I heard that if you go to the east of Laizhou and take a boat out to the sea in that direction, the water you will see will be dark blue, but Aluhan has never been there. He has stayed in Haicang Town for most of his life and served in the army during that time.
I have been to Huaixi and Hedong twice, but there is no sea there.
Here in Haicang Town, the seawater usually appears slightly yellow in summer. This is because the Glue River, Weishui River, Danshui River, Xiaoqing River and Beiqing River over Yidu often flood and pour turbid river water into the sea day and night.
.In winter, the sea surface will slowly freeze, and the large ice blocks will appear gray-white, while the sea water under the ice blocks will be dark black.
Only in autumn, the sea water will appear clearer, with green in the blue.
As for red…
The north wind was a bit strong today, which made my eyes hurt. Aruhan rubbed his eyes inadvertently and looked away.
Where does the red color come from on the sea?
That should be the color of the large tracts of saltwort on the seashore. This year's saltwort blooms and bears fruit very early, and the leaves are already turning red by now. If there is no way to borrow food from the salt farm, the only option is to bring people to pick saltwort to eat.
It’s not like I’ve never eaten salted mugwort in previous years when it was green and yellow. But those are the buds picked in spring and summer. In autumn, the leaves of salted mugwort turn red, bitter and astringent, which is very unpalatable, and it also leaves oil and water in the stomach.
The more I eat, the hungrier I get...
Thinking about one thing after another, Aruhan gradually became sleepy, so he leaned against the stone wall of the fort and squinted his eyes to doze off. After a while, his companion sitting opposite him yawned slowly and said,
Then he pointed to the sea and shouted: "Fleet! A fleet is coming!"
Aruhan turned his head sharply to look.
"What a fleet! So many ships!"
The port in Haicang Town is not large, and the fleet that usually stops here to replenish drinking water does not exceed twenty ships. Basically, Aruhan recognizes the leader of the boatmen leading the fleet.
Most of those ships were old, and they were mainly a group of maritime tankers built under the supervision of the imperial court during the Mingchang period. Somehow, they later became private ships for maritime merchants. The style of the tankboats continued the specifications of the Zhenglong period, which is the so-called Tongzhou style.
There are only two types of sloops in length: seventy feet and one hundred feet. Therefore, even if they are gathered together on the sea, the hull is not conspicuous while traveling on the waves.
But at this moment, when he looked far into the distance, he could count at least fifty ship masts, and behind them were white sails hanging high in layers. How many were there? One hundred ships? One hundred and fifty ships? Or
, two hundred ships?
Aruhan knew that it was King Lu of the imperial court who put Lu Gubi La Meng on his head, and that King Lu did a lot of business in Liaodong, Shandong and other places. But even under King Lu, it is impossible for him to have such a big business
Huge fleet!
At the front of the fleet, a large ship had half its sail lowered and was slowly entering the harbor.
Aruhan rubbed his eyes and tried his best to look. He saw a bright red flag hanging high on the empty mast. The moist air on the sea soaked the flag, making it sometimes stick to the mast and sometimes forcefully.
The blowing sea breeze raised the flag high again, rolling and flying with a heavy weight.
There were no patterns or words on the flag, it was just a bright red flag!
This is strange... Which noble person opened a new business? With so many ships, there must be a lot of supplies transported!
"Mom, get up and serve!" Aruhan stood up.
Seeing that his companions were looking lazy, he shouted: "There are so many ships, it's all business! It's time for us to have a full meal!"
"Yes, yes!" At this time, most people got up and followed. Some people walked a few steps empty-handed, turned back, and picked up knives and guns.
After all, they are all Jurchen farmers. Even if they can't hang out everywhere, they are well-off and a bit poor, but they still have their feet and are comparable to ordinary ant people.
For example, Aluhan, the Muke who was in charge of arresting people, was actually a fifth-rank official. In theory, his status was the same as that of a county magistrate, and equivalent to that of a deputy envoy of Jiedu.
In the early years, such a Mou Ke could walk sideways on the entire Shandong road. After the Ming Dynasty, the local fierce An Mou Ke failed, and the prestige of the Mou Ke was far less than it used to be. But even if they can't get any benefits from being in the fields, Haicang
The port has always been maintained by them.
