Dragon Sea Empire

Regardless of the era, diving is a highly professional and dangerous job.Diving without any tools, in Yin Feng's world, the highest record is a dive depth of 110 meters, and the longest underwater apnea record is 7 minutes.

Yin Feng's career as a reporter in his previous life made him very interested in these world records, so he knew about these related diving records.Using his own pulse as the standard, he calculated that Mai Wan'er's first entry into the water lasted about four and a half minutes.

"It's amazing, it's amazing..." He couldn't help sighing that there were such amazing diving masters in China during the Ming Dynasty.

But it seems that this time the pearl hunting was really not going well. Dozens of Danmin basically surfaced twice, but the pearls they got were less than a hundred, at most only about 10 taels.Zeng Yue is the appraiser from Yazhou. He and the appraiser from Douchi Shangbaojian brought by Wang An are inspecting the pearls that have been harvested.The eunuch of Shangbaojian couldn't help shaking his head while watching, and Wang An, who had been sitting firmly on the rock like a mountain, also became impatient, shaking his fan hurriedly with one hand and wiping his sweat with the other.

Unknown when Mai Bo got ashore, talked to Zeng Yue and the others, and then was waved back by the eunuch.

Zeng Yue said to Yin Feng, who was puzzled by the side: "Mai Tutou told me that the hurricane half a month ago may have disturbed the seabed and moved the position of the sea oyster, so even though we have gone 100 steps into the seabed, we still haven't gained much. .” He shook his head, followed the eunuchs of Shang Baojian to the place of the big man.

When Yin Feng came to the beach, a group of Dan people from the fishing village gathered there, and everyone stretched their necks to look at the sea.

"The fourth time!" Someone exclaimed.Obviously, the underwater time of the diving Dan people is getting shorter and shorter, indicating that their physical strength is exhausted.

The pearl fishing boat has moved several positions, and Wan'er from Maibo's family is connecting the tin pipe around her neck to the long tin pipe on the boat with a cowhide ring, and then she is launching into the water for the fifth time.

The eldest son of the Maibo family, Mai Xiaohai, has been fixing the breathing tube for his younger sister after entering the water for the third time.Seeing that Wan'er still only picked a few pearls after coming out of the water for the fifth time, she couldn't help getting anxious, stood up and wanted to go into the water again.Mai Bo stopped him: "Don't move, wait for Wan'er to dive again, we will move south, and you will go into the water again."

"Father, I don't think we can meet the quota today. It's only been half a year since we last picked pearls..."

"Shut up! Shut up! You don't want to live anymore!" Uncle Ma looked around in a panic and stopped his son's speech in a low voice.Although it was nearly 500 steps away from the shore, Mai Bo still looked at the court officials on the shore very guilty.

"Why don't you ask Xiaodan and the others to go home and secretly sell the unsold beads?" Mai Xiaohai suggested in a low voice.

"Damn it, didn't you see a treasure appraiser from the palace? Mr. Zeng's nephew is easy to talk, but this master is not polite. Will he not be able to distinguish the pearls that just came out of the water and the ones that came out of the water half a year ago?" Mai Bo gave a chestnut to his son's head and sighed.

"How did I know that the imperial court would suddenly come to pick pearls? Right now, no matter if you get pearls or not, you have to go into the water! The eunuch beside the emperor is watching! Stealing the imperial court's pearl pool is a catastrophe of beheading and ransacking the house!! "Mai Bo gritted his teeth and waved to his daughter: "Go into the sea later and dive a little deeper, watch carefully."

"The pipe can't reach the bottom of the sea, so I don't want it." Wan'er removed the tin pipe, took a sip of water, took a few deep breaths, and stood up.Mai Bo gritted his teeth, turned his head and looked at the coast again.

Another pearl fishing boat approached Mai Bo's boat, and a man in his 50s on the boat said in a low voice, "Boss Mai, it's too bad, the children have been in the water 5 times, you need to take a rest, or something will happen! !"

Standing by the beach, Yin Feng clearly felt that the atmosphere of the Dan villagers around him was getting more and more tense.

According to the habits of the Dan people, 5 dives is the limit, and a rest is necessary.Mai Bo went ashore again and reported to Zeng Yue.

Yin Feng saw Zeng Yue going up to the reef from a distance, and whispered something to Zeng Zhoupan, but he returned immediately and shook his head at Mai Bo.

"What's going on here?" Yin Feng asked Mai Bo on the beach.

Mai Bo shook his head bitterly, and boarded the boat without speaking.

"Unlucky, the prince will be angry if the beads can't be collected and the quota can't be fulfilled." A dark-skinned old man whispered beside him.

At this time, a group of Wang An's companions rushed over, drove the onlookers aside, commandeered several fishing boats, and rowed to the sea area where pearl fishing was in progress.They were going to supervise the pearl picking, and the eunuch Wang An got angry.

"Don't stop!! Go to work!" They drove all the Danhu sailors into the sea with whips and sticks on the spot.

"Brother Zeng, you can't go into the water anymore, you will die." Yin Feng couldn't bear it anymore, and rushed over to Zeng Yue and said loudly, "At least, let the Dan people rest their breath!"

