Volume 5: The Gathering of Storms Chapter 287 Target
Spring is back and everything is renewed.
A few days later, Qizhou, Yongming County.
Harbor terminal.
Qizhou is located in the east of Daxuan, and Yongming is located at the easternmost part of Qizhou. Going out to sea from here is the closest place to the Ten Countries of the East China Sea.
The previous Daxuan envoys also set out to sea from here.
Daxuan's shipping department and shipbuilding department are also located here.
Xu Zun is now a fourth-rank official in the imperial court, so the local prefect, chief secretary, county magistrate and other officials of Qizhou naturally have to come from afar to welcome him and treat him well.
However, among all the accompanying officials, Xu Zun could only be regarded as the commander of this voyage, but he was not the one with the highest official rank.
As the Prince's Tutor, Li Gui held the third-rank official position, one level higher than Xu Zun, so he was naturally the highest-ranking official.
In terms of seniority, the top-ranked ones in the Prince's Mansion are the "Three Young Masters", namely the Prince's Junior Tutor, the Prince's Junior Preceptor and the Prince's Junior Guardian.
According to Daxuan convention, the position of the Crown Prince's Junior Tutor is usually held by a cabinet member, who is a person of profound knowledge and great prestige.
Because the Prince's Junior Tutor Su Gan was old and ill, the Queen Mother did not send him to participate in the trip to the East China Sea.
The Prince's Junior Guardian died in the assassination attempt during the Heavenly Tribulation Incident, so among the "Three Young Masters", only the Prince's Junior Tutor came.
However, Li Gui is nearly 60 years old this year and is also unable to do what he wants.
When Xu Zun and his party arrived in Yongming, he became bedridden and never came out again.
Now the only ones left to discuss the sea voyage with Xu Zun were Zhang Yao, the Crown Prince's Secretary, and Shan Peng, the Crown Prince's guest.
These two people are obviously here for show. Their biggest task on this trip is to identify the prince's identity after finding him.
Therefore, all matters concerning going out to sea are now basically decided by Xu Zun.
"We have checked the auspicious days," said the shipping department's office. "The day after tomorrow is an auspicious day. Everything will go smoothly and we will have great luck! Sir Xu... you see..."
“…”
Xu Zun was speechless and thought to himself, I haven't figured anything out yet, are you in such a hurry to send me away?
but……
Xu Zun glanced out the window and saw three ocean-going ships outside the water gate. There were four-story buildings on the ships and towering masts, which was a spectacular sight.
Moreover, this kind of ship is a real warship, equipped with bows, arrows and cannons. There is also a solid metal impact device on the bow, which can also impact enemy ships at critical moments.
With these three giant warships, we can sail across the East China Sea.
For this voyage, each ship was equipped with a marine master, helmsman, oarsman, helmsman, seamen and soldiers numbering over a hundred, all of whom were experienced sailors who had frequently gone to sea.
It can be said that their safety is basically not a problem and they are fully prepared to set sail.
only……
Xu Zun’s biggest problem now is where to go?
Where can I go to find the prince?
"Everyone," Xu Zun asked in front of many local officials, "I have a question that I have never understood. Didn't they say that the survivors were burned to death by the fire?
"So how did the news of the Crown Prince being attacked in the East China Sea get back?"
"Well..." The governor of Mingzhou first glanced at the governor of Qizhou, then introduced, "These are all passed on by merchants traveling to the East China Sea."
"What?" Xu Zun frowned, "Does that mean there is no definite news?"
"It's like this," the governor of Qizhou explained, "The prince was sent as an envoy to the ten countries of the East China Sea, and originally planned to return in five months or half a year.
"Now, just after five months, we received unfortunate news. Some merchant ships returning from the East China Sea said that our Crown Prince Daxuan was attacked somewhere in the East China Sea and his whereabouts were unknown.
"This matter is of great importance," said the governor of Qizhou, "After we learned the news, we immediately sent people to find the caravan members to verify it.
“However, they all heard it from hearsay, and they have no idea which country or sea area in the East China Sea the prince was attacked.
“So,” the governor continued, “we quickly sent out ships to explore the islands of the nearby countries.
"More than ten days later, news finally came from the sea that they had found the prince's entourage and they were on their way back.
"However, a few days later, we received bad news again. The speedboat that was transporting the survivors caught fire and sank into the sea. All the people on board were killed. Alas..."
The governor of Qizhou lamented and lamented, but from his expression, it could be seen that he also had deep doubts about the matter.
Needless to say, anyone could see the problem. It was obvious that someone did not want the news of the prince's attack to be passed back to Daxuan.
In other words, the attack on the prince might have been a long-planned ambush!
Just imagine, anyone who dares to ambush the prince must be no ordinary person .
Today, the court of Daxuan is full of twists and turns and uncertainties. For these local officials, no one wants to get into trouble.
Therefore, Xu Zun could also feel that they all hoped to set sail as soon as possible, and no one cared whether they could find the prince.
"So..." Xu Zun realized the difficulty, "It means that no one knows what the prince encountered in the East China Sea?"
"Master Xu," the shipping officer pointed to a sea chart on the wall and said, "According to the prince's original plan, he should have visited all ten countries and started his return voyage in five months!
"Look..." He gestured at the map and said, "This is the order in which the prince visited the ten countries. It started from the nearest Izumo country, circled around the East China Sea, and finally returned via the southwest country of Meng.
"So, if something went wrong, it should be in the southwest of the East China Sea!"
"That's not necessarily true," the prince's guest Shan Peng couldn't help but interrupt, "Who knows when the prince was attacked?
"The East China Sea is huge. If we find the wrong place, our safety may be in danger, but it may delay the rescue of the crown prince. Who can take on this responsibility?"
"Yes, yes," Zhao Yu said, "If we can't get specific information, isn't it like looking for a needle in a haystack?"
"It's really funny," said Zhang Yao, the crown prince's secretary, angrily, "The ships are all waiting to go out to sea, but we don't know where to go? Isn't this a joke?"
"It seems..." the office manager said, "We can only go to the nearest country first to get some information?"
Xu Zun didn't say anything, but stood up and walked to the sea chart.
It really is a new world!
Xu Zun looked at the map and fell into daydreaming. Although there was also a vast ocean to the east of the Daxuan Dynasty, there was no huge island on the sea as he had imagined.
It's a completely unfamiliar sea chart...
There are only a few relatively large islands in the sea, and the rest are scattered archipelagos like a star disk.
Xu Zun already knew that there were thousands of islands in the East China Sea. Only Izumo and Ryoka had larger islands. The other nine countries were basically archipelago countries with a small area.
However, these ten countries have their own unique characteristics, each with its own mineral resources and treasures, so they have been trading with Daxuan for many years and have always maintained good relations.
Although there was an assassination attempt by Japanese assassins into the imperial palace fifteen years ago, it did not affect the relationship between Daxuan and the Ten Kingdoms of the East China Sea at all.
Xu Zun knew even more that the real ocean was far more bleak than what was shown on this map. If he did not have a clear goal, it would be difficult to find the prince...
…
