Ma Kuo came and went in a hurry and regarded state affairs as his sole concern, which really shocked Zhao Jiu.
However, he did not stop the other party from returning after all, because feelings are feelings, and as an official, he always has to do things... If he really indulged in feelings, he would have been so angry when the three major cases came out.
It was impossible to stop at using a knife to cut Zhao Ji's congratulatory form to pieces. How could he come out to inspect the army and meet with Ma Kuo?
Even further, five or six years of experience in governing has indeed allowed this ordinary engineering college student to hone something.
For example, Zhao Jiu actually hates Li Guang and Ma Shen, but his reason keeps telling him that Li Guang is actually qualified for the specific position of Yushi Zhongcheng. He is supposed to play the role of criticizer, and Ma Shen
Even if he hides his sectarian opinions, he is one step ahead and hides the blame within his own job... From the perspective of an official of the Criminal Department, this person is undoubtedly qualified.
What's more, this person had indeed maintained meritorious service in Hubei before.
In addition, there is the problem of two new ministers, Lu Benzhong and Ren Baozhong. Frankly speaking, Zhao Jiu knows the faults of these two people. One is incompetent, which is fully consistent with the status of the eldest son of the fourth generation and the third prince family; the other is immoral and also
Fully in line with the setting of the military clan leader of an ethnic minority in a small remote country.
These two people, placed in Zhao Jiu's family five years ago, would have... certainly not been able to tell which one of them was incompetent and which one immoral. If they had been placed in Zhao Guan's family three years ago, they would probably not have been able to get close to these two people from the beginning.
Opportunity.
However, the current official understands in his heart that being without virtue and incompetence does not mean that he is useless.
At a time when honorable nobles and the royal family are facing widespread suppression, Lu Benzhong's identity naturally has a certain political influence. Coupled with Lu's special status in Yuanxue and his relatively good reputation, then he should be set up and kept by his side.
Of course it doesn't hurt to help.
In a similar way, Ren Baozhong, a bald old man, not to mention his rich military and political experience, but his status as a veteran of the Hengshan Party Xiang family is enough to give him a chance to survive in the center of power.
Of course, everything must have a steelyard... To put it more closely, the dead Yang Zheng was also very useful, but his head was chopped off; Liu Guangshi was also very useful, but he was drained like a chicken.
Blood...Everything must have a degree, and more importantly, a line. The same is true for people.
Back to the present, although Ma Kuo left, he left an unmistakable message. This person who may know the Jurchens best and has the most say in the Northern Expedition put forward a clear concept-that is, once
The offensive and defensive forces are changing. Want to defeat the Jurchens in Lianghe? We need 300,000 soldiers.
This serious reminder, or warning? Of course Zhao Jiu recognized it. However, what Zhao Guanjia recognized was the general truth, and what he recognized was after the offensive and defensive changes. The Song army's combat power, which can barely maintain the confrontation on the Yellow River, is insufficient at the moment. There must be a
Obvious improvement? Otherwise, it is very likely to fall short.
Then this obvious increase in combat power? The most intuitive form of expression is from 200,000 to 300,000.
In fact, of course it can be quantity? But it can also be quality? It can also be the right time and place, or even a breakthrough weapon technology.
From another perspective, Zhao Jiu had already begun to make similar preparations. For example, as the finances improved year by year, and Qu Duan's imperial cavalry could not recruit enough troops, at the end of the previous year
, at the beginning of last year? He had already acquiesced to Yue Fei's troops to slightly expand his troops after pacifying Jingxiang? And the establishment of the imperial camp's former army last year had already broken through the original framework of 35,000 and reached the 40,000 mark.
.
As for the Han Shizhong, Wu Jie, Qu Duan, and Wang De tribes? After the expedition to Xixia, they were allowed to retain the more than 10,000 elite party troops they had acquired in total. In fact, each of the tribes had actions that exceeded the original limit.
The overall establishment of the battalion army actually exceeded the 200,000 mark after the Western Xia War.
In a word, no matter what, there is already a consensus that the combat effectiveness of the field corps must be qualitatively improved.
Moreover, after Ma Kuo left, Zhao Jiu, who had obtained the answers he wanted during his trip, also left Heyin, but still did not return to the capital. Instead, he continued to patrol along the river in Tokyo City under the extremely nervous eyes of the capital.
