Jokes couldn’t dispel the gloom hanging over the three men. If the ships didn’t return, the three could only wait helplessly. Yun Ye was somewhat better off—after all, he had been to sea many times and had more confidence in his subordinates. Li Tai and Feng Ang couldn’t sit still. They simply moved their residence to that cave, and the first thing they did every day was gaze out at the sea. Yun Ye was very worried that if they waited too long, they would turn into望夫石 (望夫石—stones of wives waiting for their husbands).
On the sixth day, the still vigorous Feng Ang was the first to spot the mast of the Princess. The single-tube telescope in his hand nearly fell to the ground. This was a treasure Yun Ye had given to Feng Ang, which the old fellow treasured like a precious gem, keeping it in a silk pouch and never leaving it behind.
The Yun Family craftsmen had created a total of seven of the most primitive telescopes. Although viewing distant objects still wasn’t very clear, even so, it had caused a tremendous sensation in Chang’an.
When Li Er celebrated his birthday, Yun Shou carried a brocade box into the Hall of Ten Thousand People with extreme arrogance, because his gift was the most precious of all. After His Majesty the Emperor received it, his dragon countenance showed great pleasure. Standing before the Hall of Ten Thousand People and gazing far across Chang’an, with distant mountains and near trees all captured in view, he called it “Thousand-Mile Eyes.”
With the first-place gift, the small child sat proudly beside the Crown Prince, treating the Crown Prince’s consort’s fury as nothing. The Crown Prince smiled broadly, very pleased, and specially bestowed the dairy cream from his own table to Yun Shou. Yun Shou specially came forward to express thanks, and a slightly smaller telescope was, as he thought, quietly placed on the Crown Prince’s desk without anyone knowing.
The assembled officials in the hall laughed so hard they swayed back and forth. Linghu Defen laughed loudly and said: “Such methods of being an official—this old man is far inferior. Given time, he will definitely be a slick and versatile character, destined to be someone who commands the winds and clouds in the future.”
Once these words were spoken, the laughter suddenly ceased, leaving only the Crown Prince’s loud laughter. He picked up the telescope to examine it with great interest and joked: “It’s a pity your father isn’t here, otherwise I would definitely promise Yan Rong to you.” Linghu Defen was caught in an awkward position, stammering and unable to speak.
The Emperor smiled without speaking. The Empress said: “This matter of Yun Ye, I can certainly decide. Although Yan Rong is only two years old, matching her with Yun Shou is quite suitable. Let’s settle it like this!”
The bewildered Yun Shou left his seat to express thanks. As he was leaving, he was still asking Cheng Yaojin what a wife was. Old Cheng nearly shed tears.
The remaining telescopes were all sent to Lingnan. Li Tai took one, Yun Ye gave his own to Feng Ang, and the remaining three could only go to each captain.
“Marquis Yun, as you said, all our ships have returned—all three have come back. Although they’re in bad shape, at least they’ve returned.” Feng Ang seemed to have all the strength drained from his body. His legs went soft and he sat down on the stone steps, revealing his advanced age.
Only after the warships drew near did they discover that Feng Ang’s words of “miserable condition” were far from adequately describing the sorry state of the three ships. The sails were riddled with holes, the beautiful sculptures on the bows had vanished without a trace, a large hole had appeared in the port side of the Chengqian, the magnificent gold foil on the Qing Que had long been torn to tatters by the hurricane, and only half of the rear auxiliary mast remained. The Princess was relatively more intact, but that was only relatively speaking—the damage to the deck was sufficient to show how terrifying that great wind had been.
As the ships entered the harbor, countless craftsmen immediately swarmed up. Working together, they took advantage of the rising tide to drag the three ships into the dock. After closing the gate, and taking advantage of the ebbing tide, the tail gate opened, and the seawater in the dock was instantly drained. The three ships lay on the sandy ground of the dock, waiting quietly for inspection and repairs.
Li Tai and Feng Ang noticed that Yun Ye hadn’t asked the three captains about casualties, but was entirely focused on the ships. Knowing there might be particular reasons for this, though anxious, they could only close their mouths and refrain from asking.
“My lord, all three ships are fine—just minor injuries. The watertight compartments truly are treasures for seafaring. This time, if we hadn’t had these treasures, the Chengqian would probably have sunk instead of just having light injuries as it does now.”
After hearing Old Tie’s assessment, Yun Ye finally breathed a sigh of relief and asked Liu Renyuan: “What are the casualties?”
“Reporting to My Lord, two deaths, nine missing, four seriously injured. One is wounded in the abdomen and probably won’t last much longer. The casualties were so heavy this time mainly because of people sent over by the Feng Family and the Liaodong Navy. They still aren’t familiar with the enormous waves at sea. Many of the key points from training were forgotten in their panic. The Feng Family lost two dead and two missing. Seven brothers from the Liaodong Navy are missing—mainly because these seven thought the big ship was about to capsize and privately lowered small boats to try to escape, only to be crushed into the ocean depths by the waves. The possibility of them being alive is almost nil.”
While Liu Renyuan was reporting casualties to Yun Ye, Feng Zhiyong hugged Feng Ang’s legs and wailed loudly. Having just gone to sea, the Feng Family had already lost four young members, and only twenty-five Feng Family members had boarded the ships in total.
Feng Ang kicked Feng Zhiyong away and demanded loudly: “Did anyone deliberately murder Feng Family members?”
Feng Zhiyong shook his head and said: “No, that didn’t happen. Everyone on the ship was struggling for their lives—no one had time to harm others, nor would they deliberately harm others. Ting Yong from Ninth Uncle’s family was killed by a broken mast. Ting Rui was crushed to death by rolling cargo while securing goods in the hold. As for Ting Qi and Yan Yong, in their panic, they went on deck without tying safety ropes and were washed into the sea by the waves. You know, at that time there was no way to rescue people.”
Feng Ang nodded with satisfaction and said loudly to the Feng Family disciples who had gathered around: “Did you hear clearly? No one murdered our family’s children. They died because they didn’t take training seriously—they sought their own deaths and can’t blame others.”
“The Feng Family is committed to maritime development. This old man never thought that the children who board ships would return safely without a single loss. To dominate the seas, deaths are inevitable. When our ancestors came to Lingnan, they toiled with calloused hands to create the Lingnan foundation for the Feng Family. How many ancestors died back then? It’s written clearly in the ancestral temple. Now the Feng Family’s comfortable days are coming to an end. Descendants are increasing daily, and to find a way forward for them, we must make sacrifices.”
“What I just asked Zhiyong means that Marquis Yun is highly righteous and won’t let Feng Family descendants die in vain because of grievances between our two families. It won’t happen now and won’t happen in the future, so we can venture to sea with complete abandon and forge a path forward for your descendants. Whether they will be prosperous and healthy in the future depends on your abilities. If they die, wrap the bodies in white cloth and throw them into the sea. Use their bodies as sacrificial offerings to the Sea Dragon King. I think that with enough sacrifices, the Sea Dragon King will eventually be moved to give the Feng Family a bright future. Learn your skills well—opportunities don’t come easily. This old man is too old to travel the sea route. Children, I will wait for you to return at the seaside. Feng Ang swears that after death, I won’t enter the ancestral tomb. I trouble you to take this old man’s corpse when you go to sea. Just wrap it in white cloth and find the most treacherous place to throw me in. Remember to tie on stones. This old man will guard you from that place.”
After Old Feng finished speaking, he removed his hat, loosened his white hair, threw off his shoes, and ran barefoot two steps on the beach, stumbling and swaying, raising his hands toward the sea and shouting hoarsely: “Return, O souls! Sea Dragon King! Are the Feng Family’s sacrifices to your taste?”
Yun Ye clasped his fists and bowed. Li Tai clasped his fists and bowed. Everyone on the shore was clasping fists and bowing. Venturing to sea! It was feeding people to the Sea Dragon King. Only after feeding the Sea Dragon King full could you have any harvest.
“As long as we’re on the same boat, our lives are tied together, so the Feng Family’s worries are unnecessary. If people on the same ship aren’t united, what’s the point of going to sea? That’s seeking death.”
Watching the grief-stricken Feng Ang, Yun Ye felt uncomfortable too. Back when he led the Lingnan Navy across east and west, they only saw the navy’s invincible side, but couldn’t see that the Lingnan Navy’s non-combat deaths were almost the highest among all Great Tang forces. They not only had to fight enemies, but also battle Heaven and the Sea Dragon King. As soon as a ship went to sea, that was the start of battle. Even Yun Ye himself wanted to ask the Sea Dragon King: Can the Lingnan Navy’s sacrifices still fill your belly?
Li Tai also put away his casual attitude. He discovered that venturing to sea really wasn’t a simple matter, but someone had to do it. Since his elder brother was busy competing for power and his younger brothers were busy enjoying themselves, he would start with himself.
He wrote a memorial, carefully describing the advantages and disadvantages of the sea frontier, believing that the people of the Great Tang should plow fields and herd the seas. Only this way could the prestige of the Great Tang never decline for ten thousand years. All the previous dynasties before the Great Tang had been walking on one leg. If they opened sea routes and walked on two legs, their steps would certainly be more solid.
“Although curiosity about the unknown world is innate to everyone, the pride and restraint of being the ‘Center of the World’ and the ‘Upper Kingdom’ means our curiosity about foreign lands merely stays at wistful gazes toward the ends of the sea and sky. Few would set sail to explore the unpredictable shores beyond.”
“Most of the time, we just lazily watch, watching the depths of the waves, those weary sails slowly rising from the horizon.”
“Your younger brother has stood by the sea watching for so long that I want to personally go to sea and try. If even an old rascal like Feng Ang dares to stake everything on one throw, how could your younger brother, as a son of the Li Family, lack courage?”
“Elder Brother, take care. Your younger brother goes to explore the sea. If I’m buried by the ocean, don’t grieve for me, and even more so, don’t stop moving forward. You should send even more excellent disciples forth—absolutely cannot let the Yun Family and Feng Family monopolize the glory.”
When Li Chengqian received this letter from Li Tai, he painfully struck his head against a pillar. His friends and brothers all loved this country more ardently than he did, willing to gamble their lives for the country’s future. Only he himself hid in the dark depths of the palace, calculating over every bit of power. He wanted to laugh to the heavens, but no matter how he laughed or regretted, the heavy cart was already going downhill and would only go faster and faster. If he didn’t summon a hundred thousand percent of his energy, he would immediately meet with destruction.
Imagining how mighty the Chengqian on the great sea must be, cleaving through waves under the thrust of strong winds, Li Chengqian’s heart convulsed again and again. Originally they had agreed—they were going to be pirates on the sea together!
“Your Highness, are you really going to promise the child Yan Rong to that frivolous little boy Yun Shou? The Yun Family already shows signs of decline. Your concubine worries that Yan Rong will suffer hardship in the future.”
Li Chengqian looked at Hou Shi mockingly and said: “The Yun Family declining? How can this solitary prince not see it? This solitary prince only sees that the Yun Family will become even more prosperous.”