The north wind in Hangzhou in November is stronger, and the low and dense clouds seem to indicate that the first snow of this winter is coming. After several days of putting out fires, or if the fire burns out on its own, this fire has swept through less than half of Hangzhou. The fire in the city was finally completely extinguished, but it also destroyed half of the famous city in the south of the Yangtze River and the homes of countless people.
As early as in the process of sending people to continuously put out the fire and calm the people, Sun Tu had already learned the causes and consequences of this sudden fire from the mouths of his soldiers. Everything does start from the palace, but it doesn't stop at the palace.
When Sun Tu was still outside the city and was about to fight Pang Wanchun alone, the subordinates who received his order immediately took action and rushed into the Wu Palace, which was completely undefended. Everything seemed so normal at first. The soldiers searched everywhere, looking for valuable things, and began to seal those palaces. But when they drove straight into a certain palace in the harem, they unexpectedly found ten people standing there. There were dozens of people, and the man at the head looked at them with strange eyes, and said softly: "I didn't expect that Sun Tu would be so careful and didn't enter the palace by himself. In that case, you are in bad luck!" "
With a wave of his hand, the men with torches threw them all in front of a jar. Then the jar burst and the flames spread. It was only then that everyone was horrified to discover that the surroundings of the palace were actually filled with fire starters. Once the fire started, it would be out of control.
Not only this palace, but also the rows of palaces and gardens outside have actually made arrangements for this. Once the fire spread, the entire palace was ignited, and then again Follow the route that has been laid out and jump straight out.
Outside the palace gate, as the palace was on fire, some people actually started setting fires everywhere. There was some chaos in the city at that time, and the Song army officers were far from being able to control the situation. When someone desperately set fire to the houses, and those houses were actually filled with kerosene, hay and other flammable materials inside and on top early in the morning. Behind the object, it was able to move around under the blow of the north wind, and finally ignited the entire North City of Hangzhou.
Fortunately, these Song soldiers who entered the palace were elite soldiers, and they hurriedly retreated when they saw something bad, otherwise they would really have been stuck there. But even so, there were still many casualties due to the fire. This kind of damage was really beyond everyone's expectation.
What particularly concerned Sun Tu was what the escaped soldiers deliberately mentioned. The culprit who caused the fire actually set up this plan against himself, and he also did it to such an extreme degree. He was buried in this fire. This was obviously very different from opponents like Pang Wanchun on the battlefield. It gave Sun Tu the feeling that this was not public hatred, but private anger. But for the time being, Sun Tu really couldn't imagine what kind of hatred could make such an important official of Wu State do such a thing at all costs.
You must know that this is not just about how many people were burned to death, but about half of the city. Once the cause and effect of this matter are spread out, it will definitely be a huge blow to Fang La and his puppet regime who have fled to the west. Hangzhou was their original capital, and the people here were their subjects. Now that they were defeated, they did not care about the life and death of their subjects, and burned the city. How could they still let the city be destroyed
Are other people loyal to them
So Sun Tu quickly came to the conclusion that this could not be Fang La's decision at all. It must be something secretly planned by someone who had a deep personal enmity with him. It's a pity that the fire that reduced the entire palace to rubble has also burned this man to ashes along with his hatred and secrets. It is really difficult to find out the reason.
And just when he thought there was no answer to everything, a discovery made him change his mind. Just this morning, the soldiers who went to the palace to search for relevant clues actually found a secret passage there, and the starting point of the secret passage was actually in the palace where the fire was set that day.
This made Sun Tu very interested, and he immediately rushed over to see what was going on. This was also the first time he truly set foot in this palace, which was built by the Qiantang Kingdom decades ago, but was burned down a few days ago. Originally, if we followed the course of history, this place might have become the royal palace of the Song Dynasty after it was inevitable to establish its capital here. But now it seems that there is no way to go back because of the original pavilions, terraces, pavilions, and deep palaces here. They have all become scorched ruins, with a burning smell everywhere, and have long lost their original splendor.
"General, it's right here. I'm going to confront that guy here. Then with his order, the torch fell to the ground, and the surrounding area burst into flames." A wounded soldier pointed at the man in front of him. The ruins of the palace garden, which had been burned down to only a few dark walls, said loudly.
Sun Tu nodded, then strolled forward. After his eyes flashed quickly, he settled on a corner where the stone slab had been pried up. Judging from the traces left nearby, the setting of this secret passage is indeed very clever. If it were blocked by those luxurious furniture and mechanisms, it would be impossible for people who always come here to find this secret passage.
