The surging waters of the Yangtze River flow eastward day and night.

As an important river dividing the north and south of the Central Plains, there are many ships shuttling back and forth on it every day, especially the merchant ships carrying various goods, which flow endlessly on the river all day long, completely revitalizing the economy of the north and south of the Great Song Dynasty.

Since September, there have been more ships coming and going from north to south on the Yangtze River, and there is a trend of thousands of sails competing for each other, which is magnificent from a distance. However, now these boats that constantly go back and forth between the banks of the river are no longer carrying a dazzling variety of northern and southern mountain goods, but people, more specifically, the officials and soldiers, who are full of ships of various sizes and shapes from the north bank to the south bank, gather on the wharf not far from Jinling, and then drive along the official road to the ancient city.

Fang La's sudden claim to the emperor has completely touched the bottom line of the Great Song Dynasty, and in just two months, the court has dispatched hundreds of thousands of troops to the south of the Yangtze River one after another to quell the chaos and suppress the thieves. As a result, the Yangtze River has become one of the busiest passages, with hundreds of ships carrying people south from morning to night.

After a long journey of more than a month, Sun Tu finally led the army here, and the army also took boats on the north bank, crossed the undulating Yangtze River, and set foot on this completely unfamiliar land of the Great Song Dynasty.

To be honest, it is not only the generals under his command, but also Sun Tu, the chief general of the three armies, who is also very unfamiliar with the Jiangnan area. Since he crossed over to the Great Song Dynasty, he has been active in the northern regions, and has even gone abroad, going to the Western Xia of the Liao Kingdom, but he has never reached the southern Zhulu. So when he got off the boat and looked at the scenery here that was completely different from the north, he couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

But soon, his emotion was interrupted by the actions of the soldiers around him who came ashore one after another, and then lay on the riverside and kept vomiting. Although the soldiers and horses under his command are elite enough, after all, most of them are northern men, and they are not used to the bumps on the water.

Only the original Liangshanbo brothers couldn't see anything unusual at this time, and they were still in good spirits, which also made many Qingzhou veterans a little ashamed, feeling that they were embarrassing Sun Chan. Sun Tu didn't blame them at all, but deliberately walked around and greeted them with concern, and then asked the soldiers who had recovered to gather in the whole team, waiting for batches of robes to continue to arrive.

Until it was close to dusk, the more than 20,000 people under his command all crossed the Yangtze River, but at this time, it was a little difficult to rush to Jinling City, even if they hurried over, I am afraid they would have to be locked up outside Jinling City. In the past, the cities of Zhuzhou in the Great Song Dynasty were not closed at night, especially in the economically developed places in the south of the Yangtze River, and there was no such thing as closing the city for commercial exchanges. But now it is different, Fang La's anti-army forces are huge, and the cities have long been frightened and dare not relax, especially in Jinling, where Zhu Mian is located, and closing the city gate at night has become a routine operation.

Just when Sun Tu was thinking about whether to let the army be stationed on the riverside for one night, a team of people and horses came slowly from the official road in front, just looking at the banner it played, he knew that it was a person from the official government, which made the soldiers happy, and someone quickly stepped forward to ask about the identity and intention of the visitor, and quickly reported to Sun Tu: "Governor, it is Suzhou Tuguan Tong Mu, who came to meet us by order." ”

"Oh?" Sun Tu immediately showed a happy smile on his face: "It's really a foreign country, why did I forget him?" As he spoke, he walked quickly towards those people, and soon, he met a young official with a slightly thin face, both of them were stunned at first, and then they both stepped forward quickly, raised their arms and smiled: "Qianli (second brother) hasn't seen you for many years, are you okay?" ”

The two said the same thing in unison, and as soon as the words came out, they were both stunned, and then they couldn't help laughing. Although they haven't met for many years, the relationship between the two is still there.

Tong Mu, the nephew of Tong Guan, did not help Sun Tu in Bianjing City at the beginning, it can be said that Sun Tu can have such achievements today, and the foundation is really laid by him, at least if he does not help, Tong Guan may not attach so much importance to such a rootless young man.

However, since Tong Mu passed the literary examination and became an official and was arranged to serve as an official in Jiangnan, Sun Tu has never met him again. The two of them are in the south and the other in the north, although they have also passed a lot of letters in the past few years, but after all, they are separated by thousands of mountains and rivers. It's just that the friendship between them has not been indifferent because of the barrier of space and time, and when they meet again today, the two immediately found the feeling when they traveled together in Beijing, and they didn't need too much greetings to become intimate.

