The destroyer "Fubuki" lowered the gangway, and two Japanese sailors stood on the gangway, taking flashlights to shine on the small liner below. They looked at the heads of the ship full of people, looking very surprised, and kept saying "Whoosh...oh..."
…Yo…” This is a very exaggerated tone of voice.
A junior officer came over from behind and reprimanded them with a few words of authority. The two sailors immediately moved to stand on both sides, lowered their heads and said forcefully:
"Hi!"
The junior officer held a flashlight and shined it downwards. At the same time, he spoke loudly in Japanese, as if he was asking something.
Prince Ananta didn't understand Japanese, but he also guessed that he was asking "Who is the Prince of Siam?" He raised his head and wiped his pale face, which was stained with sea water and sweat, and tried to smile and be polite.
Said in English:
"I'm sorry, I don't understand your language... But what I want to say is that I am the legal crown prince of the Kingdom of Siam - Prince Ananta Mahidol. I represented the Kingdom of Siam as an envoy to the Ming Dynasty, but I encountered some trouble...
To be precise, they are some very unfair experiences... Excuse me, can you speak English?"
The junior officer on the gangway looked at him for a while, and then spoke stiffly in English with a heavy Japanese accent:
"I... don't know English... and your words... I don't understand."
The prince's eyes turned black and he almost vomited blood. The whole day's work was in vain. But he was cold, hungry and tired, and he could no longer hold on. With a smile on his face, he gestured with his hands, forming a crown on top of his head.
Later, he simply used his hands and feet, uttered Thai words, tried his best to identify himself, and asked to board the ship with gestures. But the Japanese junior officer refused to let him go. He went down to the gangway, pushed him down with his hands, and shouted loudly.
Japanese, mixed with two simple English words:
"wait here! wait here!"
The prince understood that this meant he was asked to wait here first. He turned to look at a boat of Ming female soldiers. They had lost all awe of him and were looking at him with contempt. On the deck above their heads
, many Japanese sailors had gathered, all of them were holding on to the railings, laughing and laughing at his jokes. They were also looking at the female soldiers on the ship, and they were joking to each other at the same time.
The prince felt his pride was hurt, so he stopped arguing and sat on the boat with as much dignity as possible and waited.
After a while, the Japanese soldiers on the deck all stood up straight and saluted. At the same time, a young Japanese major appeared at the gangway.
He spoke relatively proficient English and said to the following:
"Who is His Royal Highness the Prince of Siam?"
Prince Ananta quickly raised his face and said with a smile:
"I am!"
The major frowned and looked at him for a few times, as if he didn't believe that His Highness the Prince could be such a beggar. But he still said with a suspicious look on his face:
"Since you are the prince...then please board the ship."
The prince was overjoyed and immediately jumped onto the gangway and grabbed the handrail. Pachai behind him also wanted to follow, but the major shouted loudly:
"Stop! What do you do!"
The prince quickly explained to him that this was his entourage. Then the major reluctantly let Pachai come up.
The major ignored the prince on the deck for now, but climbed onto the handrail of the gangway and smiled politely at the female soldiers of the Ming Dynasty on the small liner below:
"Ladies, who of you speaks English?"
One of the twenty-six or seven-year-old female captain said generously in English:
"I can speak English."
Then she told the story of how the two men hijacked the ship. The major turned his face, looked at the prince with more suspicion and disdain, and then smiled at the female soldiers:
"In this case, do you have enough fuel to go back? If not, we can give you some."
"Of course it's enough!" the female captain said loudly, "Thank you!"
The major nodded, asked their boat number, then stood on the gangway, straightened his posture, bowed slightly, and said to her solemnly:
"I am the captain of the destroyer Fubuki of the Imperial Japanese Navy, Major Shuichi Oyama. Please tell your government that we are admitting this person on the ship. We are currently only providing humanitarian assistance at sea and have no other intentions. As for this
The person claims to be the prince of the Kingdom of Siam, and we still need to verify it. I hope you will not misunderstand. If this person is really the prince of Siam, our country may negotiate with your country through diplomatic channels. At that time, we may ask you to do it.
