But it was said that Li Xianzhi rested for a while, and was awakened by a sound of footsteps, and when he pushed the door in, it was Zhao Wenhui. Li Xianzhi hurriedly asked about the results of the trip. Zhao Dianshi replied: "The official document has been sent to Zhapu, and Mr. Zhou has packed the boat and waited for the lord." ”

Li Xianzhi said: "This is very good. Zhao Dianshi and rest slowly, please choose some elite soldiers and go with you tonight. ”

Zhao Wenhui said: "Where do you say something, how dare you bother with the things that are within the officials' duties." Then he took his leave. Li Xianzhi called Han Chuan and Jin Shun to prepare horses and bows.

By the evening, Zhao Wenhui selected 30 strong archers to wait outside the county office. Li Xianzhi still came out in an official uniform and got on the horse. Zhao Wenhui led the archers to follow.

It is about twenty or thirty miles from Pinghu to Zhapu, and it is already night. Li Xianzhi ordered someone to knock on the door, and dozens of torches were immediately lit inside, illuminating the night sky red. In a moment, the city gate opened, and a military official dressed in armor rode out, followed by more than a dozen personal soldiers. The military officer immediately clenched his fists and said loudly: "But Li Zhixian has arrived?" ”

Li Xianzhi also returned the salute with a fist and passed his name. Zhou always introduced him into the city. went to the official hall and recounted the salute.

This week, the general title is the commander of the four products, but the Ming Dynasty has always emphasized literature and light on martial arts, although it is not in charge, Zhou is still very respectful to Li Xianzhi. After running in person, he handed over tea and snacks, Li Xianzhi was in a hurry to go to sea, and he didn't even touch the teacup.

Zhou always looked at it in his eyes and said with a smile: "My lord doesn't know, the night is not deep at this time, and the thieves must not have fallen asleep, if they go to sea rashly, they will definitely be alarmed, it is better to wait for them to fall asleep in the second half of the night, so as to go to sea to find it." ”

Li Xianzhi saw that what Zhou said was reasonable, so he had to listen. Mr. Zhou said: "There has always been such a thing, and orders are always passed down from above, and we will lead the troops to suppress the thieves." It is rare for Lord Li to risk himself to go to sea to find thieves, and he is really a model among officials. If one parent can be like Master Li, why don't the people love it? ”

Li Xianzhi said modestly: "Lord Zhou's words are serious, there is such a big thing under his jurisdiction, it is already a crime not to be noticed, if you are slack, how to explain to Shangfeng and the court?" ”

Zhou Jiang said: "The pirates are left in the fingers of the lower officials to the interior to harm, and the crimes of the lower officials are not even heavier." Li Xianzhi said: "Because of this, you and I can settle this matter as soon as possible." ”

The two of them spoke, sitting, and did not lift anchor and go out to sea until the time of handing over children. When they arrived at the beach, Zhou only gathered twenty or thirty people. Li Xianzhi asked, "Why did Lord Zhou only bring this kind of people?" ”

General Zhou replied: "To mobilize the brigade of soldiers and horses, you must have the codex of the governor's yamen, and the subordinate can move it himself, but it is only these twenty or thirty personal soldiers." Lord Li, please rest assured, these pro-soldiers were personally selected by the lower officials, and if something happens, they will be very useful. ”

Li Xianzhi thought: "This time I went to sea just to find the traces of pirates, not a battle, and I didn't need too many people. So he beckoned to get on board. Li Xianzhi changed into civilian clothes early, brought bows and swords, and divided the archers from the county into two groups, and Zhao Dianshi each led one and took a boat.

Zhou also divided his subordinates into two groups. Zhou gave the order, the sailors plucked the oars, and the four ships started together. A sentry led the way, and a torch was lit on the boat to prevent it from getting scattered. Zhou put the total ship in the second, and Li Xianzhi and Zhao Wenhui in the last. When the warships walked out three or four miles away, they saw a black and black island and reef in front of them, like mountains. Things on the sea have always looked close in front of you, but they are actually far away in the sky.

I walked another seven or eight miles before I got to the bottom of these "mountains". It's still dark, and only the outline can be seen.

The leading sentinel often led his troops to patrol the sea, so this reef was very familiar. He led the fleet through the harbor as he looked around. I don't know how long it has been, Li Xianzhi has already been dizzy. Suddenly, the sentry's lead boat stopped, leaned under a cliff, and pointed it up the hill with a torch.

At this time, Zhou rowed the general ship outward, and Li Xianzhi also ordered the sailor to look at the black shadow and follow, leaning on the side of Zhou Zong's boat, looking towards the top of the mountain.

