With just one glance at the troubled expression on Zhao Ji's face, Sun Tu's heart sank rapidly. Things were developing in the direction he least wanted to see. The emperor's next words also confirmed his inference: "This is a big matter. There are too many officials involved in this case. I have to think twice before making a decision. Marquis of Yue, please leave the palace first and wait for the decree."
This plain explanation actually made the emperor's attitude clear. Sun Tu took a deep breath and then saluted again: "I accept the order and retire." When he stood up, he glanced at Liang Shicheng who was already looking happy. Obviously, he understood Zhao Ji's thoughts better and had already guessed what would happen next. .
Although he failed to achieve what he wanted this time, and directly used this matter to have Sun Tu dismissed from office and imprisoned, at least his own safety was guaranteed. Just now, he was really afraid that he would be implicated. After all, the Song Dynasty is now When planning the Northern Expedition, it would be a big trouble once it got involved with the Liao people.
Sun Tu no longer cared about what the monarch and his ministers would say, and quickly exited the palace, then quickly followed the familiar road out of the palace. It wasn't until he walked out of the palace gate and walked forward for a while that he stopped in shock. Then he turned and looked back at the Imperial City of the Song Dynasty, which was far inferior to the Forbidden City in later generations. He took a long breath and slowly exhaled, and his eyes became sharp and determined again. .
He has tried his best to truly have a clear conscience. Next, it’s time to fight for yourself and the survival of the entire Chinese clan! He will no longer have any scruples!
"General..." At this time, several personal guards waiting outside the palace gate quickly stepped forward to ask about the result with concern.
Sun Tu quickly regained his composure, smiled and said, "Don't worry, the court will always give us an explanation. At least we won't be accused of this matter for those of us who are doing our jobs sincerely."
Soon, the development of things verified that Sun Tu's judgment was correct. Only two days later, the Political Affairs Hall finally issued the emperor's decree. This decree was much more formal than the one Sun Tu had received before. It was about how to deal with the Gu family firm's collusion with Liao spies—
This case is of great importance and cannot be found out by the Forbidden Army and the Imperial City Division. All relevant criminal officials will be handed over to the Ministry of Punishment for retrial. In addition, the Imperial City Secretary mentioned Sun Tu's skill in handling the case and ordered him to continue to pursue the hidden Liao spies without making any mistakes.
This was to take away the power of investigating the case from Sun Tu and throw the most difficult trouble onto him. Now that things have been going on for several days, even if the Liao people are still in the capital, they have already hidden themselves and dare not show their faces. However, asking Sun Tu to lead people to find them is completely embarrassing them and even looking for an excuse to decide what they should do. A crime of incompetence.
As for how those officials would be interrogated after being sent to the Ministry of Justice, it was obviously beyond Sun Tu's control. Although the evidence of these people's crimes has been conclusive, it is probably impossible to really get to the bottom of it. It is impossible to say that they will be lifted up and put down gently like every time in the past, and finally they will be demoted and released. To be honest, similar things have happened too many times in the Song Dynasty over the years. No matter how big of a mistake those civil servants made, the final result was just to be released as officials. Maybe in a few years, people will forget After having forgiven their mistakes, he could come back and become a capital official with great arrogance.
However, as Wang Shenbin and others were convicted and demoted, many important positions in the court were instantly vacated. For a time, all forces were eyeing these with eager eyes, but in the end, the one who benefited was Cai Jing, who had only been watching from the sidelines, but suddenly took action at the last moment. He used how these officials were dealt with as a bargaining chip, and easily forced Liang Shicheng to make concessions. As a result, the Yushitai is almost completely under his control. As for several other yamen, his power, Taishi Cai, has also been further strengthened.
It can be said that everything Sun Tu did this time at the risk of offending all civil servants ended up taking advantage of the scheming Cai Jing, allowing his party to increase its power again.
Apart from some infamy, the only benefit he got was that the Huben Army's food problem was finally solved. Because this case originally arose from the shortage of military rations in the Huben Army, coupled with Sun Tu's strength, the front secretary and the transfer envoy no longer dared to use excuses to delay, and promised to return the two years of arrears within this year. And reissued them, so that he no longer had to worry about training his troops, and his military morale was further condensed.
At the same time, it was also exposed that the food and salary of the Imperial Army had been embezzled and embezzled from time to time. As a result, the Palace Department and the Ministry of War had to come forward to appease and mediate. Under the quarrels of many generals, the imperial court finally made some concessions and delayed this decision. The large-scale military exercise is due soon and is scheduled to take place after the first month of next year.
