The sun was shining in the west, and the autumn wind suddenly picked up, causing several big trees in the courtyard to rustle and leave colorful leaves.
There is something elegant and poetic about sipping tea and playing chess in this small, picture-scroll-like courtyard, but the words spoken by the three people who were talking were quite disgraceful, adding an even more chilling tone to this mid-autumn season.
The two sides playing chess are Sun Tu and Tong Mu, the two most powerful people in the Song Dynasty. Tang Feng is watching the chess, playing chess, and now it is the end of the game. He was killed and left paralyzed, and his defeat was certain.
But at this moment, their minds were no longer on this game of chess, and they were also talking about the incident thousands of miles away. Just listen to Tang Feng whisper: "Not only in Hangzhou, but also in Suzhou, Jinling and other places where there are provincial examination venues, some candidates have caused chaos, and many innocent people have been injured or died. Although the government has We took action in time and even deployed troops and horses to suppress them, but the situation is still not optimistic."
"Is it because someone is causing trouble?" Sun Tu asked casually without even raising his head, his eyes still falling on the chessboard.
"Exactly. Originally, the guard of Jinling planned to arrest people on the spot. However, those scholar candidates were vigorously protected by local officials, making it difficult for the soldiers there to arrest them. As for Suzhou, the local governor actually arrested them. I was punished a lot, but when I sent the person to the prison, he was pushed back by the local magistrate. Now I am in a dilemma." Tang Feng said this with some anger in his eyes.
Sun Tu, on the other hand, smiled softly: "Without the protection of these local officials, they would not dare to do such a thing. What about the situation in Hangzhou?"
"The people from the Imperial City Division have sent back the news. Although Lin Qianha was hesitant, he still followed the secret order and arrested all the people and put them in prison. As a result, the cells in Hangzhou are now overcrowded, and some people have died from traumatic attacks. . In addition, although Dai Quan, the prefect of Hangzhou, is willing to cooperate, he is also embarrassed by it and has already written a memorial and sent it to the capital."
After hearing this report, Tong Mu became a little worried and said: "Qianli, is this too radical? If we really suffer too many casualties, I'm afraid that the world's scholars will regard us as bandits. By then, our reputation will be ruined." But it was completely ruined..."
Sun Tu smiled and moved a chess piece in his hand: "Do you think our reputation will be improved if we don't do this? In fact, I had the same idea as you before, so I have been cautiously implementing it in the past two years. What is the result of abolishing ancient Chinese literature? Which of those so-called Confucian disciples does not regard me as a bitter enemy, and there are countless people in the world who say that I am a traitor. Now I have also figured it out. If you want to achieve great things, you cannot have too many people. How worried can those public comments be to me
"You also know that Cai Jing and his like were called traitors and six thieves at the beginning. But what happened? If I hadn't led troops to kill from the north, they would still be high-ranking officials and hold power today. How could they have suffered? The slightest influence? As for the so-called reputation left by Qingshi, it is even more of a joke. History has always been written by the victors, not the scholars. They are not qualified to evaluate me, Sun Tu!"
As soon as these words came out, there was a faint flash of light in Sun Tu's eyes, which actually made the two people in front of him feel anxious.
It's Yilin. Tang Feng, who was most familiar with him, had already sensed the strong murderous intention in his heart, which also made him feel excited. His eyes were bright: "If the Lieutenant has any orders, I will do my best to do it."
At this time, Sun Tu ignored his confidant's request for a fight, but looked at Tong Mu, who had changed his color slightly: "What, are you afraid?"
"That's not the case. I, Tong Mu, have never been a mediocre person who cares about reputation. What's more, my reputation has long been bad since I became Tong Guan, and I don't care about getting more notoriety." Tong Mu smiled, shook his head and said: " I just feel pity for those candidates and scholars. They should have a bright future, but they have to be manipulated by others and become enemies of the imperial court. I am afraid that after this incident, many people's lives will be completely ruined."
"That's what they asked for themselves, but only in this way can other scholars from all walks of life know the determination of the imperial court." Sun Tu said with a solemn face: "Although I am not a scholar, I fully understand these so-called kings of the country. The thoughts of the pillars.
"On the surface, they seem to have a great spirit, so they are fearless. But in fact, they are just deceiving themselves and others. In the past, it was just that no one dared to attack them, which led to their arrogance and arrogance today. But once it really happens There are casualties, and when the imperial government really ignores their identities and punishes them harshly, the waists of these guys who talk about the teachings of the saints all day long will only weaken faster than ordinary people, and their knees will also weaken. It will only bend harder. I believe that by this time next year, when I promote the abolition of ancient Chinese literature elsewhere, no one will dare to say no!"
