On the ninth day of the fifth month, at noon, the sun is scorching and the weather is hot.

But Muzhou City was filled with people, and the people, soldiers and officials gathered at the city gate, looking at the not-too-wide official road ahead, waiting for the arrival of those people.

Just yesterday, the conclusive news had been returned from Qingxi. The Song army launched a raid on the mountains and forests in the area of ​​Bangyuan Cave, which was hiding the anti-military thief leader Fang La, who was hiding the anti-military thief leader Fang La, and won a great victory in this battle. Not only did they kill hundreds of enemies, but they captured countless prisoners, but they also captured all the two thief leaders Fang La and Fang Fei alive. Today, it was the time when they escorted the prisoners back.

It was not until noon that a big flag emerged on the empty official road, and then the second, third, and the triumphal soldiers under the flag were all energetic and stride towards Muzhou. Among the team, the most eye-catching one was not the generals riding a tall horse, but the two prison cars that were temporarily obtained from the Qingxi County Government. The two inside the car were Fang La and Fang Fei.

When they saw such a triumphant army escorting hundreds of anti-army troops and escorting the two thieves stalking, there was a burst of cheers at the city gate, which were the other Song army soldiers cheering for their brothers. But the people were all intricate at this moment, and they no longer knew what mood to face these people who they once supported but now abandoned.

When Fang La fled that day, many people followed him. However, in the past month, these people finally chose to leave because of their dangerous situation and difficult life. In addition, the government had already made publicity early and posted notices of people everywhere, so they finally let them go home one after another, and now they have all become the original good people.

However, when Fang Lazhen was captured alive by the Song army and brought back to Muzhou, these people were still filled with guilt, and they didn't even dare to look at Fang La, who had become a prisoner, looked extremely depressed and could not even raise his head.

However, Sun Tu and other court officials had no feeling in this way at all. He immediately led the crowd to meet him in a big staircase, but did not rush to check on the prisoners. Instead, he smiled and said, "Brothers have worked hard. Once you win today, the chaos in Jiangnan has been settled. The Japanese official in the Ming Dynasty submitted a memorial to the court for you. In addition, the city has prepared a banquet for memorial services. Everyone should go to the city soon!"

While he spoke, all the generals sitting on the horse turned over and fell to the ground, and then knelt down on one knee and shouted: "The last general waited for the general to live up to the entrusted command, and finally took down the head of the thief." Then the other soldiers also knelt on one knee and shouted loudly: "I will wait for the general to live up to the entrusted command. After this battle, Jiangnan has settled!"

"Okay, okay." Sun Tu naturally smiled and walked forward, helping all the subordinates in front of him up one by one - Lu Da, Wu Song, Yue Fei, Yang Zhi... Every time he helped someone up, he would like to praise him gently, and pat their shoulders, so that they could enter the city to rest.

It was not until he helped these subordinates up and the other soldiers also rose up that Sun Tu finally walked to the two prison vans and carefully looked at the opponent who disrupted half of the south of the Yangtze River and took him nearly two years to calm down.

To be honest, this is the first time Sun Tu has actually seen Fang La himself. Although Fang La had no longer had the same energy as before and was completely embarrassed and depressed, he could still see that he was extraordinary. Especially the pair of eyes that could not be seen at once, the resentment emitted when they faced him still made Sun Tu feel trembling. But this was just so smooth. Sun Tu quickly laughed and looked straight into the other person's eyes and said, "Fang La, you can't imagine that in just one year, you have completely become a prisoner..."

"We, Fang La, have a clear conscience, but it's just a success, a king, a defeat, a bandit. I hate the unfairness of the heavens. I failed to get what I want and create another bright world for the people of the world." At this time, Fang La finally raised a hint of spirit and looked at Sun Tu without any permission. Although his tone was plain, he was a little unwilling: "Sun Tu, you are indeed the only powerful person I have seen in this life, but don't be happy too early. My today may not be your tomorrow!"

Seeing Sun Tu's eyebrows raised, Fang La suddenly laughed: "I know everything you do in Jiangnan. Do you think the hearts of the monarchs and ministers of the Song court can really tolerate you? They tolerated you before, but because I am the enemy in front of you, you still have value. But now, since I have been punished, I must be not far from your death!"

He said this loudly and clearly reached Sun Tu and the ears of many Song soldiers around him, which changed the expressions of many people. He wanted to say something, but for a moment he didn't know where to start.

However, after a short moment of surprise, Sun Tu laughed: "It's nonsense. Fang La, you are still so stubborn at this time, and you still want to sow discord? I will not fall into your plan. I, Sun Tu, have always acted with great confidence and am worthy of the sky and the earth. I am loyal to the emperor and love soldiers. Now I have made great contributions. What's there to worry about? Don't use such evil words to disrupt the hearts of our army and the people!"

