Ouyang Chong was stunned for a moment, filled with confusion.
But soon, he secretly had a guess and thought to himself: "If Brother Zhong dies, the Dahai people will definitely launch a war against the imperial court. Wu Chengsi is indeed a war madman. In order to fight, he actually started a war!"
Naturally, he did not dare to say such words openly, so he tried in a low voice: "It is my honor to serve His Highness. But after this incident, I wonder if I will have the opportunity to continue to serve His Highness?"
In other words, I helped you do this, are you willing to spare my life?
Wu Chengsi smiled and said: "Don't worry, if you can really make a contribution, I will consider sparing your life."
Ouyang Chong was immediately overjoyed and said: "Thank you very much, Your Highness, for not killing me!"
Wu Chengsi snorted secretly and asked again: "By the way, what is your relationship with the Fire Phoenix Society?"
Ouyang Chong replied hastily: "A few hundred miles south of the coast of Linhai County, there is a Changye Island, where the main altar of the Fire Phoenix Society is."
"Changye Island?" Wu Chengsi raised his eyebrows.
"It was a lawless place where many criminals, thieves and underworld people gathered. It was on that island that I studied medicine." Ouyang Chong explained.
Wu Chengsi pondered for a while and asked: "How many people are there on the island?"
Ouyang Chong hesitated and asked, "Your Highness, do you want to attack there?"
"So what?"
Ouyang Chong said cautiously: "I'm afraid it will be difficult to conquer there."
"Why?"
Ouyang Chong explained: "The reason why Changye Island can become a lawless place is because the sea currents nearby are very special and it is difficult for the army to reach there."
Zhuge Sanyuan said: "What kind of special method?"
"There are circulating currents to the north, west and east of the island. Ships will be affected by the currents when they are hundreds of miles away, and they will not be able to get close to the island."
Wu Chengsi was slightly startled and asked: "What about the south?"
"Although there are circular currents in the south, within an hour and a half from the middle of Youshi to the end of Xushi, the currents will suddenly weaken. During this time, small and medium-sized ships can enter the island, but large ships still cannot enter."
Wu Chengsi was silent in thought.
In this way, this island can almost be called a natural fortress. It is no wonder that this island has become a gathering place for outlaws.
Ouyang Chong waited for a while and then said: "By the way, as far as I know, the top leaders of Huofeng Society have recently gone to Yangzhou."
"When did they go?"
"A few months ago."
Wu Chengsi thought secretly: "Judging from the time, he was suddenly appointed as the Governor of Yangzhou recently. In this way, the people from Huofeng Society should not go there for him."
This is an opportunity, taking advantage of the emptiness of the Fire Phoenix Society's lair, to catch them all in one fell swoop.
Zhuge Sanyuan suddenly asked: "Your leader Situ Hong is Tu Hong, right?"
Ouyang Chong hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "Yes."
"A few months ago, Tu Hong went to Jinzhou. According to him, he wanted to kill Di Renjie. Do you know why he wanted to kill Di Renjie?"
Ouyang Chong hesitated again and said in a low voice: "The leader hates your Dali Temple for destroying his mountain stronghold."
"Di Renjie didn't participate in the annihilation of Tu Hong's village." Zhuge Sanyuan frowned.
"The leader heard that Di Renjie was a representative figure of the new generation in Dali Temple, so he placed the blame for the past year on him."
Zhuge Sanyuan nodded.
"Then why did he kidnap He Lan Minzhi again?" Wu Chengsi interrupted.
"What He Lan Minzhi?" Ouyang Chong said blankly.
"Still pretending? The He Min on your ship is He Lan Minzhi, don't you know?" Zhuge Sanyuan said coldly.
"I really don't know. The leader suddenly brought He Min back, saying he was one of his cousins." Ouyang Chong said anxiously.
"Fu's cousin, He Lan Minzhi used to be An Yuanbo of the imperial court and the queen's nephew." Zhuge Sanyuan glared.
Ouyang Chong said in astonishment: "How come this... uncle from the imperial court came to our ship?"
Wu Chengsi stared at him and said, "Do you really have no clue?"
Ouyang Chong frowned and thought for a while, then suddenly said: "I only know that the leader should know a senior official in Yangzhou."
Wu Chengsi raised his eyebrows and said, "Who is it?"
