I'm really not doing business

Chapter 977 Sailing straight across the vast ocean, Wild geese struggle to carry messages from the deep palace.

This elaborate scheme of feigning a fiefdom and deceiving everyone was actually not complicated.

When Zhu Yiliu was enfeoffed, Zhu Yijun did not give him too many missions. Simply put, as long as Zhu Yiliu arrived in Jinshan Kingdom, even if he regretted it before he got there and returned to the Ming Dynasty without disembarking, that would be more than enough.

The main point is to show a stance; whether he personally goes or not is not even important. What Jinshan Kingdom wants is this royal banner, and what the Ming Dynasty wants is expansion.

Once the Prince of Lu's royal banner is planted in Jinshan City, all objectives will be achieved. Previously, Empress Dowager Li had been obstructing the plan, and Zhu Yijun and Zhu Yiliu had discussed a grand scheme to deceive the public and stage a fake enfeoffment.

Zhu Yiliu indulged in debauchery at the Prince of Lu's mansion and never left. His stand-in went to the Kingdom of Jinshan, but the stand-in fell seriously ill due to the change in environment and returned to the capital. The Prince of Lu lamented that the Kingdom of Jinshan was a barren and desolate place. The emperor built a large house for Zhu Yiliu in the City of Ten Kings to settle him in.

It's just borrowing the name of the Prince of Lu, much like the little stories circulating on the grasslands that are hard to distinguish between true and false. The truth or falsehood doesn't matter; what matters is the title and the greater good.

Storytelling is a way to unite people's hearts. Just as no one knows how much gold is in the Tonghe Palace treasury, Zhu Yijun doesn't mind deceiving everyone as long as he can achieve the goal of building consensus on opening the sea.

With the Prince of Lu's banner planted on the land across the Pacific, state affairs wouldn't be delayed, and Zhu Yiliu could continue to enjoy life in the Ming Dynasty.

This elaborate deception was devised by the emperor.

When it comes to devious ideas, even ten Zhu Yiliu combined wouldn't be a match for the emperor!

This idea left Zhu Yiliu speechless with astonishment. Who was the real troublemaker?

Zhu Yijun had even found a stand-in, Luo Sigong, but Zhu Yiliu insisted on going himself. He wanted freedom, not to be treated like a pig.

Therefore, Zhu Yijun told Zhu Yiliu to prioritize saving his own life, and Zhu Yiliu readily agreed. However, he still wanted to work hard, otherwise it would be as if he had come to this world in vain.

"Also, once you're at sea, don't trust anyone," Zhu Yijun said in a low voice. "Although it's a fabrication that Tang Sanzang's father, Chen Guangrui, was replaced, you still need to be careful."

Humans are the sum total of all social relations. It is almost impossible to take action against an official who is taking office, at least in the Ming Dynasty.

Take Sun Qifeng, the magistrate of Rongcheng County, as an example. From the day he passed the imperial examination, all sorts of people from all walks of life surrounded him, and the most numerous among them were people who introduced creditors.

The benefits of being a creditor to a successful candidate in the imperial examinations are numerous, and since these candidates need money to maintain relationships, they often tacitly cooperate.

Sun Qifeng waited a full seven years in the capital before finally being appointed as the magistrate of Rongcheng County. He made more than forty trips to the Ministry of Personnel before finally getting the position. Life in the capital was not easy, and with the added burden of bribing officials, Sun Qifeng owed the money lender more than seven thousand taels of silver.

When Sun Qifeng took up his post, he brought with him two clerks, six guards, six wives and concubines, eight servants, and four money shop clerks. These four also served as Sun Qifeng's accountants and continued to lend him money.

Taking up a post is just the beginning of borrowing large sums of money; the main business of money shops begins after taking up a post.

