It was early morning on the first day of September, probably around 9 o'clock.
It was still dark, and Tian Dan, the commander-in-chief of the Qi army on the east route, entered the city from the south gate of Suxian County astride his mount, his face as heavy as water.
Logically speaking, Tian Dan should be happy that Su County, a major grain storage city behind Fuli Fortress, was captured.
However, he couldn't be happy.
Because the Wei army on the west route stole the merits that should belong to the Qi army on the east route!
Thinking back to last night, the soldiers of the Northern Navy and Langye Army of the Qi Army on the east road fought hard with the Chu Army. During this period, I don’t know how many brave soldiers died in the battle, but the result? The Qi Army only captured a negligible amount.
several areas.
On the other hand, the Wei army, while their Qi army was fighting with the Chu army, quietly entered the city from the west gate, occupied the city guard palace almost without any hindrance, and occupied the Fulisai store of grain and grass before their Qi army.
The granary powerhouse.
Tian Dan was also extremely angry about this.
But despite being furious, he was actually a little surprised by Zhao Hongrun's vision: because this time the Wei army was behind, it meant that Zhao Hongrun had already guessed that Tian Dan would choose to attack at night.
Of course, although Tian Dan was a little surprised by this, he was not incomprehensible.
After all, the Chu general named Wu Yuan could clearly see his intention to attack Suxian at night, and in Tian Dan's view, Zhao Hongrun's vision was higher than that of the Chu general Wu Yuan. Therefore, this man could guess
His Tian Dan's actions are not strange at all.
The only reason to blame is that Tian Dan was careless, not cautious enough, and did not understand Zhao Hongrun well enough, so that while he was plotting against the Chu general Wu Yuan, he did not prepare for Zhao Hongrun coming to take the credit.
Zhao Hongrun, or Ji Run, this boy who is only sixteen years old is not easy to deal with. Tian Dan had experienced this boy's amazing momentum a few days ago on the outskirts of Suxian County.
A young man with no strength in his hands and not yet a weak crown was actually able to suppress a group of Qi army generals who had been on the battlefield for a long time. The generals were so frightened that they did not dare to say anything. Even Tian Dan was also afraid at that time.
I felt a little surprised.
King Ji Si of Wei, what kind of blessings did he have in his previous life to be able to give birth to sons like Lord Ji Zhao and Lord Wei Run...
Tian Dan couldn't help but complain about the injustice to his own king (King Lu Xi of Qi).
As we get closer to the center of Su County, the number of Wei soldiers patrolling the streets gradually increases.
Because Tian Dan was wearing Qi-style armor, these Wei soldiers all looked at Tian Dan and his entourage with cold eyes, and some of them even showed gloating smiles.
What these people were joking about, Tian Dan knew very well. It was just that his Qi army on the east route fought hard all night long, but as a result, an important area in Su County was occupied by these Wei soldiers.
"That's too much!"
On the left side of Tian Dan's mount, a soldier and general saw this scene and became furious. He raised his hand and whipped his whip and was about to whip it at one of the Wei soldiers with a mocking smile, but was caught by Tian Dan, who had quick eyes and quick hands.
Live with the riding crop.
"What are you doing?" Tian Dan frowned and asked the general, and said displeasedly: "Are you trying to provoke the Wei army and our army to fight each other?"
"I don't dare." After Tian Dan took away the riding whip, the general lowered his head and clasped his fists and said, "I'm just angry... Wei Jun's behavior last night was very despicable!"
"..." Tian Dan was silent for a moment, and then he handed the riding whip back to the attendant and said lightly: "We'll talk about it later when we see Ji Run."
After that, he glanced at the Shang Shui soldiers along the road and rode towards the city guard's house without saying a word.
It has to be said that Tian Dan thought a lot: Although the Shang Shui Army is now the army of the Wei State, the soldiers in this army are from the Chu State after all. Maybe these people will die because of the huge casualties of the Chu Army in Suxian County.
Be biased against the Qi army.
If the relationship between the Shang Shui Army and the Qi Army was good before, that would be fine, but the problem is that the relationship between the two armies has become very bad because of the Qixian incident.
What's worse is that a few days ago, Zhao Hongrun was scolding the generals under Tian Dan's command in the suburbs because of the Qixian incident. It can be seen that His Highness Prince Su is a very protective person. In this way, