Everyone visited Shopkeeper Lin together, and then followed him through a moon gate to the backyard.

There were five young people with big shoulders and round waists standing in the courtyard, some were practicing martial arts under the cherry blossom trees, some were stepping immediately, and some were boxing.

When they saw Shopkeeper Lin and others coming, they immediately stopped practicing, got dressed, saluted everyone respectfully, and shouted in unison: "Meet Shopkeeper Lin and your compatriots!" ”

Shopkeeper Lin smiled slightly and said, "Warriors, all the people you are waiting for have arrived now. ”

At this time, everyone suddenly found that Guo Yi, who was in tears, ran forward, grabbed one of the young people, and asked in a whimpering voice: "Chong'er, Chong'er, is it really you?" I—I'm not dreaming, am I? ”

The young man looked at Guo Yi carefully, was so shocked that he couldn't say a word, held her hands tightly, and sighed: "Yi'er, it's you!" It's really you! Thank you to the sky, thank you to Cheng Guogong and Lord Lu! ”

"Wang Chong, do you know each other?" Shopkeeper Lin asked in surprise.

"We were trained in a battalion since we were young, and then we were each assigned to do errands, and I thought I would never see Yi'er again in my life." Wang Chong said, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Chong'er, why are you here?" Guo Yi may have been so excited that he almost fainted trembling.

Xu Linger hurriedly stopped her in her arms, and Guo Yi at this time lost his former domineering spirit and revealed a tender feeling like water.

Then, Shopkeeper Lin introduced Wang Chong and others to Xu Yihou and Zhu Junwang.

The two old men hurriedly came over to salute and said in unison: "Meet Wang Qianhu!" ”

"Uncle Xu, don't come unharmed! This time, we were sent by the old prince of Chengguo to come to Japan to suppress the bandits, and we also asked the divine doctor Xu to help. Wang Chong returned the salute to the two old men, and pointed to the four young men behind him, and introduced: "These four are all captains of the Flying Fish Battalion, this is called Hong Lei, nicknamed Boom Thunder, this is called Gaihu, nicknamed Gaidi Tiger, this surname is Cao Mingfei, nicknamed Caoshangfei, and this Jurchen brother is called Britten, nickname does not look back, my nickname is Outlaw Banner." ”

The four young men stepped forward to meet the two old men together, and everyone was polite to each other again.

At this time, Wang Chong, who was standing under the cherry tree, took out a letter and said loudly: "The warriors of the Flying Fish Camp are Qing, Xu Ling'er listens to the order!" ”

Hearing the nickname calling him, Guo Yi asked in surprise: "Chong'er, before that, didn't you know my nickname in the Flying Fish Camp?" ”

Wang Chong shook his head, showing a face full of helplessness, and replied, "The Flying Fish Camp has its own rules, how can you ask casually?" ”

Guo Yi and Ling'er looked at each other, and replied in unison: "Listen to the order!" ”

Then, Wang Chong began to read out: "Zhu Xizhong, the commander of the Chengguo Gong, the governor of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies, the commander of the Shenji Battalion, and the Jinyi Guard, ordered the warriors of the Flying Fish Battalion, Yizhangqing and Xu Ling'er, to assist in suppressing the pirates in Japan, completely eradicating the traitors Chen Dong, Ye Ma, Deng Bichuan, Shen Nanshan and other pirate forces entrenched in Japan, and rescuing the coastal people who were plundered and returned to China. ”

"Yes!" Guo Yi agreed, and immediately showed a face full of disappointment, glanced at everyone quite embarrassed, and found that the helpless Xu Linger lowered his head, but Xu Yihou and Zhu Junwang were very calm.

Shopkeeper Lin knew that this unexpected move must have delayed the return of the Xu family's father and daughter, and he was very unhappy in his heart, and promised to send them back to China as soon as possible after the beginning of spring.

Before the New Year, Xu Linger and Guo Yi accompanied Wang Chong and others to go out on a tour to appreciate the customs and customs of this place, and before they knew it, it was Chinese New Year's Eve.

