A few days later, the team that went to the Chongqing government office took Li Shuang and Wang Da back to Wanjiaping, but Yu Zhu, who led the team, did not come back with them. Ouyang Xuan saw that Dong Hu, who had returned with the team, was hesitant to speak, so he hurriedly arranged for Li Shuang and Wang Da, and called Dong Hu into the inner room for questioning. It turned out that this trip was going to Chongqing Mansion, and Yu Zhu led 20 people there. While taking a boat in Hengyuan Village, he met Dong Hu, who was assisting in the relocation of Hengyuan Town. Due to the rampant activities of water bandits in recent times, Dong Hu took another platoon and went with the boat to Chongqing Mansion, fearing that Yu Zhu and his party were not safe with their valuables.
Sure enough, the group was attacked by water bandits near Yongqu Township. These water bandits were well informed and knew that Yu Zhu and others had brought valuable gifts. Spurred by the wealth, all the water bandits rushed forward like hungry wolves. Although the Perak Army had more than 50 people, which was about the same number as the water bandits, due to their unfamiliarity with water and the water bandits' proficiency in operating small boats, the Perak Army was at a disadvantage as soon as they engaged in the battle, and the sails of the ship they were traveling on were also damaged by rockets. They were burned to pieces, but fortunately, the Pili Army blew up the water bandits' fire warship and threw grenades into the group of bandits who were about to join the bandits, thus forcing the water bandits a little further away. However, the water bandits were not willing to give in. They kept following and tried to dive into the water and penetrate the bottom of the boat. However, they were unable to get close to the boat under the fierce thrusts of the spears of the Perak soldiers, so they had to follow from a distance. They left in anger when they approached Fucheng.
When they arrived in Fucheng, Yu Zhu went to the government office to report his merits without taking any rest, but Pan Tongzhi's reaction confused the group. When Yu Zhu reported that the Xiong Ben gang that had been causing trouble in Jiguan Mountains for many years had been eradicated, Pan Tongzhi was not happy but became furious. He loudly reprimanded Liulichai for framing a good man for killing a good man and taking credit for it, but actually attacked Xiong Ben, who was loyal to the Song Dynasty court. "Had it not been for Xiong Ben's defence, suppressing the rampant Qiang and Tibetan barbarians in the mountains, not only would Hengyuan and other rural areas at the foot of the mountain have been harassed, but Yongkang City would also have been disturbed. Ouyang Xuan's wanton behavior really chilled the hearts of loyal and brave people..."
Pan Tongzheng's sudden change of attitude really made Yu Zhu dumbfounded. He really couldn't understand how the plot turned around so quickly. In just three months, how did Xiong Ben, who was called a gangster, turn into the loyal and brave man he said? The annihilation of the Xiong Ben gang was clearly something he encouraged and supported. After thinking about it carefully, Yu Zhu found that he was eager to repay his merits and had not yet given the gift to Pan Tongzhi. This reason may have made him angry. Since ancient times, "when the fire is burning, the pig's head is rotten, and the money is used for official business". This is especially true in the officialdom of the Southern Song Dynasty, and Pan Tongzhi was an extremely greedy person. Thinking of this, Yu Zhu urgently ordered Dong Hu to present all the belongings he brought.
Seeing the large amount of valuable property delivered to the hall, Pan Tongzong's eyes lit up and his attitude improved greatly. He told Yu Zhu that he was just following orders.
"Now that Xiong Ben's letter of complaint has been delivered to Genting City, the superior has ordered me to investigate the matter. In order to protect Ouyang Xuan, I tried my best to protect Ouyang Xuan and defended him, which has made my superior furious. Although I insist that this matter is purely false. Misunderstanding, the superior's excuse is doubtful. But now Ouyang Xuan can't do the inspection of Liulichai Village. I also know that you have always been loyal and upright, so I will keep you as the escort team of Liulichai Village. It's a good time for you to come here. Don’t go back for now. Let’s go back together after the new inspector takes office.”
Yu Zhu heard from Pan Tongzhi that the newly appointed Liulizhai inspector was his nephew Pan Luohuan, and recalled that Li Shuang had said some time ago that someone bribed Pan Tongzhi to seize Ouyang Xuan's inspection position. Such an explicit approach made Yu Zhu, who had always been loyal and kind, understand that Pan Tongzhi was about to reap the fruits of victory. It doesn't matter whether Xiong Ben is a loyal person or not. What's important is that his villain complained first, giving Pan Tongzhi an excuse to get rid of Ouyang Xuan.
