After the soldiers and civilians in Jinling and surrounding areas regarded Sun Tu as a selfish person and made him a villain, this situation was finally spread to Danyang City. This immediately aroused the anger of all the subordinate soldiers. Everyone was aggrieved for their own rule, and some were even clamoring to lead troops back to Shandong.
In the afternoon of that day, Luda and a few others came angrily to see Sun Tu. They didn't mince words and said directly: "Qianjia, the rumors outside are really too much. They are just nonsense and ignore all the faults. They blame our Shandong Army, and even the brothers below can’t stand it anymore.”
"Oh? How did it spread to the outside world?" Sun Tu acted quite calmly at this time, and even had an unpredictable smile on his face. He also held a cup of tea in his hand and was drinking it slowly.
"They say that we intend to seize military supplies. They also say that we have already secretly colluded with the rebels and will rebel only when the time comes. It is really unreasonable!" Even a good-tempered person like Lin Chong became a little anxious at this time and said Then he said worriedly: "Qian Ju, if the court really believes these rumors, our situation will be really dangerous."
"And now the people in Jiangnan regard us as enemies because of Xie Mo. It is said that many local people in Danyang dare not come back because they are afraid that we will harm them." Yang Zhi also said with a worried look.
It wasn't until this matter was mentioned that the smile on Sun Tu's face faded slightly, feeling that something was indeed wrong.
As early as after they captured Danyang, they had begun to spread the news so that the people who had fled before could return quickly. After all, only 30% of the people in Danyang City were now too deserted. But even so, after half a month, less than half of the people who fled have returned. This is not what they want to see.
Seeing Sun Tu's moved face, Yang Zhi continued: "There are also brothers from Changzhou who have been retained by Peng Yongzhen's Huainan Army. Unless they fall out with him, they will never get through. Dong Dujian sent someone here Ask and see what your idea is, Qian Jia."
"Qian Ju, we can't let them act recklessly. This is not Shandong after all. Once there is a conflict, we won't be able to wash it out even if we jump into the Yellow River." Lin Chong advised nervously after hearing this. He was really afraid of Sun. In a rage, Tu would give Dong Ping an order to forcefully return to the army.
"Don't worry, I'm not so confused yet. Doesn't that make it more certain that I have objections?" Sun Tu said immediately, but his brows furrowed deeper: "What on earth do they want? What are they doing in Jinling now? As this rumor continues to spread, it is obvious that someone is causing trouble behind the scenes, and this is probably Zhu Meng and others."
"Yes, it must be that we captured the Danyang Granary that made Zhu Meng and the others worried, so they wanted to use this public opinion to force us to bring troops back." Zhu Wu also expressed his opinion. As the important adviser around Sun Tu now, he has always followed him.
"Actually, in the final analysis, this is a sign of Zhu Meng's guilty conscience. He knew very well how much military rations he had stolen and sold, and he was afraid that I would expose him, so he slandered my reputation first." Sun Tu snorted: "It's a shame that I gave him some money before. To save some face, the report only mentioned that half of the military rations were destroyed, but did not mention that some granaries were missing... It seems that if I don’t show him how powerful he is, he won’t restrain himself!”
"Qian Ju, I'm afraid not many people will believe this matter if we mention it now." Lin Chong said worriedly: "Both the military and the civilians are now being deceived by others, thinking that we are greedy and short of food, which will only make them more suspicious of us."
"Hey, I didn't eat the chicken but made myself smelly." Sun Tu also regretted a little in his heart. If he had known that Zhu Meng and the others would be so despicable, he should have acted first and removed the large amount of grain from the granary here. The story of being resold was spread, and the moral victory point was first occupied. However, at that time, he was finally concerned about the situation in Jiangnan, and coupled with his selfish motives, he wanted to secretly withhold some of the grain, which ended up putting him in a disadvantageous situation.
"Qian Ju, the only plan now is to leave Jiangnan. We can also send a message to Dong Ping and others to act according to the situation and join us as soon as possible." Yang Zhi still insisted on his opinion.
"Brother Yang, what you are doing is really going to have endless consequences. Even if we can really return to Shandong completely, won't we still have to bear those charges? What's more, this will make people feel that we are in the wrong, and the court will hold us accountable. How should we deal with it? What’s more, if the chaos in Jiangnan is not settled, how can we go back?" Lin Chong hurriedly objected, but he also made some sense.
For a moment, Sun Tu really didn't know what choice to make. This was a complex situation he had never encountered before, and it couldn't be easily resolved with brute force.
In fact, he also knew very well that the people in Jiangnan were very suspicious of him at this time. The key to their extremely bad impression was that he killed Xie Mo. As long as he lets Xie Mo show up and explain the matter, the situation will naturally be greatly improved.
