On the tenth day of October, the day after he settled in Bajiao Town, Sun Tu led 500 guards to Jinling City, which is later Nanjing. As for the other people, they continued to stay in Bajiao Town, because Tong Mu said, there were countless soldiers inside and outside Jinling at this time, and tens of thousands of people would really have no place to stay.

As one of the most important and most famous prefectures in Jiangnan, this Jinling City has left a brilliant figure in all dynasties, including Jianye in Sun Wu, Jiankang in the Eastern Jin Dynasty... To the present Song Dynasty, this place is still the first of the cities in Jiangnan, the land of the Three Wus, and the name of the six emperors and states is indeed well-known.

However, all this has passed. Today, Jinling City has no longer had the prosperity of the past, but only chaos and fear. Sun Tu only led his army to the towering north gate of Jinling ten miles away, and saw countless military camps and camps spread out there, with many soldiers playing back and forth, without any of the appearance of the army.

When Sun Tu's army and horse passed by many military camps, the soldiers inside just took a look and had no extra reaction. With just such a defensive heart, we could see how powerful the combat power of these officials who came from the north to suppress the rebellion was, which made Sun Tu shook his head secretly.

After successfully entering the city and actually entering Jinling, even though Tong Mu had told him about the chaos here before, what he saw with his own eyes still made Sun Tu feel unbelievable and acceptable. The imagined that the crowds of people were endless and the commercial city was now empty and withered. Although there were still many people on the long street, most of them were soldiers and soldiers. They were not patrolling or something, but were chasing and fighting boredly.

Along the way, some soldiers kept slapping the closed shop with their knives and guns. When someone finally opened the door, they rushed in. In just a while, they saw them snatching a lot of things and running out. The shopkeeper sat on the ground in a daze, wanting to cry without tears.

This was pretty good. After walking forward for a few steps, Sun Tu saw three groups of soldiers escorting dozens of men and women crying and wronged, but some of them could not keep up with the team, and they were whipped hard, thrusting the people who had no power to fight back. It looked so pitiful.

"What's going on?" Sun Tu frowned deeply when he saw this. He couldn't help but look at Tong Mu, who was already used to being around him, and asked.

"It should be that Zhu Jie who was trying to plunder the wealth in the city again. Since we retreated to Jinling, he has been trying to extort local people in different ways. First, he has added dozens of heavy taxes, and then imposed the charge of colluding with thieves on some people. Now, it should be related to Hua Shigang..." Tong Mu's face was not good-looking, but he was still very clear about the methods of these people: "But in many cases, the people below are taking their own initiative, because only in this way can these soldiers get a piece of the pie."

While he was talking, he heard a majestic shout from not far from his left hand: "This is the will of the court. Why, are you trying to rebel? Now that the emperor has taken a fancy to the stone in your home, it is a blessing you have cultivated in three lifetimes. How dare you say more? People come and demolish their houses so that we can transport the gems out of it, don't bump into the gems!"

With this order, there was a rumbling sound from over there. Sun Tu looked at him and saw a pretty good house with the door and exterior walls removed, revealing the house and yard inside. The owner of the house inside was so angry that he shivered all over and shouted loudly: "I... I have given you twenty taels of gold before, and you promised not to make things difficult for me anymore, why did you go back on your word..."

"What are you saying? Why don't we understand at all? You dare to talk nonsense, be careful to convict you of a deception of the emperor who resists the order. Come on, hurry up and take the gems back to me!" A small officer scolded loudly with his might. As soon as he raised his orders, dozens of soldiers started to work hard and quickly demolished many buildings in the yard, and then moved out a piece of stone that was placed in it as a rockery.

Just looking at the appearance of this stone is too ordinary. Except for being more than one person tall, there is almost no strangeness. But even so, these guys are regarded as a flower stone gang that can be tributed to the emperor and are transported away directly. In front of the soldiers' shiny weapons, the owner and some servants dare not resist. They can only watch the soldiers dragging the stone away with their long faces with resentment and sadness.

Wu Song and Lu Da, who came with Sun Tu, were already so angry that their faces turned red when they saw this scene, and the blue veins on their foreheads were jumping. Fortunately, Sun Tu pressed them in time, otherwise they would have gone up and held them directly to fight.

