The next day after Lin and his men left Jiangning, they encountered a typhoon on the Yangtze River.

  Since the beginning of summer, the water level in the Yangtze River has been rising continuously, flooding both banks and connecting them into one piece. Coming from Jiangning, the river surface is exceptionally vast, with dense rain clouds covering everything in a white and gray mist, making it impossible to see the shadow of the opposite bank. The violent storm stirred up huge waves as high as 8 or 9 feet, and the Yangtze River in the afternoon seemed like a boundless ocean.

  "Dongyang", "Ji Yun 1" and "Ji Yun 2" three large ships were also forced to find a small river in a place called Weitang between Huyang County and Jiyang County to avoid the storm.

  Three thousand-stone ships all lowered their sails and stopped at the mouth of the river, where the wind and waves in the harbor were still not small, with waves constantly hitting the deck. Lin Xie, wearing a short-sleeved shirt, was soaked from head to toe by the heavy rain, personally led his men to reinforce the bed crossbows, scorpion crossbows, and assault boats on the deck, to prevent them from being blown into the water by the wind and waves.

  Three ships with nine masts stretching towards the sky, making a whistling sound as the wind blows past.

  The rain was slightly smaller, the wind had not weakened, and they could not set sail. Lin Ge let everyone else retreat to the cabin, he and Ao Canghai stood under the awning looking outside, drinking a bowl of ginger sugar hot soup.

  Dagunye Ge Cunxin and Wu Qi were watching from two other ships, preventing the ship from encountering any unexpected situations in the wind and waves. Lin Xuan also brought out Chen Enze and Hu Qiaozhong, two young men who were also on the other two ships.

  "This damned wave, it's already this big in the Yangtze River, who knows what it's like on the other side of Changshan Island?" Zhou Pu, a man as strong as iron, was afraid of the wind and waves, weakly sitting at the cabin door, without even having the strength to stand firmly on the deck.

  The boat was rocking too violently, and it was impossible to decoct medicine. The ship's doctor gave Zhou Pu some medicinal herbs that calmed the mind and stopped vomiting for him to chew on, which made him feel slightly better.

  Although there were no weather satellites in the world at that time, fishermen on the coast had a rich understanding and coping experience of summer typhoons, and they could almost detect the arrival of typhoons one or two days in advance from abnormal weather changes.

  Before the typhoon season, Lin Tie reminded Qin Chengzu and others on Changshan Island to pay attention to wind disaster prevention, and ships should also try to avoid long voyages as much as possible. According to his observation of the vegetation on Changshan Island, Changshan Island, located in the northern waters outside the Yangtze River estuary, is not in the main wind zone. Although contact was temporarily cut off due to the typhoon season, there is no need to worry too much about Changshan Island. The supplies sent before the typhoon season can also enable Changshan Island to hold on until autumn.

  Correspondingly, with the advent of typhoon season, the activities of the Eastern Sea Bandits will also be greatly restricted, and it is more likely that they will use the offshore islands they have already occupied to invade inland areas.

  Lin looked towards the shore, a large area of reeds was blown down, and two big trees were blown down lying in the water, exposing the tangled roots. On the shore, there were several farmhouses, all of which had their roofs blown off by the strong wind. Two thatched cottages also had their walls blown down. In the rain, no human figure could be seen, and it was unknown where they had gone to take shelter.

  Another downpour, Lin Ge was about to return to the boat with Ao Canghai to avoid the rain, when a cargo ship floated from the river outside the alley mouth.

  The mast of the merchant ship was broken, and the remaining half-mast was less than two meters high. It should have been broken by strong winds. The sails were also blown away, and it's unknown where they went. The awning was torn off by the strong wind, dragging in the water, exposing the cargo inside the cabin. Scattered rice and a large number of bagged goods could be seen. With the awning torn off, it was inevitable that the heavy rain would soak everything.

  The boat was severely tilted, and it seemed that water had entered. Five or six half-naked men were rowing with all their might to get close to the shore.

  These Yangtze River cargo boats usually carry around 200 tons, with both sails and oars. However, the wind is blowing northward strongly, so the cargo boat relies on five or six people rowing, not only unable to get close to the shore but also being blown by the wind drifting towards the middle of the river.

  This stretch of river is tens of miles wide, and the winds and waves in the middle are even greater. I'm afraid that if we don't reach the north shore, the boat will either take on water and capsize or be blown over by the strong wind.

  The people on the boat saw a big ship taking shelter from the storm in the alley mouth and waved their hands towards us, shouting for help.

  The wind and rain were too loud, Lin Ge couldn't hear what they were shouting. Some ships encountered danger, lending a helping hand was the most basic moral obligation. He quickly discussed a rescue plan with Gao Cunxin, who was standing on the deck of "Ji Yun Yi", through loud shouts and gestures.

  Da Yu Ge Cun Xin had a speedboat fixed on the front deck of "Ji Yun One" lowered into the water, Lin Zou made three ships' ropes all connected, and pulled out three strands of nearly two hundred meters long rope tied to the speedboat, so that people could drive the speedboat over and tie the rope to the cargo ship, while this side used manpower to pull the cargo ship against the wind.

  The cargo ship was pulled to the shallow beach, and the owner of the cargo ship, a middle-aged man, changed into a long shirt that had been drenched in the rain and came aboard the Dongyang number to express his gratitude. The wet long shirt clung to his body, holding a package, moving extremely inconveniently, and the whole person was exhausted. He climbed up the rope ladder onto the deck and slipped and fell, scattering the package, several gold and silver ingots rolling around on the deck.

