It was nearly three watches, and the night sky was as black as ink, with only a few stars occasionally flickering, making the sky more and more lonely.

In the city of Tokyo, in the back garden of the Taishi's Mansion, Cai Jing, who was in power, did not go to bed early as usual, but under the attendants of a group of servants, supported by others, walking slowly among the flower paths, an old face full of incomprehensible thoughts.

Not long ago, Taifu Liang Shicheng, who had always had a dislike for him, suddenly came to visit, and then told a shocking news - Gao Yu's death was not an accident, but was killed by Sun Tu, and almost all of his cronies were killed, and only a general named Gao De was able to escape his life and returned to Tokyo after several rounds.

Although Cai Jing had great doubts about Gao Yu's sudden death from the beginning, he did not make an in-depth investigation because he could not get any clues and evidence for a while. And now, with Liang Shicheng's proof, and the general named Gao De told the story of the day in a tone full of resentment and pain, he was completely convinced that this matter was true, and Sun Tu was indeed more bold and ruthless than he thought.

At that time, Liang Shicheng bluntly said that he would immediately play the Son of Heaven, and then send troops to arrest Sun Tu and other relevant important criminals, and cut these guys who were bold and reckless and ignored the king's law with a thousand knives, and they were punished with a straight sentence. But Cai Jing didn't nod his head, only said that he still wanted to verify the authenticity of this statement, and sent the person away.

Then, Cai Jing returned to the backyard and paced slowly in the garden under the night sky, pondering. He did this not because he didn't want to help him avenge Liang Shicheng and Gao Yu because he had always had a gap with Liang Shicheng and Gao Yu, but because there was a bigger concern that Liang Shicheng didn't know for the time being - just a few days ago, a secret report came back from the front line, and the generals of the Western Army, Chongshi Dao and Zhongshi, had teamed up with Sun Tu and other generals to directly put the commander Tong Guan under house arrest, and snatched all the military power of the Northern Expeditionary Army.

When he received the news at that time, Cai Jing still couldn't believe that this was true, and felt that those generals could not be so bold, after all, after so many years, the generals of the Great Song Dynasty had already been suppressed by the civilian officials without the slightest temper, how could they do such a big rebellion and affect the lives of the whole family?

But now, he had to believe it. Because there was an outlier named Sun Tu in that army, if you think about it carefully, this person has really killed many court officials over the years, and the identity of the officials who died under him has been continuously improved. From the beginning of the local prefect, to the later high-ranking officials of the Qin Mission, now even a lieutenant like Gao Yu is killed when he says he will kill him, and then put Tong Guan under house arrest and seize his military power is not a big deal.

It's just that after thinking about all this, Cai Jing's hesitation in his heart is even worse. Because at this moment, Sun Tu has the most elite hundreds of thousands of troops in the Great Song Dynasty, and he is still at the critical moment of the Northern Expedition at war with the Liao State. Or, because of taking him alone, the entire Northern Expedition went wrong and the army was defeated by the Liao army, so who should be guilty of such a crime?

At this moment, Cai Jing finally understood why Sun Tu was able to avoid being held accountable again and again when he killed court officials, because this person can always find an opportunity for the court to cast a rat trap on him.

It was precisely because of so many concerns that Cai Jing failed to respond to Liang Shicheng's request, and then until so late at night, he was still pacing and thinking in the courtyard, and he couldn't come up with a decision for a long time.

"Master, it's past midnight, your body is important, let's rest quickly." When the other house slaves didn't dare to speak out, Zhang Xu, a cronie and think tank who had been with him for a long time, finally mustered up the courage and stepped forward to persuade him in a whisper.

These words really made Cai Jing, who was still walking slowly, pause, and said slowly: "What time is it?" ”

"Hui Taishi, it's been three watches, and you still have to go to the political hall tomorrow morning."

"Is it so late?" Cai Jing sighed in a little surprise, he paced for almost an hour after thinking about it. However, he didn't go back, but asked, "Zhang Xu, what do you say the old man should do with this person?" ”

Of course, Zhang Xu understood what Cai Jing was worried about this night, and when he followed behind, he also made many calculations in his heart, so he took another step forward and replied: "Then it depends on whether you plan to seek a temporary plan or a long-term plan." ”

"What do you mean by that?"

"If the plot is for a while, then I think that I really shouldn't attack the front-line generals at this time, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, maybe soon, our army will be able to capture Youzhou and defeat the Liao. At least judging from the military reports sent in these days, our front-line army has gradually gained an advantage, perhaps this is also the reason why they have seized military power, Tong Guan is actually not the most suitable candidate for the commander. ”

Cai Jing smiled and did not comment much on this argument. Because he knew that what Zhang Xu said was indeed the truth, and he knew Tong Guan's ability very well, he was far inferior to the generals of the Western Army such as Seed Master Dao in the army, and the court used him only because he was more reassuring.

