After exchanging names with Luda and others in the room, Sun Tucai looked at Zhang Shun and said, "Brother Zhang, I have admired you for a long time. I wonder why you came here today?"
Zhang Shun only regarded these words as polite, and just smiled and said: "The next fishmonger can't join Sun Tuan Lian Zun'er." Then his expression became solemn: "On the contrary, Sun Tuan Lian was very popular among the rural soldiers during this period. Reputation makes people admire you, and that’s why I came here.”
"Oh?" Does the other party also want to join the rural soldiers? This is really a good thing. But before Sun Tu could ask, Zhang Shun continued: "Earlier today, there was a rumor in the city that General Tuan Lian led his army with Lin Dujian as commander to attack a group of thieves who had been occupying the Xunyang River for many days. , is this true?"
"Yes, does Brother Zhang intend to join the army and serve the imperial court?"
Zhang Shun shook his head: "I came here just to remind Sun Tuanlian about something. The fierce dragon has an internal agent in the government. The government has been defeated several times before. It is because of this. I hope Tuanlian can prepare early, otherwise …”
"What did you say?" Sun Tu's expression changed at that moment, and he suddenly straightened his chest and looked at the other party: "Are you serious?"
"I don't dare to talk nonsense about such a big matter. Although I have never found out the exact identity of the person who colluded with the vicious dragon thieves, this matter is absolutely true." Zhang Shun said, as if he was afraid of Sun Tu. Unable to accept it, he added: "Otherwise, Tuan Lian thought, why would the government be defeated by them every time they invaded and suppressed them? Because they had known the deployment of the government and army for a long time, so they could deal with it calmly. In addition, this group of fierce dragon thieves could cut off In the waters of the Xunyang River, passing ships were repeatedly robbed, precisely because someone from the government informed them."
These words made Sun Tu immediately fall into deep thought. In fact, he has always considered these two doubts, but has never had any satisfactory answers. But now it seems that if someone from the government is really colluding with them, these two questions can be explained.
But then a new question arose. If there was really an important person in the government who was supporting the bandits to respect themselves, what was his purpose? Is it just to share some of the looting benefits from those thieves? Another question is why Zhang Shun came to warn and what was his purpose
The answer to the former question cannot be found for the time being, but the latter question just needs to be asked to Zhang Shun face to face. After listening to Sun Tu's question, Zhang Shun just smiled: "Although I am only a small fishmonger, I am also a citizen of Jiangzhou. Seeing that the Xunyang River is occupied by thieves, naturally I can't just sit back and ignore it. And I am waiting for the fish." Traffickers also rely on the Xunyang River to make a living, and we also hope that the government can catch them all as soon as possible."
"No, as far as I know, these bandits have always been tolerant of the fishermen on the river. Even if they occasionally harassed you, they didn't really hurt your lives. You won't have a deep hatred against them. You must have other motives. ." Sun Tu narrowed his eyes: "Brother Zhang, I heard that you have an older brother Zhang Heng who is making a living on the river. Does this have anything to do with him?"
This time it was Zhang Shun's turn to look surprised, and he subconsciously exclaimed: "How did you know about this?" As soon as he said the words, he realized that something was wrong, and he jumped up from his seat, as if he was going to Take the road and run away. As soon as he moved, Lu Da and Yang Zhi, who were sitting on both sides,
He had already stood up first, and two hands were pressed on his shoulders at the same time, making him unable to move: "Brother Zhang, it's better to finish his words first before leaving."
Zhang Shun felt as if his body was being weighed down by a thousand kilograms of weight. No matter how hard he struggled, it was of no avail. He could only smile bitterly as if resigned to his fate: "I didn't expect that Sun Tuanlian had already targeted our brothers. Today, I have thrown myself into a trap." ? Even among the brothers who are good friends with me, few of them know that Zhang has an elder brother who is running rampant on the river."
Sun Tu didn't expect his reaction to be so violent, but after thinking about it carefully, he understood. Zhang Heng, nicknamed "Chuan Huo'er", is actually no different from those ferocious water bandits. He also does moneyless business on the Xunyang River. He is also a master of killing for many years, and he is a member of the government. , his identity was exposed at once, which naturally had a great impact on Zhang Shun.
In fact, in the final analysis, this is a matter of stance and attitude, because according to common sense, as a member of the government, Sun Tu naturally has to deal with thieves like Zhang Heng strictly. But because he had always had a good impression of the heroes of Liangshan, he really didn't treat Zhang Heng and the others as thieves, so he spoke more casually.
After understanding this, Sun Tu smiled bitterly in his heart, then waved his hand for Luda and the others to let go of Zhang Shun, and said sincerely: "Brother Zhang, don't be nervous, I have no intention of harming you. It's just because of the seriousness of the matter that it needs to be dealt with." Let’s get the matter straight. Otherwise, I can’t believe your true intention of coming here tonight. After all, it’s hard to say whether your brother might be colluding with that ferocious dragon. You’re here to disrupt the morale of our army.”
