Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 12: Snake in the Deep

The next day, when the leader Wang Lun learned that Fang Yong had killed his nephew Zheng Kui, he was furious. He sent people to arrest Fang Yong and summoned all the villagers to try him in public.

In the Juyi Hall, Wang Lun sat at the head of the hall with a gloomy face.

Fang Yong stood in the hall with his back straight.

The seven commanders stood aside, and Gan Ba stood directly next to Fang Yong.

There were crowds of people outside the hall. After hearing about this, the villagers rushed to watch.

"Fang Yong, do you admit your guilt?"

Wang Lun shouted angrily and pointed at Fang Yong.

Fang Yong looked at Wang Lun uprightly without any fear. He had the support of Gan Ba and the seven commanders and was not afraid of Wang Lun at all.

"Fang Yong doesn't know what crime he has committed. Please tell me clearly, Boss!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Lun angrily slammed the armrest of his chair.

"How dare you kill the people in the village without permission, how can you allow me to make excuses?"

Fang Yong heard this and asked Wang Lun:

"How dare Fang Yong quibble? May I ask what the three words in this hall are?"

Wang Lun heard this and laughed contemptuously:

"You can't even read, and you are the third in command. These three words mean Juyi Hall!"

Fang Yong listened and asked again:
"What does the word righteousness mean?"

Wang Lun said:
"It is benevolence, loyalty, and trustworthiness. Don't you even understand this?"

Fang Yongdao:
"All I have followed in my life are these three principles. However, there is one thing I do not understand. Please enlighten me, Master."

Wang Lun said impatiently:

"Don't say any more, let me first tell you about your killing of the villagers!"

Fang Yongdao:
"Please, Boss, clear up my confusion first. I will kill or chop you up afterwards. It's all up to you."

After hearing what Fang Yongdu said, Wang Lun agreed:
"What's your confusion? Tell me."

Fang Yongdao:
"May I ask, great leader, taking advantage of someone's misfortune and using gambling as a trick to defraud the villagers of the money they were using to treat their mother's illness, which of the three virtues is this, benevolence, loyalty, or trustworthiness?"

After these words were spoken, the whole room was in an uproar.

Many of the villagers outside had been cheated by Zheng Kui before, and they all cheered.

Wang Lun, who was sitting on the seat, had a livid face. He pointed at Fang Yong with a paper fan and trembled continuously.

At this point, he had no idea that Fang Yong was deliberately challenging him.

But at this moment, under the watchful eyes of everyone, Wang Lun, the boss, had no real power and could do nothing to Fang Yong.

"You, you, you, what do you mean by taking advantage of someone's misfortune? Since gambling means winning and losing, even if you lose, it's voluntary. How can you blame others?"

Fang Yong was not at all flustered when he heard this. He took out a piece of silk book from his arms slowly and showed it to everyone.

"This is the testimony of the owner and employees of Tianlun Casino regarding Zheng Kui's cheating. It has their fingerprints as evidence. It is written in black and white. The boss can check it."

Wang Lun took the silk book and after briefly flipping through it, his face turned frighteningly dark.

"Where are the shopkeeper and the clerk now? Bring them here. I want to interrogate them personally!"

Wang Lun’s idea was very simple. The shopkeeper and the clerk were his close followers. When they came up, he would have a way to make them change their testimony.

Fang Yong said: "They can't come."

Wang Lun asked, "Why can't you come? Do you have something to hide?"

Fang Yong said: "I have killed these two people!"

Wang Lun's eyes widened when he heard this. "You, you are so bold. You dare to kill people for no reason without my order. Come, take Fang Yong to the water dungeon!"

The hall was quiet and no one moved.

Gan Ba said calmly at this time: "Why are you so anxious, Boss? Third brother must have a reason for taking action. Please wait for Third brother to explain the matter clearly before giving orders."

Wang Lun was so angry when he heard this that his lungs were about to explode.

In his early years, he used Gan Ba to train troops and rectify military discipline in the village.

However, he did not expect that Gan Ba was ungrateful. He expelled all his close associates from the army on various grounds, such as violating military discipline, raping women, withholding food and wages, etc. He then promoted a large number of his own people, completely sidelining him, the boss.

Zheng Kui from the casino and the shopkeeper who was killed by Fang Yong were excluded as dissidents and kicked out of the army by Gan Ba in this way.

If Wang Lun could be given a chance to start over, he swore that he would cut Gan Ba into pieces to relieve his hatred.

Unfortunately, there is no chance to turn back time.

Now Wang Lun knows that he can only endure the humiliation and wait for the opportunity.

Sigh:

The dragon is trapped and cannot cross the abyss.

It cannot fly above the sky, and it cannot be seen below in the fields.

It coils at the bottom of the well, with loaches and eels dancing in front of it.

Hiding teeth and claws, alas, I am the same.

Wang Lun lamented deeply in his heart about his tragic experience. Since he could not think of any poem for a while, he could only recite the poems of Wei Emperor Cao Mao silently to express his inner unwillingness.

