When the boat reached the south of the Yangtze River, Shen Mo had to stop, because Hu Zongxian, who had returned from Wujin to mourn, sent someone to stop him.

An hour later, he appeared on Hu Zongxian's official ship, of course, not because of such a coincidence, but because Governor Hu had been waiting for him for a long time.

The two looked at each other and smiled bitterly, and they both saw helplessness and exhaustion on each other's faces, only to see Hu Zongxian wearing a blue Gebu robe, leaning on the chair behind the big case, probably not trimming his face for several days, and his eye sockets were also sunken because of emaciation.

Hu Zongxian waved his hand and said to the captain of the guard: "No one is allowed to come in." After everyone withdrew, the two sat opposite each other at both ends of the case, Hu Zongxian closed his eyes slightly, lowered his head silently, and did not speak.

In the end, Hu Zongxian spoke, and he said in a hoarse voice: "Humble words, congratulations, you are finally liberated." Such a pessimistic opening statement made it almost impossible for Shen Mo to associate it with the resolute man who went to Xu Wei's house eight years ago.

Shen Mo shook his head and smiled bitterly: "I feel that I just got out of the wolf's den and entered the tiger's den...... To be honest, if I have a choice, I will still stay in Suzhou, and Beijing is already not peaceful. ”

"Yes, Wang Bengu is not pretending to be smart this time!" Hu Zongxian's voice was very low, but he said with resentment and pain: "It's a matter of the country's plan, if there is no one behind it, even if he borrows three guts, he won't dare to do it." ”

"Who's behind him?" asked in a deep voice.

"Who knows which elder is it, which prince is it, and which ones have pink eye." Hu Zongxian shook his head tiredly and said, "The water in this pool of the imperial court is too deep and muddy, and I can't see through it." ”

"It's not that the ministry can't see through it." Shen Mo said softly: "But I don't dare to see through, your position is too high, your power is too great, no matter who attacks, you have to endure it, once you resist, it will be domineering; And...... There are lessons from Zeng Butang's past, and those bigwigs don't dare to speak for you. "Zeng Mo and Xia Yan were indiscriminately executed for the unwarranted crime of 'border generals befriending close ministers', so that later officials were always vigilant and did not dare to cross the thunder pool by half a step.

"Yes, those who know me are clumsy." Hu Zongxian nodded blankly and said: "I only recently discovered that this official is getting bigger and bigger, but the more he is constrained, for example, the matter in front of him has reached the end of the road, and I have nothing to do." ”

Since Wang Zhi was arrested, Hu Zongxian's emotions have fallen to the lowest point, and he has never been so overwhelmed in his life. With his rich experience, he can say with great certainty that as long as Wang Zhi dies, countless widows who have lost their restraint will land on the coast, act arbitrarily, burn, kill and loot, and the situation of resisting the Japanese in the southeast will be set back by ten years, and his years of hard work will naturally be in vain.

When he had nothing to do, he thought of silence, because his previous experience had told Hu Zongxian that this young man had endless good ideas in his mind, and he had already solved many seemingly unsolvable problems for him.

But there are no absolutes in the world, this time is finally exceptional, after listening to Hu Zongxian's complaints, he fell silent and fell silent, without saying a word.

Hu Zongxian wanted to wait patiently at first, but waiting, waiting, waiting, and there was no silent voice, and finally he couldn't bear to say: "The current situation is critical, how should I deal with it?" ”

There was silence for a moment before he said slowly, "Now...... There is no hope for official peace talks, and there are two paths ahead of us. ”

"Which two paths?" Hu Zongxian asked eagerly.

"First, let it go." He said in a deep voice.

"This can't work, if I can fight, why do I need to recruit An Wang Zhi in one more move?" Hu Zongxian shook his head and said, "What about the second one? ”

After a pause, he looked at Hu Zongxian fixedly, and said word by word: "Put... Tiger... Return... Mountain ......"