"No, I didn't see that gang of minions are already there..."

"Does it have to be dead?"

Zeng Yue smiled wryly: "If you die, you can't stop. When the court is picking pearls, how many times will it not kill a few Danhus?"

Yin Feng frowned, very dissatisfied with Zeng Yue's understatement: "God has the virtue of good life, and Danhu is also a life, how can..."

There was a commotion from the beach, and the two turned their heads to look together, only to see a group of Dan people carrying a human body off a pearl boat.Yin Feng was taken aback, and ran over, only to find that it was a young man in his 30s, who was already spitting blood, coughing loudly, lying on the beach and twitching uncontrollably.People around him covered him with clothes and rubbed his chest, but he was already unconscious, he had trouble breathing, and he kept curling up, his hands and feet were shaking, it should be that his limbs were in severe pain.This may be what is known as flexion: a symptom of diving sickness.

Originally, Yin Feng did not believe that the Dan people could dive 300 steps into the seabed, which is almost 100 meters deep.But seeing the manifestations of this kind of diving sickness, at least these Dan people have dived to a depth of more than 20 or 30 meters.

Yin Feng hurriedly searched for the Mai family's boat on the sea, and saw that only the Mai family's father was on board at this time, and his heart ached.Yin Feng has always been very grateful for the family's life-saving grace.He turned around and ran towards the rock. Zeng Yue grabbed him, and Yin Feng was so strong that he broke free and continued to run.He was sweating profusely, his face was flushed, and within a few steps, Zeng Yue caught up and grabbed him.

"Brother Yin, wait a minute, don't do it recklessly!!" He simply hugged Yin Feng's arm. Yin Feng was a tall man, but he couldn't break free from the thin young man with a shake of his hand.Zeng Yue tilted his feet and tilted his body. He was much shorter than Yin Feng, and now he looked as if he was hanging on Yin Feng's arm.Yin Feng smiled wryly, stood up, Zeng Yue also felt embarrassed, let go and took a step away, still standing in front of Yin Feng, panting and said: "I know these Danhu and Brother Yin have the grace to save lives, but the current matter must not be reckless. .No matter what you want to do, it will be useless to Mai Dutou and the others."

"Don't save yourself from death? Is there such a thing in the study of saints?" Yin Feng asked coldly.

"My brother and I have just met each other. Seeing that you have a heartless heart and a kind-hearted nature, you don't care about exchanging shallow words. Can you take a step to speak?" Zeng Yue looked at the rushing crowd around him and said in a low voice: "I This is for your own good..."

At this time, another sailor was carried onto the beach, and the Dan people, Yazhou government officials, and Hebo policemen hurriedly formed a group. Some of them were emergency rescuers, some asked loudly about the situation, and some women cried.

The two came under another rock, and the noise of the crowd weakened slightly.Zeng Yue opened his mouth and said: "Today's matter will definitely end with the death of a few people. Because it is impossible to complete the pearl-hunting quota right now."

"Why? Could it be that Mabo, or you guys already knew that it was impossible to meet the quota?"

"Hehe, because there is no quota at all."

Yin Feng opened his mouth wide, thinking that Zeng Yue was joking.

Zeng Yue said: "You have just returned from the West, so naturally you don't know the details. The mine supervisor and tax envoy of the imperial court collect various tax items wherever they go, with many names, and almost all of them are greedy and plundering. There is no approved tax. For the quota, you can charge as much as you want."

"That is to say, today's pearl hunting, when it will end depends on the mood of the eunuch Wang An, Shangbao Supervisor?"

"It can be said that these eunuchs are now so arrogant that Ji Gang is slack. Although they are urgent, there are many leaks. It is hard to say how many of these pearls will be left in the treasury of the emperor." Zeng Yue sneered, and asked Yin Feng clasped his hands and said: "Brother is eager to public welfare, and you have the high righteousness of the ancients. But you are just a mere white man, and you don't know your identity. If you rashly stand out, you can only cause trouble for the upper body, but it will not help you at all."

Zeng Yue's words were very straightforward, and Yin Feng also calmed down, thinking of his identity and experience, he sighed helplessly.

"Could it be that Mr. Zeng can't help? Find an excuse and just continue picking tomorrow. Brother Zeng, you should go and talk to your lord."

"My second uncle can't help it." Zeng Yue seemed to hesitate for a moment, and said bitterly: "Right now, we can only see how lucky the Danhus are."

The wind direction changed again at some point, and now the wind was blowing from the sea all the time, and the wind was so strong that the pearl fishing boat couldn't help shaking.

Now there are 6 young sailors lying on the beach, and some Danmin women are coming here by boat, rushing to the beach and rushing for land.Fortunately, there were no Mai brothers and sisters, so Yin Feng was a little relieved.

After a commotion, the group of companions rushed over again, brandishing sticks and whips to drive the crowd away.A clerk of the Yazhou government shouted loudly: "Go away quickly, move people away quickly, Mr. Zeng ordered: Except for the pearl-picking sailors, all people of all colors should go back to the village, and those who are sick should be taken away for treatment. "

A companion with a stick knocked a woman to the ground and cursed; another yamen servant dragged an old man to the seaside, and his companion kept kicking the old man while cursing; contradicted him.The surrounding Danhus were evading in all directions, and no one dared to resist.

