Mother Chen looked up when she heard this, and sure enough, it was Ling Kun. She suddenly remembered that Ling Kun said that he wanted to redeem (shēn) for them when he left that day, and she thought that he was talking big for the sake of face, but now seeing that he was brightly dressed and hugged back and forth, it was obvious that (shēn) was extraordinary, did he really redeem (shēn) for them?

Chen Siping asked someone to gather the slaves of the Chen family and the Wang family together, and Ling Kun jumped on a high platform and said loudly: "Listen, folks, I am Ling Kun, the former commander of the imperial court (diàn) and Lingwei Gong, who came to Jiaozhou to clear the Dongying pirates on the order of the emperor. ”

The house slaves below didn't understand what kind of official the former commander was, but when they heard that this young man turned out to be a grandfather, they all knelt on the ground.

Ling Kun continued, "Now this official has found out that Wang Jingzhi and Chen Bingtian's family of Zhizhou are embarrassed (jiān), colluding with Dongying pirates to harm the imperial court and the people of Jiaozhou, and have been arrested and imprisoned by this official. ”

"Wow." The house slaves below blew up the pot, they never dreamed that it would be so easy to regain their freedom, and they would also give so much silver to settle in.

Chen's mother knelt on the ground and cried like rain, kowtowing desperately. She had waited too long for this day.

Chen Xunzong was pleasantly surprised: "Mother, we are free, Brother Ling didn't lie to us." ”

Mother Chen choked up and said, "Well, we are free, we can go to find your father." ”

"Mm-hmm, I'll go see Brother Ling." Chen Xunzong jumped up, rushed to Ling Kun and shouted, "Brother Ling." ”

When the guards saw someone rushing over, they pulled out their waist knives and blocked the front.

Chen Xunzong was startled, hurriedly took a few steps back, and looked at Ling Kun nervously and embarrassedly.

Seeing this, Ling Kun hurriedly shouted to the guards, "Don't stop him, he is my little brother." ”

Chen Xunzong was overjoyed, glared at the guards and strode in. Grandpa's brother, you dare to stop it?

Ling Kun pulled Chen Xunzong and smiled: "I said that I would give you a ransom (shēn), I didn't lie to you, right?"

Chen Xunzong nodded and said, "No, no, you didn't lie to me, my mother was happy and said that she would take me to find my father." ”

"Oh yes, then I'll have to treat you to a meal and practice it for you."

Chen Xunzong nodded unceremoniously, since Ling Kun is a grandfather

, that won't care about a meal either.

Ling Kun patted him on the shoulder and said, "Okay, then you go to General Zheng first to go through the formalities, and I will invite you to a big meal later." ”

At noon, Ling Kun and Chen Xunzong's mother and son came to Jiaozhou Qiongyao Restaurant and ordered a table of good dishes to celebrate and practice for them.

After all, Chen Xunzong is young, and the ignorant are fearless, and he and Ling Kun are still talking and laughing as they were at the beginning. Chen's mother was a little restrained, she couldn't sit or stand, and she was sweating nervously.

Ling Kun comforted: "Auntie, they are all your own people, you don't have to be nervous, I heard Xunzong say that you plan to find Xunzong's father?" ”

A hint of blush finally flashed on Chen's mother's pale face, and then she said: "I named my son Xunzong, just to swear to find his father, but I have been sold (shēn) as a slave all these years and cannot be put into action. Today, thanks to the blessing of my grandfather, I have restored the freedom (shēn), and Xunzong has grown up, and our mother and daughter have to find him even if they work hard. ”

Ling Kun nodded and said, "Then do you know where he is?" ”

Mother Chen shook her head gloomily and said, "He is a Tusi son of the Tubo tribe, but I don't know where his tribe is. When he came to the beach to play and rescued me, I invited him to live in the house, and I felt (qíng) when I came and went. Afterward...... Later, he said that he would go back to tell his father to come to propose marriage, and marry me back in a beautiful manner, but before he came, I became pregnant with Xunzong and was kicked out of the house. In order to raise his son to adulthood, he had to sell (shēn) to Wang Jing's family. ”

"Tubo is located in the deep mountains of the plateau, and there are many tribes, but I am afraid that it is really difficult to find." Ling Kun sighed.

Chen Xunzong said firmly: "If you can't find it in one year, you can find it for two years, and if you can't find it in two years, you can find it for three years." ”

Ling Kun nodded and said: "Well said, as long as you make up your mind to find it, you will definitely be able to find it, but this is a long way to go through mountains and rivers, and the road expenses required must be a lot, so I will fund you with another 50 taels of gold." As he spoke, he took out a bag of gold leaves and handed it to Chen Xunzong.

"How can this be, we have 100 taels of silver is enough, we can't trouble you anymore." Mother Chen hurriedly shirked.

Ling Kun pressed the gold in Chen Xunzong's hand and instructed: "Take it, I will fall in love with Xunzong, just treat me as a brother, and in addition, if you can't find your father, come to the capital to find me, I will protect it."

Witness that you have a good life (rì). ”

Chen's mother burst into tears with excitement, and she was about to kneel down again to thank her, but was held up by Ling Kun.

At this moment, Ling Kun just wanted to help the poor mother and son, and he didn't want to get anything in return. He would not have thought that one day in the future, the mother and son of the Chen family would do him a great favor.

After having dinner with Chen Xunzong's mother and son, Ling Kun hurried back to the city and called Zheng Siping to the room to discuss the elimination of pirates.

Zheng Siping clenched his fists and said: "(diàn) handsome, during this time, although the last general has not made any achievements, he has basically figured out the situation of the Dongying pirates, just waiting for (diàn) Shuai to get an idea." ”

"Oh, that's not bad, let's talk about it."

"Dongying is an island country, they call themselves the country of (rì) out, also called (rì) Ben, and it is said that there are more than 6,000 islands of all sizes in the country."

"Since the Tang Dynasty, Dongying has always respected our Central Plains as the Celestial Empire, and they have regarded themselves as vassal states. They would pay tribute to the Central Plains court every year, and would regularly send envoys and scholars to the Central Plains for exchange and study. ”

Ling Kun nodded and said, "I know this, when I was in Kaifeng, there was a messenger who visited me. It's just that since it is a vassal country, how can it condone pirates to plunder the Celestial Empire? ”

"Alas, (diàn) handsome don't know." Zheng Siping sighed and said, "There are more than 6,000 islands in Dongying, and it is impossible for the imperial court to control them all. Therefore, as long as there are some forces, they can claim the king and hegemony by occupying an island at will. ”

Ling Kun lowered his head and pondered for a moment and said, "Then that means that although there are many pirates in Dongying, they are all doing their own thing, and they are just scattered. ”

Zheng Siping shook his head and said: "Originally, at first, they went their own way, and even killed and plundered each other, but later there were 36 powerful pirate organizations formed a pirate alliance, and the leader of the alliance was elected every three years to preside over the coordination of pirate (rì) affairs. ”

Ling Kun frowned when he heard this, if it was a plate of loose sand, he could unite (rì) the imperial court to break it, but now that the pirates are hugged, he has no soldiers and no generals, what should he do?

"(diàn) handsome, is there anything you can do?" Zheng Siping asked.

Ling Kun frowned and shook his head, "It's at a loss, you go down first, let me think about it." ”