"Let the tiger go back to the mountain?" Hu Zongxian almost didn't pull off his beard, and said with wide eyes: "You mean, put Wang Zhi back again?" ”

"Since there is no way to reach a settlement in the name of justice, then you can only do it privately." Shen Mo nodded and said: "The reason why Wang Zhi came to the mainland to negotiate is precisely because he has no intention of confronting the government...... Having such a maritime leader is only good and not bad for the stability of the southeast coast. ”

Hu Zongxian smiled bitterly and said, "How easy is it to talk about? Not to mention whether he will raise tigers and breed troubles, just saying that he is in Wang Bengu's hands now, I can't let him go. ”

"You can rob the prison." Shen Mo's face did not change, so bluffing that Hu Zongxian almost slipped off the chair, and his face changed: "You can't talk nonsense......

Shen Mo said disapprovingly: "Since Wang Bengu does not play cards according to the rules, we will also play a handful." ”

"Brother, in case someone finds out," Hu Zongxian smiled bitterly: "This is going to lose your head." ”

"It's okay," Shen Mo said softly: "As long as the lord of the ministry keeps putting pressure on Wang Bengu and asking for Wang Zhi to be judged, that guy will definitely not be able to bear it, and he will start to escort Wang Zhi to Beijing, get rid of this hot potato, and put the credit in his pocket." He said with a faint smile and said, "Then tell Mao Haifeng a little bit of the news, he can naturally rescue people halfway...... Let him go to the ground in Shandong and do it again, so that from beginning to end, we have not interfered, and we have nothing to do with us, and we can't leave any evidence, who can help us? ”

"Well...... this" Hu Zongxian finally moved, he was bold, and felt that if he didn't get caught, he couldn't do it, thought about it, and said, "Can you guarantee that Wang Zhi will definitely be rescued?" ”

"When the time comes, he will be escorted by soldiers, and the ministry will send troops to him from the Hangzhou guard." He smiled silently: "With those soldiers and uncles escorting, unless Mao Haifeng wants to kill Wang Zhi and stand on his own, he won't be able to save it." ”

"Okay, one last question." Hu Zongxian asked: "Is a Wang Zhi who has returned to the sea really more useful than a dead Wang Zhi?" ”

"Great." Shen Mo nodded undoubtedly: "Wang Zhi is still a businessman in essence, the reason why he frequently attacked the mainland in the past was to force the imperial court to open the sea ban, so that he could trade freely, but now that the sea ban has been opened, his motive for attacking the mainland no longer exists...... Now the southeast coast has become his ultimate market and purchase place, and he will only spare no effort to protect it, and will not destroy it anymore. The ministry might as well recall that since the opening of Suzhou and the return of Xuhai to Shun, has there been no invasion of Japanese pirates in Jiangsu and Zhejiang? He said with a faint smile and said: "The current rebellion is concentrated in the Fujian and Guangzhou areas, and it is those forces that are not controlled by Wang Zhi that are responsible for it...... On the one hand, we can free up our hands and do our best to eliminate these people, and on the other hand, we can vigorously develop our water army. When Minguang is pacified, a powerful naval army has also been established, and when the time comes, it will be war or peace, all in the thoughts of adults! ”

Hu Zongxian pondered for a long time, and said with a glint in his eyes: "Okay, just do it!" ”

Shen Mo went back to the boat, crossed the river, and continued north, about three days later, in the middle of the night, when he was sleeping, he suddenly heard a slight knock on the door outside, and then the deep voice of the iron pillar said, "My lord, here you are." ”

Shen Mo and Ruohan woke up at the same time, he pressed his wife who was about to get up, and said softly: "Go back to sleep, just act as if nothing happened." ”

Although Ruohan was worried, she nodded obediently and closed her eyes.

Silently pulled a thin shirt at the head of the bed, while wearing it on his body, he walked out, and when he arrived at the door, he was already dressed neatly, so he pushed open the door, glanced at the iron pillar outside, and said, "Where is it?" ”

"In my room," Tie Zhu said, "don't worry, my lord, I went to pick him up personally, and no one has ever seen his face." ”

"Hmm......" Shen Mo nodded, and followed the iron pillar out of the door.

