Since he had obtained Zhu Meng's promise, Sun Tu would not delay. Early the next morning, he sent his guard captain Tang Feng to take people to the official warehouse in the southeast corner of Jinling to ask for food. As for himself, he and Tong Mu stayed in a few places. The personal guards escorted them up to the top of the city and inspected the city's defense system.
In Sun Tu's view, although the imperial court is constantly dispatching officers and soldiers from all over the country to arrive, and it seems that the imperial court has an absolute advantage, in fact, it is difficult for these rabble-rousers who only know how to bully good and fear evil to exploit the people, and they may not be able to stop the rising morale from the front. Fang La's rebels may have to fight a tough battle around Jinling at some time. So before that, it is necessary to have a basic understanding of the entire city, so as not to be blinded before things happen.
Because Tong Mu, the official from Suzhou, came forward, it was really easy for them to get to the top of the city that was supposed to be a military restricted area. It is sad to say that the power of the local officials in Jinling is now far less than that of those who followed Zhu Meng from Suzhou. The officials who retired, especially after the murder of Jinling official Yang Du yesterday, others were even more frightened and did not dare to offend Suzhou officials.
The few people climbed up to the inner city wall first, and then walked along the corridor. Below was the slowly flowing Qinhuai River. On both sides of the river were the busiest streets, but at this time there were only tigers and wolves in power. A common people. After a few careful glances, Sun Tu looked all the way along the river and said softly: "Which gate is the exit of the Qinhuai River?"
Tong Mu already knew a lot about this city and immediately replied: "It's Dongshui Pass. There should be a navy stationed there, with a strength of about seven to eight hundred."
"Let's go and have a look." Sun Tu immediately took the lead and headed east. Before he reached the place, his brows were deeply frowned. The situation here was not to his liking. Not only the city There were only a few soldiers guarding it, and the city wall was badly weathered and peeling off. It was obvious that it had not been properly repaired for many years.
This is indeed the case. Because Nanjing is located in the south of the Yangtze River, it is far less likely to be in danger of foreign invasion than cities in the north. Therefore, local officials have neglected to take precautions in this regard, and the little money they have has long been divided privately by relevant officials. Everything is clean. As long as the city wall doesn't collapse, everything will be fine.
Seeing Sun Tu frowning, Tong Mu quickly guessed what he was thinking and said with a smile: "Do you know how Hangzhou was captured? According to the soldiers who escaped later, the rebels set up ladders to attack the city. As a result, a section of the city wall collapsed during a fierce attack, causing the outer city to be breached instantly. Then, there was also someone in the city suddenly causing trouble, so they were confused and destroyed this important town in the south of the Yangtze River in just half a month. We captured it. It is said that the last time great efforts were made to build the city wall here in Jinling was decades ago."
Sun Tu could only smile bitterly and shake his head: "So it was not a fluke that Fang La and his gang were able to suddenly sweep across Jiangnan in a short period of time, but the result of the cooperation between the enemy and ourselves. No wonder..." The latter sentence is no wonder Zhao Gou escaped later. When he arrived in Jiangnan, he was chased by the Jin people and had to escape to the sea to save his life. He held back his words in time and did not say them out. He was quite surprised when he saw the relevant statement before, but now he finally understands that at this time, the defense power of the cities in the south of the Yangtze River is simply unable to withstand the fierce golden soldiers and cavalry that come and go like the wind.
Tong Muche
I sighed with him: "The problem now is that this flaw cannot be repaired. It is impossible for Zhu Meng to spend money and food to repair the Jinling city wall. As for the local treasury of Jinling, it has already fallen to Zhu Meng and The men’s pockets are in the pocket.”
"It seems that it will be difficult for us to defeat the enemy by holding on." After only looking at a section of the city wall, Sun Tu lost interest in continuing to look down. Such a serious problem, even if he was temporarily There was no way to come up with any defensive strategy: "The only way is to abandon the city and fight the rebels in the wild."
"Yes, but those troops and horses who came to help obviously had no such intention. Didn't you notice? They have been staying around Jinling and have no intention of going south."
"After all, this is not their jurisdiction, and they don't have money, food, and rewards to encourage them. No one else would be willing to sacrifice their lives." Sun Tu said quite understandingly. Even he couldn't let his subordinates do it before the food, grass, money, and salary were all allocated. The soldiers went to fight the enemy desperately.
Although Sun Tu had lost interest in checking the city wall, everyone still walked to Dongshui Pass, which was not far from the east gate. After taking a condescending look, Sun Tu sighed again: "The checkpoint here is easy to attack but difficult to defend. The so-called navy is just a few more broken boats. If the enemy really attacks along the current, I'm afraid they won't be able to hold on for long. Again. In addition, the east gate is full of flaws. If I lead my army to attack Jinling, I can capture the city in less than ten days as long as I choose the east side and march by land and water."
After seeing this, there was no need to go anywhere else, and since it was approaching noon, Sun Tu planned to return to the military camp. But before he had walked far, a group of people hurriedly came forward to meet them. After seeing them from a distance, the leading scribe shouted: "Sun Qianha, please make it easy for me to find him. You are actually so interested that you ran up to the city to see the scenery early in the morning..." Well, in people's eyes, Sun Tu came to the city today just to see the scenery.
