Chapter 968: The Cloud-Sails Hang Straight Across the Vast Sea, the Wild Goose

This grand drama of "deceiving the heavens to cross the sea" and faking a fiefdom was, in truth, not complicated.

For Zhu Yiluo's departure to his fief, Zhu Yijun did not assign him too many missions. Simply put, as long as Zhu Yiluo reached the Golden Mountain State—even if he regretted it before arriving, refused to disembark, and returned to the Great Ming—that would be more than enough.

The main point was to display a stance; whether he himself went or not was not even important. The Golden Mountain State needed this royal banner, and the Great Ming needed expansion.

As long as the Prince of Lu's royal banner was planted in Golden Shancheng, all objectives would be achieved. Previously, Empress Dowager Li had consistently obstructed this, so Zhu Yijun and Zhu Yiluo had discussed this grand drama of faking the fiefdom.

Zhu Yiluo would spend his days in debauchery within the Prince of Lu's mansion without stepping out; a body double would head to the Golden Mountain State; the body double would then return to the capital claiming illness due to the climate; the Prince of Lu would weep and complain that the Golden Mountain State was a desolate, savage land; and the Emperor would build a grand residence in the Ten Kings City to settle Zhu Yiluo.

It was merely borrowing the name of the Prince of Lu, much like the stories circulating on the grasslands about the real and the fake. The truth or falsehood did not matter; what mattered was the title and the righteous cause.

Telling stories was a way to unite people's hearts. Just as no one knew exactly how much gold was in the Tonghe Palace treasury, as long as the goal of building a consensus on opening the seas could be achieved, Zhu Yijun did not mind deceiving the heavens to cross the sea.

With the Prince of Lu's royal banner planted on the land across the Pacific, state affairs would not be delayed, and Zhu Yiluo could continue to enjoy life in the Great Ming.

This grand drama of deception was conceived by the Emperor.

When it came to devious ideas, even ten Zhu Yiluos added together were no match for the Emperor!

Once this idea was put forth, it left Zhu Yiluo stunned; who exactly was the real troublemaker here?

Zhu Yijun had even found the candidate for the body double—Luo Sigong. However, Zhu Yiluo insisted on going himself; he wanted freedom, not to be treated like a pig.

Therefore, Zhu Yijun told Zhu Yiluo to prioritize staying alive. Zhu Yiluo readily agreed, but he still wanted to strive and struggle, otherwise, his life in this world would have been in vain.

"Also, after setting sail, do not trust anyone," Zhu Yijun said in a low voice. "Tang Sanzang's father, Chen Guangrui, was replaced by an impostor. Although that is a story, you must still be careful."

A person is the sum of all social relations. It is almost impossible to take action against an official heading to a post, at least in the Great Ming.

Take Sun Qifeng, the Magistrate of Rongcheng County, as an example. From the day he passed the imperial examinations, all sorts of people from all walks of life swarmed around him, the most numerous of whom were those introducing creditors.

There were endless benefits to being a creditor to a successful candidate, and the candidate needed silver to grease the wheels of his career, so they often cooperated tacitly.

Sun Qifeng waited in the capital for a full seven years before he finally secured the post of Magistrate of Rongcheng County. He ran to the Ministry of Personnel more than forty times just to secure the position. Life in the capital was not easy, and coupled with the costs of networking, Sun Qifeng owed the banks over seven thousand taels of silver.

When Sun Qifeng set off for his post, he brought two private secretaries, six guards, his wife, a concubine, and others totaling six, eight servants, and four bank clerks. These four were also Sun Qifeng's accountants, and they incidentally continued to lend him money.

Heading to the post was only the beginning of borrowing large sums; the banks' main business began after the official arrived at their post.

After arriving, Sun Qifeng had to visit the Prefect and the Prefect's private secretary. Under the Prefect's introduction, he had to visit the Viceroy, the Provincial Governor, the Administration Commissioner, the Vice Commissioners, the Surveillance Commissioner, the Censor, and so on. Every one of these people was a successful candidate, well-versed in poetry and books.

