Zheng Sen was stunned in his heart, "Exactly, the little sister is eighteen years old."

Wang Lanping casually 'oh', "Ling Zun is the chief soldier of Fujian, rich in the world, you are a brother and a product in the dynasty, your sister has really become a person coveted by everyone in the world, I don't know which minister has obtained such a blessing?" ”

Zheng Sen hurriedly said, "The little sister is still in the pavilion and has never been married, why does the prime minister ask?" ”

"No, no, this is not idle, it's idle, let's talk casually, by the way, your fourth uncle is also in Nanjing, have you ever gone to congratulate him on the New Year?"

Zheng Sen arched his hand and said, "Well, I've been there on the first day of the new year."

Wang Lanping actually knows that this Zheng Sen doesn't have a city government, and he may not have too many ideas about the marriage with the Zheng family, but there is one person who can definitely know the power, that is Zheng Sen's fourth uncle, the current admiral Zheng Hongkui, this person is scheming, and he is the most observant, if Zheng Sen goes to talk to his fourth uncle about this, Zheng Hongkui will definitely take the initiative to contact Zheng Zhilong in Fujian, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and the Zheng family's hand can finally be stretched out to the inside of the court through Wang Lanping.

"Yes, your uncle and nephew are close at hand, you should move around more, the Military and Political Department has nothing to do these days, I have time to see your fourth uncle"

"Xie Cheng is concerned, his subordinates will go when they are free"

Wang Lanping thought of one thing again, didn't the emperor say that he wanted to go to the Ming Tomb to worship his ancestors, just right, let Zheng Sen go, so that Zheng Zhilong and the world's hundred officials can see, the Zheng family is very powerful in the court, and also, the imperial tomb to worship the ancestors, that is only the royal people can go, what is it for the minister to go, acting on behalf of the sky? No, that's above the imperial power. will be poked in the backbone by the ministers of the heavens.

"Zheng Sen, it is inconvenient for the emperor to go to Xiaoling in person. Why don't you go up on behalf of the emperor?"

Zheng Sen was shocked and hurriedly knelt down and said. "This, subordinates don't dare to trespass, the imperial tomb to worship the ancestors is a major event in heaven, I ......"

Wang Lanping stood up and helped him up, and said widely, "It's okay, the emperor will order you to go, don't you respect the holy will?" ”

"This ......"

"It's so decided, the tenth day of the first month. You go with a hundred officials."

**

There is a leeward valley on the side of Daqing Mountain, with deep forests and dense trees, and it is difficult to see sunlight all year round.

The snow in the south of the Yangtze River is different from the north, it melted within a few days of landing, only a sludge remains, due to the lack of sunlight in the mountains, there are still some snow accumulations in the depths of the forest, Hu Damao and other more than ten bandits pressed Li Dingguo, Yun Niang and other eight people to step on thick dead branches and rotten leaves, one foot deep and one foot shallow. Here we are.

There is a cave in this valley, which is inaccessible, and even Zhu Yan, the female bandit leader of Daqingshan, has never been here, and there are many good things hidden in the cave. They were all robbed and robbed by Hu Damao and others without telling Zhu Yan, in addition to the property, there were dozens of women, of course, they were a little beautiful. Crooked melons, cracked dates, and the like were all thrown by him, and after the brothers threw them, they were killed, and the beasts in the mountains were gnawed, and even the bones could not be found.

This cave is a natural formation. The inside was unfathomable, and it was divided into dozens of prisons by Hu Damao. All the meat tickets he caught were locked up here, there were men and women, all waiting for their families to send money to ransom, a few days ago Zhu Yan was in charge of tightly, he didn't do any business, and then Zhu Yan was busy planning to attack Jiangbei, and he didn't care about Hu Damao, so Hu Damao took the opportunity to make a fortune, sent cronies, robbed and kidnapped tickets, and even ran to Taiping Mansion to rob people, no, in just 20 days, more than 30 people have been locked up in the cave, and the ransom ranges from thousands of taels to dozens of taels.

Li Dingguo and his party of eight people were originally going to be killed, because they were all foreigners, and the ransom was almost impossible, and Li Dingguo was not the opponent of these 100 bandits, so he had a plan and told Hu Damao, the female dependents in the car have a lot of backgrounds, and they can't be killed or touched, if they can be sent to Nanjing, someone will definitely give you a large amount of silver.

Hu Damao is now short of money, he has to use the money to buy Zhu Yan's subordinates, and as soon as he heard that there is money, he asked Li Dingguo and others to be brought back to the mountain first.

The cave was dark, the damp was heavy, and everywhere there was a smell of corruption, and when they passed through the divided prisons, the people inside were really shocking, and they were all tossed and turned into, even if their families could be ransomed with money, they were afraid that they would not live for a few days.

Li Dingguo and the others were tied up by a group of bandits, pushed into the innermost, and all of them were locked in a stone room, and the three women had muddy faces and couldn't see their appearances, but fortunately, Hu Damao was not in the mood to vent now.

