The salt market in Feng County, Jin'an, was finally over in mid-September, and Wu Tong, the last salt merchant who had been sent away, breathed a sigh of relief. For the first time in years, I felt so busy and tired, but it was all worth it. After settling all the receipts, Wu Tong personally went to the Taishou Mansion to invite Wei Ze, Wu Yue, Wu Jian, and Zhang Jian to his mansion to celebrate.

The next day, Wei Ze and Wu Yue and a few people were invited, and Wu Tong was already waiting for them on the periphery of Shewei Port, and everyone was welcomed all the way into Wu Tong's house.

After everyone finished the ceremony, Wu Tong raised his glass with a happy face and said loudly: "Today, the prince and the eldest son, the second son, and Mr. Zhang are coming to the humble house, which really makes the humble house shine. ”

Wu Yue quipped: "Fourth brother, after this deal, I'm afraid that your humble house will not only shine brightly, but also pave gold and silver, hahaha." ”

Wu Tong said with a smile: "How dare you, this success depends on your efforts, and it's just a matter of fighting." ”

Wei Zedao: "This time, everyone will do their best to help Chenghong, and I should thank you for a cup of thanks." ”

A few people raised their glasses and drank together, and Wu Yue couldn't help asking: "The fourth brother on the road just now said that he wanted to chant a poem to respond to this scene, why didn't he move?" ”

Wu Tong said embarrassedly: "Fang Cai was happy to say nothing for a while, just because I learned not to say poetry, it is already amazing to say a few beautiful words, I think it is better to let the prince and Mr. Zhang try to chant." ”

Wei Ze: "Me? Fourth Brother Wu looks up to me, when I was in the palace, my father often accused me of not being unfamiliar with the study of scripture and history, let alone thinking about poetry, you can ask Brother Zhang if he has this elegance. ”

As soon as Zhang Jian heard why I was like this, he hurriedly shook his head: "I can't do it anymore, the prince is just unfamiliar, I just know nine out of ten, and I can't do anything, and I can't do martial arts or literature." ”

Wu Jian looked at a few people from the side at this time: "Since they are all incomprehensible, then don't drag the text here, drink the bar." ”

After three rounds of drinking, Wei Ze couldn't help but put down his wine glass: "Although Cheng Hong was defeated this time, Cheng Hong and those five families are still there, how can we end this matter?" ”

In fact, Zhang Jian has been thinking about this problem for a long time, but he has never been able to come up with an appropriate solution. The hundred-legged insect is dead but not stiff, not to mention Cheng Hong, who has deep roots in Feng County. Once it is not handled properly, they jump over the wall in a hurry, Jin'an is in chaos, and the matter is small, if the matter is big, it will be implicated in Yuezhou and the confrontation with the Cheng clan of Wu County, then the gains will outweigh the losses, and the future troubles will be endless.

Wu Tong saw Zhang Jian's sad face, so he proposed: "Since Cheng Hong and the five families have been set, I think it is better to do this matter to the end." ”

When it came to Cheng Hong, a few people suddenly remembered that since Wu Tong showed his hole card Cheng Hong has been sick, there has been no movement for half a month, which is not in line with common sense. Originally, it was planned that if Cheng Hong was willing to give in, everyone could sit down and talk, but now this matter has been suspended, and it has really become neither advancing nor retreating. What's even more strange is that even the five families have not sent back a trace of news, which is really unpredictable.

Just when a few people were drinking and chatting, the housekeeper suddenly came in and reported that there was a county official outside the door who asked to see him, saying that he had an urgent matter to see the prince.

Wei Ze asked the housekeeper to pass the assistant to come in, and when the assistant saw Wei Ze, he didn't dare to delay and hurriedly took out two reports.

When he opened it, Wei Ze couldn't help but be shocked. A few people next to him took a closer look:

"The county order of Xiaguanzhuang County made an urgent report to Taishou, and on the night of September 17, the 44th year of the Taiqing Dynasty, the Yue people suddenly invaded our county. There were many thieves and horses, and the lower officials barely supported it, and Wangtai Shou quickly sent troops to rescue. ”

"Xiaguan Cheng County Lieutenant Shi Biao urgently reported that on the night of September 17, 454 in the Taiqing Dynasty, there were Yue people who invaded the county town and attacked and killed the county order Zhangdu, and Xiaguan gathered the remnants of the army and fought fiercely with the enemy, and urgently asked the Taishou Lord to rescue quickly."

Everyone was also shocked, and Wei Zezhi ordered urgently: "Return to the county office." ”

In the middle of the banquet, bad news suddenly spread, and several people didn't care about the others, and they all rushed back to the county summer.

As soon as he entered the hall, Wei Ze asked if there was any new news about the two counties on the left and right, and the officials of the county government all looked at each other and said that there was no new report, and it seemed that the situation was already very critical.

Wei Ze summoned the officials of the county bureau to inquire about the best way to deal with it, and a deputy said: "Although this Yue people are not convinced by Wang Hua, they have not been so kind of picking quarrels and provoking troubles in recent years, and the lower officials suggest that they should investigate it first." ”

Wu Yue disagreed: "I often hear that the Yue people are fierce, how can we ignore the reports of the two counties today?" Once the rescue is slow and the city is broken, the people will not be more than lucky, and the lower officials should suggest that troops should be sent to rescue as soon as possible, and there is no time to delay. ”

Wei Ze nodded and immediately ordered Wu Yue to immediately lead troops to rescue the two counties, send 3,000 soldiers to the county and 1,000 and 500 elite cavalry of the Shewei Port garrison, a total of 4,500 men and horses, and ordered Wu Jian to return to Shewei Port to be on guard.

