After everyone retreated, Murong Yanchao's breathing gradually calmed down, and his angry look finally calmed down, but there was still a trace of anger and murderous intent in his eyes. He only stayed on Jing Yiming for a moment before saying: "Master Jing, Don't you always think of yourself as resourceful? Why have you become such a gourd today?"
"I'm sorry, I'm just waiting for you to calm down. Although Sun Tu was indeed too presumptuous today and made you lose face, this matter actually doesn't cause much harm to you. If you use force against him because of this, , is really the most unwise choice." Jing Yiming was different from others, he could talk to Murong Yanchao without any nervousness at all.
Murong Yanchao really listened to these words now, and knew that what he said was reasonable, but he still snorted: "Is it possible that I will suffer such a big loss? Even if it does not harm me, once the matter is publicized, it will No matter how the city's officials and people view me, my official prestige will be damaged..."
"The prestige of Futai in Qingzhou was not established overnight. Naturally, it cannot be greatly affected by this trivial matter. As long as Futai still holds great power, it will not be a problem, and there will be many opportunities to get rid of it in the future. Sun Tu. He is just a martial artist. The imperial court has always used civility to control military affairs. Are we still afraid that he can overthrow the world?" Jing Yiming's face finally became serious as he spoke: "The only thing I'm worried about is that he really If we completely seize the military power of Qingzhou and discover some inside information, then we can really pose a threat to you in Futai."
Murong Yanchao's face became solemn at this time, he took a deep breath and said: "How could I ignore this point. We really cannot let him completely control the military power. This is the top priority now." , looked at the other party: "Tell me, how should I deal with this?"
"Of course I'm going to use the old method from before. Since Futai has a noble status, he can't fight with them, but it's different with those people in the army. Maybe taking this opportunity, Futai can use a borrowed knife to kill people and solve the problem once and for all. What about this trouble." Jing Yiming chuckled and said, "So what Futai needs to do before this is to distance yourself from others, so that no one will end up suspecting you."
"That's right, that's right. That's how it should be. He is a rude and arrogant warrior. I really don't need to care too much about it. Let Du Heng and the others deal with him!" Murong Yanchao's anger finally dissipated completely, and he was determined at the same time. Strategies to deal with Sun Tu.
￥￥￥￥￥
Looking at the large mansion in his name, Sun Tu couldn't help but sigh that Qingzhou was indeed a vast place with few people and cheap prices. This house, which I bought for only a few dozen dollars, actually covers an area of two or three acres. Although it is not as good as the mansions of several wealthy businessmen nearby, it is much better than the ordinary houses I have seen along the way. .
It is said that this house is only divided into three courtyards, but each courtyard is extremely wide, comparable to the two courtyards in Tokyo, and there are also well-proportioned corridors and various halls and pavilions. Except that it's a bit older, it's just like a mansion by the standards of this era.
So when Sun Tu saw the environment here after entering, he asked again with some suspicion: "Did it really cost us only thirty or forty copper coins here? Could it be that someone wants to make friends with me, so he only sold it half for half?" "
"You don't know something, Supervisor. There are only five or six thousand households in Qingzhou City now, and there are only twenty or thirty thousand people in total. And most of the people are just making a living, and they don't have enough money to buy a house or land, let alone a big house like this." Only some big businessmen or officials have the financial resources to buy a big house to live in." Huang Wenbing, who was following him, smiled and explained: "And this house was bought by a businessman who was planning to leave here. It was only sold at a low price, I just happened to bump into it."
Sun Tu was stunned for a moment, and then sighed again: "On the way here, I felt that the people's livelihood here in Qingzhou was in decline and the industries were not prosperous. I thought this was only the case in the countryside far away from the capital, but now it seems that it is the case in the entire Qingzhou. That’s all. That Murong Yanchao really did a good job as an official, he actually managed his subordinates like this!”
Huang Wenbing and the others had come a few days earlier. Except for Yang Zhi, who had been dealing with people in the government, the others had already been ordered by Sun Tu to make inquiries among the people. So at this time, he took advantage of the situation and reported: "It is indeed as the governor said, since then Since Murong Yanchao took office here, the situation of the people in Qingzhou, which was not very wealthy, has become even more difficult. Every year, there are countless taxes and duties, and except for the part that is paid to the court, more than half of it is He got into the pockets of government officials, especially Magistrate Murong... I heard that his annual income is more than 200,000 yuan, and more than half of the properties in the city are in his name, and both the common people and businessmen want them all. Live your life with your breath in mind.”
Hearing these words, Sun Tu, Lu Da and others who had just arrived in Qingzhou were all dumbfounded. They really didn't expect that the arrogant and domineering prefect Murong could be so bold and hungry, and he was about to cause trouble in Qingzhou. It's hard to make a living if you win the people.
