The literary giants of the late Ming Dynasty began by copying books

Chapter 295 Pirate Liu Xiang

Shen Yixiu's tender little face was full of worry: "Did my husband encounter any difficulties in Fuzhou? I wrote a letter to my father to ask for his help."

Li Guoxian also said: "I also wrote to Quanzhou."

Wang Wenlong looked at his two charming wives and shook his head and said: "Xundao has encountered some problems. It's okay. I can solve it when I return to Fuzhou."

He knew that Shen Yixiu's father, Shen Jue, was just a spokesman for the Ministry of Justice, and he was not good enough to deal with eunuchs. He would only drag one more person into trouble if he was asked to step forward.

To resolve this matter, we still have to go to Gao Yin, but there will definitely be risks in the process. Wang Wenlong doesn't want his two wives to get hurt.

He thought for a while and said to the two of them: "You go to Putian to stay for a while."

Shen Yixiu and Li Guoxian were unwilling to hear this. Shen Yixiu blushed and said, "My husband is in trouble now, how can I leave?"

Li Guoxian also shook his head and said, "I won't go either."

Wang Wenlong said with a smile: "It's not my fault. Gao Yin caused chaos in Fuzhou. I'm determined to have the "Xun Bao" write an article about it. The market in Fuzhou is very chaotic now. I'm afraid that you will encounter chaos on the way back. If you are in danger, it is better to go to Putian to escape for a while."

Seeing that both wives didn't believe it, Wang Wenlong could only look at Li Guoxian and said: "Guoxian, you are older than your sister and you need to be sensible. I really can't take you back to Fuzhou now. You believe me, at most half Once the matter is settled, I will come back."

Li Guoxian looked at Wang Wenlong for a long time, then finally nodded and tugged on Shen Yixiu's sleeve. Shen Yixiu agreed without saying anything.

Along the way, Wang Wenlong always provoked his two wives to talk, but the two only occasionally cooperated with each other for a word or two. Most of the time they were in a daze, obviously worried about Wang Wenlong's future.

Everyone's expressions changed drastically, and Wang Wenlong quickly led everyone to run towards the village. Then a scene appeared that left him speechless:

Wang Wenlong asked in confusion: "Are there still Japanese pirates along the coast today?"

Wang Wenlong looked at the village in the distance and its own small port, and instantly understood that such a small village was probably still doing some smuggler business. As for the Japanese pirates they encountered, it was probably related to the competition for interests between sea owners.

At this moment, I suddenly saw a farmer running quickly towards the beach, shouting: "The Japanese pirates are coming!"

Wang Wenlong frowned. He originally wanted to send his two wives to Putian to make them safer, but he didn't want the family to explain themselves first if they encountered Japanese pirates here.

"It's definitely less than a dozen years ago, but there are still some occasionally," said Chebar Shi. "But such defenses are also rare. This village is probably targeted by Japanese pirates, and has even seen battles."

The coachman said: "This village is on a small road, and the place is remote. The guardsmen must have arrived late. The villages along the coast are protected by sea lords. Maybe they themselves don't want to get involved with the guards."

Yingxian Village is only half a day's journey from Putian. The next day, Wang Wenlong escorted Shen Yixiu and Li Guoxian to Putian first.

Wang Wenlong immediately decided: "Don't enter the village, just pass by quickly."

The driver saw this and said to Wang Wenlong: "Master, this village must be on guard against Japanese pirates."

After Wang Wenlong and others entered the village, they saw that several door panels had been placed behind the trench of the village, and the bodies were covered with white cloth. Only then did they realize that there had probably been a fight in the village, and the villagers had lost the courage to resist.

After everyone walked along the seaside for more than an hour, the sun gradually rose. Wang Pingbao came back on horseback and said to Wang Wenlong: "There is a village ahead. You can go into the village and take a rest."

The Japanese pirates rowed a small boat to the shore. Of course, there were no horses. Wang Wenlong saw a dozen people surrounding him. The leader was obviously Mingren, and his men were about 1.5 meters tall, wearing tattered clothes and armor, holding spears and walking in figure eight steps. It was the Japanese who charged.

I saw that one or two of the young and strong men in the village who were defending with weapons abandoned their sentry posts and ran back, running faster than the guests.

The Guipu You family has connections with the Trinity Church. Even if something happens to Wang Wenlong this time, his two wives will at least have a chance to be protected and escape.

When everyone came to the village, they saw many abandoned houses outside the village. There were also defense fortifications such as bamboo thorns in the village. More than a dozen people slept under big trees and under the eaves. There were even earthen tents erected in dangerous places. Firegun.

Wang Wenlong asked: "How can the village defend itself when something like this happens? Won't the guards come?"

Just now, Wang Pingbao came to the village to check and had already made the villagers know that a guest was coming. As he was talking, he saw a farmer running down from the village. He said something in the local dialect and translated with a handlebar: "He asked where the master came from. The guests also said that there are some things happening in their village and they cannot receive them."

This group of people rushed into the village as if they were in an uninhabited land. The first dozen people rushed into the village, and behind them came a crowd of fifty or sixty people.

The leader of the Ming people was only in his twenties and had a big beard. He walked up to Wang Wenlong and others and asked first: "Are there any laha in your village? Come out, otherwise we will all be killed!"

