Now it has entered October, but unlike the north, Jinling has not yet entered winter, only in the late autumn season, and there is not much chill.

But at this time, Sun Tu was a little chilled, not because of his physical feelings, but because he was cold in his heart, just because Tong Mu had told him in detail about what had happened near Jinling in the past few months-

Since Fang La became the emperor, Zhu Mian abandoned Suzhou and fled to Jinling, the people here have really suffered disasters. After arriving in these three Wu capitals, a group of officials who had suffered heavy losses began to unscrupulously expropriate and expropriate, using all means to loot the people's fat and ointment, not only exceeding many exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, but also often imprisoned the wealthy businessmen in this area in the name of colluding with the thieves, and then plundered their property.

In fact, if it was just some officials who were so rampant, it would have been effective, and they had repeatedly done things such as looting people's property and killing good people and taking meritorious deeds, which really drove the people to a dead end. At first, it was only the officers and soldiers who ran out of Suzhou and other places to do evil, and as time went by, the soldiers and horses from all walks of life who were ordered by the imperial court to come to Jiangnan to quell the chaos also arrived one after another, and after seeing the chaos here, these soldiers and horses naturally would not be polite.

Under the "efforts" of these officials and soldiers of the Great Song Dynasty, who had no bottom line at all, in just a few months, Jinling, an important town in the south of the Yangtze River, was already full of mourning, and the people were struggling to make a living.

What's even more infuriating is that those evil guys put all the blame on Fang La's gang of anti-thieves, only saying that the people here were killed and injured because of the anti-thieves' intrusion, and it was thanks to their timely dispatch of troops that they repelled the rebels and saved many people. And the imperial court actually believed their statement, which was really reversed to the point of unbelievable.

This time, Tong Mu came to the dock early to wait for the arrival of Sun Tu's army, because he was afraid that he would also do the same thing as several other soldiers and horses, so he even asked for many things, so he got a batch of wine and meat from the government to reward Sun Tu's troops.

After listening to this story, Sun Tu's face was so gloomy that he could drip water, and no matter how delicious the wine and food in front of him were, he had no intention of moving chopsticks at all. After a while, he snorted and said, "Second brother, am I such a bastard in your heart who doesn't care about the overall situation and doesn't care about the lives of the people?" ”

"Don't worry about it, I'm just in case. I can trust you as a human being, but it is difficult to say about those who are soldiers below, especially when they come from afar and have no food to eat, then they can do anything. Tong Mu hurriedly explained, followed by a heavy sigh.

Sun Tu didn't dwell on it anymore, he also knew that the other party was a heart for the people, and it was not good to blame him too much, so he quickly changed the topic: "But I still don't understand one thing, how can Zhu Mian and others dare to be so unscrupulous in Jinling?" Is it true that the imperial court doesn't care about it at all? Also, Fang La's incident can be learned from beforehand, aren't they afraid of stirring up the people of Jinling to rebel again? ”

Tong Mu smiled bitterly and shook his head: "If they were really jealous, they wouldn't have done such a thing." Therefore, it is only because they firmly believe that the imperial court will not ask about the situation here. Do you know why Zhu Mian did such a heartbreaking act after coming to Jinling? In addition to wanting to compensate for the damage lost in Suzhou, it was also to send a huge amount of property to the capital to bribe the officials of the DPRK and China to say good things for them, and at the same time, a lot of money and treasures were sent to the palace......"

Sun Tuden was dumbfounded when he heard this, and he was stunned for a long time before he sighed again. It turns out that these guys are so bold, because they are sure that the imperial court will not be held accountable this time, anyway, there are Fang La's anti-thieves, so they simply looted Jinling. As for those people in the court, as long as they eat and make a profit, the life and death of the people in Jiangnan are not in their calculations. It can even be said that it was precisely because Zhu Mian plundered the people in Jinling and sent them to Beijing that they were able to get rid of the great sin of losing Suzhou and other important towns.

Thinking about all this, the anger on Sun Tu's face had turned into a sneering smile - he laughed angrily, and at this time he felt that it was a waste of his emotions to be angry again, because these things in front of him were too ridiculous.

Tong Mu's words were not finished: "As for the worry that the people of Jinling will be forced to rebel as you mentioned, it is actually not unhappened. Just at the beginning of last month, a chaos broke out in Jinling City, but it was quickly suppressed by the 30,000 soldiers and horses stationed in the city. And now that the number of officers and soldiers from all walks of life in Jinling has reached 1340,000, how can the people here make waves? ”

"Hey, these guys are useless thieves, and they are brave and good at fighting to suppress the people." Sun Tu gave a mocking evaluation: "But this also means that the official army has lost the hearts of the people in the land south of the Yangtze River, once Fang La is ready and leads the army to kill, I'm afraid that this Jinling will be captured overnight, right?" ”

It is precisely because of this that the city of Suzhou was broken by his 20,000 soldiers within five days because the people in the city suddenly rebelled and came to cooperate with the rebels outside. As a result, our officials had no choice but to flee in a hurry, almost risking their lives there! When it comes to the past, Tong Mu is still apprehensive, and at the same time indignant.