"What if you make a long-term plan?" After a moment's silence, he asked again.

"If you are planning for a long time, you can't let it do anything wrong, you must immediately take down the relevant people, escort them back to Beijing, and kill them to set an example. Otherwise, there may be great changes in the army, and even if they don't have two minds, I'm afraid that others will follow the same example in the future. How the previous dynasty went from prosperity to decline, and why our dynasty has been suppressing military generals, it's all here. ”

Cai Jing's face changed several times, and his breathing became a little heavy, obviously making a final trade-off, should he want the present or the future? If Sun Tu and they can really win Youzhou, it will be of great benefit to the court and themselves, after all, it is the wish of countless people in the government and the opposition for a hundred years, and once it comes true, it will definitely go down in history. Such an opportunity was a rare opportunity, and he really didn't want to miss it.

After a while, he finally spoke again: "Do you think if they really have such ability, when will they be able to do it?" ”

"I don't dare to say this. But before winter, there will be a result. Zhang Xu had already understood the true thoughts of the Taishi, so he took the opportunity to say: "In fact, I thought that the immediate and long-term can still have the best of both worlds, as long as the Taishi can seize his military power in time......" He said, got closer again, and said his plan in a low voice.

Cai Jing's face immediately showed a little joy because of this: "You are right, whether it is them or Sun Tu, they are just my Great Song courtiers in the end, since they have the handle in my hands, I am not afraid that they can turn over the sky." At that time, it only takes a piece of divine will to issue them, and they can be easily taken down. Do they really dare to defy the condemnation of the world and do something rebellious? "Taishi is wise, and this is the most perfect way to do it." Zhang Xu said busily and boastfully.

Cai Jing just smiled and didn't say much. As long as the strategy is set, the next thing will be much easier, with Liang Shicheng, who is now only one person left, it is naturally impossible to match him, and it is easy to suppress the things ahead, what he needs to do now is to keep an eye on the war in the north, just wait for the battle to end, no matter what the merits are, he has to let the Son of Heaven quickly make an order to take down Sun Tu and other criminal generals!

This kind of means of crossing the river and demolishing the bridge, he Cai Jing is really familiar with it. Didn't he succeed in getting out of the DPRK and holding great power in the first place, just by first winning over the members of the New Party, and then eradicating them one by one on various charges?

Taishi Cai, who had already made up his mind, could go back to his room to rest with peace of mind, but under the same night sky, there were still too many people who couldn't rest. For example, Sun Tu and his subordinates, who were watching the Great Song Army flag fluttering high at the head of Youzhou City, were in a agitated mood, and for example, they were galloping towards Youzhou at full speed, hoping to enter the city before the Song army and defend this important city of Liao, the Liao army light cavalry team led by Yelu Dashi.

On this official road of the Liao State from south to north, leading directly to Nanjing City, thousands of horses are flying with four hooves, galloping forward, and the five hundred cavalry on it have pulled the speed to the limit, almost all of them have turned forward and clinged to the horse's back, but even so, they are still too slow, constantly whipping the horse under the crotch, completely lacking the attitude of caring for horsepower in the past.

It is precisely because of this determination that this cavalry team of one man and two horsemen was able to run more than 200 miles in just half a day, and now it is only 50 or 60 miles away from Nanjing, and even the overall outline of that huge city can be faintly seen in the daytime.

But such a rapid run has also brought the physical fitness of people and horses to a limit. Especially when they had completely braved the wind and rain before, they were even more exhausted at this moment.

Sure enough, with a sudden exclamation, one of the horsemen who was running in front of the great stone horse of Jerod fell sharply because the horse stepped on a puddle, and then stumbled at the foot of the great stone mount, and carried him straight to the ground.

Seeing this, the subordinates of the "Lin Ya ......" hurriedly stopped their horses and stepped forward to rescue.

Fortunately, Yelu Dashi is not such a weak scholar who has no power to restrain the chicken, even if he suddenly encounters an accident, he still quickly takes off the stirrup and jumps off the horse, and his body turns in mid-air, and finally lands safely, but his mount broke his front leg because of this blow, and it looks like he can only change horses.

"Lin Ya, lowly ......" The fallen knight was full of fear, and just wanted to admit his mistake, but Dashi waved his hand: "No wonder you, we are really tired from running like this, let alone the horses." Now is not the time to talk about this, we must hurry up and continue on our way. ”

Everyone responded in a low voice, and was about to speed up again, but saw a person suddenly point to the dark sky in front of him and exclaimed, "That's ...... Firelight? ”

These words immediately reminded everyone that everyone was in a hurry just now, and they really didn't see the light that was constantly rising and reflecting a large area of darkness red. Yelu Dashi's heart was shocked after looking at it a few times: "There, it's the direction of Nanjing, could it be ......" An extremely bad thought couldn't stop popping up from his heart - is it that he is still a step late after all?