The north wind in Hangzhou in November is tighter, and the dense clouds seem to indicate that the first snow this winter is coming. After several days of firefighting or burning by itself, the fire that swept half of Hangzhou City was finally completely extinguished, but it also destroyed half of the famous city in Jiangnan and the homes of countless people.

As early as the process of sending people to put out fires and relieve the people, Sun Tu had already learned about the causes and consequences of the sudden fire from his soldiers. Everything did come from the palace, but it was not only the palace.

When Sun Tu was still fighting alone with Pang Wanchun outside the city, his subordinates who received his order immediately started to attack and rushed into the Wu Kingdom Palace, which was completely unprepared. Everything seemed so normal, and the soldiers searched around, looking for valuable things, and began to block the palaces. But when they drove straight into a palace in the harem, they unexpectedly found that there were more than a dozen or twenty people standing there. The man in the lead looked at them with a strange look and said softly: "I didn't expect Sun Tu to be so careful that he didn't enter the palace by himself. Since that's the case, then you are in trouble!"

As he waved his hand, the subordinates who were on torches threw them all in front of a jar in front of them, and the jar broke and the flames spread. It was not until this time that everyone was frightened to find that the temple was already full of fire-induced objects, and the fire was no longer in control.

Not only this palace, but also the rows of palaces outside have actually made arrangements in this regard. Once the fire spreads, it will ignite the entire palace and then follow the already-designed route.

Outside the palace gate, with the fire in the palace, some people began to set fire everywhere. At that time, the city was already a little confused, and the soldiers of the Song army were far from being able to control the situation. When someone set fire to the houses regardless of everything, and those houses were placed in the inside and on the top of the houses early in the morning, they could surround them by the north wind, and finally ignited the entire North City of Hangzhou.

It is also a blessing that these Song army soldiers who entered the palace were elite soldiers in the army. They hurriedly retreated when they saw something was wrong, otherwise they would have been all there. But even so, there were still many people who were injured and killed due to this fire, and the damage was really beyond everyone's expectations.

What made Sun Tu care was the point that the escaped soldiers deliberately mentioned. The culprit who caused the fire was actually set up for him, and he did things so extreme that he ruined himself into the fire. This was obviously very different from an opponent on the battlefield like Pang Wanchun. It gave Sun Tu the feeling that this was not public revenge, but personal anger. But for the time being, Sun Tu really couldn't think of what kind of revenge it would be, which could make such an important official of the Wu Kingdom do anything to do.

You should know that this is not only the matter of burning many people to death, but also half of the city. Once the cause and effect of this matter is spread, it will inevitably be a huge blow to Fang La and his puppet regime who have fled to the west. Hangzhou is their original capital, and the people here are their subjects. Now, in the face of great defeat, they are actually burning the city regardless of their lives and death. How can other people be loyal to them?

So Sun Tu quickly concluded that this could not have been a decision made by Fang La. It must have been planned by someone who had a deep personal grudge against him in secret. Unfortunately, this fire that turned the entire palace into ruins has burned this person to ashes, along with his hatred and secrets. It is really difficult to find out the truth about the love.

Just when he thought that nothing could be answered, a discovery made him change his mind. Just early this morning, the soldiers who went to the palace to search for relevant clues actually found a secret passage there, and the starting point of the secret passage was in the palace where the fire was set on that day.

This made Sun Tu very interested and immediately rushed over to see what happened. This was the first time he had truly set foot in this palace built by Qiantang Kingdom decades ago but burned a few days ago. Originally, if it were based on the direction of history, this place might have become an unavoidable palace after the Song Dynasty built its capital here, but now it seems that it can't go back, because the original pavilions, towers and deep palaces here have all become scorched earth ruins, and the smell of burnt smells everywhere, and it will no longer be as luxurious as before.

"General, here, we are here, and we are here to face that guy. Then with his order, the torch landed and the surrounding fires rose." A soldier with wounded body pointed to the palace site in front of him, which was burned with only a few dark walls and shouted.

