Early the next morning, the Huai'an army led by Shen Yi crossed the Shu River and continued heading west, heading straight for Xuzhou.
In order to create a dramatic image, Shen Yi also deliberately accelerated his march on this day to give Zhou Shizhong the illusion that he was in a hurry to rush to Xuzhou.
Counting the days, almost half a month has passed 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 Qi people's scouts, so he just moved here.
News had already reached the Southern Conquest Army camp, which was only about thirty miles away from them.
However, when the news reached the Zhengnan Army camp, a strange face greeted him in the Zhengnan Army camp.
This man looked to be in his early forties, wearing a high-ranking official uniform, and was sitting opposite Zhou Shizhong in the handsome tent.
It is worth mentioning that this person sat at the top and had a higher status than Zhou Shizhong.
The man lowered his head and took a sip of tea, then looked at Zhou Shizhong and said calmly: "General, the news of the southerners' northward movement has reached the capital of Yan. Not only is your majesty furious, but the government and the public are also in an uproar."
"How many years has it been since a southerner entered our Daqi territory?"
"Master Ma."
General Zhou clasped his fists and said with a wry smile: "You are the Minister of War, and you also know the situation of my Conquest Army. Last year, the Conquest Army fought for a year, and the casualties were not small. This year, there are 20,000 to 30,000 people in the army.
The newly recruited soldiers are not strong enough to fight..."
"Besides, the Huai'an Army on the south bank is recruiting troops again this year. As of now, the number of southern troops along the Huai River is over ten or two hundred thousand!"
"We also lacked warships. We couldn't prevent the southerners from crossing the Huaihe River, so we were attacked by them..."
This "Mr. Ma" looked at Zhou Shizhong indifferently, with no expression on his face: "The general's family has a long history. General Zhou once defeated the southerners in one fell swoop and couldn't breathe for twenty years. Ma naturally
I believe in the general, but those in the imperial court don’t know the current situation on the front line or the situation of the Southern Army.”
"Now, there is a lot of noise in Yandu."
Ma Shilang looked at Zhou Shizhong quietly and said: "Even the chief of our Ministry of War said that we would consider changing generals. Some time ago, three of our chief officers of the Ministry of War were called to the palace one after another by the emperor to give lectures."
"No, even I was sent down."
Ma Shilang sighed and said: "General, you must understand that the battle is not going well. It has lost the face of the emperor and the court, and the Ministry of War is also under pressure."
General Zhou did not speak, but 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, lowered his head slightly and said: "Master Ma, this is the wish of my father and son. I hope that Master Ma will be with the Emperor, the Ministry of War and Prime Minister Ma, how beautiful it is."
Word."
Ma Xuan, the left minister of the Ministry of War, is the real person of Zhu Li. His surname Ma is his Han surname.
Originally, he was a third-grade minister, and Zhou Shizhong was a second-grade powerful general. The status between the two should not be much different. Zhou Shizhong might even be higher. After all, the status of military generals in Northern Qi was not higher than that of Chen Guo.
Less.
But Ma Shilang had an elder brother who was the prime minister, which made his status rise rapidly. Even Zhou Shizhong had to be careful in front of him.
Ma Shilang glanced at the box, with a smile on his face: "What are you doing, General? Ma is here to share the emperor's worries, not to take advantage of anyone."
A smile appeared on Zhou Shizhong's face: "Master Ma, by accepting this box, he will take care of the emperor's worries."
He said softly: "Here are some of the wealth that our Zhou family has accumulated over the years, a total of two hundred thousand taels of cash, and a mansion in Yandu. It is a little bit of my father and son's feelings for Mr. Ma and Prime Minister Ma.
"
Only then did Ma Shilang take a look at the box, and after holding it calmly in his hand, he coughed and said: "The general is too polite, but I have agreed in advance that if I take advantage of your family, my brother is
unknown."
The meaning of this sentence is that the money can buy him, the minister of the Ministry of War, but it is not enough to spend it on his brother, the prime minister.
When Zhou Shizhong heard this, his heart twitched!
