After three rounds of wine and five flavors of food, Hu Zongxian got to the point: "I invited you so early because there are two things to discuss, one is my business and the other is yours, but in the final analysis, it is all our business. ”

Shen Mo smiled: "Then let's talk about Merlin Gong first." ”

Hu Zongxian said: "It's about Wang Zhi, in fact, his representative has already come, and he is still in Hangzhou for the New Year," and said after a pause: "With Shen Jing, I also participated in your wedding." ”

Shen Mo met with Shen Jing, knowing that the kid had returned safely, and wanted to meet him, but who knew that he left in a hurry, it turned out that he had another task, and nodded slowly: "Brother, you might as well tell me the truth." ”

"I'll let Shen Jing tell you himself," Hu Zongxian said, "He's already waiting in the side hall." ”

"Really?" Shen Mo said in surprise: "Hurry up and let him come to see me." ”

Hu Zongxian instructed his maid to go out, and he suddenly understood that a young official wearing a seven-grade uniform, with a mustache, and some dog-like appearances had come recently, and said while saluting: "Meet the lord of the ministry and say hello to the champion." ”

Shen Mo laughed and scolded: "What kind of big-tailed wolf is pretending to be with me." Then he got up and pulled Shen Jing to sit down, patted him on the shoulder affectionately, for this cousin, although Shen Mo didn't say it, he was still very worried in his heart.

Shen Jing said with a smile: "I have been on an envoy anyway, and now I am doing the affairs of the Ministry of Etiquette, of course, I must understand politeness and accept etiquette." Obviously he was playing with a pirate leader, but he was stunned that what he said was so sacred, that he couldn't stop laughing.

Hu Zongxian also smiled and said to Shen Mo: "Although your brother is lazy and not stingy, he does have the ability and is a capable official," he said and said with a smile: "I have promoted him to be the counselor of the Governor's Palace, although the grade is not high, but after all, he is a background, and sooner or later he has made meritorious contributions, and it is not difficult to release him to Zhizhou and pass the judgment." ”

Shen Mo smiled gratefully: "Our brothers are really fortunate to be favored by the Lord of the Ministry. "This is the art of speaking, if Shen Moguang thanked Lord Hu for taking care of his cousin, Shen Jing would listen awkwardly, because in that case, he would be placed too low; But if you don't express your gratitude, it's obviously inappropriate, so Shen Mo counted himself into the ranks of being taken care of, and thanked Shen Jing together, and everyone sounded comfortable.

Hu Zongxian said: 'Look, how can you talk? No wonder it can soar in the muddy waters of the pool in the capital. ’

After eating a few glasses of wine, Hu Zongxian said to Shen Jing, who was at the end of the seat: "Tell me about your going to the book, tell Humble Yan, and let's sum it up when it's over." ”

"Yes." Shen Jing said: "Speaking of which, it was the summer of the year before last. I couldn't help but sigh a little and said: "It's really fast, it's been two years......

"It's only been a year and a half, actually." Shen Mo smiled and said, "Tell the point." ”

Shen Jing nodded and said: "The year before last, I and Chen Keyuan, the head of the guard of the Ministry Hall, under the leadership of Jiang Zhou, went to Yuben to look for Wang Zhi, and after several rounds, landed on Yuben Kyushu Island, and met the local Daimyo Matsuura family, unexpectedly, the name of the Ming Dynasty officials is still quite deterrent, not only did not embarrass us, but also promised to help us contact Wang Zhi. ”

said and said: "You don't know, that Wang Zhi mixed that scenery in Yuben, he is in the south of Kyushu Island, divides the thirty-six islands, and claims to be the king and hegemon, those princes of Yuben don't even dare to let out a fart." Saying apologetically, he smiled and said, "It's uncivilized...... It should be, I don't even dare to say a word. ”

"Don't you care about the princes?" Shen Mo said strangely: "I heard that in this era, there are many generations of famous generals. ”

