Sun Tu didn't know that the two men who had just been assigned to him were already complaining behind their backs. He was still thinking about the current errand.
He finally figured it out. Although Xue Yuanpeng didn't abandon himself this time, he actually didn't have good intentions. It would be difficult to deal with just two subordinates who already covet the Dutou position. In addition, with only about twenty people, it is impossible to take care of the security matters in Bianjing East City, including Shiduofang. of.
Obviously Xue Tongpan just wanted to mess up his errand, so that he could find an excuse to punish himself. Of course, if he can really get things done, most of the credit will go to his immediate boss. Anyway, the other party will not suffer any loss.
But even if he knew his intentions, Sun Tu couldn't fight back. Instead, he had to do his best to get things done, which was in his best interest. As for how to get started, in fact, he already had a preliminary plan in mind. It was not enough to rely on the servants in Kaifeng Mansion alone. He had to hire foreign aid.
Two days later, Liu Fang was in the private dining room on the second floor. Sun Tu invited Lu Zhishen and a group of his disciples to a banquet. This is a rare good thing for those men with rogue backgrounds. Seven or eight people came here early, and they were even more grateful to Sun Tu. These people have never been taken seriously by others before. Now that Sun Tu is an official, he can still treat them as friends. Naturally, it is easy to impress them.
After toasting each other, Sun Tucai smiled and said: "I invite you to drink this time for two things. The first one is to thank you for helping me bring down the Zhang family that day. Although at that time Only two brothers, Tang Fifteen and Gao San, came forward, but I know that you all played a big role in it." As he said that, he also raised his wine glass and gave everyone a toast.
These men hurriedly raised their glasses and drank: "Guan Sun, you are so polite. We brothers are of the same mind. Since they want to help you, we should help you."
"The second thing is right in front of you. You should also know that I have been appointed to an official position and am working as an errand in the Yamen of Kaifeng Mansion, right?" Sun Tu continued, and filled another cup for everyone: "In the Yamen There are so many errands that I can't handle them alone, so I want you to help me do some things. Don't worry, as long as you can help me with things, I will not treat you badly. I can even let you work in the Yamen when the time comes. I have a job here, would you guys be interested?"
"This..." Everyone looked at each other and did not answer immediately. It is obviously unrealistic to say that they are not moved, but they still have concerns. The first is their own identity. After all, even if they don't admit it on the surface, they know that their family background is really hard to deal with; the second is that Lu Zhishen has some insecurities. It's easy to explain, they are the most loyal people, the master has taken care of them before, but now they can't just climb high branches.
Realizing that these disciples were looking at him secretly or unintentionally, Lu Zhishen laughed angrily: "You lazy guys, do you really think that the Sa family cannot do without you? If you don't disturb the vegetable garden, the life of the Sa family can be more leisurely. You just go and the Sa family won’t stop you!”
"Thank you, Master!" Everyone was overjoyed and then said to Sun Tu: "Official Sun, of course I want to find a serious job, but I don't know if the yamen can accommodate us."
"You don't have to worry about this. You just listen to what I say, and no one else has anything to do with you. As long as you can help me run the errand and make a contribution this time, I don't dare to say anything else, so that you can have a decent life. It's not a difficult matter to be born." Sun Tu assured him as if he was taking care of everything.
"I will obey the orders of the officials!" Tang Shiwu was the first to express his position, followed by the senior high school student, and then several others nodded in agreement. Sun Tu was overjoyed when he saw this, and looked at Lu Zhishen gratefully. He had indeed helped him a lot this time.
After toasting each other a few more times, Tang Shiwu and the others asked with some curiosity: "Guan Sun, what is it that makes you need to use people like us?"
Now that he had taken them under his command, Sun Tu naturally wanted to treat them with sincerity, so he smiled and said: "It's just to take care of the public security in the East City area and ensure that some scoundrels don't cause trouble again. You have been in Tokyo for a long time, and you should also know that there are many people in the city now. There is a lot of chaos, and the Kaifeng government office has long been interested in rectifying it, and I was assigned the task of managing Dongcheng."