After Sun Qifeng took office, he had to visit the prefect and the prefect's secretary. With the prefect's introduction, he visited the governor-general, the governor, the provincial treasurer, the left and right councilors, the provincial judge, the imperial censor, and so on. All of these people were Jinshi graduates who were well-versed in poetry and literature.

Introducing someone into a casual conversation inevitably involves discussing their teacher's lineage and scholarship, and a few words of erudition can easily expose their true nature.

If you want to take someone else's place, you'll be exposed if you're not careful.

Even if all of these things were settled, Sun Qifeng still had his own signature. This signature was something only he knew. Before taking office, Sun Qifeng left his signature at the Ministry of Personnel. After taking office, all official documents had to be checked for the signature. If anything was slightly off, it would be subject to strict investigation.

Killing a high-ranking official of the imperial court is the most heinous crime. As long as the world is not in chaos, it is almost impossible for him to be replaced.

Substituting one prince for another to secure a fiefdom for the Prince of Lu would be even more complicated.

He brought a full three thousand soldiers, and he had two sets of signatures: one for normal official documents and the other for warnings of danger. Zhu Yiliu was sidelined in Jinshan Kingdom, and this other set of signatures could also be used to tell the emperor that his younger brother, Zhu Yiliu, had been bullied.

"Live well." Zhu Yijun solemnly instructed again. These were words that could not be said in the imperial edict. Zhu Yijun needed to take the risk, but he was also afraid that Zhu Yijun would be in danger. This was Zhu Yijun's complicated and contradictory feelings at this moment.

"Don't worry, brother, I'm strong!" Zhu Yiliu was very much looking forward to his future life. In their last private conversation before leaving, Zhu Yiliu still called out "brother" after a long time.

The enfeoffment ceremony of Prince Lu officially began. The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty went to the Hall of Supreme Harmony to convene a grand court assembly. Officials of the fifth rank and above entered the hall, while those of lower rank could only stand in the Danbi Square. Empress Dowagers Li and Chen also came to the Hall of Supreme Harmony to see Prince Lu off.

Minister of Rites Shen Li and Minister of War Zeng Shengwu went to the Prince of Lu's residence with the imperial edict in hand.

Shen Li, at the Prince of Lu's residence, twice invited the Prince of Lu to take up his fief. Only then did Zhu Yiliu stride out of the Prince of Lu's residence, wearing a nine-patterned imperial robe and a four-clawed golden dragon crown. He walked step by step to the carriage pulled by nine white horses. This carriage was slightly different from the emperor's jade chariot, but it was still quite magnificent.

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

The Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs, led by a group of eunuchs, carried out a chair—the throne of the Prince of Lu; the Imperial Observatory, having timed it precisely, signaled the soldiers to beat drums and sound horns as the auspicious hour had arrived; the Office of Imperial Seals set up a treasure table, upon which were the Prince of Lu's seal, crown, and other items; and the Court of Imperial Sacrifices began to play the Zhonghe Shaoyue music, its magnificent and grand melody resounding throughout the heavens and earth.

At the head of the procession was a compass chariot, followed by a mileage drum chariot, and then the procession horses. The horses were tall, large horses from the Imperial Horse Administration, with red tassels around their necks and bronze and gold saddles and stirrups. There were nine white horses in total, which looked quite impressive.

The procession stretched for six miles, its imposing presence leading them towards Chengtian Gate.

Prince Lu alighted from his carriage in front of Chengtian Gate. Led by Xu Jue, he walked across the Outer Golden Water Bridge, through the gate of the Meridian Gate, and across the Inner Golden Water Bridge, arriving at the Huangji Gate. He climbed the steps; the Huangji Gate had three levels of platform, which were not very high.

Prince Lu stood before the Huangji Gate for a long time. Inside the gate, banners fluttered, and civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty lined up on the left and right. The dragon banners and flags fluttered in the spring breeze, and the imperial guards, clad in bright armor and holding ceremonial swords, looked quite majestic.

