After Zhang Yangquan was granted the title of Queen, his office location was changed to the palace. The tedious official affairs of Zhongshu Province were handled by the left and right ministers, and major affairs were also negotiated by the left and right ministers and Heping Zhangzhengshi.
The solution negotiated by everyone will be sent to Zhang Yangquan's study, and he only needs to make comments.
This way of working freed him from tedious things and allowed him to focus entirely on the three-pronged southern expedition.
Wang Dana's army performed well and has occupied Zhenjiang. Xu Baisheng's army also has a great advantage, and the quarrying is just around the corner.
Only Shanzhu has a difficult journey and needs to face Fang Guozhen and Yang Tongguan at the same time.
In the naval battle not long ago, although Shanzhu was forced to retreat, the battle losses were lower than those of Fang Guozhen and Changshu Navy.
This shows that with the advantages of warships and artillery, the combat power of Jiangdu Navy is already superior to that of the opponent. What is lacking now is quantity. When the quantity increases, the enemy will not be able to match it!
However, the problem is that the best results can be achieved only if the three southern expeditions go hand in hand. We cannot let Wang Da and Xu Baisheng wait for the mountain pigs to go all the way. This will slow down the entire Jiangnan strategy.
So the biggest headache for him now is how to defeat the coalition of Fang Guozhen and Yang Tongguan as soon as possible.
There are many sweet-scented osmanthus trees planted in the courtyard outside the study. Although it is not the season for flowers to bloom, they are more than enough for shade and coolness.
Zhang Yangquan placed a deck chair under the largest osmanthus tree, lying on the chair with his eyes closed, silently thinking about the situation in Tongzhou.
At this moment, he heard footsteps in the distance. When he opened his eyes, he saw a pretty figure coming from the corridor, it was Shen Qianqian.
"Miss Qianqian is back, how was the trip to Zhenjiang?" He sat up and asked.
Shen Qianqianfu bowed and said with a smile: "Thank you, Your Majesty Hongfu, everything goes well."
Zhang Yangquan ordered someone to move a deck chair for Shen Qianqian, then lay back on the chair and said with a smile: "Miss Qianqian, what kind of person do you think Fang Guozhen is?"
Shen Qianqian didn't dare to lie down, so she sat on the edge of the chair, thought for a while, and said softly: "Although Qianqian doesn't like his tyranny, she actually admires his ability!"
"Oh?"
Shen Qianqian smiled and said: "Actually, to be precise, my brother admires his abilities. Qianqian also admired him a little more after hearing his many deeds told by his brother."
Zhang Yangquan said: "Brother, your eyesight must be right. I have also heard others comment on Fang Guozhen, saying that what he is best at is sizing up the situation, and he can always use a calm mind to see his own situation clearly!"
Shen Qianqian nodded repeatedly and said with a smile: "You are right. My brother also said that if Fang Guozhen gets into business, he will definitely become the world's number one businessman!"
Zhang Yangquan said: "Then do you think he can see the current situation clearly?"
Shen Qianqian was stunned and said: "What do you mean?"
Zhang Yangquan said: "Our army has money, food, and strong production capacity. It can continuously manufacture artillery and warships. Every extra day makes our navy stronger, and he can only sit back and wait for death! Do you think he can see it? At this point?"
Shen Qianqian thought for a while and said: "He should be able to see this clearly!"
"Then what do you think he will do?"
Shen Qianqian frowned. She actually didn't know much about military matters, but since Zhang Yangquan took the initiative to ask her, she wanted to work hard to think of a useful reply.
"Qianqian once heard her brother say something. When Fang Guozhen first became a pirate, his strength was far inferior to that of Cai Ye. At that time, Cai Ye announced to the outside world that Fang Guozhen would be destroyed within a month. Others felt that Fang Guozhen would definitely die."
Zhang Yangquan asked: "What happened next?"
Shen Qianqian said: "The day before Cai Ye took action, he secretly sneaked into Cai Ye's island with twenty of his men. That night, Cai Ye and his men had a drunken party. After being raided by Fang Guozhen, thousands of People were in a mess."
"Later, Fang Guozhen's main fleet took the opportunity to land on the island and defeated Cai Ye's pirates in one fell swoop. After that battle, his strength surpassed Cai Ye's."
Zhang Yangquan's eyes flashed slightly and he said: "I understand, you are trying to tell me that Fang Guozhen has both a calm side and a gambler-like side that is all-or-nothing!"
Shen Qianqian said softly: "Yes, Fang Guozhen is a very strange person, it's like stuffing several people into one body."
Zhang Yangquan took a deep breath and said: "Although the current situation is different from the original one, it is also similar. Fang Guozhen is afraid that he will have to make a desperate move again!"
Shen Qianqian suddenly said: "Your Majesty, Qianqian has something that I don't understand."
"What's the matter?"
"Li Desun is your spy next to Fang Guozhen, right?"
