Yuan Xi stood at the bow, facing the cold and pungent sea breeze, which was like a merciless slap in the face in winter, burning his face.
He had another reason that he didn't tell Lu Xunming.
As someone who knows about future technology, many of his ideas are either too advanced or not feasible for this era. Some ideas that may seem absurd may be more suitable for this era.
How to select the weapons technology that can advance the productivity of this era and change the battlefield situation of this era can only be achieved by him going to the battlefield himself and thinking and understanding it personally.
Naval battles, in particular, are crucial to Yuan Xi's future development strategy, so he must plan ahead and test whether his ideas are feasible.
The waves hit and the ship was shaken. The two guards on the deck slipped and hit the side of the ship hard. They couldn't stand up for a long time and were laughed at by the people next to them.
Although some of them are good at water, swimming is different from riding a boat, so some people feel dizzy after getting on the boat and it may take some time for them to adapt.
Yuan Xi was used to it. He turned his head to look at the pale-faced Lü Lingqi and teased, "Wenhou Tiger Girl, it turns out you get seasick, too."
Lu Lingqi was so angry that she vomited less than two hours after she got on the boat. Just when she started to adapt a little, the wind and waves on the sea became stronger, making her stomach churn.
She suppressed her discomfort, held on to the side of the boat tightly, and said, "How can we fight a war when the sea is so rough?"
"And if you fall into the water, it will be difficult to save your life, right?"
Yuan Xi nodded in agreement. "Indeed, if you fall into the water in a river, you still have a chance of survival. But fighting at sea is extremely dangerous. To say that you are in danger of death is an exaggeration."
"Especially in winter, the sea water is icy cold. If someone falls in, they will freeze to death in a few moments."
Lu Lingqi seemed to be thinking about something. "So if two parties fight at sea, it will be a life-and-death battle, with neither side having any way to retreat?"
Yuan Xi replied: "You can say that."
"If you surrender immediately when the situation becomes bad, you may be able to save your life, but unless the enemy has a good reputation, they will generally fight to the death."
"After all, it's much easier to kill prisoners at sea. Just throw them into the sea and no one will know about it afterwards."
Lu Lingqi stared at Yuan Xi with suspicion, "You describe it so vividly, have you ever done something like this?"
Yuan Xi was sweating profusely, and quickly defended himself, "No, I just heard it from others."
Suddenly, the sailor on the mast who was watching the wind blew a whistle. The shrill sound spread throughout the deck. There were drums and shrieks, and the soldiers below the deck rushed up with halberds in hand.
This halberd is not only much longer than those used on land, but has also been specially modified. An iron bar of the same length is fixed along the shaft to prevent it from being cut off by the enemy.
In naval battles at that time, long-range combat was carried out with bows and arrows, and close combat was either jumping onto the opposite ship and fighting, or stabbing with long weapons. At this time, the size of the ship played a decisive role.
A big ship means it is tall, so you can attack from high up and hit from low. It will also be difficult for the opponent to jump onto the bow of your ship. If the ship is small, then you will be at a great disadvantage.
Seeing that the soldiers were in a panic, Yuan Xi said, "Don't run around. Hide your weapons under the side of the ship so that they won't be seen by the enemy. Find a place to cover your body and keep steady!"
Although these soldiers had been trained, many of them were going out to sea for the first time. When they first heard the signal of encountering the enemy, they became a little confused. Only when they heard Yuan Xi's words did they come to their senses. They held their breath and gradually calmed down.
The envoy has gone into battle personally, it would be too embarrassing if our people performed poorly!
Seeing everyone's reactions, Yuan Xi nodded with satisfaction, thinking that this was the benefit of having a commander supervising the battle. These soldiers couldn't become fat in one bite, and now that they were able to calm down quickly, it was already a very good performance.
However, as the other side got closer, everyone realized it was a false alarm. This turned out to be a ferry carrying people from Qingzhou to Liaodong. The boat was packed, and when they saw Yuan Xi's ship approaching, everyone had a look of panic on their faces.
When they saw the logo of the Zhen family caravan, they looked relieved, and some even waved over here.
When Yuan Xi saw this, he couldn't help but laugh. No matter whether they were soldiers or civilians, everyone was afraid when they crossed the ocean.
The ships on both sides lowered half of their sails, slowed down, shouted a few words to each other, confirmed the direction with each other, then raised the sails and went their separate ways.
The reason for this is that the nautical compass did not appear in this era, and navigation was subject to many restrictions. If one wanted to determine the direction, one either had to stay close to the land to avoid getting lost, or confirm it based on the sun and stars.
The compass, called Sinan, appeared in China very early. It was originally used for feng shui and was shaped like a spoon. It was usable on land but very inconvenient at sea.
Wang Chong of the Eastern Han Dynasty wrote in Lun Heng: Shi Ying Pian: "When the spoon of the Si Nan is thrown into the ground, its root points to the south."
Later studies have shown that the transition from Sinan to compass, and from spoon to needle, may have occurred during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and was perfected during the Tang Dynasty. This may have something to do with the development of the shipping industry by the Wu State before that.
The principle of the compass is not complicated. The key is that it needs a fertile soil, and sea and land trade is the catalyst.
When it comes to improving the compass, the Zhen family caravan has an absolute advantage.
