At the time when the investigation of the Japanese merchants in Shaoxing Prefecture was beginning to achieve results, the yamen of the other state capitals in Zhejiang also learned from Gu Yunji's measures and began to deal with and fine the merchants who sold goods to the Japanese in their jurisdictions.

The change of people's perception is not achieved overnight, and perhaps these businessmen will not be able to fundamentally realize their mistakes in a short period of time, but they have at least seen the resolute attitude of the government, and they dare not test the bottom line of the government by breaking the law again.

So for a while, the merchants who originally traded with the Japanese invaders broke off contact one after another, and some even suspended their maritime trade business, lest they have a relationship with Gao Shishu and others, which would arouse the suspicion of the government.

For Gao Shishu, trade with these merchants was their most stable and main source of food and grass, and now that the imperial court has come here, it is equivalent to directly cutting off their supplies, and if they don't take action, they can only gradually be trapped at sea.

Gao Shishu originally wanted to retreat to the base camp, slowly accumulate strength, and make a long-term struggle with the imperial court. At present, the situation has developed to this point, and he has to take a radical approach, and begins to plunder passing merchant ships on a large scale, and even break into the sea areas where the imperial navy is active to loot in order to obtain the necessary food and grass materials.

Gu Yunji and the others were not surprised by this, Gao Shishu was now like a trapped beast in a cage, seemingly aggressive, but in fact it was just the last struggle. It won't be long before he will deplete himself and become a fish on the chopping board, to be slaughtered at will by the imperial court.

However, just when the power of the Gao Shishu faction was becoming weaker and poorer, they suddenly retracted their offensive and retreated to the base camp of Mingsha Island.

Su Qi couldn't understand this: "It's really strange, half a month ago, Gao Shishu and they were like mad dogs, they bit people when they saw them, they robbed boats when they saw them, injured the enemy 800 and lost 1,000 and 1,000 themselves, and they came to the end of the road at a glance, why did they suddenly become so honest and peaceful?" ”

"Could it be that he knew that he couldn't beat the imperial court, so he simply didn't do the dying struggle, and simply retreated back to his hometown and waited for death?"

"Not really." Gu Yunji shook his head, "Gao Shishu is different from Tao Lian, as you said, he is a mad dog, even if it really comes to the end of the day, he will never wait for death obediently, but will summon the last strength to fight back against the imperial court." ”

"It is impossible for a person's style and temperament to change greatly in such a short period of time, and he has become so conservative now, most of the time he is holding back some bad tricks."

Su Qi still couldn't figure it out: "That's also unreasonable, we disposed of those merchants who were in the same way and cut off Gao Shishu's supplies, even if he wanted to suffocate his moves, but they had no food and no food, what to hold?" Don't suffocate yourself then. ”

Mei Feng said in a deep voice: "Gao Shishu killed Tao Lian, and while taking Tao Lian's original power for his own use, he also took over the business under Tao Lian's name, maybe he has other supply channels, this is just what we don't know." ”

"There are many reefs near Mingsha Island, Gao Shishu's base camp, and most of the people who are not familiar with the sea will run into the reef and sink ships, and the sailors of the imperial court are not successful, and the patrol is okay, and it is a little too reluctant to conduct a large-scale naval battle. For today's plan, the only way to do this is to send someone to keep an eye on Gao Shishu, pay attention to his every move, and adapt to the situation. ”

At this time, an official walked in from outside and said to Mei Feng, "Your Excellency, there are people outside who want to see you." ”

"Who?"

The official shook his head: "I don't know, that person covered his face with a turban, refused to reveal his name, only said that he wanted to see Mei Feng, the governor of Zhejiang, and claimed to have important information about the Japanese Kou." ”

Mei Feng and Gu Yunji exchanged glances when they heard this, and after thinking about it for a while, they still said, "Then let him in." ”

A short time later, a masked man followed the official messenger in. The man was dressed in a gray robe, his head was tightly wrapped, and the only pair of eyes that were exposed were also in the shadows, and he could not see clearly.

Mei Feng looked at him quietly, and said, "If Your Excellency wants to see me, why don't you show your true face?" ”

The man looked at the few officials waiting in the room, and seemed to have some scruples: "I have something important to tell you below, in order to prevent the news from leaking, I also ask Governor Mei to wave away his subordinates first." ”

Mei Feng looked at him fixedly and didn't speak.

The identity of this person is unknown, and when he came up, he asked Mei Feng to wave away his subordinates, and it was difficult not to make people suspicious. Mei Feng is the highest commander in charge of Zhejiang's military and political affairs, his status is noble, and the current anti-Japanese war is at a critical juncture, in case this person is an assassin sent by Gao Shishu, it is not impossible to assassinate Mei Feng and cause civil strife in Zhejiang.

Mei Feng didn't say anything, and the man didn't move, so he quietly spent it with him.

After a long time, Gu Yunji took the lead in breaking the silence, pointed at himself and Su Qi, and said tentatively: "What about us?" We're not Governor May's subordinates, so we can always stay here, right? ”

The man said: "Lord Gu, like Dingguo Gong and Governor Mei, are all ministers of the imperial court's anti-Japanese war, and it is impossible for them to leak the news, of course they can stay here." ”

This person's voice was low, it should have been deliberately suppressed, Gu Yunji always felt a little inexplicably familiar, and his eyes narrowed slightly: "How do you know the identities of the two of us?" ”

The man stopped talking again, and only after a while did he say, "Please also ask Governor Mei to wave off his subordinates first." ”

can recognize the identities of Gu Yunji and Su Qi at a glance, most of them have met, maybe they are people they know. This person was wearing a loose robe, and it could be seen that there was no weapon hidden, three people against one, and Su Qi had martial arts, so there should be no accidents.

The three of them tacitly discussed with their eyes, and then Mei Feng waved away all the officials in the house, closed the doors and windows again, and then looked at the man again: "It's okay now, right?" You should always show us what you look like. ”

The man slowly raised his hand and took off the headscarf covering his face, and the moment his face was completely revealed, the three of them opened their eyes wide...... Yu Jingming?! ”

It's August now, the last time I saw Yu Jingming, it was last year when I was in the Zhao'an negotiation between Layue and Tao Lian, I haven't seen each other for more than half a year, Yu Jingming is no longer confident and calm at that time, and he looks dusty and a little haggard.

He barely squeezed out a smile: "Governor Mei, Lord Gu, and Dingguo Gong...... Long time no see. ”

Gu Yunji was shocked in his heart, and he was a little speechless: "...... How are you? How did you end up here? Where did you go after Tao Lian was killed? ”

Yu Jingming smiled bitterly: "These things ...... It's a long story. ”

On the night that Gao Shishu killed Tao Lian and Shui Sanzi, Yu Jingming happened to be running errands outside and didn't know what was going on. When he got the news and hurried back, he found that the gang had already changed its banner, Tao Lian and Shui Sanzi died, Zheng Yu took all the rest of the people to take refuge in Gao Shishu, and Yu Jingming became a loner.

Yu Jingming has followed Tao Lian for many years, not to mention loyalty, at least he has deep feelings, he can't accept Zheng Yu to take refuge under the enemy's command. But at the same time, he also knew that he was weak and could not fight against Gao Shishu, so he wandered around after that, looking for a place to stay. (End of chapter)