Sun Tu was indeed in the government office today, and he was in a pretty good mood.
This is not only because the publicity of the drama in the past few days has been effective, and many women have taken the initiative to go to the military camp to join the army, but also because just earlier, two brothers, Zhu Biao and Shi Qian, who had been missing for many days, also returned. Qingzhou.
At this time, he was listening to the two people in the custody room talking about their previous experiences. However, after being defeated in several battles with Liangshan, they had no intention of working for He Mo and the others anymore, so they took advantage of the chaos and fled back to Zhujiazhuang. After that, the two He lived in seclusion and simplicity in the village, hiding there for several months.
It was not until a few days ago that they learned that Sun Tu was not dead and had returned to Qingzhou to regain military and political power. Then the two returned to Qingzhou. Mentioning all the previous changes, everyone felt a sigh of relief. After scolding Gao Xiang and He Mo for their various practices, Huang Wenbing said with some worry: "Captain, it's been a month or two since you sent those things to Bianjing. Why hasn't there been any response from the court? This time we After killing so many officials, there is no guarantee that the imperial court will not issue an order to hold people accountable..."
"As long as Tong Guan is willing to speak for me, plus the various achievements I have made before and the charges submitted to the capital, the court should not really want to convict me." Sun Tu didn't have too many worries and said with a smile. : "Of course, the most important thing is that our Qingzhou own strength must be strong enough, so that the court will not dare to act rashly. Therefore, not only the male soldiers must train well, but also the female soldiers newly recruited into the camp cannot be too relaxed. .”
Several people smiled bitterly and nodded. Things had already begun to be arranged, so naturally they could not raise any more questions. At this moment, a guard came to the door nervously and reported: "Captain, generals, there is a young minister from Dali Temple named Zheng Guan who claims to be from the capital and wants to see the governor. "
This really meant that Cao Cao was about to arrive. They had just mentioned the imperial court's views on Gao Xiang when officials from Dali Temple came directly to the door. This also made several generals feel a little nervous, and they all looked at Sun Tu: "Captain, how should we deal with this?"
"You don't have to be like this, aren't you just a young minister of Dali Temple? We haven't done anything wrong, just see him. Come on, let me welcome him in and talk." Sun Tu looked calm and calm, smiling. After pausing, he got up and walked out first. The other subordinates followed after hesitating for a moment.
By the time all seven or eight people in their group arrived at the gate, everyone had friendly smiles on their faces. Sun Tu took the lead and asked when he walked to the door: "Where is Zheng Shaoqing?"
"I'm here." Zheng Guan took a step forward, looked up at Sun Tu for a few times, and then said: "Everyone said that Sun Tujian was young and promising. I didn't believe it before, but today I saw his true appearance, but It's not an exaggeration at all." As an old bureaucrat who has been in the officialdom for many years, even if this man has something urgent in mind, he still behaves very calmly and warmly at this time, as if he has a good relationship with Sun Tu.
Sun Tu also smiled and saluted: "I have met Zheng Shaoqing in my humble position. You are really too flattering. I am just lucky. I accidentally won a few victories and defeated a few bandits. It is really not worth mentioning." After saying a few words with a humble appearance but actually pointing out his own contributions, Sun Tucai bowed and welcomed the other party into the yamen.
Wait until they enter the side hall of the second hall
, after everyone sat down, Sun Tu asked the other party the reason for their visit. Zheng Guan didn't mean to hide it, and immediately his face became serious: "I came here only for two things. One is to issue an order from the acting official family, asking you, Jingdong Road Soldiers and Horses Supervisor Sun Tu, to send troops to pacify it as soon as possible. There is a group of Liangshan thieves who have been causing trouble to the local area for a long time. But because I came first, the imperial edict is still on its way."
When Sun Tu and others heard this, they all stood up and saluted respectfully. Even though there is no formal decree issued now, the attitude that a minister should have should still be shown.
However, after sitting down again, Sun Tu looked troubled again: "Zheng Shaoqing, even though I shouldn't be honest in my humble position, I still have to say it." After saying that, without waiting for the other party to react, he continued: " The imperial court must have known for a long time what happened in Qingzhou, and the officers and soldiers under my command were seriously injured. There were nearly 5,000 elites a year ago, but now there are less than 3,000. And because of the previous setbacks, the number of elites has been greatly reduced. The morale of the Qingzhou Army has been greatly damaged. Even if I am willing to send troops at this time, I am afraid that it will be difficult to fulfill His Majesty's instructions. Therefore, I ask Zheng Shaoqing to explain more to Your Majesty after returning and spare me some time. , when you are fully prepared, it will not be too late to defeat the thief."
"Oh, how long will it take according to Sun Dujian's wishes to send out troops to defeat the thieves?" Zheng Guan asked noncommittally.
"This... maybe a year at most, or half a year at least."
"Huh, Superintendent Sun, are you trying to deceive me into not knowing the military?" Zheng Guan's face suddenly darkened, and he said with some dissatisfaction: "The decree has already made it clear that you are to command the prefectures on Jingdong Road. The soldiers and horses went to quell the bandits, but you used the changes in Qingzhou as an excuse? Are you trying to shirk and delay like this to support the bandits in self-respect, or do you have other agendas?"
