Jingchu, Sun Mansion
In a luxuriously decorated side room, a few beautiful dancers were dancing to the sound of musicians. At the head of the table, Sun Chenggong was drinking wine, served by two concubines on the left and right. ·························
Although he was eating delicacies carefully cooked by chefs, drinking decades-old wine, and being surrounded by beauties, Sun Chenggong, who was full of alcohol, did not look happy at all, and there was a hint of indifference in his expression. Sad look!
Since his father Sun Liangyu passed away last year and Wang Dayou rebelled and lured Xu Zhaojie into his house, various prefectures and counties in southern Jingchu fell into the hands of the Zhennan Army.
Sun Chenggong always wants to expel the Zhennan Army and revive the Jingchu foundation left by his father. To this end, he has successively contacted the Luo'an court and the military commission to serve as a false snake. He does not dare to slack off at all!
It was also under Sun Chenggong's plan that Jing Chu's army gradually recovered some of its strength. At this time, Xu Zhaojie sent his troops south to the south of the Yangtze River, and Sun Chenggong immediately saw an opportunity.
What surprised Sun Chenggong even more was that Fengwu Army also supported him in conquering his homeland, and was even willing to sell firearms to Jingchu Army
Sun Chenggong had always been obsessed with the southern prefectures and counties of Jingchu being occupied by Xu Zhaojie. Now with the support of the Fengwu Army, he no longer had any scruples. He directly appointed Zhao Zongchang, a veteran of the Jingchu Army, to lead the main force of the Jingchu Army to recapture Hezhou, which was occupied by the Zhennan Army. Hengzhou, Yongshao and other places···························
Because the main elite of the Zhennan Army were all taken by Xu Zhaojie to conquer Jiangnan, the Zhennan Army that stayed in Hezhou, Hengzhou, Yongshao and other places was just a partial division!
Therefore, Sun Chenggong was originally very optimistic about this conquest operation, and even thought that the war would probably end within half a month!
However, in reality, Zhao Zongchang, who had high hopes for him, achieved very little results in nearly three months of fighting. He suffered nearly 10,000 casualties and spent countless money, food and materials. He only captured two county towns, Hezhou, Hengzhou and Yongshao. None of them were defeated!
While this was a slap in the face to Sun Chenggong, it also made Sun Chenggong realize that he had underestimated the combat effectiveness of the Zhennan Army, and at the same time overestimated the combat effectiveness of his Jingchu Army!
Although the expedition south has reached a deadlock, Sun Chenggong is not willing to accept failure, so regarding the current predicament, his first thought is to change generals. Since you, Zhao Zongchang, can't do it, then I will change someone to take over. Anyway, the next one will not be able to do it. It couldn't be worse!
[In view of the general environment,
However, Sun Chenggong never expected that it was Zhao Zongchang who started the war like this, which was already very annoying!
But the young general promoted by his grandson himself is even more like a pile of mud that cannot hold up a wall!
At this time when I need them to stand up and admit their mission, everyone is shirk-passing each other, and no one dares to step forward... ········
However, perhaps he knew his shame and became brave. After being criticized and reprimanded by himself, Duan Zhibao, the commander of the Jingchu Army whom he had picked up, finally stood up and expressed his willingness to succeed Zhao Zongchang and continue to attack the southern counties.
Sun Chenggong admired Duan Zhibao's talents, otherwise he would not have promoted him to this commanding post. Although he was a little disappointed with Duan Zhibao's previous shirk of the war, Sun Chenggong was very pleased to see Duan Zhibao stand up again and felt that he It’s not hopeless!
Now that Duan Zhibao has stepped forward, Sun Chenggong immediately arranged for him to succeed Zhao Zongchang and take over the command of tens of thousands of Jingchu Army soldiers on the front line!
Before leaving, Sun Chenggong even promised the general he had picked up in one hand that as long as the war was fought well and Hengzhou, Hezhou, Yongshao and other places were captured, Sun Chenggong would definitely give him whatever he wanted!
Duan Zhibao also thanked Sun Chenggong for this, and made a request, that is, Sun Chenggong should try his best to ensure the frontline supply of the army, and continuously send medicines, gunpowder, food and other materials to the frontline, and not let the frontline soldiers and horses suffer in logistics. Encountered a dilemma!
Naturally, Sun Chenggong would not refuse such a reasonable request and immediately agreed.
However, although Sun Chenggong agreed happily, the difficulty of this matter will not be reduced at all...
