Just hearing the sound of "pah pah pah", a man was hanging from the beam of the main cabin, and two big men were holding whips, beating him one after another.
The man's body had been beaten to a bloody pulp, and his screams became feeble.
Fang Guozhen sat on the sharkskin chair at the end, drinking and looking at the beaten man with interest.
This kind of situation is very common in Fang Guozhen's army. Li Desun would never ask a question on weekdays. Today, for some reason, he couldn't help but ask a pirate in the cabin: "Who is this kid? Why did he piss off the governor?"
The pirate was looking at it happily and grinned: "It's a trick! Damn it, you only dare to sell our news after receiving twenty taels of gold from Tianwan Army!"
Li Desun's heart skipped a beat, and he forced a smile and said: "You don't know whether to live or die!"
At this moment, Fang Guozhen noticed him coming and shouted: "Desun is here, come here and talk to me. Laizi, drag this bastard down, pull out all his nails and teeth, chop off his nose and ears,
Then he will be imprisoned in a water prison. If he dies within a month, I will blame you."
A pirate quickly accepted the order, loosened the rope, and carried the spy away.
Li Desun bravely came to Fang Guozhen's side and said with a smile: "Brother."
Fang Guozhen glanced at him sideways and said lightly: "Brother, do you know Zheng Zongtai?"
Li Desun said in shock: "Isn't Mr. Zheng the gentleman who teaches young men to read? How could I not know this?"
Fang Guozhen said: "I killed him."
Li Desun felt cold all over and said with a dry smile: "Did he do anything wrong?"
Fang Guozhen was holding a glass cup in his hand. He shook the cup, and the light yellow wine suddenly became more turbid.
"He didn't do anything wrong. It's just that Deqian's kid has always had the best relationship with Mr. Zheng. I'll send him down to stay with Deqian!"
Li Desun's palms began to sweat, and he sighed: "It's all my fault that my subordinates are incompetent and failed to rescue the young master before leaving!"
Fang Guozhen glanced at him and said: "How can I blame you? It was not easy for you to escape from Jiangdu at that time!"
Li Desun felt that Fang Guozhen's eyes were a little strange, and his heart was pounding. He stood up and said, "Brother, if you want to punish me for this, I have nothing to say!"
Fang Guozhen waved her hand and said, "I didn't say I was going to punish you. Don't be nervous. Sit down."
Li Desun just sat back, and just when he was about to bring the topic to Lu Sichang, Fang Guozhen said again: "Mr. Zheng is dead. Who do you think is more suitable to take his place?"
Li Desun frowned and said, "Master Dong is very knowledgeable. It should be no problem for him to teach your young master."
Fang Guozhen suddenly smiled and said: "I think Mr. Qi is more suitable, what do you think?"
Li Desun almost jumped out of his chair. He only had one son, and he was not a very precious child. He specially invited a master named Qi from Wenzhou to teach him how to read.
"Brother, you are talking about Mr. Qi..."
"Of course it's Mr. Qi who teaches your son. In fact, I talked to him once before setting off."
Li Desun clenched his fingers, his face turned pale, and said, "Talk about...what?"
Fang Guozhen said calmly: "I told him that you are my best brother and asked him to teach your son well for me. He must write me a letter every day and tell me which new books your son has read.
Me!"
Li Desun stood up suddenly, his face turned green and white, and his hand quietly touched his waist.
Suddenly, two men in black cloaks walked out from behind Fang Guozhen. Both of them wore Yaksha masks on their faces, and they were Fang Guozhen's personal guards.
Fang Guozhen seemed not to notice Li Desun's strange look and continued: "When Mr. Qi wrote to me yesterday, he said that your son was missing..."
Li Desun and the two Yaksha guards looked at each other for a moment, then his shoulders slumped and he slowly sat back.
Fang Guozhen reached out and patted his shoulder and said with a smile: "Brother, you don't have to worry. The thief who kidnapped your son has been killed by my bodyguards. Mr. Qi wrote again today, saying that your son is very good and he is still alive today."
Read the Classic of Filial Piety."
With a "pop" sound, Li Desun fell to his knees.
"Brother, look at the great achievements I have made in the past, so give me a treat!"
Fang Guozhen narrowed his eyes and said, "Oh? You're so good, why should I deal with you?"
Li Desun lowered his head and said: "I was so obsessed that I defected to the Jiangdu Army, and then led them to arrest Young Master Deqian."
Fang Guozhen turned the ring on her thumb silently without saying a word.
Li Desun continued: "They asked me to come back to you and be their eyes and ears."
Fang Guozhen suddenly said: "Why didn't you report me when I raided the wild boars?"
Li Desun whispered: "I didn't know at the time that they held the handle on me, so I didn't plan to talk to them again after I came back, and they didn't come to see me!"
Fang Guozhen nodded and said, "What handle do they have on you?"
