Mrs. Rebirth

On the military port of Crane City, there are soldiers looking at the distant sea from the tall towers every day, hoping to see the ship that will go to sea for many days.

It has been a full ten days since Lu Zheng led the soldiers out to sea. Everyone has waited with peace of mind at the beginning and now they are anxious now. Even Zuo Xiaolang would occasionally ask: "Where's father?"

On this day, there was a light rain in the sky. The autumn rain brought a hint of coolness. The rain knocked down the withered and yellow leaves on the trees and fell into the soil.

"Third Lord, it's raining today, so the beach might not be peaceful, why don't you go?" Luo Xiaoliu stood in front of Zuo Shaoqing and said, these days, his master always had to go to Haibian to take a look at him to feel at ease. .

Zuo Shaoqing rubbed his sore head. He didn't know why. He stayed up all night last night, and his eyelids twitched again when he got up early in the morning.

"Little Six, go and call Yang Yi here." Zuo Shaoqing felt that it would be too tortured to wait without any news.

Luo Xiaoliu responded, and hurried to call for someone.

Zuo Shaoqing stood under the eaves, watching the rain getting heavier and heavier, feeling more and more irritable.

After seeing the two people approaching in the rain, Zuo Shaoqing turned around and entered the house.

Yang Yi followed in and wiped the rain from his hair, "Third Master, what are your orders?"

"Second brother Yang, please send someone to ask around the seaside to see if any fishermen who have come back from the sea have seen Master Lu's boat recently. Not coming back yet."

"Okay, my subordinates will go now, and by the way, ask people to go to the major commercial firms." Seeing his lack of energy, Yang Yi comforted him: "You don't have to worry too much, there will be no strong typhoons this season. , Eighty percent of them have gone far."

Zuo Shaoqing nodded, but he didn't let go of his frown. After Yang Yi left, he asked Luo Xiaoliu to stay and take care of Zuo Xiaolang, and he led the people out of the mansion.

A carriage passed by Zuo Shaoqing's side, and the splashed mud stained his clothes and boots. Zuo Shaoqing cursed secretly, and his mood became even more gloomy.

"Third Master, do you want to go back to the house?"

"If you don't come back, just walk casually." Zuo Shaoqing said that he was walking casually, but he walked towards the port unconsciously.

However, today's Zuo Shaoqing seemed to be possessed by a degenerate spirit. Halfway there, the rain was too heavy, and the group had to find a place to take shelter.

"Is the sea dangerous in such a heavy rain?" Zuo Shaoqing stared at the white rain curtain without focusing, and said to himself.

A young man from the Cao Gang beside him said: "It is indeed dangerous when it rains at sea, but as long as there is no strong wind, it will be fine. The rain in these circles will not be too strong."

"Have you been to sea?" Zuo Shaoqing turned his head curiously, and saw that the young man was a subordinate who usually followed Yang Yi.

"Of course," the young man raised his chin slightly, and raised his thick black eyebrows. "In the Cao Gang, people who have never been to sea will be laughed at."

Zuo Shaoqing was puzzled: "Don't the Cao Gang mainly focus on inland water transport? Why are they still doing business at sea?"

The young man looked around and saw that they were all his own people, and said in a low voice: "You are our own people, we don't hide it from you, although there was a sea ban before, but it can't stand the high profits of sea trade, so there are still some people who sneak away a few times. Knowledge does not dare to bring things from overseas like it is now, otherwise it will earn more."

The corner of Zuo Shaoqing's mouth twitched, then he nodded to express his understanding.

A dirty little beggar ran over and handed a letter to Zuo Shaoqing, "My lord, someone asked me to give you this letter."

After finishing speaking, without waiting for Zuo Shaoqing's reaction, he rushed into the alley beside him, a black shadow chased after him, and soon came to Zuo Shaoqing with the little beggar.

Zuo Shaoqing ignored him, but opened the letter first. As soon as the letter was unfolded, Zuo Shaoqing was stunned.

There was only one sentence written on the thin letter paper: "Duke Zhen is in danger, please help!"

