Water Margin begins as a captain in Yanggu County

Chapter 182: Prime Minister Tan, the Governor of Liangzhe Road, has arrived!

Su Wu rode his horse slowly along the streets of Hangzhou...

Hangzhou is a city with 200,000 households. Just look at the wide streets, the rows of shops and buildings, the white walls, black tiles, and the flying eaves...

You can see the prosperous scene in the past, and you can also see the life scenes of the people here in the past...

But in front of me, there was a bleak scene, the streets were extremely deserted, all commercial activities had stopped, and there was no one else on the street except the corpses of thieves...

The blow that these millions of thieves brought to this prosperous city with a population of 200,000 households was unimaginable!

But Su Wu also knew that this was the center of Liangzhe, and even one of the centers of Jiangnan. Once the thieves were gone, it would take only a few years for this place to return to its former prosperity...

Why is Hangzhou so prosperous? It is because it has accessible waterways, land routes and sea routes.

During the Northern Song Dynasty, maritime trade was extremely developed, not only in East Asia, but also in South Asia, West Asia, and even the Mediterranean and Europe...

To what extent was the maritime trade developed in the Northern Song Dynasty?
There are tens of thousands of foreigners living in Quanzhou, Fujian. There are many churches of various denominations, such as Zoroastrianism, Brahmanism, Nestorianism, Islam, etc.

There are also foreigners who have lived there for a long time and have become a large family in the local area, among which the Pu family is the largest, and there is even a name called Quanzhou Pubancheng.

It was this Pu clan that not only turned against the Southern Song Dynasty when it was destroyed, but also occupied the city and became an accomplice of the Mongols, helping to hunt down the Southern Song Dynasty royal family...

This Pu family was also massacred when Zhu Yuanzhang restored the country...

When Su Wu thought of this, he couldn't help but realize that there were actually quite a few foreigners with high noses and deep eyes in the city of Hangzhou.

One can't help but think that at that time in the Song Dynasty, there were six Maritime Customs Offices, namely Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Mingzhou, Quanzhou, Wenzhou, and the last one was Mizhou in the east of Beijing. Mizhou was just to make up the number, and it was also the only Maritime Customs Office in the north.

There are six Maritime Customs Offices, three of which are located in Liangzhe, with Hangzhou being the center. If there had not been this turmoil, there would still be many ships in the Hangzhou Bay, far more than in Shandong.

As for Mingzhou, it is actually Ningbo. There is no need to say much about Wenzhou. These two places are not far from Hangzhou, and Mingzhou is in the same bay as Hangzhou.

The prosperity of the two Zhejiang regions is not only due to the fact that they are the land of fish and rice in the south of the Yangtze River, but also due to the development of maritime trade.

How much wealth can maritime trade bring in this era?
Going back a few decades, according to data from the Qingli period, the six Maritime Customs Offices collected 19.75 million guan of customs revenue a year. This was just customs revenue, and there was also the trade profits brought to merchants, and even the commercial taxes in the city, which were astronomical figures...

Apart from anything else, just this customs revenue, even if a Jurchen head was worth four hundred strings of cash, would be enough to buy all the Jurchen heads.

Su Wu was riding his horse on the streets of Hangzhou, thinking about these things. What was he thinking?
What he was thinking about was naturally money. Of course, he was not thinking about maritime trade. There were people to handle the maritime trade, and Su Wu really couldn't get involved in these businesses for a while.

But looking at the depressed city of Hangzhou...

What Su Wu is thinking about is... buying, buying, buying!

In this city, the bigger the family, the fewer people they have at this moment. The casualties were heavy, and all the commercial networks, upstream and downstream, were actually destroyed...

buy what?
Of course, if you buy a house or land at this time, the price will definitely be unimaginably low, almost a bargain.

It was not that Su Wu intended to make a fortune from the war, but that Su Wu needed a large source of income. There are two ways to go from Jiangnan and Liangzhe to Jingdong, either by water or by sea. Although they seem to be thousands of miles apart, they are actually "living next to each other" along the coast.

The path to development does not have to be limited to one place. Whether it is Hangzhou or Yuezhou (Shaoxing), they are both plagued by bandits. It is the time to buy at the bottom. Instead of letting others buy at the bottom, it is better to let Su Wu buy at the bottom.

