After entering mid-October, the autumn mood becomes stronger and the weather becomes cooler.
A gust of cool breeze caused the leaves of the trees in the courtyard to fall. The servants nearby were so frightened that they rushed forward to clean the house, not daring to be negligent for fear of annoying their master who was standing in the courtyard looking into the distance. Because the master was in a bad mood these past few days, and would often drag people outside and beat them to death if he made a mistake.
I heard that this was because the new general named Sun Tu had not given face to his master before, so even after two days, he still felt uneasy. This made many servants in the Zhu Mansion have a lot of complaints against Sun Tu, believing that he was the one who made everyone so fearful and easily blamed.
But in fact, Zhu Meng didn't pay attention to these details at this time, let alone the fallen leaves and the conditioned actions of those slaves. He looked at the Qixia Mountain in the distance, but in his heart he was thinking about Sun Tu's fate. Will he follow his orders to suppress the rebels on the mountain
"It's been three days, and I haven't seen him reciprocate. Is he planning to deal with me? Or is it because he has seen through my intentions and is deliberately delaying it?" Zhu Meng couldn't help but worry about gains and losses. To be honest, This was something he had never thought about before, which showed how hard Sun Tu had hit him.
At this moment, Xue Xian, his number one staff member, rushed over excitedly. As soon as he saw Zhu Meng, he said: "Commander Zhu, Sun Tu's troops have moved and are heading towards Qixia Mountain at this time."
"Is this true?" Zhu Meng was shocked when he heard this, and then he showed joy: "He really led his troops there? Did you send anyone to follow him?"
"Back to Marshal Zhu, it's absolutely true. Their military camps outside the west gate have been completely evacuated, and they are heading towards the foot of Qixia Mountain. It seems that he is really planning to attack those rebels. Our people are also secretly there. Go up there and tell them what they do in time!"
"Okay!" Zhu Meng closed his fists and made a crisp sound. The previous worries were swept away and he smiled: "As long as he sends his army to attack the mountain, this matter will be completely confirmed. And if he can really Once those rebels are suppressed, his reputation in Jiangnan will be ruined, and it will be difficult to pose a threat to me again!"
"Zhu Shuai is still very clever. With just one order, Sun Tu can kill himself from the Jiangnan army and people. I think he will regret it extremely when he understands all this." Xue Xian, who proposed this strategy, did not take credit at this time, and smiled and flattered. One sentence.
"Haha, of course, as long as everything is successful, your contribution is indispensable. Mr. Xue, you are worthy of being the number one think tank around us." Zhu Meng was in a good mood at this time, and he patted the other party's shoulder hard and praised, But it made Xue Xian's whole body feel lighter.
In fact, Zhu Meng was not too pushy about this matter before, but after what happened with Gao Youjun, especially after Sun Tu came directly to disturb him, he had already listed Sun Tu as a target that needed to be eradicated. It is not an easy task to completely eliminate Sun Tu and his army, which are capable of conquering and fighting. In addition to stabbing the opponent with a conspiracy from behind, the more important thing is to destroy the opponent's reputation and make Jiangnan soldiers and civilians believe that He deserves to die, and no one will speak for him, let alone support him.
Those rogues in Qixia Mountain were pawns used by Zhu Meng to ruin Sun Tu's reputation!
Now there are more than 100,000 officials inside and outside Jinling
Army, but the number of rebels on Qixia Mountain was only a few hundred. No matter from any point of view, it was impossible for the government to let them stay on the mountain peacefully, so why didn't Zhu Meng send people to quell the chaos before Sun Tu came
This is not only because the terrain in the Qixia Mountains is complex, which is not conducive to the officers and soldiers quelling the chaos, but also because some of the rebels have a very special identity, and they must not be yelled at to kill. Naturally, this important figure cannot be the Zhou brothers. They are just ordinary military officers. No one would care even if a hundred of them die. The real headache is a man named Xie Mo.
Xie Mo is not a court official, and he doesn't have much property now. In the past few years, he has sold the last yard in Wuyi Lane passed down by his ancestors, and it has become part of the Zhu Mansion at this time. .
In the past, the king Xietang Qianyan flew into the homes of ordinary people. Xie Mo is a descendant of the Xie family, the first-class family in the Eastern Jin Dynasty! But this status is actually nothing in today's Song Dynasty. At most, it is mentioned after dinner.
What really made him famous all over Jiangnan, and even Zhu Meng didn't dare to attack him at will, was all he had done for the people of Jiangnan over the years - he sold his family's property, and finally even his ancestral home, but he didn't. It was not because of sensuality, eating, drinking, whoring and gambling, but because all the wealth was used to save the local people.
In recent years, in addition to man-made disasters such as Hua Shi Gang, Jiangnan has also experienced constant natural disasters. Droughts and floods have come one after another, resulting in no harvest of any ten acres of land. Under such circumstances, Fang La and others rose up and caused this great chaos. And if it weren't for Xie Mo, who spent all his money and spared no effort to help the people affected by disasters everywhere, the uprising would have broken out two or three years ago.
