He has been hiding his troops for more than a month and has already endured a lot of pressure from the court.
Up to now, at least five or more censors from Yandu have written about him.
If His Majesty the Emperor had not expressed his stance due to his physical condition, and others did not have the power to change the generals of the border army, he, the chief general of the Southern Conquest Army, would have been sent to the capital long ago.
Even now, he is under great pressure. Xuzhou City has been unable to be recovered, and there has even been no progress. Now not only the censor is interfering with him, but the Yandu War Department has also sent him several documents, instructing him to lead the army.
Ineffective.
However, in order to preserve his strength and prevent further defeats, General Zhou withstood the pressure from all parties and made no further moves.
Because there were not enough troops to recapture Xuzhou City.
For Zhou Shizhong, the best solution now is to surround Xuzhou until Xuzhou city runs out of food and grass, force Shen Yi out of Xuzhou city, and then lead his troops to defeat the southern bandits and regain Xuzhou.
Even though he won't be able to live up to his reputation, he will be very dignified and the officials in the court won't be able to say anything about him.
But now, Shen Yi has gone even further and opened the door to Xuzhou!
Under such circumstances, if the Conquering South Army has not taken action and the matter reaches the Yandu court, even if His Majesty the Emperor still has no reaction, those grumpy Master Zhu Lizhen will come to cause trouble for him!
Seeing the gates of Xuzhou City wide open, the deputy general Ha Xin next to Zhou Shizhong became furious and clasped his fists and said: "General Zhou, these southerners are too arrogant. The last general will lead his troops to attack Xuzhou City, rush into the city, and attack Xuzhou City."
These southerners are driven out of Xuzhou City!"
Zhou Shizhong looked back at him silently and said expressionlessly: "We are twenty miles away from Xuzhou, the nearest one. Before we get there, the city gate will have been closed long ago."
Hasin gritted his teeth: "Then just watch them provoking like this?"
"Shen Qi did this just to lure us into attacking Xuzhou."
Zhou Shizhong squinted his eyes and said, "Maybe they don't have enough food and grass and they can't sustain it."
Zhou Shizhong didn't know how much food there was in Xuzhou city, or he wasn't sure because Pan Mao, the former magistrate of Xuzhou, had died in the turmoil that night.
At the beginning, Pan Mao, for the sake of personal gain, kept the amount of grain purchased strictly confidential. Apart from him, few people knew how much grain Lin Sheng bought into Xuzhou City.
Therefore, although there were many defenders who escaped from Xuzhou City, there were not many people who really knew about the food stored in the city.
"A small leak will sink a great ship."
Zhou Shizhong closed his eyes and tried to take a deep breath.
"Let him be rampant for a while longer."
Hearing his words, Hasin on the side was a little disapproving. He clasped his fists and said: "General, please forgive me for speaking frankly. Sometimes you Han people are too cowardly and just say "forbearance" when encountering things.
"
"If this were not the case, sixty or seventy years ago, we, Master Zhu Li, would not have been able to enter."
Zhou Shizhong glared angrily at the deputy general who was born in Zhu Li, and shouted: "Are you going to disobey the superior officer!"
Hasin snorted and said, "If the general feels this way, there is nothing the general can do. The general can just write to the court and join in the performance!"
After saying this, Hasin snorted and turned to leave.
Zhou Shizhong stared intently at Ha Xin's retreating back, feeling furious in his heart.
But there was no other way. He could only watch Ha Xin leave and there was nothing he could do about him.
Because the other party is Zhu Li.
More importantly, Hasin's attitude towards the Xuzhou City incident is probably the same as Zhu Li's attitude towards this matter.
As the deputy general of the Southern Conquest Army, Hasin chose to fall out with his old boss at this time, which may not mean that he was cut off from Zhou Shizhong.
Because he could see that in the face of the current situation in Xuzhou City, whether Zhou Shizhong fought or not, he would suffer a big loss and fall into trouble.
Even if the imperial court is furious, he will be sent to the capital.
At this time, Ha Xin naturally sided with Zhu Li without any hesitation and chose to quickly cut off from Zhou Shizhong.
"Arrogant!"
Zhou Shizhong clenched his fist and cursed again: "Idiot!"
After cursing a few words, he looked back at Xuzhou City, which had its four doors wide open. The anger in his heart surged involuntarily, and his mouth naturally started to become unclean.
After scolding Shen Qi, General Zhou walked away, returned to his tent, and began to write a letter to the court.
At this time, he had to write a short confession to the court.
Because if he doesn't write.