In the sound of firecrackers, the spring breeze sends warmth into Tusu, and thousands of households always change the new peach for the old one.

Pine branches are planted all over the door of every house, hung with mascots such as citrus aurantium, oranges, orange stems, dried fish, lobsters, etc., the housekeeper's son Lin Wenjing and Zhu Hui played together, they lit two long firecrackers outside the door, the cannon roared, the smoke of gunpowder was filled, attracting a large group of people to come to see the excitement, and then, the shopkeeper Lin threw a handful of copper coins outside, and the onlookers squatted on the ground to pick up.

On the night of Chinese New Year's Eve, when everyone had dinner together, Shopkeeper Lin raised his glass and said, "Old Immortal congratulates you on the New Year!" Come, come, come, first a toast to everyone. ”

After drinking the wine in the cup together, they began to chat while eating, after three rounds of wine and five flavors of food, they only listened to the shopkeeper Lin speak: "Japan is entrenched in many pirates, and although there is a person who is not on the wanted list, we must get rid of him first, this person is called Lin Yiguan." ”

Of course, Xu Yihou knew who Lin Yiguan was, and asked in surprise: "Old shopkeeper, do you really want to kill your relatives in righteousness?" ”

"Lao Xu, I admire you very much, those people who were plundered by pirates back then were basically good citizens of my Ming Dynasty, but how many people couldn't resist the temptation, and later became pirates, those who can do the way of a gentleman like you are really one in a million, and I will give you a drink." After that, Shopkeeper Lin stood up and clinked glasses with Xu Yihou.

Zhu Junwang was quite embarrassed, picked up the wine glass and said: "The old shopkeeper, Zhu is not talented, after being plundered to Japan, in order to survive, and for the sake of the child Zhu Hui, he has beaten pirates, gone to sea, farmed, but has not done anything bad conscience, Xu Langzhong can testify, and also ask the shopkeeper Lin to the court, pardon the sins of the villain, I salute the shopkeeper Lin for a glass." ”

The two clinked glasses and drank them all, Zhu Junwang's eyes moistened, and he said in a trembling voice: "My greatest wish in this life is to see my son return to his hometown safely, and add soil and incense to my Zhu family's ancestral grave, I am not sorry to die." ”

"Lao Zhu, don't talk about this. Lin also did ridiculous things when he was young, and those who can sit here are all gentlemen. Today's Chinese New Year's Eve, let's all say goodbye to the old and welcome the new, haha......" Shopkeeper Lin smiled and raised his wine glass again, and said: "Wang Qianhu, when Lin Yiguan is caught, I will break him into ten thousand pieces, come, come, come, all warriors, I will toast you again!" ”

Wang Chong and the others hurriedly got up and drank it all with the shopkeeper Lin.

Everyone inquired about Lin Yiguan's origin, and the shopkeeper Lin then said: "Lin has also gone astray, in the early years, the sea ban order was in vain, I secretly went to sea from my hometown to the South Seas to do trade, and Lin Yiguan has been by my side since I was a child." In the second year of Jiajing, the battle for tribute in Ningbo, the Ming Dynasty and Japan broke off the tribute, and the Japanese began to harass our Ming coast, and after the commotion, we moved from Nanyang to the Ryukyu ......"

After resting for a while, Shopkeeper Lin continued: "Seeing the Japanese invaders slaughtering my Ming officials and people, Lin was powerless. It wasn't until the 34th year of Jiajing that Hu Ruzhen, the governor of Zhejiang, sent Jiang Zhou and Chen Ke to the sea to appease Wang Zhi, who claimed to be the 'King of Satsuma Hui', and with the help of a father-in-law of the Ryukyu Kingdom, I took the opportunity to get in touch with Lord Jiang and Lord Chen, and was approved by the old prince of Chengguo, and secretly became a Jinyi guard, and used a series of tricks to divide the pirate leader, so that Wang Zhi led the people to surrender. ”