On weekdays, this money could be used to go to the prime minister, not to mention the relationship, or even to take the prime minister to visit the brothel. Now, this Ma Shilang clearly saw that the Zhou family was in trouble and maliciously raised the price!
But at this time, he had to endure it no longer. Zhou Shizhong forced out a smile: "In that case, after my father and son return to Yandu, they will visit Ma Xiang again."
Mentioning the Minister of Ma, Ma Shilang shook his head slightly and sighed: "My brother went to Northern Xinjiang and has never come back."
"but."
He smiled at Zhou Shizhong and said, "But come to think of it, I should be back in a few months."
As he spoke, he took out a document from his hand, placed it in front of Zhou Shizhong, and said with a smile: "General, this is the troop transfer document from the Ministry of War. The 20,000 soldiers and horses transferred from Jining Prefecture have arrived in Yizhou.
, now it is under the command and deployment of the general."
At this point, he glanced at Zhou Shizhong meaningfully and said quietly: "General, I heard that the southern thieves intend to spy on Xuzhou. Xuzhou is an important city. You must not make any mistakes. Otherwise, don't talk about your Zhou family."
If you are punished by the imperial court, even the Ministry of War may be punished."
Zhou Shizhong bowed his head deeply and said: "Don't worry, Mr. Ma, the Southern Army will definitely defend the country for the imperial court and drive the Southerners back to the Southern Dynasty!"
Having said this, he looked back at his son, handed the document to Zhou Yuanlang, and said in a deep voice: "Immediately take this document with you to lead the army in Yizhou, and bring all 20,000 people into Xuzhou City.
Stick to Xuzhou and make no mistakes!"
Zhou Yuanlang first lowered his head to take the document, and then looked at his old father with some worry.
Zhou Shizhong frowned: "What are you doing standing still? Why don't you go quickly?"
Zhou Yuanlang lowered his head slightly, and then said: "Dad, the Huai'an army stayed at the foot of the Pagoda Mountain near the Shu River all night. The scouts reported that they could still vaguely see movement until midnight. My son felt..."
"If you want to continue chasing the Huai'an army, you need to pay more attention to Pagoda Mountain."
Hearing this, before Zhou Shizhong could speak, he heard Ma Shilang on the side said with a smile: "General, this is Mr. Ling? Why do you look so scholarly?"
Zhou Shizhong lowered his head slightly and said: "It's Quanzi. He has liked reading since he was a child. He is a little cautious by nature, which makes adults laugh."
"It's better to be cautious."
Ma Shilang clapped his hands and said with a smile: "If it weren't for this caution, the Southern Army would not have been trapped in Haizhou and would not have dared to go out of the city to meet the enemy. This Southern Army was allowed to run rampant in Daqi, and now it is threatening us.
It’s Xuzhou.”
Hearing this, Zhou Shizhong's expression changed slightly, he glanced sideways at his son, and shouted: "Why don't you go to Yizhou to mobilize troops?!"
Zhou Yuanlang had no choice but to lower his head and say yes, then turned and left.
After he left, Zhou Shizhong smiled awkwardly and said, "You are stupid because of reading. Don't take his words to heart."
"Zhou immediately broke camp and followed the southern army. No matter what moves they made, our army would be able to catch up in time. If these southern thieves dared to directly encircle Xuzhou, Zhou could lead Wang's division to attack from both inside and outside.
These invading enemies will stay under Xuzhou City!"
"Then General, it's better to be faster."
Ma Shilang stood up, walked out, and said with his hands behind his back: "I heard that the Southerners' Western Route Army is approaching Xuzhou."
Zhou Shizhong followed Ma Shilang, escorted him out of the military camp, and put him on the sedan. After the Shilang's sedan left, the smile on General Zhou's face slowly faded.
He silently glanced to the west, squinted his eyes, and then spoke slowly.
"Send the military order, break camp and march westward, follow Shen Qi!"
"Send an order to the garrison in Suqian and nearby counties."
General Zhou took a breath, his voice hoarse.
"Be ready to unite with Xuzhou at any time to encircle and annihilate the southern bandits."
The messengers below did not dare to neglect and bowed their heads respectfully.