Others will write short essays to attack him first. If he is imprisoned by then, it will be too late to write any more.
………………
Three days later, the secret memorial about the situation in Xuzhou and the memorial from Zhou Shizhong himself were rushed to the desk of Emperor Yongping in Yandu.
At this time, Emperor Yongping's face was already very pale.
Not only do I often cough, but I can't eat very well. I feel like vomiting after just two mouthfuls of food. I can only drink a little porridge and eat a little liquid food to survive.
There were a total of four documents before him at this time.
One is from Zhou Shizhong, the other is from Ha Xin, the deputy general of the Southern Conquest Army, and the other is from the Ministry of War, and the last one...
Naturally, it belongs to the Purity Department.
Emperor Yongping took a sip of gruel, silently opened the last document from the Purity Department, and after reading it once, he opened the other books one by one, and after reading them all silently, he closed his eyes.
"Liu Yi, it is reported that Ma Cheng has entered the palace."
Eunuch Liu bowed his head respectfully and went to the meeting hall in person to inform Prime Minister Ma Cheng.
Half an hour later, Ma Cheng respectfully entered the side hall, knelt on the ground with a plop, touched his head to the ground, and said in a pious voice: "My lord, Ma Cheng, long live my emperor..."
The emperor waved weakly, and then winked at Liu Yi. Eunuch Liu quickly moved a small pile and placed it behind Ma Cheng.
"Sit down and talk."
After Emperor Yongping said this, he seemed a little tired. He stretched out his hand to rub his temples and said in a weak tone: "Take a look at the documents in front of you."
Ma Cheng lowered his head respectfully. After taking a look at the covers of several documents, he first opened Ha Xin's document and read it, and then read all the other documents.
After reading, the Prime Minister of the Northern Qi Dynasty lowered his head and said: "Your Majesty, the Southern Army has been far superior to the Southern Army for a long time. Twenty years ago, Zhou Jin'an used the Southern Army to defeat the Southerners. Now the Southerners are defeated.
Not only did they cross the Huaihe River, they actually occupied the city of Xuzhou!"
"Zhou Shizhong is an unforgivable crime."
The emperor had no expression on his face and said: "I am asking you how to solve this matter, not how you should deal with it. If you deal with Zhou Shizhong, the matter in the south will be solved. I will behead him immediately."
Ma Cheng lowered his head and thought for a while, then replied: "Your Majesty, although Zhou Shizhong does not have any great abilities, some of his ideas are not problematic. He said in the memorial that Xuzhou has tall walls and many defenders, so it is difficult to attack by force."
If the gain outweighs the loss, it is better to besiege the city. After the food and grass in the city are exhausted, the southerners will naturally have to leave the city, and then they can catch them all in one fell swoop."
Emperor Yongping looked at Ma Cheng quietly and asked: "Ma Xiang really thinks that...the Huai'an army in Xuzhou City is a lone army?"
Emperor Yongping's meaning was very clear.
If Huai'an's army runs out of food and fodder, Nanchen will naturally send troops to Xuzhou to relieve him.
By then, Da Qi's face would be completely wiped out.
Ma Cheng lowered his head and said: "The Emperor's Holy Judgment..."
The emperor closed his eyes and said, "Didn't the Tatar Khan agree to the kiss?"
"Let Tu Yuan of the border army go south and take over Zhou Shizhong's position as the commander-in-chief of the southern expedition."
Having said this, Emperor Yongping narrowed his eyes.
"Zhou Shizhong cherishes feathers and is unwilling to let his men attack the city. I have no choice but to use an outsider to lead the southern army."
Emperor Yongping took a breath and continued,
"Then select 100,000 people from the three major camps of the Forbidden Army and give them to Tu Yuan, so that he can lead the troops south and completely resolve the issue in Xuzhou."
The emperor lay down on the couch.
"Those southerners will never learn a lesson unless they are beaten. This time I will beat them painfully, so that I can feel at ease."
Ma Cheng stood up, knelt on the ground again, kowtowed to the emperor, and said in a respectful tone: "Your Majesty, I will go and arrange some matters..."
The emperor had already laid down. He closed his eyes and said slowly: "I have become more and more tired recently. In the future, please do not send any matters in the court to me."
"I will issue an edict."
"Let the third son of the emperor, Zhao Li, supervise the country and temporarily enter the meeting hall... to observe the government and several ministers..."
The emperor's voice gradually became quieter.
"Take him with you more."
Hearing this, Ma Cheng felt a little sad and knelt on the ground, sticking his butt out and kowtowing.
"Old minister...obey the will..."
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