After hearing this, everyone couldn't help but sigh for a while, only to hear the shopkeeper Lin then scolded: "These thieves are really dizzy, they want to get rich when they are poor, they want to be officials when they get rich, they want to be kings when they become officials, they want to dominate the world, Wang Zhi calls himself the king of Satsuma Hui and the king of the pure sea, and even wants to get the canonization of the saints, it is really shameless and innocent!" ”

After listening to the indignation of the indignant shopkeeper Lin, Xu Ling'er still felt that it was not enjoyable, and hurriedly asked: "I have experienced the process of Wang Zhi's recruitment, at that time, Xu Hai was still burning and looting along the coast of the mainland, and it was not easy to recruit him to him, may I ask the old shopkeeper, why did he surrender in the end?"

"Yes, in the thirty-fifth year of Jiajing (1556 AD), Xu Hai led Chen Dong, Ye Ma and other pirate leaders to continue to resist stubbornly, colluding with the Japanese to invade the coast, Lord Hu found a student of the Hanlin Academy, Luo Longwen, and sent him to contact me, because he and Xu Hai are fellow villagers in She County, after he approached Xu Hai, he followed the prior arrangement of Lord Hu, and used a strategy to separate Xu Hai, Chen Dong and Ye Ma."

"I see. It's just that I didn't expect that Luo Wenlong was actually a student of Hanlin Academy. Xu Ling'er asked curiously: "So, what kind of strategy did you use?" ”

Shopkeeper Lin replied: "It's a long story, Lord Hu sent Luo Wenlong to send a letter of surrender to Xu Hai, and Xu Hai's reply was appropriate, which surprised Lord Hu and sighed: 'I didn't expect that there would be such a talented person among the Haikou. ’”

"Na Luo Wenlong replied with a smile: 'There is an Ai Ji by Xu Hai's side, named Wang Cuiqiao, who was once a famous prostitute in Jinling, and she wrote this letter.'" ”

"It turned out that this Wang Cuiqiao was originally the daughter of an official eunuch, because her father was guilty, she sold herself to save her father, and she was exiled to Qinglou, Xu Hai admired it, and the two saw each other at first sight, this Wang Cuiqiao followed Xu Hai, and later became his military Chinese book, which was very favored by Xu Hai."

"Master Hu thinks: If you want to appease Xu Hai, you must first surrender Wang Cuiqiao, so he gave Luo Wenlong a lot of exquisite jewelry and jade, hairpin earrings, carmine powder and other things, so Luo Wenlong didn't have to do anything, so he hooked up with Wang Cuiqiao and said to her in private: 'If General Xu surrenders in the morning, he will be able to become a great official in the evening, and the court can also reward you with a lady who has an order, and you will return to your hometown in the future, is it better to be a coward at sea?' ”

In August of the thirty-fifth year (Jiajing year), Xu Hai led all the pirates into Pinghu City to ask Lord Hu to surrender, and the people in the city heard that the pirates had entered the city, and they were all frightened and panicked, and Lord Hu was calm, touched the top of his head and said: 'You have been harming the southeast for a long time, and now that you have returned to obedience, the court will temporarily pardon you, and don't do bad things anymore.' ”

"With thousands of pirates stationed outside Pinghu City, it is a great hidden danger to the people. So, while stabilizing Xu Hai, Lord Hu secretly stepped up the deployment of troops and surrounded them, and after a fierce battle, Xu Hai found out that he had been fooled and shouted loudly, "Cui Qiao misunderstood me!" He then threw himself into the water, and Mrs. Wang Cuiqiao was captured, and the rest of Chen Dong and Ye Ma fled back to the sea, where they are now entrenched in the Hirado Domain. ”