In addition, Su Wu now has a good reputation in the south of the Yangtze River, and even has favors from wealthy families in Suzhou and Huzhou.

This is something that can be done more and more.

But Su Wu himself did not have the time or space to do it, so he had to find someone to do it. He left a large number of people here and let Du Xing do it first.

As for who should be entrusted with this matter?

Li Ying, the eagle with good business sense, is the perfect choice.

This kind of thing should be handled by the elders and the young men. The elders and the young men have roots and family relatives, so they can have better control.

Think about Hangzhou. In the future, there will be a prefect. This prefect is also very important. Now it is Tong Guan who has conquered Hangzhou...

Needless to say, Tong Guan must be the manipulator, and he must be the opponent of Cai Jing, Wang Fu, Zhu Zhen and others.

Su Wu thought about it and decided that as long as these things were done properly, the bargain hunting plan in Hangzhou, Yuezhou and other places would definitely bring Su Wu unimaginable benefits...

Making soap or burning glass is nothing compared to this...

We have to do it right away. Starting tomorrow, Du Xing and his men will have to do the work. They should first go to the Hangzhou government office. There are archived documents in the government office, which must also be under their control. Land and house deeds and the like are all archived in the government office. We only need to "follow the map" and achieve twice the result with half the effort.

As long as they are willing to sell, then they are willing to buy. The price depends on how you negotiate. In Hangzhou, at least 50% of the people are dead. People have lost their will, so it's easy to negotiate...

Where did the money come from? Su Wu still had a lot of money in his hands at this time, and the follow-up...

Su Wu was not in a hurry. He first welcomed Tong Xianggong to the Hangzhou government office, which had been converted into an imperial palace. He asked the soldiers to clean up those things that were beyond their authority.

Before big things happen, hold a small meeting.

A temporary meeting between Su Wu and Tong Guan.

Tong Guan's joy was evident on his face. He entered the government office and took a good look around the "imperial palace". As he walked, he said, "A monkey in a human costume..."

Su Wu also laughed: "You are a little thief, but you have great ambitions. You are bound to be laughed at..."

Tong Guan put his hands behind his back and looked at Su Wu with a smile: "What do you think...how should we report this victory to the emperor?"

Su Wu just said: "Just speak the truth from the facts..."

Tong Guan nodded: "Seeking truth from facts is also the right thing to do. You should also learn the tricks. In the evening, I will write it myself, and you can watch... learn the tricks carefully..."

"Thank you, Prime Minister..." Su Wu nodded and replied. Perhaps he really needed to learn. Speaking is a science, and seeking truth from facts is also a science.

Tong Guan came and asked, "Ziqing, how much money and food are there in this city?"

Su Wu actually "estimated" it, that is, he looked at the places where money and grain were stored, and then he answered: "The money and other things, those gold, silver, cloth and silk, all added up, are about 10 million strings of cash. I can't calculate the grain at the moment, but it should be enough to feed 300,000 or 500,000 people for a year..."

Tong Guan frowned and said, "Why is there only about 10 million strings of cash?"

Su Wu was actually quite disappointed. Even if he went to rob the entire city, it would be impossible for him to only rob 10 million strings of cash from Hangzhou. It would be normal to rob several times that...

Su Wu thought for a moment and replied, "Perhaps Fang La took a lot with him before he left. If we can catch up with Fang La, we may find a huge sum of money..."

The conversation between the two was very straightforward.

Tong Guan nodded: "We can't take too much food with us. After all, we have to feed the people in the city, and we also need to provide relief to the surrounding prefectures. We can't let the people starve to death...but this money..."

When Tong Guan said this, he paused for a moment and went to see Su Wu.

Is this a test? Obviously not, this is a negotiation.

Su Wu just said: "Those who have made efforts should be given pensions and rewards first, which should be generous. As for how to divide it, it doesn't have to be too much..."

At this time, Su Wu was already at the stage of planning big things, and the idea of ​​spending lavishly was not suitable for discussion with Tong Guan at this time.

Tong Guan only asked one question: "Can you control them?"

This question is obviously very meaningful.

Whether he can keep the people together or not depends on whether the people from different tribes obey him, Su Wu, and whether they can do things according to his ideas.

