"What's the news?" Lu Jie's heart moved, and he asked urgently.

The housekeeper Liu Cai said to Lu Jie respectfully: "Back to my lord, Duan Xiushan just reported: Yesterday, a clerk surnamed Ji came from Juzhou, saying that he came to Yangzhou to buy grain. The official said that according to our family's obstruction, he went to visit Zhou Yushi and asked him to inform the yamen of the river, Caoyun, and Yansi, so that they could transport the grain away smoothly. ”

"Did Zhou Yushi agree?" Lu Jie was very happy when he heard the news. With this, he has a lot to write.

"Promised."

"How did he hear such private news?" Lu Jie asked again.

"It was Xiangmei who told him." Liu Cai replied.

Lu Jie twisted his beard and nodded silently, and then asked, "How many grain ships are there in Juzhou?" When do you start heading north? ”

"I heard that there are about 20 ships, and the official surnamed Ji just arrived in Yangzhou yesterday, and it is said that it will leave in at least half a month."

Lu Jie nodded imperceptibly, then sent the housekeeper away, and before leaving, he instructed the housekeeper not to come to the study to disturb them.

"Father, do you have an idea?" Lu Shaowen asked.

"You go and tell Jing Laosi that I will make a big deal with him in half a month, so that he can hold on for some more time." Lu Jie said to his son confidently.

"Isn't it five days later? Why did my father change his mind again? Lu Shaowen asked curiously.

Lu Jie glanced at his son, complained in his heart that his son was too unenlightened, and then explained: "Didn't the grain ship in Juzhou set off from Yangzhou to the north half a month later? They must go to Luoma Lake in Suqian, and then mix our two boats in to help him carry grain, and each boat will be mixed with thousands of catties of salt, wouldn't it be easy? ”

Lu Shaowen suddenly realized when he heard this, and said again and again: "I understand, I understand." This is called secretly crossing Chen Cang, this plan is very wonderful! It's still my father's cleverness! ”

In fact, how did they know that this was exactly Zhou Fu's plan to lure the snake out of the hole, and this time he deliberately asked Duan Xiushan to leak the news to the Lu family. As for saying that Xiangmei Tan heard it, it was pure nonsense. Since Duan Xiushan knew that Xiangmei was also undercover, he pushed all the false news on Xiangmei, and if the matter was revealed, he would say that it was Xiangmei who heard the news, and he was only responsible for passing on the news.

Over the years, the Lu family has often smuggled salt to several towns in the north by boat through the canal waterway, and smuggling salt with grain ships as a cover is a breeze for them.

However, Lu Jie's father and son thought about things too simply, this time Lord Zhou just wanted to lure them out and seize the handle of the Lu family, so as to take them down in one fell swoop.

In the Lianghuai Salt Courtyard, Zhou Fulai called Lin Hongcun and Xu Detian, the head of the guard, to the secret room together, and Zhou Fulai said to everyone: "The Lu family has been unusually quiet in the past month, I guess they are guarding against me and not letting me catch his handle." But it's not a way to go on like this, we have to think of a way to let the Lu family show their feet so that they can be captured in one fell swoop. ”

"Yesterday, Ji Sihu from Juzhou came to visit and said that they would buy grain from Yangzhou and transport it back to the north, and the official thought of a plan to lure the snake out of the hole. You are all the most trusted people in this office, so I invite you to discuss it today. ”

After Zhou Fulai explained his strategy in detail to everyone, Xu Detian and Ma Wu naturally had no opinions, he just had to listen to Zhou Fulai's arrangement and ensure the safety of Lord Zhou. After thinking for a while, Lin Hongcun thought for a while and said, "My lord, this plan to lure the snake out of the hole is very clever, but how can we ensure that they will not carry stolen goods to Ji Sihu in Juzhou?" ”

Zhou Fulai smiled and said to Lin Hongcun: "This is also the focus of my discussion with you today. ”

Xu Detian thought for a while and said: "Lord Zhou, in fact, this matter is also simple, as the saying goes, catch a thief and catch a stolen car. As long as we keep an eye on them, I don't believe they will follow our fleet all the way to Juzhou. As long as we show their feet on the way, we can catch them. ”

"Oh? What does this mean? Zhou Fulai asked.

"My lord, as long as we follow them closely, as long as we prove that these boatmen are from the Lu family, we can also punish them." Xu Detian said.

"In this way, it is up to you to collect evidence." Lin Hongcun thought for a while and said.

"Yes, it's a bit difficult to say, but it's the safest thing to do. Lord Zhou, please inform Ji Sihu and ask them to pay close attention to the people of the Lu family. Our guards also secretly investigated the Lu family's fleet, and as long as they found out that the shipwright was from the Lu family, their Lu family would be inseparable. Xu Detian said.

At this time, Ma Wu said: "Lord Zhou, leave this matter to me." I'm the best at tracking and staring, so I don't believe that the Lu family can't show his feet. ”

Zhou Fulai thought about it for a long time before he said, "Okay, Ma Baihu, this matter will be left to you." You use five days to help me find out how many grain ships the Lu family has, who the shipwrights of each ship are, and what crew members there are, and we will catch them all when the time comes! ”

Zhou Fulai continued: "After finding out the shipwrights of the Lu family, you should get in touch with Ji Sihu as soon as possible, and ask them to include the civilian ships we designated when recruiting civilian grain ships." ”

"Don't worry, I'll do it." Ma Wu replied confidently.