When Yuan Xi met Zhen Yao in Haixi before, he mentioned that the magnet could be ground into a needle to indicate the direction. If combined with other methods of determining direction, ocean voyages would be much safer.
Zhen Yao followed the method suggested by Yuan Xi and went back to ask the craftsmen to try to make a compass. As expected, he made a compass suitable for navigation. Since then, the speed of Zhen family caravan's trade at sea has increased a lot.
The only thing that worried Yuan Xi was the missing ships of the Zhen family caravan. It would be troublesome if the compasses on them were obtained by the Qingzhou pirates.
Of course, there might be another hidden danger, but Yuan Xi couldn't be sure.
If the Qingzhou pirates had that thing in their hands, then the probability that Yuan Tan knew about the robbery of the Zhen family merchant ship was very high.
When Yuan Xi saw the boat carrying the refugees approaching, he asked, "Where are you from and where are you going?"
Seeing Yuan Xi's extraordinary demeanor, a few of them led him and said, "We all fled here from Qingzhou."
Yuan Xi asked curiously, "Is there a war in Qingzhou?"
The man smiled bitterly and said, "There wasn't much fighting, but bandits were everywhere. The Qingzhou governor has been levying heavy taxes these past two years, and everyone can't survive, so I thought of going to Liaodong to have a look."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi said, "Liaodong is bitterly cold, and life there may not be as comfortable as in Qingzhou."
The man looked helpless: "At least there is no harsh rule. Now the soldiers are plundering us so ruthlessly that even having food is a problem. We have to let people survive."
Yuan Xi was silent. He suddenly remembered that after Yuan Tan gained Qingzhou in later generations, the people of Qingzhou were happy for his victory at first because the Yuan family had always been generous. But later, Yuan Tan lost the support of the people because of his improper use of people, looting everywhere, and unfair rewards and punishments.
Yuan Xi thought that Yuan Tan had probably recruited many former bandits and thieves during the process of suppressing the Taishan bandits. These people were lax in military strategy and their generals did not respect the law. They were probably still harming the people after joining Yuan Tan, and the fleeing crowd was clear proof of this.
This was also a wake-up call for Yuan Xi. After incorporating the remnants of Gongsun Zan, he must work hard to rectify military discipline, so as not to lose the support of the people in Youzhou.
Yuan Tan's actions actually sent a lot of talents to the Gongsun family, and many famous people in Qingzhou went to work for Gongsun Du.
Thinking of this, Yuan Xi shook his head. He discovered that Yuan Shao's choice of Yuan Shang over Yuan Tan was not simply a matter of personal likes and dislikes. Yuan Tan was a stubborn and self-willed person, and his subordinate Guo Tu was always plotting evil ideas. When these two people got together, there was indeed a shortcoming in the governance of internal affairs.
Several large ships of the Zhen family caravan slowly sailed towards Donglai in the cold winter wind. Dozens of miles away from the land, there was only a vague coastline hanging on the horizon.
The ship sailed for a day and a night, bypassing the port of Huangxian in Donglai, and arrived near Zhifu Island, but no unusual movement was found. This made Yuan Xi, who had been alert all night, a little depressed. Did the Qingzhou pirates go home for the New Year, or did they see something wrong with his caravan?
After another half a day's journey, when they arrived near the never-sleeping port in the northeastern part of the peninsula, several floating corpses and swarms of fish on the sea aroused Yuan Xi's vigilance.
These people must have died not long ago, which is why the fish gathered here!
Sure enough, dozens of ships of various sizes came out of the Never-Sleeping Harbor and sped towards Yuan Xi's fleet of only five or six ships. Seeing them, Yuan Xi ordered, "Raise the sails and head northeast."
He thought to himself that they had already reached the North Sea Port, and the pirates were still so brazen. Qingzhou was really a mess.
The helmsman tried his best to change the direction and head towards Liaodong. According to the agreement, the ship of Gongsun Du's family was within half a day's journey of Yuan Xi. Once Yuan Xi was in danger, he could sail in that direction and seek rescue!
A few hours later, Yuan Xi's fleet saw Gongsun's fleet, but there was a fierce battle on the opposite side, and surrounding them were more than a dozen large pirate ships!
Yuan Xi's face became solemn. It was obvious that Gongsun's ship had been ambushed!
In all likelihood, there was a spy in Gongsun's fleet who leaked their whereabouts. In this era when obtaining intelligence is extremely difficult, spies have become almost the most convenient and effective means.
He looked towards the stern and saw dozens of boats following, still chasing closely. He thought that he was being attacked from both sides.
But although the situation was bad, it was not unexpected. He said to Lu Xun who caught up with him, "I have to rely on Boyan."
Lu Xun took the order and had the soldiers hide under the deck, while the sailors on the deck tied their waists to the boat with ropes.
Then Lu Xun gave an order, and the sailors at the bows of each ship pulled the mechanism, and the original wooden bows fell directly into the sea.
What was revealed afterwards was a huge and sharp iron horn that was shining with a cold light!
Lu Xun raised his hand high, "Full sail, mark each ship for collision!"
The pirate ship that had previously surrounded the Gongsun fleet and continuously shot arrows, seeing that the people on the ship were suppressed and unable to raise their heads, was about to approach to board the ship, but they saw several large ships appearing behind them, driving towards them at high speed!