Introductions and casual chats inevitably required discussing one's mentors and scholarship, quoting a few lines from books; a single slip could expose one's true colors.

If one wanted to replace an official, the slightest carelessness would lead to exposure.

Even if all these could be handled, Sun Qifeng had his own personal seal. This signature, a complex design, was known only to himself. Before leaving for his post, Sun Qifeng left his seal at the Ministry of Personnel. After arriving, all official correspondence had to be verified against this seal; the slightest discrepancy would lead to a severe investigation.

Killing an official of the imperial court was a crime among crimes. As long as the world had not descended into chaos, it was almost impossible to be replaced.

It was even more troublesome to attempt to replace the Prince of Lu on his way to his fief.

He brought a full three thousand troops, and he had two sets of seals: one for normal official documents and one for danger warnings. If Zhu Yiluo were ever sidelined in the Golden Mountain State, this second set of seals could tell the Emperor that his younger brother was being bullied.

"Live well." Zhu Yijun gave another solemn exhortation. These were words that could not be spoken in an imperial edict. Needing Zhu Yiluo to take risks while fearing for his life—this was Zhu Yijun's complex and contradictory state of mind at that moment.

"Don't worry, Brother, I'm strong!" Zhu Yiluo was very expectant of his future life. In the final private conversation before departure, Zhu Yiluo finally called out that long-lost "Brother."

The Prince of Lu's fiefdom ceremony officially began. The Great Ming Emperor went to the Huangji Hall to hold a grand morning audience. Those of the fifth rank and above entered the hall, while those below the fifth rank could only stand on the Danbi Square. Empress Dowager Li and Empress Dowager Chen, the two Empresses Dowager, also arrived at the Huangji Hall to see the Prince of Lu off.

Minister of Rites Shen Li and Minister of War Ceng Shengwu, holding the imperial edict, headed to the Prince of Lu's mansion.

Shen Li requested the Prince of Lu to depart for his fief twice at the mansion. Only then did Zhu Yiluo walk out with a dragon-like stride, wearing the nine-chapter imperial robes and the four-clawed golden dragon crown, walking step by step to the carriage pulled by nine white horses. This carriage was slightly different from the Emperor's Great Jade Carriage, but it was still quite magnificent.

"Start!" Xu Jue flicked his horsetail whisk and shouted in a high-pitched voice.

The Directorate of Ceremonial led the eunuchs to lift a chair; this was the Prince of Lu's throne. The Imperial Observatory calculated the time; the auspicious hour had arrived, and they immediately signaled the soldiers to beat drums and blow horns. The Imperial Insignia Office set up a treasure table, upon which were the Prince of Lu's seal and crown. The Court of Imperial Sacrifices began to play the Zhonghe music, the grand and magnificent sound echoing between heaven and earth.

At the very front of the procession was a compass carriage, the second was a drum carriage, followed by the ceremonial horses. They were high-headed horses called up from the Imperial Horse Bureau, their necks hung with red tassels, and their saddles and stirrups were all bronze-gold. There were nine white horses in total, looking quite imposing.

The procession stretched for six li, moving with great momentum toward the Chengtian Gate.

The Prince of Lu dismounted before the Chengtian Gate and, led by Xu Jue, walked across the Outer Jin Shuiqiao, through the gate tunnel of the Meridian Gate, across the Inner Jin Shuiqiao, and arrived before the Huangji Gate. He ascended the steps; the three-tiered terrace of the Huangji Gate was not very high.

The Prince of Lu stood before the Huangji Gate for a long time. Inside the gate, flags were fluttering, and the civil and military officials of the Great Ming were lined up on the left and right. The dragon flags and great banners were whipped by the spring breeze. The Embroidered Uniform Guards were in bright armor, gripping their ceremonial swords, looking quite majestic.

Zhu Yiluo stepped into the Huangji Gate. Drums beat, horns sounded from afar, and the Court of Imperial Sacrifices' band played again. Xu Jue led Zhu Yiluo across the long Danbi Square and stood beneath the terrace.

