In the fifth year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, Mr. Zheng led a huge fleet of more than 200 ships and nearly 25,000 people to travel abroad again and began his journey westward.

This was the second time he was ordered by the emperor to lead the Ming fleet to the West. This time, in addition to sending the foreign envoys who followed his fleet to the Ming Dynasty to meet the emperor's emperor's last time, his mission was to return to the country, and to reach a farther distance. It would undoubtedly be the Ming Dynasty, the most powerful empire in the world today, the Weizebu, the Ming Dynasty, and the land and the four seas.

Leading such a huge fleet for several years of long-distance ocean navigation is impossible without the national strength of the Ming Dynasty, and it is not something that anyone can do. This person must be familiar with navigation technology, good at dispatching and commanding, have the ability to respond to dangers, and have excellent command and combat capabilities to deal with any conflicts and wars that may occur along the way.

In the eyes of the emperor, he is the best candidate.

He was not only a meritorious official who had made contributions to the Jingnan Campaign, but he also believed that he was able to command this huge fleet representing the national strength of the Ming Dynasty to perform a great voyage of power and leaping through martial arts that was unprecedented and even uncommon.

And Mr. Zheng has done almost perfectly everything that ordinary people can do.

He remembered clearly that when this huge fleet from the Eastern Ming Empire appeared in a mighty country along the way, and he read to them the imperial edict from the Emperor of Ming and gave them rewards, without exception, their eyes showed a look of trembling and ashamed.

They were respectful and bowed down and surrendered.

———

If a person has had an inhuman experience when he was young, he would probably become such two types of people when he was a child.

The first type of people are cynical, so they are narrow-minded and distorted, and they wish they could apply the suffering they had suffered to others one by one to gain psychological satisfaction.

Another type of person has suffered torture that is beyond imagination, so once he comes out, he is broad and forbearable, and his mind and will are beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Mr. Zheng is such a person.

If he was the first time he went to the West, he was more of a sense of responsibility to fulfill the emperor's order, then the second trip to the West two years later was more of his own heart.

Yes, he knew he was in love with this kind of journey.

He spent half his life in the court to reach the peak that a eunuch could reach. Now he ascended the throne because of the Jingnan Campaign. He was mean and condemned, killed officials and even implicated the nine tribes. He was not ruthless. Those officials who dared to question him were dead, and the rest were all dependent on him. However, he was highly valued by the emperor, and even those who were pretentious in the court did not dare to be inferior to him at all.

But he knew that he had changed. When the people around him occasionally talked about him behind his back, the most mentioned thing was that he was not smiling, which was daunting. It was not that he didn't want to, but that he could no longer have the kind of smile that could be caused by seeing the flying flowers and leaves when he was a child. He didn't even know if there was anything or someone in this world that could make him feel that the blood in his body was still flowing warmly in his blood vessels.

Until he led the fleet to embark on his first trip to the West.

In front of him are stars, the sea, unknown storms, and the magnificent rainbows on the sea that will never be seen on the land after the storm.

All of this made him feel his blood boiling, as if he had gained another life.

From the first day he led the fleet into the sea, his name and his people were destined to be associated with this world that was very different from land.

He firmly believed in this.

———

After sending the prince and envoys of Sulu back to their country, Mr. Zheng led the fleet to continue moving forward.

This huge fleet was formed into five formations, each carrying out different tasks. In addition to the command ship where Mr. Zheng was located, there were also formations responsible for navigation, trade, supply logistics and military escort. On the third day, the sea was calm and the sun was in the sky. After a fleet loading supplies was routinely trawled on the boat, it was found that in addition to the common sea fishes of various sizes and sizes in the fishing net, a huge clam was also mixed in.

This clam is very huge, and it stands upright and is half a person tall. The clam shell is tightly closed and the color is very beautiful, shining with a colorful luster under the sun.

Because it is rare, there may be strange gems inside, the soldiers sent the unintentional thing to the treasure ship where Mr. Zheng was located and handed over to him for disposal.

Mr. Zheng was discussing the revision of the navigation chart with the guide with rich maritime experience on the ship. After hearing the report from the follower, he casually asked him to put it down.

So the big clam was placed in a utility room of Mr. Zheng's treasure ship, as if it had been forgotten.

That night, there seemed to be a strange sound near the treasure ship, which seemed like a whistle. I listened carefully, but disappeared.

The chart was not revised until the hour of Hai. In a large cabin used as a study room, the rest of the people stood up to say goodbye, Mr. Zheng stood up from his seat, stretched his back and said casually: "Do you guys hear the strange noise coming from the sea tonight? It seems far and near, there is nothing, it's a bit strange. Maybe I heard it wrong?"

An elderly guide who has been sailing on the sea all year round laughed and said, "The adults don't know anything. Legend has it that there is a fishman in the South China Sea, also known as a mermaid. The upper body is a fish. The mermaid cannot walk. Therefore, they have lived in seclusion at the bottom of the sea for generations, and they use whistle to convey messages. Although they can reach the distance, mermaids are vicious by nature and regard people as enemies. If unfortunately, a drowning person falls into his hands, they will surround him and eat him, and the bones will not exist. However, people use their skin to make mermaids as clothes, and they will not wet into the water and are worth hundreds of gold. The villain also heard that there are female mermaids who cry and can turn into pearls, which is hard to find in the world. Therefore, in order to get rich, people in the South China Sea have tried their best to hunt mermaids for their careers. Just now, the villain also heard this strange sound. Could it be that it was made by mermaids? If they could catch one, they could sell it for a lot of money."