"I heard that Wang Cuiqiao was caught, Luo Wenlong came to pray to Lord Hu to marry her as a concubine, but was rejected by Lord Hu, of course, there are many legends about Wang Cuiqiao, this is just one of the sayings. Therefore, Luo Wenlong held a grudge, and he couldn't resist the temptation of gold and silver treasures, so he became a member of the 'Yan Party', and was instigated by the traitor Yan Shifan to travel between the Ming Dynasty and Japan, colluding with pirates, casting nets everywhere, training private troops, and plotting against him. Of course, when he was desperate, Yan Shifan was ready to flee to Japan at any time. ”

"It's a pity that this talented woman wrote before she died: Jianqi is the sole lord of the sea, and worships the halberd gate for the concubine, and the soul of the ten miles is not ignorant, and the king is accompanied by the smoke and the moon at dusk."

"May I ask the old shopkeeper, what is the relationship between Lin Yiguan and Luo Wenlong?" Guo Yi asked.

"At that time, I hadn't seen through Luo Wenlong's true face, the whole family followed him to Japan, my nephew couldn't withstand the temptation of Luo Wenlong, built his own castle in Akimeura, and accepted a lot of remnant pirates, after the old man learned the truth, he had to lead the whole family out of Akimeura, and went to Sakai Town to run this pharmacy, waiting for the order of the imperial court, since you are here, the first thing is to eradicate Lin Yiguan, those pirates will be scattered, there are many people with a clear conscience, and treat them well, I will fund a shipbuilding to send them back home."

Finding that everyone was looking forward to the following, Shopkeeper Lin sighed and continued: "I'm not very safe here, Lin Yiguan recently went to Sakai Town to do business, he didn't know that Biyan Song's father and son had collapsed, and his arrogance was still very arrogant, his minions and ears were everywhere, everyone should not go out if there was nothing to do, if necessary, I would send the two old men to a safe place first." ”

Everyone looked at each other and was silent for a moment, then Wang Chong asked, "What business does Lin Yiguan do?" ”

"Wang Qianhu, don't think that the Ming coast has been wiped out of the Japanese invaders, and don't think that with General Qi Jiguang, General Yu Dayou and others, the pirates will not dare to act rashly, my nephew has learned the lessons of Wang Zhi, Xu Hai and others, and when they really become the climate, they will definitely collude with the outlaws of Japan to plot the great rivers and mountains of my Ming Dynasty." Shopkeeper Lin replied.

Guo Yi was quite unimpressed: "Japan is not all outlaws, right? ”

"Of course. There are good people everywhere and bad people everywhere. Shopkeeper Lin didn't know Guo Yi's origin, and then asked, "Do you know?" Recently, there has been a madman in Owari Province in Japan, don't look at this person has not yet become a climate, but his ambition is very big, saying that he will abolish the emperor, remove the shogunate, conquer the Ming Dynasty, and descend to India, and have been entering Europa to achieve 'the world's military force'. Hehe, in my opinion, it's really a frog at the bottom of the well! ”

Hearing this, Guo Yi naturally knew who he was talking about, so the hatred of the country and the family suddenly came to his heart, and he secretly decided: This time he went to Japan, he would kill the enemy Oda Nobunaga with his own hands!

At this time, the bell came from outside, and the shopkeeper Lin picked up the wine glass, got up and said: "The thunderstorm rises from the dragon, the Wuling woodcutter is the fairy, and the ten years of Chushui maple under the forest, tonight I heard the Changle bell for the first time." This is Liu Yuxi was degraded, more than 10 years later to return to Chang'an, mixed feelings made, I left my hometown for decades, never dare to forget the ancestors, with the way of Confucius and Mencius, tonight I wait for the old and welcome the new, to cut off the Japanese bandits, let's go to the capital together, come, come, come, and drink this cup again! ”

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Off topic

The entanglement between Luo Wenlong, Xu Hai, Wang Cuiqiao, and the Ryukyu eunuchs will be covered in volumes 3, 4, and 5 of this book. The story of this book is in the same vein, is the story of Shopkeeper Lin about Luo Wenlong and Wang Cuiqiao accurate? Volume 5 unravels this mystery again.