As soon as these words came out, the expressions of everyone present changed. The hands of two people holding the wine glasses trembled and they spilled the drinks: "Is it actually such an errand?"
"What, is there any difficulty?" Sun Tu keenly noticed that everyone was showing signs of retreating, so he asked cautiously.
Several people hesitated for a while, and finally Tang Shiwu said: "Guan Sun, you may not know, but because of this matter, several officials have been demoted from the capital, and two Kaifeng Prefecture officials died in unknown circumstances. Not white…”
"Is this possible?" Sun Tu's eyes suddenly narrowed, and then he realized what a difficult task Xue Yuanpeng had entrusted to him.
After Tang Shiwu organized his thoughts, he explained: "Actually, the chaos in Tokyo city was already out of control three or four years ago. Although it was done secretly, the people still suffered a lot. Some gangs The forces colluded with the dignitaries early on. The former used various means to seek benefits and oppress the people, and then gave most of their income to the latter. Then the dignitaries in the court protected them, allowing them to be more unscrupulous. Even the government There is nothing you can do about them.
"Take my Dongcheng area as an example. There are two gangs, Zhujie and Shunshui, which control water and land transportation. Ordinary people have nothing to do with them, but as long as there are large quantities of goods going in and out of Bianjing, they must share the benefits. The profit is good, otherwise something will happen to their goods.
"This is not serious enough. The Pink Swallows group will always attack young women who are new to the city. I heard that 80% of the private concubines in the city are under their control, and those women are their tools to make money."
Sun Tu really didn't expect that there would be such a dark side in the seemingly peaceful Bianjing city. It was really shocking and shocking, so he subconsciously asked: "Then the government won't take care of it?"
"The Kaifeng Mansion did take care of it, but it was useless. The Zhujie and Shunshui gangs had already taken care of it, and there was no way to catch them. Even the businessmen who were exploited by them did not dare to tell the truth, so the government There is no way to deal with them all the time. As for Fen Yanzi and his group, they are even more well-informed. Before the people in Kaifeng Mansion have even left the Yamen, they have already been on guard and transferred all their personnel. There is no way to investigate." Tang Shi Wu smiled bitterly and said: "Of course there are exceptions. I heard that Pink Yanzi once fell into the hands of two Dutou, but in the end, those prisoners walked out in a big way within two days, and the bodies of the two Dutou But half a month later, it floated up from the Bian River..." At the end of the sentence, there was a hint of fear in his eyes.
Even Lu Zhishen, his face darkened when he heard this, and his brows were furrowed: "How come there is such a thing? How come the Sa family has never heard anyone mention it? Also, how did you know these inside stories on the fifteenth?"
"Master, there are many things that have been circulated in the public. Moreover, the apprentice had thought about joining the Bamboo Gang, but was later rejected by them, but he knows a lot about the inside story."
The senior high school students and others also nodded in agreement: "Yes, Master, Sun Guanren, these gangs not only have a large number of people and are ruthless, but they also have people behind them. Even the Kaifeng Mansion has been unable to do anything about them, and it is even less possible for us to deal with them. …”
"Is this the Ghost Fan Tower?" Sun Tu suddenly thought of a previous legend and asked.
"Actually, Guifanlou is just a general term. When Bao Gong was appointed as the prefect of Kaifeng during the Renzong Dynasty, he swept away these gang forces and drove them away to hide underground in a place called Wuyou Cave. This term came into being later. . But now, it is impossible for such things to happen anymore, so there is no such thing as ghost fanlou, only these gang forces are running rampant in Bianjing."
"I don't believe that under the emperor's feet, the bright world can actually make them lawless!" Sun Tu suddenly picked up the wine glass, took a sip of wine and said: "Since I have taken over this job, I must try my best to handle him well. .”
His words immediately attracted the support of Lu Zhishen: "Well said! What the Sa family dislikes the most are those bastards who bully others by doing whatever they want. This incident is also a part of the Sa family."
This statement by the two of them put the disciples in a bit of a dilemma. They originally wanted to persuade Sun Tu not to take risks rashly, but in the end it had the opposite effect. What should they do