"Master, how can we watch them act so unreasonably and harm the people!" Although Wu Song did not move again, his mouth was still full of resentment. Lu Da was also like that, looking at Sun Tu and waiting for him to explain.

Sun Tu sighed and pointed to the entire Jinling City: "Now there are soldiers everywhere here. Do you think you can control it? I am afraid that even if I can do my entire army, I will not be able to stop such atrocities. So what we need to do is not to force stop one or two such incidents, but to think of the root cause."

Tong Mu also agreed, "Qianli said, now there are too many people in the city who are extorting and bullying the people under the guise of collecting flower stones. We can't control them at all. Do you know that as long as there are stones in the city, everyone is in danger, because no matter when, the government will come to collect the so-called gem tax. It would be better if there are those who are willing to pay money and bribe them. Those families who really can't afford to pay will soon be found to be destroyed by people. And anyone who dares to resist will be convicted of treason and executed on the spot. Alas, this Jinling City will be destroyed sooner or later in the hands of these guys!"

The gloom on Sun Tu's face also felt a little stronger, and he glanced at the angry brothers under his hands: "At least we can't do anything now. If we take action at will, we will put ourselves in, so I ask you to endure it now, and it's not too late to punish them when we find the right opportunity!"

Sun Tu's prestige in the army was still extremely high. With just a command, everyone bowed their heads to respond. Even Wu Song and Lu Da relaxed, lowered their heads and continued to move forward. However, the anger in their hearts could not be extinguished because of this, and they would explode one day.

Walking on the deserted streets of Jinling, everyone saw the actions of soldiers and yamen servants doing something wrong. This made everyone unable to bear to look at it anymore, so they could only speed up their pace. After half an hour, they finally arrived at a magnificent mansion, which was where Zhu Xie lived here now.

Just a quick glance, you can see that the mansion covers a very wide area, which should be more than 20 acres. It would be nothing if it was placed in a sparsely populated place in Liaoxia and other places. However, it would be very grand in a densely populated city like Jiangnan, with every inch of land. Moreover, the decoration of this mansion is extremely exquisite, surrounded by carved railings and painted buildings and colorful lights. Its exquisite style is really amazing.

And this is just one of the most inconspicuous ones of Zhu Xie’s houses in Jiangnan. His two luxury houses in Suzhou and Hangzhou are more exquisite and luxurious. Unfortunately, both cities have fallen now, so he can only live in such a small house with "grievance".

Unlike the chaos outside, the house is orderly within a few miles, with thousands of soldiers with solemn expressions on duty and patrol around the house in an orderly manner. However, if ordinary people dare to approach, they will be treated as an assassin and can be shot with crossbows on the spot without any trouble. Just looking at this kind of defense, you can know that Zhu Jie knew that he would cause revenge on the people, but he did not take this matter to heart and still indulge his desires.

It was not until they entered this long street that Sun Tu's team was stopped. Even if Tong Mu quickly revealed his identity, others were not allowed to go there at will. They only let Sun Tu and Tong Mu come to the front door, and then wait for the message to pass it inside, and then let him come in to pay homage to Zhu Xie. This kind of behavior is that Tong Guan, a favorite minister of the emperor and the imperial privy envoy, had never had Tong Guan.

Just when Sun Tu and the others were equal to the front of the gate, a desperate and indignant roar suddenly came from inside: "Zhu Xie, if you do so harm to the country and the people, you will not die well. Even if I am harmed by you, I will not let you go-a---!" This voice was obviously from inside and into the courtyard, but it actually passed through several portals and reached outside, which shows how the person who roared out was in the roar, and how desperate he was.

Tong Mu's eyes suddenly condensed, and his body trembled and said, "It's Yang Du, Yang Tui Guan. He still can't help it."

"Huh?" Sun Tu looked at him with some confusion. Tong Mu then whispered: "Yang Du is the prosecutor of Jinling. He has always been upright and loving the people. He is naturally dissatisfied with Zhu Xie's various actions since then. He had thought of going to the capital to complain directly, but Zhu Xie blocked him. I also advised him to bear it again, but he could not pass this level of his own..." When he said this, his eyes also showed helplessness and sadness, but it was not fake.

A moment later, a corpse covered in blood, covered with whip marks and stick sores was dragged out by several expressionless military men. Tong Mu only looked down and the gloomy air in his eyes became heavier because he recognized the identity of the corpse, which was Yang Du.
Chapter completed!