"I, Zhang Shun, have long been at odds with that ferocious dragon. How could I collude with them?" Zhang Shun's expression immediately changed and he said loudly, looking completely aggrieved.
Sun Tu saw that he didn't look like a hypocrite, so he also became interested: "How can you say this? So you and the fierce dragon group have long had a deep hatred, not only because the water business was invaded by them?"
Speaking of which, Zhang Shun had nothing to hide: "Yes, my brothers from the Zhang family have long had a deep hatred with them. Do you know that our Zhang family is actually three brothers, and the youngest brother Zhang Lian was killed by the vicious dragon?" He was killed by a gang, and my brother Zhang Heng was originally just a fishmonger, but because of the collusion between the government and the bandits, my younger brother was killed, so I just started this worthless business on the river in anger! "
This was an inside story that Sun Tu had never known before. At that time, he asked: "How could there be such a change? How did Zhang Lian get killed?"
"Perhaps the team coach doesn't know that last year when these water bandits first came to me on the Xunyang River, they first looked for me and other fishermen on the water. They didn't want to steal our little money, but wanted to get us to join the gang. But even if my brothers from the Zhang family don't They were unworthy and disdained to associate with such a group of thieves, so they naturally rejected them. Unexpectedly, these thieves held a grudge because of this, and actually took advantage of my unpreparedness to launch a surprise attack. Although we were not afraid of them in terms of their ability on the water, what could they do? There were so many people and there was an ambush, so many brothers were injured by them. Even my brother Zhang Heng was seriously injured. If it weren't for Zhang Lian who risked his life desperately at that time, I'm afraid my brother would have died in the river. It's over." At this point, Zhang Shun also showed a sad expression on his face: "But because of this, my younger brother Zhang Lian was killed by a group of fierce dragons, and his body has not been found yet.
…”
"Is there such a thing? Didn't you report it to the official?" Sun Tu asked immediately.
"It was precisely because we reported it to the government later that we discovered that there was another problem." The resentment in Zhang Shun's eyes became more and more intense: "We reported the matter to the state government at that time, but after a few days, they said If this is not found, if we file a lawsuit with the officials, they will charge me with a disturbing crime. Obviously, someone in the government has colluded with the thieves for a long time, so that such a big case is delayed again and again. It was not until they robbed merchant ships on the Xunyang River and killed countless people that the government took care of them.
"But by this time, it was already too late. I don't know what means they used, but they actually gathered hundreds of water bandits. Not only were their methods cruel, but they were also cunning and erratic. The officers and soldiers sent out troops several times but could not find any trace of them. , but was harassed by him when he returned to the city and suffered minor injuries.
"In March of this year, when the state government sent troops into the water to suppress the attack, I thought I could annihilate the bandits in one fell swoop, but as a result... they escaped again and defeated the official army. As far as my brother found out, The clue is that the reason why the officers and soldiers were defeated was because there was an internal response from the ferocious dragon. They took advantage of the officers and soldiers' laxest time and launched a flanking attack. Therefore, Sun Tuanlian, if you want to defeat the thief this time, you must be careful, especially You have to be careful about your colleagues in the state government."
After hearing these words, Sun Tu and others were dumbfounded, and it took them a long time to come back to their senses. Yang Zhi looked doubtful: "This group of fierce dragons really has an insider in the government as you said, so what do they want? Is it just for the money they plundered?"
Zhang Shun shook his head: "I don't know this. But my brother is at odds with them, and there is no way he could have passed on false news to me. And the several defeats of the army and the army are not enough to prove this?"
Sun Tu nodded: "Actually, I am very suspicious of this. It seems that there is indeed some ulterior secret hidden in it. And if there are really so many people who have colluded with the fierce dragon, I'm afraid they will do the same thing again this time Try again and let us lose again.”
"Sanlang, what should we do?" In terms of martial arts, Luda is naturally the first among these people, but in terms of military tactics, he is much worse than Sun Tu and Yang Zhi. At this time He had completely run out of ideas.
After some thought, Sun Tu suddenly raised his head and looked at Zhang Shun: "Since they can collude with officials and bandits, we can naturally do it too. I'm afraid the success or failure of this matter will have to fall on your brother Zhang Heng."
Zhang Shun was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then he understood: "You want my brother to lead people to find their hiding place?"
"This is just one aspect, the more important thing is..." At this point, Sun Tu lowered his voice and whispered a few instructions to Zhang Shun. After the latter hesitated for a moment, he finally gritted his teeth and nodded: "I can do this. As long as I can avenge Zhang Lian, I will risk my life!"
After Zhang Shun left, Yang Zhi and the others looked at Sun Tu with some doubts: "Sanlang, do you really believe what he said?"
"I believe they are good enough not to deceive me on this matter." Sun Tu nodded sternly: "Besides, it's not a bad thing to be prepared. At least they won't make the same mistakes again and lose to those water bandits!"