Money can move people's hearts. Logically speaking, after the city of Hangzhou was captured, the soldiers inside the city should have robbed everywhere. However, at this moment, Su Wu's military orders in advance only allowed them to control all the places with money and food.

This is already a gathering...

The next thing to do is to reward merits, provide pensions, promotions and the like. The same goes for money for Tong Guan and Su Wu.

How to prevent each department from having any resentment and ensure that they all accept the decision calmly is a big question.

Su Wu nodded: "It should be possible to hold it together."

Tong Guan was pleased: "That couldn't be better."

After saying this, Tong Guan continued walking and asked, "What about the remaining money? How are you going to deal with it?"

Su Wu was waiting for this, and he only replied: "Ship it to Bian Jing, that is absolutely not allowed..."

Of course not. In this era, huge amounts of wealth could be hidden in one’s hometown family, but Tong Guan had no hometown family to speak of.

But it must not be transported to Tong Guan’s residence in the capital. Why?
Because it would require a large number of carriages and manpower to transport them, and this could not be concealed. If so many things were transported to Tong Guan's residence, it would be the biggest excitement in Tokyo City. I'm afraid the entire Tokyo City would come to watch the excitement, and even the emperor would come to watch the excitement...

Tong Guan’s life came to an end.

"Of course it cannot be transported to Tokyo. Just keep talking..." Tong Guan also frowned.

This money can sometimes be a hassle, and of course, it is absolutely impossible to give this money directly to Su Wu...

Su Wu replied: "Prime Minister, nowadays, in Hangzhou, the land and houses are the cheapest. Since we can't move our money, why not buy things and spend them all..."

Su Wu also did not intend to hide it from Tong Guan. This matter had to be handled by Tong Guan. Sometimes, the reason was very simple.

It is impossible for Tong Guan to give all the money directly to Su Wu. Tong Guan is not a person of noble character. If he handed all the money over to the court, then the money must have a place to go...

Naturally, all of this will be operated in the name of Tong Shumi. As long as it is operated, Tong Shumi will naturally need people to help him operate it.

As for who this money belongs to in the end...

In fact, it doesn’t matter. When the amount of money reaches a certain level, it will definitely not belong to a certain person, but only to a force or an organization.

The money naturally belongs to whoever represents this force or organization. To be more precise, it is whoever manages and operates it.

Now, Tong Shumi is representing, and it means that he is operating in the name of Tong Shumi. In the future, if Tong Shumi loses power or leaves...

Anyway, Su Wu deeply understood the truth, so the money was easy to deal with...

There is another truth: it doesn't matter to whom the benefits generated by the money belong, what is most important is who uses it. Who else can this money be used for?

Others might be able to use some of it, but if the bulk of it is not given to Su Wu, who else can it be given to?

At this time, it was impossible for Su Wu to hide the money from everyone and put it into his own pocket. However, it didn't make much difference whether he put the money into his own pocket or not. If he really put the money into his own pocket, it would be counterproductive.

Tong Guan was walking slowly, thinking in his head, and he said: "To buy so many properties, you need a lot of manpower to manage them... and you need trustworthy manpower to manage them, otherwise, it would be a waste of effort..."

Tong Guan had experienced a lot in the world, so he could see through it at a glance. Whether it was the imperial court or private property, it would be useless if he didn't hold it in his own hands and couldn't take care of it.

Those in a higher position have the perspective of a higher position.

Su Wu just said: "I am willing to take on this task..."

"You?" Tong Guan stopped again and looked at Su Wu.

Su Wu was not flustered, and just said: "If it doesn't make sense, I will pay for it!"

Su Wu directly gave a backup plan.

Tong Guan's brows relaxed. "That's possible, Ziqing. You know that the court is short of money, and the Privy Council is even more stretched. There will be a war in the future, and money is in short supply. You said you want to buy land and houses, which is not impossible. After all, it's best to spend money and make more money. But you also have to know that when you need it, you have to have it..."

"I know. I will take this matter. There will be a big battle tomorrow and I will be on the front line. If I don't have money, I will risk my life... I will keep the pros and cons in mind."

Su Wu was very straightforward. He wanted to win this matter. Not only the city of Hangzhou, but also what Fang La took away. Not only the money in Hangzhou, but also fifty or sixty counties...