After a long time, I saw a faint fire coming out of the place halfway up the mountain in the distance, and when I looked closely, it was gone, flickering and dimming, very unclear.

Li Xianzhi wanted to get closer to see, but Zhou Jiang didn't allow it, and said: "The water here is shallow, the reef is dense, if you get closer, you will inevitably run into the reef." The light in the distance flickered and dimmed, it must have been a cave, presumably pirates who lit a campfire in the mouth of the cave. Now that he has found the hiding place of the thief, he will go back to the peak of Mingming, and he has transferred a large number of soldiers to suppress him, and he is not afraid to get away with him. ”

Li Xianzhi looked at the place where the firelight came from, and he didn't see it for a long time, and he was always untrue in his heart. It's just that Zhou has been packing tickets again and again, and he can't say anything. And so, just as he had come, the sentry's boat was still the head of the boat, and it slipped back. By the time we got back to shore, it was already dark.

Zhou Jiangzong left Li Xianzhi in Zhapu, washed his face and rinsed his mouth, ate refreshments, and then wrote an official document to report, saying that the Pinghu officials and soldiers worked tirelessly and went to sea overnight, and the pirates had been found, the number is unknown, and the soldiers were sent to suppress Yunyun. After writing, Zhou asked Li Xianzhi to bet on the words first, and then signed it himself, and sent a fast horse to the governor's yamen.

Moreover, Pinghu is not far from the capital Hangzhou, there are fast horses by land and fast boats by water, and it takes less than half a day to arrive. The official document was sent to the Futai Yamen, and the doorman then transferred it to the governor's case.

At this time, Li Xianzhi's previous official document had only arrived, and the governor was worried, not knowing what to do. At this moment, I saw a report from the Pinghu County Army, thinking that there was another place that had been robbed, so I couldn't help but be shocked, and hurriedly opened it to see. After reading a few lines, I saw that it was the same thing, and I was a little relieved, and when I finished reading, I saw that the thief's trace had been found, and the stone in my heart immediately fell to the ground. But as soon as he thought that he had found the traces of the thief, he would use soldiers. Although the handsome seal of Liangzhejiang is in his hand, he doesn't understand how to fight with soldiers, thinking about it, the heart he just put down is raised high again, and he sighs there.

At this time, an old master who was a heartfelt friend came in to pay tribute, and when he saw Dong Weng's sad face, he couldn't help sighing, so he asked the reason. Lord Futai explained this incident in detail.

The old master said: "Why should Lord Lao Junmen worry about such a thing? On the boundary of the two Zhejiang, there are three divisions of capital, cloth and press, and there are various divisions of patrol, road guarding, general soldiers, and generals. The lord only took a note, asked the thief for his strategy, selected a capable person, and entrusted him with all the matters. In the future, if the matter is over, if it wins, it will be the master who has a good plan, and the court will recount the merits, and the first honor will be promoted. If there is an unfavorable, all the fault can be put on the head of the member, the court will condemn the crime, and the adult can also be exempted from involvement. ”

When the governor heard this, he thought so, and the gloom on his face suddenly dissipated, and said, "In this way, I also bothered Mr. to write and draw up this handwriting for me." ”

The old master agreed, and he studied ink in front of the Futai master's bookcase, and wrote a handwritten book with a pen. After a moment, the governor personally looked at it and said "good" again and again. Then he ordered the scribe to copy it and send it to the mansions of the civil and military officials stationed in Hangzhou.

Early the next morning, they gathered together in the official hall of the Fuyuan. Not to mention the three divisions, the grain road, the salt road, the deputy envoy of the military garrison, and the general soldiers, deputy generals, staff generals, and guerrillas from all walks of life also came. A room full of crowds.

The governor came out, and all the officials paid homage as one, and the officials of the three divisions of the capital, cloth, and press were higher than the governor, but they only bowed. The rest of the officials were in front of the text and Wu in the back, and the black pressure knelt on the ground, and a few of them were squeezed to kneel outside the door. The governor descended down the stairs to return the salute, and then ascended to the throne to discuss with the people.

The governor said: "Since the beginning of the Jiajing year, the invasion of the Japanese has become a huge disaster, but fortunately, Qi Shaobao has eliminated it. However, in recent years, there has been a resurgence of the situation, and there are often disturbances caused by the landing of remnants. A few days ago, a group of thieves entered the territory of Pinghu, killing and injuring people, abducting women and children, and the cruelty of their methods was outrageous. This court believes that the people cannot but be saved, and the thieves must be suppressed. Therefore, please come and discuss the strategy of using troops. All the public can express their opinions. After speaking, he looked at the crowd and waited for a response.