It was midnight, the stars and moon were dark, the sky and the earth were as black as ink, and the two of them sneaked down to a dark room at the stern of the ship. Closing the door, the iron pillar shook the fire and lit a small oil lamp.

When there was light in the room, Shen Mo saw a man in black who had already been in the house, and saw him wearing a hat on his head, holding a sword, and bowing his body vigilantly against himself.

"Brother Haifeng." Silently called softly, the man in black turned out to be Mao Haifeng, the righteous son of Wang Zhi who stayed in Cen Gang! When he heard this, he did not relax, but said in a cold voice like a knife: "Liar! You are all liars! ”

His voice was a little louder, and Shen Mo quickly made a silent movement, signaling the iron pillar to withdraw and guard the door. Tie Zhu was worried about his safety, hesitated for a moment, pushed him silently, and feigned anger: "I am a brother and sister to Haifeng, will he still harm me?" Only then did the iron pillar bow his head and retreat.

"You're used to rhetoric, I won't believe it!" Mao Haifeng lifted the knife, put the blade on Shen Mo's neck with his backhand, and said in a deep voice: "Today I will use your dog life to replace my father-in-law!" ”

The sharp blade rested on his neck, making half of Shen Mo's body cold, and he smiled bitterly and said: "If you can, then it's really good, but I'm no longer a governor, but a secretary and a horse, who will take such a petty official in his eyes?" ”

"Washing horses?" Mao Haifeng's brain was a little short-circuited, and he shook his head in disbelief and said: "You are also a governor anyway, even if you remove your official, you will not be allowed to do that." ”

Shen Mo took out the appointment of the official from his bosom, handed it to him, and said, "You can see for yourself." ”

Mao Haifeng slowly took the letter suspiciously, opened it and took a look, and sure enough, it was the appointment of 'Shen Mo to wash horses for the Zhan Shifu Economic Bureau', he swallowed and foamed: "From the governor of a province, directly to the horseman who washes horses for the yamen?" What did you do? ”

Shen Mo glanced at him, and said without changing his face: "It's not for your father," he already knew Xiao Mao's classmate too well, and knew that this kid was a man who valued affection, so he dared to face the angry Mao Haifeng alone. I only heard Shen Mo sigh and said: "Since I learned that your father was caught by Wang Bengu's dead pinch, I rescued you in many ways, shouted loudly, and asked for your father to be released," said with his hands spread and said: "As a result, you also saw that I was pushed to the end, from the dignified governor of Su Song, the city to the city, and became a priest to wash the horse, but you still have to be pointed at with a knife, it is really hard to kill me." ”

Facts have been proven countless times that Xiao Mao's IQ has not yet been able to compete with an old fox like Shen Mo, so when he heard this, he immediately withdrew his knife, scratched his head and said, "Did I wronged you?" ”

"And what do you think?" Silent spread his hands.

"Looks like I've wronged you." Xiao Mao put the knife back into the sheath, hugged his fists and bowed down, and said, "Lord Shen, you are a good person, I can't compensate you." Then he said: "There is a debtor who is wronged, I will go to Hangzhou to find Wang Bengu to settle accounts, and I won't be angry with adults." With that, he walked out of the door.

"Come back." Shen Mo cried and laughed: "I went to great lengths to call you here, is it just to get rid of myself?" ”

Mao Haifeng stopped, looked back at Shen Mo and said, "What do you mean?" ”

Shen Mo nodded, beckoned his hand and said, "Come here with your ears." ”

Mao Haifeng leaned over his head, and when he heard Shen Mo's instructions, his complexion changed a few times and said, "Is this really the case?" ”

"This is what I risked to find out for you." Shen Mo lowered his eyelids and said, "Where to go, you can do it yourself." ”

Mao Haifeng pondered for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Medium!" That's it! As he spoke, he bowed his hand to Shen Mo and said, "If my father-in-law can survive the catastrophe, we will no longer set foot in the mainland in the future, and concentrate on the business of Nanyang and Yueben!" ”