However, the fire burned everything in the palace, and also caused the floor tiles that were supposed to hide the secret passage to become warped, showing a place that was different from other places. Only then were the soldiers who came in to search again Found it immediately.
After approaching it and taking a closer look, he nodded again and said, "Open it and go down and take a look."
In fact, this place had been carefully searched by the soldiers a long time ago, but no one tried to persuade them. The entrance that could only allow one person to enter and exit was quickly opened for Sun Tu. Two soldiers entered first, and then Sun Tu followed. After walking down the slightly narrow ladder for more than a foot, they finally landed in a fairly wide tunnel below.
The three sides of this tunnel are made of white marble bricks, which are extremely sealed. After looking up and estimating the distance to the top and the thickness of the wall, Sun Tu confirmed one thing - even if there is a fire burning above, as long as he can If you retreat to this secret passage in time, you will be safe.
And when they walked along the secret road for several miles, they came to an inconspicuous courtyard somewhere in the northwest of the city. This place had just avoided the threat of the fire, and there was almost no fire damage in the courtyard. Invasive look. Later, someone else reported that when they entered the secret passage earlier, they found signs of fresh use at the exit.
In this way, the answer to the truth is already clear. The person who ordered the arson did not die in the fire. He was actually prepared early in the morning.
On the back road, when the soldiers fled in a hurry, he led the people to escape along this safe passage, and then took advantage of the chaos in the city to blend in with the fleeing people!
"This guy is so thoughtful that he even thought of this. What's even more terrifying is that in order to do this, he actually dug such a tunnel in their emperor's palace, and Fang La actually trusted him Are you in such a situation?" Yang Zhi, who followed Sun Toutong through the tunnels, couldn't help but sigh.
But Sun Tu shook his head and said: "No, this tunnel should not have been dug by him temporarily, but has been there for a long time. He discovered and used it before. Didn't you see that the white marble and other things are already old? It's an old thing, and it's just an escape route. How could he make it so rich and luxurious under time constraints?"
"That's true, then...where did this passage come from?"
"The leader of the Wuyue Kingdom, which was destroyed decades ago, set it up just in case." Zhu Wu then said: "As far as I know, in fact, when the world was in chaos, many local forces would be in their own country just in case. There were secret passages and chambers left in his lair that could be used for escape, but later the Wuyue Kingdom surrendered to the Song Dynasty, and in the end we were unable to use this secret passage, but it was used by the rebels this time."
Sun Tushen nodded in agreement: "Yes, it makes much more sense to say this." After a pause, he narrowed his eyes again: "But what I am more curious about is where is this person now, and what will happen next? What will you do?”
"Since that guy has escaped, he has naturally escaped from Hangzhou and gone to Wuzhou, right?" Yang Zhi replied casually.
Sun Tu shook his head: "That's not certain. Since this person is willing to do things that harm his reputation just to kill me, he obviously hates me deeply. Now that he can't kill me, how can he be willing to leave just like that? ?”
"What does the general mean... is he going to do harm to you?" Tang Feng said, and immediately became vigilant. He pressed the knife with one hand and looked around alertly, alert to dangers that might appear at any time.
"Maybe I'm just overly worried, but you can never go wrong with being careful." Sun Tu smiled: "Now that the overall situation in Jiangnan is about to be decided, we can't relax at all, otherwise we are afraid that we will fall short. So next, whether it is to appease The people, or helping them rebuild their homes, is something that cannot be taken lightly. We must win the hearts and minds of the people and convince the people of Jiangnan that we are different from those officials in the past. This is the real way to win."
"I'll understand." Everyone around him hurriedly raised their hands and responded.
In fact, after following Sun Tu for these years, they have become familiar with and recognized his ideas and practices that always benefit the people. This is not only a matter of habit, but also gives the soldiers a lot of practical benefits. At least now, wherever the Shandong Army goes, the people are warmly welcoming them. In comparison, the treatment of other soldiers and horses is worse. Too much.
At this time, a soldier hurried over: "General, there are many people's representatives over there in the military camp who want to thank you for saving the people and putting out the fires and for arranging to rebuild their homes. I wonder if the general has seen them. See?"
Sun Tu smiled after hearing this: "This is everyone's wish. Of course I want to go and meet the folks."