With apprehension, Shen Bian, the official of Qingzhou, walked into the Xiangjun barracks.

Compared with the desertion and dilapidation of a decade ago, the barracks now look much different, not only in the rows of newly cut and erected wooden railings that serve as camp walls, but also in the rows of soldiers standing upright and standing as tall as spears in their hands in the vast barracks school grounds.

Although there was no other movement in this team of soldiers, which numbered between two hundred, and no one made a sound, the solemn sense of oppression still made Shen Tuiguan's heart feel a different kind of pressure, and he even looked cautious when he walked past them, and he no longer dared to underestimate these sergeants who looked yellow and thin on the surface.

In a newly built simple barracks, Shen Bian saw Sun Tu who was looking down at a sheepskin map there, and it wasn't until the soldiers who brought him in reported to Sun Tu that he slowly raised his head, looked at Shen Bian and said, "Shen Tuiguan, please sit down and talk, but has the Murong Prefect already made a decision?" ”

"Not bad." Shen Bian's mouth was a little dry because of nervousness, and after opening his mouth to say two words, he was stunned for a moment. Then he said with a bitter face: "Actually, you should have heard about the difficulties of my government, Sun Dujian, it is almost impossible to come up with so much money and grain at once, and if the grain in the warehouse is all taken by you, once there is any disaster in Qingzhou, I am afraid that the people will suffer." ”

"Hmph, don't say such big things in front of me, if you really love the people, Qingzhou won't be like this now." Sun Tu didn't give the other party any face, and said with a calm face.

This made Shen Bian's face more and more bitter, he really didn't expect the other party to be so direct, what a tendon martial artist. In fact, what he didn't know was that Sun Tu had already had enough of playing tricks with these civil officials, since the initiative was now in his own hands, it was easier to go straight, as for what the other party thought, it was not within his consideration.

After pondering for a while, Shen Bian continued: "But Futai also said that since Sun Dujian is anxious to rebuild my Qingzhou official army, we should also do our best to cooperate, we can take out half of the money and grain in the treasury, but as for the other half, it must fall on those big and wealthy merchants in the city." ”

"This is your business, I only ask your government to ask for money and food, who let you deduct the money and food of the army in the past two years." Sun Tu was not moved at all, and still said expressionlessly.

Shen Bian's temper is not bad, even if he is so confronted and robbed, he is not in a hurry, but he just explained with a wry smile: "Sun Dujian also listen to the words of the lower officials, although the government can persuade those rich families to hand over the money and grain, it will inevitably make them dissatisfied, and this is not a long-term solution." Qingzhou is already poor and widowed, if even these big households run away, it will be even more difficult to get enough money and food in the future. ”

"So what exactly do you mean?"

"Futai hopes that Sun Dujian can help those rich families do something, so that they will believe that the government does have the ability to ensure their safety, and then they will be more happy with money and food."

"Oh? I wonder what you want this official to do for those rich people? Could it be ......" Sun Tu said, his eyes fell on the simple map in front of him, on which the specific locations of several thieves and robbers who had been plagued by the local area for many years were marked.

Shen Bian also saw the map, and hurriedly shook his head and said: "Of course it doesn't mean this, now that the official army has not succeeded, even if Sun Dujian has the heart, it is impossible to easily exterminate these thieves." That's right, just last month, there were many major theft cases in Qingzhou City, and the treasures of many large families were stolen. If Sun Dujian could help them catch the thieves and recover the treasures, Xia Guan thought that they would definitely be willing to give a sum of money and food to support the reconstruction of the Xiang army. I don't know what you think? As he spoke, he looked at Sun Tu with anticipation and eagerness, waiting for the other party to give an answer.

Sun Tu frowned slightly, for this matter, he has heard some of it in Qingzhou for some time, it is said that the thief is still a thief and a person of the way, not to take the property of ordinary people, specifically to attack those rich households, especially those who are rich and unkind, it is a heavy loss. And this person's methods are also extremely clever, until today, no one has found any clues, and I don't know if he is still in this Qingzhou City.

Seeing that Sun Tu didn't seem to want to deal with this matter, Shen Bian became more and more nervous, and when his mind turned, he spoke again: "Metropolitan Eunuch, the lower officials have a sentence that offends a lot, but they still have to talk about it, although those rich people live a better life than ordinary people, but they are also my Qingzhou people after all, you can't favor one over the other." Moreover, the thief did violate my Great Song Dynasty Decree, and since Sun Dujian is an official of my Qingzhou, he has the obligation to arrest him. When he had said this, he lowered his eyes again, and did not dare to look at him again.