Zhang Yangquan glanced at her and said, "How do you know?"
Shen Qianqian smiled and said: "If you really want to deal with Fang Guozhen, you can't let Li Desun escape Jiangdu."
Zhang Yangquan sighed: "I really can't hide it from you. Yes, we put him back on purpose!"
Shen Qianqian said: "In that case, why didn't Li Desun report when Fang Guozhen attacked Marshal Shan?"
Zhang Yangquan put his hands behind his head and said with a smile: "Because he consciously left Jiangdu and was free from our control, and he no longer intends to take our orders!"
Seeing his relaxed expression, Shen Qianqian smiled and said, "Is this what you expected?"
Zhang Yangquan nodded and said: "Yes, he is just a hidden chess player now. Since you can see that it is not normal for him to escape from Jiang, Fang Guozhen probably knows it too. So he is not activated for the time being, just to let Fang Guozhen put down his doubts about him!"
Shen Qianqian hesitated for a moment and said: "Now Fang Guozhen may make a desperate move, just in time to activate this secret chess piece and annihilate Fang Guozhen in one fell swoop!"
Zhang Yangquan smiled and said: "Miss Qianqian, your understanding of the battle situation has surpassed that of most of my generals. Do you want to join me as an aide?"
Shen Qianqian blushed and whispered: "Your Majesty is making fun of you."
Zhang Yangquan sat up and said slowly: "You are right, it's time to activate this secret chess piece, three shots!"
Yang Sanqiang hurried over, cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty!"
"Send someone to find Li Desun with a printed letter and ask him about the recent movements of Fang Guozhen's army!"
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Yang Sanqiang took the order and left. He selected an alert person from his bodyguard and asked him to take the letter and go to Changshu.
Changshu was called Yu Township in ancient times. It was promoted to a county during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. During the Yuan Dynasty, due to the development of maritime transportation, Changshu County was promoted to a state and was affiliated with Pingjiang Road.
Fang Guozhen's naval forces settled in Changshu after helping the Yuan Dynasty repel Jiangdu's army.
This group of pirates was used to being lawless, and not long after entering the city, they turned Changshu City upside down.
Yang Tongguan was very angry and asked Fang Guozhen to restrain the soldiers many times.
Fang Guozhen said: "If you don't want us to be here, then we will return to Taizhou."
Yang Tongguan was helpless. Without Fang Guozhen's help, the Changshu navy was no match for Jiangdu's army. So he had no choice but to turn a blind eye and not ask questions as long as no lives were lost.
In fact, although all of Fang Guozhen's men were desperadoes, he still had certain rules and bottom lines in governing the place, and he rarely acted recklessly like this time.
The generals secretly speculated that Fang Guozhen's temper became bad because his adopted son Fang Deqian was killed by Jiangdu's army.
Fang Deqian was killed eight days ago. Jiangdu Army announced to the outside world that Fang Guozhen had refused to declare war and defected to the Tatars, so Fang Deqian was executed. The outside world applauded.
Li Desun was not sure whether Fang Guozhen was unhappy about this incident, but he himself was indeed very angry about it.
If it weren't for his cleverness, he, Li Desun, would be executed now! Every time he thought that he had been captured by Jiangdu's army, there was an evil fire in his heart that he wanted to vent!
On this day, Li Desun was drinking in a restaurant and insisted on letting the shopkeeper's daughter come over to accompany him. When the shopkeeper refused, he had one of his legs broken.
The surrounding drinkers were so frightened that they all ran away. There was only one drinker sitting silently by the window, drinking by himself, as if Li Desun and the others did not exist.
This naturally attracted Li Desun's attention.
He laughed evilly, walked slowly to the drinker, put a hand on his head, and said with a smile: "Boy, you had a great time drinking!"
The drinker didn't even look at him and said calmly: "How can you feel happy when a bunch of mad dogs are biting people in front of you?"
Li Desun smiled instead of being angry, and said to the people behind him: "Brothers, stop playing with those old things. There is a fool here, it should be enough for us to have fun for a while!"
The drinker sneered: "I advise you not to let them come over. If you see something you shouldn't see, it will be too late for you to regret it!"
Li Desun was stunned for a moment, vaguely feeling that something was wrong with this drinker! Although he was fierce and domineering, he was not stupid. He said calmly: "Did you see something you shouldn't have seen?"
The drinker took out a piece of paper from his sleeve and slapped it on the table.
Li Desun glanced at him suspiciously and picked up the paper.
Although he was a pirate, he had attended private school for half a year when he was a child. As soon as he scanned the first line of the letter, his expression changed instantly.
"Brother, what's written on it?" A pirate came over.
"Pa!"
Li Desun gave him a slap with his backhand, and then added another kick, sending him flying more than two feet, and angrily shouted: "Look at you, mother, get out of here!"
Everyone knew his temper, so they hurriedly fled the restaurant.
Li Desun turned to look at the drinker and said with a stern face: "Let's talk in another place."