With his eyes fixed, he pulled the little beggar by the collar and pulled him in front of him, shouting, "Who gave you the letter?"

The little beggar didn't expect this handsome boy to be so fierce, so he timidly replied: "No... I don't know!"

"Who didn't know who gave you the letter? Say it quickly!" Zuo Shaoqing grabbed his neck with a gloomy expression.

"Ahem... That man, wearing a bamboo hat with a brim and a coir raincoat, only asked me to hand over this letter to you and gave me a lot of money... I really didn't see his face..."

"Where is it?" Zuo Shaoqing pushed him away and looked around, because there were not many people on the rainy street, and there were quite a few people wearing bamboo hats and coir raincoats, so he asked eagerly, "Which one is it?"

The little beggar also looked around and shook his head: "I remember that man's bamboo hat was covered with a black gauze...it's gone..."

Zuo Shaoqing winked at the guards behind him, and they rushed into the rain and spread out to look around.

"Do you remember the characteristics of that person?" Zuo Shaoqing squeezed the letter paper in his hand tightly, a chill came up from the soles of his feet, and his whole body was icy cold.

The little beggar was rubbing his neck to calm his breath, and immediately answered when he heard the question: "I only know that he is a man. He is tall. He is wearing a coir raincoat and his figure cannot be seen, but his voice should be quite young."

"You will tell me what happened after you met him again. How did he explain it?"

The little beggar was only about ten years old, his face was as dirty as black charcoal, and the wet torn clothes stuck to his body, shivering.

He pointed to a corner not far away and said: "I was hiding from the rain over there, but he came over and gave me this letter and a dime, and asked me to hand it over to the boy in the lake blue brocade robe who came by the street. Come out and see you."

Zuo Shaoqing braved the rain and walked to the corner he mentioned, and found that there was a narrow road inside, with a family on the left and right sides, and a high wall ahead.

A guard ran over quickly after climbing over the high wall, "Third Master, everyone on the left and right has checked, and there is no suspicious person. Behind that wall is the busiest street in the city. There are too many people to find." arrive."

Zuo Shaoqing clenched his hands and took two deep breaths to calm himself down. He knew that since the man didn't want to show his true face, it wouldn't be so easy for people to find him. As long as he changed his outfit, they wouldn't be able to find him at all.

The most important question now, though, is whether the letter is real or not.If it was true, how did the other party know that Lu Zheng was in danger?

Or is it that someone wants to kill Lu Zheng in this Crane City, and the person who reported it is the enemy?

"Go back to the mansion!" Zuo Shaoqing returned to the Cao Gang full of doubts and anxiety, and immediately recruited the major managers of the Cao Gang to pass on the rain-soaked letter.

He read it carefully. The letter paper used in this letter is the most common rice paper, which can be found all over the street, but the ink is rich in fragrance, with a little bit of bamboo fragrance. It should be the bamboo smoke ink produced by Mobaozhai, which can afford it. Mo's must not be an ordinary family.

But this doesn't mean anything. Anyone who can be an enemy of Lu Zheng must not be an ordinary person. The words on the letter paper are distorted and weak in writing. The person who wrote the letter either does not write often or deliberately uses his left hand. written down.

He carefully ruled out all kinds of possibilities, his reputation in Crane City is not well known, it is impossible for someone to play tricks on him deliberately, if the matter is false, what is the use of sending him this letter?

Disturb his mind?Make him worry?Or is he using his hand to achieve a certain purpose?

He thought about what he was going to do, and then deduced all kinds of consequences, and found that there was no loophole for others to take advantage of. As long as Lu Zheng was still alive, he was confident that no one in this world could hurt him.

So assuming this is true, how does the other party know?And why should he be notified?

If Lu Zheng is in danger at sea, then the opponent is either a pirate or a navy from another country.

The former is single and weak, and it doesn't mean that he meets him immediately. Even if he meets him, how does this person know and still have time to notify him?

If it was the latter, Zuo Shaoqing shook his head, Lu Zheng's going to sea was decided temporarily, and ten days was not enough time for those who knew the matter to go back and forth.