"Those people brag a lot." Shen Jing said with a smile: "What do you think, it is only called the land of the projectile, but it is known as the great princes of the Sixty-six Road, and the small princes are countless, there are not many people, and they are divided into one hundred and eighty groups, and there can be several people in a group." He recalled: "I once witnessed a decisive battle between the Matsuura family and their strongest opponent, Ryuzoji Temple, and the number of people on both sides was only about 2,000, and more than 100 died on one side from the morning to the evening when the troops were collected," and said with a smile: "If we put it in the country, the gang brawl is also larger than this." ”

After Shen Mo and Hu Zongxian finished laughing, Shen Jing continued: "That Wang Zhi's business is beyond imagination, he monopolizes the gold trade routes from Fujian and Zhejiang to Yueben and from Yueben to Nanyang, owns and controls more than 2,000 ships of various kinds, and directly subordinates or obeys his orders, amounting to more than 100,000 people, and his direct troops are also equipped with very powerful Western muskets, so although there are many 'famous generals', no one really dares to fight his idea." ”

"On the contrary, they are very polite to him, and they have to give gifts and tributes during the New Year's holidays, and they dare not slack off at all." Shen Jing said with emotion: "Because he almost monopolizes all the trade with Yuben, especially the Western musket, which is the favorite of the princes." ”

Silently, he bowed his head and said to Hu Zongxian: "It seems that our original inference is correct. ”

"Yes, now a Xu Hai has made me scorched," Hu Zongxian frowned and said, "I must not have a conflict with this person again." He said to Shen Jing: "You continue." ”

Later, under the guidance of the head of the Matsuura family, we met Wang Zhi's righteous son Mao Haifeng, and under his leadership, we met Wang Zhi. This man was in his forties, not very tall, but he was very loyal, but at first he was not friendly, because he heard from the people below that the whole family had been killed by us, so he wanted to kill us. Although he was reminiscing in a relaxed tone, Shen Mo could still understand the line of life and death at that time, and listened to Shen Jingdao: "When we took out his son's handwritten letter, his attitude completely changed, and he was very happy, saying that he had actually been a member of the imperial court for a long time, and the reason why he avoided overseas was because of the persecution of Zhu Kun, Wang Chen and others. ”

Shen Mowan didn't expect such a turn to occur, and asked Hu Zongxian: "When did Wang Zhi become a member of the imperial court?" ”

Hu Zongxian said with an embarrassed face: "After my investigation and inquiry, it seems that there is some connection. It turned out that Zhu Kun was in Fujian with an iron fist to ban the sea, although he failed in the end, but the blow to the Japanese was also very heavy...... At that time, there were mainly two large Japanese forces in Fujian, one was the team of Li Guangtou of Fujian, and the other was Xu Dong, who was the second leader of Xu Dong at that time.

But after Zhu Kun's purge, Li Guangtou and Xu Dong subdued the law, and Wang directly collected the rest of the people and went north to Zhejiang. At the same time as him, there were also maritime groups such as Chen Sipan, Deng Wenjun, Wang Dan, and Lu Qi. The strength of these people is very strong, and they don't even pay attention to the officials and soldiers, and they are not comparable to Wang Zhi and his group, who have been hit hard.

In order to avoid being eaten by his peers, Wang Zhi tried to get close to the officials of the sea and the health center to help them eliminate some of the pirates. In exchange for their favor and support, and using the power of the government, Wang Zhi ate many of his peers, gradually grew stronger, and carried out various activities, hoping to legally 'exchange markets' and trade normally with the mainland.

But no one in Jiangsu and Zhejiang could afford this responsibility, they just wanted to use him to resist the Japanese invaders, and did not open the sea ban, and had the intention of exchanging markets with him, so they coaxed Wang Zhi to hunt and kill the maritime merchants and Japanese invaders on the condition of 'taking thieves to surrender to Shirong Mutual Market'...... One morning, officials in Zhejiang suddenly discovered that Wang Zhi had established a monopoly position at sea, and that all ships entering the sea dared to sail on the sea only under Wang Zhi's 'Wufeng' banner. However, after the behind-the-scenes transactions, and the excellent cooperation in front of the stage, coupled with the fact that Wang Zhi has always been generous and very satisfied with the government, the officials of Zhejiang Coastal Defense privately allowed Wang Zhi to trade with the mainland, so that they could be mutually beneficial.