, Yuanwu, Yangwu, Suanzao, Xucheng, Shaoxing... It can only be said that this Zhao official seems to be really focused on patrolling the river defense and inspecting the troops.
Moreover, compared with Zhang Rongjun's previous caution, compared with the previous years when the inspections stopped at high-level officers and serious shortages of personnel and corruption, this time, Zhao Jiu obviously adopted a more stringent approach when inspecting Li Qiong's Ministry.
, direct way.
A large number of middle and low-level officers were directly expelled for their bad habits of serving soldiers and violating the boundaries of occupying soldiers' fields. However, a total of hundreds of troops with more than 10,000 people were punished in five places, and more than 30 of them were directly
Behead.
This made countless officers below Li Qiong panic for a time, thinking that this official was coming for them. They could only say that fortunately, Zhao Guan's family had gained the prestige they should have in the past five or six years, and no one dared to jump over the wall like in the past.
Defected.
After inspecting Li Qiong's tribe, Zhao Guan's family did not follow the advice from Tokyo and return to the capital. Instead, they directly crossed Shaoxing in the increasingly cold winter and continued eastward, entering the Henan area of Kaide Prefecture.
From here, we actually set foot in the defense area of Yue Fei's Imperial Camp.
Not long after Yue Fei came back, he was far away in Qizhou. Zhao Jiu did not notify him in particular. In fact, he came with a cautious attitude. He also wanted to see with his own eyes how good the military discipline of Yue Fei's department was, which was recognized as outstanding. The so-called
How powerful is the legendary Yue Family Army... You must know that this is the first time that Zhao Jiu has come to inspect the imperial army, or rather the Yue Family Army.
But after actually walking down the road, to be honest, Zhao Jiu only had four words of feeling, that is, it was ordinary.
The so-called mediocre means that he can't see anything that is completely eye-catching and has obvious characteristics that break through the times... There is no specific military equipment and equipment. From the perspective of the deployment of sophisticated troops, the Yue Family Army seems to be inferior to Han Shizhong's troops.
Those sluts from the elite basic troops do not have any outstanding military appearance in formation. Not to mention the neat lines of the honor guard of the three armies in later generations. It is just that they are physically strong. They are obviously not as good as the Imperial Guards and even Wang De's relatives.
Army; for the same reason, the officers in the army are not as simple as officers and soldiers. The officers of the Yue Family Army are well-paid, and it is also common to buy properties in garrison areas. This is even not as harmonious as the grassroots officers and soldiers of Zhang Rong's Department.
But on the other hand, there is nothing wrong with this official... There is no phenomenon of enlisting soldiers; there is no obvious issue of salary; of course there are vacancies for sergeants, but they are all openly marked on the documents, who is invited?
On leave, so and so just chose to withdraw from the army due to injury. Of course, not everyone wears armor, but only seven or eight out of ten. Some archers and logistics sergeants are not eligible for armor, but that is because of the number of armors distributed by the court.
that's it.
The rest of the army conducts drills every three days, performs exercises every ten days, and eats meat every few days, and they all follow the order.
Everything is so ordinary and everything is so clear. When the combat personnel are summoned, it is clear at a glance. When the logistics account books are escaped, it is also clear at a glance.
Frankly speaking, Zhao Jiu was a little disappointed.
But among the entourage, including Lu Benzhong and Fan Zongyin, Wang Yan, Liu Hongdao, and Ren Baozhong, they looked extremely shocked. Moreover, as the imperial commander marched eastward and inspected more and more garrison points of the imperial army's former army, this kind of surprise also became more apparent.
It became more and more intense, and in the end, these senior officials who were considered military governors simply fell into an unbelievable posture.
Even Zhao Jiu was gradually getting a taste for it.
In other words, he had sensed the taste from the beginning, but he didn't show it because he had unrealistic ideas at the beginning. In the feudal era, an army with as many as 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers could maintain control across the entire front.
This kind of ordinaryness is a miracle in itself.
You know, this is 40,000 to 50,000 people!
It is common sense that an increase in the number of troops will inevitably lead to management chaos and a decrease in average combat power. At this time, it is particularly important to maintain the lower limit of the troop's combat power.
There is no doubt that Yue Pengju was a talented man in the management and combat of large corps, and he may even be the only one in his generation.