"Qianli, I heard that you have made many meritorious contributions in Shandong in recent years, and some people call you the first general in my Great Song Army. Think about it at the beginning, you had the ambition to join the army in Beijing, and now it can be regarded as a wish, right? ”

"Haha, that's just the praise of some colleagues and the common people, I can't afford to praise it so much. It's really gratifying that you, the second brother, have been able to be promoted to a government official in just a few years. Sun Tu congratulated sincerely.

What he said came from the bottom of his heart, the magistrate of the first government is already the second-in-command figure among the local civil officials, and the existence of the fifth grade, even if it is placed in the court, it can be regarded as a middle-level official. And Tong Mu, a civil official who was not a Jinshi, was able to do this in just five years or so, which is enough to see how outstanding his ability is.

Don't look at Sun Tu now as a fourth-grade ruler, it seems that his status is higher than Tong Mu, but in fact, when it comes to his status in the court, he, the military attaché, is far from being comparable to Tong Mu.

Tong Mu shook his head with a wry smile when he heard this: "How much of my pusher relies on his own talents, and how much of it relies on his uncle's support, you shouldn't know it, right?" What's more, now that Suzhou has fallen into the hands of thieves, I can only hide in Jinling, which is really embarrassing. ”

Sun Tu patted him on the shoulder when he heard this: "I know that it is more than enough to be a local magistrate with your talents, and as for the fall of Suzhou, it is not your fault, if you really want to talk about it, it will only be Zhu Mian and other people who should be ashamed." ”

"Hehe, you and my brother won't mention such a frustrating thing when we see each other after many years, let's go, let's go to the octagonal town in front of us and sit down and talk. Knowing that you will be leading your army to arrive in the near future, I specially asked for an order to come to greet you, and I have prepared a lot of food and wine for you, which is enough for your whole army to enjoy. Tong Mu didn't answer Sun Tu's words, and quickly changed the topic. Of course, Sun Tu would not refuse this arrangement, so he immediately gave the order and took more than 20,000 people towards Bajiao Town, which was not far from here. After learning that the local government had prepared a place to live and food for them, the soldiers who were still a little indignant were immediately overjoyed, and when they looked at Tong Mu and the others again, they also brought more goodwill and kindness.

As a town adjacent to the Yangtze River and the big city of Jinling, this octagonal town occupies a really large area, with a radius of more than ten miles all included, and the town has hundreds of large and small houses, enough for all the soldiers and horses to stay in it, so that it is much more comfortable than letting the army be stationed in the field.

After entering the town and seeing this scene, all the soldiers cheered again, and then lived in the courtyards under the arrangement of their respective generals. Soon after, some people from the government sent wine, meat, and other food into the courtyard like flowing water, which once again won a burst of cheers from the soldiers.

Sun Tu was naturally quite satisfied with Tong Mu's arrangement, but after looking at this town where almost half of the ordinary people were seen, he still frowned slightly: "Second brother, I can naturally understand your kindness." But isn't it too much of a nuisance to do so? Now that I am living in the homes of the people, where shall they live? ”

Tong Mu smiled reluctantly when he heard this: "Don't worry, this official mansion is naturally ready, you just have to live in peace." ”

"What do you mean by that?" Sun Tu saw that he seemed to have something unspeakable, so he frowned again and looked at him and said, "What can't you say between you and my brother?" Why bother so much? ”

Seeing that Sun Tu was still unrelenting, Tong Mu could only smile bitterly: "Let's go, let's sit down in the first room and talk about other things while drinking." ”

Seeing that his eyes kept glancing around when he spoke, Sun Tu realized that he was obviously worried. At the moment, he cooperated: "You and I haven't seen each other for many years, so I really have to catch up with the wine." With that, the two turned around and entered a large mansion beside them, and someone from the local government brought a table of sumptuous wine and food into the house.

When the two of them were seated and the food was served, the two of them were left in the room. After toasting each other with a glass of wine, Sun Tucai looked at Tong Mu again: "You can always say it now, right?" ”

"Hey, Qianli, you still can't rub sand in your eyes as before...... Tong Mu put down the cup and sighed lightly: "To be honest, I really envy you, although you are a military attaché, you live happily enough, but you are much more comfortable than here in Jiangnan." Whether it was in Suzhou before or in Jinling in the past few months, I always have to do something that ignores my conscience, and every time I dream back at midnight, I always feel guilty. ”

"Huh?" Sun Tu looked at the other party thoughtfully, and it was only then that he really saw the changes in Tong Mu's appearance, he was indeed more mature than at the beginning, or a lot of vicissitudes, and there was no longer the original air of jumping out between his eyebrows, but he was a little more depressed.

"To tell you the truth, half a month before your arrival, this octagonal town was empty, but it was not my government that drove them away, but because of the military disaster, the people here could only flee elsewhere." As soon as Tong Mu got into the topic, Sun Tu's expression sank, and although he didn't ask questions, his eyes were already filled with curiosity.