Yin Feng returned to the beach and kept watching with a gloomy face. He happened to see this scene, and now he couldn't hold back anymore. He rushed forward and grabbed the kicker's trouser leg, stretched out his foot and raised his hand at the same time to pull it. The guy immediately fell on the back of his head.Zeng Yue stomped his feet anxiously from behind, but he saw Yin Feng raised his hand and blocked the servant's stick, bumped his body with his shoulder and pushed him with his right foot. The servant flew a long way and landed on the back of his head.

After performing a few simple judo moves, Yin Feng felt severe pain in his right arm, and his entire arm lost strength for a while.

The surrounding Danmin and Yazhou government servants were all in a daze. They didn't expect such a bold person to dare to fight an official. For a while, there were gasps of surprise around Yin Feng.

At this moment, a thunderclap rolled across the sea in the distance. "Boom! Boom! Boom!"

No, it was the sound of cannons.Everyone looked towards the southern sea together, and at some point at the junction of the sea and the sky, a huge sailboat appeared. "Boom!" There was another loud noise, and the ship got bigger and closer, and a puff of gunpowder smoke could be seen rising from the bow.

Yin Feng found that it was a three-masted sailing ship, and the ship seemed to be very dilapidated, only half of the sail was hung on the main mast, and only a few pieces of rags were dragging from the front and rear masts.Because this is a ship with a large soft sail, and the main mast is a square sail, the hull is relatively slender, although the specific shape of the ship cannot be seen clearly, it can be judged that this is not a Chinese sailing ship.At that time, Chinese sailboats were all hard sails made of strips and bamboo. In case of emergency, the cables could be untied and dropped by their own gravity to be stowed away; however, the large soft sails made of Western cloth were not enough, and a lot of manpower was required in case of strong winds. The sails are furled and lashed to the transom, and only the mast can be cut in case of emergency.

This is the situation of the ship at present: only half of the fore-mast is bare, the main-mast square sail is made of miscellaneous pieces of cloth, dazzlingly colorful, and only the top jib of the mizzen-mast remains.The hull also appears to be damaged.

Just now everyone was only concerned about the matter of picking pearls, and there was a lot of commotion, no one looked up to see the distant sea.As a result, by the time the sailing ship was discovered, it was no more than a mile away from the beach here.The sound of the guns became louder and louder, but there was no point of impact on the beach and reefs. It seemed that the western ships were firing salutes.

A middle-aged yamen servant shouted: "Buddha wolf machine pirates!!" He turned around and ran at such a fast speed that he drove a group of Yazhou government yamen servants to run wildly.Afterwards, the eunuchs' companions also ran to the edge of the reef in disorder.Danmin's pearl fishing boats were all turning and rowing towards the shore at full speed.

Zeng Yue stepped forward and grabbed Yin Feng: "You have caused trouble, go away!!"

Yin Feng still turned his head to look at the sea, and said: "Wait a minute, maybe it's not a pirate, this seems to be the flag of the Spanish royal family..."

Zeng Yue kept on explaining, and pulled him back: "Come on, it's a good thing you're beating a yamen servant in this state, so there's room for flexibility. You don't care if he's a pirate, he won't be a good person anyway. .”

Yin Feng stopped: "Why?"

Zeng Yue looked at him puzzled, why didn't this person know that he had caused a catastrophe?There is still time to care about these chores.He said impatiently: "There haven't been these Buddha wolf machine ships in Hong Kong for many years. It won't be a good thing for these people to come here suddenly."

"Pirates! Japanese pirates!" There was a commotion on the reef.The eunuch Wang An stood up in panic, hurriedly boarded the sedan chair surrounded by everyone, and rushed towards Yazhou City.

Zeng Qi came over and said to Zeng Yue: "I have sent someone to Yazhou to join the general for emergency. The navy in Baisha Village is useless. Hurry up and go back to the city. I have to accompany Wang An." He looked at him coldly. Glancing at Yin Feng, he shook his head meaningfully, turned around and left.

"Boom!" There was another loud bang, and then there was no sound of artillery.Looking back, the western sailing boat was almost approaching the beach along the wind direction.

At the last moment when Yin Feng was dragged away from the beach by Zeng Yue, he saw that the boat had sailed and anchored.A small boat was being lowered, and more than a dozen armed sailors with muskets were boarding the small boat.

The Dan people's boats had already sailed far away, or left them on the beach. After a while, the beach where nearly a thousand people had gathered just now was empty.

It's just a ship, with less than a hundred crew members at most, even if they are pirates, they shouldn't be so weak, right?I heard that there are more than a thousand naval officers and soldiers in Baisha village in Sanya port alone.

Yin Feng was a little puzzled, but thinking about the period of the Great Japanese Pirates in Jiajing, more than a hundred Japanese pirates were able to roam the seas of the Ming Dynasty for thousands of miles, and they could burn thousands of miles and kill no one invincible on land. It seems normal to have such an effect.