But Sun Tu had no intention of explaining. He just looked at the person coming and waited for Tong Mu to introduce him. The latter's reaction was not slow, and he immediately smiled and said: "Qianli, this is Mr. Lu Bofei Lu, the mastermind behind Zhu Shuai."
"It turns out to be Mr. Lu, I'm disrespectful." Sun Tu had a banquet with him yesterday, but there were many people at the time and he didn't take any time to remember, so he actually forgot about this person for a while.
Lu Bofei was still a little uncomfortable at first, but when he heard what Tong Mu said, he felt a little happy because the mastermind was referring to the first military advisor and staff. This was playing into his plans, so he humbly said: "Tong Tui" My official position is too high, so I just come up with ideas and run errands around Zhu Shuai, which is not worth mentioning."
After a brief exchange of greetings, Sun Tucai looked at him and said, "Why is Mr. Lu so anxious to find me now?"
"Oh, but Marshal Zhu has a small matter that he wants to ask Sun Qian for your help. Tong Tuiguan should also know that just half a month ago, some unruly people suddenly made trouble in the city. They killed more than a dozen people in the government and robbed another person. He collected grain and fodder, and then fled into Qixia Mountain and hid it. Although Zhu Shuai sent people to search for it several times, they were able to escape because of their familiarity with the terrain. This matter has a considerable impact on the security of Jinling. . So Zhu Shuai wanted to ask Sun Qianji to lead people up the mountain and catch them all as a warning to others."
Sun Tu looked at him thoughtfully, and then at the famous scenic spot in the distance, feeling unhappy.
Forbidden to sneer. This Zhu Meng is really capable of causing trouble. He has actually forced the people of Jinling to rebel. Now that he has thrown such a hot potato in front of him, it is not easy to accept it.
This is not to say that he does not have the confidence to lead troops up the mountain to capture the rebels. Qixia Mountain itself is not too dangerous. In addition, the other party has just gone up the mountain not long ago. It is impossible to rely on the terrain to hold on like those previous cottages. His soldiers and horses have the ability to put down the Shandong bandits many times, so it shouldn't take much effort to put them down.
The real problem is that in terms of the identity of these rioters, they are actually the victims. If you really attack according to Zhu Meng's wishes, not only will your conscience be punished, but your reputation among the people will be ruined a lot afterwards, and you might be detained at some point. With a name like a butcher, he became the public enemy of the people in Jiangnan. This was not what Sun Tu wanted to see.
Seeing Sun Tulu frowning, Lu Bofei smiled again and said: "By the way, Sun Qian, Zhu Shuai also mentioned that our military rations are very limited, and we must first satisfy those teams that can really fight. If you can help Now that we have dealt with this mob, I will definitely be able to say a few good words for you in front of Zhu Shuai."
"Okay." After thinking for a moment, Sun Tu finally bowed his head to reality and nodded in response: "I will arrange for people to quell the chaos immediately, but when the time comes, I hope that Zhu Shuai can keep his word and defeat our army as soon as possible. It will only be possible if the food and grass allocation is in place."
"Of course. With Sun Qian's intervention, those rebels must be punished." Seeing Sun Tu agreeing to this matter, Lu Bofei was very happy. After complimenting him a few more words, he happily said goodbye and left.
But Yue Fei, who was following Sun Tu as a personal guard and had never spoken a word, finally couldn't bear it anymore: "Qian Ji, these people went up the mountain out of desperation. What we do is different from other officials. What's the difference between the army and the army?" There is a huge gap between the young and passionate boy and Yue Wumu many years later.
Tong Mu, on the other hand, glanced at Sun Tu with a clear look and said with a smile: "Qianli must have his own calculations, and he can only accept this matter if he can get the best of both worlds, right?"
"The one who knows me is my second brother." Sun Tu looked at Yue Fei with a smile and said: "There are many ways to solve things in this world, and there is not only one way to choose from. They just want us to escape to Qixia. Are they the rebels in the mountain? I didn’t say that we must kill them all, so we can appease them.”
"Is this... is this possible?" Yue Fei said vaguely.
"It depends on people. Yue Fei obeys the order..." Sun Tu suddenly hardened his face, and after the other party suddenly stood at attention, he said: "You and Lu Dawusong will go to Qixia Mountain in the afternoon, find those people, and convey my intention to them. As long as they are willing to come down the mountain, I, Sun Tu, can keep them safe."
Although he still had doubts in his heart, Yue Fei immediately crossed his hands and obeyed the order: "I humbly obey my command!" There was a little excitement on his face, because this was the first military order he had received since joining Sun Tu's command, which made him excited. Make up your mind to do things beautifully.
At this time, Sun Tu had already forgotten this matter, but frowned slightly: "It seems that Zhu Meng will not let me go easily. He found it for me on the second day after coming to Jinling." trouble."
Little did he know that another trouble had already come to his door.