At dusk, the city gates of Jiaozhou had already been closed, so Fan Xian's later order was actually somewhat redundant. However, since such a big event and such a serious conflict happened in the city, Wu Gefei knew that he must handle it carefully, otherwise, if the 10,000 navy officers and soldiers on the harbor outside the city invaded the city, it would be extremely difficult to save his old life, so He strictly ordered his cronies and subordinates to go to the city to watch the defense and watch the movement on the other side of the port.
At the same time, the officials of the Jiaozhou government and the state army were also conducting investigations and searches in the city. Although the imperial court came to investigate the problems of the Jiaozhou navy, the admiral was assassinated... we must find the assassin, maybe we can dig out some of them. Deeper secrets.
Of course, Wu Gefei hoped that he would never be exposed to those terrifying secrets. He rubbed his dry eyes, and reported to Fan Xian the situation in the city and the movement outside the city in a rough voice.
Fan Xian nodded, expressing his satisfaction with the response speed of the prefect. Without the cooperation of the prefect, it would be basically impossible for him to control the admiral's mansion and put the navy generals under house arrest.
After a few words of gentle persuasion, he asked the magistrate to rest for a while. Wu Gefei didn't even dare to talk, thinking that even a prince like you is staying up late, how dare he go to sleep? What's more, the situation in the Admiral's Mansion is still somewhat ambiguous. Who knows what unexpected changes will happen in this long night.
Seeing that Wu Gefei insisted on staying by his side, Fan Xian raised the corners of his lips and smiled, and asked softly, "Are you worried about things outside the city?"
Wu Gefei was startled, and then smiled wryly: "Admiral Chang Kun has been in charge of the navy for more than ten years, and his tent is full of confidants, and his prestige among the lower-level soldiers is also very high. Today he died strangely, and my lord will also appoint the upper-ranking general of the navy. House arrest, if the matter spreads to the harbor... as long as there are a few caring people to provoke it, those men will probably scream."
Fan Xian sighed: "I wanted to take down Chang Kun and let him come forward to appease the navy, but who knew he was assassinated..." He sneered: "The other party is really a good trick. To create such a big gap between the imperial court and the Navy makes this official very difficult."
This is of course a lie. Chang Kun was killed by him. If Chang Kun did not die, it would be even more impossible to subdue the navy. However, since he is planting, of course he must continue to plant it.
"What should we do next?" Wu Gefei hunched slightly and asked for instructions tiredly: "The rumors cannot be kept secret forever, and the imperial court always handles the case, and the order must be transmitted to the army."
Fan Xian fell into silence, wondering if his plan could go smoothly. In his original plan, he would kill Chang Kun first, then take down Chang Kun's cronies, use the Overwatch Council to obtain first-hand confessions, and then use the navy generals who are still loyal to the court to regain control of the situation, and then in the water. The division found evidence of the incident in the East China Sea, turned the case into an iron case, and used iron and blood methods to deter those sailor officers and soldiers who had different ambitions...
But the question now is, among the generals of the navy, who should I trust? In fact, the intelligence of the Overwatch Council cannot be fully trusted in many cases, at least not as reliable as a face-to-face psychological confrontation.
At this moment, Fan Xian missed Mr. Xiaoyan who was far away in the capital. If Bingyun was by his side, he would definitely arrange a more perfect plan, instead of standing in the night of the admiral's mansion like himself, facing The generals of the navy did not know how to speak.
Fan Xian sat at the stone table, frowning slightly, made up his mind, waved his hand and gestured to Qingwa beside him.
Qingwa was taken aback for a moment, and immediately took orders to leave. Not long after, in the firewood room behind the admiral's mansion, there were bursts of extremely shrill howls. If someone had amazing hearing, they might still be able to hear the crackling sound of the soldering iron falling on the human flesh, and the sound of bones breaking.
Wu Gefei's complexion was ashen, knowing that the Overwatch Council had begun to use torture. Reminiscent of the rumored Overwatch Council's fear of ghosts and gods, Master Zhizhou's hands trembled, but he suppressed his nervousness and fear, and bravely suggested: "...My lord, This move... I'm afraid it's inappropriate."
Fan Xian understood what he meant. At this time, there were still many sailors in the Admiral's Mansion. If he used the torture so openly, he was afraid that it would arouse public outrage, but... Fan Xian originally had this idea in mind.
Under the dual effects of violence and humiliation, the navy generals either let out a final roar in anger, or they were frightened so that their hearts were beating wildly, and they confessed their deepest thoughts to themselves.