Mr. Zheng smiled and said, "I heard that this thing seems to be spiritual and is also a human being. If it does not cause trouble, what will it do to catch it?"

The old man nodded and said, "What the adults taught me is that villains are merciless."

Several people in the cabin laughed and said a few more words. It was getting late, and Mr. Zheng looked tired. He knew that he must have worked very hard since he was at his desk today until now, so he said goodbye and went to rest.

When Mr. Zheng returned to the bedroom, although he felt exhausted, he still seemed to have a faint whistle coming from afar. For some reason, he couldn't sleep for a long time, so he simply stood up and walked to the deck.

It was the night when the starry river was brilliant, and the waves were calm and windless. Mr. Zheng had a few words with the sailor on duty who met on the deck, and then he looked out at the distance by leaning on the railing alone. The sea level in front of him merged with the sky, and the cool night breeze was pouring towards him. The wind was slightly salty and fishy, ​​which made his clothes roar sound, and immediately felt the heat and refreshment.

After standing for a while, I suddenly remembered that there seemed to be something wrong with the chart I was repairing today, so I turned around and wanted to go back to the study. At this moment, I heard a strange movement from the stern of the boat, as if soldiers were shouting and rushing around.

The treasure ship where Mr. Zheng is located is forty-four meters long and eighteen meters wide. There are several huge sails in the middle. It is impossible to reach the end at a glance. When he hears the abnormal movement, he follows the sound. Several soldiers on duty are hurriedly running towards him. When he sees Mr. Zheng, he hurriedly salutes him.

"What happened?" Mr. Zheng asked.

The soldier hurriedly answered. It turned out that a moment ago, when a soldier was patrolling by the stern of the boat, he heard a sound coming from a storage compartment. When he went over to check, he was shocked to see a woman appearing in the compartment. When the soldier was stunned, the woman actually picked up the big clam placed here in the sun and ran to the deck, threw the clam into the sea, and then he wanted to jump into the sea, but was captured by the soldiers who quickly caught up.

"The woman has been tied up and left to the adults to deal with it."

The soldier pushed a woman he held away to Mr. Zheng and ordered him to kneel down.

Although the number of treasure ships goes to sea is tens of thousands, there is no woman involved. Even men are responsible for washing and cooking. The reason for this is that in addition to the ancient taboos that sailors believe that women will bring ominous boats when they are sailing on the sea, it is also because it is inconvenient to take women on the same boat.

Mr. Zheng never expected that there would be a woman on his boat at this moment.

The woman knelt down and borrowed the starlight and the lights on the boat. She looked like she was only sixteen or seventeen years old, with a slim figure, with her dress on the ground, and her body was full of sturdy, as if she had just been fished out of the water.

"Who are you? How could you be on my boat?"

Mr. Zheng asked.

The woman kept bowing her head and said nothing.

"Do you understand what I say?"

The woman remained silent.

Mr. Zheng frowned.

"If you don't speak, I'll call you a spy. Can you tell me how should spies be dealt with according to the Ming Dynasty?"

The girl finally raised her head. She looked beautiful under the moonlight, her eyes flashed, and there were stars flowing. She only heard her whispering, "But... throw me into the sea?" The voice was so whispering, but the words were slightly stiff, and she seemed to be not a native of the Ming Dynasty.

Mr. Zheng said: "I will not throw you into the sea, but will hand you over to the Jinyiwei. On my boat, there will be Jinyiwei accompanying me."

The woman's expression changed slightly, her face showed fear, and finally said: "Mr. Mingguo, please spare me. My name is Hai Mingyue. I am not a spy. I just accidentally hid in your boat."

Perhaps because I was in a good mood tonight, or perhaps because the young girl in front of me who was like a star-like flowing light in my eyes was really hard to associate her with the spy, Mr. Zheng rarely felt willing to listen to her.

"So, let's hear it."

He said slowly.

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The woman knelt down and borrowed the starlight and the lights on the boat. She looked like she was only sixteen or seventeen years old, with a slim figure, with her dress on the ground, and her body was full of sturdy, as if she had just been fished out of the water.

"Who are you? How could you be on my boat?"

Mr. Zheng asked.

The woman kept bowing her head and said nothing.

"Do you understand what I say?"

The woman remained silent.

Mr. Zheng frowned.

"If you don't speak, I'll call you a spy. Can you tell me how should spies be dealt with according to the Ming Dynasty?"

The girl finally raised her head. She looked beautiful under the moonlight, her eyes flashed, and there were stars flowing. She only heard her whispering, "But... throw me into the sea?" The voice was so whispering, but the words were slightly stiff, and she seemed to be not a native of the Ming Dynasty.

Mr. Zheng said: "I will not throw you into the sea, but will hand you over to the Jinyiwei. On my boat, there will be Jinyiwei accompanying me."

The woman's expression changed slightly, her face showed fear, and finally said: "Mr. Mingguo, please spare me. My name is Hai Mingyue. I am not a spy. I just accidentally hid in your boat."

Perhaps because I was in a good mood tonight, or perhaps because the young girl in front of me who was like a star-like flowing light in my eyes was really hard to associate her with the spy, Mr. Zheng rarely felt willing to listen to her.

"So, let's hear it."

He said slowly.
Chapter completed!