As Zhu Yiliu stepped into the Huangji Gate, drums sounded and horns blared. The music troupe of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices played again. Xu Jue led Zhu Yiliu across the long Danbi Square and they stood beneath the platform.

"Summon Prince Lu to the palace." The imperial edict came from inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Zhu Yiliu ascended the steps and arrived at the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Upon entering the hall, he performed the grand ceremony of five bows and three kowtows, and loudly proclaimed, "Your subject, Zhu Yiliu, pays his respects to Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty!"

“My younger brother is too old to stay in the capital. I humbly request Your Majesty to appoint him to a fief in Jinshan.”

Feng Bao flicked his whisk and announced loudly, "His Majesty has decreed:"

"If relatives are not harmonious, the people will resent it; if the ruler is of little virtue, the people will become increasingly corrupt. The opportunity for moral guidance comes from the ruler. The Empress Dowager conveyed her imperial edict to me, saying that she was reluctant to let her own son go to the far reaches of the world, but that the Prince of Lu should remain in the capital, to show the affection between relatives."

When Zhu Yiliu saw Empress Dowager Li, he bowed again and said, "Your subject wishes to stay in the capital with Mother, which is the deepest affection between blood relatives. However, Your Majesty once said that a man born between heaven and earth should have lofty ambitions and should not be confined in a cage for long. Mother has also taught that the sons of the Zhu family should prioritize the country and care about the common people."

"Your Majesty, I am going to serve as your brother in a foreign land for the sake of the country, for the sake of the nation, for the sake of the land, and for the great cause of opening up the seas. I humbly request that you, Mother and Your Majesty, grant me permission to go to the Kingdom of Jinshan."

Empress Dowager Li, sitting behind the emperor, finally sighed and said, "Go."

"Your Majesty has decreed," Feng Bao said, flicking his whisk again. "The bond between brothers by marriage is not far apart. If the relationship between brothers is bound by kindness, they will be close; if they are distant, they will turn against each other. How is the difference between the closeness and distance of the relationship truly different from that of a bow and arrow? I know that those above are the instigators of those below."

"Brothers should not be far apart even when they are married," is a line from the Book of Songs, meaning that brothers should not drift apart even when they grow up.

Zhu Yijun kept Zhu Yiliu in the Ming Dynasty for the second time, and did not allow him to take up a fief overseas.

"How could your kin, your brother, forget such deep affection?" Zhu Yiliu bowed again and said, "Your Majesty, you guard the nation from the highest heavens, like the sun and moon traversing the sky; I, your brother, wish to guard the vast sea frontiers, like rivers flowing across the land. Like a fledgling eagle spreading its wings, it does not tire of its old nest, but aspires to reach the highest heavens!"

"Your Majesty, I, Zhu Yiliu, humbly request that you grant me permission to take up my fiefdom."

"Prince Lu," Zhu Yijun said, taking a deep breath, "the journey by water is 20,000 li. You must be careful."

Feng Bao took two more steps forward, and two eunuchs opened the imperial edict. Feng Bao then flicked his whisk and said in a high-pitched, melodious voice, "By the mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees:"

"I have heard that the bond between brothers is the closest, and that the bond between family and country is especially important when they are separated into different vassal states. In the early days of the nation, when the affairs of the country were many and difficult, only my brother and I received your loving guidance in our youth and were blessed by your kindness as we grew up. We shared the same bed when we were babies and studied together as children."

"However, our ancestors faced great difficulties in establishing the nation, and the peace and prosperity of the country were not easily achieved. Now, I have received the favor of Heaven and sit in the highest palace to oversee all nations; you are endowed with the spirit of the rivers and mountains, possess great talent, and are entrusted with a grand vision."

"The land of Jinshan controls the key to the Eastern Sea and commands the waves of ten thousand miles. Its territory lies on the sea, stretching more than 30,000 li, truly the farthest edge of the world and a newly expanded territory of the imperial empire."