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Things really happened as Wu Gefei worried. The navy generals who were under house arrest in the Admiral's Mansion all walked out of their rooms and stared at Fan Xian angrily after hearing the howls.
Fan Xian didn't even look at it, and said, "It turns out that the generals are still awake, do you have anything to say?"
As he was talking, he suddenly heard commotion outside the Admiral's Mansion, and the sound gradually spread into the garden. He didn't know what happened. Fan Xian frowned and asked, "What's going on?"
It's already so late at night, the Admiral's Mansion has already been heavily surrounded, and the affairs of the birthday banquet have also been blocked, who are the people outside
Wu Gefei wiped the sweat from his forehead, and ordered a yamen servant to go out and have a look. After the yamen servant came back, he reported with a hint of embarrassment: "It's a member of the generals' family."
It turns out that although the news has been blocked, the navy has been operating in Jiaozhou all year round after all, and some people still try to let the wind out, especially at this time it is already late at night, and the wives and concubines of the generals find that their men have never returned. Naturally, I was a little worried, and I received those rumors. Although I didn't know whether it was true or not, I still sent people to pick them up.
Fan Xian smiled, and then thought of the representatives of the wealthy businessmen and the merchants in Jiangnan who he had left in the lobby, thinking that it would not be long before he could hide it, but hoped that after the city gate was closed, the reaction from the port would be slower.
Wu Gefei looked at Fan Xian with some embarrassment, while those generals had complicated expressions on their faces. They didn't expect that the women in their family would have such courage, and they were also wondering in their hearts, who released the news
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"Since everyone has come to pick them up, all the generals should go back."
Fan Xian's words made everyone in the venue dumbfounded. Aren't they going to be under house arrest? Why did you just let it go like this.
Fan Xian said softly: "I'm here to investigate the case. Now that Dang Xiaobo has committed the crime himself, those evil spirits hiding in the navy have also jumped out. The generals are just implicated. Of course, I will It won't be difficult."
These generals looked at each other in blank dismay, unable to believe what they heard was true.
"Go back." Fan Xian said with a smile: "Although I am eager to talk to the generals, it is not easy to offend the wives."
There are no real wives in Jiaozhou City, they are all concubines or even concubines sought by the navy officers and soldiers. Fan Xian's words made these generals a little embarrassed.
At this time, the miserable cries of Dang Xiaobo and those people in the chaifang sounded again.
The women outside seemed to have listened, and led the servants to make a loud noise.
For a while, inside and outside the Admiral's Mansion, it was very lively.
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The generals left the Admiral's Mansion suspiciously, but they knew that there must be countless pairs of eyes from the Overwatch Council staring at them in Jiaozhou City. The court confessed.
As for Fan Xian's last words, it fell deeply into the hearts of the generals.
Heart-to-heart talks... This is also a matter of priority, Mr. Tisi gave himself and others a chance to return to the embrace of the court, and it depends on who is the first to understand the righteousness and come to confess to Mr. Tisi...
Each with their own ghosts and thoughts, these generals left.
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Wu Gefei didn't know what Fan Xian was thinking, so he didn't want to ask too much. He just strengthened the defense of Jiaozhou City. Before leaving, he finally said cautiously: "My lord, it's best not to be too aggressive."
Fan Xian nodded. Judging from Wu Gefei's performance tonight, the Household Department's evaluation of him is a bit low. Perhaps it's because of Chang Kun's presence that the Zhizhou lord has never shown a level that matches his ability.
Fan Xian will not kill Dang Xiaobo, this is the biggest evidence of Donghai's murder, and he will naturally be escorted to Kyoto in the future.
※※※
Even the girls in Jiaozhou city knew that the Overwatch Council had controlled the admiral's mansion, they knew about the death of admiral Chang Kun, they knew that the navy suffered heavy losses, and they knew that their masters were in danger.
The news that Fan Xianqiang had concealed for a short time naturally spread to the ears of many people. Although the state army under Wu Gefei was guarding the city gate, the navy had its own channel. The man Dang Xiaobo released in advance finally passed the blockade successfully, and walked along a small road outside the city without a sound. Approaching the harbour.
He looked at the lights of the port in the distance, and he was very excited. Although he didn't know that Dang Xiaobo had been captured by the Overwatch Council, he knew that the navy was facing the biggest crisis since its birth. As long as he could enter the camp and transfer troops, he would If the entire Jiaozhou City is taken, the safety of the navy and generals can be kept. As for how to deal with it afterwards... that is a question that adults should consider.
