Ch. 580 - The Bad Reputation of the County

On September 11th of the 11th year of Guangde, Sun Shaozong, together with his Generals, inspected the weapons of his troops.

On September 13th, Liu Xianglian got married.

On the same day, the pre-war mobilization meeting presided over by He Tai, the Right Assistant Minister of War, was successfully held and concluded.

On September 14th, the Ministry of Personnel issued a decree officially removing Sun Shaozong from his position as the Governor of the Central Judicial Office.

On the same day, Qiu Yunfei was appointed as the Assistant Magistrate, and the position of Inspector was taken over by Zhao Wuwei.

On the same day, military supplies began to be transported to the Datong Bridge dock and were approved for acceptance by Xu Shouye and Lu Jianxing.

On September 15th, 1500 vanguard troops from the Anti-Thief Expeditionary Force successively set off for Datong Bridge.

On the same day, the Ministry of Revenue mobilized 27 thousand material transport ships and loaded all military equipment onto the ships.

On the same day, Jia Yucun fulfilled his wish and was promoted to the position of Minister of the Central Judicial Office.

On September 16th, it was advisable to travel and avoid getting married.

The Datong Bridge Pier was bustling with people, with over 30000 elderly and young people coming to bid farewell.

Except for some of the relatives and friends of the troops, the vast majority of the people came in the name of Sun Shaozong.

Unfortunately, in this area of the Capital, there have never been any names such as "umbrella presented to a popular official on leaving his district" or "Love Shoes." In addition, the dock has been temporarily sealed off, so the people were only offering gifts from afar, which has deprived Sun Shaozong of a good opportunity to showcase his acting skills in vain.

Whether it was a military expedition or spontaneous farewells from the people, these were rare scenes in the Capital in recent years and should occupy the streets and alleys for a considerable period.

However, the grand scene of tens of thousands of people was overshadowed by the names of the three people just a few days later.

On September 20th, the court discussed the restoration of the Mausoleum of Emperor Taizu.

Dai Quan, the head of the Daming Palace, as the Commander, Xia Shouzhong, the Eunuch of the Six Palaces, as the Deputy Supervisor, and Lu Hui, the Pacifier of the Northern Town Detective Department, as the assistant.

The news spread, and the world shook.

Countless people, both inside and outside the court, were speculating about the reason why both the Supreme Emperor and the Emperor's confidants had been demoted at the same time.

Only after receiving this news, Sun Shaozong felt like he was enlightened. No wonder Dai Quan lost power but did not lose favor. He was actually treated as a pawn, replacing Xia Shouzhong!

It seemed that when Prince Yizhong died, Xia Shouzhong also saw something he shouldn't have seen, but after all, he was a trusted confidant of the Emperor for decades.

If the Emperor only punished him, but let Dai Quan away, how would the Supreme Emperor be willing to agree?

So the Emperor had to endure the pain and sacrifice, sending both of them to oversee the construction of the imperial tomb.

Therefore, Sun Shaozong became increasingly curious about the cause of the death of Prince Yizhong.

Of course, even if he has to investigate thoroughly, that would be for later.

At present, he didn’t have the time to pay attention to all the things in court.

| October 27th at Jiujiang Prefecture and Hukou County. |

This was the water gateway of Hubei, Guangdong, and Jiangxi, with a well-developed water transportation system adjacent to the lake. It was known as the “key to the rivers and lakes, and the thoroughfare of the three provinces.”

Due to the limited turnover on the dock, the vacant land in the northwest of the county town has always been the first choice for the temporary stacking of goods by various shops. No matter how many times it has been stacked, it was higher than the city wall.

However, since October 15th, the vacant land has been temporarily enclosed and was no longer allowed for merchants to use. It was said that it would be left for the imperial army to set up camps in the south to suppress the rebellion.

When this news first spread, the local people were eagerly awaiting it.

Although the rebellion at the end of July did not affect Hukou County, many disaster victims came to Hukou County to visit their families and friends.

The tragic scene of the Han people in Jingxiang being slaughtered and humiliated by those mountain barbarians has filled everyone's ears.

Therefore, everyone hoped that the official army could quell the rebellion as soon as possible, so as not to let the barbarians taste the sweetness, plunder everywhere, and even kill their way to the famous Hukou.

But more than ten days have passed in the blink of an eye, and more than a hundred tents were like dog urine moss, standing on the open ground with a sunny view. However, the local people have long gone from their initial expectations to disgust and contempt.