"Proclaim the Prince of Lu to enter the hall." The imperial voice came from within the Huangji Hall.

Zhu Yiluo ascended the steps and arrived at the Huangji Hall. Zhu Yiluo entered the hall, performed the great ritual of five kowtows and three bows, and said loudly: "Your younger brother, Zhu Yiluo, pays respects to Your Majesty. Long live, long live, long live Your Majesty."

"Your younger brother is of age and should not remain in the capital. I humbly request the imperial command to send your younger brother to the fief of Golden Mountain."

Feng Bao flicked his horsetail whisk and said loudly: "His Majesty has an edict:"

"If relatives are not harmonious, the people will complain; if the ruler has little virtue, customs will become more degenerate. The mechanism of transformation and guidance starts from above. The Empress Dowager has passed an imperial decree to me, unable to bear her own son traveling to the ends of the earth. The Prince of Lu shall remain in the capital to show the affection of kin."

Zhu Yiluo saw Empress Dowager Li and bowed again, saying: "Your younger brother wishes to remain in the capital at Mother's knees; this is the deepest affection of flesh and blood. However, Imperial Brother once said that a man born between heaven and earth should have the ambitions of a swan, how can he be trapped in a cage for long? Mother also once taught that the sons of the Zhu family should prioritize the state and keep the common people in mind."

"Your younger brother is departing for the overseas fief for the sake of the mountains and rivers of the state, for the sake of the sun and moon, and for the great cause of opening the seas. I humbly request Mother and Imperial Brother to permit your younger brother to go to the Golden Mountain State."

Empress Dowager Li sat behind the Emperor and finally sighed, saying: "Go."

"His Majesty has an edict." Feng Bao flicked his horsetail whisk again and said: "The affection of brothers and marriage should not be distant. The affection of brothers and marriage, if tied with grace, will be close; if distant, it will lead to rebellion. What is the difference between the meaning of distance and closeness and the horn bow? I know that the superior is the leader of the inferior."

"The affection of brothers and marriage should not be distant" is a line from the Book of Songs, expressing the meaning that brothers should not be distant when they grow up.

Zhu Yijun kept Zhu Yiluo in the Great Ming for the second time, forbidding him from going to the overseas fief.

"How could your younger brother forget the deep affection of flesh and blood?" Zhu Yiluo bowed again and said: "Imperial Brother guards the state from the nine heavens, like the sun and moon crossing the sky; your younger brother wishes to guard the sea frontiers for ten thousand miles, like the rivers crossing the earth. The fledgling eagle spreads its wings, not because it dislikes the old nest, but because its ambition is in the nine heavens!"

"Your younger brother, Zhu Yiluo, humbly requests Imperial Brother to permit your younger brother to depart for the fief."

"Prince of Lu." Zhu Yijun took a deep breath and said: "The water journey is twenty thousand miles; you must pay attention to safety."

Feng Bao took two more steps forward. Two eunuchs pulled open the imperial edict. Feng Bao flicked his horsetail whisk again and said in a high-pitched, modulated voice: "By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees:"

"I have heard that the affection of siblings is unparalleled; I have also heard that the thought of home and country is especially heavy in dividing fiefs. At first, state affairs were difficult; only I and my brother, raised under maternal instruction, bathed in the grace of our ancestors, sharing the same quilt in infancy and the same inkstone in childhood."

"However, the ancestors' founding of the enterprise was difficult; the peace of the state is not easily maintained. Now I have received the mandate of Heaven, residing in the nine heavens to oversee ten thousand states; you possess the talent and bear the distant plan."

"The land of Golden Mountain controls the lock of the Eastern Sea, gripping the waves of ten thousand miles. Its territory hangs beyond the sea, more than thirty thousand stages away; it is truly the extreme edge of the universe, a new expansion of the imperial territory."

"The mountains are distant, the smoke and waves are vast. With this departure, the cloud-sails hang straight across the vast sea, and the wild goose's message struggles to reach the deep palace."

