Sun Tu and Sun Dujian were truly a heroic figure in Qingzhou who was like thunder, making people feel awe from the bottom of their hearts. Even though he has been away from here for more than a year, even though in everyone's eyes he has already sacrificed his life for the country, this name alone can still intimidate everyone, especially those who have done evil, and are even more shocked when they hear his name. Out of spirit.
Several officials who had already knelt down to beg for mercy were already trembling all over. They raised their eyes and peeked at the young man in front of them. The more they looked at him, the more they realized that he was so similar to the Sun Dujian in their memory, and they screamed uncontrollably. They started to cry: "Sun, Sun, Sun... Supervisor Sun, please spare your life. We have no choice but to do this..." They were really frightened, and even thought it was Sun Tu who cared about the local area. That’s why the people have spiritual manifestations.
Seeing their terrifying expressions, as if they had seen a ghost, Sun Tu was angry and amused. Is he really that scary? If I had known this effect earlier, I could just reveal my identity just now, why bother to fight with them? However, he still had a solemn look on his face: "You waited for a tiger to harm the people, and you didn't realize you were wrong until now. Isn't it too late?"
"I... We are really helpless. If we don't do this, I'm afraid we and our families will be sent into the army to fight against the Liangshan bandits. I beg you, Sun Dujian, to spare your life!" These people are I was so frightened that I kept kowtowing hard while talking. In just a few moments, blood started to appear on my forehead.
Zhong Yi also came forward at this time and knelt down with them: "Sun Dujian, what we said was not false. It was really forced by the situation that we had to act according to the instructions above. And we also Give them a chance, as long as they see the opportunity quickly and escape from Qingzhou, they still have a chance to escape guilt."
Sun Tu agreed with this. He had just listened to the conversation between the two parties. They had indeed given the old tea seller some grace time, but it was too unrealistic for an old man in his sixties to leave his hometown and escape. But it was precisely because they had this kind of kindness that he didn't really deal with these people, otherwise these people would have been buried on the spot.
After pondering for a moment, Sun Tucai waved his hand and said: "Everyone, please get up and answer..." After that, he looked at the other tea guests who were also showing fear, smiled and said: "You don't have to be too afraid, I Sun Tu is still alive, not dead like the rumors outside."
"Ah..." Everyone was stunned again, but the doubts in their hearts were not resolved. They just looked at him up and down uneasily. Sun Tu smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Didn't you say that ghosts have no shadows? What do you see under my feet? Also, have any of you ever seen ghosts come out under the sun at noon?"
These few words finally convinced everyone, especially after seeing the clear shadow at Sun Tu's feet, the people let out a long sigh of relief. But then, several people quickly came forward and knelt down in front of Sun Tu, saying with full of grievance: "Sun Dujian, you are finally back... We have been living a miserable life since you left... I, the people of Qingzhou, have no regrets." I'm not missing all the good things that happened when you were here..." When it came to the emotional part, two of them even shed tears.
Sun Tu hurriedly stretched out his hand to help the people up one by one, and apologized: "I failed everyone's trust in me. At that time, because of the imperial court's
The important things are left to me to handle, so it lasts for years. But fortunately, I'm back again. Don't worry, everyone, as long as I come back, we in Qingzhou can go back to the past, no, we can be better than before! "
The common people were naturally greatly encouraged and applauded one after another. But Zhong Yi had a troubled look on his face: "Captain, now Qingzhou has a new magistrate and military commander, can you really restore everything to the old way?"
Sun Tu's eyes suddenly flashed when he heard this, he patted his shoulder, pulled him up, and said: "It seems that you were also a member of the government before, which is different from those few people. In this case, Then tell me about some of the changes in Qingzhou during this period."
Zhong Yi hesitated for a moment, but finally told Sun Tu all the causes and consequences he knew: "The villain was indeed an errand in the government office before, and he had seen the governor several times at close range, so he I recognize you. It’s just that your change is a bit too big, and we all thought you had died in the battle, so we didn’t think about it... In fact, there was no change in the months after you left Qingzhou last year. Yes, under the governance of Magistrate Huang and others, our Qingzhou is even more prosperous.
"Unexpectedly, in July and August, news suddenly came out that you, the governor, died in battle. At that time, none of us believed it. You were a god-like figure in our hearts. How could you be harmed by others? But two months later, the imperial court suddenly sent the new Qingzhou soldiers and horses to the governor and the new Gao prefect, and the villain was shocked to realize that the statement might be true. "
From this person's narration, Sun Tu learned how many changes had happened in Qingzhou in the next six months - the prefect Gao Xiang and the governor He Mo were restrained when they first arrived in Qingzhou and did not dare to make any moves. However, after two months of contact and understanding, they discovered that Huang Wenbing, Lin Chong and others did not have the courage to become their enemies. In addition, the backers behind them also issued orders at that time, so a revolution changed Qingzhou's original situation. A storm of circumstances arose.
