A sudden storm swept across the West Sea of ​​the Ming Dynasty.

In the strong wind, thunder rumbled, and the waves surged to the sky. The flaming lightning tore through the rolling dark clouds, and the violent rain poured down on the rolling sea.

The sky and the sea were both as dark as ink, and it was impossible to tell day from night; the dark clouds and the sea water were rolling madly like a boiling pot, and the boundary between the sky and the sea was completely blurred, making it impossible for the people on the boat to tell east from west or even up from down.

A fleet of more than ten ships of different sizes was struggling hard in the raging sea. Except for the giant ship of 5,000 tons, which was in better condition, the rest of the ships were thrown up and down by the huge waves like toys. From the deck, when the ship swayed violently, the angle between the mast and the sea level was close to 45 degrees.

There were also huge waves like small mountains that kept attacking the fleet from the side. The huge amount of seawater with white foam instantly covered the entire ship, knocking the sailors who were struggling against the wind and waves on the deck to the ground. Even with safety ropes tied to them, people were constantly injured.

Not only the sailors, but all the people on board, including the gunners, marines, visitors on board, and researchers, were mobilized to reinforce all the items on board. Although their ship was sturdy, it was violently shaken and bumped on the sea due to the strong wind and waves. Seeing the hellish scene outside, the distinguished passengers who were not mentally prepared finally got scared. Some regretted this journey, and some cried loudly, shouting that the ship was going to sink and they wanted to go home!

All those who had shaken the morale of the troops were locked up in a detention room by the Marines, tied up with ropes, and then the door was closed, leaving them to scream at each other to their heart's content.

In fact, it was not shameful, because even the old sailors who had sailed along the coast of Ming Dynasty for half their lives had never experienced such a terrible storm in the Indian Ocean, let alone those rookies who were going out to sea for the first time.

No one knew if they would be able to see the sun tomorrow. The monks, Taoist priests and Jesuit priests on the ship all prayed devoutly, hoping that their boss could help them and bless them to survive the storm safely...

With a loud bang, a bolt of lightning struck the stern of the huge ship, illuminating the words on a large banner with a pole on it:

'The Eternal Sinner Liu Daxia'!

The helm room was as bright as day, reflecting the faces of two beautiful women.

Both women were wearing coast guard uniforms and had short hair. They looked equally heroic, like twin sisters.

The one who is slightly taller and has three silver stars on her left chest is Lin Feng, who is also the commander of this fleet.

The other one had higher breasts but no label on her left chest. She turned out to be Zhang Xiaojing, the daughter of the prime minister of the cabinet and the wife of Mr. Zhao.

Ever since the first time he went out to sea in March of the third year of the Longqing reign, Xiao Zhuzi fell in love with the sea at first sight and fell deeply in love with the deep blue. He completely fell in love with this kind of unrestrained and absolute freedom.

Since then, Miss Zhang, who was quiet on the outside but wild on the inside, used all her time to learn sailing techniques from Chen Huaixiu. When she was in the capital, she also eagerly learned geometry, geography, astronomy, navigation, medicine and other knowledge to prepare for her dream of going to sea.

Later, taking advantage of the opportunity to spend the winter in Jiangnan, she followed Chen Huaixiu on several sailing missions, and passed the captain qualification examination of the Chongming Island Crew Academy with full marks, obtaining the qualifications to independently command an armed merchant ship.

However, Zhang Xiaojing soon became dissatisfied with just carrying out transport tasks on fixed coastal routes. She longed to sail far away, to sail to the West along the route of Zheng He as she did now; to sail around the world like Magellan of Portugal did!

That’s the real journey into the ocean!

But she had never expected that the scene in the deep ocean would be so terrible. Even in winter, there were still thunderstorms and gales. The sailing experience she had accumulated in the East China Sea was nothing compared to what was happening now.

This finally made Zhang Xiaojing feel a little bit of fear, and she began to miss the man who was infinitely tolerant of her and gave her freedom to fly.

"Don't be afraid." Lin Feng was calm, even a little excited. This was the first time in 140 years since Zheng He that a Ming fleet had penetrated deep into the ocean! This really pissed her off.

"Such a century-long feat must certainly be accompanied by hardships worthy of it. How can it be just an ordinary voyage?!" Lin Feng shouted loudly to the people around her. Her voice was so high and sharp that it seemed to be able to penetrate the sound of wind, thunder and waves outside and reach the ears of the sailors on the deck.

"Let the storm come, we will defeat it and brag about it for the rest of our lives!!"

"Ahh..." The sailors screamed in surprise and continued to fight the storm with their spirits up.

Zhang Xiaojing was also inspired by Lin Feng, and felt secretly ashamed. Compared with her, she was really far behind...

"Holdings No. 4 and No. 7 are flooded!" The first mate rushed into the wheelhouse and reported: "We don't have enough damage control personnel, requesting support!"

"Let all the idle people go down to the cabin to pump water!" Zhang Xiaojing immediately put on her waders and raincoat, rushed out of the cabin and said, "And Xuelang and his gang, instead of praying to the gods, why don't we pump water together!"