"Every time I think of this, my heart is like a pestle, my insides are like frying. However, for the sake of the mountains and rivers of the state, for the sake of the common people, for the sake of the eternal stability of the imperial map, although I am ten thousand times reluctant, I must endure the tears and extend grace, hoping you will understand my deep heart and keep the heavy trust of the state in mind."

"I hope you will respect Heaven and follow the ancestors, be diligent in government and love the people. Traveling far across the whale waves, take good care of yourself."

"I also hope you will use Golden Mountain as a base to spread the might of the Great Ming across the seas; use the commercial alliance as a chain to gather the profits of the universe for the Middle Kingdom. When success is achieved one day, and your name is inscribed in history, I shall wait with an empty seat to talk of family affection in the palace."

"With departure imminent, I bestow upon you treasures from the inner treasury, classics, agricultural and industrial tools, and several skilled craftsmen, and allocate elite troops to strengthen your journey. I hope you will use them well."

"The established laws of successive dynasties, spreading virtue and grace, are proclaimed to the world, so that all may hear."

"Respect this."

"The cloud-sails hang straight across the vast sea, the wild goose's message struggles to reach the deep palace" was a couplet Zhu Yijun wrote himself after much deliberation. There was no full poem, only these two lines, serving as a parting gift for Zhu Yiluo.

"Your younger brother will keep Imperial Brother's teachings in mind and bow again for Imperial Brother's immense grace." Zhu Yiluo bowed again, and after receiving the imperial edict for the fief, he stood up, took one last look at his mother and brother, turned, and left the Huangji Hall.

Zhu Yijun stood up and descended the steps to see Zhu Yiluo off.

Behind Zhu Yijun were the two Empresses Dowager, and the officials followed closely behind. The Emperor and the Empresses Dowager saw the Prince of Lu off to outside the Chengtian Gate. The Imperial Insignia Office set up a treasure table outside the Chengtian Gate. The Prince of Lu stood before the Jin Shuiqiao, performed the five-bow ritual before the treasure table, and bid farewell to his mother and brother.

"Your younger brother is departing on a long journey; I bow again to Mother and Imperial Brother." The Prince of Lu kowtowed heavily before standing up.

"Go." Zhu Yijun had a thousand words in his heart, all of which turned into these two words.

Zhu Yiluo boarded the carriage and stood on it, looking back one last time. This departure meant life-and-death separation; they would never see each other again in this life. Although there was immense reluctance, the wood was already carved into a boat; there was no turning back.

"My child, Mother has sewn you a piece of clothing; wear it when it gets cold." Empress Dowager Li walked forward a few steps and handed the sewn cotton garment to Zhu Yiluo, who was boarding the carriage.

Originally, she was supposed to give it to him when they met this morning, but Empress Dowager Li forgot. She was supposed to bestow it in the great hall, but Empress Dowager Li forgot that too. Only until this moment, when Zhu Yiluo was truly leaving, did Empress Dowager Li remember the cotton garment she had sewn and hurriedly gave it to Zhu Yiluo.

"I know, Mother, your child is leaving." Zhu Yiluo tremblingly took the garment and, without lingering, entered the carriage.

Zhu Yiluo was afraid that if he said another word, he would not be able to bear leaving.

At this point, the Emperor and the Empresses Dowager stopped seeing him off. The officials followed the carriage toward the Temple of Heaven to offer sacrifices, then to the Western Mountain Mausoleum to offer sacrifices to the ancestors. After the suburban sacrifices, the Prince of Lu's carriage arrived at the Zhaoyang Gate station and traveled south along the imperial road.

Zhu Yijun stood on the bell and drum tower of the main office, standing in the fierce wind. This was the highest point in the capital, and he could see the Prince of Lu's carriage moving through the capital like a swimming dragon.

"Father, since you are so reluctant, can Uncle not go?" Zhu Changzhi stood beside the Emperor, watching his father staring at the Prince of Lu's carriage, and asked in a low voice.

Zhu Yijun touched Zhu Changzhi's head, smiled, and shook his head, saying: "He cannot not go."

Father and son stopped talking and silently saw Zhu Yiluo off.

