marquis of jingan

Early the next morning, Shen Yi's Huai'an army crossed the Shu River, continued westward, and headed straight for Xuzhou.

In order to make a playful image, Shen Yi specially accelerated the marching speed on this day, so as to create an illusion for Zhou Shizhong that he was rushing to Xuzhou.

Counting the days, it has been almost half a month since Shen Yi arrived north of the Huaihe River. During such a long time, every move of the Huai'an army during the day has been exposed to the scouts of the Qi people, so he just moved. There was already news that it had reached the camp of the Confederate Army, which was only about [-] miles away from them.

However, when the news reached the Zhengnan Army's camp, a strange face ushered in the Zhengnan Army's tent.

This man looked to be in his early 40s, wearing a third-rank official uniform, and sat opposite Zhou Shizhong in the handsome tent.

It is worth mentioning that this person sits at the head and has a higher status than Zhou Shizhong.

The man lowered his head and took a sip of tea, then looked at Zhou Shizhong, and said indifferently: "General, the news of the southerners going north has already reached Yandu. Not only His Majesty is furious, but the government and the public are in an uproar."

"How many years have there been no southerners, stepping into the realm of my Daqi?"

"Master Ma."

General Zhou cupped his fists and said with a wry smile: "You are the Minister of the Ministry of War, and you also know the situation of my conscripting the Southern Army. Last year, the Southern Army fought for a year, and the casualties were not small. This year, there are 3 or [-] people in the army The newly recruited recruits are not strong enough..."

"Besides, the Huai'an army on the south bank has recruited again this year. Up to now, the strength of the Nan people along the Huai River has reached more than 20 to [-]!"

"We are short of warships. We can't prevent the southerners from crossing the Huaihe River, so we are attacked by them..."

This "Master Ma" looked at Zhou Shizhong indifferently, without any expression on his face: "The general has a long history, and the old general Zhou beat up the southerners in one fell swoop. He couldn't breathe for 20 years. Ma naturally believed that The General’s is just those people in the court who don’t know the current situation on the front line, and don’t know the situation of the Southern Conscript Army.”

"Right now, there is already a lot of noise in Yandu."

Ma Shilang looked at Zhou Shizhong quietly, and said: "Even the hall of our Ministry of War said that he would consider changing generals. Some time ago, three officials of our Ministry of War were called to the palace by the emperor to give lectures."

"No, even I was sent down."

Ma Shilang sighed and said: "The general must understand that the current battle is too ugly, the emperor and the court have lost face, and the Ministry of War is also under pressure."

General Zhou didn't speak, but just looked back at his son standing behind him. Zhou Yuanlang immediately understood, and quickly brought a wooden box over and handed it to Zhou Shizhong.

General Zhou took the box, held it in front of Ma Shilang with both hands, slightly bowed his head and said, "Master Ma, this is the wish of my father and son, and I hope that Master Ma is in the emperor, in the Ministry of War, and with Minister Ma, how beautiful it is." Word."

Ma Xuan, the left servant of the Ministry of War, is Zhu Lizhen. Ma's surname is his Chinese surname.

Originally, he was a third-rank servant, and Zhou Shizhong was a second-rank general with real power. There shouldn't be much difference in status between the two, and Zhou Shizhong might even be higher. After all, the status of a general in Northern Qi was much higher than that of Chen Guo. Less.

But Ma Shilang has an elder brother who is a prime minister, which makes his status soar, and even Zhou Shizhong has to be careful in front of him.

Ma Shilang glanced at the box, his face was full of smiles: "What is the general doing? Ma came here to relieve the emperor's worries, not to take advantage of anyone else."

Zhou Shizhong forced a smile on his face: "Master Ma took this box to relieve the emperor's worries."

He said softly: "Here is a bit of family property that our Zhou family has accumulated over the years, a total of 20 taels of redemption bills, and a mansion in Yandu. It is a little bit of my father and son's affection for Mr. Ma and Mr. Ma."

Ma Shilang only took a look at the box, held it in his hand calmly, coughed, and said: "The general is too polite, but I have agreed in advance that I will take the benefits of your family. unknown."

What this sentence means is that the money can buy him, the Minister of the Ministry of War, but it is not enough to spend it on his elder brother, the prime minister.