Sun Tu nodded, then walked forward. After his eyes flashed quickly, he settled in a corner where the stone slab had been pried up. Judging from the remaining traces nearby, the setting of this secret passage is indeed very clever. If there were any luxurious furniture covering it or the mechanism, this secret passage would not be found even if people who always came here were afraid that it would not be possible.

However, the fire burned everything in the temple and burned up all the floor tiles that should have hidden the secret passages, presenting a different place than elsewhere. Then the soldiers who came in to search again were found immediately.

After approaching and taking a closer look, he nodded again and said, "Open it and go and have a look."

In fact, the soldiers had carefully searched this place once, but no one advised him. He quickly opened the entrance for Sun Tu that could allow one person to enter and exit. He first entered by two personal soldiers. Then Sun Tu followed him down. After walking down the slightly narrow ladder for more than one meter away, they finally landed in a relatively wide tunnel below.

The three sides of this tunnel are made of white marble bricks and stone, and have excellent sealing. After estimating the distance from the upper part and the thickness of the wall, Sun Tu confirmed a little more - even if there is a big fire on it, as long as you can retreat into this secret passage in time, you can keep it safe.

When they walked along the secret passage for several miles and came to an inconspicuous courtyard located in the northwest of the city, they just avoided the threat of the fire, and there was almost no sign of being attacked by the fire in the yard. Then someone reported that they had found traces of the exit that had just been used before when they entered the secret passage.

In this way, the answer to the truth is clear. The person who ordered the arson did not die in the fire. He actually prepared a way out early in the morning. When the soldiers fled out in a hurry, he led his people to escape here along the safe passage, and then took advantage of the chaos in the city and sneaked into the people who were running for life!

"This guy is really meticulous and even thought of this. What's even more terrifying is that in order to do this, he actually dug up such an authentic tunnel in their emperor's palace. Did Fang La actually trust him to such a state of trust?" Yang Zhi, who had walked along with Sun Tutong, couldn't help but sigh.

But Sun Tu shook his head and said, "No, this tunnel should not be dug by him temporarily, but it has been discovered and used by him for a long time. Haven't you seen it? Those white marble and other things are old things, and they are just escape passages. How could he be so rich and grand when time is tight?"

"That's true, then... how did this passage come from?"

"It was the king of Wu Yue, which destroyed the country decades ago, to prevent it." Zhu Wu then spoke: "As far as I know, in fact, when the world was in chaos, many local forces would leave secret passages and secret rooms in their nests to ensure that they would escape. However, later, Wu Yue surrendered to our Song Dynasty and eventually failed to use this secret passage. Instead, they were used by this rebel."

Sun Tushen nodded with consent: "Yes, it's much more reasonable to say this." After pausing, he narrowed his eyes again: "But what I'm even more curious about is where this person is now and what will he do next?"

"Since that guy has escaped from heaven, he has naturally escaped from Hangzhou and went to Wuzhou, right?" Yang Zhi replied casually.

Sun Tu shook his head: "It's possible. Since this person does something to destroy his reputation in order to kill me, he obviously hates me to the core. If he can't kill me now, how could he be willing to leave?"

"The general means... is he going to be unfavorable to you?" Tang Feng said, immediately becoming alert, pressing the knife with one hand, looking around alertly, guarding against dangers that may arise at any time.

"Maybe I'm just thinking too much, but I can't be wrong with being careful." Sun Tu smiled: "Now the overall situation in Jiangnan is about to be settled, and we cannot relax at all, otherwise we will just fail. So next, whether it is to appease the people or help them rebuild their homes, it is not a matter of carelessness. We must win the hearts of the people and make the people of Jiangnan believe that we are different from those officials in the past, which is the real way to win."

"We understand." Everyone around us hurriedly bowed and replied.

In fact, after following Sun Tu for several years, they have become familiar with and recognized his ideas and practices that always benefit the people. This is not only a matter of habit, but also aroused many practical benefits from the soldiers. At least now, the people are warmly treated wherever the Shandong Army goes. In comparison, the treatment of other troops is much worse.

At this time, a soldier rushed over: "General, there are many representatives of the people in the military camp who want to thank you for your arrangements for saving the people and putting out the fires and rebuilding their homes. I wonder if the general will see them?"
Chapter completed!