Tang Xunzhong personally drafted relevant notices, distributed them, and posted them all over Fujian. Fearing that some of them might be missed, he sent people to distribute the notices along the coasts of Zhejiang and Guangdong. In the notice, Tang Xunzhong promised to pay a large sum of money as long as the witnesses provided valuable clues.
But half a month later, there was no bubble in the snow-like notices. Silence, deathly silence everywhere.
Wang Jinghong said: "If it is true, as Zhou Shida said, that there are more than ten pirate ships entering our Ming waters, then someone will definitely see the passing merchant ships, passenger ships, and fishing boats."
Tang Xunzhong said: "Yeah, logically speaking, it's impossible for no one to see it. It's weird, it's really weird."
Yang Hui asked: "Is it possible that someone saw it but was afraid of the pirates' revenge, so they didn't dare to report it to the government?"
Wang Jinghong said: "There must be brave men under heavy rewards. Don't these people love money?"
Yang Hui said: "My life is gone. No matter how much money I have, it's useless. I think it's better to increase the reward. The reward must be enough, enough to make people forget their fear, and enough to make people take the money." You can live a happy life anonymously."
"Okay." Tang Xunzhong followed Yang Hui's suggestion, redrawn the reward, and distributed and posted the notice again.
However, it was still ineffective, and these notices were still lost in the sea, with no news at all.
This time, even Yang Hui couldn't sit still. He made the suggestion to increase the reward, but it had no effect. He angrily proposed to Wang Jinghong and Tang Xunzhong that the court give him ten days to go to sea to search for clues. For ten days, he drifted on the sea, ate and lived on the sea, expanded the search area, extended the search time, and went all out to find traces of the treasure ship as much as possible.
Both Wang and Tang felt that this method was risky. After all, the sergeants on the treasure ship were most likely to be buried in the sea. No one could guarantee whether Yang Hui would make the same mistake again. Yang Hui himself also knew the danger of this trip, but he had made up his mind and would not look back.
The next day, the second day of April, Yang Hui personally ordered 300 elite soldiers to sail into the deep sea in two well-equipped Dafu ships and ten homing pigeons.
Before leaving, Yang Hui agreed with Wang Jinghong and Tang Xunzhong that he would release a carrier pigeon on the sea every day to report his movements at any time.
In the first few days, the letters sent by Yang Hui were all very simple, because the facts were indeed monotonous and boring. Yang Hui's lucky ship found almost nothing except seagulls.
But there was new news from Tang Xunzhong. He successively received reports from Fujian Province, Zhejiang, Guangdong and other places, saying that many fishermen who went out to sea to fish disappeared out of thin air. There were no boats or people. I saw a piece of bright red sea water and scattered torn clothes. It looks just like the treasure ship when it disappeared.
Nowadays, fishermen in fishing villages in coastal provinces are in mourning. Everyone is frightened and dare not act rashly.
Tang Xunzhong found several fishermen whose family members were missing and inquired about the situation in detail. It was March 19th for one family, March 23rd for another family, March 28th for another family, and April 2nd for another family. All three or five people went out to sea in small boats to fish. After that, they never returned home. The village sent a large boat to search, but no trace was found. Only one family found bright red water and broken pieces of clothes of the deceased on the sea.
"Master Tang, our Wangjia Village is even more evil," said the old fisherman Wang Pingshan. "On the first day of April, my two sons and two daughters-in-law went out fishing in a boat early in the morning, and they never came back. , on the second day of April, the village sent out a big boat to look for her, but the big boat didn't come back. It's been two days, and there's no letter at all."
Tang Xunzhong said in surprise: "Is there such a thing?"
"It's absolutely true."
"What was the weather like the day your son had an accident?"
"The weather is fine, the wind is calm and there is not a ripple at all. It was the same day when the ship went out to sea. There was not a cloud above the head. It is impossible that the ship capsized due to wind and waves."
"Then what do you think was the reason that caused the two ships to disappear one after another?"
"Don't say you are wondering, our entire village has said it so many times, I don't know. I have thought about various reasons, but none of them are reliable."
Tang Xunzhong really did not expect that within a period of time, fishermen along the coast would disappear one after another, which made his judgment on Zhou Shida shaken.
Zhou Shida once swore that the disappearance of the treasure ship and the death of the crew could only be caused by Chen Zuyi and a group of pirates, but now it seems completely different. After all, Chen Zuyi is also the overlord of this sea. He has a lot of money, so it is possible for him to rob treasure ships. However, in recent days, the things that have happened are small fishing boats belonging to poor people, and there is no profit at all. Do pirates attack just to kill people for fun? He believed that Chen Zuyi and his gang would not engage in such a boring business.
What's more, his notices offering huge rewards for witnesses are still posted everywhere. Even if it is pirates, there have been one vicious incident after another in the past few days. It is impossible that there is no eyewitness.
By the way, the second day of April was the day when the Wangjiacun ship disappeared, and it was also the day when Yang Hui led the ship to sea. But on the second day of April, Yang Hui had already brought back a letter through pigeons, and there was nothing special written in the letter. Thing.
Tang Xunzhong was completely confused. He originally wanted to write a letter to Yang Hui and ask more about the situation, but Yang Hui was drifting on the sea and the letter could not be delivered at all. He had to wait quietly for Yang Hui to return and discuss it again. . However, there was no movement from Yang Hui's side. It was agreed that one carrier pigeon would be sent out every day. Three days later, the shadow of the carrier pigeon never appeared again.
The unreasonable interruption of the carrier pigeons has given Tang Xun a bad premonition in the center, but his ten-day appointment with Yang Hui has not yet arrived, and he still has a little hope. However, with the arrival of April 13th, The remaining hope in Tang Xun's center also vanished.
Both he and Wang Jinghong believed that Yang Hui and the three hundred sergeants accompanying him must have been killed.
Who is this person and what kind of power is this? It can be as small as a fishing boat or a fisherman, as large as a treasure ship as big as a small island, or hundreds of fully armed officers and soldiers with high martial arts skills. They all seem to be able to tease and ravage at will.
Tang Xunzhong told Zhou Shida about the new changes that had occurred in recent times. Zhou Shida was also at a loss. He changed his original view and believed that this was not like the behavior of pirates.
At this point, Wang Jinghong and Tang Xunzhong were both in dire straits and could no longer think of any other way.
The imperial court no longer dared to send navy troops to search the sea rashly. Instead, monks and Taoist priests went to the coastal areas to open monasteries and conduct religious services to calm the maritime affairs and the people's hearts.
However, while a large number of monks and Taoist priests were practicing this method, fishermen still disappeared and were killed at sea. The monks and Taoist priests also felt that they were losing face and fled away one after another.
