In early May, Sun Tu sent the news of the victory of pacifying the Liangshan bandits to the capital. In early June, Fang Qian was ordered to come to Qingzhou and informed Sun Tu of the imperial court's rewards and transfer orders. However, it was not until mid-July that the imperial court officially allocated the relevant rewards. All the generals who came down from Sun Tu were rewarded, and everyone in the camp was happy.
But this also reflects how inefficient the Song Dynasty is today. It took more than two months to deliver the official positions, money, grain, silk, and other items that should be given to the meritorious ministers. It was precisely because of seeing this performance of the imperial court that Sun Tucai boldly guessed that his troops would not need to be moved this year. After all, it would be better to mobilize the grain, grass and baggage required for tens of thousands of troops and then send them to the south of the Yangtze River than to send money and grain. Qingzhou is much more difficult, and it will be impossible to do it in less than half a year.
However, an incident at the end of July caused the imperial court to change its past style and become more resolute. In early August, another military order was sent to Qingzhou, ordering Sun Tu to immediately send troops to the south of the Yangtze River. The relevant food, grass and baggage would be delivered within half a month. To his army!
The reason why the court made such a change was precisely because Jiangnan La suddenly proclaimed himself emperor in Hangzhou on July 27th, named his country Wu, and established Yongle in the Yuan Dynasty!
When this shocking news came out, the world was in turmoil, and the emperor and his ministers were even more shocked and angry. Even the literary emperor Zhao Ji, who had never paid much attention to government affairs, was furious and immediately ordered the Jiangnan army to send troops to quell the chaos. At the same time, he also ordered Xiang armies from all over the country to send troops to quell the bandits, which naturally included Sun Tu from Shandong.
This matter really touched the bottom line of the court. Because establishing political power and proclaiming emperor are two completely different concepts from ordinary rebellion and uprising, this threat to the court is already a hundred times that of the rebellion disrupting half of the south of the Yangtze River, and it is the top priority that the monarch and ministers of the court need to deal with immediately. Because once Fang La's Wu State really gains a foothold in the south of the Yangtze River, it will be tantamount to giving the Song Dynasty another powerful enemy country, and compared with Xixia, which was established only a few decades ago, Jiangnan is a large country. The Song Dynasty is truly a powerhouse of wealth and must not be lost.
And since ancient times, the Chinese nation has paid attention to the integrity of the name. Previously, Fang La was only a bandit, so his strength could not expand rapidly, but once he openly proclaimed himself emperor and rebelled, the situation would be completely different. The people in the south of the Yangtze River, who were already full of resentment against the Song Dynasty court because of the Hua Shi Gang and heavy taxes, immediately found a force that could lend their support. Not only the people of the two Zhejiang Roads where they were rooted and entrenched joined, but also the nearby Jiangnan Road. Many people abandoned their homes and businesses and rushed to Hangzhou and other places to join the Wu regime.
Under this momentum, Fang La's Wu regime developed rapidly and expanded westward, attacking important cities such as She County on Jiangnan Road. There were even troops directed at the imperial court in Jiangnan. The posture of Suzhou Prefecture, the last important town.
He was so frightened that Zhu Meng, who had been preparing Huashi Gang for the emperor in Suzhou, intending to use it to atone for his sins, fled in a hurry. He quickly fled to Jinling before he stopped, which meant that he had to give up the entire Jiangnan Road.
When the news came back to the court, it once again caused an uproar throughout the court. Then some of the courtiers who had not taken Fang La's rebellion seriously at first acted as quickly as if they had been beaten to death, issuing decrees one after another. and issuance of transfer orders
Everywhere, the words became more and more severe. The Qingzhou government office where Sun Tu was located issued five military orders and decrees in just half a month, urging him to send troops immediately, almost every three days.
In fact, after learning that Fang La actually dared to found a country and proclaim himself emperor, the officials and generals of Qingzhou were also greatly surprised. Some people who were loyal to the court also asked Sun Tu to fight several times, hoping that they could lead troops to the south as soon as possible. The representative figure among them is naturally Song Jiang and Song Gongming, who has just surrendered to the imperial court. He was named the prefect of a certain place and wanted to serve the imperial court.
After a few days, this loyal minister of the Song Dynasty, who was the leader of the rebels a few months ago, had persuaded Sun Tu several times to send troops as soon as possible. Today, he brought up the old matter again. When Sun Tu summoned his generals to discuss the matter, he asked for the southern expedition. He also mentioned: "If Qianjia feels that it is risky to leave Lu in the whole country, I am willing to lead one of his troops to go there first." , to ensure peace in Jiangnan."
Sun Tu looked fixedly at Song Jiang, who was looking anxious, and after a while he said calmly: "This is a serious matter, and I won't send troops easily unless everything is safe. At any rate, I have to wait until all the soldiers and horses under my command are fully trained. It’s time to set off. Brother Gongming, I can understand that your heart is towards the imperial court, but I hope you can calm down and be patient."
"But..." Song Jiang was still waiting to persuade him, but Wu Yong beside him gently pulled down his sleeves and stopped him from talking. Then he realized that not only Sun Tu, but also many generals around him looked at him a little bit. Weird, with a chill in his heart, he finally stopped talking.
