Shen Bian, the official of Qingzhou Prefecture, looked at Sun Tu with a troubled face. After mumbling for a while, he finally said: "Superintendent Sun, I would like to ask you to hand over the thief to our government office as agreed before. Dispose of it. After all, our prefect’s Yamen is the local Yamen that is friendly to the people, so you Xiangjun can’t do anything for you.”
It is said that this is the fourth group of people sent by the government to negotiate with Sun Tu in the military camp for three consecutive days, hoping that they can hand over Shi Qian to their disposal. The previous few visitors had failed, and in the end it was up to him, the government official, to take action again. But for now, the situation is still not optimistic, and Sun Tu still refuses to make friends.
Sure enough, after listening to what he said, Sun Tu still smiled nonchalantly and said: "I have already made it clear before that this person is of great use to me, and I have decided to keep him in the camp, so I cannot accept this matter."
"But..." Shen Bian wanted to say something else. After all, he was here under orders this time. It would be hard to explain to Magistrate Murong if he returned without success. But Sun Tu didn't give him a chance to continue talking, and immediately waved his hand: "Since the thief was captured by our Xiang army, I naturally have the right to decide how to deal with him. As for the so-called agreement, I said before I only promised to help you capture the person and ask him to return all the stolen treasures, but he never promised to return the person as well. The so-called acting as a proxy is even more nonsense. I did not interrogate him, but I just plan to take him under my wing."
Seeing the other party's grimace, Sun Tu smiled again: "And as far as I know, this person did steal a lot of property in Qingzhou, but after all, he was not considered a great evil, nor did he kill anyone. In this case, even if he turns over If it is dealt with by the government, I am afraid that they cannot give him a heavy sentence. The most they can do is send him to another state to serve in the army. In this case, leaving him in our Xiang army is not much different from this punishment. , why do you pursue this form so much?”
What he said really made some sense, and even Shen Bian didn't know how to explain it. Finally, after some entanglement and hesitation, he plucked up the courage and said, "Superintendent Sun, if you are so wrong, you are not afraid of our government and the imperial court..."
"You can do this on your own. Since I dare to do it, I'm not afraid of being involved." Sun Tu waved his hand and said, seeming to be so understated. When Shen Bian saw this, he felt bitter in his heart. Now that the four gates of Qingzhou have fallen into the hands of the Xiang army, his government officials and other officials cannot leave the city at all, let alone send the impeachment memorial to the capital. The threat he made before is true It seemed too weak and ridiculous. If Sun Tu really had such concerns, he would not be able to suppress Magistrate Murong as a sixth-grade military attache.
At this time, Sun Tu's patience was exhausted, and he said goodbye: "Officer Shen Tui, if you have nothing else to say, please come back. I still have many things to deal with in the camp, but I don't have time. I'm entangled with you. By the way, there's one more thing I'd like you to tell Magistrate Murong on your behalf. If those big families want to get their treasures back, please send them money and food to our military camp in proportion, otherwise..." There is no need to say the threats later. .
Shen Bian smiled bitterly and finally had no choice but to stand up and leave. He knew that the government had really lost completely this time. With the money and food already in the military camp, they had lost even the last bit of bargaining chips.
, let alone himself, even if Murong Yanchao came in person, it would be impossible for Sun Tu to change his mind.
After watching Officer Shen Tui being sent out of the barracks by the officers and soldiers, Huang Wenbing spoke with some worry: "Captain, is there something wrong with what you did? After all, Qian did violate the king's law at that time, and it was also handled by the government. It's reasonable. Even if he has some skills that I can use, he is too eager. In addition, if this matter gets spread, it will also harm your reputation as the governor. Others will think that our Xiangjun is hiding filth. A dirty place…”
After hearing what he said, Sun Tu shook his head and said: "I naturally know the importance of this. I think Shi Qian's ability is definitely worth offending the government again. As for the reputation you are worried about, there are even more Don't worry, Shi Qian is not a treacherous person. This was already evident when we captured him two days ago. He showed mercy when he had the opportunity to kill brothers in our army, which shows that he also has his own bottom line in doing things. , but much better than those sanctimonious guys with hands full of blood.
"Furthermore, I have already turned against Murong Yanchao and the others. This time it is just a trivial matter. How can he fall out with me again because of this? In my opinion, this approach can make them more aware of my attitude. Now Qingzhou The one who can make the decision can only be me, Sun Tu, and no longer the people in the government office."
Seeing that Huang Wenbing seemed to want to say something more, Sun Tu waved his hand and said: "Okay, I have made up my mind on this matter, so you don't need to persuade me any more. The top priority now is to do our best to train the army so that our Xiang army can have a stronghold as soon as possible." We must use our strength to fight, and at the same time organize the scout battalion as soon as possible, but time does not wait for us now."
