Chapter 541 Sea Falcon

The weather in late February has warmed up. In the hall behind the government office, three people are discussing the imperial examination.

After considering for a while, Chen Mo said: "Mr. Geng, you have been the county magistrate of Wutai County in Gaozhou. You are more familiar with the north. You will be responsible for the chief question setter of the northern examination papers. As for the other candidates, you can choose them yourself."

"Yes." Geng Songfu bowed.

"Mr. Chen, this time the big exam, there must be more princes from the south who apply for the exam, and they are more talented. We can give more admission quotas to Huai and Lin states. The questions of the southern examination papers will be handed over to Mr. Chen and Mr. Zuo who has not come yet." Chen Mo said.

Chen Xiu nodded solemnly, feeling that he had a heavy responsibility on his shoulders. This is the first imperial examination since the suspension of the imperial examination in the sixth year of Xuanhe. As the chief official of the imperial examinations in Qing, Yu, Lin and Huai, he has attracted the attention of scholars all over the world.

If this imperial examination is done well, he will be respected by thousands of students, and there will be a strong mention of him in the history books in the future.

If it is not done well, it will also damage his reputation.

It can be said that this imperial examination is also a win-win situation for Chen Xiu.

Chen Mo stood up, bowed to the two of them, and said: "This imperial examination can only succeed, not fail. Thank you for your help.

As he said, Chen Mo changed the subject and said: "I specially asked Wei Linchun to find a house in the west of the city. In the next few months, until the end of the provincial examination, you two have to stay in this house and cannot go out. Of course, I will send someone to deliver your daily needs. If you need anything, just tell the guards outside. "

Chen Xiu and Geng Songfu also stood up quickly, bowed lower than Chen Mo, and said in unison: "I will definitely live up to the trust of the Duke of Anguo. "

As for what Chen Mo said about staying in a house until the provincial examination was over, both of them understood.

This is to prevent the test questions from being leaked in advance.

When the court held the imperial examination before, it was even stricter than this.

After discussing the imperial examination, Chen Xiu withdrew.

Geng Songfu did not leave, and talked to Chen Mo about Fengzhou.

"According to the spies in front, the King of Huai led the remaining thousands of personal soldiers and withdrew from Fengzhou. I guess that it is possible that he went to Chongwang." Geng Songfu said.

Chen Mo nodded: "The King of Huai failed twice in his surprise attack on Huaizhou. Even his number one general Chu Ce died in the battle, and his army was almost annihilated. Now he will definitely not be able to defend Fengzhou. Those who bow before him have only two choices, surrender and leave Fengzhou. The King of Huai hates me and will definitely not surrender. "

"After all, they are all royal relatives. The King of Huai surrendered to the King of Chong. Without the tacit consent of the King of Anping, the King of Huai could not go to Chongzhou. "Geng Songfu said.

After all, if the King of Huai wants to go to the King of Chong, he can only pass through Yanzhou, the fief of the King of Anping.

"Don't worry about the King of Anping for the time being. He is a "good guy" who doesn't support anyone and doesn't offend anyone. Now the only threats to me are the King of Chong and Lu Sheng in Huainan." In front of Geng Songfu, Chen Mo did not hide his ambitions.

Having followed Chen Mo for so long, Geng Songfu knew it very well and said, "When does the Duke of Anguo plan to take over Fengzhou?"

After the Chen army in Huaizhou defeated the Huai army, they did not take advantage of the situation to enter Fengzhou because Chen Mo was still in the north at that time, and the Jinxia army in Yuzhou did not retreat, so it was not appropriate to advance.

When Chen Mo came back, it was after the New Year, and the weather was cold, so they put it on hold for the time being.

"Soon. "Chen Mo's plan was to wait until Han Anniang gave birth to the child, then he would go to Huaizhou to manage the stationing in Fengzhou.

...

Chuanhai, Chaoping County, the port of the Nangong family - Chaoping Port.

The Nangong family made their fortune by going to sea. The wealth accumulated in the past hundred years is not even comparable to that of the Xiao family in Jiangnan. Otherwise, it would be impossible for one family to support the navy of the Tianshi Army at that time. It was just that the historical background was not deep enough.

Before the Nangong family, Chaoping Port was just a piece of muddy land covered with weeds. .

Later, under the construction of the Nangong family, this place became a good harbor for mooring. In addition to being sheltered from the wind and convenient for entry and exit, the deep water and wide harbor are also advantages. The harbor is about ten miles wide from east to west and about twenty miles long from north to south.

The waters are vast and misty, surrounded by rows of buildings.

Before today, the waters were full of masts and sails, but now it is empty, and the shore is full of people from the Nangong family and workers preparing to unload.

Because today is the day when the Nangong family's fleet returns.

Every time the fleet returns, All returned with full loads, and the value of the goods on the fleet was no less than one million taels.

It can be said that the people of Chaoping County all rely on working for the Nangong family to make a living.

Especially after Chen Mo recovered the north, the Nangong family became the absolute overlord of Chuanhai in one fell swoop, and no one dared to provoke them. In addition to the Nangong family's own strength, there was also a son-in-law of the Duke of Anguo.

With a loud cry from above.

Everyone looked up and saw a big white bird hovering in the sky.

This bird is called the sea falcon, and it is regarded as a guardian god by the people of Chuanhai.

There is a legend among the people of Chuanhai that anyone who gets lost at sea will be shown the direction of the sea falcon to guide the lost person home.

This legend is not wrong. The sea falcon is a spiritual creature of heaven and earth. After its wings are spread, its body is about ten feet long, and it has great endurance and can fly thousands of miles without eating, drinking or resting.

The Nangong family once caught one and domesticated it into a poultry. After that, it has been following the Nangong family's fleet to go to sea, and is also called the Sea Master by the servants of the Nangong family.

"Master, it's Master Hai." The housekeeper of the Nangong family said to Nangong Jin.

Just then, there was a commotion at the port, and a member of the Nangong family exclaimed: "The fleet is back."

I saw a bunch of black spots on the sea level not far away. As the black spots got closer to the port, I found that these black spots were actually a vast fleet of huge ships. These huge ships were lined up in a row, sailing on the vast sea, riding the wind and waves, giving people a strong visual impact.

But as the fleet got closer, Nangong Jin frowned slightly and found something wrong.

Because he saw that several huge ships had traces of repairs, and some ships even had no sails.

And if he remembered correctly.

When they went out to sea, there were far more than these ships. Compared with when they went out to sea, the ships in front of them were at least 30% less.

"Hiss, why is the boat broken?"

"Did they encounter pirates on the way?"

"We are escorted by 8,000 navy soldiers this time. How can pirates be so bold?"

"."

Soon, more and more people noticed something was wrong with the fleet.

As the fleet arrived at the port, everyone also found that many people on the fleet were injured.