In fact, how could Sun Tu not understand that Mu Xiu was bound to be destroyed by Lin Feng? He also knew that his continuous success and rise would inevitably be regarded as a thorn in the eyes of many people, who wanted to get rid of him quickly. If you want to ensure your own safety, the best thing to do is to keep a low profile, don't cause more trouble, and just do what you say.
But he knew better that the time left for himself would not be too much. Although his knowledge of the history of the Song Dynasty was limited, Sun Tu also knew that it might not be long before a real disaster would befall this land. What he has to do is to accumulate enough strength to protect himself or even save the nation before then.
In the past, Sun Tu didn't have that kind of strength, and all he could think about was protecting himself and the people around him. But as he established a foothold in Qingli, his thoughts gradually changed. How could he bear to abandon those soldiers who were willing to train hard and fight bravely for him? As for those simple and hard-working people, once the Central Plains undergoes great changes, they will be the most innocent ones who suffer first. How can he bear to watch them being slaughtered
If Sun Tu was just a passerby in time and space, he had no feelings for the Song Dynasty court or the people of the world, and only thought about his own safety. Now he has been tied to too many people and has begun to think about how to save these people, even if it is still too difficult to do it all.
With only the two to three thousand Qingzhou Army under his command, no matter how elite he trained them to be, they would still be unable to defend the territory and protect the people within the territory. That's why he tried to unite all the officers and soldiers in Shandong. Even though the strength of the troops was still insufficient, as long as the tens of thousands of troops were used properly and trained well enough, they would have the capital to protect themselves.
So at this time, even though he knew that doing so would have endless consequences, Sun Tu could only move forward with his head held high. No matter what difficulties and obstacles he would face next, he could no longer look back.
Now that Sun Tu was determined, Gu Tongzhou naturally did not dare to stand in the way. In the next few days, the governors of various states, regiment training and other military attachés successively led their people to Jeju. On the one hand, they wanted to see Sun Tu, the newly appointed military commander of the same route. On the one hand, he was also in response to his previous initiative to unite the officers and soldiers of various states in Shandong.
Although it is impossible for these people to really bring all the one or two thousand troops under their command, the number of soldiers and horses arriving in Jeju in a few days still quickly reached three to four thousand, and almost every military attaché would bring two to three hundred relatives with him. The army, they are all the elites of the armies of various states.
But these elites they thought were nothing in the eyes of Sun Tu and the Qingzhou Army. Although the several battalions of soldiers and horses stationed outside Jeju City were brightly armored and had shining weapons, their laxity like grass bandits and the messy appearance of the camps still made Zeng stand at the top of the city and look at the battalions. Sun Tu shook his head repeatedly. Only a hundred-man cavalry team from Dongping Prefecture made Sun Tu feel bright. Unlike the other surrounding barracks, which were noisy all day long and people bought wine and food from time to time, the camp over there was quiet. Yes, there are still sounds of training coming from time to time.
However, Sun Tu did not show his dissatisfaction for the time being. When the officers came to see him one after another, he met them very politely and said a lot of good words and encouragement. until two
On the tenth day of the lunar month, seeing that no other state officers and soldiers arrived, he gathered a group of military attaches in one place and began to give formal lectures.
This meeting, attended by most of the mid-level officers from the state capitals in Shandong, was held in the military camp of the Jeju Xiang Army. In the wide command hall, more than a dozen generals sat on both sides, and Sun Tu sat high above, looking down at these of his own. The subordinate smiled after a while and said: "Sun is really surprised that the generals accepted my invitation to come here."
"Sun Dujian's words are serious. As officials of the imperial court, we naturally hope to do our best for the imperial court and the people within our jurisdiction."
"That's right, Sun Dujian, I can't wait, I just guard some cities. In any case, I can't compare to your ability to lead the army to attack and destroy the bandits' strongholds many times. This time you proposed to unite many armies in Shandong to deal with the bandits in the territory. Of course we want to listen to the teachings."
Each of these guys seemed very respectful and spoke very nicely, but Sun Tu didn't take it seriously. Because he knew very well that everyone had to accept this arrangement because of his change in status. Even if the document appointing him from the court had not yet been delivered, it was enough to make them compromise.
After waiting for them to talk a lot of nonsense, Sun Tucai said solemnly: "Why do you think I have such thoughts?" He did not mean to embarrass these people, and immediately gave the answer himself: "Actually, this is also the result of suffering. Because of the influence of those bandits. I think that when our Qingzhou Army attacked Sanshan last year, Erlongshan had already considered forming an alliance with Taohuashan. And when we attacked Erlongshan, even more bandits from Liangshanbo suddenly appeared there, and we almost succeeded. Join forces with the bandits from Erlong Mountain to fight our army.
