Under the increasingly blazing summer sunshine in mid-May, two horses and one carriage were slowly marching on the narrower official road. It was Sun Tu and his party. At this time, they had entered the territory of Qingzhou Prefecture.
However, compared to the state capitals along the way, Qingzhou has become increasingly desolate and desolate. There are very few pedestrians on the road, and even the official roads are extremely cramped. Sometimes you can even see wild wolves wandering nearby from a distance. Not to mention compared with prosperous places like Tokyo and Jiangzhou, even Jeju before was much more lively than here. At least there would not be a desolate scene with no human habitation within thirty to fifty miles.
This naturally made Sun Tu, Tang Feng and Ya'er, three people who had never seen such a scene, marvel. However, Luda looked disapproving: "Where are you from? We have stayed at Sajia before. When you get to Weizhou City, as soon as you leave the city gate, there is a wilderness outside, and it is normal to not see anyone for a hundred or two hundred miles."
"That's different. Weizhou already belongs to the northwest border of the Song Dynasty. From time to time, there will be battles and confrontations with the Xixia people. Naturally, it is impossible for the people to leave the city and stay. But Qingzhou is far away from the Liao border and there are many states and cities. They can't Come and invade this place." Sun Tu's face darkened when he said this: "So in the final analysis, it is better to look for the reason from the government. Either the local officials imposed excessive taxes and made the people miserable, so they all fled to other places; or there are many bandits here. , which also leaves the common people with no way to survive.”
"Then the burden we have to go to Qingzhou this time is really not light. Supervisor, have you thought about what to do?" Tang Feng, who took over from Sun Tu to drive, frowned deeply when he heard this. He raised his eyebrows and asked uneasily.
"Well, it's hard to say. Anyway, I was transferred to Qingzhou this time because someone didn't want me to live too comfortably. Moreover, it is said that the prefect Murong of this state has always been arbitrary and tyrannical. It will be difficult for us to work under him." Sun Tu He shook his head with a wry smile. He had gained some information about his new boss from Cai Dezhang early in the morning, and he knew that this boss was not easy to serve.
"We will talk about other things later. Our most important problem now is how to spend this night. It will be dark today. There are no villages or towns where we can stay. The Sa family has already seen three wolves before. If it gets dark, If we can no longer find shelter, more wolves will show up." Ruda was more concerned about the difficulties in front of him. He even touched his belly as he spoke: "I haven't had a good meal or drink in the past two days. , If we had known that this place would be deserted for dozens of miles, the Sa family should have asked for more wine and meat during the previous war."
These words relaxed the somewhat heavy atmosphere, and Sun Tu even said jokingly: "Brother Lu, I cannot agree with what you said. With your size, even if we bought wine and meat early in the morning, I’m afraid you’ll have been sacrificed to the Five Zang Temple by now.”
As soon as these words came out, both Luda and Tang Feng laughed out loud. Even Ya'er, who had been sitting in the car quietly thinking about her daughter, couldn't help but chuckle. After a smile, she said a little He looked deeply at Sun Tu, who was not far in front of the car, with resentful eyes.
At this time, Sun Tu, who had sharp eyes, suddenly became energetic. He pointed to the end of the road and said loudly: "Look at that, isn't it a village? It just so happens that we can stay there for the night. I think we will be there in two or three days. We can reach Qingzhou." Several others followed his hand
Expecting to go, he found the outline of a small village there, which made him feel good, and he quickly urged his horse to speed up.
But after driving a little further and being able to see clearly the basic appearance of the village, Ruda frowned uneasily: "No, it's almost dusk now, and it's time to eat. Why is there not even a trace of smoke in the village here?"
"It's indeed a bit weird, let's be careful." Sun Tu also woke up immediately, and after winking with Luda, the two of them lifted the reins, controlled the horses under their crotches, and rushed forward quickly, hitting each other at the same time. This gesture asked Tang Feng to stay where he was and protect Ya'er's safety.
The two horses had already built up enough energy and strength after several days of slow walking. Now they were spurred on and started galloping. In a short time, they had rushed to the entrance of the village. They saw that there was still no movement inside, and no one could be seen. , the two of them took out a knife each and rushed towards the village again. But before they even took a step forward, their expressions suddenly changed, because they saw several puddles of dried blood on the yellow mud path in the village.
The two of them stopped the forward momentum of their horses, and then slowly walked in with their swords pressed. As they walked, they called out a few times tentatively: "Is there anyone in the village? We are passing through and want to stay overnight. One night..." But the village was still deserted, not even a dog barking.
Now they had a vague idea of the answer. Ruda jumped off his horse first and rushed to a slightly dilapidated village house next to him. He stretched out his hand and pushed the door open, revealing what was inside. A more tragic scene is coming
I saw black blood splattered all over the small courtyard, and flies were still buzzing and flying. They scattered after being disturbed. Farm tools and firewood were all staggered here and there, and the door of the house facing the door was open, revealing a mess inside, as if it had been ransacked by bandits.
