The next day, Emperor Zhaowu overrided all opinions and ordered General Zhou Shizhong to go south to take charge of the Zhili military and resist the Southern Dynasties who came to attack Hejian Prefecture and Zhending Prefecture.
At the same time, the new army composed purely of Zhenren Zhu Li has been recruited. It is led by the uncle of the country, Lang Yan, and is training near Yandu, ready to go into battle at any time.
After General Zhou came out of the court, his face had become quite ugly. He returned home all the way and found Zhou Yuanlang who was studying the map at home. His face looked very strange.
When Zhou Yuanlang saw his old father coming, he stood up quickly, bowed his head and saluted: "Father."
Zhou Shizhong found a chair and sat down by himself. After being silent for a long time, he sighed and said: "Just now in the palace, the emperor ordered my father to be the commander-in-chief to conquer Nanchen. Afterwards, His Majesty summoned my father in private and told him that this is
Your idea."
Speaking of this, Zhou Shizhong looked straight at his son with a faint tone.
"After our last big gamble, our family has become the winner in Yandu City. Now my father is in charge of part of the imperial army, and his position in Yandu is stable."
"Why is it necessary to go south and fight with the Southern Dynasties?"
"If you are not careful, it will be Tuyuan's fate, and the foundation of several generations will be destroyed in one fell swoop!"
Zhou Yuanlang seemed to have anticipated his father's reaction. He lowered his head slightly and said, "Dad, if the gambling house is always there, then if you win the bet, you can naturally sit back and relax. Our family will enjoy happiness in Yandu for generations, but..."
He looked at Zhou Shizhong, sighed slightly and said, "But all our prosperity and wealth depend on this gambling house. One day the gambling house disappears, and our family will be wiped out."
He looked at Zhou Shizhong and whispered: "Father, the Han officials in the Yandu court more or less have a way out. If the Southern Dynasties really invade Yandu one day, judging from the current situation, even if the Southern Dynasties will not
If we use them as officials again, we probably won't make things difficult for them, at least we won't cost their lives."
"But our family..."
Zhou Yuanlang said in a leisurely tone: "There is no way out."
"Twenty years ago, my grandfather defeated Yuan Du. In the first battle, Nan Chen was unable to raise his head for twenty years. He even killed hundreds of thousands of Chen troops, and even..."
He took a deep breath and whispered: "He even crossed the Huaihe River and killed many people from both Huaihe and Huaihe Rivers."
"This incident has brought great shame to the entire Southern Dynasty. Even Yuan Du was exterminated by the Southern Emperor. You can imagine how much they hate our family."
"Dad, there is absolutely no way out for the Zhou family."
"When things come to a head, we don't want to do our best, but we must do our best, and..."
Zhou Yuanlang silently walked up to his father and whispered in his ear: "Troublesome times are about to arise. My father has some soldiers and horses. Our family can rely on them more in the future..."
Zhou Shizhong didn't react at all when he heard the previous words, but when he heard the last sentence, he suddenly raised his head and looked at his son with disbelief. He was so shocked that he couldn't speak for a long time.
After an unknown amount of time, General Zhou slowly exhaled and murmured: "Has the situation become so serious? Nanchen, who prefers to stay in the south of the Yangtze River..."
Zhou Yuanlang shook his head slightly: "Dad, you still don't understand that now, the war has little to do with Nanchen."
His eyes flashed and he said faintly: "It is no exaggeration to say that Shen Qi can definitely support the Huai'an army with Shandong province. Leaving aside the Nanchen court, Shen Qi can support Da Qi by himself. It will cause huge trouble."
"Even if Shen Qi lacks stamina, he will definitely be able to severely damage the country of Da Qi. We, Da Qi, are enemies in the north and south, but there is more than one Shen Qi..."
"If it were sixty or seventy years ago, or even forty or fifty years ago, there would still be many Zhu Li Zhenren in power who were good at fighting. Whether it was Shen Qi or Tatar, they would have to bow their heads and submit. But now..."
He smiled bitterly and said: "In Zhu Li's real life, are there any other characters?"
"All the strength is used on the woman's belly."
At this point, Zhou Yuanlang lowered his head slightly and lowered his voice: "The so-called Zhu Lizhen army created by your Majesty, my father is just waiting to see it. When it goes to the battlefield, it will definitely show its true form."