Not to mention anything else, if his Zhao Guan family could reach this level and make all the 200,000 troops in the royal camp look ordinary, then he would dare to try to cross the river now.
But in fact, Zhao Jiu couldn't do this, otherwise he wouldn't be forced to patrol the river in the middle of winter.
In this way, after seeing the mediocre Yue family's army, Zhao Guan's family continued eastward, from Kaide to Puzhou and then to Dongping Mansion. During this period, they even paid a special visit to the frozen Liangshan Lake, expressed condolences to the local fishermen, and showed
The official family of Zhao and Song Dynasties behaved like a family.
In the first ten days of the twelfth lunar month, seeing the weather getting colder and colder, Zhao Jiufu sent Liu Hongdao back to Tokyo to make arrangements, but he finally entered Qizhou and came to the famous Jinan Prefecture.
Yue Fei and Wan Qixi went out of the city fifty miles to meet each other. The monarch and his ministers met each other, but as always there were not many unnecessary words to say. Even Wang Yan, who had served as a military envoy, was somewhat shaken after going through this trip, but he just kept calm.
He has a good face and does not cause trouble in front of the emperor or in private.
The inspection of Jinan Prefecture was also lackluster. It was just that there were more elite troops from the imperial camp. Zhao Jiu was more familiar with these elite troops, so he didn't bother to investigate too much.
.The only thing worth mentioning is that this official finally met the legendary mother-in-law and exchanged some experiences on raising children with her.
They probably stayed in Jinan for only four or five days, so Zhao Guan's family continued their eastward inspection. Yue Fei also led Zhang Xian's troops to accompany the Wei army and escorted Zhao Guan's family eastward. They followed the Ji River and arrived at Zizhou. Zizhou still belongs to
Yue Fei's troops were stationed, but further east in Qingzhou was where the right army of Zhang Jun's imperial camp was stationed.
However, just after entering Zizhou and before arriving in Qingzhou, an accident finally occurred - hundreds of armored sergeants suddenly came towards them and stopped them outside the imperial camp's former military garrison outside Gaoyuan City.
Guard of honor, request for an audience.
The incident happened suddenly, and everyone was careful, but fortunately, the place itself was outside the military camp, and the number of accompanying people was sufficient. Hundreds of people were invited in this way. It was unlikely to be a mutiny, so with other people
Unlike the others who were nervous, Zhao Jiu remained calm and entered the Gaoyuan military camp with Wang Yan, Yue Fei and others, and then summoned the leader of this group of sergeants.
But unexpectedly, the person who came was not looking for Zhao Jiu, but claimed to be looking for Yue Fei. Even when this person came to the hall and heard that it was an official in person, he simply lost his mind and was too frightened to say anything.
Just kowtow.
At this time, the accompanying Wen and Wu became nervous again, and Zhao Jiu finally turned his tentative gaze on Yue Pengju.
"Official family."
How come Yue Fei didn't know the root cause of the matter, it was just that it was a bit embarrassing, but until now, he didn't dare not to stand up and confront him, so he had to explain earlier. "I do recognize this person. He was recruited by me when I was in Jingxiang Pingzhong Prime Minister Yang Mo."
One of the surrendered generals was called Mrs. Guo. Later, I placed him here as deputy commander and led three hundred soldiers. However, this man had already invited himself a few months ago when I was still in Kansai.
If you resign, you will no longer be considered your subordinate..."
"I know Mrs. Guo's name. She surrendered with Huang Zuo... But what are the words for resigning?"
Zhao Jiu immediately frowned, but he instantly realized something was wrong. "A deputy commander with three hundred hometown disciples under him resigned while the coach was away. What happened? And looking at today's appearance, his three hundred disciples are just casualties.
He resigned at the same time, and he also had armor and ordnance... It was Wang Gui who stayed in Jinan to take charge of the affairs at that time, right? He was demoted to 300 soldiers, and he just let them leave directly? "
Yue Fei was embarrassed for a moment, and Wang Yan, Ren Baozhong and others also remained silent at this time, because these people with rich military careers had already guessed what was going on.
"What's going on?" Zhao Jiu blurted out in silence, but almost at the same time his heart moved slightly, as if he had woken up.
