Jiang Jin nodded. "Do you all know the way? If not, just follow the direction I indicated."
Meng Shui glanced at Chen Mi but said nothing.
Though he had never helmed a ship alone before, Meng Shui had traveled countless times along the sea routes of Yan Kingdom under the guidance of several masters, so he naturally knew the way to Xunfeng Island.
Chen Mi steadied his mind. "I know."
Jiang Jin looked pleased. "Good. From now on, you are the helmsman of Freedom One."
Then she turned to Meng Shui. "You’ll be the deputy helmsman. I’ll assign a few more deputies to you both shortly."
"Do your best. I treat any loyal subordinate well. Starting today, your wages are doubled."
Chen Mi and Meng Shui’s eyes lit up. "Understood!"
A few ‘Jinyang Army’ crew members, who had only trained for a few days, were immediately assigned as their deputies to assist them.
Though called assistance, it was really just on-the-job training in steering techniques.
Chen Mi understood this clearly, but he didn’t mind. Now that he was part of the Jinyang Army, whether it was teaching or steering, he simply had to follow orders.
Even for delivering commands, he had Meng Shui lead the Jinyang Army deputies to accompany him.
This was partly to let the deputies learn, and partly because he worried that the barely-trained Jinyang Army might miscommunicate some of the specialized signals, which could easily be confused.
Inside the rowing chamber, the oarsmen watched as the people delivering orders suddenly changed, feeling a bit puzzled.
“Wh-why the change?” one tall oarsman asked.
The roar of the sea filled their ears, and since they were all inside the rowing chamber, they had no idea what was happening in the helm.
But seeing the sturdy ‘Jinyang Army’ crew nearby, they knew the ship was carrying Ge Feng’s men.
No one really knew what Ge Feng’s people looked like, but they were all remarkably robust, with unusually ruddy complexions—completely different from their own lean frames.
A Jinyang Army deputy smiled. "Shift change. Let them rest for a bit."
The oarsmen didn’t dare argue and followed orders.
On the ship, they were the lowest rank. Before departure, Gan Ren had repeatedly instructed them to obey only his commands.
But now the situation was beyond their control, and Gan Ren hadn’t stopped their actions—it was just that the messenger had changed.
Watching Freedom One gradually pick up speed, Jiang Jin smiled. "Not bad. We'll have an extra meal at noon."
Everyone cheered.
Yun Chengxuan was even more excited and abandoned studying the compass to start fishing.
Jiang Jin had prepared fishing nets before coming—after all, since they were already out here, maybe they could catch some fish.
But she had underestimated Yun Chengxuan. After an entire morning of effort, he actually caught something.
A sea fish weighing about half a pound...
To be honest, it was too small even for soup.
The lunch was prepared quickly. It had to be said that the iron stove and honeycomb charcoal were incredibly convenient to carry and use. They didn’t need to rely on anything on the ship to cook.
When the oarsmen saw the two large buckets of food, they were stunned. "Is... is this for us?"
They couldn’t help swallowing hard. The aroma was irresistible, and they even smelled the scent of meat.
There was rice too, though it was coarse grain, with chunks of something unknown mixed in—but it was dry!
In these times when even soldiers often went hungry, these oarsmen mostly survived on coarse grain porridge.
If going out to sea meant they could at least eat until they were half full, it would be worth it; otherwise, they wouldn’t have the energy to work. Usually, just managing to get a third of a full meal was considered good enough.
Zhu Xiaoliu nodded. “This is dried sweet potato rice, with white radish and cabbage, plus a few slices of dried meat. It’s really delicious. Bring your own bowls and chopsticks, and we’ll eat in two shifts.”
With the support of his father, Zhu Liu, Zhu Xiaoliu had joined the army and this time was chosen to be a ‘crew member.’
The oarsmen exchanged glances. Although they didn’t know what dried sweet potatoes or radishes were, the aroma alone was mouthwatering.
Immediately, a group of men grabbed bowls and went to collect the food, and the portions were generous — enough to fill their stomachs.
It wasn’t that Jiang Jin was particularly generous; it was expected that these men would become her people in the future, and she always treated her own well.
While this group of oarsmen ate, to avoid slowing the ship, a team of Jingyang army sailors quickly took over their positions at the oars.
The hearty meal Jiang Jin provided had clearly won the oarsmen’s hearts.
They completely ignored what Gan Ren had said earlier — that this trip was just a casual outing and they’d return soon.
After finishing their meal in two shifts, they politely let the Jingyang sailors rest while they took over the work.
Their morale was noticeably higher than in the morning, and the ship’s speed increased significantly.
The oarsmen even wanted to go farther and work longer. If they returned to the dock by nightfall, maybe they could enjoy another meal prepared by Ge Feng.
Now they finally understood why everyone under Ge Feng’s command was so strong and healthy. If they ate like this every meal, they’d be strong too.
Jiang Jin was inspecting the ship, preparing to choose a cabin for the night’s rest, when she suddenly heard Yun Chengxuan’s exclamation: “Aunt, come quickly, there’s a ship!”
Startled, Jiang Jin hurried up to the observation room and saw Yun Chengxuan and Xie Nanxiao both peering through telescopes in a certain direction.
Following their gaze, the distance was too great to make out details, only vague shadows could be seen.
Hearing the voices, Xie Nanxiao turned to look at her, eyes sparkling with excitement. “My lord, it’s a military ship — it should be Qu Zhao’s fleet!”
Jiang Jin’s eyes lit up. She hadn’t expected her luck to be this good — before even reaching their destination, business had come knocking.
She raised her own telescope and indeed saw three military ships sailing on the sea, the lead one a massive five-deck warship!
“Change course, seize their ship, and prepare for battle!”
“Yes, ma’am!” The Jingyang troops responded with enthusiasm.
Xie Nanxiao quickly moved to the helm to direct Chen Mi to change course, steering swiftly toward Qu Zhao’s fleet.
His blood was boiling with excitement. It had been so long since they’d ‘plundered’ a ship; his hands felt rusty.
What would be on board? He could hardly wait!
But unlike his anticipation, the Qu Zhao commander aboard the giant warship was violently seasick.
He hadn’t expected to get seasick — ever since setting out to sea, he’d been dizzy and nauseous, vomiting so much he wished he could just die.
This time, Qu Zhao had only deployed three military ships: the five-deck giant warship, a large ship, and a smaller one.
It wasn’t that they didn’t want to strengthen their fleet, but the Yan Kingdom’s navy had taken away a large number of their ships.
The remaining vessels were few, and some were badly damaged, needing repairs before they could be used.
They were unfamiliar with maritime transport, having always relied on land routes. As a result, the ships they came into possession of were hardly maintained.
It wasn’t until Jiang Jin took control of Shanguan County that Qu Zhao remembered the importance of sea transport. Fortunately, they had been farsighted enough to keep a good number of Han sailors and shipwrights.
No sooner had they repaired three ships than they were eager to test them out. There was no time to waste—winter was fast approaching, and once it arrived, transportation would become much more difficult.
Suddenly, a soldier in Qu Zhao’s camp shouted, “Ship ahead!”
The general, barely conscious, lifted his head weakly. “Ship? Wha…ugh…ugh…”
The deputy commander said nothing.
Seeing that the general couldn’t form a complete sentence, he sighed. “General, I’ll go check it out. You just take your time… no need to rush.”