Afterwards, Wang Lun swallowed his anger and said:

"Well, let's give Second Master some face. Tell me, Fang Yong, why did you kill someone?" Fang Yong clasped his fists and said loudly:

"Boss, this matter involves the secrets of the upper echelons of the village. I killed those people just to save the reputation of our water village. Boss, do you really want me to tell you?"

Upon hearing the secret, the crowd watching outside pricked up their ears.

Wang Lun said:
"Tell me, our village is open and aboveboard, what secrets could there be?"

Fang Yong said:

"That day, I interrogated the owner and three employees of Tianlun Casino. All four of them mentioned the boss at the same time, saying that the casino extorted money in order to pay tribute to the boss, and that the boss loved Suzhou brocade fans..."

With a snap, a brocade fan fell to the ground.

Wang Lun looked flustered and said repeatedly:

"Stop it, stop it. Don't talk about this anymore. This is a false accusation. You can't believe it!"

Fang Yong stopped talking when he saw this.

Some things don't need to be overdone. This Wang Lun is obviously a fool. He has no strategy, no courage, panics when encountering problems, and is greedy for fame and fortune. How can he pretend to be a cultured person?

Now that things have come to this point, everyone will naturally have their own opinion on what is right and wrong.

Afterwards, the so-called trial ended hastily, Fang Yong was acquitted, and the boss left on the grounds of poor health and did not show up for many days.

This behavior can be said to be infinitely close to incriminating oneself.

Afterwards, everyone in the village discussed the leader's behavior and was very disgusted with it.

During this period, Fang Yong's deeds were widely spread, and many people came to join him after hearing of his reputation.

People felt that the Third In Command even accepted people like Li Dagui under his command and regarded them as brothers. No matter how bad they were, they were still better than Li Dagui!
Soon, Fang Yong had more than a hundred people under his command, and more people were constantly gathering.

The number of professional soldiers in the water fort is three thousand, all under the command of Gan Ba, but this is only the apparent number.

In fact, the water fort is naturally full of bandits. Except for these three thousand people, almost every other person in the water fort has a certain combat ability.

Normally these people are responsible for the logistics of the water fort and other operations for various reasons, but if an emergency really comes, they can all be used as soldiers.

Therefore, the rumor that there are tens of thousands of Hongze bandits is not false, but there really are so many of them.

As the third in command of the water stronghold, Fang Yong naturally has the right to recruit his own subordinates, and there is no clear limit on the number of people.

The only problem is that he has to pay for the support of his subordinates himself.

It is a good thing that everyone comes to him for help, but if it is not handled properly, a good thing can turn into a bad thing.

According to the standards in the village, it costs at least 500 coins a month to support one subordinate, five taels for ten subordinates, and fifty taels for one hundred subordinates.

This was just the salary paid to his subordinates. Their daily food, drink and training also cost money, as well as their swords and other equipment, all of which he had to pay for.

In short, the problem Fang Yong is facing now is that he has no money.

A penny can make a hero fail; he can't create money out of thin air.

How to make money?
It's impossible to push away the people who come to him!
Seeing that he had more and more subordinates and money was becoming increasingly tight, Fang Yong became a little anxious.

There is no news from Master Fang yet. This old guy is very slippery and is still hiding in the city.

If this doesn't work, Fang Yong can only take action against other big households nearby.

This is not a long-term solution, but if the situation becomes urgent, there is no need to worry about it.

What Fang Yong didn't know at this time was that although he was anxious, there were people who were more anxious than him.

One cabin, two people.

One person was drinking.

One person sipped tea.

The scene was quite strange.

"I say, have you made up your mind? I say this is a capable person. The three conditions you mentioned before are all met now: being kind and righteous, knowing the rules, and having ambition. In addition, there is one more condition: being a master of martial arts. What else is there to consider? Make a decision quickly. Do you still want revenge?"

"No hurries……"

"Hey, you guy, what do you mean? Believe it or not, I will break your lame leg!"

"It's already broken, so what's the harm in interrupting it? Lao Hei, let me tell you that you have to find the right way to do things. If you want to help someone in need, you have to seize the right opportunity. Listen to me and wait for two more days."

"Okay, okay, I'll listen to you, right? Then may I ask Mr. Xue, who has found the right method, how did your leg become broken?"

"Damn it, you picked at my scars!"

……

For several days, Fang Yong was worried and sad.

He had more and more people under him, almost two hundred now, and the money he had would soon be insufficient.

He had even arranged for Li Sheng to take people to scout the area nearby.

However, at this moment, a familiar voice suddenly came from outside.

"Third brother, third brother, are you there? I have something to ask you?"

Fang Yong walked out, opened the door, and found that the person who came was Ma Laohei, who had attacked Mr. Fang's house together before.

And next to Ma Laohei, there was another person, who was tall and thin, wearing a yellow rat fur coat, with a square face and a constant smile on his face.

The two had met before, but they didn't talk much.

One of the seven commanders under Gan Ba, Xue Dacuizi.

(End of this chapter)