This huge sum of money is a huge fund. This task is not easy. The benefits of taking it on are beyond words...

Tong Guan finally nodded seriously: "Okay, since you said so, then I'll allow you to do this. You must do it well and don't mess it up."

"Yes, sir!" Su Wu nodded.

Today, the situation is very different. Just look at history. In future battles, Liu Yanqing was able to escape from the battlefield, while Zhong Shizhong died in battle because of lack of rewards.

Both of them were brave Northwestern generals who rose to prominence through military exploits, and both of them had established their reputations on the battlefields of life and death. Why was there such a sudden difference between them?
Su Wu couldn't help but wonder, why did Liu Yanqing and his soldiers suddenly become incompetent after defeating Fang La? Even after Jingkang, Liu Guangshi, the son of Liu Yanqing, still had a large army, but he also performed terribly, repeatedly defeated, but he was able to escape in an organized manner every time, and was also known as one of the four generals of the Restoration...

And even though Master Zhong died in the battle, he still had his personal guards following him and dying together with him?

Perhaps the problem lies in the battle against Fang La. Liu Yanqing led his troops to the Jiangnan and Liangzhe areas to fight Fang La, but Zhong Shizhong did not come.

I even thought... Logically speaking, Tong Guan did not actually gain a huge amount of wealth in this battle.

In other words, maybe Liu Yanqing was the first to make contributions in history in suppressing Fang La. Liu Yanqing should have been the leader of the army, just like Su Wu at this moment. Liu Yanqing should have made a huge fortune by commanding his troops. In the midst of the chaos, they were all brave and brave. The whole city was full of rebels and bandits were being suppressed, and Tong Guan was helpless and could not say anything...

But now it is different. Su Wu is the one who made the greatest contribution and is also the leader of the army. If Su Wu does not command his troops, Liu Yanqing is not qualified to command them.

Just like just now, Tong Guan asked Su Wu how much money and grain there were in the city, and Su Wu told the truth. In fact, he could have lied and just said five million or four million. What's wrong with that?
How could Tong Guan possibly count them one by one?
As long as Su Wu can make peace with the people of each army, treat everyone equally and make everyone satisfied, the matter will end there.

But Su Wu did not do so, and he had his own reasons for not doing so. Su Wu actually had only one thought, he wanted to win, win the war between Song and Liao, and then win the war between Song and Jin.

Su Wu also knew that in future battles, he would actually play the role of Tong Guan in history, even if Tong Guan was still alive.

Of course, Su Wu could not have held the same official position as Tong Guan, he just played that role.

The meeting between Tong Guan and Su Wu continued, and Tong Guan asked again: "How are you going to deal with the troops in the north?"

How to pass it?

Su Wu gritted his teeth and said bluntly: "There is plenty of food in the city, so we can't let them starve..."

"Huh?" Tong Guan was obviously surprised, so he asked, "Are you really not going to give me a penny?"

"Don't they have salaries from the court? How can they be rewarded if they have not done anything meritorious? Of course, the Privy Council is not bad either, and the compensation for the dead and wounded must be substantial!"

Su Wu answered seriously.

"Are you really not afraid of completely offending people? It's not just Tan Zhen, it's the various armies in the capital, and there's also Xin Xingzong..." Tong Guan might think that Su Wu's behavior was somewhat inappropriate.

It was also because Tong Guan had been the Privy Councilor for a long time and would never act like this. There were more than 800,000 imperial guards and 400,000 to 500,000 garrison troops all over the country, and every one of them had to be taken care of for fear of chaos.

Su Wu replied: "Prime Minister, I have already offended them. If I give them more money, will they remember my kindness? No, so why should I give them more? Or maybe they are resentful and resentful, and dare to rebel at this time? If they have such courage, let them change their ways and see..."

The way Su Wu speaks now is really different from before.

Tong Guan looked at Su Wu and was slightly startled. After thinking about it, he realized that it made sense...

Su Wu continued, "Once the war is over, the various armies under the Palace Front Office will be wooed or suppressed. The Prime Minister should have a plan in mind..."

Tong Guan answered slowly: "If it was in the past, maybe it was possible to win them over, but now, the armies under the Palace Front Department will never fall into your hands..."

Tong Guan said something, which is the art of being an emperor. No matter how bad Zhao Ji was at being an emperor, he still had some basic ideas and methods...