Wei Ze and Zhang Jian personally sent Wu Yue and Wu Jian to the gate of the mansion, and told them to be concerned: "Be careful all the way, if you can't do anything, you should protect yourself, don't be strong." ”

It is also said that Wu Jiandao: "The army left Shewei Port empty, and Zili should strengthen the guard to prevent someone from taking advantage of the weakness." ”

Seeing off the two, Wei Ze and Zhang Jian returned to the lobby lonely, and the joy of frustrating Cheng Hong just now was swept away.

Subsequently, Wei Ze ordered martial law in Feng County.

It's the second half of the night, but Zhang Jian still hasn't rested. He was temporarily appointed as the chief secretary by Wei Ze, and led the assistant clerk to be responsible for checking the treasury to support the front war and recruiting the villagers.

Zhang Jian didn't dare to relax and stared at the busy crowd tightly: "You must check carefully, and you must not take it lightly."

Suddenly, he asked left and right in his mind: "What is the county commander Chenghong doing?" ”

The official next to him replied: "Cheng County Ling has been recuperating at home since he reported his illness. ”

"Oh!"

When the rooster crows, the weather changes suddenly, and the clouds cover the moon and thunder.

On the sea not far from Shewei Port, more than a dozen large and small ships are moving forward against the wind and rain. A rugged man, shirtless and wearing shorts underneath, stood on the bow of the ship and looked ahead.

The rugged man wiped the rain from his face and said loudly, "How far is it?" ”

The subordinate next to him replied: "The big boss, there is a short distance in front of Shewei Port, but this wind and rain ......." ”

"What are you afraid of the little wind and rain, I have made an appointment with Dai Le today. You can't be untrustworthy when you use people's money to eliminate disasters for others, and you have to rely on them to eat in the future. ”

This group of people is the pirate Ma Yi and his gang who disgusted the coastal people of Jin'an.

Ma Yi was originally a native of Haiyang County, Jiaozhou, and since he was a child, he did not do anything about agriculture and Sang, and he liked to fight bravely, and later gathered two or three hundred people along the coast of Jin'an to become pirates. Relying on his ferocity and decisiveness, he has become a large force in the coastal area of Jin'an, and he has some friendship with Dai Le.

"But the big boss, the wind and rain on this sea are not small, but I am afraid that it will be difficult for the ship to dock at that time."

Ma Yi smiled: "What do you know, taking advantage of this wind and rain to act, now they must be lax in this weather." After a while, there was no need to dock, so the brothers were asked to quietly enter the harbor in a small boat, and after entering, they would kill Lao Tzu and rob Lao Tzu. Ma Yi is worthy of being a fierce habitual bandit, and he is willing to try no matter how big the obstacle is in the face of money.

In this way, more than a dozen large ships docked not far from Shewei Harbor, and more than 200 pirates quietly infiltrated the harbor in small boats under the leadership of Ma Yi.

As Ma Yi expected, the guards on the port did not stick to their posts because of the wind and rain, but went back to sleep. The journey was surprisingly smooth and unnoticed by anyone.

At that time, the wind and rain were accompanied by the sound of thunder and lightning, and Wu Tong was sleeping soundly with his wife in his arms. Suddenly, the housekeeper outside the house slammed the door and shouted, "Master, a thief!" Master! ”

Wu Tong was dazed and didn't know what was going on, so he muttered and put on his clothes and got out of bed to open the door. But seeing that the housekeeper didn't even wear a coat, he grabbed Wu Tong and shouted tremblingly: "Master! A thief has come in, and the nursing home is difficult to resist, so run away. ”

When Wu Tong heard this, he was so frightened that he suddenly became drowsy, and hurriedly asked, "What thief?" ”

The housekeeper said, "I don't know, there are hundreds of people." The family is not an opponent at all, so the master should run away. ”

Wu Tong gritted his teeth and hurriedly called the housekeeper to bring his children to the stable, and he pulled his wife and shouted, "Quick, follow me to the backyard." ”

Wu Tong's wife, Xu, only then understood what was going on, and actually put up her gold and silver jewelry. Wu Tong stepped forward and scolded hoarsely: "When is it, you can still take care of these, take the child and go with me." ”

At this time, Wu Tong didn't dare to delay for a moment, he knew that nothing was important at this time, life was not important, money was gone, and there was nothing left if life was gone. Wu Tong came to the backyard and ordered the guards to smash open the courtyard wall, and took his wife and children to ride a horse to Wu Jian's military camp under the protection of several people.

The front yard is now a river of blood and a purgatory, Ma Yi and his gang will kill people when they see them, and they will not leave them alive, although Wu Tong has many nursing homes, how can they be the opponents of this group of extremely vicious people. Just as Wu Tong escaped on the front foot, Ma Yi followed closely and led people to kill him.

Ma Yi came to the main room first but saw no one, the room was already empty, and he couldn't help but be angry: "Where are the people? ”

At this time, one of his subordinates hurriedly came to report: "Big boss, the courtyard wall in the backyard has been smashed into a big gap, then Wu Tong is afraid that he has already run away." ”

Ma Yi slashed the table in front of him and scolded: "Grandma, let this turtle grandson run away." Tell the brethren to move quickly, and carry to me whatever I can take to the ship, and burn whatever I can't. ”

As soon as the words fell, the pirates couldn't help but scream excitedly.

"Big boss, how can it burn in the rain?" At this time, a pirate who was not long-eyed asked smartly.

Ma Yi's eyes sank, and he stepped forward and kicked it: "Is there water in your brain, won't you burn it inside the house when it rains outside?" Get out of here! ”