Chapter 874: Force the bastard to stick his head out
Tong Sheng, Concubine Tong’s nephew.
Moreover, the Tong family is considered to be the highest-status group among the yamen of the Zhengnan Army. After all, the Tong family is considered one of the more prominent families among Zhu Li's real people.
The fact that Tong Sheng was captured by the Southerners will definitely cause shock in Yandu.
It's not that Tong Sheng is so important, but that Tong Sheng's status is high enough to attract the attention of the gentlemen in Yandu.
Gentlemen would think that the incompetent army of the Southern Conqueror, with 200,000 soldiers and horses, actually allowed the nobles of Da Qi to be captured by the Southerners!
As long as someone thinks this way, the court will most likely punish the Zhou family.
Zhou Shizhong sat on the main seat, breathing heavily.
After receiving the news of the attack on the Yangji and Tuhe camps, he immediately sent cavalry back for reinforcements, and later even rode to Yangji himself.
But after he came back, the situation here made him extremely annoyed.
There were more than 5,000 people in the two camps. Not to mention that most of them were lost, and many generals were captured by the Southerners!
What's even more annoying is that in the two towns of Yangjitu River, all the people who were related to Zhu Lizhen were almost completely killed by the southern army!
This incident is a great shame and humiliation for Yandu!
For Zhu Li, this is even more intolerable!
Because those Zhuli masters who have enjoyed blessings for several generations will think that the southerners can go north and liquidate Zhuli masters. When they reach further north, will they liquidate them Zhuli masters?
I'm afraid it will.
These Zhu Lizhen men would naturally put pressure on Zhou Shizhong and the Southern Conquest Army.
General Zhou sat on the main seat. After a long time, he opened his eyes and looked at his son fiercely. His voice was hoarse: "According to the intelligence, there were no more than five thousand people coming from Nanchen the day before yesterday!"
"Only your Yangji camp and Tuhe camp have more than 5,000 people!"
"There are two more camps stationed north of the two camps. Your four camps together have over 10,000 people!"
"Even if we didn't keep these Nanchen thieves, how could we suffer such a big loss?"
"father…"
Zhou Yuanhu lowered his head, almost crying: "Who would have thought that these southerners would dare to cross the river?"
"Can you think of it?"
"That night, someone came over to report that the Southerners had crossed the river. Some generals in the army laughed so hard that they didn't believe it. It wasn't until the Southerners arrived at the gate of the camp that they came to their senses."
"At that time, where is the time?"
Zhou Yuanhu gritted his teeth: "These southerners are really becoming more and more courageous!"
General Zhou closed his eyes, remained silent for a long time, and then said slowly: "If we can fight them, there is no reason why they can't fight us."
"If you take this loss, you will take it."
Zhou Shizhong looked south.
"Remember, Southerners are no longer the Southerners they used to be, especially this Shen Qi..."
General Zhou knocked on the table hard: "Not only can you fight back, but you can also bite!"
Zhou Yuanhu lowered his head and said, "Yes, my son has remembered it!"
"Son, from now on, you must pay attention to these cunning southerners!"
Zhou Shizhong shook his head slightly and said, "Just go back to Yandu."
"ah?"
Zhou Yuanhu raised his head and looked at his father: "Dad, what will your son do when he returns to Yan at this time?"
"Go and confess to Your Majesty and make amends to the Tong family."
Zhou Shizhong's face twitched: "You have to take all the blame for this time on yourself."
Zhou Yuanhu's eyes widened and he opened his mouth, but no words came out.
General Zhou closed his eyes and did not look at his son.
"If you don't go back to Yandu, your father will have to go back."
"Daqi's army cannot be defeated by the Southerners, do you understand?"
"Someone needs to take responsibility for this mistake."
"Someone needs to tell the government and the opposition that it's not that our army is at a disadvantage, it's that one general is incompetent and the three armies are exhausted..."
Seeing that Zhou Yuanhu lowered his head and said nothing, General Zhou's tone became softer: "Don't worry, for the sake of your grandfather, His Majesty will not do anything to you. At most, he will strip you of your military position and return to Yandu."
, enjoy a few years of happiness.”
Zhou Yuanhu looked up at his old father, his face turned pale: "But if this happens, my son will..."
"There will be no more chance to command troops."
The Zhou family is a general.
The rise of the Zhou family came from Zhou Shizhong's father Zhou Jin'an. After Zhou Jin'an died, Zhou Shizhong took over his father's position and took charge of the Southern Conquest Army.
This is the greatest benefit.
It is also the largest property of the Zhou family.
In other words, only those who control the army can run a family. As long as the Conquering Southern Army is still in the hands of the Zhou family, the general of the Conquering Southern Army is the head of the Zhou family.
Losing the opportunity to command the army means that in the future, he will no longer have any status in the Zhou family.
