Chapter 411

"Third Brother, are you saying they are all hiding in the cabin now?"The eldest, being the eldest, reacted immediately.

The Third Leader nodded and said, "That's right. They probably don't know how many of us we have ambushed, so they are hesitating to come up, but they haven't retreated either."

The Second Leader interjected at this moment, "This is trouble. To be honest, we really didn't want to attack an official ship and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but they occupy both. However, the envoy gave us a death order: we must capture that high official Su Qiao on their ship; we can let the others go!"

"Alright, then there's no choice. Since they are smart enough not to take the bait, let's just take the initiative. Don't forget we have quite a few water ghosts!"

"Use water ghosts? We can try!"

The so-called water ghosts are people who can hold their breath underwater for a longer time.

For many people, holding their breath underwater might only be ten or so breaths; fifty breaths would be good.

But those who frequently go into the water, or those specially trained, can hold their breath underwater for a much longer time.

Like these water ghosts, almost all of them can stay underwater holding their breath for a long time.

Among water bandits, there are generally people with excellent swimming skills; when encountering a difficult ship to rob, they simply drill holes in the hull underwater.

Water ghosts refer to these people!

Now the official ship is stopped in place and won't come any closer.

The ambush circle they set up earlier is useless!

Since the official ship isn't coming, and they still want to capture Su Qiao on the ship, there is only one path left: they must come out and charge head-on!

Zhu Di stood on the ship, a cold sneer on his face, gazing at the reed marsh not far away.

He was just waiting for the water bandits to appear!

Not to mention their side was already well-prepared with weapons, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard or soldiers on the ship, while not necessarily able to fight ten men, could easily fight two or three.

Under such circumstances, Zhu Di very much wanted to see if the other side would still be stubborn enough to charge up.

In fact, the water bandits were already preparing to lead men and charge out.

However, they were stopped by the Second Leader.

"Big Brother, Third Brother, the official army is now resting while waiting for the exhausted; it's not worth it for us to charge head-on right now!"

"Then do we just wait like this?"The Third Leader asked in confusion.

The Second Leader hurriedly explained, "No, it's already afternoon. I think we can completely wait until nightfall; nightfall will be advantageous for us!"

"Nightfall?"

Snap!

"Great! It has to be the Second Brother. Nightfall is indeed advantageous for us. Even if they light torches for illumination, they basically can't see clearly underwater, which makes it easier for us to act!"

The eldest slapped the Third's thigh and said very excitedly.

The Third let out a cry of "Ah!"

"Big Brother, why did you hit me?"

"Hehe, sorry, I slapped the wrong person!"

Zhu Di waited on the ship for a long time, saw no movement, thought for a moment, and guessed the water bandits'plan.

"These damn things have a bit of brains."

After muttering to himself, he stood up and instructed the others, "You keep watch first; if there's any movement, call me immediately!"

"Yes!"

After speaking, Zhu Di went down into the cabin.

Su Qiao was playing mahjong inside the cabin; Zhu Di hadn't even entered when he heard the sound of "Hu" coming from inside.

"Not bad. I'm on edge outside, and you're playing mahjong in here!"Zhu Di entered with a bad expression and glared at Su Qiao.

Su Qiao held the mahjong tiles and didn't take it seriously at all.

"Why did you come down?"

264, Fight to the death!

"The water bandits haven't come?"

Su Qiao looked up once, then returned his attention to the mahjong tiles.

Seeing Zhu Di arrive, Sun Youxu quickly stood up to yield his seat.

Zhu Di didn't stand on ceremony; he swaggered over and plopped down.

"No. These rascals have some tricks up their sleeves; they plan to come at night!"

Su Qiao said carelessly, "It seems there is indeed a smart person. It's pretty much what you guessed. If no one was guiding them from behind, they wouldn't insist on fighting to the death here. It seems the target is me."

"Hmm, this river channel isn't wide. If they charge from all directions at night, it really won't be easy to fight!"

Although Zhu Di didn't know much about naval warfare, some Battle tactics were universal if you thought about them a bit.

Su Qiao suddenly thought of the underwater issue. "By the way, there's also underwater. They might come to drill holes in the ship at night!"

"Oh?"

Zhu Di hadn't thought of this point.

Reminded by Su Qiao, Zhu Di's eyebrows also furrowed.

He had really ignored the underwater direction before, habitually thinking as if he were on land.

"Then do you have any solution?"

He had heard of people with good underwater skills, but after thinking for a long time, he couldn't find a way to prevent the whole problem.

Su Qiao said indifferently, "Fishing nets. The best way to deal with them is to use fishing nets. Drop the fishing nets down; as long as they come towards this side, they will be like fish entering a net, at the mercy of others!"

Hearing this, Zhu Di's eyes flashed. "Not bad. I underestimated you. I didn't expect you to be knowledgeable even about naval warfare. I am truly curious who your master was."

As for those who know the heavens above and the earth below, Zhu Di had seen such famous ministers.

I've also heard of it!

But those were all within the realm of ordinary understanding; as long as one was a bit talented and put in a bit of effort, one could learn them!

Yet Su Qiao was quite different.

Su Qiao was far beyond the realm of genius.

As for literary talent, Su Qiao's poem "If Life Could Only Be Like the First Meeting" had long reached Zhu Di's ears.

His literary talent could be described as brilliant!

Although Su Qiao hardly composed poems or lyrics, no one would ignore his capacity to do so.

Then came the invention of purified gunpowder; although it seemed unsuitable for formal occasions and counted as something from the unorthodox path.

Yet the utility of this thing was absolutely weighty enough.

Su Qiao also created sea charts, world maps, and globes, and knew a great deal about matters of the ocean.

Regarding the Jurchen Tatars, he even employed a discipline he called economics.

Hmm, that makes four!

After that, during this very visit by Zhu Di, he learned in detail that Su Qiao could also lead troops and fight battles.

Though unable to charge onto the battlefield to slay enemies, he could serve as a Confucian general who commanded with calm assurance.

That makes five!

For an ordinary person, having even one of these stand out would allow them to look down on their peers and enjoy status and honor.

Moreover, this would require spending considerable time studying.

After all, reaching the summit is not so easily climbed.

Conversely!

Yet Su Qiao, young as he is, has mastered five of them; even if one had started learning from the moment of birth, it would still seem unable to compare with Su Qiao, right?

This is merely what Su Qiao has revealed of himself.

What about what Su Qiao has not revealed?

Zhu Di was truly drooling over him!

While playing cards, Zhu Di thought: Of his three sons, only the second son resembles him, but he is too violent.

If he could bring Su Qiao over to his side and have him properly teach his three sons, he wouldn't expect them to match Su Qiao himself; it would suffice if each learned a few things!

The more he thought, the more he felt there was hope; he couldn't help but look up and ask Su Qiao, "I am very curious: who exactly was your teacher? I previously sent people to investigate, and it seems you only studied under the academy's Mr., without any private tutoring, right?"

"Nine of Wans!"

Su Qiao, who had just played a Nine of Wans, was stunned by Zhu Di's question.

"Ah, Your Majesty, my information is all true; why do you ask such a thing?"