After a pause, he shouted loudly again: "Come here, put him in a prison and take care of me carefully. Except for my order, no one should be approached, otherwise he would be killed!" At this moment, his power suddenly increased, and Fang La could not continue to speak. The people around him were even more shocked and their expressions changed drastically. Not only did they quickly throw the intermittent words behind their heads, but they also subconsciously knelt down on the ground and worshiped them.

After welcoming back the meritorious people and detaining all the relevant prisoners, the next Muzhou City immediately became a sea of ​​celebration. The various gold, silver, cloth, grain, wine and meat used for celebration have been delivered in time. As Sun Tu spoke, the banquet was quickly put on, and then at the banquet, the rewards were distributed according to the merits made by each person.

Everyone knew very well that this was just the beginning of the celebration. When the general sent the victory to the court, there would be even greater rewards. Almost everyone could go further in their original positions, even a few steps. People like Wu Songluda and Tong Mu who made key contributions in capturing Fang La alive would only be more generous.

Of course, as the commander of the three armies, Sun Tu, who almost led his army to pacify the storm in Jiangnan alone, had his merits even greater. Some people even speculated that General Sun would be able to be awarded a title this time. As for how high the title was, I am afraid that a marquis would not be able to escape, and he might be awarded a title of Duke.

While Sun Tu passed the relevant news back to Beijing as quickly as possible, he also began to make dazzling arrangements - Tong Mu, Song Jiang, Zhu Wu, Wu Yong... These subordinates who were more concerned about literary affairs were quickly sent by him to Hangzhou, Suzhou, Jinling and other places as local chiefs. Those who cooperated with them were the generals who were directly appointed as the chief supervisor of the first place by him, Hua Rong, Yang Zhi, Lin Chong... Even Wu Song and Lu Da were all listed...

In fact, everyone knows what all the arrangements mean. Because of this chaos in Jiangnan, almost all the original imperial officials were swept away. In other words, the officialdom here was blank, both civil and military. Sun Tu directly assigned all the people under his command before the court made an appointment, and also wrote in the good news that he did this, in order to make Jiangnan controlled by the court faster and restore the past situation faster.

Now that he has made great contributions and light can cover all problems, Sun Tu's actions will naturally make it difficult for the court to change it in a short period of time. As long as they are given enough time, Jiangnan will inevitably become the second Shandong and the second solid backing for Sun Tu's future rise!

These people, and Xie Mo, who was still unwilling to be an official, enjoyed a huge reputation among the people in Jiangnan, had the cooperation of these people, although Sun Tu was not known as a governor at this time, he already had this de facto power.

All of this reached a peak after June. Although the official decree of the court has not yet been delivered, the conclusive news has been heard-

The current government is still very satisfied with Sun Tu's practice of quelling the chaos in Jiangnan in just over a year. For this reason, he not only accepted Sun Tu's request, but also appointed him as the Marquis of Yue. As many people have speculated, Sun Tu officially became Marquis!

Although it is reasonable to be granted a title of marquis with Sun Tu's contribution; although even in the Song Dynasty, the probability of military generals being granted a title of marquis was far higher than that of civil officials, and many generals had won this honor before, this was still a very commendable event for many subordinates, which means that General Sun's identity has been qualitatively improved and has truly entered the sequence of high-ranking officials of the court.

However, there was a different view mixed in the celebration of this faction. After Tong Mu heard about this, he said to Sun Tu with a serious expression: "General, if this matter is really afraid, it may not be a good thing. First, there is almost no reward except this Yuehou, which is contrary to the common law; second, according to the rules, those who use the land to be granted the marquis are mostly based on their hometown as their fiefdom, so the one who gives you should be the marquis of Lu, but why did he give it to the marquis of Yue? As a result, I felt a third uneasy. This might be a pit dug by someone to put you on the fire and roast you..."

Sun Tu listened to these words, but he couldn't come up with a clear idea of ​​what exactly happened. At this moment, the official rewards and licensing of the court finally arrived.

Just after hearing the edict of tens of thousands of words to promote many officials, there was another sentence that shocked everyone - I was recruiting Sun to come to Beijing to receive rewards and report on his duties, and escorting Fang La and other rebels into Beijing!

He was so good at removing firewood from the cauldron and demolishing the bridges across the river. The court had to transfer Sun Tu back to Bianjing. In this way, wouldn’t all his arrangements be lost?

What is even more unbelievable is that in the face of this will, Sun Tu, he actually followed the order.

Without any slight refusal, he received the order in early June. In mid-July, after arranging everything, he only brought a few confidants such as Tang Feng and two thousand Shandong veterans, leaving Jiangnan, which he had finally captured, left the group of brothers and subordinates, and rushed to the capital Bianliang...

(End of this volume)
Chapter completed!