Li Desun said: "Before Mr. Deqian was arrested, he wrote you a letter, in which he suspected that I had defected to the Jiangdu Army..."
He told about the meeting with Fang Deqian at the shabby tavern.
Fang Guozhen shook his head and said: "You are so stupid. They let Deqian go on purpose, then asked him to write that letter, and then used that letter to control you!"
Li Desun remained silent.
Fang Guozhen asked again: "When did they find you?"
Li Desun said: "The eighth day of July."
"What did you tell them?"
"I... told you about sending people to Lu Sichang!"
"What did they ask you to do?"
"Let me encourage you to do it as soon as possible!"
Fang Guozhen's eyes flashed. After thinking for a long time, he smiled and said: "Very good, Desun, you can send them a message immediately!"
Li Desun naturally understood what Fang Guozhen meant. He smiled bitterly and said: "Brother, I know you will never let me go, but I hope you will give me a happy life based on our past friendship!"
Fang Guozhen nodded and said: "I promise you, after this matter is finished, I will give you a comfortable way to die!"
The illusion in Li Desun's heart was shattered, and he gritted his teeth and said: "Brother, since you must die, please forgive me that I can no longer do things for you!"
Fang Guozhen said: "After this matter is settled, I can spare your son's life!"
Li Desun was stunned for a long time and sighed: "What news do you want me to convey?"
Fang Guozhen smiled and said: "They want to use their tricks to get me to take the bait. If I don't cooperate with them, won't I let them down?"
……
Jiangdu, Prince Chu's Mansion, Study Room.
"Your Majesty, this is the latest news from Li Desun!" The guard handed over a note.
Zhang Yangquan took it and read it, and couldn't help but be overjoyed.
Li Desun's side was progressing smoothly. Under his instigation, Fang Guozhen planned to take action on the night of July 21, sending his most elite 300 personal guards to land in Jiangbei from Lusi Chang and sneak into Tongzhou City.
On July 23, Fang Guozhen and the main force of the Changshu navy will attack Tongzhou. Two hours before the attack, three hundred personal guards will kill people and set fire to the city, assassinate the generals defending the city, attack the gunpowder depot, and create chaos! p>
Zhang Yangquan quickly sent someone to invite Liu Bowen over, handed the note from Li Desun to Liu Bowen, and said with a smile: "Sir, the plan is going very well, we can lay a net for Fang Guozhen!"
Liu Bowen looked at the words on the note repeatedly and frowned: "Weird!"
Zhang Yangquan hurriedly asked: "What's wrong?"
Liu Bowen said: "Li Desun is willing to serve us, and his son is a big factor. However, this letter does not mention his son at all."
Turning to the guard, he asked: "When you met Li Desun, did he ask about his son?"
The guard was stunned for a moment and said: "I used to ask questions when I was in contact, but I didn't ask this time."
Liu Bowen asked again: "Did you notice anything different about him when you met him this time?"
The guard frowned and said: "It seems not, but his attitude has become a lot more cooperative."
Liu Bowen looked at Zhang Yangquan.
"Your Majesty, Li Desun has a problem."
Zhang Yangquan nodded. In the last meeting of the decisive battle, Li Desun neither asked his son nor took the opportunity to make any conditions. Instead, he became very cooperative. This is indeed abnormal.
"Come here, go and invite General Geng Si."
Two-quarters of an hour later, Geng Si came to the study, and Zhang Yangquan asked: "Where is Li Desun's son?"
Geng Si said: "The news came back the day before yesterday. I just left Taizhou. I don't know what went wrong yesterday. There was no news. When it came back, my subordinates have sent people to respond."
Zhang Yangquan took a deep breath, turned to Liu Bowen and said: "Sir, it seems that Fang Guozhen has snatched Li Desun's son back. What should we do next?"
Liu Bowen twisted his beard and said with a smile: "He knew our plan, but he still sent Li Desun to send back such a news. Obviously he wanted to take advantage of our plan."
Zhang Yangquan pondered: "The question is, how will he take advantage of it?"
Liu Bowen said: "Fang Guozhen's purpose is to capture Tongzhou, so that he can change his situation of waiting for death!"
Zhang Yangquan's heart moved and he said: "I understand, his plan remains unchanged, it is still to create chaos in the city, and then take the opportunity to attack the city! But there should be another group of people used to create chaos!"
Liu Bowen nodded and said: "When we thought we had restrained this group of troops, a hidden group of troops suddenly took action and caused chaos in the city, catching Marshal Shan and the others off guard!"
Zhang Yangquan said: "The other group of people who left must also be Lu Sichang!"
Liu Bowen laughed and said: "If I were Fang Guozhen, I would let the second group of people sneak into the city in advance!"
Zhang Yangquan nodded, stood up and said, "It's a very important matter. I want to go to Tongzhou in person. Mr. Liu, would you like to go with me?"
Liu Bowen also quickly stood up, cupped his hands and said: "I accept your order!"