A testimony. I hope you don’t mind.”
The female captain nodded and asked:
"We don't mind. Can we go?"
"Please."
When the captain saw the major's gesture, he turned the ship's rudder without translating, quickly sailed away from the Japanese destroyer, and headed west.
The female soldiers on the ship were chattering excitedly as they survived the disaster. Several of them were muttering:
"That ship doesn't look like a Fubuki class ship...have you noticed?"
"That's right...the ship's name paint looks like it was just painted on..."
"Yeah yeah……"
…
After the prince and Pachai boarded the ship, they were quickly "invited" into a closed cabin below the deck. Then Captain Oyama nodded to them coldly and said in English:
"I feel sorry for you to rest here for now. When dinner is served, I will bring you a serving."
Then the hatch closed with a bang and locked on the outside.
The surrounding area suddenly became quiet, with only a small lamp above the head emitting dim light.
Pachai was so angry that he almost kicked the door with his foot and cursed loudly. Then he complained to the prince, saying that it didn't matter what Pachai did to him, but His Royal Highness was the prince of the Kingdom of Siam, how could he be treated like this.
The prince sat on the ground, leaning against the bulkhead, and seemed calm. In fact, he was dizzy with hunger and was burning with anxiety. He opened his eyes and saw a string of salted fish hanging above his head, so he reached out and tore off a large piece.
He stuffed it directly into his mouth and chewed it with difficulty, showing a satisfied expression. Pachai was stunned, and immediately followed suit, tearing off a large piece of salted fish and chewing it hard.
Although the salted fish was dry, hard and fishy, the two of them tasted it as if it were a delicacy, and for a moment they forgot about each other's rude treatment.
After a while, the prince took a breath and said slowly:
"It's normal. Now they don't believe my identity at all. What do you expect them to do to us? What's important now is that we are out of danger and safe... If you feel a little wronged, just feel a little wronged... We can't even train
I’ve drilled through all the coal piles, so what does this mean? But what I’m worried about is..."
"Your Highness, what is it?"
"We are worried that we are too optimistic... Japan may not be willing to stir up this muddy water."
As he spoke, he translated to Pachai the last few words Captain Weishan said to the female soldiers of the Ming Dynasty on the gangway. Then he said slowly:
"Now that Ming Dynasty controls the Strait of Malacca, Japan's oil bloodline and other trade bloodlines are in the hands of Ming Dynasty...I'm worried...unless Japan is really ready to fight with Ming Dynasty, it may not
We offended Ming Dynasty because of us."
Pachai was dumbfounded when he heard this, and his heart started to get hairy. He didn't understand the same thing, why His Highness the Prince said this now and that now. He didn't understand international relations, but he knew what Japan's attitude would be, but he could directly
It is related to the life and death of the two people. If, as the prince says now, Japan is unwilling to offend the Ming Dynasty for His Highness the Prince and returns them to the Ming Dynasty, then they will die without a burial place.
But Pachai still forced a smile and tried his best to comfort the prince and himself:
"Well... Your Highness, he is just a young captain after all, and what he says doesn't count... He stood on the bow of the ship and said those few words, can he represent the attitude of the Japanese government? No way... Your Highness, we still have to
After seeing Japan, what is the attitude of the Japanese government..."
When Pachai said this, the prince nodded and no longer thought about the uselessness.
The two of them observed the environment they were in. Neither of them were familiar with the structure of the warship and didn't know which part it was. However, this cabin had no windows, and there were dense pipes and wires above the head. There were also pipes and instruments on the bulkhead, and
The cabin was filled with rice, potatoes, pumpkins, bundles of dried seaweed, and all kinds of dried salted fish, dried squid and dried octopus hung overhead.
The next door seems to be the kitchen. With your ears pressed against the steel plate, you can vaguely hear the sound of chopping vegetables next door, and two or three people humming the Japanese fishermen's net tune. You can also hear the sound of the hatch door opening and closing loudly, and the sailors shouting loudly.