During that period of time, Wang Zhi actually became a guest of the Ningbo government, because of his strong strength and bold personality, Ningbo coastal defense officials relied on him even more, regarded him as a humerus, and the two sides got along very well.

But this golden period did not last long, because Wang Zhi's 'backers' were at best some favoritist magistrates, and regardless of their character for the time being, the main thing was that they could not influence the central government's policy decisions.

In the 31st year of Jiajing, Wang Chen, the governor of Shandong, was reappointed as the governor of Zhejiang, and the governor of Fu, Xing, Zhang, and Quandao, and supervised military affairs.

But Wang Zhi was still immersed in the happiness of collusion between officials and businessmen, and he naively thought that the Haidao officials in Zhejiang would always regard him as an assistant to maintain order on the sea. He was paralyzed for a moment and did not perceive this obvious intention of the authorities, and as a result, he was lured and annihilated by Wang Chen's army, suffered heavy losses, and almost lost his own body.

Wang Chen's actions completely shattered his illusions, and Wang Zhi sighed: "This is all dedicated to retribution, and all the divisions have allowed to record meritorious performances, so why not falsely accuse the guilty against the family?" It can be seen that there are times when there is innocence...... Since he was unable to operate on the coast of the mainland, he was only given a base to explore in foreign lands.

Because of the war and lack of materials at that time, he was a sea merchant with a monopoly surname, and he was courteous to himself. So Wang Zhi made friends with a lot of powerful people in Yueben, because he was righteous, trustworthy, generous, and had read books, so he was not as vulgar as ordinary maritime merchants...... In his eyes, he is simply an elegant elder, so he has won his trust and respect.

With the help of the right time, place and people, Wang Zhi's power flourished, and soon recovered his vitality and achieved a qualitative leap, becoming the most powerful force on the sea, without looking at anyone's face.

"That's all I know, so it's not a complete nonsense for Wang Zhi to say that." After Hu Zongxian finished speaking, he took a sip of the teacup and said to Shen Jing: "You can continue to speak." ”

Shen Jing scratched his head and said, "Where are you talking...... Oh, yes, don't say anything else, Boss Wang is really interesting, not only to eat and live, but also to take us around the country," he said, "I may not believe it, the princes from all over the country heard that the 'Wufeng Ship Owner' was visiting, and they lined up to warmly welcome them, delicious and fun, and good to serve, what is better than treating them...... The generals are enthusiastic. Even now, Shen Jing still feels incredible, and said with a smile: "It's out of tune, I admire the old gentleman, look at how people mix ......"

Shen coughed silently, and reminded Shen Jingdao, who was more and more out of tune: "What happened later? When did you come back? How's the business going? ”

Shen Jing stopped at this time: "We are also in a hurry, but Wang Zhi just let us eat, drink and have fun, and refused to give us an answer for a long time, only saying that he has too many trivial matters and needs to be taken care of properly." It dragged on like this for more than half a year, and it was probably not until February last year that he suddenly told us that he could come back with us. He swallowed and foamed at the mouth and continued: "At that time, he took his righteous son Mao Haifeng and was on a lucky boat with us. Before setting sail, he suddenly forced Chen Qianhu, the highest-ranking official, to jump ashore, and told us that he suddenly remembered that there were still some things that had not been taken care of, so he asked Mao Haifeng to come to the mainland as a plenipotentiary to negotiate with us first. ”

For this result, Shen Mo was not surprised, if Wang Zhizhen returned to China like this, it would be strange.

Looking at Hu Zongxian's disappointed face, he comforted him silently: "Although I haven't seen Wang Zhi himself, I have finally taken over, which can be regarded as a major progress." ”

Hu Zongxian shook his head slowly and said, "Look at the letter sent by Mao Haifeng." Then he went to the desk and took a letterhead, and looked at the pen silently, it was still neat, and then looked at the style, it can only be said that it was rough, this person should have read the book for three or five years. After a little judgment, I began to read this very characteristic letter:

At the beginning of this letter, he first admitted in humble terms that he had committed a crime, but he was willing to make meritorious contributions to the country and completely exterminate the Japanese invaders, and then he changed his words, boasting that he now has many cattle and many cattle, guns, boats and people, and he is very mixed up in this book, as long as I lobby and coerce everywhere, they will definitely not dare to send people to disturb Fujian and Zhejiang.

