In front of the Prime Minister's Mansion, Cai Jing watched Sun Tu walk away accompanied by more than a dozen personal guards, and quickly disappeared into the vast night. His expression changed several times, but in the end he did not order anyone to stay, even though people had gathered around him. Nearly two hundred slaves guarded him, including many masters.
Because Taishi Cai, who had calmed down at this time, knew that even if he could really capture Sun Tu, he would not be able to solve the fundamental problem. As long as Jiangnan was not under the control of the court, capturing him would only cause more trouble. In addition, what's even more terrible is that although Sun Tu didn't mention it, he knew that there was Tong Mu in Jiangnan who had been trained by Tong Guan as his successor.
Once chaos breaks out in Jiangnan, Tong Mu will be the leader of the rebels. It's hard to say what choice Tong Guan will make in the north. There are more than half of the elite troops of the Song Dynasty gathered there. If one mistake is made, the Song Dynasty will really be dragged into the bottomless abyss. This is something that Cai Jing cannot accept no matter what, and he does not dare to let such a thing have a chance. occur. Now that Sun Tu has made his position clear, as long as the court does not pursue him, he will be a wealthy and idle prince in the capital, so as he wishes, he should stabilize him first.
At least in Cai Jing's view, he still has time and opportunities. They can spend a few years in the south of the Yangtze River to infiltrate and divide, or they can wait until the war with the Liao Kingdom in the north is over, and then let the border troops go south to put down the rebellion. He still has this bit of patience and foresight. After all, the prime minister can support a boat.
Of course, the problem facing Cai Jing now is not a small one. At least he has to persuade the emperor and hold down the already furious Gao Qiu. These things required him to start as soon as possible, but there was no need to delay... He just pondered in front of the mansion for a long time, until a gust of cold wind blew and made him shiver, then Taishi Cai turned around and went back to the mansion with an indifferent expression. This year, he was afraid that It's been very uncomfortable.
It was nearly three o'clock when Sun Tu returned home, but no one at home went back to his room to rest, especially a tired man. After learning that he was back, he immediately came out from the outer hall to welcome him: "General Are you okay? I heard that you were suddenly invited by that traitorous prime minister, and I am deeply worried because of your humble position."
Although the visitor's face was full of concern, his ability and shrewdness could not be concealed. He was none other than Dai Zong, who was known as the magical eunuch. When Sun Tu saw him, he was also slightly startled: "Why did you suddenly come from Jiangnan?"
"We received the general's secret order some time ago and immediately acted according to the plan in various places in the south of the Yangtze River. But when we were about to send the news back, we found that all the important roads from the Yangtze River to the Yangtze River were deliberately blocked by the government. Everyone was worried that the general was here. There was something unexpected in the capital, so I was sent to bypass the main road and take the narrow path to deliver the news." Dai Zong smiled and replied.
Sun Tu felt a little moved: "Thank you for your hard work. In fact, you don't have to worry at all. I believe you will be able to succeed in Jiangnan. No, even Cai Jingdu can't do anything to me and can only let me back, let alone others. How dare you do anything to me."
"But general..." Dai Zong said with a slightly uneasy look on his face: "Is there really no future trouble in doing this? Brother Gongming and the others are quite worried in Jiangnan. By doing this, we have shown our disobedience." As he said, , and even lowered his gaze, not daring to look at Sun Tu anymore.
Sun Tu was not dissatisfied with this statement. He just smiled and said: "Don't worry, at least in the next year or two, the imperial court will focus all its energy on the north. As long as we don't do anything excessive in Jiangnan, they will Everyone will turn a blind eye."
"I've heard about this. I, the Song Dynasty, are planning to make a northern expedition to the Liao Kingdom and recapture the Sixteenth Prefecture of Youyun. However, this battle will be over one day. When the time comes..."
"At that time, there is no need to worry." Sun Tu looked confident, but the other party was stunned. He really couldn't figure out where his confidence came from. Since Sun Tu couldn't tell Dai Zong that he had drawn a conclusion based on historical trends, he casually said: "As for the whole story, you will know it by then. Anyway, as long as we manage Jiangnan well, there is no need to worry. After all, That’s the richest place in the world!”
This is true. It can be said that Jiangnan has borne half of the Song Dynasty's money, food and taxes for many years. As long as they are determined to stand on their own there, they can become self-sufficient. Even if they really turned against the imperial court in the future, with sufficient money, food and soldiers, and the natural dangers of the Yangtze River, they would be enough to compete with the power of the Song Dynasty. What's more, today's Song Dynasty is no longer the Song Dynasty of Taizu Zhao Kuangyin's time. With the current combat power of the army, unless the northern border is abandoned, it will be impossible to conquer the south of the Yangtze River.