Several people were pushed to the wall and tied to stone bars, and there was no furniture in the stone room, not even windows, only two torches in the doorway.

Hu Damao shook his knife in front of everyone, "Say, who are you in Nanjing City?" How much silver can you send? ”

Li Dingguo said, "How much do you want, just ask the eldest brother to show mercy to his subordinates, don't harm our lives, we are about to go to Nanjing to join our relatives, but we don't want to strayed into the big brother's treasure land, we should give you some tea money"

Hu Damao laughed and put the big knife on his shoulder, "Lao Tzu has a big appetite, um......" Hu Damao stretched out his dirty left hand and shook it in front of his eyes, thinking about how much ransom should be charged, "Five, five hundred taels"

Li Dingguo agreed, no matter how much you want, if you want 50,000 taels, you have to have a life flower.

Hu Damao asked again, "Say, where do your relatives live in Nanjing, Lao Tzu will send someone to deliver the letter, you can leave in the next five or six days, rest assured, Lao Tzu is trustworthy."

Li Dingguo thought about it, Wang Zhuangyuan is already the prime minister, but he doesn't know where he lives, but everyone in Nanjing City should know Wang Chengxiang, so he said kindly, "Big brother, the younger brother also met my relative for the first time, I don't know where he lives, but everyone in Nanjing City knows him, you can definitely ask if you send someone to do it."

Hu Damao pursed his lips and nodded, "Well, be honest, don't want to play tricks with Lao Tzu, say, what is the name of your relatives?"

Li Dingguo said happily, "Wang Lanping, known as Prime Minister Wang, you can go to Nanjing and ask someone to know."

When Hu Damao heard this, he became angry immediately, "Hey, you bastards, use the government to scare Lao Tzu, tell you, in this place, it is easier for Lao Tzu to kill you than to step on a bed bug, to be honest, who is it?"

At this time, Du Ningning suddenly stood up, "Why don't you believe it, tell me." I am the fiancée of the prime minister, you go to him. He'll definitely come and pick me up with silver."

Hu Damao couldn't help but get closer and called for a torch again. shook in front of Du Ningning's face, and laughed at the moment, "Oh,, this is still a neat little lady, come, let the master touch this chest is not soft."

After saying that, he stretched out his hand to pinch it, Li Dingguo suddenly protruded, but because his body was tied to the stone bar, he couldn't move. He could only lift his feet, and with one foot, he trampled Hu Damao to the ground, and immediately shouted, "Tell you, if you want money, don't move your hands and feet, if you let us live, I guarantee that you can have as much money as you want, is 50,000 taels enough?" ”

Hu Damao got up from the ground in a very dejected manner, and beckoned someone to go up first and beat Li Dingguo violently.

Hu Damao said angrily. "Damn, Lao Tzu wants it, I want money, and the prime minister's woman Lao Tzu doesn't move. That, go pull that out" he was referring to Yun Niang.

Yun Niang was pulled to Hu Damao by several bandits, and Hu Damao reached out and pinched her face. Rubbing the sludge off her face, she was stunned. ", I should be lucky today. This little girl is enough to be watery, I want it now, press it to the ground."

Several bandits immediately moved and pressed Yun Niang to the ground, Hu Damao was dripping, and squatted to pull her clothes.

Yun Niang wanted to cry without tears, and her mouth was covered again, so she could only struggle desperately, but the more she struggled, the more interested Hu Damao became, and Li Dingguo on the side had a blue nose and swollen face, and his mouth was full of blood, helpless.

But at this moment, Du Ningning shouted, "Let go of her, Miss Ben will accompany you"

This call stunned everyone in the stone house, Hu Damao straightened up, staring at Du Ningning in a daze, "You accompany Lao Tzu, okay, okay, you have to serve the master comfortably, and the master will let you be the wife of Lao Tzu, go, get her down"

Yun Niang was let go, and she was so frightened that she hurriedly shrunk into a corner of the stone room, frightened.

Li Dingguo also struggled to get up at this time, spitting out the blood in his mouth, "Stop, I don't care who you are, if you dare to touch anyone here, not only will you not get a tael of silver, I dare to guarantee that you will all be punished by the nine clans."

Li Dingguo shouted and gritted his teeth.

But it was very effective, Hu Damao waved his hand to let his subordinates get out of the way of Du Ningning, Du Ningning also tasted fear for the first time, ran over and hugged Yun Niang, and the second daughter cried bitterly.

Hu Damao picked up the big knife on the ground and pointed at Li Dingguodao, "Scare Lao Tzu, Lao Tzu has killed a lot of people in his life, Zhu Jiu Clan, do you think Lao Tzu is afraid, say, there are really 50,000 taels?" ”

As soon as Li Dingguo saw that there was a turnaround, he became busy and submissive, "There must be, but you have to promise not to hurt them again"

A person behind Hu Damao said, "The master, don't believe him, I've heard of this person, that's the old man, a very big official, looking for him for silver, and he has no life."