Huang Wenbing saw that they had come back to their senses a little, and then he said: "It is precisely because of the perverse actions of the government that many people cannot survive, so bandits are rampant in the local area, and there are many groups of refugees and thieves occupying the mountains in the territory. For the king, especially the three mountains of Erlong Mountain, Baihu Mountain and Taohua Mountain, the bandits are extremely powerful, making life more and more difficult for ordinary people."
Hearing him mention that rogue bandits were everywhere, Sun Tu thought of the tragic situation of the massacred village he saw on the way here, and he felt angry: "The government forces the people to rebel, and then the real sufferers are These are innocent people, this is really unreasonable! By the way, don’t the government just ignore such matters at all? Then isn’t Murong Yanchao afraid that the matter will spread to the court and be impeached and questioned?”
"This is what makes him so powerful. All the local officials in Qingzhou have been subdued by him. Whether he bribes them with benefits, suppresses them with force, or even frames them and kills them, the official circles in Qingzhou are now led by Magistrate Murong. People, so the news couldn't spread at all. Of course, this is also related to Qingzhou's remote location and impassable roads." Huang Wenbing said with a wry smile.
While Sun Tu frowned, he thought of something else. This might have something to do with Liang Shicheng, the backer behind Murong Yanchao. Even Liang Shicheng was the biggest beneficiary. Half of the money and food that Murong Yanchao stole from the people here should have fallen into Liang Shicheng's pocket, so he helped cover it up in the court.
And with Liang Shicheng's status as Taifu, coupled with his great talent,
Zi Chongxin, it is not too difficult to hide such "little things". After all, corruption has long been common in the Song Dynasty. No one is clean, so how can anyone expose these problems
After thinking for a while, Sun Tucai asked the most crucial point: "What about the situation of the Qingzhou garrison?"
"This..." Huang Wenbing didn't dare to look at Sun Tu: "As far as I know, the combat power of the Xiang army here is not even comparable to that of our Jiangzhou. Otherwise, the bandits would not dare to run rampant outside the city so unscrupulously. As for individual The reason is probably related to corruption. I heard that there are only five or six hundred people in the military camp, and they can only make a living by being hired as handymen, and they have not received any training at all. "
After hearing all the bad news, Sun Tu was completely numb at this time. He couldn't even get angry. He just sneered: "Okay, okay! This Qingzhou is really a good place! No wonder those guys are deliberately trying to I was transferred here to serve as the governor, no wonder..." No wonder the Great Song Dynasty collapsed and completely destroyed the country in just one or two years. He knew at a glance that the root of the disaster had been laid long ago, but he could not say these words in public.
But Ruda, whose face turned dark after hearing this, finally couldn't help but slapped the pillar beside him and shouted: "It's really unreasonable! A dog official like this can still point fingers here. If only Sajia had known that he was like this. What a bastard, I should have chopped him with one palm just now, so as to eliminate the trouble for the people of Qingzhou!"
Sun Tu obviously noticed another problem. He looked at Yang Zhi, who looked equally gloomy: "These are just hearsay. Isn't there a definite explanation of what happened in the army? Brother Yang, you didn't talk to those soldiers. What happened?"
"I... Ashamed, I haven't been able to enter the military camp at all in the past few days." Yang Zhi said with a wry smile and cupped his fists.
"Why is this?" Ruda asked immediately.
"Because the military camp did not allow me to enter the camp without the permission of Magistrate Murong. And Magistrate Murong has been pestering you about why you were late for a few days, Sanlang, so it was completely delayed." Yang Zhi said with a somewhat guilty fist. .
Luda immediately frowned deeply after hearing this, but Sun Tu still smiled at him understandingly. When he asked Yang Zhi to lead the troops first, he thought that he had been in the army for many years and knew better how to negotiate with people in the government. But he still ignored a key point, that is, Yang Zhi was more likely to shrink back when encountering problems, especially when he faced court officials like Murong Yanchao, and he did not dare to argue with him.
"Well, the mess here in Qingzhou didn't happen overnight, and we don't have to rush. Now that we're here, let's think of ways to find a way out. As for the military camp, with me as my supervisor, they don't have any Fa'er will keep to himself again. Tomorrow, we will go inside to see how far the Qingzhou officers and soldiers have fallen." Sun Tu said, and patted Yang Zhi on the shoulder comfortingly, but his eyes were full of eyes. Perseverance.
Because from these words, he also discovered an advantage for himself. Qingzhou is semi-isolated from the outside world due to geographical relationship. So as long as he can replace Murong Yanchao, can he do something different here? Coming