  Watching the middle-aged man pick up the gold and silver ingots, pack them well and hand them over, Lin Xuan asked with a frown: "What does this mean? Helping each other in times of danger on the road is a matter of course, besides, we just lent a helping hand."

  The soldiers had all been hiding in the cabins to avoid the rain, and did not emerge until they were needed to pull the cargo ships over, at which point the middle-aged man realized that these three large ships were actually warships.

  In such a storm, Lin Tie wouldn't have been able to keep the flag flying on the main mast. The middle-aged man didn't know where these three warships came from, but he was grateful for their timely rescue. He didn't dare to delay and immediately brought over all the gold and silver coins they had on board to express his gratitude, not even taking a moment to catch his breath.

  One of the two people who fell into the water was his own nephew. The middle-aged man looked at Lin Xie, wanting to ask for help in searching and rescuing, but felt that it was too difficult. With such a big storm and rapid currents, the large ship couldn't even raise its sails on the river, and the small boat couldn't withstand the waves, making it impossible to go out and search for them. Whether they could survive depended on their own luck.

  The middle-aged man endured the pain and fear of offending the superior, respectfully holding the gift to his forehead and said: "We sailed against the current to Dan Yang, encountered this typhoon, didn't wait for a place to take shelter from the wind, the mast was blown off by the strong wind, almost capsizing the boat with people on board... This small token of gratitude is really too thin, dare ask sir's name, when we return, we will prepare a thicker gift and send it to sir..."

  "The loss of cargo ships is not small..." Lin said.

  Having a good reputation in the local area is more valuable than one or two hundred taels of silver, Lin Xie was about to resolutely refuse when Wu Qi stuck his head out and called him: "Sir..."

  Looking at the crow standing on the rope ladder without going up to the deck, Lin Xie knew he had something to say privately. He asked someone to make tea and invited the middle-aged man to go into the cabin first. He walked to the side of the boat and asked Wu Qi: "What's the matter with Crow?" The scout saw Hu Qiao Zhong and Chen En Ze, two young men standing on a small boat below.

  "Haha, this world is indeed unpredictable. You probably can't guess that the person who went in was Chongzhou Hu Zhicheng..." Wu Qi said with a smile, leaning against the ship's railing.

  "What? Such a coincidence! He is Qiao Guan's father!" Lin Xuan also felt that things were indeed coincidental, and asked Hu Qiaozhong on the small boat, "You won't recognize the wrong person?"

  "It's really not wrong, it's indeed Qiao Guan's father, my third uncle..." Hu Qiao said emotionally. He had been holding back from meeting him all along, but now that they coincidentally met again, how could a young man like him suppress his excitement?

  "The sailors on the boat said that they were blown off the mast three miles ahead and two people were washed overboard. I'm afraid it's too late to save them." Chen Enze said beside him.

  "Maybe there's still a glimmer of hope, we need to rescue immediately," Lin said decisively. "Dadai has experience, take 'Ji Yun One' with the wind and raise half sail towards the middle of the river for rescue, 'Ji Yun Two' send people ashore to pull the rope along the riverbank downstream for rescue, six assault boats are all launched, connected to the big ship with ropes, within one hour, everyone pay attention to safety..."

  In such a big wind and rain, the situation is urgent. If it were someone else, Lin Xie would only lend a helping hand, but wouldn't take risks to search for people in the river. After all, none of the sailors on the three ships had experience navigating in such rough waters. But since they were his own people, the situation was different. Lin Xie immediately dispatched two thousand-stone ships and six assault skiffs from the mouth of the alley to search for survivors.

  ************

  Hu Zhicheng thought Lin Xie was still easy to talk to, and he thought that begging him to send a boat to search for the people who had fallen into the water might work. He stood up quickly as he saw Lin Xie push open the cabin door and come in.

  Lin Xian said: "I heard that there are two people who fell into the water on your boat, I have sent a ship to search and rescue, but with such big waves, the chances are really slim..."

  Hu Zhicheng was stunned, he never thought that Lin Xian would send a boat to rescue the fallen person in such a big storm after lending a hand earlier. He immediately knelt down on the ground and wanted to kowtow to Lin Xian.

  Lin You was also startled, the family information of Chongzhou's meat ticket youth, he had it all. Hu Zhicheng was also a scholar who didn't pass the imperial examination and followed his brother to inherit the family's sugar workshop business. It is normal for common people to kowtow to officials, but scholars consider kowtowing as a heavy courtesy or great courtesy.

  Hu Zhicheng was about to kneel down and knock his head, Lin Xie hurried over to hold him up, saying: "Why go so far? I'm just doing what I should do. Mr. Hu really doesn't need to be so polite, how can I bear it?"

  "Does the adult recognize me?" Hu Zhicheng was slightly stunned, and then thought it was the sailor on the boat talking to Lin's hand again, and said, "No matter how slim the chance is, if the adult has this heart, it is a kindness that surpasses that of parents, I should kowtow to the adult for the two people who fell into the water."

  "Mr. Hu sat down and talked," said Lin Xie, "There are two people next to me who know Mr. Hu, I asked them to come out and meet Mr. Hu..."

  Hu Zhicheng saw that Lin was extraordinary, but he couldn't guess his identity and couldn't imagine who would know him. As the cabin door darkened, the wind and rain grew stronger, and the ship shook violently, making it impossible to light a lamp. Hu Zhicheng couldn't see the face of the person entering, but then he heard a heartfelt cry: "Third Uncle, it's me, Chen Enze, the young master of the Chen family..."

  Hu Zhicheng heard this familiar voice as if he had been struck by lightning, and for a moment he was stunned there.