Zhu Yiluo sat on the train pulled by the Princess Shengping No. 9, watching the scenery outside the window slowly recede, holding the cotton garment sewn stitch by stitch by his mother, his mood extremely complex.

The thread in the hands of a loving mother, the garment on the body of the traveling son;

Sewn tightly before departure, fearing a late return.

The traveling sons of the world still return home, but with this departure, Zhu Yiluo would never be able to see them again in this life.

He naturally knew that his mother was extremely reluctant, even to the point of being heartbroken, but he still had to leave. He was his mother's son, and those common people struggling for the cause of opening the seas were also his mother's children.

Having grown up with his Imperial Brother, even though he was a natural noble, he still regarded himself as a person, thinking about problems as a person, rather than the detached "I am different from the commoners."

The great cause of opening the seas could not afford any mistakes. The Pan-Pacific Commercial Alliance involved the ancestral foundation, and the gold of Golden Mountain was the only way to break the silver famine.

The train stopped in Jinan for one day. Zhu Yiluo then took a boat south along the Grand Canal, stopping in Songjiang Prefecture for another two days. Ten days after departing from the capital, the Prince of Lu arrived at the New Port of Songjiang Prefecture, looking at the ten fast sailing ships anchored side by side.

Zhu Yiluo had accompanied the Emperor to naval reviews more than once, and had seen fast sailing ships more than once, but every time he saw a fast sailing ship thirty-three zhang long, he was still genuinely surprised that such a behemoth was actually made by humans.

Ten fast sailing ships anchored side by side looked even more imposing.

On the fifteenth day of the second month of the nineteenth year, the Prince of Lu's fiefdom procession—ten fast sailing ships, twenty five-masted ocean-crossing ships, fifty three-masted galleons, and nearly a hundred two-masted ships—set sail.

Just leaving the port took a full day. The sailing ships covered the entire sea, blotting out the sky and sun.

Zhu Yijun had allocated three thousand troops for the Prince of Lu, but the overall scale of this fiefdom journey was about twenty-three thousand people, most of whom were laborers heading to Golden Mountain to mine gold, as well as pioneers recruited by the Golden Mountain State in the hinterland of the Great Ming, and merchant fleets on the East Pacific route this year.

The conditions for recruiting pioneers for the Golden Mountain State were very simple: once you arrive, you can stake out land. Run a circle on horseback for one hour; however much you circle is yours.

Zhu Yiluo boarded the ship and began to vomit. He was a natural noble and had never lived on a sea ship. The hardship of sailing could not be explained in one or two sentences. Zhu Yiluo could be said to be unable to eat well or sleep well, dizzy all day long, and fell ill just two days after boarding.

It was already a long journey from the capital to Songjiang Prefecture, and he set off again after staying for only two days; it would be strange if he didn't get sick.

Before the fleet reached Naha Port in Ryukyu, Zhu Yiluo's illness had recovered. He was young and strong, and soon adapted to life on the ship. He ate and vomited, vomited and ate, and gradually got used to it. He could even sleep soundly in a hammock.

After getting used to it, Zhu Yiluo was full of curiosity about the sea. Although the fast sailing ships had the Princess Shengping No. 9 steam engine, it had never been started on this voyage; the main power was still sails. According to the doctors of the Academy of Physical Sciences, the current Princess Shengping No. 9 did not have high utilization of coal and needed further improvement.

"Is Your Highness feeling better?" Chief Secretary Meng Jinquan saw the Prince of Lu arrive on the deck and hurriedly greeted him.

Zhu Yiluo said with great interest: "Much better, what are you doing?"

"Fishing." Meng Jinquan looked at the busy figures of the crew and hurriedly replied.

"Are you fishing with a bed crossbow?" Zhu Yiluo pointed in surprise at several bed crossbows and asked.

Who fishes with a bed crossbow and a spear-sword arrow?!

The spear-sword arrow was as thick as a javelin, with a hard wooden shaft, and the tail used iron feathers arranged in a "pin" shape, resembling three sharp swords, hence the name.