Pan Tongzhi's fall out was faster than turning over a book, and it had to do with Sichuan officialdom in the late Southern Song Dynasty. Sichuan is the Fourth Road of Chuanxia, namely Chengdufu Road, Tongchuanfu Road, Kuizhou Road and Lizhou Road. It was originally the most important place of wealth for the imperial court along with Jiangnan, but it has long been ruined by the repeated massacres by the Mongolian army. Unbearable. Among them, most of Lizhou Road has been occupied by Mongolian Wang Dechen. The Chengdu Road Administration Office was moved to Jintang Yunding City, one of the "Eight Pillars in Sichuan" to resist Mongolia. Tongchuan Road was first moved to Yunding City and then to Luzhou. Lin'an Chaotang only had There is strong control over Kuizhou Road. The officialdom of Fulu in Chengdu is more complex and dark than other places. The reason is not only that it is far away from the center, but also because the three previous invasions of the Mongols not only caused a sharp decline in the population and people's livelihood, but also caused the ruin and corruption of the government's governance institutions, which breeds A group of officials with soldiers and power were formed. These warlords often selectively implement the orders of their superiors, actively and enthusiastically when it is beneficial to them, and passively resist when it is not beneficial to them. Pan Tongzhi and Yao Shi'an and others in Yunding City are also such officials.
Yao Shi'an had already been entrenched in Yunding City when Yu Jie was the envoy of Sichuan. He took advantage of his power and someone in the court acted extremely arbitrarily. His immediate superior, Yu Jie, could not command him. Instead, he was framed and wronged and died. After the Chengdu Prefectural Government Office moved to Yunding City, the political power of the 11 prefectures under its jurisdiction, including Chengdu Prefecture, Chongqing Prefecture, Jiading Prefecture and Qiongzhou, were all usurped by Yao Shi'an. Cheng Jinyong, the magistrate of Yongkang County, also followed suit. Even Pan Tongzhi's orders from Chongqing Prefecture were obeyed and disobeyed. Of course, he would not pay attention to Li Shuang and others who would go to collect grain. Yongkang County is a subordinate county of Chongqing Prefecture, and Pan Tongzhi's official rank is higher than that of Cheng Jinyong. Isn't Cheng Jinyong afraid? It is said that Cheng Jinyong is really not afraid. Firstly, he is Yao Shian's confidant. Secondly, during the Song and Song Dynasties, civilians controlled military affairs, and the status of civil servants was much higher than that of military attachés. It was illegal for Pan Tongzhi to act as a military attaché in political affairs. If there was an argument in the court, he would definitely lose legally. Therefore, although Pan Tongzhi hated it with itch, he There is nothing you can do.
However, Pan Zongzhi is not a good person. He also has backers in the court. Yao Shi'an also knew this very well, and neither party would push the other party into a hurry. As for Xiong Ben, the bandit, Pan Tongzhi had actually known for a long time that he and Cheng Jinyong were colluding to kill people and sell goods, but he turned a blind eye until the power of Liuli Village suddenly emerged, and he once again thought of using the power of Liuli Village to fight against Xiong Ben. , to prevent Cheng Jinyong from becoming more powerful. Now that Ouyang Xuan has driven away Xiong Ben, he has begun to think of taking Jiguan Mountain District into his own pocket. Therefore, when Yao Shi'an sent someone to rebuke Chongqing Mansion for conniving at Liuli Village to attack Xiong Ben, he never mentioned Xiong Ben's evil deeds as a bandit. Instead, he readily agreed to remove Ouyang Xuan from his post of patrol inspector and promised to compensate Xiong Ben. He took control of Hengyuan Town and served as the town supervisor of Hengyuan Town, and promised to return the Wanjiazhai warehouse materials to Xiong Ben.
In his heart, Yu Zhu really hated Pan Tongzhi's ruthlessness and greed, but he could do nothing about it. Seeing that he looked ugly, Commander Pan thought that Yu Zhu was unhappy because he failed to take over the duty of inspection, so he put down his body to comfort him and made many cakes. He did this just to stabilize Yu Zhu so that he could help his nephew secure his position as an inspector. But he didn't know that Yu Zhu didn't care about the inspection position at all. It is said that the size and strength of the Pili Army in the mountains are not as good as those of Chongqing Prefecture, but they are definitely not inferior to Yongkang County. As a high-ranking member of the Perak Army, Yu Zhu's power has far exceeded his position as an inspector. Yu Zhu was just worried about Ouyang Xuan and the break between the Pili Army and the imperial court. The so-called hundred-footed insect is dead but not stiff. Although the Southern Song Dynasty government was extremely corrupt, it still occupied the position of Zhengshuo. The Pili army was still very weak and did not dare to openly stand on the opposite side of the court.