Sun Tu narrowed his eyes, but he didn't get angry because of this, but said: "Then if this official doesn't agree to this, what will Murong Prefect do?" Are you unwilling to take out the money and food obediently? ”

"The subordinate doesn't dare to guess the boss's intentions, but at least the arrears of those two years cannot be fully allocated."

After another heart-palpitating silence, Sun Tu finally raised his head: "Okay, this official should take this matter." As long as that thief dares to commit a crime in my Qingzhou City again, I will lead someone to arrest him with my own hands. But before that, I also want you to show your sincerity and bring the money and food you promised to bring to the barracks. ”

Seeing him nodding in agreement, Shen Bian was immediately overjoyed in his heart, and after breathing a sigh of relief, he immediately responded: "This subordinate will ask for instructions from the government, but I still hope that the capital supervisor can let the soldiers who are still surrounding the warehouse disperse, otherwise we won't dare to open the door easily." "Until now, many people under Sun Tu's men are still blocked in front of several warehouses, so there are only more than 200 people in the military camp who are learning to stand in a military posture there.

Sun Tu didn't hesitate this time and responded: "Yes, the official can summon them back to the camp today." But I will see the money and food enter the camp before noon to-morrow, or ...... Also, from today onwards, the four gates of Qingzhou will be guarded by our Xiang army, and the people in your government can all be called back. ”

Hearing the last sentence, Shen Bian felt another sudden. What is this? In case we will pass on the news to the outside world, or will we use this to threaten our government officials? However, he didn't dare to raise this question directly, so he could only agree reluctantly, and then got up to leave.

After he left, Sun Tu called a Jiangzhou soldier who was his own soldier, whispered a few words, and this one hurriedly rode out of the barracks, and in only half a tea time, he had come to the nearest granary.

There were already more than 100 soldiers who had just returned to the barracks, and they were still scolding the Kudin inside to open the door, of course, it was impossible for the people inside to open the door obediently, and even put a lot of heavy objects behind the door of the library, for fear that everyone outside would hit the door directly.

These Xiang soldiers have long deducted their money, food, and salaries, resulting in the hatred of the people in the government who can only live hard, in the past, they just dared to be angry and did not dare to speak, but now with such a big backer as Sun Tu, it is natural to vent well. If it weren't for Tang Feng bringing five Jiangzhou soldiers to maintain order in front of him, I was afraid that these guys would really rush into the warehouse in a fit of rage.

Seeing that the emotions of the people below were becoming more and more excited, even Tang Feng began to be a little worried in his heart, afraid that he would not be able to suppress these guys. When he saw that Jiangzhou soldiers were coming, he was overjoyed, and hurriedly stepped forward to ask about the situation: "How is it, but does the capital supervisor have any new orders?" ”

"The overseer has an order, let us go back to the camp for the time being. The government has promised to send money and food tomorrow. The soldier hurriedly announced Sun Tu's order loudly. The former sentence made many people complain, and the latter sentence made everyone burst into cheers. To be honest, they didn't actually have the courage to attack the granary of the treasury, and now it would be the best result to force the government to bow its head.

And they also believe in Sun Dujian's credibility, after all, Du Heng's head is still hanging on the Yuanmen, and everyone has eaten well in the barracks in the past two days, which is provided by Sun Dujian out of his own pocket, and everyone is naturally full of gratitude and respect for Sun Dujian.

Therefore, under Tang Feng's several orders, these sergeants formed several columns in a somewhat chaotic manner, and then quickly retreated with chaotic steps under the uneasy gaze of the guards behind the storedoor.

Then, the pro-soldier got on his horse again and headed towards the next target point, this time in order to make the momentum bigger, the box army surrounded all the warehouses in the city, so this time it had to be notified one by one.

It wasn't until it was dark that they all dispersed. And when this news came back to the mansion, the sky had completely darkened, and after Murong Yanchao heard the final report, he finally put his mind at ease: "Then Sun Tu is still a little sensible, and he hasn't done anything out of control." ”

"And he has promised to help the government take down the thieves, so that this time the matter should be resolved satisfactorily." Jing Yiming also said with a little ease. But then, he said with some concern: "It's just that he has the four gates in his hands now, I'm afraid it will be difficult for Futai to send the concert table out of the city again." ”

At the mention of this, the smile on Murong Yanchao's face disappeared again, and he gritted his teeth and said: "This person is bold and ambitious, and he is definitely a big trouble for the imperial court. As the prefect of Gyeongju, I will definitely be inseparable from him! Although he said that, he also knew that in the current situation, he had no way to take Sun Tu at all, so he had to compromise first and look for opportunities on the premise of lowering the other party's vigilance.