Hu Damao also knew that this thing was difficult to achieve, I had never heard that he could still ask the prime minister for ransom, it was too risky, it was not good not to attract a bunch of officers and soldiers, but his brain at this time turned very fast, yes, we took the silver, but the matter can be pushed to the mother-in-law of the big boss, we took the silver and flew away, regardless of whether your officers and soldiers came.

The more Hu Damao thought about it, the happier he became, he didn't know how much 50,000 taels of silver was, he only knew that there was a family building in Daping Mansion, and he heard that it was worth more than 3,000 taels of silver, and 50,000 taels was enough to buy it for thirty or fifty rooms.

Hu Damao said to his opponent, "Go, find a pen and paper, ask him to write a letter to the prime minister of the king, and tell him that if he doesn't send silver within ten days, Lao Tzu will kill him or bury it."

Waiting for the bandits to disperse, Li Dingguo let out a long breath, it was so dangerous.

But at this time, Du Ningning, Yun Niang and the maid Ah Xiang were all so frightened that they cried.

Yun Niang had hated Du Ningning because of her father's affairs before, but her attitude eased up, and she trembled and said, "Miss Du, thank you, thank you for ...... just now"

Du Ningning was stunned, and said in a trembling voice, "My father, it's a loss, it's a loss to you, I'll pay you back."

The two of them hugged their heads and cried, and their hearts all thought of Wang Lanping at the same time, where are you, why don't you come to save me.

Hu Damao really talks about efficiency, and immediately sent someone to run to Nanjing in disguise and Pegasus, and wait for ten more days, 50,000 taels of snowflake silver,, think about Hu Damao, I can be happy.

Hu Damao took a group of brothers and returned to the foot of the mountain, and saw Zhu Yan, the big boss, standing at the intersection with a hundred and ten subordinates from a distance.

"Yo, big boss, why do you have time to come down the mountain" Hu Damao greeted him with a smile.

Zhu Yan glanced at him disgustingly, and said in a deep voice, "Say, where are you?" ”

Hu Damao pointed to the brother behind him and said with a smile, "It's not idle to take the brother around, see if the Shunjun touches it, this is also good for the big boss."

Zhu Yan snorted, "You can listen to me, Daqingshan is not a den of bandits, and you are no longer allowed to do those things that hurt heaven and reason, do you hear, and the last time you hit the Jiangbei Fort, you didn't listen to the order and ran away without permission, what should you be guilty of?"

When Hu Damao heard this, he immediately slapped himself in the face, "Yo, look at this matter, I was just afraid that the group of thieves would come to rob the ship, I didn't think about it so much, this is also for the sake of you, in case the boat is snatched away, how can you come back, blame me, blame me, I didn't think about it at the time, next time, next time it will definitely not be"

How could Zhu Yan believe him, but now that his strength has been weakened, he can't move him, so he has to endure it, "Tell you, there is no next time, you listen to me, don't make any ghost ideas, I still have the final say on this mountain, from today onwards, no one is allowed to leave the station."

**

Taiping Mansion, prefect's yamen.

Zhou Shining received a report that it was the Daqingshan bandits who actually crossed the river to fight the thieves, which scared him to death, this is not a bandit at all, this is an army, and an army has been raised under his own rule, and the court must know it, and it must cut itself with a knife.

At that moment, the Zhou Governor's Mansion convened all the officials to discuss.

Daqingshan belongs to Danyang County, Taiping Prefecture, Danyang County Order was scolded by Zhou Governor's Mansion for a good time, and when Zhou Shining finished scolding, Taiping Prefecture Governor suggested, "Lord Zhou, this matter has come out, no matter how much you scold Danyang County, it will not help, we have bred thousands of people in the governance who dare to cross the river to attack the army of the thieves, this matter can be big or small, at best, this is a militia group that I have managed well, and the people spontaneously organized it, but at worst, the imperial court explicitly forbids the formation of local militia groups, four or five thousand bandits, if the imperial court wants to hold them accountable, I'm afraid that the next official in the whole mansion won't be able to run away, Lord Zhou, you can find a way quickly, you can't wait for the court to know about this first."

Zhou Shining's head is numb, when the prime minister of the dynasty is Wang Lanping, who once knew him in Huaining, he knows this person's style, dare to fight and kill, now there is such a big thing in the Taiping Mansion, how dare he report it, but don't report it, the court will know sooner or later that the Taiping Mansion is only two hundred miles away from Nanjing City.

The magistrate of the Taiping Mansion said, "Lord Zhou, recently, my subordinates have been connected to report the case, saying that the bandits in Daqingshan have often come down the mountain recently, and they are doing evil, and I also ask the adults to make a decision as soon as possible, so as not to make the situation out of control."

Zhou Shining had a bitter face, "Report, how to report, five thousand bandits, only report now, I am not a proper official"

The official said, "If you don't report it to the court, you will know in the future"

"Alas, bandits, report, report, death or life, I admit it"

**

Two days later, the bandits' ransom letter arrived in Nanjing, along with the Taiping Mansion's report. (To be continued.) )