, to move something out, it seemed to be a rice pail. The cook agreed loudly, and the sound of laughter was heard. Anyway, it was all in Japanese, and the prince could not understand a word.
After a while, a soothing bugle suddenly sounded on the ship, and then the whole ship began to play sweet Western orchestral music, which was very nice. Pachai was surprised. He didn't expect that Japanese warships would play Western music. The prince closed his eyes
eyes, murmuring:
"We will have food soon... It is said that this is a tradition of the Japanese navy. During meals, Western music is played on the warships."
Sure enough, a sailor opened the door and came in after a while. He looked like a cook. He was wearing an apron outside his sailor uniform and a handkerchief on his forehead. He was sweating profusely, but he still wore a military cap seriously. The embroidery on the hat ring was
There are a few words on it: Imperial Japanese Navy.
The cook looked at them curiously and said nothing. He just placed two lunch boxes in front of them, then went out and locked the door.
Both of them were so hungry that without saying a word, they each picked up a box and ate it. This was a typical Japanese sailor ration: a piece of fish, two pieces of seaweed, a few pickles, and two rice balls. Although it was not a good thing.
, but the two of them almost ate their own tongues.
…
In the bridge command room, Xiang Xiaoqiang was holding a lunch box and eating steamed hairtail happily while listening to Captain Zhang Mingyu report the following situation to him.
"Hmm... So," Xiang Xiaoqiang spat out a row of fish bones and asked, "The prince hasn't discovered any flaws yet?"
Zhang Mingyu smiled and said:
"He shouldn't be able to find out. We did a good job in the drama, and we didn't let him roam around the ship, but locked him in a cabin... What flaws could he see there? Even in that cabin,
We all arranged it carefully for an hour, and the things piled up were commonly used in the kitchens of Japanese warships."
He smiled again:
"And thanks to the Japanese agents that I brought to you...especially that 'Captain Oyama', haha, he is really familiar with the Japanese navy, and he knows that Western music is played during meals on Japanese ships. This company
I don’t even know. Our Ming Navy doesn’t have this tradition.”
Nodding to Xiaoqiang, suddenly it sounded again and asked:
"By the way, the pipelines and instruments in that cabin, what are the characters on them? As for Chinese characters... are they common Chinese characters in Japanese? Will they be misleading?"
Zhang Mingyu breathed a sigh of relief and smiled again:
"Don't worry, sir. We have already checked this. There are no Chinese characters on the pipelines in that cabin. They are all letter marks, which are basically international. There are a few Chinese characters on the dashboard, but they can be understood as Japanese Chinese characters. The prince does not
If he understands Japanese, he can't tell the difference."
Xiang Xiaoqiang felt relieved, nodded, and looked at Xiuxiu again:
"What do you think? Are there any flaws?"
Xiuxiu also shook her head.
"Okay," Xiang Xiaoqiang put down the lunch box, walked to the porthole, looked at the dark sea outside, and said, "Then we will act according to the pre-plan. This is just the beginning. Whether we can succeed or not depends on what we do next.
How well we perform, of course, depends on His Highness the Prince's IQ. The most important thing is to make the Prince think that we are a Japanese ship. Then the next scene on land will be easier to perform. It will also be easier for him to believe it.
.......Turn around and head west, everything has been arranged over there."
"yes."
Zhang Mingyu also stood up, gave the order, and turned the left rudder to the west. The Kuimulang... no, the destroyer that had now been repainted as the "Chuixue" turned around, with white waves on the bow, and headed west towards the Daming coast.
go.
…
In the cabin below the deck, Prince Ananta and Pachai clearly felt the ship turning and accelerating. At this time, there was a sound of footsteps outside the door, and then the cabin door opened.
Captain Oyama was dressed in a snow-white Japanese navy uniform, white leather shoes, white gloves, and a Western sword hanging from his waist. He stood respectfully at the door.
The prince stared at him with a good feeling in his heart.
Sure enough, Captain Oyama stood up straight, bowed deeply, and said respectfully word for word in English:
"Your Highness the Prince. I didn't know that Your Highness the Prince was very rude when he came to our ship. He really deserved death. I hope Your Highness will forgive me."