Reading through the whole text, there is a lot of nonsense, and there is only one sentence that is really useful: 'I am willing to capture or suppress the old thieves in Songjiang, or call for the return of the island, but China orders, but to currency, mutual market.' 'Say a thousand things and ten thousand, or ask the imperial court to open the sea ban.

After reading it, he put the letter on the table and asked silently, "What happened later?" ”

"Judging from the situation at that time," Hu Zongxian sighed and said, "I can't promise him no matter what, I can't be the master of this matter." As he spoke, he glanced at Shen Mo and said, "But ......"

"But now the imperial court is ready to reopen the market." Shen Mo smiled: "So you feel that the death knot has been solved, right?" This is Hu Zongxian's real intention in looking for him.

Hu Zongxian nodded frankly and said: "Yes, that Mao Haifeng has been with me for more than half a year, and when I heard that the imperial court was going to reopen the market, I was so anxious that I jumped up and down. ”

Silent suddenly, the reason why Hu Zongxian brought himself from Shaoxing with such a big pomp was to highlight the nobility of his identity and make Mao Haifeng willing to negotiate with him.

Shen Mo didn't immediately agree, but said with a hesitant expression: "The matter of the City Boss Division itself is under a lot of pressure, and those imperial historians are staring at it closely, if I come up and have something to do with a Japanese leader, I'm afraid I will have to fight chickens and eggs." ”

Hu Zongxian naturally knew that silence was not easy to fool, so he gave Shen Jing a look, and Shen Jing hurriedly said Gong and avoided this secret conversation.

After Shen Jing left, Hu Zongxian lowered his voice and said, "Who asked you to really talk to him?" ”

"What do you mean?" Silent and silent.

"Fake negotiations, real temptations." Hu Zongxian whispered: "Although that Mao Haifeng is also a shrewd person, he can't compare with you at all, I believe that with your ability, you will be able to persuade Mao Haifeng, let him go to Wang Zhi to do the work, and let him come back to negotiate." ”

"What can Wang Zhi do when he comes back?" Shen Mo shook his head slowly and said: "Haikou respects the strong, although those large and small forces all listen to Wang Zhi, they all have the force of reading, and when Wang Zhi is here, he can still control these people." If he's gone, those will get out of hand, and things will be even more troublesome. ”

"Brother, you're too worried," Hu Zongxian smiled confidently: "There is a way to capture the thief and capture the king first, and in the past, Cao Mengde could coerce the Son of Heaven to order the princes, wouldn't I, Hu Ruzhen, use Wang Zhi's trump card?" ”

He was speechless, because he knew Hu Zongxian very well and knew that it was useless to say anything at this time. If you say more, it will cause a rift in the originally close relationship between the two parties, and there is no benefit...... But that doesn't mean silence has succumbed to ...... Through the death of Zhao Wenhua, it can be seen how heavy Shen Mo's scheming is...... Therefore, Yang Fengyin violates this kind of thing, and he has no psychological obstacles at all.

Hu Zongxian thought that Shen Mo had agreed, and said happily: "He is at Shen Jing's house now, you can just use the excuse to go to Shen Jing's house to stay and take the opportunity to talk to him." ”

"Okay." Shen Mo nodded and smiled: "Who made you the governor?" ”

Hu Zongxian smiled embarrassedly: "I didn't just come to you for this matter. After a pause, he said to Shen Mo very seriously: "I want to talk to you about the city's ship." ”

"As a Governor?" Shen Mo smiled faintly: "Or the identity of the elder brother?" ”

"Both have to be said," Hu Zongxian said: "As the governor, of course I want you to do it, but as a brother, I don't want you to wade into this troubled water." ”

(To be continued)