But Xie Mo was not with him at all at this time, but was left in Aurous Hill by him. If the truth is really announced at this time, I am afraid that Zhu Meng will be so ruthless that he will kill people and kill Xie Mo first. By then, he will not even have this trump card.
"It seems that we have to find a way to bring Xie Mo from Jinling first, and then use his mouth to clear my name. As for the lawsuit between Dong Ping and the Huainan Army, we can only wait until the storm is settled. "He already knew the inside story of the battle in Changzhou. Compared with the two situations, they are very different from the situation of Peng Yongzhenbao and Zhu Meng. However, even if he told it at this time, not many people would believe it.
Just when Sun Tu was having a headache about the situation in front of him, two days later in the evening, a man with a pale face appeared in Danyang City and asked to see him: "I'm Qin Chi, I'm here to save General Sun!"
Because of his extraordinary popularity and amazing words, Sun Tu had someone bring him in front of him. When Qin Chi saw Sun Tu and bowed with fists in his arms, he even said something surprising: "General Sun, do you know that you and the tens of thousands of Shandong soldiers under your command are facing a desperate situation. If you make one more mistake, you will be defeated." , which means there will be no recovery."
Facing the confident eyes of the person who came up to him, Sun Tu was stunned for a moment, and then laughed: "Your Excellency made such shocking remarks, could it be that you want to imitate the strategists of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and regard yourself as Su Zhang and his ilk?" ?"
"General Sun is so complimentary. I don't dare to compare myself with the sages. Today I come to speak because I don't want to see General Sun, who is famous all over the world, and the Shandong soldiers with outstanding records die unjustly." Qin Chi didn't care about Sun Tu's slightly sarcastic remarks. Speaking, he still spoke freely.
"Oh? Then I would like to hear what you have to say." Sun Tu
After glancing at the other party, I already had some vague guesses in my mind.
Qin Chi didn't waste any time and quickly got to the point: "Nowadays, many people in the south of the Yangtze River say that General Sun is a cruel and corrupt official, and some even say that you have evil intentions. This is a great danger to the general and the Shandong Army officers. Once the news spreads, even if you don't have such thoughts, I'm afraid Song Ting will not let you off lightly."
"Oh, really?" Sun Tu responded noncommittally.
Qin Chi glared: "General Sun, please don't think that this is alarmist. Based on my understanding of the Song Dynasty monarchs and ministers over the years, they will never let go of a threat like the general easily. Even if it is possible. It's an injustice, and they would definitely rather suffer injustice than indulge in it!
"Since the general has been in the Song army for many years, he should know how wary the Song court has been against generals for hundreds of years. Don't tell such rumors. Even if there are only occasional mistakes, the officials in the court will not let go of the generals. You will never give up if you are tortured to death. General Sun, aren't you afraid that you will be harmed by such traitors
"And you won't be the only one who will die from this, and most of the soldiers under your command will also be implicated. Those are the brothers Paoze whom you worked so hard to bring out, and you can't bear to let them be framed by traitors and eventually die in a foreign country?"
After saying this, Sun Tu didn't react at all. Some of the guards standing inside and outside the hall had changed their expressions, and their eyes showed some worry and indignation. They were already worried about this matter, but now that someone had exposed the harm, they naturally became even more nervous and angry.
Sun Tu looked at Qin Chi calmly, and laughed after a moment: "Since you have taken the trouble to come to see me, you must not just scare me with these words. I wonder if you have any solution." The way?"
When Qin Chi saw him asking, he felt happy and hurriedly said: "General Sun is indeed a smart man. Although you are in trouble now, you are not completely without countermeasures. I have three strategies available here, the upper, middle and lower. Just look. What choice did you make?"
"Oh, tell me."
"The next step is to pretend that you don't know anything. Just drag it out and see if Song Ting will doubt you because of these rumors. But in my opinion, Song Ting will definitely become suspicious because of his usual suspicion of military generals. And finally attack the general. By then, not only will the general's reputation be ruined, but his officers will also be widely implicated."
Having said this, he paused deliberately and glanced at Sun Tu, but saw that the other party did not respond at all. This made him feel a little uncomfortable, so he could only say: "As for Zhong Ce, he is more proactive. General, you can go Bianjing complained of injustice and defended everything to the Song court. If the emperor really believed you, maybe this matter could be over. However, based on my understanding of the Song court emperor, I am afraid that he is not wise enough to do this. Traitors are in charge, and if you really go, I'm afraid you will be sending the sheep into the tiger's mouth. So this strategy will also be a narrow escape for you."
"It seems that both the lower and middle strategies are dangerous. What about the best strategy?" Sun Tu was already 100% sure of the identity of the visitor and knew what he wanted to say, but he still asked casually. Say this.
Qin Chi was waiting for his question, and immediately said: "This is the best strategy that can truly solve General Sun's danger - abandon the darkness and turn to the light!"