Wang Yongji traveled at night, changing horses but not people, and finally arrived in Hangzhou City at dusk the next day, and went straight to the governor's yamen to ask for a meeting.

The governor's yamen is the yamen of the highest governor of the southeastern provinces, and the regulations are very strict in peacetime, but today it is surrounded by guards. Take a closer look, good guys! The pro-army of the governor, the governor, the envoy, and the pro-envoy were all outside, and it seemed that a major meeting was being held.

With so many guards together, the overall responsibility is naturally Hu Zongxian's personal army captain, he is wearing a crisp red military uniform, covered with half-body mountain armor, wearing a pure black cloak on his shoulders, and pressing the handle of the sharkskin knife with his backhand, standing majestically at the gate.

Under these neatly armed guards, the entire large flat in front of the governor's palace was extremely quiet, and no one dared to approach.

Seeing this majestic scene, he was slightly proud, he followed Hu Butang step by step to today, and finally reached his personal dream - to become the most powerful pro-soldier captain in the world!

When he was feeling inexplicable, he actually heard the sound of horses' hooves coming from the street on the east side of Daping, and the captain of the pro-soldiers frowned in displeasure, and immediately a team of pro-soldiers ran in the direction of the sound of horses' hooves and stopped the team of uninvited guests!

The person who came was Wang Yongji, he turned over and dismounted, threw the horsewhip at the people behind him, and then greeted the captain of the pro-soldier and said loudly: "Wang Yongji, the magistrate of Wu County, Suzhou Prefecture, came to ask for help from the Lord Shen of the Mansion!" Saying that, he gave a deep salute and said: "One hundred thousand are urgent, please report it quickly!" ”

"The ministry is deliberating with the adults." The captain of the pro-soldier said, "This lord should go to the gatehouse to rest first." ”

"Please say goodbye!" Wang Yongji held the hand of the captain of the pro-soldiers, and an official ticket arrived in the other party's hand without any fireworks, and he said with a sincere face: "The chaos in Suzhou Mansion is imminent, and every second cannot be delayed!" ”

As soon as he heard that it was a big chaos, the captain of the pro-soldier was surprised and said, "Rebellion? ”

"If you can't deal with it, it will." Wang Yongji said in a deep voice, and the captain of the personal soldiers did not dare to slack off, and hurriedly led him into the gate.

Walking inside from the gate, I knew how big the yamen of the Southeast Governor's Palace was, and Wang Yongji was led by the captain of the personal soldiers, and he couldn't remember how many heavily guarded doors he passed through before he arrived outside the signing room.

There were no soldiers standing guard here, only two scribes guarding the door, one of whom was the white-haired Wen Zhengming.

"Mr. Hengshan, there is an emergency military situation in Suzhou Prefecture, please report to the ministry." The captain of the pro-soldier said on behalf of the king.

"Suzhou?" Wen Zhengming's face tightened, but he shook his head and said softly: "The war is being discussed inside, and no matter how urgent it is, you can't disturb it." As he spoke, he said to Wang Yongji: "This lord might as well talk to the old man first." ”

"You are Mr. Hengshan?" Wang Yongji seemed to hear the captain of his own soldiers call him so.

"Old decay Wen Zhengming." Wen Zhengming said with a smile.

"Disrespectful, disrespectful." Wang Yongji hurriedly saluted, a Jiazi before the four great talents of Wuzhong, even today is still famous, as the only remaining one, Wen Zhengming in his hometown of Suzhou City enjoys a high reputation, so that Wang Yongji and their younger generations look up to the mountains.

Being able to meet this old man in the Governor's Palace, Wang Yongji was naturally overjoyed, and told him what happened in Suzhou City.

The outside of the signing room whispered politely, but the atmosphere inside was not harmonious.

In the hall of the house, on the chair of the Taishi, there sat a group of red-robed adults, but most of them only had ears, no mouths, and the two people who really spoke, Hu Zongxian, the governor of the southeast, and Ruan Yi, the governor of Zhejiang.

For Emperor Jiajing, who frantically believed in the way of checks and balances, it was unacceptable to hand over half of the military and political power to one person under any circumstances. So if there is Zhang Jing, there will be Zhao Wenhua, and if there is Zhao Wenhua, there will be Zhou Hui, and now it is Hu Zongxian's turn to sit in the village, and Jiajing will naturally give him a thorn in his eye that cannot be removed!

This nail is surnamed Ruan Mingyu and recommended by Wang Xuemen, Zhao Zhenji's sworn friend.

