When Sun Tu welcomed the guest into the room, he left the left and right people, and left one of two entourages to guard the closed door. The old man naturally sat in the top position. Sun Tu had no objection to this and stood down and saluted respectfully, "The officials have met Tong Shuai. I really don't know that you are visiting today, otherwise the officials should lead people out of the city to greet him."

This old man who suddenly came was Sun Tuenzhu. Now there are several important officials in the Song Dynasty court, the Privy Councilor Tong Guan! Only he can make Sun Tu pay so much attention and politeness. After all, a large part of his achievements today is due to Tong Guan's support and protection.

Tong Guan smiled faintly at him at this time, and pointed his hand at the seat below: "No need to be polite for thousands of miles. If you have anything to say, sit down and say it slowly." After Sun Tu sat down as he said, he looked at the other party and said, "I heard that you have done a big thing recently and have a big wedding. Everything goes well and you are so proud. It was also on the way here that I realized that you are married, otherwise you should prepare a generous gift for you."

"Tong Shuai is so serious, it's a trivial matter, and it's not worth mentioning."

"Hey, getting married is a big deal, and it's even more a good thing. Since I know, how can I not congratulate you?" Tong Guan laughed and waved his hand to the person behind him. The personal guard took out a wooden box from his arms and held it in front of Sun Tu.

Sun Tu did not refuse, and quickly took it with both hands, thanked him, and opened the lid, and then his face changed. The box was filled with a box of top-grade pearls as thick as a thumb, probably each one would have hundreds or thousands of guan. There were twenty or 30 pieces in this box, which was a gift of tens of thousands of guan, which made him dare not accept it. Although he had gained many benefits from officials from all sides during this period, he was afraid that he would not have as valuable as this box of pearls.

Tong Guan saw that he wanted to refuse, so he waved his hand and said, "I gave it to you, just accept it. A few tens of thousands of coins are nothing."

"Then I thank Tong Shuai for the gift." Sun Tu was also very decisive and closed the lid again. At this time, a servant brought tea, and Sun Tu went to the door to take it and delivered it to Tong Guan. Tong Guan was a little thirsty at this time, so he reached out to take the tea cup and took a sip. After a while, he looked at the tea soup in the cup with a little strangeness, but it was not the dark brown and strong tea soup he had used to drinking, but a green piece of tea. This made him look at Sun Tu with some surprise: "Is Qianli only drinking this kind of tea instead of tea soup here?"

After his question, Sun Tu remembered that the popular tea soup in this era is very different from the tea room he is used to drinking. In the past, whether in Tokyo or Jiangzhou, the tea soup he drank was mostly mixed with many seasonings, with a strange taste. Only ordinary people would drink tea because of their poverty. But since Sun Tu made the decision in Qingzhou, because of his influence, what he drank in various yamen has now been replaced with tea, which he really ignored.

Now that Tong Guan has arrived, the people below have also delivered tea as usual. Seeing that the other party seemed to be dissatisfied, Sun Tu quickly apologized and said, "This is the tea that the officials are used to drinking, so they have set new rules here. I will send tea soup..."

"No need, although this tea tastes lighter, it has a little more aftertaste, which is really quenching thirst, which is what I want." Tong Guan waved his hands and said, "Maybe when I go back, I will ask the people below to use these simple methods to make tea in the mansion." After a pause, he looked at Sun Tu meaningfully: "It's okay to be innovative in some small things, but if you all follow your temperament in some major things, you will not know the importance!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Tong Guan's face had sunk, and Sun Tu also felt a stern, knowing that the other party was finally about to get to the main topic. After all, Tong Guan was the Privy Councilor of the Song Dynasty, but he was the most important minister in the court. How could he come to a small place like Qingzhou for no reason and talk to him? There must be something important to him here!

"Qianli, after I arrived in Shandong, I heard that you wanted to help the Xiang army recover the right to dispatch military pay and rations. Is this a matter?" Tong Guan put down his cup and asked with a steady look on Sun Tu's face.

Sun Tu hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "Xiaoguan does have this idea. Because it is not the case, my Shandong official army may not be able to become truly powerful..."

"Don't be fooled!" Before Sun Tu finished speaking, Tong Guan's face sank in a deep voice: "How dare you have such an idea? Do you know how much trouble this will bring to you? Once you really have to do it, you will probably be the target of public criticism in less than a few months. Not to mention that the official position is difficult to protect, even your life may not be guaranteed!"

This sudden reprimand made Sun Tu suddenly stunned. He didn't expect Tong Guan to get angry because of this. Moreover, judging from the other party's behavior, it is likely that Qingzhou, who came to this matter...

