Volume 2: The King's Way Chapter 128: Current Affairs Know Me
Bai Tu didn't have to wait outside the village for too long, Zhou Tai had already flown back with Pan Zhang.
Pan Zhang's strength is no less than Jiang Qin's, although inferior to Zhou Tai, but he also has a gilded military talisman.
However, the garrison in Yangxian was originally the bandit-suppression army that remained in Wujun. This bandit-suppression army was left behind by Zhou Tai when he was in Wujun, and many of its grassroots backbones were Zhou Tai's old subordinates when he was a pirate.
Even Pan Zhang himself regarded Zhou Tai as his "backer", so after Zhou Tai arrived at the military camp, he had no obstacles and went all the way to Pan Zhang's military tent . Before Pan Zhang felt anything was wrong, he gave him his military token and took him down directly.
"I am Pan Zhang, the guilty general, and I pay my respects to my lord!" After Pan Zhang was thrown down by Zhou Tai, he immediately prostrated himself on the ground.
Although Zhou Tai didn't speak to him along the way, Pan Zhang could tell what happened from the direction he was brought in. And he could guess who had discovered what was happening, as Zhou Tai had a gloomy face and remained silent.
"My lord, the other three dubos and five sergeants who came with us are also being escorted." Zhou Tai reported.
Naturally, he couldn't bring the entire army along for a matter like this, as there wouldn't be enough to go around. Only Pan Zhang's most trusted du bo came along, and only six of the squad leaders below him were involved.
"The two thousand people stationed in Yangxian now are managed by Tang Song, a native general of Yangxian, and the county magistrate of Yangxian. The magistrate of Yangxian has already notified Chen Sibu and the prefect Zhang through Chengji." Zhou Tai continued to report.
Bai Tu said nothing and let Pan Zhang fall to the ground...
At this time, the elders in the village saw Pan Sanchi acting like this in front of the young man, and they became more convinced of the identity of the person in front of them!
"Zijing, you stay and arrange the relief. Not just for this village. Ask the magistrate of Yangxian to cooperate and count all the victims. Make sure the relief is in place. The Ministry of Revenue will temporarily advance the relief expenses." Bai Tu instructed.
"Don't worry, my lord. But... you must be cautious in this matter." Lu Su had already felt Bai Tu's determination, so he just gave a reminder.
After staring at the determined Lu Su for three seconds, Bai Tu nodded and ordered: "Return to Jinling!"
Before it got dark, Bai Tu had already returned to the outskirts of Jinling City. Chen Gong, who had already received the news, came out to greet him outside the city.
"Gong has failed Mr. Bai's trust. I hope Mr. Bai will hand this matter over to Gong to handle. I will definitely make amends for my sins..." Chen Gong came forward with a serious expression.
Apologizing is only one aspect, but in fact Zhou Tai and Chen Gong did not make a big mistake. After all, the promotion of Pan Zhang was a reward for his real merits, and when Pan Zhang went to harass the people, he did not bribe them. It can only be said that he "oversaw".
As for the current Wujun prefect Zhang Liao, it has even less to do with him - Zhang Liao has only been in office for a few days, so it is understandable that he doesn't know the situation in Yangxian.
What Chen Gong was even more anxious about was that he was worried that Bai Tu's overreaction would cause alienation among the soldiers. In particular, there were still some wealthy and powerful families in Jiangdong who disliked Bai Tu and would definitely not give up the opportunity to shake or even alienate the morale of the army!
It is said that the relatively stable unification of the Han Dynasty during its 400-year rule greatly improved the status of the people outside the city. It was no longer like the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, when the literati and even the "people" in the city did not regard the people outside the city as their own.
However, it would be difficult for any prince to give a correct answer in the eyes of future generations regarding the multiple-choice question of punishing his brave generals and meritorious officials for the sake of the barbarians.
Just like in the Book of the Later Han and the Records of the Three Kingdoms, although Pan Zhang's lawlessness and unruly behavior were recorded, Sun Quan was still praised for remembering his merits and forgetting his faults.
"Gongtai, transfer the troops in Dantu back to Jinling, leaving only some necessary defenses, and let Wenyuan stay behind to garrison. For other garrisons, send back one-fifth of the grassroots officers, including the new troops in Chaisang." Bai Tu did not respond, but gave the order directly.
Bai Tu understood what Chen Gong was worried about, but still chose another answer.
The three largest garrisons in Jiangdong were the garrison guarding the capital of Jinling, the garrison in Dantu across the river from Guazhou, and the Chaisang navy that was about to go out under the command of Sun Ce.
Other counties and prefectures had only garrison troops of at most three thousand and at least several hundred.
Bai Tu mobilized a large number of troops and representatives of garrisons from various places back to Nanjing, precisely to publicly try Pan Zhang in front of everyone!
This is exactly what Chen Gong is most unwilling to see...
"Maybe it can be handed over to the Ministry of Justice... If Minister Wang is unwilling to try the case, Gong can do it!" Chen Gong continued to persuade.
The most common way to deal with this kind of thing should be to give a secret warning, followed by secret punishment. However, now that Bai Tu has already made a high-profile arrest, this is obviously not applicable. It should be handled by the Ministry of Justice again - it is better for Wang Lang to be the bad guy than for Bai Tu to suffer the consequences himself, even if it is Chen Gong who does it himself.
The worst thing is that Bai Tu personally punished Pan Zhang. As an officer, he even had merits before, but now he is punished just for harassing the people... Well, the biggest crime that has been confirmed is that he is just a woman. If he is really severely punished, there will definitely be many people who are dissatisfied.
Bai Tu understood that Chen Gong was doing this for him, but he still shook his head.
"My lord! I am temporarily bewildered... No! I can't control myself for the moment. I am willing to... marry her!" Pan Zhang screamed at this time.