The art of the emperor is the way of balance. The Privy Council has become a family's Privy Council. It is Tong Guan's Privy Council, and Tong Guan himself is irreplaceable. If it were not for this troubled time, Tong Guan would not have been the Privy Councilor for so long.

Since it is such a helpless situation, whether you are the emperor or the prime minister, it is absolutely impossible for them to let the imperial guards of the capital fall into the hands of Tong Guan. This is a truth that even an elementary school student can understand.

This has nothing to do with trust or not. It is the emperor's heart and the people's heart, and even the implicit system.

Su Wu simply replied: "Then there is no need to give them money. You can give them more food. Just make sure they are well fed!"

Tong Guan smiled and said, "You are... so narrow-minded."

Su Wu also laughed: "Just think that I am the worst person in the Privy Council! The Prime Minister does not need to say much to them, just let me speak, if they want to hate, just hate me!"

Su Wu took the initiative to take the blame and let Tong Guan take the blame, even though Tong Guan did not necessarily want Su Wu to take the blame.

But Tong Guan smiled even more: "You have made great progress. When you come before the emperor, I will have less worries... I will not interfere in this matter. You should be in charge of all military affairs. Just let them think that I am old..."

Su Wu immediately said: "The Prime Minister is in good health, even if he lives to be a hundred years old, it won't be difficult..."

“Haha…” Tong Guan waved his hands and took another step, with a big stride, and said, “Then Tan Zhen will probably come into the city. When the time comes, you can go see him and tell him… I’m sick!”

Su Wu understood that Tong Guan was also very happy at this time. How powerful was he as the governor of Liangzhe Road? He was arrogant and showed off his power, not taking people seriously.

But now, he is only qualified to talk to Su Wu, a fifth-rank military general.

"Don't worry, Prime Minister. I will make you feel happy..." Su Wu knew what he should do. He had to fight back against those people who showed their faces in front of him.

In the heart of the Prime Minister, he couldn't help but feel a bit like Xie An, who used to be so pretentious as a "young boy who defeated the thief".

How can a person not like to show off?

It’s just that I’m older and have seen more, so I want to act more high-end.

How can I appear more high-end? Tong Guan waved his hand: "Hey... Liangzhe Road Governor is a frontier official, so I can't treat him with disrespect."

Su Wu could feel the pulse clearly, and he just said stupidly: "He doesn't take the Prime Minister seriously, so how can I take him seriously?"

"You...you...oh, you don't understand human nature. You should learn more." Tong Guan turned around and raised his hand to nod again and again.

"If it's about Tan Zhen, then I won't learn it!" Su Wu said in a firm voice.

"Alas...he is unteachable!" Tong Guan took a step forward, as if he was really angry.

Su Wu just followed behind. A little later, all the generals from different divisions gathered, and there was a meeting to be held, and there was still a lot to do...

There are many tasks to be arranged, the most immediate one is to distribute food to the people of Hangzhou. The army has been besieging the city for quite some time, and I don't know how many people have starved to death, and how many are still on the verge of starvation. The sooner a grain of food is distributed, the more lives can be saved.

In the city, the large number of surrendering bandits also needed to be accommodated. Su Wu had many ships, so he just had to transport the goods home one by one as quickly as possible. He could even rent civilian ships or sea vessels.

However, there are not many ships in Hangzhou Bay. They all went to Guangzhou and Quanzhou to avoid the war. They will have to wait for some time before returning...

The meeting is in progress. After various assignments have been agreed upon, we will first discuss rewards based on merit. Matters of promotion and rank will be discussed later. At this moment, just give out the money first.

Su Wu came to ask: "The various places in the city where money and grain are stored should not cause any disturbances..."

Liu Yanqing just smiled and replied: "General Su, don't worry. I dare not act recklessly under the general's order."

Han Shizhong also smiled and said, "Don't worry, General. Everything is under strict supervision. I have already counted the money, and we are just waiting for you to allocate it!"

Now, the military leader Su Wu really has popularity in the army. It goes without saying that everyone trusts him. Everyone knows that General Su will never show favoritism to one over the other. Is his reputation of being righteous and upright a joke?
If Su Wu doesn't act recklessly, then no one will act recklessly either.