Laha is the navigator. A group of young men guarding the village looked at each other, and a man in his forties walked out from the middle and said: "I am the village Laha." The leader nodded: "Go and lead my ship into the port. "

Laha could only follow.

At this time, several Japanese saw Shen Yixiu and Li Guoxian behind Wang Wenlong, and they all walked up to them with leering looks. Li Guoxian backed away in fear, and even pulled Shen Yixiu's clothes to protect her behind him.

When Wang Wenlong saw this, he stood up quickly and said: "Your Majesty, my name is Wang Zicai. I am a supervisor in Fuzhou. I also have property in Fuzhou. My family is very rich. As long as you don't harm me, I will write a letter and ask my family to give you money to redeem me." .”

The leader was overjoyed, looked Wang Wenlong up and down, and then said: "Bind him, go to their house to ask for ransom!"

This was Wang Wenlong's original intention. He knew that these Japanese pirates had absolutely no bottom line in their actions. If they said they would kill anyone who was of no use to them, they would kill them. It would be better for him to be kidnapped and held for ransom than to be chopped up on the spot.

He then pointed at Shen Yixiu and Li Guoxian and said, "These are my wives and concubines. If they are defiled, my family will not give them money."

The Japanese pirate leader said rather disdainfully: "You are a thief and a thief, but you are still so particular after being tied up."

He turned around and ordered his men: "Don't touch his woman. If anyone asks me to collect less ransom, I will chop off his head."

Then, in order to frighten the people in the village, the leader of the Ming people ordered the entire village to gather in the center of the village, and even Wang Wenlong's family was pulled aside.

The leader said loudly: "Listen up, my name is Liu Xiang. From now on, I am the master of this village. I will identify all the big families in the village who have good relations with other sea masters and tie them together!"

Wang Wenlong was stunned when he heard this, Liu Xiang? Isn't this the big pirate who competed with Zheng Zhilong for hegemony over the ocean in Fujian in his previous life? Unexpectedly, he started his career in the 30th year of Wanli and met him.

After hearing Liu Xiang's words, there was a sudden cry from the crowd, and the big households in the village were so frightened that they softened. However, most of the villagers did not have their interests harmed and did not dare to come forward. They could only watch in fear as they cleaned up the big households. .

After a while, a dozen men and women with well-made clothes were dragged out. This group of Japanese pirates wanted to establish their power in front of the villagers, and they chopped up the dozen people in a while.

Shen Yixiu and Li Guoxian were trembling as they watched.

After killing the big family, Liu Xiang pointed again: "When I came to attack the village before, who resisted? Stand up consciously!"

Seeing Liu Xiang's Japanese pirates squatting on the ground, untiing the ropes from the corpses and preparing to tie people up, there were obviously many more villagers participating in the resistance than the big ones, and everyone had a look of fear on their faces.

Wang Wenlong stood next to Liu Xiang. He couldn't bear it and said quickly: "Master Liu Hai killed the big family to seize their property. If he wants to win over the people in the village, he can spare these ordinary villagers."

Li Guoxian's face turned pale when he heard this. He grabbed Shen Yixiu's sleeve tightly and whispered, "Why are you talking now?" Shen Yixiu was also very scared.

But Wang Wenlong straightened his body. According to his observation, Liu Xiang had a normal mind when he became a big pirate. At most, he would not listen to his opinions. No matter what, he would not turn him into a piece of shit just because he said one or two words that offended him. It was torn.

Liu Xiang frowned and glanced at Wang Wenlong when he heard this, but he really didn't hurt Wang Wenlong.

"Why are you so poor and so talkative? Normally when we wait for Zong Heng to cross the sea, we will slaughter ten or eight villages. What does killing these few people count?"

But Wang Wenlong just looked at Liu Xiang and said, "If you don't see me, even the Japanese pirates on Taiwan Island will be wiped out. We can no longer plunder like before in Fujian."

Liu Xiang frowned when he heard this and said: "Taiwan Island, mother, I am angry just talking about it. If I hadn't lost the water village there, why would I come here to rob? You told me not to kill people, but tell me what good ideas you have."

Only then did Wang Wenlong realize that Liu Xiang turned out to be a Chinese leader among the Japanese pirates on Taiwan Island.

Shen Yourong's expedition to Taiwan Island went smoothly this time. It took him only four days to arrive at the port of Anping and launched a general attack on the Japanese pirate fleet. Seeing that the matter was not over, Liu Xiang led his men to escape from Anping. When they left the port, they ran away They were in a hurry, carrying not much fresh water and supplies, and drifting aimlessly on the sea. When they docked, the anchorage happened to be very close to this village, so they targeted this village to launch a robbery.

Wang Wenlong said quickly: "As long as your Majesty treats the people well, he can use this village as his stronghold to conquer the surrounding villages and create a smuggling outlet. In the future, it will become bigger and bigger, which will be a long-term business."

Liu Xiang thought for a while after hearing this, and laughed and said: "Don't tell me, you are a scholar, but you have some knowledge."

Liu Xiang had been among the Japanese pirates and Fujian sealords for a long time, and he had some perspective. He had long felt that the business of robbing with the Japanese pirates was getting harder and harder. At this time, when he heard Wang Wenlong's method of slowly developing his own power, he thought it was very good. have a future.

(End of this chapter)