanzheng was only twenty years old. He went to the sea with his father three years ago to make a living. He had never been to Dashi and had only traveled twice to Japan. However, in the past, he had heard many veterans in the fleet talk about it.
I had longed for the prosperity of Alexandria. As the destination was approaching, I was extremely excited. I slid down the mast with cheers, and almost jumped to Lin Hu's side, and said excitedly.
"Be careful of the warning and send orders. All frigates will immediately raise the warning flag and divide the left and right columns to escort the fleet forward!"
Lin Hu has always liked the lively and active Wang Yuanzheng very much. Because he liked it, his requirements were particularly strict. At this time, he was so excited that he forgot his responsibilities, so he immediately glared.
He glanced at him and gave a calm command.
"yes!"
After Lin Hu's glaring, Wang Yuanzheng realized that he seemed to be a little excited and did not dare to neglect it. He quickly responded, turned around, secretly stuck out his tongue, and jumped quickly with his hands and feet.
Upon the mast, he untied the two small flags of red and white hanging on the observation deck, and quickly cast a series of flags. The originally slightly messy fleet immediately began to adjust, but saw six warships slowly sailing out of the ship.
The team, divided into two left and right routes, guarded the dense formation of thirty merchant ships, and sailed towards Alexandria at full speed...
Alexandria was founded in 332 BC and was named after its founder, Alexander the Great. It was the seat of the governor of the Egyptian province of the Macedonian Empire at that time. After Alexander the Great's death, Egyptian Governor Ptolemy established Ptolemy here. The dynasty was crowned Ptolemy I, Alexander became the capital of the Egyptian kingdom and soon became the largest city in ancient Greek culture. Its scale and wealth were second only to Rome in ancient Western history; the Persian king in 616 AD Kosloes II occupied Alexandria. Although the Byzantine Emperor Herakliu reoccupied Alexandria a few years later, Arab General Amru Ibn Ass was besieging Alexandria for fourteen months in 6/46 AD Later, Alexandria was occupied. At this point, Alexandria was controlled by the Umayyad dynasty. It was the center of trade between ancient Europe and the East and the hub of cultural exchanges. The only naval fleet of the Umayyad dynasty was stationed here.
As a commercial hub, it is a prosperous place where thousands of merchants gather. There are more than a hundred ships entering and leaving the port every day, as many as dozens of ships. There are ships from all countries in Europe, Asia, and other countries, but they are all small and medium-sized cargo ships. In terms of ship type, it is far less than half of the cargo ship of the "Wangji Trading". Because of this, when a huge fleet of more than 30 giant ships of the "Wangji Trading" appeared in the eyes of the lookout on the lighthouse, the horror caused. It is conceivable that before the Tang Dynasty fleet approached Faro Island, the port was already in chaos. In the hustle and bustle of the drums, more than a hundred small and medium-sized warships of the Dashi Fleet had rushed out of the mooring anchorage in chaos. The flagship "Rose" led the stance to meet the enemy and slowly rushed towards the Tang fleet, but the action was very cautious, obviously shocked by the great momentum of the Tang fleet. .
"Stop the ship, half of the sails are falling, and the crossbowmen of each warship are ready!"
Lin Hu is a cautious person. Although he is going to do business with the big cannibals, he has to guard against the big food fleet's mistakes. Seeing the big food fleet approaching slowly, Lin Hu dared not He slapped his hand and issued an order to prepare for war, but he did not sail forward, but instead ordered the entire fleet to stop in place and lower half of his sails to show that he was not hostile.
Perhaps seeing the Datang Fleet's sailing move, the Dashi Fleet no longer pushed forward, but stopped half a mile away from the Datang Fleet. After a silence, a small boat was seen coming from the Dashi Fleet. The food fleet was rowed out, and there were six sailors who were fucking, two middle-aged men stood on the boat. One of them was white and fat, wearing a robe and looked like an official from a port. The other person was wearing a lock armor and pressed the handle of the scimitar with his hands. He was obviously a general.
"Jiriba..."