For this reason, Huang Wenbing did not dare to persuade him. As for people close to him like Lu Da and Yang Zhi, they didn't take this matter too seriously in the first place, and naturally they wouldn't comment on it, so the matter was considered to be completely settled.
After confirming Sun Tu's idea, both Murong Yanchao and the big players in the city had no choice but to give up the idea. They have all seen Sun Tu's toughness and strength, and they don't have the courage to risk everything to compete with the Xiang army, so they can only swallow this breath.
Therefore, in the next few days, the government did not send anyone to come, but those big households obediently asked people to send large sums of money and food to the military camp. In this way, the problem of promised food and salary that had been bothering Sun Tu was completely solved. When Sun Tu distributed the money and food to each soldier as agreed, bursts of cheers erupted in the entire Xiang army camp. This news was heard all over the city, and also attracted many young people in the city. The strong people showed envy.
You must know that many people in Qingzhou City now have difficulty even having enough food to eat. Now Xiangjun can actually get money and food for nearly two years at once. This is really much better than most people. Some people even gave birth to children. Should I join the military camp in order to get a good result without having to worry about food and clothing...
When the government office heard the cheers, many people's faces became gloomy. Because a large part of the money and food received by those low-status Qiu Ba was taken from their mouths, which made them feel a burst of pain just thinking about it, and also made them dissatisfied and suspicious of Magistrate Murong.
Murong Yanchao and Jing Yiming naturally saw all these reactions. The former's face was already so gloomy.
Water dripped down: "Then Sun Tu really went too far to deceive others. He did not give me any face at all. Master Jing, if this continues, our situation will only become more and more unbearable. And after this incident, I’m afraid the big names in the city can also see the ebb and flow between me and Sun Tu, and it will become increasingly difficult to control the situation in the city from now on."
Jing Yiming also had a bitter look on his face: "I never thought that Sun Tu would be so unscrupulous in his actions. Even though you have repeatedly given in, he still chose to press forward step by step... But now, at Futai, we have We are completely at a disadvantage, and if we continue to fight with him now, it will only make our situation more difficult, so we can only continue to endure it and wait until we have the opportunity to give him a fatal blow."
In fact, Murong Yanchao also knew that the current situation was irreversible. After a period of complaining, he could only swallow his anger. At this moment, he really regretted that he had so readily agreed to Liang Shicheng to let Sun Tu come to Qingzhou. I thought he was just a small sixth-grade military attaché, but trying to deal with him was like squeezing an ant to death. But who could have imagined that it would become such a big disaster now.
Of course, he just thought about this resentment in his heart. If he were in front of a big shot like Liang Shicheng, Murong Yanchao would not dare to complain, otherwise he would probably die faster and more miserably.
Seeing him frowning deeply and falling into silence, Jing Yiming hesitated for a moment and then said solemnly: "Futai, there is one thing we have to guard against, and that is the military personnel escorted by the transfer envoy's Yamen every year. COFCO… If this is also intercepted by Sun Tu, I’m afraid it will be even harder for them to control him.”
This reminder immediately changed Murong Yanchao's expression: "Yes, this matter cannot be ignored. But maybe this is also an opportunity for me to turn around..."
It is said that the Song Dynasty adopted the separatist rule of vassal towns since the late Tang Dynasty. Not only did the governors in various places not obey the court's dispatch, but they even had a series of problems that threatened the imperial power. After the founding of the country by Taizu, a series of policies were implemented. For example, the emphasis on literature, art and military affairs has reduced the status and power of generals to the lowest level. Another example is that every few years, the garrisons in various places will be disrupted to achieve the purpose of making the generals ignorant of the soldiers... And the most powerful trick among them is to dismantle the local troops. Financial power was firmly in the hands of the imperial court, and was not left to local state officials to make the decision. Various transfer envoys were set up for this purpose. They were completely at the mercy of the imperial court. After completing their errands, they still had to return to Tokyo and never took power. .
Moreover, in order to better curb the expansion of local forces, the imperial court even did not hesitate to add trouble by dividing the money and food entering and leaving the state capitals into two channels. The money, grain, taxes and taxes collected locally are directly transported and handed over, and then the money, grain and other materials needed locally are sent to various places by the transshipment yamen on a regular basis every year. In this way, local officials have not so much money and grain resources in their hands. , let alone support their own army.
In the past, all the financial power in Qingzhou was in the hands of Murong Yanchao, but Sun Tu's sudden rise this year made him a little worried about the future situation. Although the people from the transfer office were old friends with him, who could guarantee that Sun Tu, the daring guy, would not cause trouble again in this matter
In an instant, Murong Yanchao's uneasiness increased a little more, and it was going to be a hard time for him for a while.