"The mountains and rivers are far away, and the waters are vast. On this journey, the sails will be hoisted high on the vast sea, and the wild geese will not be able to carry the message from the deep palace."

“Whenever I think of this, my heart is pounding and my insides are burning. However, for the sake of the country, for the sake of the people, and for the sake of the eternal stability of the empire, although I am extremely reluctant, I must suppress my tears and extend this grace. I hope you will understand my earnestness and remember the heavy responsibility entrusted to the country.”

"I hope you will respect Heaven and follow the example of your ancestors, be diligent in governing and love the people. As you embark on your long journey across the vast ocean, please take good care of yourself."

"I also hope that you will use Jinshan as a base to spread the might of the Ming Dynasty across the seas; and use the business alliance as a link to gather the benefits of the world for China. When you achieve success and your name is recorded in history, I will vacate the throne to await you and talk about family matters together in the palace."

"As you prepare to depart, I bestow upon you a number of treasures from the imperial treasury, classics, agricultural and industrial resources, and skilled craftsmen. I also allocate elite troops to bolster your journey. I hope you will make good use of them."

"Each dynasty established its own laws, spread virtue and bestowed benefits, and issued edicts throughout the land, so that all might know them."

"Appreciate this."

"Sailing straight up on the vast ocean, wild geese cannot carry messages from the deep palace." This is a line of poetry that Zhu Yijun wrote after much deliberation. There is no complete poem, only these two lines, which can be regarded as his parting words to Zhu Yiliu.

"Your Majesty, I will remember your teachings and bow again to Your Majesty's boundless grace." Zhu Yiliu bowed again, obediently accepted the imperial edict to take up his fief, stood up, glanced at his mother and brother one last time, and then turned and left the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

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

Behind Zhu Yijun were the two empress dowagers, and the ministers followed closely behind. The emperor and empress dowagers escorted Prince Lu to the outside of Chengtian Gate. The Imperial Seal Office set up a seal table outside Chengtian Gate. Prince Lu stood in front of the Jinshui Bridge and performed five bows in front of the seal table to bid farewell to his mother and brother.

"Your subject is about to embark on a long journey. I bow again to my mother and elder brother." The Prince of Lu kowtowed deeply before standing up.

"Go." Zhu Yijun had a thousand words in his heart, but they all turned into two words.

Zhu Yiliu boarded the carriage, stood on it, and looked back one last time. This departure would be a separation of life and death, and they would never see each other again in this life. He was filled with reluctance, but the die was cast, and there was no turning back.

"My son, I've sewed you a coat. Wear it when it gets cold." Empress Dowager Li took a few steps forward and handed the sewn cotton-padded coat to Zhu Yiliu as he boarded the carriage.

The Empress Dowager Li had forgotten to give the cotton-padded coat to Zhu Yiliu when they met this morning. She had also forgotten to give it to him in the main hall. Only when Zhu Yiliu was about to leave did she remember the cotton-padded coat she had sewn and quickly give it to him.

"I understand, Mother, I'm leaving now." Zhu Yiliu took the clothes with trembling hands, then got into the carriage without lingering.

Zhu Yiliu was afraid that if he said a few more words, he wouldn't be able to leave.

At this point, the emperor and empress dowager ceased their farewell. The officials followed the imperial carriage towards the Temple of Heaven, where they offered sacrifices to Heaven. Afterward, they went to the Western Hills Mausoleum to offer sacrifices to their ancestors. Following the suburban sacrifices, the Prince of Lu's carriage arrived at Chaoyangmen Station and took the imperial road south.

Zhu Yijun stood atop the Bell and Drum Tower of the Imperial Palace, braving the fierce wind. This was the highest point in the capital, offering a view of the Prince of Lu's carriage moving through the city like a dragon. "Father, since you're so reluctant to let him go, can Uncle not go?" Zhu Changzhi stood beside the emperor, watching his father intently watching the Prince of Lu's carriage, and asked in a low voice.