Soon after he was appointed as a school inspector in Zhejiang, the Japanese invaders besieged Hangzhou, and tens of thousands of villagers wanted to take refuge in the city, but the defenders in the city were afraid that the Japanese would take the opportunity to enter the city, so they closed the gate and refused to put it in. A tragic massacre was about to happen, and Ruan Yu, who arrived on Pegasus, was furious when he saw this, and said: "For the sake of the officials and for the people, why sit back and not save them?" The thief is still dozens of miles away, abandoning my people to be a thief? That is, holding a sword to supervise the opening of the martial arts gate, and set up soldiers in the city in case of emergency, so that the burden-bearing people from the left, the women and the old and weak from the right, enter the city in turn, without trampling on each other. The soldiers were ordered to run horses to deliver food, and all the refugees were able to enter the city without any victims. Soon Kou arrived, Ruan He led all the strong men out of the city to meet the attack, killed many people, and the thieves fled. The imperial court praised its merits, and was promoted to the governor of Zhejiang and the governor of Fujian, and since then he has become famous, not afraid of Hu Zongxian.

In fact, he was quite disdainful of Hu Zongxian, who relied on framing Zhang Jing and sycophant Zhao Wenhua to ascend to the throne, and the year before last, Zhao Zhenji investigated the personnel of Zhao and Hu Er, and wrote to him to tell him about Hu Zongxian's misdeeds of embezzling military funds.

Therefore, Ruan He despised Hu Zongxian even more, but he was also deeply aware of the righteousness, and knew that the anti-Japanese war was related to the overall situation, but he never brought his emotions to the errand. The two of them are in charge of military supplies and command, except for important military meetings, there are things that are transferred to and fro, but they are also peaceful.

But now Ruan Que couldn't help it, he looked down at a crumpled and bloodstained piece of paper on the table, and saw that it was written crookedly: "Lord Ministry: Chief Xu led tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers to attack very urgently, and we suffered heavy casualties, struggling to support and are in danger. Please ask the reinforcements to arrive within three days, if you are a little slow, Zongli will die! Sanli Bridge is in danger! The last general worshipped! ”

He has read these words many times, but every time he reads them, he feels so ashamed that he feels ashamed of himself, calms down the churning blood and blood, and he patiently said to Hu Zongxian: "Lord Ministry, General Zong's Heshuo soldiers were originally ordered to go to Fujian, but they passed through our Zhejiang. It's just that Xu Haibu's offensive is too fierce, and we are stumbling left and right, so we sincerely invite to stay. Saying that, he took a deep breath and said, "General Renzong didn't say a word, so he obeyed the order and led the army to attack!" ”

Hu Zongxian nodded silently.

"They fought successively, for us to relieve the siege of Zhapu, Jiaxing, and Saolin, you congratulate on the left, and comfort you on the right, saying that the general is your thunderbolt and vanguard, and I can't wait for the whole world to know that you left him behind. Why is it that now when he accidentally fell into the siege and cried blood for help, you pretended not to know him? Saying that, he snorted coldly and said, "This is too, too ungrateful, cold-blooded and ruthless, right?" ”

Hu Zongxian frowned slightly, slowly opened his eyes, and said with a long sigh: "This official has ordered three times not to chase Tongxiang, this order has been conveyed to General Zong at least three times, but he is careless, underestimating the enemy's rash advance, surrounded by ten times the Japanese bandits, and there is no possibility of survival." ”

Ruan E frowned unhappily and said, "As long as there is a glimmer of hope, you have to work hard!" Saying that, he raised his voice and said: "Once the Sanli Bridge is missed, the Japanese can drive straight to Tongxiang, and at that time, the door of Chongde and Hangzhou will be opened, and then you will lose the other!" ”

Lu Bo, the general soldier of Zhejiang on the side, couldn't help but interject: "Whether to rush to the aid of Sanli Bridge, please make a quick decision, and if you hesitate, Tongxiang is in danger!" ”

Seeing that his cronies and generals were all inclined to Ruan Yu, Hu Zongxian knew that he had to make it clear: "The sound is far away. Xu Hai is extremely cunning and good at water warfare, General Zong just didn't take Xu Hai's miscellaneous naval army in his eyes, and in several battles, Xu Hai's navy was crushed at the touch of a button. ”

"The successive victories made General Zong dizzy, he thought that Xu Hai was just a small character who was in vain, so he ignored my strict orders and rashly left Tongxiang to Sanli Bridge. Xu Hai concentrated the elite naval army, launched a counterattack unexpectedly, and wiped out the main force of Zongli in a battle. Hu Zongxian pointed to another piece of paper on the table and said: "This is the information sent by the locality, the Heshuo soldiers have been ten or seven or eight, and only seven or eight hundred people are left to defend the Sanli Bridge, Xu Haizheng is full of strength and won a complete victory." Now it has stopped, and the strangeness of it cannot be ignored. Said slowly: "Look at Ye Ma and Xin Wulang again, one left and one right are in full swing with Xu Hai, eyeing each other and peeking at the movement." It is clearly a suspicious trap to wait for our army to rescue Sanli Bridge, or suddenly divide troops to trap me Chongde and attack Hangzhou; Or encircle in three ways and annihilate our army......"