"Isn't there anyone in the south of the Yangtze River who can persuade Zhu Mian and others? When they do this, they are drinking to quench their thirst if they say it lightly, and if they say it is heavy, they are completely seeking death. When he said this, Sun Tu fixed his eyes on Tong Mu's face, he was a Suzhou official, at least his status among the officials in Jiangnan was not low.

But what I got was another wry smile from Tong Mu: "Didn't you persuade me?" Not only me, but also many colleagues who came to Jinling jointly played a concert, advising Zhu Mian not to do anything wrong, let alone treat the people harshly. But in the end, he didn't take it seriously at all, and two of them were even more heated because of their words, and they were accused of colluding with thieves, and now they are still in prison. Although I can still say a few words in front of Zhu Mian with the relationship of my uncle, it is to no avail. What's more, now it's not just Zhu Mian and other officials Hu Lai, there are tens of thousands of officials and soldiers below who are plundering people's property, and they can't be suppressed at all. ”

Sun Tu shook his head and sighed again. Now it seems that the situation here in Jiangnan is ten times more serious than he thought, once Fang La and them really seize the opportunity, it will not be a problem to take the entire Jiangnan.

Although bandits are a scourge, in comparison, such corrupt officials do more harm to the people! After a long time of silence, Sun Tu looked at Tong Mu again: "Didn't you really think about solving this problem at hand?" Are you willing to watch the situation in the south of the Yangtze River erode, and eventually bring disaster to my Song Dynasty? ”

Tong Mu looked at this old friend with some surprise, and asked Chi, "What do you mean by this?" Although I have this heart, I have no power or power, and when I was in Suzhou, I couldn't stop Zhu Mian from collecting money in the name of the Son of Heaven, and I didn't have this ability when I arrived in Jinling. ”

"Really? Haven't you ever thought about secretly playing to the court? Maybe the other officials here don't have this ability, but you Tong Mu is different. Yes Or are you already in the same league as them? ”

"Of course not!" Tong Mu immediately denied it loudly: "No matter how stupid and greedy I am, I can't do such a thing that harms the country and the people." Besides, I've never been short of money, so how could I think of taking advantage of it? ”

"Then why don't you want to tell the court the truth about this place? Even if Tong Shuai is far away at the border now, he still has many protégés and former officials in the court, how can he not help you with this? When Sun Tu said this, his heart suddenly turned, and a person flashed - Fang Qian.

Isn't Fang Qian an important chess piece for Tong Guan to stay in the court? And the relationship between him and Tong Mu is also very close, if Tong Mu really can't stand such a situation, will he not find Fang Qian to find a way?

For a favored servant like Zhu Mian in front of the emperor, even if he really made a mess of Jiangnan, as long as he confessed his guilt and dealt with it up and down, he could naturally be transferred to another post afterwards. As for the other magistrates, all they wanted to do at this time was to take the opportunity to get a sum of money, and they were thinking about it after losing their positions. But he Tong Mu is still young, and his career has just begun, will he be willing to be dragged by these guys into the bottomless abyss, and finally lose his official position and resign?

The more he thought about it, the more Sun Tu felt that there were many interesting things about this matter, so Fang Qian really went to Qingzhou because he was ordered by Cai Jing and others, not from Tong Guan's order? And when he does this, maybe he has a close connection with Tong Mu in front of him!

Being looked at by Sun Tu so fixedly, Tong Mu was a little uncomfortable, so he raised his glass and took a sip of wine, hiding his uneasiness and saying, "What do you mean by this?" As I said earlier, although my uncle was a privy envoy, I did not want to rely on him. What's more, the situation in Jiangnan is too complicated, and he is now suspected by Cai Jing and others, so I really can't drag him down anymore. ”

"Really?" Sun Tu said noncommittally: "Second brother, you and I have known each other for many years, and I have always regarded you as my most trusted friend, but do you really treat me like this?" ”

Seeing that Sun Tu suddenly changed the topic to this, Tong Mu was also stunned, and only said after a while: "Of course, I, Tong Mu, have always regarded you as a brother......

"Is that really the case? I can't see it. Sun Tu also raised his glass and took a sip, and then said leisurely: "In fact, even until now, you have been pretending to be another self!" Maybe you wear the mask of a gentle gentleman in front of everyone, but you really don't have to disguise yourself so much in front of me, do you really not know what kind of person you are? ”

Just a few words, Tong Mu's expression changed suddenly, and his pupils shrank slightly, but he still said: "Why can't I understand your words at all......"