"No matter how confused the officials and ministers are, they can't really allow three hundred soldiers from Jingxiang to leave the army without permission in Jingdong with their armor and weapons." Yue Fei was forced into a corner, but he told the truth after all. "According to
Wang Gui said that at that time, Zhang Jiedu, a member of the imperial camp’s right army, moved the text, which was regarded as a smooth tone.”
Zhao Jiu finally sneered, sat up, and then asked Mrs. Guo who was kneeling below and did not dare to raise her head: "Mrs. Guo, I want to ask you, what did Zhang Jun promise you? Is the house a beautiful concubine, or is it a promotion to two
Senior officer?"
"Not even allowed!" Mrs. Guo still didn't dare to raise her head and just kowtowed. "In front of the official, I don't dare to say a word of lies!"
"Then why did you go there?!" Zhao Jiu finally frowned.
"Because the Yue Family Army is too restrictive!" Mrs. Guo quickly explained. "This is not allowed, and that is not allowed. Exercise every three days, practice every ten days. It's too hard... And Zizhou is next to the Zhang Family Army, and I follow
The Zhang Jiajun people became familiar with it and knew it was easy to go there, so they wanted to go there!"
Zhao Jiu's face was expressionless, but he already believed it, and looking at the few people with military experience around him, they all looked like this... In fact, this kind of thing was very common in the army in the feudal era, and even the imperial army
After the camp system was established, it was still common even in the first two years, and the scale was still very large at that time.
But in the past two years, as the situation has gotten better and better, and the authority of the central government has gradually increased, such things have become rarer. It is more like this now, when hundreds of people change their families, and each has a quota of military pay.
It does not involve real increase or loss of troops, and the commanders of both sides are not willing to go up because of their loss of face.
Of course, I believe it, but I still have doubts, just like knowing it, I always feel unhappy when seeing similar situations.
"Then why did you come back today?" Ren Baozhong saw that the official's expression had not changed for a long time, and he woke up, so he stepped out to ask questions.
I don’t know whether it was because southerners couldn’t understand the northwest accent, or for some other reason, but after being questioned, this person just bowed his head and remained silent.
On the other side, Yue Fei gradually became a little annoyed - it is human nature to be a little angry when encountering this kind of thing, not to mention that this guy didn't know his manners and kept talking about Yue Jiajun and Zhang Jiajun in front of the officials.
These words only caused confusion for him.
"Is it because I know that Lieutenant Yue has made a great contribution this time? He became the governor of the three towns, and the commander-in-chief sat on two sides to watch one, and Zhang Jiajun lost another battle. Did he realize that Yue Jiajun has a bright future here?" Seeing the official
Wang Yan went to bring tea to drink. Wang Yan knew that the official was also angry, so he finally couldn't help but took the opportunity to stab his old subordinate Yue Fei.
Yue Fei was completely furious, so he faced Wang Yan, and he was still in front of the emperor. He was really at a loss, so he simply stood up and scolded Mrs. Guo: "Mrs. Guo, in front of the official family, the commander of the imperial camp, Wang Jiedu, asked you what to say.
What do you have to cover up?!"
After hearing the words, Mrs. Guo finally raised her head, but her face was embarrassed: "I want Jiedu to know, it's not that I don't want to say it, but it's embarrassing to say it... If there are only a few Jiedu in front of me, that's fine, how can I embarrass myself in front of the officials?"
"
"If you don't say anything, it won't be a shame!" Yue Fei narrowed his eyes. "Are you really not afraid of military law?!"
"So that the officials and the lieutenants know that this matter has nothing to do with the future."
Under the eyes, Mrs. Guo finally couldn't hold on any longer, lowered her head and told the truth. "I went to Zhang Jiajun's place. Life was really easy, but at our level, the weapons were sufficient, but the military pay was only 80%...
"
Zhao Jiu, who was drinking tea with his head down, suddenly raised his head, shocking everyone into awe.
"Twenty percent of the pay is missing. A regular soldier will not show up for a month or two, but a year will be enough for Xiao Shiguan." Mrs. Guo, who lowered his head, did not notice anything strange above him, and just continued to explain. "Nian
The younger one sent it home. After a few months, the old lady at home asked her uncle to write a letter to scold her, asking if she was a bad learner. The older one brought his wife to the local area and put the money back, and her wife was also at home.