Su Wu smiled and nodded, saying, "Okay, then the whole army should be treated equally. The compensation for the dead and wounded should all be in accordance with our military rules. I think you all know it long ago, so there will be no changes. The same applies to rewards. For the heads of the bandits wearing armor, 30 strings of cash will be awarded, and for the heads of the bandits without armor, 10 strings of cash will be awarded. As for the other big bandits, according to their size, from 100 to 1,000 strings of cash, they will be listed first. You can all draw up a list. You can decide on the size of the military merits. Just come up with a list, ranging from 100 to 500 strings of cash... and pay it in full. In addition, any soldier who lines up to participate in the battle will be rewarded 20 strings of cash each, and auxiliary soldiers will be rewarded 10 strings of cash."

At this moment, with so many military generals in front of him, what Su Wu had to do was to treat everyone equally.

You can get rich by following General Su into battle. This fact must be known to the entire Song Dynasty.

Liu Yanqing already smiled: "General Su is indeed a man of high moral character!"

Yao Pingzhong laughed: "If so, the men will be very happy. I would like to thank General Su on their behalf!"

Han Shizhong laughed: "Hehe... I knew that the general cares for his soldiers the most!"

On the other hand, Wu Song, Lu Da and others just laughed but didn't say much, because they were used to it and knew that if they won, the money would come pouring in.

Su Wu continued, "After all the money is distributed, all the departments will come to the meeting, and then..."

Having said this, Su Wu deliberately paused and looked at everyone with a smile on his face.

Liu Yanqing came to ask: "General Su, what will happen then?"

Su Wu first looked around, seeing the hopeful eyes of the crowd. After feeling it, he stretched out his hand and waved it left and right before speaking: "When the time comes, all the tribes, everyone, haha..."

It’s not explained, but it’s actually said.

Everyone smiled happily and looked at each other. Do I need to explain this? How can I not understand this? Who is General Su?
"Thank you, General Su!" Liu Yanqing knew that everyone present was going to get rich.

It was a good thing that Jiangnan came here. Before the war, General Su had given everyone a sum of money. After the war, he would obviously give everyone another sum of money.

"Thank you, General Su!" Wang Yuan stood up and bowed.

Look at everyone, they all stand up, Guan Sheng is also very excited: "Thank you General Su!"

Yao Pingzhong didn't stand up, nor did he say anything to thank him. He just smiled. That was just his temper.

Han Shizhong just said: "Brother, I won't say anything, I'm just waiting to drink with you!"

Liu Guangshi also stood up: "Brother, let's drink together..."

Su Wu raised his hand and waved: "Alright, alright, this is not the only chance. There is another one. Next, we have to chase the bandit leader Fang La. He must have some wealthy people around him. Those bandits from all over the country must also have a lot of wealth. We just need to completely wipe out the bandits... Everyone, haha..."

"I'm willing to be the vanguard!" Han Shizhong spoke first.

Liu Guangshi also said: "You are the pioneer every time, this time, it's my turn to be the pioneer!"

What is this? Is this a fight for credit? Not entirely, this is a "money grab".

Everyone knows that the future war will not be the same as today's, and the bandits in the future will be even more frightened birds.

Su Wu waved his hand and smiled, "It's still early, let's talk about the vanguard later... As for promotion, I'll wait for the Privy Council to decide slowly, don't worry, I'm in the Privy Council, no one's contribution can be buried, I've seen it all, and when the time comes, I'll argue with you!"

If others said this, it might be just a polite remark, but when Su Wu said this, it was certainly true.

Everyone stood up to thank him again, even Yao Pingzhong stood up to thank him: "If General Su can handle this matter fairly and justly in the Privy Council, I will keep it in mind!"

Actually, this is not appropriate. But it is not easy for Yao Pingzhong to say it. He is not good at speaking in his life. Even when it comes to rewarding merits, he often suffers losses. Whose fault is it? It is Tong Guan who suffers. Tong Guan really doesn't like him.

This person is hard to like.

Su Wu was also stunned when he heard this, but he didn't care and just smiled: "General Yao stabilized the central army this time and fought to the death. No matter what, he should at least be promoted to the fourth rank!"

Yao Pingzhong was stunned when he heard this, and looked at Su Wu, but said, "General Su, please stop talking nonsense."