This gave Sun Tu more time to continue training and building his Tiger Army. As for the Imperial City Division, although it occasionally showed up in this case, it was quickly suppressed by the civil servants. Regarding this official office that could bring a lot of threats to them, the civil servants' attitude was surprisingly consistent, that is, they must thoroughly Suppress him and don't give him any chance to stand up.
Of course, all this happened slowly over the next month or so, and when the decree was first issued, all the subordinates were still full of unwillingness. In these days, they followed Sun Tu almost sleeplessly to handle the case. Seeing that the truth and darkness behind it were about to be slowly revealed, the court blocked it and covered it all up. Naturally, it was a huge setback.
Even though he was as optimistic as Di Yingyang and as smooth as Qin Hui, he still had some complaints at this time. Especially the latter, at this time, he was even more horrified to find that in this way, he was completely on the opposite side of the civil service group. This time, he failed to earn any credit, but his own future was tied up in it. It's really bad.
"Master Marquis, what should we do next?" After watching Wang Shenbin and other criminals being taken away by people sent by the Ministry of Punishment, Qin Hui couldn't help it anymore and came to ask.
"The case needs to be investigated further. After all, those Liao spies haven't been caught yet. If we don't get the job done, I'm afraid it will give those people an excuse to criticize." Sun Tu's face didn't look very good either. He said softly: "But I have sent people to keep an eye on this matter. Maybe there will be clues at some point."
These words made Qin Hui a little stunned. Firstly, he had never expected that Sun Tu would be so dedicated to his responsibilities. Secondly, it seemed that he was really useless. Is this going to return to the Hanlin Academy, become a small official buried in old papers, and live a life without any hope
He really can't accept this
As a result, it is even more unacceptable to spend time wandering around like in the past years. If he had not experienced this, Qin Hui might have been able to convince himself to wait, but now, after experiencing this, and seeing Sun Tu easily toying with those high-ranking officials and censors, his mentality had long been Changes have occurred.
But for a while, Qin Hui could not make any request to Sun Tu. After all, he had no merit in this matter. At most, he did some desk work and helped sort out the confession of Emperor Chen. That’s all.
Di Yingyang became interested at this time: "General, do you really think we can still catch these Liao spies?"
"Didn't I say it before? They will not be willing to have such a result. After all, they have spent many years and spent a lot of money on those bows and crossbows. You know, no matter whether it is food, cloth or medicine, it is not Liao. People are in short supply of things, so why do they have to spend a lot of money to buy them in our capital? So I dare to assert that their ultimate goal is these crossbows. In this case, how can they leave like this before the matter is over? ?”
"But, we have already captured the Gu family, how else can they get the crossbows and smuggle them out of the city?" Qin Hui asked with some confusion.
Sun Tu shook his head: "You are wrong. The Gu family is not the guy who helped them get the crossbows. Didn't I mention before that these crossbows should come from the Gongnu Academy."
"What the general means is that someone in Gongnuyuan has been bribed by them? But now the person has not been found out?" Di Yingyang suddenly became energetic and asked hurriedly.
"Yes. But this point has obviously been consciously ignored by those bureaucrats who only know how to reduce big things to small things, or they think that I should handle this matter." Sun Tu said with a sneer on his face: "For those who only know how to deal with big things, they should also take care of them." For those guys who are fighting for power and profit, the leakage of crossbows and Liao spies are nothing more than trivial matters. As long as the matter has nothing to do with you, you can let it go. Anyway, if something happens, it will only be the frontline soldiers who die, and it will not affect them. A prosperous future."
After hearing Sun Tu's words, Di Yingyang's expression became quite gloomy, while Qin Hui looked a little ashamed. Because if you look closely, you can see that there is not much difference between you and those people Sun Tu mentioned. They also think about how to gain fame and a future. As for Liao spies, bows and crossbows are completely ignored.
"So the responsibility on our shoulders is still heavy. Although those people are all deceiving themselves and thinking that they can just settle the case quickly, the real trouble will not disappear because of their cover-up." Sun Tu said Then, he stood up again.
After carefully savoring his words, Di Yingyang sighed: "Yes, what they did is indeed deceiving themselves and others. Our Beijing-China problem cannot be solved at all. Maybe with their pressure , on the contrary, it will make the Liao spies more emboldened to take action again... "
"But this is also an opportunity for us. As long as they take action again, I can catch them." After Sun Tu finished speaking, he walked to the hall door, but both of them were a little confused: "Where are you going, general?" ?”
"I'm going to meet someone and ask about something more important." Sun Tu's face darkened even more, but his steps didn't stop.