First, Homer began to place his trusted people into the military camp under various excuses, and through suppression and win-over, he gradually gained power in the military into his own hands. During this period, Lin Chong and others actually had many opportunities to stop everything, but his weakness in character was undoubtedly exposed at this time, which eventually led to the opponent's power quickly growing and completely controlling the entire Qingzhou Army. By the time Lin Chong and others tried to counterattack after Wu Songruda and the others came back, it was already too late.
The final result was that Wu Song, Lu Da, Tang Feng and other people who were completely loyal to Sun Tu and wanted to maintain power in the army for him were arrested and imprisoned by He Mo under various excuses, and are still being held in prison. It is said that they have even reported to the imperial court that they will all be executed after this autumn on charges of conspiracy! As for Lin Chong, Yang Zhi, Qi Desheng and others, although they have not been convicted, they have been deprived of almost all military power. They have been idle and can no longer make any trouble.
After He Mo seized the military power in the city, Gao Xiang, the prefect, also attacked decisively, and in one fell swoop, Huang Wenbing, who had no more backers, was taken down and convicted. The charge was simple: corruption. Poor Huang Wenbing has been working conscientiously and without any selfish motives since he followed Sun Tu to Qingzhou. In the end, he was accused of corruption and malfeasance and was subsequently thrown into prison. There is no news about the next step.
As a result, Qingzhou's military and political power fell into the hands of these two people, and they finally revealed their
Showing their natural fangs, they began to plunder the little wealth that Sun Tu and the others had managed to save, causing most of the food in the official warehouse to disappear. It also made the situation of the Qingzhou Army very bad, and there were many deserters.
Soon afterwards, the imperial court ordered the Qingzhou Army to join the battle to quell the Liangshan bandits. As a result, the Qingzhou Army, which could easily defeat the Liangshan Army on the frontal battlefield, lost all fighting spirit this time, and suffered heavy casualties after several battles. Ho Mo also believed that this was due to the unwillingness of the military generals to use their intentions, so he killed many of the original officers, so that the Qingzhou Army's vitality was damaged again and again, and it was no longer what it used to be.
At this time, as various internal and external factors became entangled, the Qingzhou Army that Sun Tu had built with his own hands and his strength had only less than 2,000 people left, and the number was still decreasing. Seeing that the imperial court was about to send people to urge the battle again, and to inspect this elite force that had given many people hope before, in order to give an explanation to the officials who came, He Mo and Gao Xiang teamed up to come up with a way to capture the strong men. , while constantly increasing exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, forcing those people who had no money and food to join the army to make up for their losses. As for whether they will be forced to go to the battlefield in the end and what the outcome will be, these two officials are not considering it.
After listening to this story, Sun Tu, who boasted that he could make Mount Tai collapse in front of him without changing his expression, was filled with anger. His right hand pressing on the handle of the knife had veins popping out, and he was killing like crazy. I couldn't hold it back anymore: "Okay, okay! They really don't feel sorry for me, but they completely destroyed the little wealth I had worked so hard to build in just a few months! They just Didn’t you think that when I came back, I would make them vomit out everything they ate?”
Zhong Yi looked at Sun Tu with a bitter look on his face and said worriedly: "Superintendent Sun, now Qingzhou is already under the control of people like them. Even if you come back, you won't be able to change anything. Even the military camp is now controlled by their cronies. If you hold on to it, can you still take it back?"
These words immediately won the unanimous approval of others: "Yes, Superintendent Sun, now you are alone. Even if you go back, I am afraid you will be harmed by them. By then, there will be no hope at all. In my humble opinion, you’d better go to Bianjing and find someone from the court to seek justice for you.”
Sun Tu sneered when he heard this. If those people in the court really knew how to help him, how could they let Qingzhou become like this? Even Tong Guan, who has always had a close relationship with him, is probably an accomplice of those people in this matter. Since Wu Songruda had returned to the Song Dynasty as early as July and August, why did he wait until October? He Mo already knew Let them come back after taking military power? If Tong Guan hadn't used the move behind his back, Sun Tu would have lost his head to the opponent.
But he did not lose confidence because of this situation. He saw Sun Tu suddenly smile, and Huo Di stood up and said: "So what if they take control of the military? This is Qingzhou, and this is my Sun Tu's territory. Not to mention these two He's a little-known guy. Even if Cai Jingtong comes here, he can't get any advantage from me. I'll go into the city right away and smash all those chickens and dogs to pieces for everyone to see!"
After finishing speaking, the man came to the horse, jumped up and got on the horse's back, and with a whip, the horse galloped towards Qingzhou City.
On May 27, the second year of Xuanhe in the Song Dynasty, Sun Tu returned to Qingzhou!
He is back!