Zhou Shizhong said expressionlessly: "You have other brothers."
"But since my father left the Conquest Army, the generals of the Conquest Army in the future will no longer have the surname Zhou."
Zhou Yuanhu's face turned pale, and after kowtowing to his father, he left the tent in despair.
Not long after Zhou Yuanhu left, His Highness King Wei pushed open the tent and walked in.
"General."
He clasped his fists at Zhou Shizhong and said, "We have two hundred thousand warriors gathered on the banks of the Huaihe River. We cannot continue to suffer losses like this!"
"Otherwise, I will not be able to keep my position as the governor, and I may not be able to secure my position as the general!"
"yes…"
Zhou Shizhong nodded silently and said slowly: "Huai'an... needs to be let go."
The general of the Southern Conquest Army lowered his eyebrows and said: "We can't let the southerners lead us by the nose, maybe..."
"We need to find some replacements from other places and bring them back."
…………
At night, in the commander's tent at Xiangshui Camp.
Shen Yi ordered a table of wine and food to be set up for a banquet for several of his generals.
Ling Su, Xue Wei, and Su Ding were all present, but Meng Lian was not there.
After all, Meng Lian is a member of the Forbidden Army. Although Shen Yi can command now, he cannot be regarded as Shen Yi's subordinate after all. It is difficult for him to participate in such "internal meetings".
Master Shen sat down and had a drink with his three subordinates.
Ling Su raised his head and drank it all in one gulp, and said sincerely: "Mr. Shen is really secretive. It was not until the day before yesterday that the last general knew that there was a forbidden army under Mr. Shen. In these five or six days, all the actions of the Qi people,
They are all manipulated by Mr. Shen, it is really powerful!"
Xue Wei also drank the glass of wine and said with a smile: "General Ling is right. It wasn't until I met the general of the Forbidden Army just now that I learned that Mr. Shen still had this Forbidden Army."
After Su Ding finished drinking, he just smiled and said nothing.
Mr. Shen put down his wine glass and glanced at the three of them, but there was no proud expression on his face. He said slowly: "I can always use this forbidden army. The reason why I didn't tell you is not because I want to hide it from you, but because I want to hide it from you."
Because this army can’t be used if it can be used.”
With that said, he looked at Su Ding and said, "General Su should be able to understand. General Su, please tell me?"
Su Ding looked at Ling and Xue. After hesitating for a moment, he lowered his head and said, "Our coastal capital was sent to Huai'an because General Zhao made a bet with Duke Shen, and His Majesty made a bet with the princes in the court."
"The bet is whether our coastal capital can defend Huai'an."
He paused and continued: "My subordinates guess that using the imperial army may have an impact on this matter."
Shen Yi took a bite of his food, nodded with satisfaction, and said with a smile: "General Su said, although he didn't hit all the marks, he still got it right."
"This time, I used the imperial army. Although the results were fruitful, there will definitely be people in the court who will use this matter to make trouble."
"Fortunately...the premise for us to use the imperial army is that the Qi people also increase their troops on the north bank, otherwise I will be unable to argue."
"So, this time, I want to report my merits with a louder voice, so as to block the mouths of those thoughtful people and rotten scholars in the court so that they have nothing to say."
Having said this, he looked at Su Ding and Xue Wei and asked, "Have you gained anything by asking you to capture the second generation ancestor from the north?"
Xue Wei scratched his head and said, "Mr. Shen, all the people we will arrest will be handed over to General Su."
Su Ding lowered his head slightly and said: "Back to Mr. Shen, the last general has already interrogated them. A total of more than a dozen people have been arrested, and three of them are from households with more than 1,000 households. Although their families have some backgrounds, they have not gained much.
There is only one person named Tong..."
"He said...he is the nephew of the imperial concubine of Northern Qi."
Shen Yi's eyes lit up and he said with a smile: "That's good, that's good. I've already written the paperwork to report my merits. I'll go back to Jiankang with these people and this precious lump."
"Well... let's just say to the outside world that he is the nephew of the Emperor of Northern Qi!"
Mr. Shen thought of the imperial concubine named Zhao in the palace, put his hands on his hands and said with a smile: "When the time comes, let's identify our concubine Qi, maybe she is the cousin of concubine Qi!"
Ling Su was quite envious. He took a bite of food and then said: "This time Duke Shen led his men to fight to the north bank of the Huaihe River. Even if there is no such person named Tong, it is a feat that Chen has not achieved in many years. Only with this,
The gentlemen in the court have nothing to say to Mr. Shen."
"That's not necessarily the case. Some people in the imperial court are not good at doing things, but their ability to teach others to do things is second-to-none."
"Besides, the bigger the momentum, the better."
"It's such a big fuss..."
Having said this, Mr. Shen glanced to the west and smiled.
"Maybe we can force our Lord Zhao to stretch his head."