"I don't know either, but every time before the imperial navy comes to encircle us, he always gets the news in advance and takes us into hiding."
Wu Chengsi shook his head secretly. Yangzhou was indeed a mixed place, and there were actually people colluding with pirates.
Suddenly, he had a feeling that if he went directly to Yangzhou like this, he would be in a battle of wits and courage with all the forces. If he was not careful, he might fall into a big trap.
If the matter develops to that point, not only will nothing be done, but if it is not handled well, it may get stuck in a quagmire, and the reputation gained from the Liaodong War will also be destroyed.
We must not let the situation get to that point, Wu Chengsi told himself secretly.
Next, Wu Chengsi asked Ouyang Chong in detail about the situation on the island.
Ouyang Chong replied: "There are about two more members of the Fire Phoenix Society on the island, more than 300 people. In addition, there are more than a thousand households on the island, all of whom are the most solid believers of the Fire Phoenix Society."
Wu Chengsi was surprised: "There are so many people, what do they eat on the island?"
Ouyang Chong replied: "The people of Huofeng Society organized them to cultivate farmland and produce food on the island in order to prevent officers and soldiers from besieging the island."
Wu Chengsi was silent for a long time, and an idea suddenly came to his mind.
Although he currently holds great power and has unlimited glory, political struggles have always been extremely dangerous, and he may not be the final winner.
If this island can be occupied, if the struggle fails in the future, this can be regarded as a retreat.
After interrogating Ouyang Chong, Wu Chengsi thought for a long time alone in the room.
Finally, he wrote a letter to Wu Mei, asking the court to dispatch 10,000 Zuo Wu troops on the grounds that there were Japanese troops invading the coast.
The current situation requires force to overcome cleverness. At that time, only 10,000 Zuowu troops will be stationed outside Yangzhou City, plus 5,000 Niu guards, in order to deter the evil spirits in Yangzhou.
Only then would he have the energy to rectify Yangzhou's officialdom.
…
At the end of the Youshi hour, the setting sun gradually sank below the sea surface.
A medium-sized brown ship over five feet long was slowly moving forward on the sea, followed by a similar-sized ship.
When the two boats were not far along, several more boats suddenly appeared in front of them.
What's strange is that these boats are lined up in two rows, almost like queuing.
The brown ship and the ship behind also joined the queue, lowered the sails and waited.
Not long after, two small boats suddenly came towards us.
The two boats had the word "phoenix" written on their sails, and they stopped more than thirty feet away from the boat in front.
The two boats are ten feet apart from each other.
After they stopped, the boats lined up in two rows began to set sail, heading exactly between the two boats.
It's as if these two ships are gates.
This scene may seem weird, but it happens here every day.
Just because the sea in front of you looks calm on the outside, but in fact there are strong rapids under the water.
The channel within the gate formed by the two boats is where the undercurrent is weakest.
If we deviate from this channel, we are very likely to deviate from the direction unknowingly under the influence of the rapids, and we will never reach Changye Island.
This is not the first time that the brown ship has passed here. The boatman controlling the ship skillfully controls the ship to travel on the channel.
Not long after, a huge island appeared in front of the field of vision.
There is a large pier on the shore of the island, and there are countless ships docked at the pier.
The two boats finally found two berths. After anchoring, the people on the boats set up planks to the dock. The two groups of people got off their boats and gathered together.
After the two groups met, there were two people walking in front. Helan Minzhi was walking on the right, and the Japanese general Inukai Ono was walking on the left.
There are people from Huofeng Society checking the entrance of the pier. Generally, strangers must be brought by an acquaintance to enter Changye Island. Otherwise, they are not allowed to go to the island.
He Lan Minzhi and others rented a wooden house on Changye Island. They had been there countless times, so they had no problem accessing it.
Although it was already evening at this time, the island was brightly lit in the distance.
Helan Minzhi introduced as he walked: "Brother Dog, this is Changye Island. Even the Tang Dynasty army can't get here. Let's just wait here for Deputy Chief Ouyang."
Inukai Nanyi frowned and said: "Your Excellency Helan, my surname is Inukai, not Inukai."
"Oh, it turns out to be Brother Quan Yang, I'm sorry." He Lan Minzhi smiled a little strangely.
Inukai Ooi didn't understand Tang Ren's thoughts, so he snorted secretly.