"But given that the government had made a few rebellions before, he was hesitant when he was about to get ashore. I swear to the lives of the whole family and the young, and I would definitely protect him from being fully prepared. Then I took him to pay homage to Hu Ruzhen. You should know what happened later..."

"Yeah." Zhao Hao nodded and said softly: "It's a pity that Hu Ruzhen could not fulfill his promise at all, because officials in the Southeast all strongly opposed the lifting of the maritime ban. Governor Hu had to appease Wang Zhi while trying to clear the little master... As a result, before the little master was opened, Wang Bengu arrested Wang Zhi first."

"No," Zhao Liben nodded, and after many years he was still resentful: "At that time, he went to the Governor's Office to ask about progress every day, which made Hu Ruzhen annoyed, so he asked him to go to West Lake to relax. Because I was in Hangzhou, Wang Zhi came with peace of mind, but I waited for no one in the Nietai Office. When I heard the news, I realized that the inspector Wang Bengu arrested him!"

Today, Wang Shaozuo was just a seventh-rank boy who had just entered the officialdom at that time. However, a major feature of the Ming Dynasty's official system was the lower level. In the central government, the sixth-rank ministers could be on par with the sixth-rank chiefs; in the local area, the seventh-rank inspector even did not even give the face of the governor, let alone a third-rank inspector.

"When I learned that Wang Zhi was arrested, Hu Ruzhen was shocked and immediately went to the inspector's office to request Wang Bengu to release him. I also tried my best to rescue him, but the stalemate lasted for a whole year. The final result was to be sentenced to the Japanese crime and sentence him and his son to behead him."

"Before execution, Wang Zhi asked to see me. I cried and apologized to him, but he did not blame me for not keeping his promise. He just smiled and said, today he realized that those famous families who passed on poetry and books were a hundred times more greedy than pirates who killed people without blinking. He was a pirate who was looking forward to the opening of the court and the officials and the people were willing to keep the sea ban and monopolize the trade with him. He dared to go ashore to negotiate against their wishes, so naturally there was only one word death waiting for him..."

Zhao Hao suddenly said when he heard this: "It turns out that Wang Bengu is also theirs..."

"Of course. Otherwise, with Hu Ruzhen's status as the Southeast King at that time, and with my position as the magistrate of a province, how could he not be able to fight a small patrol?"

Zhao Liben let out a breath of turbid breath and then said, "In exchange for forgiveness of me, Wang Zhi asked me to promise him one thing - to protect the lives of the rest of his family. I went to Hu Ruzhen at night and jointly pleaded with him. As long as the men of Wang Zhi's family died, the female family members didn't care at all... They were sentenced to exile, so they happily pardoned them, which was also a compensation for us."

After hearing this, Zhao Hao already understood everything.

It turns out that the "Wu" in Wu Ji is not Wu with the surname Wu, but the capital of Wu Feng Wu.

"You must guess that your grandma Ye is Wang Zhi's second wife. But she is actually just a maid who serves Mrs. Wang Zhi. They are released and Xue Ying is in her infancy. Yes, Xue Ying is called Wang Xue Ying, and I changed my husband's surname to Jiang."

"Wu Ji was not originally called Wu Ji, but Wang Ji, and I was also the one who made the decision. Although the court released them at that time, after Wang Zhi died, the Japanese riots broke out, so we had to prevent someone from venting their anger on them."

"Yes." Zhao Hao nodded, thinking that the Japanese turmoil was over now, and no one would pursue Wu Ji's past, so the old man came out to pick peaches.

This is quite similar to Tao'er's "sent his wife and son".

"Wu Ji was originally a business on the shore of Wang Zhi. It was very small and not eye-catching at the time. In fact, it was more like his tool for collecting intelligence. When Wang Zhi's mother passed away, Xue Ying was only six years old. In order to allow you, Grandma Ye to support Wu Ji, the old woman made the decision to marry Wang Zhi's tablet before she died... So, I didn't feel sorry for Wang Zhi."

"Yeah." Zhao Hao thought to himself, there must be no regrets. Look at how moist my grandma Ye is now.

~~

After listening to the old man’s story, Zhao Hao was still confused and said, “Even if Xue Ying is Wang Zhi’s only descendant, what’s the point?”

I won't wake up bloodlines or something.

"I don't understand, it's very meaningful." Zhao Liben said proudly:

"First, although Wang Zhi died for eight years, his old team still controls part of the 36 islands. These people hated the Southeast wealthy clan who killed Wang Zhi. They were forced to cooperate with them because of the situation. They sent people to greet Xue Ying regularly in private, hoping that she could take over her grandfather's foundation one day."

"Secondly, the Japanese people pay more attention to blood than us. The Japanese emperor has become grandsons, and no one dares to replace him. Therefore, they will definitely admit that Xue Ying's identity can at least open a convenient door."

"Third, God is also helping me. There was an internal conflict between the nine Southeasters. Now that the Lu family has been removed from the list, he accidentally lost the crucial "Seal of the King of Purification". Do you know what that is?"

"I know." Zhao Hao nodded.

"You know? How did you know?" Zhao Liben was incredible.

"Because that thing fell into my hands by accident."

Zhao Hao sneered.

"How is that possible?!" It was Zhao Liben's turn to stare at the door.

Zhao Hao then met a Shanghai merchant chasing the Lu family when he entered Beijing last year. After entering Beijing, he was stolen. He found the gold seal and the maritime merchant account book from his luggage and told the old man in its entirety.

As for the later questioning of Zhao Shouzheng being taken to Shuntian Mansion, Zhao Hao had already written a letter to tell the old man. He was just worried that the secret would be leaked and did not say much in the letter.

After a long time, Zhao Liben came to his senses from the shock, grabbed his grandson's arm, and asked in a low voice: "Where is the account book?"

"Tell me the key information and then burn it with fire." Zhao Hao replied.

In Zhao Liben's opinion, his genius grandson must have never forgotten it, so he continued to ask with confidence: "Where is the Yin?"

"Hide it, grandpa wants to see it, I'll find an opportunity to give it to you." Zhao Hao said again.

"No, please keep it, no one can show it." Zhao Liben decisively: "That's a priceless thing!"

"Is it that important?" Zhao Hao was shocked.

"It's very important." Zhao Liben said with a heavy emphasis: "Do you know what the eight families have made because they lost this golden seal?"

"On the first day of the Lunar New Year, someone was in New Taipei Pass and burned a batch of goods that Huzhou was about to be shipped to Zhoushan. He burned tens of thousands of pieces of silk, hundreds of boats, and dozens of people died. Later, the city was in chaos..." Zhao Liben sighed long:

"The strong prey on the sea, and there are many fleets of all kinds. Every contract is signed, the result of countless battles, which often last for several years and cannot afford it. So, unless it is absolutely necessary, everyone still hopes to get it back."

After saying that, he looked at his grandson with bright eyes and said, "You understand what I mean now, do you understand what I mean?"

"Grandpa wants to fill in the gaps in the Lu family and become the ninth one?" Zhao Hao couldn't help but take a breath. The old man's appetite is really big!

"What's wrong? Just because the eight families can have fleets at sea and territory overseas, our Zhao family will do the same thing if they don't promote it?" Zhao Liben raised his eyebrows and sneered, "What, are you afraid of being a good grandson? You are the one who dares to smash Master Xu's place! Don't be worse than grandpa, an old man!"

"Why don't you dare?!" Zhao Hao said boldly: "I had made up my mind to meet them!"

"Okay, I'm worthy of being my grandson!" Zhao Liben was overjoyed when he heard this.
Chapter completed!