Even when he was captured by Zhou Tai before, he had never been so scared until he heard Bai Tu say that he would mobilize the army back to Nanjing - this was much more exaggerated than he had imagined!
Upon hearing this, Chen Gong also looked at Bai Tu expectantly... This seemed to be a solution, which was better than mobilizing a large army.
"Marry? For what?" Bai Tu said indifferently. After that he went straight into the city without giving them a chance to speak again.
Chen Gong was also poured with cold water, and immediately remembered Bai Tu's attitude towards his engagement with Lu Lingqi, and realized that this trick would not work with Bai Tu - why? Others might know why, but Bai Tu had another theory.
When this came to mind, Chen Gong immediately went to find Lü Lingqi, one of the guards, and wanted the eldest lady's help in persuading him. He even secretly complained in his heart, why didn't other people help, but why didn't Lü Lingqi play any role at all?
Unexpectedly, when he saw Lu Lingqi, he found that she was looking at Bai Tu's back with admiration... even a little admiration.
"Miss, why don't you try to persuade Mr. Bai? Mr. Bai is...he is cutting off his own arm!" Chen Gong complained to Lu Lingqi in a low voice.
"So what?" Lu Lingqi glanced at Chen Gong.
Ever since the marriage proposal, Lu Lingqi's respect for "Uncle Gongtai" has plummeted.
"Now Cao has seized power, Yuan Shu has openly established himself in place of the Han Dynasty, Yuan Shao is about to dominate the north, the Liu family's governors are all independent and their minds are unclear, there are also the remnants of the Dong thief in Guanzhong, and the princes of Liangzhou are fighting for supremacy... It is a time of chaos in the world, Bai Gong will not cut off his own arm for the sake of morality!" Chen Gong emphasized.
"If the hard drive is the same as theirs, then what difference does it make who wins or loses?" Lu Lingqi asked back.
Chen Gong was choked when he heard this, as if he did not expect that Lu Lingqi would give such a profound answer.
This is what Bai Tu and Lu Lingqi said before...
Is there a difference? Of course there is!
The winner is the king, the loser is the bandit, is the difference big enough?
However, what Bai Tu wants to fight for is not just the throne. Even before today, Bai Tu did not have any clear goals. As a time traveler, and a "stubborn" one at that, Bai Tu is not as enthusiastic about becoming an emperor as the locals.
Of course, he was even less interested in supporting the Han Dynasty...
It was just that under the push and pull of various external forces, Bai Tu became the lord of Jiangdong in a daze. As for him, he just hoped that "here" would be better, although this world, no matter how you look at it, is not the world before he traveled through time!
However, after what happened with Pan Zhang, Bai Tu, while disappointed and angry with himself, also understood what he wanted.
Earlier in the carriage, Lu Lingqi saw Bai Tu struggling like never before, and was speechless for most of the journey. After a long time, Bai Tu spoke with a firm look.
"Lingqi, I'm going to kill Pan Zhang."
"kindness."
"It might be very troublesome later! Even my father couldn't defeat Cao Cao, and I will have to fight him in shackles in the future."
"kindness."
"It's not just Cao Cao, many things have become more troublesome..."
"Yeah, but you still have to do it, right?"
"He who knows the current situation is a hero..."
"So you're saying you're not a hero? I already knew that."
"I am not a hero, and I want 'Shiwu' to recognize me!"
This was on the way back. Bai Tu, feeling upset, suddenly and inexplicably started a conversation with Lu Lingqi.
It was also from this moment that there seemed to be something more in Lu Lingqi's eyes when she looked at Bai Tu.
In the past, Lu Lingqi was close to Bai Tu simply because of the feeling Bai Tu gave her. It was easy for them to get close to each other. Bai Tu could tolerate many behaviors that other people could not understand or accept... and even regarded them as natural.
However, as the daughter of Lu Bu, who grew up in the Bingzhou army, Lu Lingqi's greatest admiration since childhood were those warriors who could fight a hundred men at a time and kill the enemy in front of the battlefield. As a girl, when she occasionally fantasized about her husband, she had even fantasized about it more than once. Even her father was defeated by her husband, and then... she could even defeat her husband, which would be the best.
In comparison, Bai Tu's personality only made her feel comfortable, but she couldn't reach the level of "worship".
However, at this moment, although Bai Tu was still wearing the rabbit-ear armor, Lu Lingqi felt the true "courage" in him!
Bai Tu has also been thoroughly prepared. Perhaps in today's world, being righteous means putting shackles on oneself, and having a bottom line means cutting off one's own arm...but why not?
As long as Bai Tu lets others have only one arm and is in shackles, he can still pin the other princes to the ground and rub them, isn't that enough?
Besides, the Han Dynasty and the feudal lords, just stand aside...
Bai Tu has realized that no one else... will satisfy him!
Of course, Bai Tu is not acting out of sheer passion. He is determined not to stop until he has torn himself apart, nor is he planning a major purge. Jiangdong has only been established for less than a year, so there is still time to get back to basics... The necessary preparations must still be made.
After returning to the governor's mansion, Bai Tu hesitated for a long time in front of the desk, and began to write something while scribbling.
Although Bai Tu's handwriting at this time was still not the best, it also had some charm - Bai Tu also practiced calligraphy normally, and there were many brush strokes that he could copy. After all, sooner or later there would be an occasion where he would need to write in person, and if that happened, it would not look good if a great sage's handwriting looked like a dog's crawling.
Seeing the two lines of words written by Bai Tu on the silk cloth in front of the table, Lu Lingqi showed a strange expression, as if she had been holding it in for a long time, and finally said: "If you can still avoid being beaten to death by my father this time, then you must be his biological child!"