Sun Tu ignored him and looked at Qi Desheng and Dong Ping: "How is the training of my soldiers and horses now? Especially the new recruits who have just joined the army, are they slacking off in their training? ?"
"Du Jian..." Dong Ping yelled smoothly at first, then came back to his senses, and quickly changed his words: "Reporting to Qianjia, since Liangshan Po was pacified, our army's lieutenants did not dare to slack off in their daily drills. Although it is different from the original There is still a big gap between the elites of the Qingzhou Army, but they have changed their past lazy appearance, especially the thousands of troops recruited from Liangshan, which have made rapid progress and have surpassed the general state capital Xiang army."
"Well, that's very good. These elites are the foundation for us to serve the country and kill the enemy. We can't neglect it at all, let alone abandon my overall plan just because some people are eager to make meritorious deeds." Although Sun Tu Song Jiang was not named, but the meaning behind his words was quite clear. This also made Song Jiang feel even more uneasy and he did not dare to raise his head.
He really lost his sense in what he said just now in a hurry. He actually wanted Sun Tu to allocate troops to him. What is this? Do you want to seize military power from Sun Tu? Even Qi Desheng and other close subordinates who had been following Sun Tu all the way did not dare to have such an idea, let alone someone like him who had recently surrendered. Especially when he said that he wanted to regain the original Liangshan troops and horses, it violated Sun Tu's taboo.
So after this meeting, Wu Yong, who came to a deserted place, couldn't help but sigh: "Brother, you are too impatient. You actually said such words in public, which will definitely make Sun Qianha suspicious of you." ah."
"I am also worried about the affairs of the world. That Fang La was so bold that he openly proclaimed himself an emperor and established a country. He was such a traitor. Everyone should punish him! But Sun Qianha was not good. The court had repeatedly issued orders and urged him to do so, but he still obeyed.
Still as motionless as a mountain, is this still what court officials should be like? Song Jiang said with a frown.
"Brother, haven't you understood Sun Qian's thoughts until now? How much of everything he does is to strengthen his own strength, and how much is for the imperial court? I'm afraid the former accounts for 89%, so even if Fang La's proclaiming himself emperor will indeed bring great harm to the Song Dynasty, and it is impossible for him to send troops to the south before he thinks the time is right." Wu Yong saw it much more clearly than Song Jiang, and immediately pointed out the key to the problem.
Song Jiang had actually noticed Sun Tu's selfishness a long time ago, but he had always denied it in his heart. Now when he heard this, the worry on his face became more and more serious: "This Sun Qianha is too courageous. If the imperial officials still have such thoughts, are they really not afraid of being blamed by the imperial court and having their official positions taken away?"
"Brother, do you think that with his current prestige and military power here, someone in the imperial court can really come here to seize power?" Wu Yong said and sighed softly: "But to be honest, I don't know what the purpose of this person is. I can’t see clearly.”
"Then do you think he will send troops to Jiangnan this time?"
"This..." Song Jiang's question really made Wu Yong hesitate. If Sun Tu really had a disobedient heart, it would be the best opportunity to openly raise his troops at this time. Once the North-South echo with Fang La in the south of the Yangtze River is formed, the chaos in the Song Dynasty will inevitably get out of control, and the world will really be in chaos.
However, Wu Yong obviously underestimated Sun Tu's character and ambition. Although he was ambitious, he was not willing to do such things as taking advantage of others. It's not that he has any loyalty to the Song Dynasty, but he doesn't want to become a sinner of history.
Because Sun Tu knew very well that for the Song Dynasty, the biggest threat was the countries established by the nomads from the north, and the Liao and Jin were the most terrifying enemies. Once he follows the uprising and disrupts the entire Central Plains world, the only ones who will benefit are the Liao and Jin countries. When they take advantage of the opportunity to invade the Central Plains, the entire Han Dynasty will fall into the hands of the barbarians - he But I don’t want to see the tragic situation of Wuhu’s chaos in China appear again in the Central Plains.
Therefore, Sun Tu's idea this time was very good. He must go to the south of the Yangtze River to quell the Fangla Rebellion, but before doing so, he must be fully prepared. In addition to the food and grass that the court had promised and the continuous training of his troops, he was more concerned about the first-hand intelligence and information on the topography of Jiangnan and Fang La's strength.
As the saying goes, if you know yourself and your enemy, you can fight a hundred battles. In fact, after agreeing to Fang Qian's expedition, Sun Tu had already sent the capable men from the scout camp to Jiangnan to investigate relevant information. He had also made a decision long ago, and would never send troops easily before the spies sent specific information.
After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the first batch of scouts finally returned one after another. After integrating relevant intelligence and learning that numerous officers and soldiers had suffered defeats in Jiangnan, Sun Tu finally announced the dispatch of troops.
At this time, it had only been four months since he defeated the bandits in Liangshan, and it had only been three months since he married Hu Rong, and the pregnant Ya'er's belly was already swollen. Only this time, Sun Tu, as a husband and father, could not be with her and watch his first child come into this world with his own eyes.