Although Jingchu is not a poor province among the provinces of the Great Zhou Dynasty, it is hard to say how wealthy it is!
Last year, we experienced another wave of war. Not to mention the common people, even the landlords did not have much food left. Therefore, the war has lasted for nearly three months. Although the logistics and finances of the Jingchu Army are not at the end of their rope, difficulties have arisen. As the situation continues, most of the inventory in the warehouse has basically been destroyed.
Just an hour ago, twenty-seven officials from the Chief Secretary and the Inspectorate jointly signed a petition to Sun Chenggong, hoping that Sun Chenggong could stop the war and start a revolution!
Sun Chenggong can be said to be very conflicted about this. He also knows that the current situation among the people is not very good. The cost of the war is all borne by the common people. Many common people are already very tired. If the squeeze continues, things like peasant uprisings will be very difficult. It might happen!
He, Sun Chenggong, was not a violent and unscrupulous person. At other times, he might have chosen to cease the war, but the problem was expressed in Duan Zhibao's letter to him.
Although the enemy army still occupies Hengzhou, Hezhou, Yongshao and other places, after months of fighting, the enemy army is already at the end of its strength. Now is the time for the two sides to compete for endurance and will. Who has a stronger will and who has a deeper endurance? , whoever will win this war.
This letter greatly encouraged Sun Chenggong. He also felt that no matter how powerful the Zhennan Army was, the ones stationed in the counties in southern Jingchu were just a partial division of the enemy's army... ·················
After three months of attack by our side, we are already on the verge of collapse. As long as we put more effort on our side at this time, the enemy's army is likely to collapse completely!
And if you choose to give up, all your previous efforts will be in vain, and it will give the enemy a chance to breathe. It will be even more difficult to recapture these prefectures and counties!
Although he understood that this was the truth, Sun Chenggong couldn't help but feel a little guilty when he thought of those officials' warnings about the possible peasant uprising.
Although the current truce is very embarrassing, it will have little impact on his rule over Jingchu. If the fight continues, there will be no problem in a short time. However, if the enemy persists for a few months, the situation will be serious. When the common people rise up, that is no joke!
In addition to the war on the front line, there was another thing that made Sun Chenggong feel like he was having trouble sleeping and eating!
This incident was a serial assassination that broke out in Hanyang City a few days ago. Several officials were killed by assassins, including Cheng Pingzhi, Sun Chenggong's most important think tank.
Sun Chenggong was also very angry about this matter. He immediately asked the City Defense Department and the Police Inspectorate to jointly investigate, and the case must be solved within three days!
The City Defense Department and the Inspectorate Department were also very efficient in their work. They quickly investigated and found out that this incident was done by Qianhu Guards of the Zhennan Army. The purpose was to create panic in Hanyang City and put everyone in the Jingchu Army officials in danger. To contain the war situation affecting the front line...
In addition to this investigation result, they also captured many people from the Qianhu Guard. Because the matter made sense, Sun Chenggong didn't think much about it. He just ordered all the people from the Qianhu Guard to be executed and asked the front line The soldiers stepped up their offensive and achieved results as soon as possible, causing heavy damage to the enemy!
Although Pingzhi's deceased Sun Chenggong was heartbroken when the matter reached this point, he thought it was over. However, what Sun Chenggong never expected was that someone from Qian Huwei actually contacted him and told Lian Chenggong in Hanyang City. The assassination of An was not done by their Qianhu Guards!
The real culprit behind the serial assassinations was the Coordination Office of the Fengwu Army. In addition, some generals in the Jingchu Army were bribed by the Fengwu Army, and the purpose of the Fengwu Army was to plot against Jingchu!
Regarding Qian Huwei's warning, Sun Chenggong didn't dare not believe it, but he didn't dare to believe it completely!
Although he has never met Ye Mingsheng, Sun Chenggong has a close relationship with Ye Mingsheng.
There have been correspondences, and from Ye Mingsheng's reply and the various actions of the Fengwu Army, Sun Chenggong can feel Ye Mingsheng's determination and will to conquer mountains and rivers!
Therefore, even though the Fengwu Army supported him in taking back Hezhou and other places captured by the Zhennan Army and sold him firearms, Sun Chenggong was always secretly wary of Ye Mingsheng and the Fengwu Army.