Every time a fleet comes, everyone leads them into the port and provides fresh water, and more or less, they can make a fortune. Not to mention it is not difficult to ask for some food and supplies. If you encounter a weak persimmon, you can blackmail them with the identity of the Jurchen fierce An Mooke.
Blackmail, and even occasional murder and robbery of wealth... are also common.
At that moment, everyone cheered up. Some people were complaining while going out, saying that the north wind had picked up in the past few days. It was the time when the ships from Zhongdu were heading south. They should have gone to the port in advance to wait. This shouldn't be the case.
exhausted.
To the west of Haicang Town, there are all tidal flats, and ships cannot dock. Only to the north of Tunbao, not far from the mouth of the Glue River, there is a continuous huge reef close to the sea. The reefs block the mud and sand of the western tidal flats.
, forming a bay that is concave inland.
Tunpu is located on a higher ground, some distance away from the port. There is a road connecting the two places, but due to disrepair, several sections of the road have collapsed into the muddy tidal flats, making it difficult to walk; and the road follows the terrain and the sea
Make two additional circles.
Everyone was anxious to go to the port to have a look, so they stepped directly on the reef and walked through the huge slippery rocks.
It was the time of low tide, and the seawater gushes out from the gaps in the giant reef. The waves repeatedly hit the towering black rocks, making a dull roar and splashing white foam all over the sky. Everyone was hopeful, and they felt that they were stepping on their own feet.
When passing through the accumulated sea water, the popping sound is very clear.
Passing through two of the most rugged rocks is the beach.
Aruhan ran here panting, his footsteps suddenly stopped, and everyone behind him stopped immediately, all stunned.
It turned out that in the short time they arrived here, dozens of ships had already docked in the harbor. Some were leaning against the old trestles, and some were leisurely close to the shoals. And those ships were not carrying cargo, but a fleet of ships.
A group of soldiers holding swords and guns and carrying bags on their backs.
On the coast, someone blew a sharp whistle to signal the soldiers who were landing.
There are also people running back and forth holding bundles of flags in their hands. Most of them are small triangular flags. Every three or five feet, small flags of a certain color are stuck into the ground to mark the
The direction of travel of different troops.
Most of the marching directions marked by flags lead to the higher seawall in the south of the harbor.
Those flags come in various colors such as black, white, cyan, red, yellow, blue, etc. Most of the flags have no patterns, but are marked with simple numbers. Some larger square flags have laces in different formats, which at first glance look...
Although everyone was confused, the soldiers could easily recognize the meaning of the flag and naturally walked in the direction marked by the flag.
Aruhan vaguely recognized that some of the people arranging the flags were Haicao leaders who had passed through Haicang Town many times. These people spend half the year making a living on the water and are the most unruly, but this time
Looking from a distance, they all looked solemn and solemn.
Aruhan turned to stare in the direction of the fleet.
After watching for a while, he found that although Dajin's cannons all looked the same, he still recognized a few familiar ships and the sailors on board.
Haicang Town is really deserted, and there are no taverns or restaurants in the harbor, so after the ship docks, the sailors are not in a hurry to land. But in the past, they would at least play dice and gamble or make noises and fights.
At this moment, they were extremely quiet, just waiting on the boat and watching the soldiers disembarking one after another.
It can be seen that the army that landed is well-trained, but most of the soldiers are not adapted to sea transportation.
After getting off the boat, many people staggered and could not stand, and some people vomited. So the officers arranged for them to sit down and rest, and let the troops who landed behind them pass them and continue to move forward.
The troops who landed at the back were marching and laughing at the soldiers who were resting nearby. Some of the soldiers who were sitting were not angry and grabbed sand and stones and threw them at them, causing more and more fierce ridicule.
This kind of fighting spirit among acquaintances stopped immediately after the officers arrived, and the troops moved faster and faster. Groups of swordsmen and spearmen arrived at the seawall, sat down neatly, and some capable people rode on them.
Go out on patrol.
At the edge of the queue, a young officer jumped off the bow of the ship, stepped through the mud without stopping, and looked around.
The servants who followed him noticed Aluhan and his party standing under the rocks. One of the servants pointed to them and said something to the young officer.
The young officer nodded slightly and then left the team. A young man strode closer and waved repeatedly.
Aruhan's companions were frightened by such military intimidation and suddenly lost their energy. Many of them began to nod and bow.
Aruhan sighed, adjusted his leather armor and waist knife, and hurried forward to meet him.