"That's very good." Shen Mo bowed his head and said: "There is no need to worry about this matter, you go back and prepare slowly, as early as the second half of this year, and at the latest in the first half of next year, the fleet that escorts the Wufeng ship owner into Beijing will leave Hangzhou." He said with a faint smile and said: "But I can tell you that their ships will be merchant ships converted from warships, there will be nine in total, and the bow of the ships will be painted black. ”

Mao Haifeng nodded and said, "I can't escape our eyes." ”

"These nine escort warships will be divided into three teams: front, middle, and rear." Shen Mo said softly: "The distance between each team is more than three miles, but at night, as long as you create some accidents, it is not difficult to widen this distance to more than five miles." He sighed and said, "This time is enough for you to save people." ”

"Which ship would it be?"

"It's very simple, on which ship Wang Bengu is, the old owner will be there." Shen Mo said: "If you look carefully, it's not difficult to find." As he spoke, his face was solemn: "However, Wang Bengu's safety must be achieved." ”

"Why?" Mao Haifeng said: "He hurt you so badly, it is better to let me kill him!" In order to eliminate the hatred in everyone's hearts. ”

"You're happy, but who will carry the black pot for us?" Shen Mo snorted and said: "The living king can be sure, but the dead can't!" ”

"Yes." Mao Haifeng nodded and answered.

After a whole year of being surined, the conspiracy finally broke ground and bore fruit in the spring of the 41st year of Jiajing.

As expected by Shen Mo, under Hu Zongxian's repeated persecution, Wang Bengu finally couldn't stand it anymore and asked him to send troops out to escort Wang Zhi into Beijing.

Hu Zongxian deliberately ignored it several times, and was forced to be in a hurry, so he sent nine military ships and two thousand soldiers to Wang Bengu, and when the nine ships arrived at the dock, they immediately attracted the attention of Mao Haifeng's eyeliner, and reported the news to Mao Haifeng, who was about to go crazy.

In order to avoid exposure, he deliberately chose to go on the road in the middle of the night, and stayed overnight along the way, cautiously, and did not even allow sailors and soldiers to get off the ship, nor were they allowed to eat the food they bought along the way.

When he got out of Nanzhili and entered the boundary of Shandong, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, because this has never been the scope of activities of the Japanese robbers, and the further north they go, the safer they are, and the only bad thing is that the city wharf is becoming more and more sparse, and the rules of Xiaoxing's overnight stay can no longer be strictly enforced.

Perhaps because of leaving Zhezhi, Wang Bengu relaxed a lot, and instructed the people below to hurry at night and strive to arrive in Taierzhuang within one day.

This made Mao Haifeng, who had been keeping an eye on them, finally breathe a sigh of relief, and launched an attack that night - in fact, Wang Bengu didn't know that this was the most vulnerable place, because the further north, the smaller the flow of water in the Grand Canal, the more serious the siltation, and many bad rivers could only allow one boat to pass, and there was even the possibility of running aground. When Hu Zongxian sent him a boat, he deliberately picked up a large and bulky sea boat, which looked much stronger and more powerful than ordinary ships, but it was too cumbersome to drive in the canal.

Wang Bengu is a white-faced scholar, how can he understand these truths, and he thought that Hu Zongxian was afraid that something would happen to him on the road, so he deliberately looked for a big ship to escort him, so he set off happily, of course, there was nothing to do in the area of Zhejiang, but when he came to Shandong, the problem was serious, and he was forced to form a long snake formation and move north.

In the middle of the night, the ship that followed the flagship suddenly ran aground, blocking several ships behind, but Wang Bengu didn't realize it, until he was followed by a small boat from behind, he didn't know that he had been ambushed.

When countless ropes flew up to the side of the ship from all directions, the people on the boat were unprepared, and before they could organize a defense, they were frightened by the black-clothed men who rushed up from all directions, and almost resisted a little, they collapsed and jumped into the water to escape.

Mao Haifeng carried a long knife, personally boarded the boat to rescue, forced to ask where his father-in-law was, and rescued Wang Zhi from Wang Bengu's hands...... Of course, that's an afterthought.

(To be continued)