"Your Highness, there are sharks in the sea (since the Yuan Dynasty, "shark" no longer refers to large fish in the sea in general, but specifically to large sharks)." Meng Jinquan could not describe it well and explained why they used bed crossbows.

But Zhu Yiluo had never seen a shark, so no matter how much he said, it was useless.

Soon, the Prince of Lu saw a shark, and the veins on his forehead jumped, because he saw a person and a shark fighting in the water!

A coastal defense inspector named Shui Shangfei was fishing in the water and hit a yellowfin tuna with a headless arrow. The yellowfin struggled constantly in the water, bleeding a lot. The bleeding attracted two sharks nearly a zhang long. The large sharks' fins cruised on the sea surface, and the dense teeth made Zhu Yiluo sweat profusely.

But the coastal defense inspector was calm, drew a dagger, fought with the two sharks in the water, stabbed the shark once, successfully boarded the ship, and even grabbed the yellowfin back. When the coastal defense inspector boarded the ship, the ready-to-fire bed crossbow shot out, piercing the shark's body, and the sea surface turned blood red.

A person fighting a shark in the water, escaping unscathed while keeping the prey, and even stabbing the opponent—the ferocity of the coastal defense inspector made Zhu Yiluo's eyelids jump.

The gap between people is truly too great.

"Your Highness, our coastal defense inspectors don't often fight sharks in the water." A coastal defense inspector saw that His Highness was so surprised and hurriedly explained that they didn't fight every day; this scene was rarely seen even once in a few years.

"So you can win?" Zhu Yiluo asked blankly.

The coastal defense inspector didn't know how to answer this question. After thinking about it, he said with a simple smile: "If you can't win, you die. In this sea from Songjiang to Ryukyu, sharks no longer dare to attack people. These two look like they swam over from the Great Ocean and don't know the rules."

Sharks are a very intelligent fish with heavy curiosity. After suffering losses at the hands of humans repeatedly, sharks no longer dare to attack people in the waters outside Songjiang Prefecture.

Humans are truly too fierce.

"Let me try." Zhu Yiluo walked toward the side of the ship. He intended to try fishing. He didn't want to fight a shark in the sea. He could swim, but his water skills weren't that good. He just wanted to try sea fishing.

"Your Highness, a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall." Chief Secretary Meng Jinquan hurriedly stopped His Highness. Before the Prince of Lu reached Golden Shancheng, nothing could go wrong, especially since the Prince of Lu had just recovered. Coming out to look at the sea and blow the wind was fine, but there was no need to get close to the sea.

Zhu Yiluo took two steps, stopped, and nodded: "Then I won't fish."

He took two steps and realized that he had already set sail. From now on, he had to protect his own safety. Just these two steps made him finally realize why his Imperial Brother had been so cautious for so many years, even moving to the Tonghe Palace.

Life and death are major matters. He bore the imperial mandate and his Imperial Brother's expectations; this life was not entirely his own.

Meng Jinquan had been the Prince of Lu's Chief Secretary for seven years. In fact, the Prince of Lu was a very stubborn person and difficult to persuade. Meng Jinquan had intended to say there was an imperial edict, but His Highness the Prince of Lu had figured it out himself.

"What did Imperial Brother write in the imperial edict for you?" Zhu Yiluo asked curiously.

Meng Jinquan said in a low voice: "When necessary, take Your Highness and flee back to the Great Ming."

Zhu Yiluo was stunned and laughed. He laughed very happily.

The fleet set off from Shuri Prefecture and headed north, following the ocean current to the Golden Mountain State.

Ocean currents, the imperial roads of the sea, are a very magical high-speed sea passage. Without using ocean currents, this thirty-thousand-mile water journey would take about half a year, but with ocean currents, it would only take a short two months to arrive.

The discovery and use of ocean currents greatly increased the speed of shipping.

"What is that?" Zhu Yiluo had completely adapted to life at sea. When preparing to leave the port, he saw a very strange sea ship. A huge fish was lying on the sea ship. That fish was more than five zhang long. It was so big that it was hard not to see it.