Lu Bo was puzzled: "What does that ministry mean?" ”

Hu Zongxian did not answer immediately, but raised his eyes to look in the direction of Tongxiang in the south, his face was sad, and slowly a pair of eagle eyes turned red, and only after a long time did he sigh, and said quietly: "At present, it is difficult to leave and right, only to focus on the overall situation, the strong man breaks his wrist, while sticking to Hangzhou, and then passing on all kinds of soldiers and horses, first trying to protect the provincial city from not losing, and then trying to suppress it, it is the best policy." ”

After the 34th and 35th years of Jiajing's calm, Xu Hai's offensive this year far exceeded Hu Zongxian's expectations, and the impregnable defense line in his opinion was attacked by Xu Hai, who had greatly increased his strength, and became full of holes, and he only had the ability to parry, and he had no power to fight back.

After judging the hour and sizing up the situation, Hu Zongxian held that judging from the current situation, it is necessary to shrink our defenses and wait for the enemy's sharp strength to disappear before making plans.

Seeing that Hu Zongxian was iron-hearted, Ruan Yi got up and said resolutely: "The adults are unkind, but the lower officials can't be unjust, since you don't go, then I'll go myself!" ”

"No one is allowed to transfer troops without my orders!" Hu Zongxian said coldly.

"Humph!" Ruan He snorted coldly: "I only mobilize Zhejiang soldiers, what can the ministry do to me?" ”

"Ruan Yingjian, do you dare to disobey?" Hu Zongxian said angrily: "I am the governor of the southeast, and I control the soldiers and horses of the six provinces, you must listen to me!" ”

"Your royal destiny can only kill officials below the fourth grade, and you can't kill me, the governor of Zhejiang!" Ruan E was not afraid and said: "The ministry can not move according to the troops, but under the governor of Zhejiang, he supervises military affairs, dispatches troops in the province, suppresses the widows and thieves, and rushes to rescue the danger, which is the responsibility of the lower officials, the soldiers in front are fighting and bleeding, and Ruan Mou is not saved!"

"Do you know the consequences of disobedience?" Hu Zongxian said with a dark face.

"Hmph." Ruan Que suddenly became imposing, where did he still put this greedy governor who was afraid of death in his eyes, and said with a sneer: "The ministry can participate in my disobedience to the military order, just like you did to Yang Yi and Cao Bangfu, and put the blame for the failure on the lower officials." He said with a righteous face: "As long as I can solve the danger of Sanli Bridge and rescue General Zongli and the Heshuo Army, my Ruan Que will send you to kick as a ball, so what?" ”

After that, he ignored Hu Zongxian, picked up his official hat, and went out of the door.

"I see." At this time, Wen Zhengming listened to Wang Yongji's narration, nodded solemnly and said: "Later, I will help you make peace with the ministry, and you have to help Suzhou City get through this difficulty." ”

"Mr. Xie Hengshan, Gao Yi ......," Wang Yongji bowed to the end.

Wen Zhengming was just about to say, 'You're welcome, I'm also from Suzhou', but he was slammed on the door, and he was frightened, and he saw Ruan He, the governor of Zhejiang, coming out with his official hat held high, with an expression on his face, as if someone owed him a million.

No one dared to stop the angry governor and let him go.

Wang Yongji and Wen Zhengming looked at each other, and couldn't help but sigh secretly: "The anti-Japanese situation is already grim, and now the governor and governor are disrespectful and divided, and it is even more difficult to win!" ’

After a while, I saw a red-robed high-ranking official rushing out, the two of them bowed to the side, and when everyone was gone, Wen Zhengming whispered: "You wait, I'll go in and have a look." He didn't wait long, and then came out again and said, "Wang Zhixian, the ministry invites you in." ”

Wang Yongji hurriedly straightened his clothes, and found that he was dirty all the way down, so he was really a little nervous to meet the lord of the ministry like this.

Wen Zhengming urged again, and he hurriedly followed in.