Tong Guan's face was so gloomy that it could drip into water. He continued to say, "You have been in the court for some time. Don't you know how strict the generals of the Song Dynasty were? In order to prevent the military generals from becoming an official in various places, the court used all kinds of means to seize the power in their hands. The most important one is the division of military rations and military salaries. Almost all generals have no right to manage food and salaries during the war. You actually want to make a special decision in Shandong. Do you think all the officials in the court are blind and deaf, so will you let them do whatever you want?"

"But Xiaguan did all this without any other intention. He just wanted to force our Shandong Xiangjun. Otherwise, why should we guard the local area and quell the thieves? Moreover, in the past six months, Xiaguan has been in Qingzhou. Everything went smoothly..."

"Hmph, can a mere thousand troops and horses compare with the entire Shandong territory of tens of thousands of troops in Qingzhou? If you really make it happen, I am afraid that the court will only have greater threat than those bandits, and then they should really worry about a change in this place." Tong Guan stared at him angrily and said, "If this example is opened, I am afraid that other military officers in the world will follow suit. At that time, it is hard to say whether the separatist situation of the previous vassal states will appear. Do you think the court will let the disaster of the country be reappeared?"

As soon as these words were said, Sun Tu was really stunned. He didn't think about things so much, but just did it based on his own intentions, but he didn't expect that this was completely against the taboo of the Song Dynasty.

Why did the Song Dynasty suppress military generals? It was not because of the lessons of the past. The powerful Tang Dynasty was destroyed by the separatist power of the generals and finally defeated the superiors. Song Taizu also seized the world as a military general. He witnessed with his own eyes. After personally experiencing the threat of military generals to the imperial power, how could he make his ministers' power continue to grow?

So even if he is the emperor at once, after he has firmly settled the throne, he will try his best to seize the power of the generals and promote the seemingly more reliable civil servants to suppress the generals. Even if the power of the Song Dynasty weakens day by day, it will be too hesitant to do so. Today, this trend has completely overwhelmed everything. As long as there are any signs, both the monarch and the ministers will decisively take action to destroy it early.

It was not until this time that Sun Tu realized how big the mistake he had made and almost went to a dead end. This made his back feel cold, and he even had a large cold sweat in March in early spring.

Seeing that his face was shocked, Tong Guan breathed a little relieved, for fear that this kid would be blindly arrogant because of the success of everything recently and would eventually do something bigger. Because once this happens, even Sun Tu, even he, the leader, might be greatly implicated, and many people in the court would not let him go at that time.

After a while of silence, Tong Guancai said again: "And don't think that what you did in Qingzhou has been recognized by the court. I am not afraid of telling you the truth. As early as last year, you dared to kill all the officials in a state so unscrupulously, and you would have been impeached by countless people. If I hadn't been mediating in the court, I would have probably sent the edict to capture you to Qingzhou long ago."

Sun Tu was stunned again and quickly stood up to thank you again. Tong Guan's face calmed down a little. After waved his hand to let him sit down, he said, "There is another thing you may not understand yet. In fact, this time the court promoted you to the military commander of Jingdong Road. Someone wanted to get rid of you. It was the official position that Liang Shicheng had obtained for you in the court. Do you think he has such kindness?"

"Ah? Is this happening?" Sun Tu looked surprised. He always thought that Tong Guan was helping the operation in the court. Now, when he heard that it was Liang Shicheng's enemy behind him, he felt alert and regretted his previous decision even more.

"He was to raise you up high and become a thorn in the eyes of the Chinese civil servants in the court. As long as you make any mistakes in the position of the chief magistrate, you can legitimately eliminate you. Don't say that you committed a taboo this time and want to control all the food and salary of the Shandong official army. Even if you do nothing next, you will be targeted by them, and then you will be charged with dereliction of duty and finally dismissed you from office." Tong Guan said with a serious expression: "This is not an exaggeration. Since you were appointed as the chief magistrate of the chief magistrate of Jingdong Road, you have no way forward and retreat, and the only thing waiting for you is to lose your official position."

These words were like a wake-up call, and they woke up the proud and fulfilled Sun Tu from his dream. It was not until this time that he realized that everything he thought was completely false in his grasp, and how dangerous his current situation was. Unless he really dared to raise an army and cause chaos at all costs, what would be waiting for him would inevitably be to lose his official position and dismissal, and even unable to save his life!

After being stunned for a long time, Sun Tu looked at Tong Guan: "The official knew his mistake... I would like to ask Tong Shuai to save me!" He knew that only Tong Guan could help him now, and Tong Guan suddenly came to Qingzhou today, it would be impossible for him to remind him or knock him down. He must have other purposes!
Chapter completed!