It can be said that in Jiangnan, Xie Mo is a figure like a Buddha in thousands of families, and he is an existence enshrined in longevity tablets by many families. Compared with him, the righteous deeds of Song Jiang, who was known as the timely rain and was famous for his righteousness and wealth in the green forests of Shandong, were nothing at all. It could be said that as long as he climbed up and shouted, the land south of the Yangtze River would change in an instant, and nothing would happen to Fang La.
Fortunately, Xie Mo has no rebellious intentions. He just wants to be an ordinary citizen and do more good deeds. But there were people who didn’t know the true God, so they actually set their sights on him—
At the same time that the Zhou brothers started killing officers and soldiers because of their mother's murder, Xie Mo, who was not far from his home, also encountered many harassment and exploitation by officers and soldiers from other places, and some even took action directly.
This really stirred up a hornet's nest, and immediately provoked the siege of countless people around. Then the Zhou brothers also jumped out, taking this opportunity to enslave a large number of angry people, as well as some officers and soldiers who were friendly with them. There was a big commotion in Jinling City, and they eventually broke into a warehouse, robbed a lot of food and weapons, broke through the city gate, and fled up Qixia Mountain.
It can be said that if someone hadn't happened to provoke Xie Mo, the Zhou brothers might not have been able to escape from Jinling with their charisma and abilities. It was precisely because of such changes that the generals who came to Jiangnan for the first time knew that Xie Mo existed. After knowing his great reputation in Jiangnan, they naturally did not dare to accept the order to exterminate the rebellious people in the mountains. If Xie Mo was killed by mistake, the consequences would be too serious.
Let alone them, it’s just Zhu Meng
He was a violent man and many officials had died under him, but he still did not dare to attack Xie Mo. Because he knew very well that once he really did this, the people of Jinling who were originally as docile as sheep would inevitably riot in groups. Even if they didn't die, he would not be able to stay in Jiangnan anymore.
Because of Xie Mo's presence, the hundreds of rebels who fled to Qixia Mountain were deliberately ignored until Sun Tu arrived recently, and then was persuaded by Zhu Meng without knowing the inside story. Taking over this would lead to huge consequences. The task of trouble.
Now, what Zhu Meng is looking forward to most is that Sun Tu will immediately use troops to attack the rebels on the mountain. As long as the killing generals go up and eliminate Xie Mo, Sun Tu will be completely finished. Even though he had a great reputation before and was praised by the people for his military discipline that far surpassed other officers and soldiers, as long as he hurt Xie Mo, he would become the public enemy of everyone in Jiangnan.
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Dusk, Jinling Mansion Office.
"What did you say?" Tong Mu suddenly dropped the pen in his hand, causing a document on the case in front of him to be completely destroyed, but he could no longer care about it at this time. He looked at Lu Bofei in front of him eagerly and hissed: " Qianli did he really lead his troops to Qixia Mountain?"
"Exactly, I just received the news..." Lu Bofei looked a little complicated. After hesitating for a moment, he said: "I think Sun Qianjie really didn't know the situation on the mountain, so he rushed into the situation after receiving this order. We rush to quell the chaos, if someone injures Xie Mo, the consequences will be too serious."
As he said that, he sighed with self-reproach: "If I had known Sun Qian's character earlier, I wouldn't have harmed him like this. I had planned to tell the inside story secretly before, but I didn't expect him to act so quickly. Soldiers."
Tong Mu also glanced at the other party in surprise. He really didn't expect Sun Tu to have such ability and influence Zhu Meng's trusted staff. Perhaps this is the reason why he has today's status and strength. .
However, it was no longer the time to care about this. He immediately said: "I will rush to warn him, but I will never let him do something he will regret for the rest of his life!" As he said that, he no longer cared about the official duties at hand. As the sky gradually darkened, he strode out of the public house, asked for a fast horse at the yamen gate, and galloped away in the direction of Qixia Mountain as quickly as possible.
"Sanlang, Sanlang, you must take your time. If you really kill Xie Mo, I'm afraid our whole plan will be completely ruined. By then, maybe half of the south of the Yangtze River will fall to Fang La and the others. On my hand..." Praying in his heart, Tong Mu anxiously rode forward, his eyes fixed on Qixia Mountain in the distance.
Suddenly, his expression changed. As soon as he rushed out of the city gate, he suddenly pulled the reins. After stopping his horse, he looked blankly at the mountain in the distance, his face full of horror and disbelief. Because there were thick smoke rising from the mountain at this time, and there were even dots of fire in the middle. Someone was actually setting the mountain on fire!
This moment made Tong Mu's heart suddenly freeze. What he was most worried about finally happened.
At the same time, in the Zhu Mansion, Zhu Meng looked at the smoke-filled Qixia Mountain and laughed loudly: "Okay, no matter how smart Sun Tu is, he will still be played by us. This time. Come on, Xie Mo is dead, and so is he!"