novelraw Chapter 398: The Celestial Ships Trial Voyage
Chapter 398: The Celestial Ships Trial Voyage
Just as preparations for the chemical factory began…
Qiachuan Port!
The river boat, stripped of its fake cannons and now armed with real ones, was finally ready.
Its iron-plated hull was covered with composite material boards painted with wood grain patterns. Twelve large cannons, made of stainless steel capillary steel tubing, extended from both sides of the ship, presenting a formidable sight.
The eighty crew members personally selected by Bai Yuan from Bai Family Fortress were all prepared. Additionally, twenty fishermen from Qiachuan boarded as “trainee water troops”.
In truth, these twenty “trainee water troops” knew the Yellow River’s hydrological conditions better, but they hadn’t completed enough “Thought Lessons” and thus couldn’t become full members yet.
The total crew numbered a hundred.
It seemed a little thin!
But it was enough.
Spanish sailing ships of the same thirty-meter length during the same period typically carried only about ninety water troops. They only packed the holds with 500 soldiers when transporting troops for battle.Bai Yuan looked spirited: “Our celestial ship begins its trial voyage today. Crew members, this celestial ship is a treasure bestowed upon the mortal realm by the Deity. Today, you will sail it far and wide, thousands of miles. Be cautious and don’t capsize it…”
A sailor mumbled quietly: “Thousands of miles? We’re only sailing to the ancient ferry dock at Yongji in Shanxi and then coming back. Round trip, barely two hundred miles…”
Bai Yuan: “Hmm? What are you mumbling?”
The sailor snapped to attention: “Report! I said nothing!”
Bai Yuan snorted: “Today, an important person sails with us aboard our celestial ship. Come, applause, welcome.”
The crew looked bewildered, not understanding. But if the boss said clap, they clapped.
Then they saw a tall, strong woman, sturdier than the average man, step onto the deck. It was Yongji Xing Honglang.
Xing Honglang clasped her fist: “Brothers, Yongji is my hometown. I heard the bandits are causing havoc in Shanxi now. Worried for my home, I’ve brazenly tagged along on this trial voyage that happens to go to the ancient ferry dock at Yongji. I’ve also brought plenty of grain. It’s all up to you brothers this time.”
Her salt smugglers, over forty tough men, appeared on the shore. They guarded ten grain carts, loaded full, driving them one by one onto the ship.
The water troops understood—she was taking grain back to aid her hometown.
Months ago, Wang Jiayin failed to capture Qiachuan Port and turned on Hequ County in Shanxi. When the Shanxi commander’s cannons misfired, they couldn’t hold Wang Jiayin, who took Hequ. Then the other bandits poured into Shanxi to wreak havoc. The tales of horror from Shanxi were terrifying.
Xing Honglang’s concern for her townsfolk was perfectly understandable.
The water troops clasped their fists: “Don’t worry, Miss Xing. Leave it to us.”
One Bai Family Fortress sailor snickered quietly: “Can’t call her ‘Miss Xing’ anymore. Gonna be ‘Mrs.’ soon. Heheh.”
Another sailor: “Eh? Her and Gao Chuwu are about to marry?”
“Soon. Heard the wedding’s being planned.”
“That pair dragged it out forever! Blame Gao Chuwu for being useless, always losing to Miss Xing. Then not long ago, Miss Xing went easy on purpose—then Gao Chuwu finally won.”
Others beside them nodded: “Oh, so that’s how it was.”
Xing Honglang flushed crimson: “Hey! I heard that! What nonsense are you spouting? I didn’t go easy on purpose! I genuinely couldn’t win against Gao Chuwu anymore! He used his strength to force me to marry him! I can’t beat him… scared he’d hit me… so I had to marry him. That’s the story!”
Bai Yuan: “Wow? So that’s it? Then Gao Chuwu is guilty of forcibly marrying a woman! That’s a capital offense, exactly what the Deity hates most.”
He then looked up at the low cloud in the sky: “Deity, isn’t that so?”
Li Daoxuan flashed a large piece of paper: “Forcibly marrying a woman? Be executed!”
Bai Yuan said: “See, the Deity said to execute. We’ll go back and inform Fang Wushang to execute Gao Chuwu.”
Xing Honglang saw that and was shocked; the Deity had actually laid down a decree! She cried out with a loud voice: “Wrong! Wrong! He didn’t forcibly marry a woman. I was just talking nonsense earlier. I deliberately held back; I lost on purpose. I want to marry him. Deity, please don’t take it seriously. Punish me instead for speaking thoughtlessly and slandering Gao Chuwu.”
“Hahahaha!”
Li Daoxuan and Bai Yuan burst into laughter together—one laughing in the sky, the other on the boat. Then the water troops all laughed, and even Xing Honglang’s salt smugglers joined in amusement.
Xing Honglang’s face flushed so red it seemed about to bleed…
She had to vent her anger on her subordinates: “What are you laughing at? Hurry up and load all the grain onto the boat; we’re setting off.”
The subordinates stifled their laughter, pushed the grain carts onto the boat, and placed them in the cabin below. To prevent the grain from getting wet, they wrapped it in oiled paper and handled it perfectly.
Bai Yuan waved his hand: “Within Shanxi territory, be cautious in all actions.”
Xing Honglang and the water troops returned the salute. The captain flipped a switch, shifted the rudder, and the large boat began moving slowly away from the backwater of Qiachuan Port…
The large boat began sailing downstream!
Li Daoxuan pressed the buttons outside the box, fine-tuning his view to follow the ship model downstream. At first, the boat stayed in his sight, but soon, no matter how much he pressed “South,” the view stopped moving.
The large boat collided with the glass wall of the box, whooshed through it, and disappeared.
Li Daoxuan could only silently bless them in his heart.
May my little man not die!
Xing Honglang still had to return and marry Gao Chuwu.
At this thought, Li Daoxuan stiffened. Something felt off—wasn’t this “marry after returning” development a classic death flag?
Damn it, with such a flag raised, wouldn’t Xing Honglang be in grave danger?
That was terrible. She shouldn’t have been sent.
…
Shanxi, Yongji!
Yongji was a very small place under Puzhou.
At that time, it hadn’t become a county yet and was treated as a town-like area subordinate to Puzhou. Only after the Ming Dynasty collapsed and the Manchus took control was Puzhou elevated to Puzhou Prefecture, and Yongji this small town upgraded to Yongji County.
During the Ming Dynasty, Puzhou, along with Bingzhou and Pingyang, ranked among the country’s 33 most industrially and commercially advanced cities. The place teemed with merchants, relying on the ancient ferry dock at Yongji on the Yellow River to distribute north-south goods to all regions.
But at that moment, the ancient ferry dock was a battleground.
A civilian militia of merchants, fishermen, and farmers was holed up at the dock, fiercely defending behind low Fences, while a bandit army of thousands charged in a violent assault…