~~

Finally, the wind died down, the clouds cleared, the rain stopped, and the storm passed.

The ocean, which was dancing with demons before, suddenly changed its face, like a girl after the rain, sleeping peacefully with the sky covering her and the night as her pillow. The sea and the sky finally became clear, and the sky full of stars fell on the dark green sea surface as calm as a lake, causing ripples.

After fighting the wind and waves for more than ten hours, the crew members can finally sit down, smoke a cigarette, eat a piece of candy, drink some wine and take a break.

Zhang Xiaojing also dragged her tired body back to the wheelhouse.

Lin Feng was listening to Ma Yishan's report on the damage of each ship. When she saw Zhang Xiaojing coming in, she nodded and said to her chief of staff, "Go ahead and tell each ship to reward the brothers well, let everyone recuperate and have a good sleep, and then repair the ship after daybreak!"

"Yes." Ma Yishan responded, and saluted Zhang Xiaojing and said, "Madam!"

"Thank you for your hard work, Chief of Staff Ma." Zhang Xiaojing nodded slightly.

"How is it, no more leaks?" Lin Feng poured two glasses of tequila and handed one to Zhang Xiaojing. Although she should call her Master's Wife, she didn't want to call her that, so who could stop her?

"All the leaks have been plugged, and the water has been drained away with the Drain King." Zhang Xiaojing took the small glass wine cup. She learned to drink from Chen Huaixiu. Sister Chen loved to drink, and she coaxed her that people who couldn't drink couldn't be captains. She had no choice but to pinch her nose and learn to drink. Little Zhuzi gradually liked it, this drink that could make people forget their sorrows...

During this ocean voyage, her partner Lin Feng was a female alcoholic. During the voyage, the crew also provided a daily ration of alcohol to relieve the anxiety caused by the long voyage.

By this time, the wine brought from the Ming Dynasty had long been drunk up, and they could only buy a batch of strange wines from the Portuguese when leaving Malacca to make up the number.

For example, this tequila, when you put it in your mouth, your tongue will feel numb. But when you swallow it slowly, you will still enter a state of ecstasy. You can also drink...

After finishing a small cup, Zhang Xiaojing's face flushed slightly, and she declined the offer of another drink from a female drunkard. "How much damage has been done?"

"All ten ships are still there, but the mainmasts of 'Chaozhou' and 'Ningbo' were broken, and the foremast of 'Taizhou' was broken, killing two sailors. The sails of the other ships were damaged and the hulls were leaking, which is not a big problem." Lin Feng sighed and said, "I have really experienced this storm in the West. I hope there will not be another one before we reach Ceylon, otherwise the loss will be great..."

"I hope so." Zhang Xiaojing nodded in agreement.

~~

After inspecting her ship and settling everyone, Zhang Xiaojing returned to her cabin when it was already dawn outside.

She lay down and tossed and turned for a while, but could not fall asleep, so she just sat up.

Qianyi, who was outside, heard the noise and quickly got up to make her a cup of tea.

Zhang Xiaojing put on her clothes and drank a sip of tea. She asked Qianyi to light the lamp and prepare pen and ink. Then she sat at the table and began to write a letter to Zhao Hao.

'My dear husband,

It has been ten days since I left the Strait of Malacca, and more than a hundred days since I parted with you. This piece of paper is sprinkled with tears of parting, and the words on it are soaked with the love between the two places...'

This was true. As the distance between them grew, she missed Zhao Hao more and felt more guilty about him...

In fact, when she insisted on marrying Zhao Hao, she had a little selfish motive.

Because she knew that no matter who she married, or even if she remained single for life, she would never have such freedom.

Only Zhao Hao can give her this freedom and let her realize her dream...

That's why she agreed to join Lianli Company and almost pissed off her father to death, just to be a quintessential bride.

She knew very well that even if she only got one-fifth, she would still get much more than any other woman in the world.

In fact, at the end of the fourth year of Longqing, when Zhao Hao went to Chongming to pick her up to go to Kunming for the New Year, Zhang Xiaojing told Zhao Hao about her dream...

Although Zhao Hao was a little surprised, he did not laugh at her wild ideas, nor did he attack her for being unfaithful to her husband. Instead, he looked at her with admiration and said that since he did not have the conditions now, she could think about it carefully. If she still wanted to go on a long voyage in a few years, he would definitely support her.

Because this is a great cause.

Zhang Xiaojing was not someone who easily believed, but she was struck by Zhao Hao's last words. Just based on this recognition, she would not marry anyone but him...

After getting married, Zhang Xiaojing discussed with Zhao Hao that since she still had Mingyue, Xueying, and Qiaoqiao, why not give birth first? Because she couldn't leave her child behind to go on a long voyage, nor could she let the child bear the risk of losing his mother. So she planned to give birth to the fruit of love after returning from the voyage...

Zhao Hao naturally respected her decision and helped her fool the elders. He didn't even dare to tell Zhang Juzheng that she was going to sea... so the Prime Minister thought his daughter was not favored.

P.S. Sorry, everything is difficult at the beginning. It took me a long time to figure it out. I will write another chapter...