Prince Ananta said "hmm", still leaning on the rice bag, and said calmly:
"So, has it been reported to your country? Your country's intelligence department has also confirmed that the Siamese prince in Nanjing has escaped, and I am probably the Siamese prince?"
Captain Oyama looked very embarrassed, bowed his head deeply again and said:
"This...how should I put it?...I'm really sorry."
Pachai next to him was very happy at this time. He smiled arrogantly and said:
"So what? Are you still going to let our Highness spend the night here?"
Captain Oyama said quickly:
"Ah, I dare not. Please invite Your Highness the Prince, and this Sir, please go to the officers' mess on the ship for dinner. Then Your Highness and Your Excellency can take a bath, change clothes, and rest in the Captain's cabin. I'm really sorry, our ship is a
This destroyer has limited space and I cannot prepare a more comfortable room for His Highness and Your Excellency. I am really sorry. Please forgive me..."
Not only Pachai, Prince Ananta was also very happy at this time. He showed the noble demeanor of a prince, still said "hmm", stood up, brushed the seaweed from his body, and strode out of the cabin.
After walking through the narrow aisle and walking onto the deck, the prince saw that all the officers on the ship were standing in a row, dressed in snow-white military uniforms, standing at attention and paying attention to him. There was a row of soldiers next to him, each holding a
Brass instruments. An officer waved his baton gently, and the national anthem of the Kingdom of Siam began to be played on the deck.
Although Prince Ananta was in ragged clothes and disheveled hair, he felt extremely satisfied at this time. He walked slowly through the ranks of officers and nodded slightly to greet them. Every time the prince passed by an officer, the officer was clean.
He raised his hand neatly in salute, and then put it down cleanly.
Pachai followed the prince solemnly, imitating His Royal Highness, and nodded to the Japanese officers. The prince now had a feeling: he had been a prince for more than 20 years since he was a child, and only today is he truly a prince.
The best feeling of finding a prince.
Just above his head, on the high bridge, Xiang Xiaoqiang looked at him with interest through the round porthole while eating the steamed hairtail fish in the lunch box with relish.
…
At around twelve o'clock at night, when Prince Ananta was sleeping soundly in the private room of the captain's cabin, he was carefully woken up by Captain Oyama. The captain told him that he had returned to port and asked His Highness to disembark.
Prince Ananta and Pachai rubbed their sleepy eyes and stood on the deck, looking at the dark military port in front of them, the tall dark warships in the port, the dark mountains in the distance, and the sea breeze blowing in their faces.
"Which port is this?" he asked.
Captain Oyama said respectfully:
"Your Highness, this is Fubuki's home port, Nagasaki Port."
"Oh, Nagasaki..." The prince held on to the railing, greedily inhaling the fresh sea breeze, listening to the sound of waves lapping on the concrete embankment, and sighed, "Nagasaki... What a pity. I have worked hard to study Eurasia.
I have been on mission to many countries... In the end, the language I didn't speak was Japanese, and the country I had never been to was Japan... Unexpectedly, in the end, when I was in crisis, Japan was the country that helped me.
I."
Captain Oyama stood behind him and seemed very moved. He sighed with a "Xi Xi Xi Xi" and made an exaggerated exclamation sound unique to the Japanese.
The prince and Pachai got off the warship, then got into a car and were escorted by two military vehicles at the front and rear. They drove out of the military port area and drove up the mountain along the winding mountain road.
It was a dark night road all the way, and the prince could not see anything out of the car window. He only saw a sentry post every other section of the road, where Japanese military policemen wearing big-brimmed hats and discount leggings would stop them.
Get off the car. Then a man wearing a top hat in the front seat will hand over a certificate, and the military police will let you go immediately after reading it.
Finally, we drove to a luxurious villa on the mountain. The man in the front row got out of the car, opened the door for the prince, bowed and said with a smile in English:
"Welcome to His Majesty the Prince. I am Shigeru Takahashi from Tokyo. I bring you the greetings from His Majesty the Emperor."