At this time, Lin Hongcun said to Zhou Fu again: "My lord, our manpower is still not enough, and now the officials of the Salt Courtyard are not credible, and we are not enough for a dozen people." ”

Xu Detian had already thought of this problem, so he said to Lord Zhou: "This matter is easy to do, I will immediately send someone back and ask Gongzi He and my father to send someone over." ”

Zhou Fulai thought about it for a long time before saying: "This is very good, you immediately send someone back to Juzhou, and let Xu Qianhu send a hundred people to Huai'an within ten days to standby." ”

"Don't worry, this matter is not difficult to do, Huai'an is not far from Juzhou, and the three-day rapid march will definitely be able to arrive." Xu Detian replied quickly.

At this time, Ma Wu said to Zhou Fu: "My lord, Duan Xiushan's kid is very inauthentic, and we must prevent him from secretly informing, our guards are busy these days, I suggest that he be put under house arrest first, so as not to let him cause trouble." ”

Zhou Fulai nodded and said, "You're right, his task is complete, and he should be asked to stop for a while." ”

Just when the few of them were discussing in the secret room, no one expected that Xiangmei was standing outside the door and overheard the whole content of what they were saying, and Xiangmei knew that Duan Shan, who was originally connected with him, had been under their control. Only then did she know that the task given to her by Master Lu turned out to be so dangerous, and she fell into a deep contradiction for this......

Three days later, Lu Jie called You Qi and Ruan Daxiong, two boatmen, to the house, and these two people had been following Lu Jie for more than ten years. At first, he sold grain, and later carried illicit salt in the ship, and the canal route from Nanjing to Beijing became very familiar.

"You Qi, Da Xiong, you two have been with me for more than ten years, and they are my most trusted boatmen." Lu Jie sat on the main seat and said kindly to the two of them: "Recently, Master Ben is planning to transport a batch of salt to Suqian, I don't feel at ease about handing over this matter to others, and after thinking about it, I finally decided to hand it over to the two of you." ”

"Hey! I thought it was a big deal. We've been running on the canal for more than ten years, and we've been transporting salt for five or six years. Rest assured! You Qi patted his chest and said confidently.

"No, things are a bit twisty this time." Lu Jie waved his hand and said.

You Qi and Ruan Daxiong were slightly stunned, and the two of them asked at the same time, "How do things twist and turn?" ”

Lu Jie looked around and saw that the servants had left, so he lowered his voice and said: "That's the case, now Ji Jiude from Juzhou is looking for a civilian boat to help him transport grain back to Juzhou, you go to sign up to help him transport grain, and then put 5,000 catties of salt in the mezzanine of the ship, and follow their fleet to the north, after arriving in Suqian, you find an opportunity to let the fleet stop on Llama Lake for one night, and then take advantage of the dark night to meet with Jing Laosi and unload the salt secretly." ”

After listening to Lu Jie's words, the two thought for a moment and then said, "Only the two of us are mixed in their fleet, and there are no people from us around to answer them?" ”

"There will definitely be, if there is anything, I will send a ship to contact you, the contact method is still the old way." Lu Jie replied.

You Qi then asked: "In case of an interrogation by someone from the Salt Courtyard, how should I deal with it?" ”

Lu Jie shook his head confidently and replied: "Ji Jiude from Juzhou has specially gone to the Salt Courtyard to say hello, and the Salt Courtyard will not check the grain ships in Juzhou, so you can rest assured." After thinking about it, he said: "In case you really run into someone from the Salt Courtyard to investigate, it's still the old way." ”

"Understood!" The two of them understood and replied in unison.

Two days later, Ma Wu sent the list of Lu Jiachuan bosses and his appearance to Zhou Fulai.

"So fast, it's only been three days. You're asking in such detail? Zhou Fulai asked in surprise.

"It's not easy, go to the canal dock for two days as a coolie, and you can get any news." Ma Wu said proudly.

Zhou Fulai opened the piece of paper handed by Ma Wu and glanced at it, and when he saw the crooked words on the paper, he couldn't help laughing: "This is what you wrote?" ”

Ma Wu said embarrassedly: "I can't read, this is written by Zhou Zhi who was with me." ”

At the same time, Ma Wu secretly decided in his heart that he must follow Zhou Zhi to learn to read and write, and he can no longer be blind.

Zhou Fulai called Lin Hongcun, a long-term follower, and asked him to copy the list, and then asked Ma Wu to send the list to Ji Jiude immediately.

The next day, You Qi and Ruan Daxiong successfully applied for the post of envoy to Juzhou to transport grain.

Lu Jie was so happy to get the news that he stroked the sparse beard on his chin with his hand, and laughed to himself.

At the same time, when Zhou Fulai heard the news, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

Only Xiangmei, who was standing next to her, fell into extreme contradiction and fear in her heart......

Still looking for "Ming Little People" for free?

Baidu direct search: "easy" is very simple!

( = )