It's a pity that when he was hundreds of feet away from the navy's tent, he suddenly felt the ground shake.
There is no sound, but someone is behind.
He turned his head, but he didn't see anyone. He only saw a dozen or so horses riding in black armor. It wasn't until these horses got closer that he realized that all of these horses were riding cavalrymen in black.
In the night, those black armors reflected the dark moonlight in the sky, as if there was a trace of death.
His pupils shrank slightly, and his body trembled. This is a black knight, the black knight of the Overwatch Council!
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The head flew into the sky, and blood spurted out of the cavity. The naval officer didn't start to feel his stupidity until the moment before he died. Since the Overwatch Council came to clean up the navy, how could it not carry the fear that everyone in the world feared? black ride
Jing Ge's face was still covered with the silver mask, he glanced indifferently at the corpse on the ground, and nodded to the guard beside him.
The personal guard pulled the reins of the horse, turned away, stood under the hillside and made several gestures, but the night is so dark and the moonlight is so dim, who can see these orders
But when his gesture fell, on the low beam between Jiaozhou City and the naval station in the harbor, a row of densely packed things suddenly appeared like a forest after rain, which seemed to have an inexplicable sense of beauty.
All cavalry. A neat row of black cavalry on the mountain ridge, like a ghost, is quietly waiting for orders. The formation is facing the naval station in the distance.
The formation remained motionless, and I don't know how these cavalrymen controlled the horses on them. They didn't neigh, and they didn't even scratch the ground with their hooves.
The tens of thousands of officers and soldiers in the navy seemed to be unaware of it.
Jing Ge led the guards on ten horsemen behind him, looked indifferently in the direction of the navy station, and suddenly said: "There is still half a quarter."
The guards behind him clasped their stirrups with one foot, began to string the crossbows, and then slowly drew out straight knives in a uniform manner, left crossbow and right knives, which was the standard configuration of black knights.
A hint of evil flashed across Jing Ge's eyebrows. He was ordered by Fan Xian to be in charge of blocking the communication between the generals in the city and the officers and soldiers of the navy outside the city, but even he did not expect that the generals of the navy responded so quickly that at the same time that Dang Xiaobo let the school officer out of the city In the past, there were actually many naval generals who made the same choice.
Although the black cavalry had already killed seven people before and after this short mountain ridge, Jing Ge couldn't guarantee that no sailors had crossed this blockade and entered the navy's garrison.
Staring in the direction of the port from a distance, Jing Ge narrowed his eyes, and the silver mask on his face had a cold light. The navy garrison has already moved, and the lights are a little brighter than before. It seems that the soldiers there have already known the news in the city. There must be a few generals who are good at instigating, and they are tempting the soldiers of the navy to attack Jiaozhou. Go rescue those who are already dead... let these soldiers go to die.
Jing Ge waited silently for that moment, he knew that the navy was not made of iron, and the other party could only transfer two thousand people at most, this was something Mr. Tisi had already calculated in advance.
Four hundred black cavalry faced two thousand naval officers and soldiers who were not good at land warfare.
Jing Ge couldn't help but shook his head, they were all citizens of the Daqing Dynasty, they were all soldiers of the Daqing Dynasty, and he was actually not very willing to slaughter each other.
※※※
Fan Xian didn't know the tense situation outside the city, but he could guess that the navy should have already made some moves. The black cavalry's surprise attack ability is unparalleled in the world, especially at night, and no one should be able to pose a threat to Jiaozhou City. It's just that the night is already deep. If I wait until dawn, I still can't let the generals of the navy come forward to win people's hearts, and a larger-scale mutiny may be inevitable.
So while worrying about the black knight, he sat in the admiral's mansion, waiting for the return of those generals with a little sneer.
Just like the order of rank, the first general to return to the admiral's mansion was the third person in the navy. This general who was over 40 years old directly knelt down to Fan Xian in the study, expressing In addition to the incomparable loyalty to the imperial court, the incomparable hatred for Chang Kun's rebellion and treason, and the sympathy and sympathy for Mr. Tisi's hard work in investigating the case overnight.
Fan Xian was very pleased with this statement, it was not in vain that he had done so many things this night and arranged such a long psychological offensive.
It's just that the subsequent conversation made Fan Xian a little annoyed. Although this general surnamed He had a high status in the navy, he also admitted that without Chang Kun and Dang Xiaobo, he wanted to completely control the navy. , is also very difficult.