Zhu Yijun patted Zhu Changzhi's head, shook his head with a smile, and said, "We can't not go."

The father and son stopped talking and silently saw Zhu Yiliu off.

Zhu Yiliu sat on the train pulled by Shengping No. 9, watching the scenery outside the window slowly recede, holding the cotton-padded clothes his mother had sewn stitch by stitch, his feelings extremely complicated.

A loving mother's thread, a wandering son's clothes;
Departure thick seam, meaning fear of delay in return.

The wanderers of the world still yearn to return home, but Zhu Yiliu's departure means he will never see him again in this lifetime.

He knew, of course, that his mother was extremely reluctant to let him go, even heartbroken, but he still had to leave. He was his mother's son, and all the people who were fighting to open the sea were also his mother's children.

Having grown up with his elder brother since childhood, even though he was born into a noble family, he still regarded himself as a human being and thought about problems as if he were a human being, rather than having a transcendent sense of 'I am different from ordinary people'.

The opening of the sea is a matter of utmost importance and cannot be lost. The Pan-Pacific Business Alliance involves the foundation of our ancestors' legacy, and the gold from Jinshan is the only way to overcome the cash shortage.

The train stopped in Jinan for a day, and Zhu Yiliu then took a boat south along the canal, stopping for two more days in Songjiang Prefecture. Ten days after departing from the capital, the Prince of Lu arrived at the new port of Songjiang Prefecture and looked at the ten fast sailing ships moored side by side in front of him.

Zhu Yiliu accompanied the emperor to naval reviews more than once and saw fast sailing ships more than once, but every time he saw a 33-zhang-long fast sailing ship, he was still sincerely surprised that such a huge thing was actually man-made.

Ten fast sailboats lined up side by side look even more imposing.

On February 15th of the nineteenth year, the procession for the Prince of Lu's enfeoffment consisted of ten fast sailing ships, twenty five-masted ocean-going vessels, fifty three-masted deck ships, and nearly a hundred two-masted ships, which set sail.

It took a whole day just to leave the port; the sailboats covered the entire sea, blotting out the sun.

Zhu Yijun allocated 3,000 troops to the Prince of Lu, but the total number of people enfeoffed this time was about 23,000. Most of them were laborers who went to Jinshan to mine gold, as well as pioneers recruited by Jinshan Kingdom in the heart of the Ming Dynasty, and merchants from the East Pacific shipping route this year.

The conditions for recruiting pioneers in the Kingdom of Jinshan are very simple: once you arrive at a place, you can ride a horse and claim land. You can ride around in a circle for an hour, and whatever you claim is yours.

Zhu Yiliu started vomiting as soon as he boarded the ship. He was a born nobleman and had never had any experience living on a ship. The hardships of sailing a ship cannot be explained in a few words. Zhu Yiliu could not eat or sleep well and was in a daze all day. He fell ill just two days after boarding the ship.

It was a long and tiring journey from the capital to Songjiang Prefecture, and after only two days of rest, it's no wonder they got sick.

Before the fleet even reached Naha Port in Okinawa, Zhu Yiliu's illness was cured. He was young and strong, and quickly adapted to life on the ship. He ate and vomited repeatedly, but gradually got used to it. He could even sleep peacefully in a hammock.

After getting used to it, Zhu Yiliu became very curious about the sea. Although the fast sailboat had the Shengping No. 9 steam engine, it had never been started on this voyage. The main power was still the sails. According to the scientists at the Institute of Natural Sciences, the Shengping No. 9 did not make high use of coal and needed further improvement.

"Is Your Highness feeling better?" Chief Secretary Meng Jinquan hurriedly went to greet the Prince of Lu when he saw him on the deck.

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

"Fishing," Meng Jinquan replied quickly, watching the crew members busily working.

"Are you fishing with ballistae?" Zhu Yiliu asked in surprise, pointing to several ballistae.