No, it's not like it's been looted, it's just been robbed by thieves!
At this time, Sun Tu had also arrived at a village house diagonally opposite, and saw a similar scene. The only strange thing was that there were blood stains in these houses, but there was no body of the village owner.
However, after the two people quickly searched, the answer to this question was quickly found. In the small courtyard at the end of the village, there were actually thirty or forty corpses of men, women, and children piled up. By this time, the corpses were already stinking, and there were countless more. Flying insects such as flies kept flying above them, which made people's scalp numb.
Even people like Sun Tu and Luda, who had killed many people and seen many big scenes, felt chills in their hearts after seeing this scene, and it took a long time to calm down.
"Is this the work of bandits from somewhere nearby? It was really a cruel method, and they actually killed dozens of people in the whole village..." Luda said through gritted teeth with an angry look on his face.
"Yes, these bandits are really hateful. They robbed things and then slaughtered an entire village of innocent people without mercy. No wonder there are no people all the way in Qingzhou. It is deserted for dozens of miles." Sun Tu also sighed: " And judging from the current situation, those bandits have been in this village for a period of time before, otherwise they would not have deliberately piled the corpses here."
The methods are cruel and inhumane. This was Sun Tu's judgment after seeing such a miserable scene, but there was nothing in his heart
In addition to being indignant, he also always felt that there was something strange about it. The methods of these bandits were so different from the bandits he knew in the past who dominated the mountains and became kings.
But no matter what, I can only stay in this village for one night. Of course, Sun Tu had already made up his mind. As long as he had the chance after taking office, he would avenge the people who died in this village!
￥￥￥￥￥
Qingzhou government office, second hall of the magistrate's office.
Yang Zhizheng knelt on one knee in front of the local magistrate Murong Yanchao. There were a few beads of sweat on his forehead, because the pressure the other party put on him was really quite big.
Murong Yanchao was an official in his forties with a square face and thick eyebrows. He was looking at Yang Zhi condescendingly at this time. It was not until he put enough pressure on him that he said in a deep voice: "Yang Zhi, it's been two days." Come on, why haven't you seen Sun Dujian come to the government office yet? Do you know that this is a great disrespect to me? If I really want to surrender to him, this alone is enough!"
Yang Zhi then said: "Forgive me, Futai, Sun Dujian mentioned before that some of his personal matters would be delayed for a few days, so... "
"Since he is a court official, he should be dedicated to serving the public good. How can he have such private thoughts? Moreover, I have given him a chance before. Isn't three days enough for him to come here to see me in time? Or is it that he has no regard for me? What do you think, do you want to use this to make me lose face?" Magistrate Murong immediately interrupted.
"Don't dare. Superintendent Sun has no disrespect towards you at all, or maybe... he encountered something else on the way and was delayed." Yang Zhi wiped the sweat from his head and explained again. One sentence. He really regretted having to rush to Qingzhou first. If he had known that the other party would make a big fuss over such a trivial matter that was not even a fault, it would be better to follow Sun Tu and come slowly.
Originally, even if Sun Tu and the others arrived in Qingzhou ten days and a half later, it wouldn't be a problem, but Yang Zhi led the others to arrive first, but Murong Yanchao caught Murong Yanchao's explanation, and forced him to question him several times, which put enough pressure on him. And how could he, a seventh-grade military officer, dare to offend a fourth-grade civil servant? Naturally, he was at a huge disadvantage.
Murong Yanchao sneered: "My patience is very limited. I will give you one more day. If Superintendent Sun cannot come to me before dark tomorrow, everything will be according to military regulations." As soon as it came out, Yang Zhi immediately felt even more panicked. He really didn't expect that the other party would already regard Sun Tu as a thorn in his side before even meeting him, and he wished he could get rid of him.
But he didn't know that a few months ago, Liang Shicheng had told someone about the conflict between Sun Tu and himself, and asked him to find an opportunity to get rid of this person. As a loyal lackey of Taifu Liang, Murong Yan supernaturally had to do his best to complete this job. Moreover, he also inquired about what Sun Tu had done before, and knew better that he should suppress the opponent while his footing was not stable, so that he would never be able to stand up again.
After dismissing Yang Zhi casually, a subordinate suddenly ran over with a solemn expression and handed over a petition: "Futai, this is the petition filed by the only survivor of Naluojia Village. Just three days ago, others The village was attacked by a group of bandits of unknown origin, and all forty-three people in the village were killed... "
Murong Yanchao took the paper with some impatience at first, but soon a sneer appeared on his face. This might be another good excuse...