In the past, because the main experience of the Fengwu Army was used to deal with the Luo'an court, their attitude towards the Jingchu Army was relatively friendly, so the two sides could live in peace... ··········
However, with the fall of the Luo'an court, everyone in the world knew that the next step of the Fengwu Army was to go south to unify the Zhou Dynasty. Therefore, the threat of the Fengwu Army made Sun Chenggong feel like a thorn in his back. Thinking of the power of the Fengwu Army With such fighting power, Sun Chenggong couldn’t sleep well at night!
Although he was very afraid of the Fengwu Army and worried that the Fengwu Army would attack Jingchu, Sun Chenggong was still skeptical about Qian Huwei's warning. After all, although the Fengwu Army was a major threat, the relationship between them was still pretty good. .
The Zhennan Army was at war with their Jingchu Army, and the two sides were fighting to the death. Therefore, Sun Chenggong also felt that Qian Huwei's move was not really a warning to him, but it was probably an attempt to sow discord.
He wants to sow discord between the Jingchu Army and the Fengwu Army, and between himself and his generals!
So that he could feel the threat of Fengwu Army and begin to doubt whether his subordinates were bribed by Fengwu Army. This would cause internal strife in Jingchu Army and even stop attacking Hezhou, Hengzhou and other places. Then the Zhennan Army would Can survive!
It is precisely because of this consideration that Sun Chenggong was skeptical of Qian Huwei's warning. For this reason, he also arranged for his confidant Sun Liu to secretly investigate who was the real culprit of the recent serial assassinations in the city. He wanted to wait until this question. Answer is making this decision!
Before that, Sun Chenggong still wanted to observe and observe, not to make a decision in a hurry!
But speaking of it, Sun Liu has been investigating for almost seven or eight days. I don’t know how the investigation is going, whether he has found out a child Chou Yinmao... ·······
Thinking of this, Sun Chenggong drank another glass of wine. Just when he was about to kiss the concubine beside him, a servant suddenly walked over quickly and said:
"Commander, Lord Sun Liu has something important to report!"
Sun Chenggong was also very surprised when he heard this. He had just thought of him, but he didn't expect that he would come over immediately. He immediately nodded and said:
"Let him in!"
"yes!"
Although he was a little drunk, Sun Chenggong also understood that Sun Liu came here to report the results of his investigation, and this matter was undoubtedly a current military secret, so Sun Chenggong also screened out the concubine and dancer in the house. , Musician et al.
After these people left, a middle-aged man of short stature and ordinary appearance came to Sun Chenggong.
This middle-aged man was Sun Liu. Although he did not hold any official position in the Jingchu Army, he was deeply trusted by Sun Chenggong because he was a servant of Sun Chenggong. Sun Chenggong was willing to leave all major and small matters to him.
"Little Sun Liu pays homage to the commander!" Seeing Sun Chenggong, Sun Liu immediately bowed and saluted!
Sun Chenggong waved his hand and asked impatiently:
"How is the investigation going? Was it done by the Fengwu Army?"
Facing Sun Chenggong's inquiry, Sun Liu said very cautiously:
"Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief, I have not yet found out whether this matter was done by the Fengwu Army..."
As soon as these words came out, Sun Chenggong was immediately disappointed. Just when he was about to say something, Sun Liu continued:
"Although it was not investigated whether this incident was caused by the Fengwu Army, a small investigation revealed that Zhao Dawei, the official of the Procuratorate responsible for investigating the incident, accepted money from Anqing businessman Guo Yuan!"
"And some people have seen that Guo Yuan has been very close to General Duan Zhibao recently. It seems that the relationship is very unusual!"
Before Sun Liu finished speaking, Sun Chenggong couldn't help but narrowed his eyes. Although Sun Liu said that he had not investigated whether Fengwu Army did this!
But if this matter was done by Qian Huwei, why did Guo Yuan send money to Zhao Dawei?
What is the purpose of Guo Yuan sending money to Zhao Dawei?
And what does Guo Yuan want to do if he has such a close relationship with Duan Zhibao?
Thinking of this, Sun Chenggong suddenly had several questions in his mind. He made a prompt decision and said:
"Sun Liu, please bring back Guo Yuan! Things must be done secretly and don't alert others!"
After hearing Sun Chenggong's instructions, Sun Liu nodded confidently and said:
"I know! Commander, I'll take action now!"
Just when Sun Chenggong was still about to give some instructions, there were suddenly several loud noises coming from outside. Just when Sun Chenggong was at a loss, a servant ran in and reported:
"Commander, there are fires in several places in the city, and there are people outside shouting that Sun Hui and Lu Hu have rebelled... "