Who uses a crossbow with three arrows in one shot to fish?!
The "One Spear, Three Swords Arrow" is as thick as a javelin, with a sturdy wooden shaft and iron feathers arranged in a triangular pattern at the tail, resembling three sharp swords, hence its name.

“Your Highness, there are sharks in the sea (since the Yuan Dynasty, the term 'shark' no longer refers to any large fish in the sea, but specifically to a large shark).” Meng Jinquan was also at a loss for words, so he explained why they used a ballista.

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

Soon, Prince Lu saw the shark, and the veins on his forehead throbbed as he saw a man fighting with a shark in the water!

A coastal patrol officer was fishing in the water when a tailless dart struck a yellowfin tuna. The yellowfin struggled in the water, bleeding profusely. The bleeding attracted two sharks nearly ten feet long. The sharks' fins swam on the surface of the sea, their densely packed teeth making Zhu Yiliu break out in a cold sweat.

But the coast guard inspector remained calm, drew his dagger, and fought with the two sharks in the water. He stabbed one of the sharks, successfully boarded the ship, and even caught the yellowfin. Once the coast guard inspector was on board, the ballista, which had been ready to fire, was launched and pierced the shark's body, turning the sea surface blood red.

A man and a shark fought in the water, and the man escaped unscathed, protecting his prey and even inflicting a knife wound on his opponent. The ferocity of the coastal patrol officers startled Zhu Yiliu, making his eyelids twitch.

The differences between people are truly enormous.

"Your Highness, we coastal patrol officers don't often fight sharks in the water." Seeing the prince's surprise, a coastal patrol officer quickly explained that they didn't fight every day, and this scene was something they hadn't seen for several years.

"So you mean we can win?" Zhu Yiliu asked blankly.

The coastal patrol inspector was somewhat at a loss for words when asked this question. After thinking for a moment, he said with a simple and honest smile, "If you can't win, you'll die. In the waters between Songjiang and Ryukyu, sharks no longer dare to attack people. These two are clearly swimming from the Eastern Ocean and don't know the rules."

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

People are just too fierce.

"I'll give it a try." Zhu Yiliu walked towards the side of the boat. His plan was to try fishing. He didn't want to fight sharks in the sea. He could swim, but he wasn't a very good swimmer. He just wanted to try sea fishing.

"Your Highness, a wise man does not stand under a dangerous wall." Chief Secretary Meng Jinquan hurriedly stopped the prince. Before the Prince of Lu arrived at Jinshan City, nothing could go wrong, especially since the Prince of Lu had just recovered. It was enough for him to come out to see the sea and feel the breeze; there was no need to go to the beach.

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

He took two steps and realized that he had already set sail. From now on, he would have to protect his own safety. In those two steps, he finally understood why his elder brother had been so cautious all these years, even going so far as to live in Tonghe Palace.

In matters of life and death, I bear the imperial mandate and my elder brother's expectations; this life is not entirely my own.

Meng Jinquan has been the chief secretary of Prince Lu for seven years. In fact, Prince Lu is a very stubborn person and it is difficult to persuade him. Meng Jinquan was even planning to say that there was an imperial edict, but His Highness Prince Lu had figured it out himself.

"What did your imperial brother write in the decree?" Zhu Yiliu asked with some curiosity.

Meng Jinquan said in a low voice, "If necessary, take His Highness back to the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Yiliu was taken aback, then laughed; he laughed genuinely.

The fleet departed from Shuri Prefecture and headed north, following the ocean currents to the Kingdom of Gold Mountain.

Ocean currents, a kind of magical high-speed sea route, would take about half a year to travel 30,000 miles without ocean currents, but with ocean currents, it can be completed in just two months.

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

"What is that?" Zhu Yiliu had fully adapted to life at sea. As he was preparing to leave port, he saw a very strange ship. On the ship lay a huge fish, which was more than five zhang long. It was so big that it was hard not to see it.