When Zhou Shizhong heard this, his heart twitched!
For the money on weekdays, don’t talk about the relationship with the prime minister, even if you take the prime minister to the brothel, I’m afraid you will go shopping. Now, this Ma Shilang clearly sees that the Zhou family is in trouble, so he maliciously raises the price!
But at this time, Zhou Shizhong squeezed out a smile and said, "In this case, after my father and son return to Yandu, I will visit Ma Xiang again."

Speaking of the horse minister, Ma Shilang slightly shook his head and sighed: "My elder brother, he went to northern Xinjiang and never came back."

"but."

He forced out a smile at Zhou Shizhong, and said, "But if you think about it, you should come back in a few months."

As he said that, he took out a document from his hand, put it in front of Zhou Shizhong, and said with a smile: "General, this is the troop transfer document from the Ministry of War. The [-] soldiers and horses transferred from Jining Mansion have already arrived in Yizhou." , now under the command and dispatch of the general."

Speaking of this, he took a meaningful look at Zhou Shizhong, and said quietly: "General, I heard that the southern thieves intend to spy on Xuzhou. If he is to be punished by the court, even the Ministry of War may be punished accordingly."

Zhou Shizhong bowed his head deeply and said: "Master Ma, don't worry, the Southern Conscript Army will definitely guard the land for the imperial court and drive the southerners back to the Southern Dynasty!"

Having said that, he glanced back at his son, handed the document to Zhou Yuanlang, and said in a deep voice, "You immediately take this document to Yizhou to lead the army, and bring all the 2 people into Xuzhou City. Stand firm in Xuzhou, nothing will be lost!"

Zhou Yuanlang first took the document with his head down, and then looked at his old father with some worry.

Zhou Shizhong frowned: "What are you doing in a daze? Why don't you go soon?"

Zhou Yuanlang lowered his head slightly, and then said: "Father, the Huai'an Army stayed at the foot of the Pagoda Mountain near the Shu River for one night, and the scouts reported that they could still vaguely see movement until midnight. My son thinks..."

"If you want to continue chasing the Huai'an army, you need to pay attention to the Pagoda Mountain."

Hearing this, before Zhou Shizhong opened his mouth, he heard Ma Shilang on the side say with a smile: "General, this is Mr. Ling? Why is he so bookish?"

Zhou Shizhong lowered his head slightly and said, "It's a dog. He liked to read since he was a child, and he was a bit cautious by nature, which made adults laugh."

"Be careful."

Ma Shilang clapped his hands and said with a smile: "If it weren't for this prudence, the Zhengnan army might not be trapped in Haizhou, and would not dare to go out to meet the enemy. Let this southern army run rampant in our territory of Daqi, and now they want to threaten Xuzhou."

Hearing this, Zhou Shizhong's complexion changed slightly, he glanced at his son sideways, and shouted, "Why don't you go to Yizhou to transfer troops soon?!"

Zhou Yuanlang had no choice but to lower his head and say yes, then turned and left.

After he left, Zhou Shizhong smiled awkwardly: "I'm stupid in reading, my lord, don't take his words to heart."

"Zhou immediately pulled out his camp and followed this southern army. No matter what they did, our army would be able to catch up in time. If these southern thieves dared to encircle Xuzhou directly, Zhou could lead the king's army to attack from inside and outside. These invading enemies, stay under Xuzhou city!"

"Then the general should be faster."

Ma Shilang stood up, walked out, and said with his hands behind his back: "I heard that the Southern West Route Army is almost approaching Xuzhou."

Zhou Shizhong followed Ma Shilang, sent him all the way out of the barracks, and put him on the sedan chair. After the sedan chair of the servant minister left, the smile on General Zhou's face slowly subsided.

He glanced to the west silently, and after squinting his eyes, he still spoke slowly.

"Pass the military order, pull out the camp and march westward, and follow Shen Qi!"

"Order the defenders of Suqian and nearby counties."

General Zhou gasped for breath, his voice hoarse.

"Ready to join Xuzhou at any time to encircle and wipe out the southern thieves."

The messengers below did not dare to neglect, and bowed their heads respectfully.

"Yes!"