Hearing that he had reported to the Emperor of Japan, Prince Ananta was very surprised. At the same time, he immediately put away 50% of his princely arrogance. He also nodded politely and said thank you to His Majesty the Emperor for taking care of him.
Shigeru Takahashi led them into the villa. The villa was large, European-style, and obviously heavily guarded. One or two spies in black suits and top hats could be seen appearing like ghosts.
Prince Ananta has already guessed that Shigeru Takahashi is probably the person sent by the Tokyo Special High School.
In the luxurious and comfortable living room, Shigeru Takahashi sat on the sofa opposite the prince, smoking a cigarette and said:
"Your Highness, for now... you are 100% safe. However, our government is very concerned about your experience and your political future in the Kingdom of Siam. You know, we are now
The reason why I dare not invite you to Tokyo is because of this consideration... In addition, we don't know what you have done to the Ming Empire, and what is the attitude of the Ming Empire towards you... This involves our country, Japan.
The relationship between the empire and the Ming Empire has to be cautious... Of course, you can have a good rest tonight, and we will discuss these matters together tomorrow."
The prince immediately said:
"No, Mr. Takahashi, how much of my political future in Siam depends on how quickly I return to Siam. If your country can prepare a plane for me and take me back to Bangkok, then I can become a Siamese man tomorrow.
King, then I can promise that the Empire of Japan will completely replace the Ming Dynasty’s current position in Siam!”
Shigeru Takahashi seemed surprised. He was stunned for a while before saying:
"Why, Your Highness, are you... so sure? This is obviously no longer possible."
"How is it impossible?" The prince said with some excitement, "Now my father is still ill, and most of the civil and military ministers in the country support me! And I am still the only legal prince of Siam! As long as I can return now
Once you reach the country, you can succeed to the throne! Is this impossible?"
Takahashi Shigeru looked at him blankly and said slowly:
"So...you don't know yet?"
"Don't know what?"
"Of course your brother has made a coup last night and succeeded the King of Siam! Now the army and civil servants of the Kingdom of Siam have sworn allegiance to the new king! ... Of course, this is all with the support of the Ming Empire.
So, let me talk about your political future..."
Prince Ananta felt his eyes go dark, like five thunders hitting his head, and his head was buzzing.
Shigeru Takahashi looked at him sympathetically, and then rang the bell. Immediately, a waiter came in, and Shigeru Takahashi gave instructions in Japanese. After a while, the waiter returned, holding a tray.
Shigeru Takahashi took out a newspaper from the tray and placed it in front of the prince:
"Your Highness, you can see for yourself. This is from this morning."
Prince Ananta saw that the title of the newspaper had four Chinese characters for "Yomiuri Shimbun". This was a Japanese newspaper, but there were a lot of Chinese characters mixed in with the Japanese pseudonyms, so he could guess some of the meaning.
He looked at the Chinese characters in the headlines on the front page and murmured, feeling a cold despair spread throughout his body.
The prince suddenly raised his head and looked at the kind-hearted Japanese spy in front of him.
He slowly had the feeling that everything about him was gone now... his rights, status, reputation, wealth, love... all were gone.
... Unless this powerful country is willing to back him up and support him, just like Ming Dynasty supported his younger brother. Otherwise, his life will be beyond redemption.
Takahashi Shigeru looked at him sympathetically, but there was also a hint of tacit understanding in his eyes.
He stood up and said:
"Then, please have a good rest, Your Highness. We will talk about these things tomorrow."
After saying that, he bowed respectfully, then turned around and went out.
The prince sat blankly on the sofa, knowing that now he had to beg for help 100%.
…
The next day, the early morning sunshine filled this vast island.
Although this villa is halfway up the mountain, it is surrounded by mountains and cannot see the bottom of the mountain. Otherwise, the prince will slowly discover at this time that the military port at the foot of the mountain is not like Nagasaki Port, but more like Zhoushan Port; and the harbor is anchored
None of the warships flew the Sun Flag, but the Panlong Flag of the Ming Empire.