These words made several generals present feel unhappy. Yang Zhigang wanted to speak up to defend Sun Tu, but he stopped him with a look. Then, he smiled bitterly and said: "Zheng Shaoqing's words are serious. How dare I have such thoughts? It's really the truth. You are in the capital and have limited knowledge of the inside story of our troops and horses on Jingdong Road. Now the troops in all states, towns and villages are no match for the fighting." There are really few of them, take Jeju Prefecture as an example, although they have three thousand soldiers and horses, if they really have to be dragged outside the city to fight the thieves, they may collapse without even fighting."
"Is there such a thing?" Zheng Guan asked with some suspicion. When Sun Tu nodded, his face darkened again: "In the end, it is still your responsibility, Superintendent Sun. Since you are the Superintendent of Jingdong Road, why Are you going to watch the troops under your command be destroyed like this?"
"Zheng Shaoqing didn't know something again. The lower official was promoted to the position of governor of this road by the imperial court at the beginning of last year. At that time, he also saw the problem and thought about training and strengthening the army. But later, before I would After this matter was carried out, he was ordered to accompany Privy Tong to the Liao Kingdom. Zheng Shaoqing should have known what happened next, right? So the official had no time to train soldiers and horses from various places, and it was even less possible for them to go to defeat the thieves at this time, otherwise There is no difference from the Ho Mo and others who misled the country and the army before."
These words were so sincere and well-founded that Zheng Guan couldn't hold on to what he meant anymore. In fact, this is because Zheng Guan is not a willful official after all, and he is quite upright. Since what Sun Tu said is reasonable, he cannot force him.
After being silent for a while, he said: "In that case, I am returning
The Queen of Beijing will report the truth to the officials. However, I can only give you one year at most. Such banditry must be eradicated as soon as possible! "
As Sun Tu thanked him repeatedly, he narrowed his eyes and said: "I have one more thing to investigate here, and that is about the so-called crimes of Gao Xiang and He Mo. Sun Dujian, although those crimes are all signed, but They are all dead, and there is no evidence of their death, but it makes people suspicious."
Sun Tu knew very well that this was the real purpose of Zheng Guan, the young minister of Dali Temple, coming to Qingzhou, so he said sternly: "I dare not deceive the imperial court about such matters, not to mention that even if I have the courage to lie and deceive, Qingzhou City There are tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians, but you can't keep everyone's mouth shut, right? If Zheng Shaoqing or anyone in the court still has doubts about this matter, they can inquire carefully in the city, military camps and other places to see Gao Xiang and He Did Mo and others really commit such evil deeds? As for their collusion with the Liangshan bandits, although there is no conclusive evidence, the fact that they have caused our Qingzhou Army to be defeated at the hands of the Liangshan bandits several times is enough to illustrate the problem. "
Seeing him say these words with a clear conscience, Zheng Guan, who is good at identifying people and deciding cases, really couldn't tell that he was lying to deceive himself. And Sun Tu's response was calm enough, allowing Zheng Guan to go to the city to find people and sergeants to ask about relevant matters. This is either true, or Sun Tu has completely controlled the soldiers and civilians of Qingzhou in his hands, so Only then can we have this confidence.
Seeing his silence, Zhu Biao, who was already a little impatient, suddenly spoke: "Zheng Shaoqing, please forgive me for having the courage to speak the truth."
"Who are you… "
"The last general Zhu Biao is a general in the Qingzhou Army, and he was also the one who was almost killed by He Mo and the others. Just half a year ago, we were ordered to go to suppress the bandits in Liangshan. When we approached their water stronghold, we obviously Our scout team has discovered a loophole in the enemy's ambush in the front. We were planning to retreat first, but He Mo, the governor at the rear, issued several urgent orders, asking the general to lead his army to continue advancing until they reached Liangshan Village and called for formation. .
"Although the general delayed in every possible way, he could not resist the superior's order, and finally led more than 500 people in his headquarters to advance. As a result, he was surrounded by bandits. As a result, that battle, that battle... Hundreds of soldiers under my command fought bloody battles to the end, but Only about thirty people followed me to break out of the siege, and I was seriously injured as a result." As he said that, he suddenly took off his armor, revealing several fresh scars on his chest, and saw serious injuries on his heart and back. The traces left behind are frightening to see.
Following his revelation, several other generals also revealed their wounds one after another, and also expressed their hardships and grievances during the war. This made Zheng Guan a little confused for a moment as to what to say. After a while, Cai smiled bitterly and said: "It seems that you are indeed loyal to the imperial court, and you have also suffered a lot because of the traitors."
"Actually, when we joined the army, we were prepared to sacrifice our lives for the country at any time, but we also had to die in a worthy way. Being killed like that because our superiors colluded with bandits is really hard for us to accept. If it weren't for Sun Dujian will return in time, I'm afraid we can't bear it anymore and raise our troops!"
These soldiers used the most direct words to prove that what Sun Tu said was true, and Zheng Guan had to believe that what Sun Tu said was true. In this way, the two things that brought him here were solved in just over half an hour...