The boat was very fast, and it had already rowed directly in front of Lin Hu's flagship "Weiyuan", within a few moments. But the fat white official looked up hard and looked at Lin Hu who was standing at the bow of the boat. It was a bird's voice, with extremely fast speaking speed, and the voice was filled with a sense of unconcealed tension.
"What is that guy talking about?"
Lin Hu didn't understand Arabic and could not understand the fat white official's words. Then he frowned slightly, glanced at the translator standing beside him, and asked in a plain tone.
"Sir, the man called himself Mua Via Aben, who is an official of the Port Department, responsible for the entry and exit of the ships. He is asking where we came from and the purpose of coming here."
General translation Wang Haiyao is Wang Haibin's cousin. He is very talented in language and travels overseas earlier than Wang Haibin. He has been to Dashi several times and is quite familiar with Arabic. He can understand the words of the fat white official. This is what he heard.
When Lin Hu saw the question, he didn't dare to neglect it and hurriedly bowed to explain.
"Oh? So that's it. I'll answer him, saying that we are from the Tang Dynasty and are here to communicate with each other in a friendly manner!"
Lin Hu had guessed the purpose of the fat white official before. When Wang Haiyao made a statement, he naturally did not doubt that he was there. Then he nodded and ordered indifferently.
"Yes, sir." After Lin Hu had issued the order, Wang Haiyao did not dare to delay anything, so he retelled Lin Hu's words in Arabic.
"Tang Dynasty!Tang Dynasty! It's a joke..."
As soon as Wang Haiyao finished speaking, the fat white official became excited and yelled at the bow of the boat for a while.
"Sir, the guy said that Alexandria welcomed the arrival of the Tang Dynasty guests. It was just to ensure safety. We asked our fleet to undergo inspection and pay various taxes and fees according to local tax laws. At the same time, we asked our fleet to obey its orders and handle the entry procedures in turn.
Only then can you enter the port area.” Wang Haiyao translated the fat white official's words before Lin Hu spoke this time.
"I would like to answer that he can, but he can only send officials to the ship to inspect the cargo. The soldiers are not allowed to enter without any advancement. Let's start with the cargo ship. As for all frigates, they are ready to support them at any time!"
The Tang Fleet is here to do business, so it will not start the war easily, but it is necessary to guard against others. After pondering for a while, Lin Hu decided to be safe and did not order the escort warships to be lifted.
alert.
"Jiriba, Jiriba..."
After Wang Haiyao conveyed Lin Hu's meaning to the fat white official, the two quickly discussed it in Arabic. They were talking in a series of birds and birds singing, and it seemed that the argument was quite fierce. After a while,
Below, the fat white official seemed to have been persuaded by Wang Haiyao, and did not insist any more. He waved his hand to signal the boat to turn around and drive back towards the Arab fleet.
"Sir, that guy asked our fleet to accept a thorough inspection of its naval fleet, but was rejected by his subordinates. He said he wanted to report this matter to the fleet commander Tari Ibn Abby and Egyptian Governor Ye Chide?
Ibn Abu, the two of them decided to let our fleet berth here and not move forward any further." The boat turned around, and Wang Haiyao reported the results of the negotiation one by one without waiting for Lin Hu to ask questions.
come out.
"Very good, I'm working hard, expedition, please ask your father to bring the boat up!"
After listening to Wang Haiyao's explanation, Lin Hu did not comment, but comforted him. Then he turned around, looked up at Wang Yuanzheng on the mast, and raised his tone and ordered.
"Good!"
Wang Yuanzheng responded excitedly, waved his hands and blew a series of flags. After a few moments, he saw a riot among the brigade of merchant ships hidden behind by the frigate. After a stir, a merchant ship with the banner of "Shunyuan" was hung.
Slowly sailed out of the array and leaned towards the "Weiyuan" where Lin Hu was. At the same time, the Arab fleet seemed to be alarmed by the dispatch of the Tang army. With a sound of drums, the entire fleet approached forward again, for a moment
The atmosphere on the sea suddenly became tense...