You are making trouble, are you raising people outside? There must be 200 of the 300 brothers who are uneasy at home. If they are uneasy, they have to come to me for an explanation. The brothers around me are all from the same family and have the same surname. I really can’t survive.
Stay, and then yesterday I heard from the old brothers in the army that Yue Jiedu's four-character banner was coming today, so I came early in the morning to wait. I just asked for Jiedu's forgiveness and allowed us to come back... I didn't expect it.
Officials dressed in red and green suddenly came? If I knew this, I would not embarrass myself even if I died in Qingzhou."
After saying this, there was still silence in the hall. Now, even Mrs. Guo noticed something was wrong, and then became more and more frightened.
"Stay!" After a long pause, Zhao Jiu suddenly picked up the porcelain cup and broke the silence. It was a verbal order and decided on this ridiculous-sounding thing. "It can be said that Pengju is rigorous in running the army.
Proof of your own integrity...keep it!"
Yue Fei quickly stood up and responded, while Mrs. Guo was overjoyed and kowtowed repeatedly.
After a while, Mrs. Guo left the lobby of the military camp, and this small incident was over. However, the lobby seemed a bit dull, and almost everyone was guessing what Guan Zhao was thinking.
But soon there was no need to guess. Zhao Jiu just sat in the slightly dull lobby for a while, then stood up with a smile and gave instructions:
"Pengju doesn't want to go back to Jinan, and don't go to Qingzhou with me. Just wait here. Do you understand?"
Yue Fei was slightly startled, then quickly bowed his head and said yes.
Then, the official no longer checked the local troops in Gaoyuan, but stood up and left the military camp. The accompanying honor guard who had just rested for a while was so surprised that he stood up in a hurry and continued to follow the official to the southeast... Look at this
It means that this official only met here in Gaoyuan and then went directly to Qingzhou.
Along with the civil and military personnel, everyone is silent.
It wasn't until the evening of that day, when the time was about to pass, that Wang Yan, the most senior among them, could no longer hold back... Of course, it might also be because of the recommendation of the accompanying ministers... he came forward to advise: "Guardians, you might as well wait until dawn tomorrow.
Cross the river!"
"What's the difference between crossing now and crossing tomorrow morning?" Zhao Jiu, who was riding a horse, smiled at each other.
"We might as well send an envoy ahead to inform Captain Zhang." Fan Zongyin, the accompanying Hanlin scholar, also immediately came forward to plead.
"It's not like I'm going to an enemy territory!" Zhao Jiu still smiled at her. "I'm walking on my own country, do I still need to report?"
"Guan family, we have few soldiers." Even Liu Yan, who has always been a man of few words, couldn't help but move forward. "We might as well ask the troops from Gaoyuan, General Yue Jiedu behind us, to come over and see Guan family off..."
"This is even more of a joke. Within our country, where the imperial army is densely stationed, who do I have to guard against?" Zhao Jiu still smiled.
At this time, even Ren Baozhong, who was a little embarrassed, and Lu Benzhong, who was a little confused, could not wait any longer, so they all stepped forward to persuade him.
But Zhao Jiu had obviously made up his mind. He immediately waved his hand and directly broke the window paper: "You are thinking too much... I and Captain Zhang are not as serious as you think? Huaishang was in such an embarrassing situation that day.
After he stood firm, I regarded him as a confidant. Now when I go to see him, I can communicate with him from the bottom of my heart. Where can you interrupt?"
No one dared to persuade him.
Zhao Jiu did not hesitate, but took the lead, climbed the bridge to cross the river, and stayed on the other side of the river that night.
The next day, Zhao Guanjia abandoned the infantry and most of the civil servants, gathered 700 cavalry, and galloped southeast. After arriving in Linzi in the morning, they rested for a while. After causing Linzi city to panic, Wang Yan was left behind.
Ren Baozhong and some of the imperial squadron stayed in the military camp here, and then left with only his most trusted Liu Yan and 500 cavalry.
In the evening, they finally arrived at Yidu, the capital of Qingzhou. This is where Zhang Jun and his imperial camp right army headquarters were stationed. It was only at this time that Zhao Jiu just ordered a guard of honor to be held.
The rising dragon and the black and white oxen were released together.
