Before dawn the next day, Uncle Eight and Li Si left the village together, borrowed a boat from a nearby village, and headed towards the stronghold of Zhang Gou and other pirates.
Zhang Gou and other pirates settled in an archipelago northeast of Hangzhou, not too far from the mainland.
None of the hundreds of islands looked like they were inhabited. Uncle Eight directed Li Si to travel between the islands.
After a long time, an inconspicuous island appeared in view.
"That's the island, Xiaosi, hurry up!" Uncle Eight shouted loudly.
Li Si was surprised and said: "Eighth Uncle, do they just use this kind of island as a stronghold?"
Uncle Eighth smiled and said, "Don't look at this inconspicuous island, but it is actually full of traps. If a stranger breaks in, he will be caught soon."
Li Si nodded silently.
The two came to the coast and walked towards the island.
When the sun was still half way above their heads, Uncle Ba and Li Si walked back to the shore, followed by two men.
One of them smiled bitterly and said: "Uncle Eighth, don't be angry. The leader suspects that the person is not coming from the right way, so..."
"The origins of this fart are not right. Mr. Wu is Li Si's savior. He also bought food for the villagers. He also has a good-looking appearance. He is not a bad person at first glance, but you still doubt each other." Uncle Eight said angrily.
"Uncle Eighth, you don't know that people from the government often appear at sea recently, and their ghosts are still lingering. The leader has no choice but to be more cautious."
Uncle Eighth said angrily: "It goes without saying, Xiaosi, let's go!"
The main reason why he was so angry was not because Zhang Gou suspected Mr. Wu, but because Zhang Gou thought that he came here to beg for food.
Uncle Li Bashu has always been extremely grateful to Zhang Gou for sending food to the village.
On weekdays, no matter how hungry he is, he never goes to the island to ask for food, for fear of causing a burden to Zhang Gou and the others.
Zhang Gou and the others had obviously never realized this thought. When they saw Uncle Eight coming, they thought he was here to ask for food.
This made Uncle Eight, who was very angry, feel very aggrieved.
Returning to Lijiacun, Li Si explained the situation to Wu Chengsi, only saying that the government had been cracking down on pirates recently, and the news was too tense, so Zhang Gou said it was not convenient for him to come.
Wu Chengsi felt slightly disappointed.
His purpose of meeting Zhang Gou was very simple. He just wanted to know who he was, why he was imprisoned in the Hangzhou Yamen, and why the government sent out troops to arrest him.
But then I thought about it, it wouldn’t hurt to spend a few nights at night.
As long as Zuo Wuwei's army arrives, the situation in Hangzhou will be under control, and it will not be too late to go find Zhang Gou then.
Seven days passed in a flash.
Huainan Road, Haozhou.
It's approaching dusk.
The sound of hoofbeats was loud and the sky was filled with loess. Hei Te Changzhi led ten thousand Zuowu Army cavalry and rushed to the Qianniuwei camp where Wang Fangyi was located.
Wang Fangyi welcomed Hei Te Changzhi into the commander's tent, and they sat down separately.
"General Black Teeth, congratulations on your promotion to General Zuowuwei. I haven't seen you for a year, and I almost don't recognize you." Wang Fangyi said lightly.
A year ago, Hei Te Changzhi was just a young general under his command.
Now that the other party was on an equal footing with him and became General Zuo Wuwei, Wang Fangyi really felt uncomfortable.
If Hei Te Changzhi behaved more respectfully at this time, he might be able to eliminate Wang Fangyi's dissatisfaction.
It's a pity that he has never studied the way of being an official.
Seeing that he was at the same level as the old Shangguan, he felt indescribably proud and grinned, "This is all thanks to the support of General Wu."
Wang Fangyi's eyes flashed and he said calmly: "His Highness asked me to wait here for General Black Teeth. He said that as soon as General Black Teeth arrives, your army and ours will set off immediately and go straight to Hangzhou. How about we set off early tomorrow morning?"
Hei Te Changzhi waved his big hand: "Why wait until tomorrow? Since the general's military order is immediate, let's set out now. The sooner we arrive in Hangzhou, the sooner we can return our orders to the general."
Wang Fangyi said: "The Qianniu Guards under my command have already been prepared and ready to go at any time. I am worried that General Black Teeth's Zuo Wuwei will be tired from the distance, so it would be better to take a rest for the night."