As for the reasons for this disgust and disdain…

It was naturally closely related to the rumors circulating in the city recently.

It was rumored that although the soldiers from the Capital were claiming to be vanguards, they were actually young master soldiers who could not fight. The reason why they came to Hubei and Guangxi this time was to follow the tens of thousands of border troops in Sichuan and Yunnan and to make some effortless contributions.

Who would have thought that they had only heard the news of their arrival in Huguang and the border army had been unable to come over for a long time due to some reasons?

Without the support of the border army, how dare these young soldiers go to Wuxi to battle?

Therefore, under the pretext of recuperation, they had been staying in Hukou County and were unwilling to continue moving forward.

They hope for the stars and the moon, but came a group of cowardly cowards who feared enemies like tigers. It would be strange if the people could have a good impression!

Not to mention the common people, even the County Magistrate of Hukou County was extremely angry about this. Recently, he has been going to the camp every day to urge troops, but unexpectedly, he has been repeatedly rejected.

Just this afternoon, another convoy surged out of the Hukou County government office as usual, leaving the county town from the north gate and heading straight towards the military camp.

However, this time, the size of the fleet has increased significantly compared to before.

Someone who has been to the Capital knew that there were not only county officials but also officials from Jiujiang Prefecture on this team.

Obviously, these were the reinforcements invited by the Magistrate of the county!

After the news spread, the people followed out of the city with a strong voice, pointing and cursing around the military camp.

The several soldiers at the entrance of the camp, upon seeing this battle, naturally lost their previous prestige. They also heard that it was the prefect who personally arrived, and they didn't dare to intervene recklessly.

They had no choice but to plead with Magistrate Lou to be calm and not be impatient. On the other hand, they went inside to report.

Not long after, a general wearing a helmet and armor greeted him, claiming to be Xu Shouye, a bandit hunter of a Thousand Household position. He respectfully invited the Magistrate of the Prefecture to the large tent.

Seeing this, Hukou Magistrate of the Prefecture was about to follow him, but he didn’t think that Magistrate Lou of the Prefecture would turn around and say, "Magistrate Li of the County, take people to pacify the people outside, and don't let them be instigated by evil people to cause any disaster."

Although, Magistrate Li of the County did think about taking advantage of the Magistrate of the Prefecture's power to show his cowardice when he was rejected.

The considerations of the Magistrate of the Prefecture were not unreasonable.

If the people under his rule were agitated and accidentally started quarreling with the soldiers and horses in the Capital, wouldn't he be the first to suffer?

Therefore, he quickly nodded in agreement and led his subordinates outside to maintain order.

As soon as Magistrate Li of the County left, Magistrate Lou of the Prefecture immediately changed his color and solemnly said to Xu Shouye, "General Xu, where is Lord Sun?"

"Magistrate Lou, wait a moment. I will go and invite Thousand Household Sun out."

Xu Shouye said, just as he was about to step out of the tent, the curtain suddenly lifted and a hidden man appeared. But who else could it be if it weren't Sun Shaozong?

Sun Shaozong bowed to him and said, "Magistrate Lou, I, the lower official, have been waiting for you so long!"

The Magistrate of the Prefecture quickly bowed and shook his head, saying, "Councilor Sun, you are clearly the upper-ups. How can you address yourself as the lower officials?"

Although Sun Shaozong handed over the task of governing the Central Judicial Office, the title of Right Councilor of the Hebei Governor's Office has still been hanging.

Although the Senate was only from the fourth rank, in a sense, it could still be called the upper ranks of the Magistrate of the Prefecture.

Therefore, Magistrate Lou has this statement.

In short, this culture was troublesome, and it took a long time to address each other.

Finally, after a difficult negotiation and mutual recognition of official positions, Sun Shaozong found the opportunity to ask about the matter and said, "I dare to ask, have you ever sent the person I want?"

"Naturally."

The Magistrate of the Prefecture said, "The eight guides sent by the governor's office are all waiting outside the tent for dispatch. There is also a box of geographical maps of the province for you to confirm with each other."

At this point, he couldn't help but laugh and say, "Councilor Sun, your plan is so detailed that I believe you can achieve victory. However, at the moment, you are suffering and have to bear the blame in this county."

"It's okay."

Sun Shaozong said decisively, "As the saying goes, “if you want to rise, suppress first.” If I don’t dare take on the blame, how can I compete for the reputation of this province in the future?"

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