Moreover, the soldiers stationed in Qingzhou are of course veterans of Zhang Jun’s imperial camp right army, also known as the veterans of the imperial camp. They are no strangers to Zhao Guan’s family, and they are even more familiar with Long Yu, and the matter of the black and white emperors also passed through Di.
Published in newspapers and widely known.
Therefore, as soon as the ceremonial guard came out, the middle section of the Tian division stationed outside Qingzhou City panicked and ordered all the soldiers not to leave the camp without permission. At the same time, they gathered several commanders and hurriedly chased Dazhen.
When Tian Shizhong came closer, he saw that it was the Imperial Banzhi and Zhao Guanjia. He was completely frightened, but he could only kowtow and say hello by the roadside.
"Where is Boying?"
At this time, Zhao Jiu still looked relaxed. "Tian Qing is just leading the way, don't disturb the people."
Tian Shizhong became more and more at a loss, but he did not dare to say any more words at this time. He just followed the order and led the way to Zhang Jun's residence. As a result, he first met Zhang Jun who was stationed in the city and had served as an imperial minister.
Zi Gai later met Zhang Jun himself, who was in a hurry to greet him. However, when the monarch and his ministers met, they all just bowed casually on the roadside, and then Zhao Guan's family still said the same thing, and only let them lead the way to Zhang's mansion.
The Zhang family's mansion occupies a large area. It is obviously the former residence of a local dignitary. It was given to Zhang Jun during the war and chaos... There is nothing to say about this kind of thing... And Zhao Jiu entered grandly and went straight to the hall to sit down. Zhang Boying headed
, along with Tian Shizhong, Zhang Zigai and other military officials, they naturally knelt down one after another and saluted and greeted again in the hall.
This time, Zhao Guan's family didn't rush to get these people up. They just smiled in the hall and said, "How are you, Boying? Did I scare you this time? Were you as surprised as I was when I went to Cai City that day?"
Zhang Jun raised his head from the ground and smiled bitterly: "The officials came at night and went straight into the minister's bedroom. It is different after all."
"Really?" Zhao Jiu smiled half-heartedly.
"But I was still frightened." Zhang Jun immediately lowered his head again. "The officials... But regarding Zhang Zongyan's matter, did I make the officials angry?"
"I'm not angry." Zhao Jiu thought for a while and responded seriously. "I'm really not angry, or I'm not angry enough... Boying, think about it, if I were really angry, I would have been on the roadside, asking you to
My son-in-law and your nephew, one holding your left hand and the other holding your right hand, why did they come all the way into your home and tell you old stories about Cai with a smile?"
The hall was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
"Let's have a banquet!" Zhao Jiu thought about it again and suddenly said, "I didn't get to eat at your banquet last time, but today, in the twelfth lunar month, I have traveled more than a hundred miles and am really hungry.
Try the freshness of the New Year's dishes from Qilu... Don't call others, even the local magistrates don't need to call, just four or five of us, hold a banquet in the hall and have a good chat."
"I obey your order!" Zhang Jun felt relieved.
They say it's a banquet, but everyone knows that hastily trying to put on a running table like the one Zhang Jun made in the capital is tantamount to nonsense, not to mention that it's still the twelfth lunar month of winter, and even green vegetables are rare.
However, in Zhang Jun's house, there are still meats with soy sauce such as ginger and black bean paste, stored green vegetables, fresh seafood, and local beef, sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks and goose meat, which is quite abundant.
Not to mention that the accompanying cavalry rarely had a feast outside. There was only a table of five people in the main hall. Zhang Jun carefully arranged it and toasted several times in person. Seeing that the officials refused to come, he
Finally, he tentatively opened the topic again:
"Isn't it true that the official family didn't bring any entourage?"
Zhao Jiu hurriedly swallowed a meatball and raised his hand to indicate: "I brought a few with me, but I met Zhang Qing here and it was useless to bring them here, so I left them all behind."
Zhang Jun smiled bitterly: "The officials are considerate of their subordinates, and I am very grateful."
"Tell me the truth about Zhang Zongyan, did you know before?" Zhao Jiu suddenly turned his head and asked.
PS: Thanks to the 8th cute guy from the future boss, and thanks to the former classmate Nanami for being cute. This is the 151st cuteness in this book!
Then continue to dedicate a new book, Nibai Buddha’s new book, "I Really Only Have One Wife", a single female protagonist harem story, which will be on the shelves on the 1st!