"At that time, I was thinking that even the bandits and grassroots bandits who fought independently and had no unified control could think of cooperating with each other. Why couldn't we and the imperial officers and soldiers work together to conquer the bandits in the territory? What if I were in Shandong? The officers and soldiers in each state capital are all united. How can these bandits, who are kings of the mountains but have limited strength, have the consequences of being as powerful as they are today
"I have heard that some copycat villages have survived to this day because they are located in a no-care area between state capitals. No one wants to harm their own homes and take advantage of surrounding states and counties. There are even people who have secretly made deals with thieves and bandits. In order to prevent thieves and bandits from causing trouble in their own states and counties, they will be given a lot of benefits every year. This kind of beggar-thy-neighbor approach of making friends with bandits is not only practiced by me in Shandong , Nowadays, there are many people all over the world. And the consequence is that the strength of those thieves will increase, their appetite will increase, and the harm will become greater and greater!"
These words made the generals present feel on pins and needles. Many of their faces turned green and red. They wanted to make a few excuses, but they didn't know where to start. This kind of transaction with thieves and bandits has actually become an unspoken rule in many local governments in the Song Dynasty. In some places, a large part of heavy taxes fell into the hands of those bandits. It's just that everyone hides this kind of thing from the superiors and refuses to let it surface. But today, Sun Tu was lucky enough to reveal all these shady things to the public. This was really surprising and disturbing.
Of course, in the final analysis
Although local officials were at fault for their inaction, the root cause still lay with the court. As the saying goes, the upper beam is not straight and the lower beam is crooked. It is precisely because those officials in the Song Dynasty had no enterprising spirit. They suffered many losses in the battles with the Liao people and the Xixia people, and finally chose to make peace and use money and silk to exchange for the so-called peace. , so that the entire Central Plains was completely drained of energy and spirit.
Since even the emperor and the important ministers in the court can give the wealth of the treasury to the enemy for the so-called peace, it is natural for the officials below to use part of the money and food in the treasury to buy the thieves and bandits in order to avoid causing trouble. Anyway, everyone is just muddle along, as long as nothing happens on their responsibilities, as for wiping out the thieves and bandits, that will be a matter for the future.
Everyone in the hall was glanced at by Sun Tuna. They all felt guilty and lowered their heads. As for whether they are ashamed or disapproving, only they know in their hearts.
Sun Tu had no intention of pursuing this matter. After putting enough pressure on them, he said: "I can pretend that I don't know anything about the previous things. However, everything in my Shandong territory will follow. It’s time for a change. In fact, those bandits are not as difficult to deal with as everyone thinks, let alone other cottages. So what about Liangshan Bo’s huge reputation? Were they not easily defeated by our Qingzhou Army? So in my opinion Come on, as long as our Shandong officers and soldiers work together, it will not be difficult to wipe out the bandits in our territory. I wonder what you think?"
"This..." Everyone present looked embarrassed. In fact, as a military attaché, who doesn't want to achieve military exploits, but sending troops to defeat thieves is not something they can have the final say. These people are actually still under the control of the civil servants of various states.
At this time, Jeju Superintendent Zhou Fan, who finally had some friendship with Sun Tu, spoke first on behalf of everyone: "What Superintendent Sun said is certainly reasonable. But after all, it is not a trivial matter to unify the entire Xiang army. We can wait He may not be able to take the initiative. In addition, Sun Dujian is indeed capable of leading troops, and the Qingzhou Army is a rare elite army in the Song Dynasty, but we and other state soldiers are far inferior. Even if everyone is really serious If you kill thieves to serve the country, I'm afraid you won't be able to catch them."
"Yes, it may be feasible for me to go to the state and defend myself, but what should I do if the city is invaded by other bandits when I go on an expedition?"
"Although our Yizhou Xiang army trains diligently on weekdays, it has not been paid for half a year. Our brothers are all hungry. How can we send troops to kill the enemy?"
Soon, these people all told all their difficulties, and then many people turned their attention to Sun Tu. You have a good idea, but under these many problems, can you really make everyone return to their hearts
Sun Tu listened silently to everyone talking about his difficulties, and after a long while he said: "What you mentioned are indeed problems, but I think these are not difficulties. As long as our Xiang army is strong enough, no matter whether it comes from the government All constraints and threats from foreign enemies can be easily resolved. As for how to be considered strong, you will know a thing or two by looking at the various troops you have brought."
As he spoke, he stood up and said, "Everyone happens to be here today. I would like to test the quality of the various armies first. I wonder if you would be willing to perform a drill outside Jeju City, with the officials and people in the city watching. Where to look?"