"You will be beaten by the Huai'an army and you won't be able to find the north."
Zhou Shizhong frowned and said: "Zhenren Zhuli is absolutely invincible, how come he is so unbearable when it comes to your mouth?"
Zhou Yuanlang sneered: "That happened seventy or eighty years ago."
"Today's Master Zhu Li has only one way to go if he wants to regain his former fighting power."
Zhou Shizhong asked: "Which way?"
Zhou Yuanlang took a deep breath and said, "Being driven back outside the customs will make two generations suffer."
General Zhou suddenly changed his color and looked around.
"Be careful!"
Zhou Yuanlang calmly lowered his head and said: "Dad, this time my son will go with you on the expedition. We, father and son, will go and meet Shen Qi for a while."
When he said this, his tone was faint.
"Shen Qi has been spreading rumors about the child in Yandu recently, with the intention of slandering me and killing me. Now the child has returned the courtesy and used the same method to repay him."
Zhou Shizhong was thoughtful: "What does my son mean?"
Zhou Yuanlang said with a smile: "He said in Yandu that I had an affair with Nanchen."
"Of course I can also say in Jiankang that he supports his troops with self-respect and intends to stand on his own feet."
Speaking of this, Zhou Yuanlang said softly: "After all, the general of the Huai'an Army, everyone calls him Duke Shen. Shandong's military and political affairs are all in his hands. The Huai'an Army is almost not under the control of any yamen in Jiankang. Every one of them is This is evidence that Shen Qi intends to be disobedient."
Speaking of this, Zhou Yuanlang said softly: "If the Emperor of the Southern Dynasty is a suspicious person, even if I don't say anything, the Emperor of the Southern Dynasty should take action against Shen Qi."
"Compared with Shen Qi, my biggest weakness is probably..."
Having said this, Zhou Yuanlang did not continue, but the meaning of his words was not difficult to guess.
In Zhou Yuanlang's view, the biggest gap between the two is the boss gap.
The Hongde Emperor of the Southern Dynasties...
This new master seems to be far more courageous and far-sighted than Da Qi...
…………
April.
Su Ding's left army entered Hejian Mansion and started a fierce battle with the Hejian defenders.
Comparatively speaking, Ling Su's progress is slower because the Qi army in Daming Mansion was not cleared out last year. Now he is still in Daming Mansion and has not had time to enter Zhending Mansion.
However, the war in Henan was surprisingly smooth.
With Xue Wei's help, in more than a month, most of Runing Prefecture had been captured. The West Route Army and Xue Wei met at Sanlipu and surrounded the city of Runing Prefecture, which was Ruyang City.
Just when the war was going smoothly, rumors spread in Jiankang, thousands of miles away.
The biggest rumor is that Shen Yi advocated that the imperial court exempt Shandong from taxes for three years, not to speak for the people, but to keep the taxes for these three years as his own.
With these three years of taxes, the Huai'an army no longer needs to rely on the court's money and food, and can fight independently.
Marquis Shen has a disobedient heart.
Jiankang is the place with the most internal guards besides Yandu.
Therefore, these news soon reached the ears of Emperor Hongde. When Eunuch Gao told the emperor these rumors in detail, Emperor Hongde, who was watching the eldest son of the emperor writing, just smiled dumbly and disagreed.
"It's probably the work of Hu Qi's Cleaning Department. They sent people to follow the clues and catch a few Hu Qi spies."
Eunuch Gao bowed his head and obeyed the order.
The next day, Eunuch Gao came to the Manlu Palace again and bowed his head to the emperor with a strange look on his face.
"Your Majesty, I learned that someone was spreading rumors about Lord Shen, and the people of Jiankang were furious. One day and one night, the people of Jiankang spontaneously caught more than a dozen people who maliciously spread rumors. The internal guards conducted a detailed investigation, and most of them were paid. There is only one person who can handle things, and he is from the Purity Department."
When His Majesty the Emperor heard this, his expression finally changed slightly.
Not because someone spread rumors, but because of Shen Yi's reputation...
He frowned and was silent for a while, then closed his eyes and spoke.
"No such messages."
"Let the internal guards closely control Jiankang, and send the people from the Purity Department..."