In late April, it is late spring, and the weather is getting hotter. Huzhou City.
The former state government offices of the Song Dynasty have now been occupied by Wu officials. At this time, the person in charge of Huzhou's military and political power was Qian Maocai, who also served as the minister of the Ministry of Industry. Although to outsiders, this arrangement was too much. A talent that is too big is too small to be useful, but judging from the current situation in Wu State, he can be regarded as an important minister in the court if he can take charge of the important military and political affairs of the government.
However, Qian Maocai was not satisfied with his official position. As a founding father who assisted Fang La during the uprising and played a major role during the period, he believed that he had made greater contributions than Fang Fei, Pang Wanchun and others, but it turned out that the court He could not accept the important position of the Third Duke of the Central Military Commission, and even the important position of Minister of the Sixth Ministry of Finance was only given to him as Minister of the Ministry of Industry. This was really unacceptable to him.
If you were in a unified court, the position of Minister of the Ministry of Industry would be a very powerful position. The funds for various projects every year would be enough to feed and drink any corrupt official with a big appetite. But in the Wu State, the Ministry of Industry was just a decoration. The imperial court, which had little money to accumulate food, could hardly even pay official salaries, let alone allocate money for large-scale construction projects. In this way, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry was completely destitute. With any real power, Qian Maocai could only be transferred to Huzhou to serve.
What made Qian Maocai even more dissatisfied was the deeper purpose behind this arrangement. The reason why Fang La refused to keep him in the capital, Hangzhou, was because he did not trust him enough and was afraid that he would become powerful in Hangzhou and affect his own authority. The reason lies solely in Qian Maocai's origin. He is a descendant of the Qian family of Wuyue Kingdom a hundred years ago.
Although it is only a branch two or three generations away, Qian Maocai's influence in Jiangnan, especially in Hangzhou, is not small. Of course, this is also closely related to the imperial court's excessive exploitation of the people in the south of the Yangtze River over the past few years, which has forced the people into desperation. You must know that although the Wuyue Kingdom was weak at the time, after many years of founding the country, the king was still considerate of the people and did not let people suffer anything, thus leaving a good reputation. Even after a hundred years, the people of Jiangnan still have feelings for the Qian family. Have respect.
It was precisely because of this that when the people in Jiangnan were finally overwhelmed and were bewitched by Fang La to rebel, Qian Maocai also launched an uprising in Hangzhou. Soon after, the two parties quickly merged. Fang La, who was good at using troops and people, and Qian Maocai, who was very famous in Jiangnan, became complementary forces. Wu's power expanded rapidly, and it occupied Wu in just a few months. Many cities were finally established and proclaimed emperor.
But during this period, Qian Maocai was far inferior to Fang La and others in terms of ability. With only a false reputation, he successively failed in the secret battles of the court. In the end, he only got the title of Minister of the Ministry of Industry and the official position of guarding Huzhou, let alone the peace and security. Compared with Fang La, who was the emperor, even compared with Fang Fei and others, he was very different. Naturally, the dissatisfaction and resentment in his heart were huge.
However, he was not without gains. In the years of overt and covert battles, it turned out that only Qian Mao, who was hot-blooded and simple-minded, finally grew up rapidly. After suffering heavy losses, he finally understood that all reputations are false. The real truth is to have military power in your hands. So after arriving in Huzhou, he devoted himself to cultivating his trusted soldiers and horses. Now he has built Huzhou into a monolithic state, and also trained an elite force of more than 10,000 soldiers and horses who only obey him.
Not to mention, during the period of dormancy in Huzhou
He also made many friends and formed alliances with other rebels who were also squeezed out by Fang La and could only serve in local areas. This enabled him to control a considerable force outside the Wu Kingdom, and he was well prepared. Come back to Hangzhou anytime.
However, all of this must wait until Jiangnan is completely occupied before doing it. After all, he still has the overall situation in mind. In addition, Fangla's name has been decided long ago, which cannot be overthrown by him and several local officials. But at this moment, Sun Tu's appeal arrived, and it hit the weak point of Wu State, causing people's hearts to fluctuate. Scholars in many places began to question the orthodoxy of Wu State.
Qian Maocai quickly seized this opportunity, secretly planned several civil riots, and spread this theory, causing people in Wu to become more and more panicked. And the reason why he chose to do this was not only because he wanted to take the opportunity to take back his things, but also because he had indeed become suspicious of Fang La and the others. He was also a scholar, so naturally he could not accept the control of the court by heretics like Manichaeism. He had even made plans, and when the time was right, he would personally lead his troops to Hangzhou to question Fang La face to face about Manichaeism replacing Confucianism as the foundation of the state of Wu.
But before he could make his trip, Hangzhou sent people to Huzhou. At noon on April 18, a group of hundreds of Wu army elites, led by Fang Bo, came directly to the Yamen and quickly entered the room to see Qian Maocai.
