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In the last battle with the Japanese Invaders, a total of 42 Japanese were killed and wounded, of which 31 were killed, 7 were seriously wounded, and 4 were slightly wounded. One soldier of the guard post was killed and seven wounded. Even Ma Wu was slashed by the Japanese Kou, but fortunately he was only slightly injured and was fine.

Among the injured pirates, they were surprised to find that one of them was still a Han Chinese. Through interrogation, it was learned that this person's name was Ji Mangzhong, a native of Songjiang Prefecture. Because of a murder, he fled to the sea and defected to the Japanese and knew the Japanese language. This facilitated the interrogation of the Wako, and Zhou Fulai decided to open a gap in him.

Zhou Fulai found that this person was very afraid of death through interrogation, and after promising to treat his injuries and exempt him from the death penalty, he promised to confess and cooperate with the interrogation of other widows.

After Zhou Fulai sent Lang Zhong to treat his injuries, he began to interrogate him. Zhou Fulai first asked, "Where is your lair?" ”

"On a small island half a day's east of Chongming County." Ji Mangchong replied happily, since he planned to confess, he didn't plan to hide it.

"How many of us are there?"

"Five or six hundred, and more than thirty ships."

"Who's at your behest this time?"

"I don't know. The little ones are just of low status and don't deserve to know these things. ”

"Who knows among these would-be robbers?"

"I guess Take, Fujitaji knew, but he was killed."

Asking this question is unsolvable, but even if there is no answer, Zhou Fulai can guess that the Lu family did it.

Zhou Fulai then asked, "What else do you know?" ”

Ji Mangchong is now anxious to make meritorious service and be exempted from capital crimes. After thinking for a while, he said, "When we came here, we stayed on Gaotousha Island in Chongming County for one night, and I found that there were four or five large sea ships there, and several more were under construction in the dock. There are still two or three thousand soldiers on the island."

When Zhou Fulai heard this, he felt a little strange in his heart, how could these Japanese robbers go to an island where officers and soldiers were stationed to spend the night? Forty or fifty people is not a small target, and if you spend the night on an island, you are not afraid of being discovered by these soldiers? Since this is the case, it is difficult to say whether these soldiers are officers and soldiers or not.

But Chongming County is not within the scope of his authority, nor is it something he should worry about. But as a courtier of the Ming Dynasty, when he encountered this situation, he naturally had to find a way to explore it and then report it.

"Do you know what these soldiers are all about?"

"The little ones don't know."

"What are they wearing?"

"It's just ordinary officer and soldier clothes. The little one can't read, but just looks like an officer and soldier. ”

After Zhou Fulai's interrogation was completed, he began to analyze Ji Mangzhong's confession. Since they were able to stay on this island for one night, it was probably because of the convenience provided by the employers of these pirates, otherwise they would not have had the courage to stay on an island with two or three thousand soldiers. If the employer behind it is the Lu family, then the soldiers on this island have a great relationship with the Lu family. If that's what he suspected, then the problem is complicated.

In order to find out this problem, he immediately called Xu Detian and instructed him to send people to Gaotousha Island in Chongming County to investigate, and then instructed him to send people to follow the Lu family's people, and instructed them not to arrest them easily if they found evidence of the Lu family's smuggling of salt. The Lu family is very cunning, and if you are not careful, you will fall into their trap, so you must come back first to report and not act without permission.

One day, Miao Fu, the porter's doorman, found Xiangmei and asked, "How is the master's condition, Dongtai Zhixian came to visit the old man." ”

Xiangmei replied, "The master is still in a coma and can't see the guest, so let's go back directly." ”

These were all instructed by Zhou Fulai in advance, and now the entire salt courtyard does not know the true situation of Zhou Fulai except for Zhou Fulai's trustworthy people. Even Menzi's report was to ask Xiangmei Zhou first and then report, and Xiangmei became a pivotal role.

Knowing that Miao Fu looked around at no one, he whispered to Xiangmei, "Master Lu asked me to pass the word to me, and Lord Zhou can tell me if he has a situation." After that, he threatened, "You can do it." The deed of sale is still stored with Master Lu! ”

When Xiangmei heard this, her face turned white as soon as she brushed it, she didn't expect Lu Jie's ghost to linger, and finally found her. At this point, she could only whisper, "Got it." ”

After Miao Fu left, she knew she couldn't wait any longer. She had to explain everything to Lord Zhou, and now she didn't know how many people in this compound were undercover agents of the Lu family. If he continued to hide it like this, Zhou Daren felt that when the time was ripe to appear publicly, his life would be difficult to protect. It was Xiangmei who decided to confess everything to Lord Zhou and ask for Lord Zhou's forgiveness, only in this way could there be a glimmer of life.

After making such a decision, Xiangmei immediately made a decision and immediately returned to Zhou Fulai's study. After closing the door, he knelt down in front of Zhou Fulai, and cried in a low voice, "Master, the slave and maid have something important to hide from the master, please punish the master!" ”

Zhou Fulai was surprised when he saw what Xiangmei did, and hurriedly asked, "Xiangmei, what is hiding from me?" Get up and speak first. ”

Xiangmei still knelt on the ground and said, "No, the slave can't get up." I could only kneel and talk. I am a spy of the Lu family. ”

"Lu Jie also planted it next to me?" Zhou Fulai was even more surprised, but then he figured it out. How can there be such a coincidence in the world, this is another game set up by Lu Jie.