What the hell?

Su Wu was stunned again, and Liu Yanqing went to pull Yao Pingzhong and complained: "Hey, Old Yao, you... When did General Su ever brag? Stop talking nonsense."

Yao Pingzhong also reacted and said quickly: "That's not what I meant. I meant that if you really encounter difficulties, you don't have to do this. General Su just does his best. I don't care whether he is a fourth-rank official or not..."

Su Wu's face looked much better, and so did this old general... No wonder he was disliked, but... Su Wu liked it, so he just said, "Just wait and see tomorrow!"

"Thank you, General Su!" Yao Pingzhong finally said something nice.

Su Wu looked around and said, "I'll leave the errands in the city to you guys first."

Liu Yanqing waved his hand and said, "Okay, okay..."

The meeting was about to end here, and we would just have to wait until later to have another meeting. Su Wu had already stood up...

Suddenly, a shout was heard at the door: "Mr. Tan, the governor of Liangzhe Road, has arrived!"

Tan Zhen, with thirty or forty soldiers behind him, entered the room in a line, looking very majestic.

Tan Zhen was the first to come in. He looked at the ceiling and walked in with a swift pace. He spoke first, "Why are you laughing so much? Are you going to reward people for their contributions? Why don't you wait for me to come and discuss this with you?"

Everyone present turned their heads to look, and saw Tan Zhen walking forward towards the center. There used to be a dragon throne in the center, but of course, the throne had been cleared away, so there was no seat.

Tan Zhen walked over and stood in the front center of the scene. He looked around and asked, "Where is Prime Minister Tong? Why isn't Prime Minister Tong here to preside over the reward ceremony?"

Su Wu was originally sitting in the first seat on the left hand, and at this time he was sitting next to Tan Zhen, so he answered: "Prime Minister Tong Shu is feeling a little unwell, so he has gone to rest."

Hearing this, Tan Zhen's face lightened up a little, and he looked around again: "Alas... Prime Minister Tong, you have worked hard for the country for decades. At such an old age, you are still working for the country. It is really admirable. He is old, sixty years old, sixty-six, and should not be allowed to run around this thousand miles. It is all because of us. We are not valued and trusted by the emperor, and we cannot reassure the court. So we have no choice but to let Prime Minister Tong work so hard. If he really gets sick from working so hard, wouldn't it be heartbreaking? It is inevitable that he will serve the country with all his heart and soul until his death. He is a model for ministers throughout the ages..."

That's really good praise.

What he said was so clear and understandable that Su Wu's face changed and Liu Yanqing felt nervous.

Death is the only way out. In many people's minds, including Liu Yanqing's, the word death is extremely important...

Su Wu looked at Tan Zhen with a frown. This guy must be beaten!
But then Tan Zhen said, "Since Prime Minister Tong Shu cannot preside over this matter of rewarding meritorious service, then I will do it for you. Let me tell you how much money and grain we got from conquering the city. This way we can reward military meritorious service and provide relief to the people..."

Why was Tan Zhen late? Because no one had notified him to attend the meeting.

Why was he able to arrive? Because he had sent people to watch, how could he miss it? There was a lot of money and food in this city, how could he not fight for it? If he didn't fight for it, how could the morale of his 80,000-strong army remain?

Liu Yanqing, Wang Yuan, Yao Pingzhong and others all looked gloomy when they heard this. General Su had already sorted out the affairs, but there was still trouble ahead...

This superior was definitely not to be trifled with. As the Governor of Liangzhe Road, even if one compared him with Liu Yanqing, the difference in official position was huge.

Could it be that...what General Su said before is no longer valid?
What can I do?

That means more than 80,000 people will come to share...

I just want to ask, what did the 80,000 troops in the north do? Did they land first? Or did they drive away the reinforcements?
How could everyone not know that the south had already attacked the city, but the north had not made any move? Who in the crowd could not understand this little trick? Who could not be angry?
Ugh……

Everyone was helpless and nervous, and they dared not speak. What should they do? There really couldn't be any fairness or justice, right?
Everyone's eyes, consciously or unconsciously, turned to Su Wu.

Everyone was worried. Without Tong Shuxiang, Su Wu was just a fifth-rank warrior...

(End of this chapter)