"A whaling ship from Nagasaki, a whaling ship from the Jiaozhou Ocean Trading Company. Those two whales are being sent to Songjiang Prefecture." The coastal defense inspector answered the Prince of Lu's question.

The coastal defense inspector said strangely: "Whales are not fish. According to the doctors of the Academy of Dissection, whales are more like humans, although they look like fish."

The Academy of Dissection dissects everything, and whales and dolphins are no exception. Whales are more like humans than fish.

Because the Academy of Dissection discovered that these marine creatures like whales and dolphins have lungs and use lungs to breathe, rather than fish gills, and giving birth is also like humans, viviparous, rather than oviparous. Such characteristics all prove that whales are not fish.

Marine creatures like whales and dolphins are smarter than sharks.

Zhu Yiluo watched the two whaling ships sail past him and agreed even more that "reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles." This fiefdom journey could be said to be an eye-opener.

Zhu Yiluo asked in a low voice: "Are there sea monsters in the sea?"

Sea monsters should be a taboo at sea. Even as noble as His Highness the Prince of Lu, he had to be quiet, for fear of being heard by sea monsters.

"No, none have been found so far." The coastal defense inspector shook his head and said: "Except for scaring ourselves, no sea monsters have been found."

As there are more and more Great Ming sea ships, these strange tales have gradually been understood. There are no sea monsters at sea, and the largest whale is not a match for humans. The coastal defense inspector paid close attention to these things, but never found actual evidence of sea monsters.

Zhu Yiluo felt a little regretful. He had seen many strange stories in the miscellaneous newspapers and storybooks in the capital. In those stories, sea monsters possessed immense power. Upon arriving at sea, Zhu Yiluo was both afraid and expectant of these strange tales.

Unfortunately, the answer from the coastal defense inspector Shui Shangfei disappointed him greatly.

According to the coastal defense inspector, the main enemies at sea are wind and waves, reefs, plagues, infighting, and loneliness. With the Great Ming's gradual understanding of astronomy and hydrology, the lethality of wind and waves, reefs, and plagues is decreasing.

"Then what is that?" Zhu Yiluo pointed to the small yellow dots on the sea surface in the distance and asked curiously.

"Reporting to Your Highness, those are drifting ducks. Tens of thousands of wooden drifting ducks are released every month to determine the speed of the ocean current by the number plates. This has been done for twelve years, used to study the direction and speed of ocean currents." The coastal defense inspector looked carefully and answered the question.

Drifting ducks are made every month and retrieved every month, mainly to verify the circulation time of ocean currents. Although most drifting ducks don't know where they drifted, a small number can return. With more times, the data will be more accurate.

"Magical, truly magical." Zhu Yiluo ordered one to be retrieved. After looking at it, he threw it back into the sea, letting it continue to drift.

Setting sail opened Zhu Yiluo's eyes. The world was so interesting, not just the four-cornered sky of the Prince's mansion.

Half a month after setting sail, Zhu Yiluo completely lost interest in the sea. It was endless water, the sea and sky were the same color, and there was no difference at all. Zhu Yiluo wrapped himself in a hammock and refused to do anything. Every day that passed, he drew a line, hoping to arrive at Golden Shancheng as soon as possible.

"Your Highness, it's windy outside." Chief Secretary Meng Jinquan walked to the Prince of Lu's bedroom and hung several hooks on the hammock to prevent it from swinging wildly.

"Is it very dangerous?" Zhu Yiluo got off the hammock and asked with a serious face.

"A little." Meng Jinquan gave an ambiguous answer to this question.

Zhu Yiluo left the cabin and stared blankly at the black cumulonimbus clouds with constant lightning on the horizon. The black clouds pressed against the sea surface, setting off huge waves. Zhu Yiluo, who grew up in the capital, saw for the first time waves higher than the city walls!

"Can it hold up?" Zhu Yiluo swallowed his throat, the corners of his mouth twitched, and he asked.

Meng Jinquan said very firmly: "Yes, the five-masted ocean-crossing ships can hold up. The captain said this is just a small matter." ===== CHAPTER 969 =====