All the officials in the hall lowered their heads, looked at their insteps, and said nothing. The political envoy Du knew the governor's intentions, so he said: "Just read the Pinghu military report, but it is just a thief entering the country." Although the pirate lair has been found, but I don't know the number of people, hearing the wind and raising a large army to conscript, it will inevitably cost a huge amount of money, I am afraid that the two Zhejiang financial endowments will be difficult to support. Moreover, if the boulder hits the egg, although it is victorious but fruitless, if it is spread again, it will definitely provoke people to talk about it, saying that the officialdom of the two Zhejiang provinces is full of timid and afraid people. According to the opinion of the lower officials, it is better to order Pinghu County to find out the enemy's situation, and then consider the long-term situation and use troops as appropriate. ”

The civil and military officials were worried about not having a quiet life, and when they saw that the political envoy said this, none of them disagreed, and they echoed it one after another.

The governor wanted to catch an unlucky ghost, but he was disturbed by the words of the political envoy, and he was very bored. Fortunately, the political envoy just wants to delay his life, and it will not hurt him, and what people say is reasonable, and it is not good not to listen. So he ordered all coastal forts to be on strict guard. A meeting was dispersed in a hurry, and all the members hung their official affairs high, and they scattered into the soft hometown of Hangzhou in summer to embrace the red and green.

The governor made the old master write another document ordering the investigation of the enemy's situation, and added a few words of reprimand in it, so as to seize the reason first.

After the writing was written, he did not go to Pinghu, but went straight to Jiaxing Mansion. Hao Taishou saw it, left it as it was, and transferred it to Li Xianzhi's hands.

Li Xianzhi received the official document, and it was inevitable that he was not convinced, but he was helpless, thinking about it, and felt that this matter must finally fall on the three fortresses of Zhapu, Dushan and Liangzhuang. So he ordered someone to take the post and asked the general manager of the three places to go to the county government to discuss.

These three people do not belong to Li Xian's control, but the flood land is in one place, and if such a thing happens, no one can get rid of it. Therefore, I received the post, and I didn't delay for a moment, and gathered at the county office. After some false courtesy, Li Xianzhi took out the official document of the governor's yamen and passed it to him. The three generals only Zhou Zong Shang had read, and the rest of Liangzhuang's Zhao Zong and Dushan's Xu Zong were born with mud legs, and they rose up from the big head soldiers, and they didn't know a basket of words, so they pretended to shake their heads and read it again, but they didn't understand a word.

Li Xianzhi waited for the official document to be finished, and said: "The three of us already know the meaning of the military gate not sending troops for the time being, and I don't know how many days it will take." The safety of this county also has the help of the three adults, and the officials are hereby thanked. As he spoke, he stood up and bowed.

The three generals have always been accustomed to being angry with civil officials, and they have never seen two people from the list so polite to themselves, and they were a little flattered for a while. Hurriedly got up and returned the salute. Then take a seat. Zhou said: "Protecting the territory and the people is a matter of my own responsibility, and Lord He Lao is like this." It's just that now the military equipment is sluggish, and it is difficult to do anything! ”

Li Xianzhi asked, "But why?" ”

Zhou said: "At first, each of the three fortresses had 500 Japanese soldiers, and later Qi Dashuai exterminated the Japanese soldiers, and the sea disaster gradually lightened. The imperial court spent money on the military, so it issued an edict to cut off 200 each, and now the saint is the country, and no one cares about the coastal defense in eastern Zhejiang, and the soldiers are old and sick, and there is no one to replace them. At present, there are only 100 people under his jurisdiction, and there are only 20 or 30 personal soldiers who can be used. ”

As soon as Fang finished speaking, Zhao and Xu hurriedly continued: "The post is not as good as the general of Zhou, there are only dozens of soldiers, and it is not enough to guard the door, what do you want to do with the thief?" ”

Although Li Xianzhi knew that Pepsi was corrupt at this time, he did not expect such a situation, and lost his mind for a while. After a while, Fang said: "In this way, I have to follow the order of Futai Jun, find out the thief's situation as soon as possible, and go up, so that I can send troops to suppress it." ”

Zhou Jiang originally had a bit of the intention of suppressing thieves, but now when he saw the governor's codex, his heart was also cold, and he said: "Recently, the wind and waves are urgent, I am afraid that a storm is coming, and the fort is full of small boats, and I can't withstand the wind and waves, so I have to wait for a few days before the weather is good." ”

Li Xianzhi knew that he was just perfunctory, but he didn't have the right to order, so he couldn't force it, so he had to let it go.

After another moment, sitting bored, the three generals all got up and took their leave. Li Xianzhi didn't stay with each other and got up to see off the guests.