Although Dai Zong didn't quite understand what Sun Tu's confidence was, seeing that he had said so, he stopped dwelling on it and could only nod in agreement. Sun Tu also relaxed after that and said with a smile: "Since you have come all the way and the New Year is approaching, you might as well spend the New Year here. I will let someone arrange for you to live at home until the New Year is over. , after things fade away, it’s not too late to go back.”
Dai Zong did not refuse, and immediately responded with cupped fists. For him, it was interesting to spend a different Chinese New Year in Bianliang, Tokyo.
￥￥￥￥￥
No matter whether this year is uncomfortable or interesting, it is on time and on time. The 30th day of the twelfth lunar month is another New Year’s Eve.
The Chinese nation has thousands of years of inheritance and various festivals, but in terms of the festival atmosphere that has the strongest atmosphere, makes people feel the most relaxed, and makes people more hopeful to reunite as a family, after all, it is the New Year's Eve at the end of the year.
On this day, whether they are farming, working, doing business or serving as officials, whenever possible, they will return to their hometowns to live a happy reunion year with their relatives. . This tradition was the same even in the Song Dynasty thousands of years ago. Even in family relationships, the ancients were better than those of later generations.
It's still daylight, and there are not many pedestrians on the bustling streets of Tokyo in the past. Almost everyone has returned home and is gathering with their families. Today's Yuehou Mansion is full of relatives and friends. Dai Zong is here, Tang Feng is here, Cui Lueshang's family has also stayed in the mansion, and together with the guards who have been following Sun Tu, almost all the spacious rooms in the home have been destroyed. The hall was full.
This made Sun Tu, as the master, extremely busy. He often had to carry wine glasses around to toast, clink glasses with his subordinates and drink, and talk freely about his feelings. It wasn't until it was almost three o'clock, and I was already seven or eight points drunk, that I stopped drinking, and then accompanied my family to the back garden.
At this time, there was a burst of crackling sounds outside, and many people were burning firecrackers to increase the festive atmosphere. Yes, it's burning, not setting off firecrackers. Because gunpowder at this time was not advanced enough to create the firecrackers of later generations, in order to make the New Year more flavorful and have a festive atmosphere, people have been trying to grill hollow bamboo poles since the Tang Dynasty.
It’s time to ring in the New Year with a bang.
Later, some people began to fill the bamboo with saltpeter and other substances. In this way, the firecrackers could explode louder after being ignited, and some bright and dazzling red lights would burst out, which would often attract people nearby. Few people chased and watched, but the price was several times that of ordinary firecrackers, so only wealthy people could not use them.
Naturally, the Yuehou Mansion prepared a large number of firecrackers with saltpeter early in the morning. After Sun Tu brought his wife and children to the yard, the slaves began to light the brazier and put firecrackers into it one after another. As the crackling sound was accompanied by the red light, Hu Tou already grinned and clapped his hands, laughing, very excited. He even tried to break away from his mother's arms several times and ran up to set off some firecrackers to play with, but he was so frightened that Ya'er could only hug her tightly.
After all, my son is still young, so I don’t dare to let him get into trouble. After struggling several times without success, Hutou became a little angry. He whined, looked at his father pitifully, and said inarticulately: "Daddy, I want it, Daddy, I want it..."
Seeing his son begging for help from him, Sun Tu couldn't help but smile. However, he was not worried about his son, who was not yet three years old, going to play with firecrackers, so he said: "Hutou, if you are obedient, daddy will show you a more fun one."
The tiger's eyes widened and he looked at his father carefully for a while, then nodded vigorously: "Okay, I want to look good..."
Sun Tu immediately went back to the backyard. In fact, he went into the warehouse system and took out a few remaining fireworks. In Shandong, although he provided a lot of related gunpowder for craftsmen to imitate, he had not yet finished all of them. After finishing it, he lit the fuse of the fireworks in front of the yard under his son's eager gaze and other people's expectant eyes.
Just a moment later, bunches of fiery trees and silver flowers continued to rise and spread in front of everyone, leaving everyone present stunned. Hutou was so excited that he screamed and beat his little hands to pieces. This thing was much more interesting than the firecrackers. Compared with it, the firecrackers next to it were too simple and inconspicuous.
Sun Tu had already picked up his son and said solemnly in his ear: "Son, you have to watch carefully. The fireworks are filled with gunpowder. This will determine whether we Han people can establish a foothold in the Central Plains and expand our territory in the future. The key to completely conquering the foreign enemies in the north. When you grow up, you have to use every method to continuously improve gunpowder and become a real enemy-killing weapon!"
Hu Tou, who had been completely distracted by the brilliance of the fireworks, just nodded blankly in agreement, but he didn't know if his father's words would be implanted in his heart and change something? Sun Jie, who is at least only three years old, cannot speak out now.
At this time, the sound of bangzi and drums continued to be heard in the distance, and it was finally the third watch.
The fifth year of Xuanhe in the Song Dynasty has passed, and it is a new year to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. It is already the first day of the first lunar month of the sixth year of Xuanhe!
(End of this volume)