Hei Te Changzhi laughed and said: "What does this mean? I think when I was in Liaodong with the general, emergency marches were commonplace. My men have long been accustomed to it, so General Wang doesn't have to worry."
Wang Fangyi let out a breath and said, "In that case, let's set off now."
Black Teeth Changzhi stood up, bowed his hands casually, and left the camp.
Wang Fangyi's face immediately darkened, he came outside the tent and ordered the general to call over.
"Send my order to the general, and the entire army will break out of camp immediately and prepare for the march."
"yes!"
"Afterwards, our army will march to Hangzhou together with Zuo Wu's army. If any general's troops run behind Zuo Wu's army, I will immediately remove him from his post!"
The lieutenant general was startled, and when he saw Wang Fangyi coldly sweeping over, he hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "The last general has the order!"
…
Hangzhou, in a tea shed near the east gate, Zhugenan was drinking tea while looking at the passers-by.
The tea waiter came to his table, filled the pot of tea for him, and said with a smile: "Master Zhu, it's almost noon. What do you want to eat for lunch today?"
Zhugenan thought for a moment, handed over a small sling of copper coins, and said, "Cut two kilograms of mutton and bring over a pot of wine."
The tea waiter agreed and left happily.
Naturally, there was no wine or mutton in the tea shop. The tea shop had no choice but to go to the restaurant opposite to buy these things.
Usually the guests who sit in the tea tent for a whole day are the most hated guests by the tea shopkeeper and the tea waiter.
But Zhugenan was different. Although he sat from morning to night every day these days, he paid three times for tea.
With so much money in his account, the tea shopkeeper was naturally polite to Zhugenan and didn't ask any more questions about his strange behavior of staring at the city gate all day long.
The tea waiter is more attentive than the tea boss.
He had never encountered the good thing of getting five cents for running an errand in his life, and he wished Zhuge Nan could come here every day in the future.
The tea waiter moved very quickly, and soon there was a package of mutton wrapped in lotus leaves in front of Zhugenan's table, and the wine was also good.
Add three pieces of mutton and a glass of wine, and the taste will be so refreshing.
Just as Zhuge Nan was enjoying his meal, suddenly, a large group of government officials appeared from the street corner, passed through the east gate, and soon left the city.
Zhugenan was shocked, hurriedly took out fifteen copper coins, put them on the table, and quickly followed him out.
Zhuge Nan was sent here by Wu Chengsi to keep an eye on the east gate and prevent people from the government from raiding Lijia Village.
Although normally, the government will not take action against Lijiacun again.
But these villagers were witnesses to Wu Chengsi's appointment as officials in Hangzhou, so they naturally had to be fully prepared.
After leaving the city, Zhugenan was preparing to return to the village via the small road to report the news. Suddenly, he saw these government officials turning to the south.
The village is in the northeast, which means that the government officials' target is not the village.
Zhuge Nan felt relieved and quietly followed the government officials.
Not long after walking, I saw an army appearing on the road ahead. After the government officials joined the army, they headed east to a nearby dock.
There are already several ships docked at the pier, including a building ship.
Zhugenan was secretly frightened, suspecting that these government officials and officials were going to sea to destroy the pirates.
He didn't look at it much, quickly returned to Lijiacun and told Wu Chengsi the news.
Wu Chengsi stood up, touched Er Mao's head, and said, "Er Mao, you go out and play for a while, Uncle Zhu and I have something to say."
Er Mao responded obediently and left Li Si's courtyard, hiding in the corner and playing with ants.
Wu Chengsi took two steps back and forth in the yard and said, "Immediately take your eighth uncle to meet Ma Xiaowei and the others, and then take the boat to Zhang Gou's island."
"If the army captures the island, you must immediately bring these people over in my name. Also, think of some excuse to avoid making Hangzhou officials suspicious."
Zhuge Nan nodded, but did not leave immediately. He said, "Your Highness, we went by boat. I'm afraid it's not safe for you to be here alone."
"Who are you saying is unsafe?" A voice came from behind Zhugenan, as if someone was sticking behind him.
Zhuge Nan's scalp felt numb and he said hurriedly: "Father, please protect His Highness, I'm going."
Without looking back, he hurriedly left the courtyard.