The banks of the Bian River were crowded with people, staring at the rippling river surface with wide eyes.
The Japanese archers drew their bows and arrows, nervously aiming at the river.
Wang Shiyong has already issued an order that if Shi Qian and the other two surface, they must be killed without mercy!
Only the dead, not the living.
He was really scared.
But after waiting for a long time, there was no movement on the river.
Wang Shiyong panicked and quickly sent a group of people to search downstream along the Bian River. At the same time, he offered a reward and asked soldiers and yamen runners who could swim to go down the river to search for the body.
If he is alive, I want to see him in person; if he is dead, I want to see his body.
Wang Zongchu was carried over and he was not dead.
The iron spike thrown by Shi Qian only knocked him unconscious and broke several ribs.
He sat on a chair, his face pale. Seeing Wang Shiyong, he hurriedly asked, "Where is he?"
Wang Shiyong pointed to the Bian River and said with a wry smile, "He jumped into the river and disappeared."
"What do you mean by missing?"
"After they jumped into the Bian River, they disappeared without a single bubble."
Wang Zongchu looked into the river and saw a dozen shirtless soldiers in the river, diving into the water and floating up to the surface again.
"They're known as the heroes of Liangshan Lake, so they must be good swimmers. Could they have escaped by diving?"
Wang Shiyong said, "We've already sent many soldiers to search downstream."
"Get more fishing boats here and cast nets to look for the bodies."
That's one way.
Wang Shiyong hurriedly ordered the yamen runners to find a fishing boat.
Soon after, more than a dozen small fishing boats were found.
The fishermen picked up their fishing nets and spread them over a few dozen feet above and below the place where Shi Qian and others jumped into the river.
Wang Shiyong and Wang Zongfu watched eagerly.
Their hearts were in turmoil, and they waited anxiously on the shore.
If Shi Qian and the other two were allowed to escape under their noses, the imperial court would suffer a great loss of face.
They are both to blame.
When the imperial court heard the news, they also sent someone over. The person who came was Zhang Bangchang.
When he understood the situation, he complained, "We finally captured Shi Qian. What did you two do? We had nearly a thousand soldiers following us, and yet someone hijacked the prison van."
Wang Shiyong and the other man looked at each other in silence.
This is a fuss, and there is no excuse.
This body-hunting operation, involving thousands of people, lasted from afternoon to dusk, and from dusk to late night, but not a single person was found.
The only ones who gained anything were the fishermen, who did catch quite a few fish and shrimp.
…
Zhang Shixun settled Shi Qian's affairs and returned to the barracks with the First Army of the Tianwu Army.
"You thieves! Well done! I'm glad to lead you on another mission."
On the playground, Zhang Shixun stood at the front of the team, looking at these familiar faces. He said with regret, "I'm afraid everyone knows that the court appointed me as the commander of the right wing of the Tianwu Army, but I refused. You may all be wondering why I was unwilling to accept this position."
He asked himself and answered, "To put it bluntly, it's very simple. If there's no real power in the position, then there's no point in holding it... Everyone, I'm afraid it will be some time before we meet again. When that happens, it will be a great time to meet again."
After saying that, he stood at attention, saluted all the officers and soldiers, then mounted his horse and walked straight out of the barracks under the gaze of all the officers and soldiers.
An hour later, he returned to Zhang Xiaozhuang.
As soon as I entered the yard, I saw Wang Dong sitting in the yard drinking tea with his thighs crossed over his legs.
Behind him, one on the left and one on the right stood the Black and White Impermanence.
Seeing Zhang Shixun coming back, Wang Dong laughed so hard that his teeth were showing.
"Shixun, these bastards have run outside the Watergate Cave to find Shiqian and his men's bodies. Haha! I'm watching the live broadcast from the surveillance system."
Zhang Shixun glanced at the Black and White Impermanence, puzzled, "How could they each give out a vegetable bun and a meat bun, and still transform into three people? Apart from anything else, the size doesn't even match up."
"Hehe! Are you curious?" Wang Dong looked very proud.
Zhang Shixun pulled up a chair and sat down, pouring himself a glass of water. As he drank, he said, "You look like you deserve a beating... Tell me, what's going on?"
"Remember the meat and bones?"
"Are you talking about the fleshy skeleton in the lifeboat?"
Wang Dong nodded.
"Of course I remember. Every time I was injured by Hei Wuchang during training, he was the one who treated me."
"Although the design of the Flesh Bones is primarily for healing, they also possess most of the abilities of robots, though their combat skills are somewhat weaker."
"I see."
Zhang Shixun took a sip of tea, turned on the smart system, and asked, "How do I watch the live broadcast sent back by the surveillance system?"
"Open the system menu, then click on monitoring... I'm not saying anything harsh, but how come you still can't master the basic functions? It's such a waste of such a good thing."
Zhang Shixun turned a deaf ear to his complaints and watched with great interest.
The banks of the Bian River were crowded with people watching the excitement, and the section of the river near Xiangguo Temple Bridge was especially crowded.
Wang Shiyong was sweating profusely and was shouting something at a junior official.
Wang Zongchu sat on a chair, looking at the surface of the Bian River listlessly.
A few feet away from them, Li Gang and Zhang Shuye stood on the shore with their hands behind their backs, their faces calm and composed, completely different from Wang Shiyong and the others.
The mission of capturing Shi Qian has been completed and the handover has been made to Wang Shiyong. The prison van hijacking incident has nothing to do with them.
Zhang Shixun took just one look and then exited the intelligence system.
"Old Wang, in the past few months, I've been wandering around the city, drinking tea and listening to music when I'm free, and I haven't done anything else."
Wang Dong rolled his eyes. "Even if you want to do something, there's nothing you can do. I've almost finished preparing everything I need to."
"How is the explosives reserve?" This is what Zhang Shixun is most concerned about.
"The finished product only weighed about 20,000 kilograms..."
Zhang Shixun was unhappy when he heard this. "How can more than 20,000 catties be enough? Once we start fighting the Jin soldiers, let alone 20,000 catties, even 50,000 catties won't last a month."
"Tsk! Listen to me!" Wang Dong glared at him. "Explosives are hard to store. First, they have to be protected from moisture and fire, and they need to be closely guarded. Raw materials are different. They're easy to store and safe... To be honest, I've prepared a full 100,000 kilograms of raw materials for explosives. Once the war breaks out, we can produce explosives quickly."
Zhang Shixun suddenly became excited and rubbed his hands, saying, "As long as you can guarantee the supply of explosives, I promise to drive the Jin soldiers out of the Central Plains within six months, recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun within a year, wipe out the Jurchens' lair within three years, and achieve peace and prosperity within five years."
"Yes! As long as you have this ambition, once you have accomplished all this, you will be able to become a great leader."
Zhang Shixun heard the hidden meaning in his words and asked hurriedly, "What do you mean by a great leader?"
"You're asking even though you already know the answer." Wang Dong rolled his eyes. "Of course it's the emperor."
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