Sun Tu's inference came from his understanding of history, because as far as he knew, hundreds of years later, those scholars in the Ming Dynasty were the fastest to kneel down under the rule of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. The so-called integrity and loyalty can be completely discarded for most scholars. After all, when these illusory things are compared with real life, they are not worth mentioning at all.
You must know that after the Manchus entered the customs, they really dared to raise the butcher knife and massacre the Han people unscrupulously. Maybe at the beginning there were some people who risked their lives to fight against the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty, but what was the result? Death and death, death and death, in the end they could only grovel and become obedient people with a pig's tail behind their heads, slaves of the Eight Banners masters, and even being slaves was not an option.
Since history has proved that those scholars are not as courageous as imagined, and he cannot subdue them with gentle methods, then Sun Tu can only use some extraordinary means to subdue them this time. Anyway, he has decided to abandon ancient texts and use this to spread cultural knowledge to the people all over the world, so it is absolutely impossible to change it.
What's more, now this envoy is involved in a bigger conspiracy, and in the face of such a major event, the lives and deaths of hundreds of thousands of scholar candidates are not worth mentioning at all. This is their fate, or they have chosen a dead end. Since they chose to be enemies with Sun Tu, don't blame him for killing him.
In fact, Tong Mu had already understood Sun Tu's intentions, so he didn't try to persuade him any more, but he still didn't understand something: "Qianli, why did you light this fire in Jiangnan first? After all, that is your fiefdom. , and it is even more closely related to you and me, many soldiers are from Jiangnan."
"You already said
One of the reasons is that Jiangnan has a deep relationship with us, so we have to start there, because even if trouble occurs, we have enough ways to deal with it. As for the other point, it is that only Jiangnan can withstand this kind of damage. The local literary scene is flourishing, and even if hundreds of scholars are gone this time, more scholars will still emerge in a few years. But if you put it somewhere else, it will be difficult to recover. "
These words made Tong Mu stunned again, but when he thought about it carefully, that was really what happened. If hundreds of this year's candidates were thrown into a pot elsewhere, I am afraid that the cultural and educational vitality of ten or twenty years would be severely damaged, and it would be difficult to produce a leading figure in thirty years. But Jiangnan had no such concerns, so it was most appropriate for him to undergo surgery.
"Now that you have made up your mind, I can't say anything more." Tong Mu nodded: "What do you plan to do with those candidates who have been taken down?"
"Take away his fame, beat him up, and then flog him in public. And it is stipulated that from now on, he will not be allowed to take the imperial examination. I just want everyone in the world to know what the consequences will be if you are my enemy." Sun Tu immediately said After making his own decision, just one word could completely ruin the future of thousands of scholars. Even Tong Mu shuddered after hearing this.
He knew very well what this would mean. Those candidates who caused trouble due to temporary confusion or other reasons were completely ruined in this life. Presumably, when they knew this result, they would definitely regret their original stupid decision, and others would definitely Taking this as a warning, I will never again dare to be an enemy of the imperial court or go against Sun Tu.
Tang Feng's focus was not on this. To him, those candidates who dared to go against him were lucky to end up like this. If he had followed him, none of them would have survived. What he is most concerned about is the problems of the candidates who have caused trouble in several other places that have not yet been captured: "Taiwei, how should we deal with Jinling, Suzhou and other places?"
"Well, I think since the local officials are unwilling to cooperate, we should replace them with ones who are willing to cooperate." Sun Tu said coldly: "In addition, there will definitely be trouble again during this period, so we have to send a few troops to suppress the situation. . It may not be possible to mobilize troops from elsewhere. We can only mobilize the imperial army from the capital. I have already made arrangements for this matter earlier, and the troops will leave the capital in the next two days. "
When Tong Mu heard this, he frowned: "But as a result, the defense of the capital will be reduced again. Moreover, it is reported that the Xixia envoy team will arrive in the capital in two days, and various arrangements will inevitably require the deployment of a large number of troops. Wouldn’t that make the capital’s defenses even more empty?”
Sun Tu smiled disapprovingly: "What does this mean? Is there anyone in Tokyo who dares to confront me head-on? Let alone Tokyo, it is the entire Song Dynasty. Except for some people who are making small moves behind the scenes, No one dares to have any thoughts anymore."
Tang Feng also whispered: "What the Lieutenant said is that everything is under our control, and the transfer of tens of thousands of people will not affect the situation in the capital at all."
Seeing that they all looked confident, Tong Mu could not persuade them any more. He could only nod his head and said: "Then everything will be done according to your wishes. I will help you look after the affairs in the court." When he got here, he moved his hand and the horse jumped in a series, killing Sun Tu's old commander in one fell swoop.