If you can't figure it out, don't think about it, even if there is only a [-]% possibility, Zuo Shaoqing must go to sea to have a look.

Not every manager in the Cao Gang is literate, but they heard about this before they came, so they directly asked, "Third Master, is the news reliable?"

Zuo Shaoqing simply told the story, "I can't tell if it's true, but I'd rather believe it or not. Regardless of whether it's true or not, we must go to sea!"

Everyone was discussing, not questioning Zuo Shaoqing's decision, but asking difficult questions one after another.

"Third Master, the sea is vast, we don't know where Master Lu has gone, and where can we find it?"

"If we want to pursue it from different directions, we are not only short of manpower but also short of boats."

"If we meet the boss, how should we deliver the news? The sea is no better than the land, and ordinary flares are useless at all."

... Zuo Shaoqing slapped the table with his palm, "Enough!" He said with a sullen face, "There is no need to think about these issues at all...bring you pen and ink!"

Zuo Shaoqing quickly unloaded a letter, took out the black wooden sign and stamped it with the seal of the Duke of Zhen, and handed the letter to Yang Yi: "Take it to the magistrate's yamen, no matter what, let the government issue an announcement , to requisition the merchant ships of major commercial firms in the name of the magistrate’s office.”

Yang Yi folded the letter paper and put it close to his body, and asked with some concern: "What if Lin Zhihao and Wang Bazizi refuse to cooperate?"

The corners of Zuo Shaoqing's eyes twitched slightly, and he glanced at him coldly, killing intent suddenly appeared in his eyes.

Yang Yi arched his hands solemnly, "This subordinate understands!"

When he left, Zuo Shaoqing issued several orders, "Gather all the people in the Cao Gang who can be found, and prepare water and food for ten days. I will write another letter and send someone to the naval camp. Let all the sailors who stay behind strengthen their vigilance."

"Are you worried that someone will deliberately transfer away from Crane City's combat power and plan to take advantage of it?"

Zuo Shaoqing shook his head. As long as the overseas powers were not attacking, the number of general pirates was too small, and it was impossible to attack Crane City. So so far, only the small coastal villages were attacked by pirates.

If it was a strong country attacking, it is impossible for there to be no news at all. Zuo Shaoqing was just worried that someone would destroy the newly built naval camp while they were in a hurry.

Zuo Shaoqing found a sea chart from the study and put it on the table. He drew a semicircle with Hecheng Port as the starting point, "Before going to sea, Master Lu said that he would try to go south along the coastline. The deviation is too far, and the north can be ignored. When the ship is ready, we will divide into three routes, Zhengnan, Zhengdong and Southeast. No matter whether we meet Lu Ye’s boat or not, we will return immediately after five days. Maybe... It’s just that we are worried for nothing. field!"

"Third Master, then who can we find to make up for our lack of personnel? Or should we go directly to the governor and ask him to send troops to rescue?"

Zuo Shaoqing smiled wryly, "It is impossible to mobilize military power just by a piece of letter paper of unknown origin. It is justifiable to forcibly requisition merchant ships and people's forces. I don't have that much power to forcefully mobilize troops. The sailors hired by the trading company can recruit as many as they can."

Although the sailors of various commercial firms are not as good as regular sailors, these people have experience in going to sea, and may be better than the regular army in finding people.

"Third Master, do you want to bring a weapon?" A steward leaned close to his ear and asked.

Zuo Shaoqing's heart skipped a beat, and he asked calmly, "What weapons are there in the gang?"

The steward smiled, "Our Cao Gang is active on the boat all year round, and most of the preparations are bows, arrows and axes. They are all small things."

Zuo Shaoqing followed him to the warehouse and looked at the gadgets he was talking about. The corners of his eyes twitched. Bundles of swords, bows and crossbows, axes, chisels, and hammers were piled up in disorder throughout the warehouse.

Zuo Shaoqing could even imagine the scene of these people diving into the water with hammers and chisels to smash through the enemy ships.

"Bring them all, as many as you can fit!"

He sincerely hoped that none of these preparations would be needed.