Father can be an enemy to the country

Han Yike, Yu Tongyuan and other senior officials of the Municipal Shipping Department rushed back to Nanjing without stopping after receiving His Highness's urgent order to recruit people to Beijing.

Deng Duo, who went to greet them, did not take them into the city. Instead, he came to the treasure shipyard northwest of the city.

"What are you doing here?!" Yu Tongyuan and the Wu brothers were incompatible with each other, and naturally they were not interested in their territory.

"Hahaha, this is my king's territory!" From the top of the city, His Highness King Chu's arrogant laughter came.

"Your Highness!" Everyone hurriedly dismounted and paid homage to His Highness.

"No, no, come in quickly." Zhu Zhen greeted everyone with a smile to come into the Bao Shipyard.

~~

On the watchtower in front of the pond, His Royal Highness the King of Chu pointed at the giant ships sitting in the pond, and looked at Han Yike, Yu Tongyuan and others and said to Han Yike, Yu Tongyuan and others: "These are all our ships!"

"Really? That's great!" Yu Tongyuan and others immediately became excited. "With these ships, we can avenge our shame!"

"Isn't this the imperial court's ship?" Han Yike could never change his habit of speaking quickly.

"The Bao Shipyard is now owned by the Municipal Shipping Department." Lao Liu rolled his eyes, and Teacher Luo hurriedly explained.

"Then you can't misappropriate the imperial ship." Han Yike still shook his head.

"Of course it costs money." Lao Liu said angrily: "I have to thank the first brother on the list for swiping the captain."

"That's it..." Although Han Yike didn't quite understand His Highness's nonsense, he remembered that His Highness said at that time that he would ask big families in Suzhou to donate money.

"In short, this shipyard will be under your control in the future." Lao Liu immediately assigned him a task: "The director of the factory just died, and the rest are also guilty. You must resume work and production as soon as possible, and also Guarantee quality and quantity, do you understand?”

"I understand." Instead of scratching his head, Han Yike was a little excited.

Not for anything else, just for a thrill. Moreover, His Highness has already demonstrated in Suzhou how to deal with all the evil people. All he has to do is follow the prescription and make some slight improvements.

~~

That day, Yu Tongyuan and others worked tirelessly to inspect all the boats in the pond, without even bothering to eat.

Early the next morning, Nan'an Hou reported the inspection status to His Highness with a pair of dark circles under his eyes.

"Why, not optimistic?" Zhu Zhen saw that Yu Tongyuan's face was no longer happy.

"How should I put it, it's a mixed blessing." Yu Tongyuan said with a wry smile: "The ten completed warships are in pretty good condition. If they are carefully maintained and repaired, they should be ready for battle."

"But." His Royal Highness the King of Chu took a sip of lotus leaf porridge.

"But those ten semi-finished products will take at least half a year to be launched into the water." Yu Tongyuan said with a wry smile: "Bao Shipyard shipbuilding is about slow work and careful work. The ships are indeed better than elsewhere, but they are also slower than elsewhere."

"Half a year, it's too late..." King Chu put down the porridge bowl, took the handkerchief offered by the palace maid and wiped his mouth. Picking up a large envelope on the table, he handed it to the other party and said, "I just received it."

Yu Tongyuan saw the stamp of "Six Hundred Miles Expedited" and the delivery time on the envelope, and knew that the letter was sent yesterday and delivered to the capital overnight.

He quickly took out the letter and looked at it, and his face turned pale.

Liao Dingguo also moved forward curiously, and his expression also changed after reading it.

The letter was written by several people, including Wang Dayuan, Yu Tongjiang, and Liao Dingguo's younger brother Liao Weiguo.

One thing these people have in common is that they were all on the four captured ships.

He knew why Yu Tongyuan was anxious. Because the captured sailors on the four ships, as well as Wang Dayuan and Yu Tongjiang, are now serving hard labor in the pirates' lair.

Just a few days ago, the pirates sent letters written by Wang Dayuan, Yu Tongjiang and others to the Shibosi Yamen. Order them to pay a huge ransom within a month, otherwise they will kill one person every day until they are all killed...

The people in the Shibo Department did not dare to neglect after receiving the letters, and quickly used their highest authority to send these letters to the capital.

This suddenly made things more urgent - if the ship was built for the first half of the year, and then the officers and soldiers took over the ship, it would have to take a few months to adjust, right? By then, all the captured personnel should have been killed before the expedition was launched.

There are many soldiers in the Chaohu Navy who are brothers, father and son. After suffering like this for more than half a year, the pressure is really too great. I'm afraid that if we don't last until that time, our military morale will collapse.

Zhu Zhen knew that by helping Yu Tongyuan and the others and rescuing their captured brothers at this time, he could completely gain the loyalty of the Chaohu Navy, instead of being just their last resort like now.

So he took this matter on his shoulders from the beginning.

"So, we can't count on these semi-finished products?" Zhu Zhen asked in a deep voice: "Let alone those materials."

"Of course it will be of great use in the future, but water from a distance can't quench your thirst nearby." Yu Tongyuan said in a seductive voice.

"These are the ten boats that are suitable for use." Zhu Zhen said thoughtfully: "Two boats cost four thousand materials, eight boats cost two thousand...is there something missing?"

"It's much less." Liao Dingguo sighed.

"In the previous battle alone, we saw that they had twenty-four two thousand materials, and seventy or eighty large and small clippers." Yu Tongyuan also sighed: "The difference in strength is too big, we cannot defeat His Highness. Let’s use this little money to add fuel to our family.”

"Tell the truth, do you want to use these ten boats to rescue people? Don't worry about what I think." Zhu Zhen stared at Marquis Nan'an with bright eyes.

"..." Marquis Nan'an hesitated for a moment, then nodded heavily and said, "I think!"

"If the brothers just died in the battle, there's nothing to say. The earthen pot will inevitably break at the edge of the well." Then his eyes turned red and he choked: "But now...well, if they don't give it a try, it will make it difficult for people to sleep and eat well. !”

"Okay." Zhu Zhen nodded and said, "I approve."

"Your Highness..." Marquis Nan'an and Liao Dingguo made a sound, knelt down on their knees, and said with tears streaming down their faces: "If we are lucky enough to come back, I will go through fire and water for Your Highness in this life, and I will not hesitate to do so!"

"Of course you guys want to come back safely!" Zhu Zhen said decisively: "Before you came, I thought about it - we are outnumbered, but the two enemy armies - Fang Bu and Chen Bu, ourselves The conflict is very deep, and the latter even wanted to annex the former. They should not always be together, they should be separated at ordinary times!"

"Yes." Nan'an Hou and the other two's eyes lit up when they heard this. Before, they were only shocked and didn't expect this at all. "If we divide and annihilate them, their ships are slightly larger than ours, so they can still be defeated!"

"In addition." Zhu Zhen said in a deep voice: "I have another way to improve combat effectiveness, but it may subvert your cognition. I wonder if you are willing to listen?"

"Yes, of course I do!" The two nodded vigorously. "As long as we can save our brothers, we will listen to anything!"

"Okay, my suggestion is that when engaging the enemy in the future, face the enemy from the bow instead of facing the enemy sideways!" Zhu Zhen said in a deep voice.

"Blank to the enemy?" The two of them couldn't help but be disappointed. What kind of bad idea was this? Are you waiting for others to hit your hull with the bow of their boat?

ps. No more tonight.