Entering the signing room, Wang Yongji saw a red-robed man with a thin figure and a tired face, sitting behind the big case, closing his eyes and recuperating.

Wen Zhengming sighed lightly, signaled Wang Yongji to be calm and not impatient, and waited for a quarter of an hour before Hu Zongxian slowly opened his eyes, glanced at Wang Yongji and said, "I'm sorry, this official squinted for a while, and made you wait for a long time." ”

Wang Yongji hurriedly bowed to the lord of the ministry.

"Get up and speak." Hu Zongxian stretched out his hand and said, "Yesterday, I already received a humble flying pigeon summons, and I basically understand the situation in Suzhou. As he spoke, he pointed to the chair and motioned for him to sit down, and then said: "I gave the court a note on everything yesterday, and asked the court to urge Huguang to transfer grain to us." He also immediately sent the political envoy Yamen and the inspection envoy Yamen to urge the rice banks to borrow grain, and all the IOUs were stamped with the seal of my governor's yamen. ”

When Wang Yongji heard this, he said with joy: "That's great, Suzhou is saved!" ”

Hu Zongxian's expression darkened, and he shook his head and said: "Don't be happy yet, I didn't borrow grain, and all the grain merchants said that the grain has been sold." He sighed and said: "Every day there are boats carrying grain coming and going on the canal, and we are not requisitioning, but borrowing and repaying, why can't we borrow?" As he spoke, he glanced at Wang Yongji and said, "Have you thought about the reason for this?"

"I don't know." Wang Yongji saw the sweat on his forehead and said, "Who is the hell who can't get along with our Suzhou Mansion?" He couldn't imagine that just the four big families in Suzhou City could set off such a thousand miles of wind and waves.

"Hmph." Hu Zongxian snorted coldly, and said with a cold light in his eyes: "Who else can there be besides those people?" ”

"Those people?" Frightened by Hu Zongxian's tone, Wang Yongji's voice began to tremble.

"The man who wants to kill me." Hu Zongxian said in a deep voice: "Now I can't wait to kill your Lord Shen." ”

"Why?" The king asked in a trembling voice.

"Because of me, we have cut off their money." Hu Zongxian's eyes were like knives and said: "Those greedy parasites collude with the Japanese pirates, vainly hoping that the imperial court will always lose control of the sea and borders, and forever let them monopolize smuggling!" As he spoke, he clenched his fists tightly, gritted his teeth and said, "They killed Zhu Kun at the beginning, and now the butcher's knife is pointing at me again, towards Shen Mu!" As long as someone wants to set things right, they will be attacked wildly! They are the real cancer of my Ming Dynasty, our real enemy! ”

Seeing Wang Yongji's disbelief, Hu Zongxian calmed down and said: "I can clearly judge that the attack on Suzhou Mansion this time is because some time ago, Mao Haifeng was allowed to eliminate the Japanese in the Zhoushan Islands and re-classify the waterway from Chongming to Zhoushan into the hands of the imperial court. In the eyes of those maritime merchants, this is tantamount to a naked declaration of war, so they recruited Xu Hai on the one hand and attacked the coast of Zhejiang on the one hand, and mobilized huge sums of money on the other hand, using this method to suffocate Suzhou, which is to choke our necks at the same time and want to reimburse us together. ”

Wang Yongji didn't disbelieve Hu Zongxian, but it was difficult to accept the powerful existence he described, and muttered: "Is there really such a powerful force?" ”

"Yes." Hu Zongxian said in a deep voice: "Zhu Yan is an example, and what happened to me and Humble Yan the year before last is another example. Do you still remember what Zhu Kun said? He said slowly in a sad tone: "It is easy to go to foreign countries to steal, and it is difficult to go to China to steal; It's easy to go to China's coastal pirates, but it's hardest to go to China's well-dressed pirates!"

"Those Chinese thieves are all high-sounding eunuchs." Hu Zongxian's eyes were full of grief and indignation: "They are hidden behind the Japanese robbers, maritime merchants, and giant thieves, and they are not directly involved in anything, so you can't catch the handle." But secretly provide them with a protective umbrella to cut off all enemies that can threaten the maritime merchants and the Japanese invaders. Saying that, he sighed and said, "Look at it, Humble Yan will definitely be impeached by the imperial history." ”

"So what do we do?" Wang Yongji asked with deep uneasiness.

"Seeing that the Japanese soldiers are coming to the city, Hangzhou will not be able to do it." Hu Zongxian said: "Li Xianqing, the governor of Huguang, is my fellow department, and now in the name of the governor yamen, write an IOU, you hurry up and rush to him, you should be able to transfer grain." ”

(To be continued)