Fang Bo was also a brother of the Fang La clan. Although he was not very capable, he was loyal and reliable enough, so he was named the commander of the Royal Forest Army, and his status was not low. Because of this, when he saw Qian Maocai, he didn't show much respect. He just raised his fists and said: "Qian Shangshu, I am here at the request of His Majesty. I have come to invite you back to Hangzhou to report on your work. , please come with me now."
"Huh? What kind of job am I talking about?" Although he was unhappy, Qian Maocai didn't get angry immediately. He just frowned and asked.
"Now that foreign enemies are present, Suzhou has fallen into the hands of the Song Army. Huzhou may become the next target of the Song Army's troops. Your Majesty is worried that the defense here is insufficient, so he will announce your return and make further plans after discussion. "Fang Bo said, took out another imperial edict and handed it to the other party.
The Kingdom of Wu had only been established for two years, and the etiquette between the monarch and his ministers was not very particular. One handed the gift to the other casually, and there was no red tape at all like kneeling down to listen to orders. However, after casually scanning the contents of the decree, the gloomy look on Qian Maocai's eyebrows became a little heavier: "Your Majesty still plans to let you take care of all Huzhou affairs on my behalf?"
"Exactly. After all, Huzhou is not far away from the Song army. If they attack suddenly and you, Minister, are not there, something might happen. But with my general here, it is enough to defend Huzhou!"
"Your Majesty is really thoughtful." Qian Maocai smiled sarcastically, and then said: "But there is no need to go to such trouble. I have already done all the preparations for the deployment of defenses in various places in Huzhou, and I have written down the instructions a long time ago. You Just take it back and let your Majesty know at a glance. Besides, I'm not at ease letting you as an outsider guard Huzhou, so I'll guard it here myself." But he rejected the other party's request at once, without leaving even the slightest leeway.
This time it was Fang Bo's turn to look gloomy: "Qian Shangshu, this is His Majesty's order, how dare you disobey it? Are you trying to beat me?"
Is it considered as resisting the decree? "
"I will not accept your order! His Majesty also mentioned it in his decree. Now Huzhou is the key to resisting the Song army's southward advance. How can there be any negligence?" Qian Maocai immediately replied forcefully. In the struggle after the founding of the country, he had already suffered the loss of being usurped by others. In addition, he had a guilty conscience. How could he leave his hometown in Huzhou and go to Hangzhou alone at this time
Fang Bo's expression changed again, and he put his hand on the hilt of the sword on his waist, and asked in a deep voice: "Qian Shangshu is really unwilling to obey the order? If this is the case, then Your Majesty also wants me to ask you, Are the chaos that happened in Deqing, Chongde and Wukang this month related to you?"
These words made Qian Maocai's heart skip a beat, his face changed, and he said hurriedly: "Nonsense, I am a minister of the Wu Kingdom, how could I do such a thing?"
"But the local rebel leaders who were captured confessed that they had contact with you, Minister Qian. If you are unwilling to return to Hangzhou to make an explanation to His Majesty, then you will have no choice but to offend!" Fang Bo said, already With a snap, he pulled out his saber and started to take action.
Qian Maocai, who had already been feeling guilty for a long time, reacted very quickly. He quickly stepped back and shouted loudly: "Here comes an assassin!"
At the same time as he shouted, the guard in front of the door rushed in like a cheetah, and four steel knives immediately attacked Fang Bo's body from four directions. The roar of the knife made Fang Bo give up chasing Qian Maocai, turned around to block the opponent's attack, and shouted: "Qian Maocai, you dare to attack the imperial envoy, are you really going to rebel?"
"I think you are the one with ulterior motives, kill him!" Qian Maocai, who was almost hit by the opponent with a knife, was shocked and angry, coupled with the bad breath he had been holding in his heart. , causing him to explode quickly at this moment, and issued such an order without much thought.
The guards thought even less. They just obeyed orders and attacked with all their strength immediately. These four people were masters he carefully selected from the army, and the four of them attacked together. In just a few moves, Fang Bo was forced into a blind corner and had several scars on his body.
At the same time, there were sounds of fighting outside. It was obvious that the people who came with Fang Bo finally noticed something had changed inside and wanted to rush in to save people, and had a head-on conflict with Qian Maocai's guards. Just looking at this reaction, Qian Maocai immediately understood that the other party really didn't leave any room for him, and he immediately became furious. Without saying anything more, he drew out his sword and rushed over with a single stride.
Although his martial arts skills were not very high, for Fang Bo, it was the straw that broke the camel's back. After dodging two swords and blocking another, he was already struck by a sword on the shoulder. Before he could change his tactics to save himself, Qian Maocai's long sword whizzed towards him and plunged into the defenseless Fang Bo's abdomen, stabbing him through.
"You..." Fang Bo screamed, but before he could say anything, Qian Mao, who was already determined, quickly drew his sword, swiped it smoothly, and cut the artery in the opponent's neck with a swish, blood spurted out, and he screamed. Fang Bo fell down in response.
This sword killed Fang Bo, a confidant sent by Fang La, and also cut off all Qian Maocai's escape routes. Huzhou is going to be in chaos...