"Then why confess to me now? Who do you contact beforehand and how do you deliver the message? Zhou Fulai asked.

"It's the lord and his guards who are so kind to me that I can't bear to hide it anymore. I don't want to do this kind of thing for the Lu family anymore. Xiangmei cried.

Zhou Fulai heard her say this, and his mood relaxed, now that Xiangmei repented, he was more active now. It was he who said to Xiangmei gently, "Xiangmei, get up first." Don't rush, take your time to make things clear. ”

Xiangmei saw that Master Zhou's tone was gentle, and her nervous mood relaxed a little. When she stood up, she confessed everything to the front and back.

After listening to her narration, Zhou Fulai said, "Actually, it didn't cause me much trouble, everything he said, Duan Xiushan didn't report it to Lu Jie, so there is no need to blame yourself so much." ”

Xiangmei heard what Master Zhou said, and her mood was a little more relaxed. Then she listened to Zhou Fu and said, "Said that Menzi Miao Fu came to find it, don't spread this matter, just talk to him first, I don't know, master." What to do in the future or what to do. As long as you don't leave this compound, the lord can guarantee safety. As for the matter of leaving the country, even if there is no deed of sale, depending on the ability of the lord and me, this is still a trivial matter, and there is no need to worry about it. ”

Xiangmei saw that Lord Zhou not only had no intention of punishing her, but also promised to give her a naturalization, and her heart was relieved. hurriedly said: "Xiangmei will listen to the master in the future." ”

Zhou Fulai nodded with satisfaction, he felt that everything was developing in the direction he expected, and Xiangmei's was an accident anyway, but it made things go more smoothly.

After more than ten days, Xu Detian found Zhou Fulai and reported a shocking news.

"Lord Zhou, the people I sent out came back, and the news they brought back all pointed to the Lu family." Xu Detian said.

Zhou Fulai said eagerly: "Tell me about it in detail." ”

"First of all, the people sent to Chongming County came back to report that Gaotousha Island in Chongming County is a very small alluvial island, and there are no people living on the island, according to the locals, this island was bought by the Lu family in Yangzhou to be used as a dock for ship repair, so outsiders are not allowed to go to the island at all. The people we sent were able to observe from the opposite side of the island, and by observation they found that there was a large dock on the island, and that there was also a wharf, on which were parked four large ships, estimated to be as few as a thousand materials. There are four more ships under construction in the dockyard, and it seems that these four large ships will be completed soon after they are mostly completed. And on the island, there is a team of people, about 2,000 people, and the clothes on their bodies have a Lu character written on them, which is obviously the private soldiers of the Lu family. ”

When Zhou Fulai heard this, he realized the seriousness of the matter, the Lu family was too bold, he actually raised private soldiers on the island and built a sea ship, the Lu family is really rich. If he is allowed to develop like this, sooner or later he will collude with the Japanese and become a big problem in Jiangnan. Thinking of this, he asked, "What else have you discovered?" ”

Xu Detian continued, "The other way sent to follow Lu Shaowen found out that Lu Shaowen secretly sent his family to Qidong, and then went to Gaotousha Island in Chongming County. ”

Qidong City is very close to Gaotousha Island in Chongming County, and it can be reached quickly by boat. Zhou Fulai judged that the Lu family was preparing to escape at any time, and it seemed that the action must be accelerated. He then asked, "Did the people sent to Gaotousha Island find that there were Japanese pirates on Gaotousha Island?" ”

"I didn't find that." Xu Detian replied, thought for a while, and added, "But if the Japanese are changed into Han clothes, it will be difficult to distinguish." ”

Zhou Fulai asked again: "How long do you estimate that the ship in the dock will be built?" ”

Xu Detian shook his head and said embarrassedly, "We are all northerners, and we don't know much about ships, so it's hard to judge how long it will take to build them." ”

Zhou Fulai thought about it and felt that it made sense, so he ordered, "Send someone to continue to follow and monitor, as long as there is any movement on Gaotousha Island, come back and report it immediately." ”

"Yes, sir!" Xu Detian replied dryly.

Next, Zhou Fulai said to Xu Detian, "Xu Qianhu, we still need to send someone back to Juzhou to transfer another four hundred and fifty soldiers, and then we will have a big operation." ”

"Understood! I'll send someone back to Juzhou immediately. Xu Detian replied. Then he asked, "But how can we solve these people on Gaotousha Island?" We couldn't get to the island without a boat. ”

"This matter still needs to be discussed in the long run, I will go to the court of the Ming Dynasty and ask the court to send a sailor to exterminate it." Zhou Fulai replied, and then explained, "Chongming County is under the jurisdiction of the Suzhou Prefecture, and it is not within the scope of the official's duties, so I can only report to the imperial court." ”

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