"The whaling ship from Nagasaki belongs to the Jiaozhou Ocean Trading Company. Those two whales are being transported to Songjiang Prefecture," the coastal defense inspector replied to Prince Lu's question.

The coastal patrol inspector said with a strange expression, "Whales are not fish. According to the chief physician of the Jiekuan Academy, whales are more like humans, even though they look like fish."

The Dissection Institute dissects everything, including whales and dolphins; whales are more like humans than fish.

Because the Institute of Dissection discovered that marine creatures such as whales and dolphins have lungs and breathe with their lungs instead of gills, and give birth to live young like humans instead of oviparous, all these characteristics prove that whales are not fish.

Cetaceans are marine creatures that are more intelligent than sharks.

As Zhu Yiliu watched the two whaling ships sail past him, he became even more convinced that traveling ten thousand miles was better than reading ten thousand books. This enfeoffment had truly broadened his horizons.

Zhu Yiliu asked in a low voice, "Are there sea monsters in the sea?"

Sea monsters are a taboo subject at sea. Even someone as noble as Prince Lu would have to speak softly, for fear of being overheard by a sea monster.

"No, we haven't found any so far." The coastal patrol officer shook his head and said, "Aside from people scaring themselves, we haven't found any sea monsters."

As the number of Ming Dynasty ships increased, these strange tales were gradually understood. There were no sea monsters at sea, and even the largest whales were no match for humans. Coastal patrols paid close attention to these matters, but never found any actual evidence of sea monsters.

Zhu Yiliu felt a little regretful. He had read many strange tales in the newspapers and storybooks in the capital. In those stories, sea monsters possessed immense power. When he arrived at sea, Zhu Yiliu was both afraid and expectant of these strange tales.

Unfortunately, the answer from the seaplane patrol officer left him very disappointed.

According to the coastal patrol, the main enemies at sea were wind and waves, reefs, plagues, internal strife, and loneliness. As the Ming Dynasty gradually gained a better understanding of astronomy and hydrology, the lethality of wind and waves, reefs, and plagues was decreasing.

"What are those?" Zhu Yiliu asked curiously, pointing to the small yellow dots on the distant sea.

"Your Highness, those are drifting ducks. Tens of thousands of wooden drifting ducks are released every month to determine the speed of the ocean currents by assigning numbers. This has been done for twelve years to study the direction and speed of ocean currents," the coastal patrol inspector replied after examining the ducks carefully.

Drifting ducks are collected every month to verify the timing of ocean current cycles. Although most drifting ducks have no idea where they have gone, a small number can return. With more repeated collections, the data becomes more accurate.

"Amazing, truly amazing." Zhu Yiliu had one fished out, examined it, and then threw it back into the sea, letting it continue to drift.

Going to sea broadened Zhu Yiliu's horizons, revealing the world to be far more interesting than just the four corners of the Prince's mansion.

Half a month after setting sail, Zhu Yiliu completely lost interest in the sea. The endless expanse of water blended seamlessly with the sky, making it impossible to distinguish between the two. Zhu Yiliu wrapped himself in a hammock and refused to do anything. Every day, he would draw a line, hoping to reach Jinshan City as soon as possible.

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

"Is it dangerous?" Zhu Yiliu asked with a serious expression as he got off the hammock.

"A little," Meng Jinquan answered the question ambiguously.

Zhu Yiliu stepped out of the warehouse and stared blankly at the black cumulonimbus clouds on the horizon, where lightning flashed continuously. The dark clouds pressed down on the sea, stirring up huge waves. Having grown up in the capital, Zhu Yiliu was seeing waves taller than the city walls for the first time!
"Can you hold out?" Zhu Yiliu swallowed hard, his lips twitching as he asked.

Meng Jinquan said with great certainty, "Yes, even a five-masted ocean liner can withstand it. The captain said it's no big deal."

(End of this chapter)