What made Fan Xian especially angry was that this General He directly expressed his unwillingness to be the first to stand up, because under the current circumstances, whoever stood up first would definitely win the favor of the navy officers and soldiers. Direct resentment, if you want to take charge of the army in the future, I am afraid that there will be huge problems.
But Fan Xian's problem was that he couldn't be too vicious in the face of this shameless old man.
Because this General He said with snot and tears: "My lord, I have been following His Royal Highness to conquer Hu in the west. I have only been in Jiaozhou for half a year. I really don't know much about the affairs of the Navy."
Well, after a long time, it turned out to be the Eldest Prince, Fan Xian sighed in his heart, although the Overwatch Council's intelligence had this statement, but the other party had already revealed his identity shamelessly, no matter what he did, he had to give the Eldest Prince some face.
Next, more and more generals returned to the Admiral's Mansion one after another, expressing their loyalty to His Majesty and condolences to Fan Xian. At the same time, they carefully took out relevant evidence to explain their faction and position.
These generals are not Chang Kun's cronies, nor are they the nails of the eldest princess in Jiaozhou, but the problem is that no one is willing to stand up to solve Fan Xian's worries and difficulties, because the matter is indeed too big, for their own future, for their own sake For the masters behind them, they prefer to keep silent for the time being.
The reason why they came to have a heart-to-heart talk with Fan Xian was that they were also afraid that Fan Xian would get angry, arrest him like they did with Dang Xiaobo, and accuse him of colluding with bandits and treason.
Each has factions and backers, and those backers all have deep or shallow relations with the Fan family in the capital, and Fan Xian always wants to give some face.
Fan Xian didn't need to give face to the eldest princess and the East Palace, but to these people.
"My lord, I am Ren Shaoan's distant cousin."
"My lord, the next official belongs to Mr. Qin..."
"grown ups… "
When a lieutenant general in charge of the navy's logistics was mysterious but extremely embarrassed and said, "My lord, my surname is Liu...", Fan Xian finally broke out. Is this one of the three most powerful navies in Qing Kingdom
It never occurred to him that it was just a navy, and the internal faction relationship was so complicated. Surname Liu? Why didn't you mention your relationship with my stepmother earlier? Fan Xian was furious, and kicked this guy out, but didn't let him leave the house... Since it's a relative who turned a corner, you have to act it out for me if you don't want to act it out!
For Fan Xian tonight, the biggest benefit was knowing that the army was not a solid block, and internal affairs were actually so complicated. There are people from the palace, people from the former prime minister's mansion, people from the old Qin's family, and people from the middle school under the sect. It's not easy to play hard, but these people are very naughty, and they don't want to jump out and be Fan Xian. knife.
Fan Xian finally picked out two people to be his knives, and let the last person walk in at the same time.
He didn't look at that person, he was just thinking about his own thoughts, and he couldn't help feeling a little angry in his heart. In the end, the two generals he selected were from Duke Liu's mansion, and the other was from his father-in-law. The relationship is the closest, so they can't let them run away.
Fan Xian laughed at himself. The army has become like this. It has become the place where the big shots in the court arrange employment. If this continues, even the army will become rotten. Qing Guo has always been proud How much combat power can be preserved? How can such an army protect the environment and the people
Chang Kun is indeed not a good person, but what are these generals and the people behind them
He looked at the last general sarcastically. He knew that the other party was a veteran of the navy and had some prestige in the army, but he didn't know which family he was from. Who is he related to in the court? Master Lin? Master Shu? Or old man Qin? Don’t say it’s the dean and my father, I won’t believe it.”
Fan Xian sighed in his heart, as soon as he looked at the water division, he knew that if things went on like this, the Qing Kingdom would really have no army, no generals, no country. Soldiers are a national event, so why are these people so shameless if they let their disciples get old in the army to gain benefits
The general stood in front of Fan Xian, his expression froze slightly, then he smiled and said, "Master, this general is yours."
Fan Xian was startled, and didn't say a word for a long time. He narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Who are you from?"
The general didn't change his face, and repeated with a smile: "Your general is your man."
Fan Xian took a deep breath, and a feeling of absurdity surged in his heart. He was just angrily criticizing the courtiers before, so why did he hit himself in the face with a fist
It's just that I have never had a confidant in the army, and Chen Pingping and her father were also closely watched by the emperor. Even if they deployed people, it was impossible not to tell him, so Fan Xian squinted his eyes and looked at the man in front of him. I asked again: "Who are you?"
The general repeated for the third time: "I am your man..." He said respectfully: "I have nothing to do with anyone, I am just your man."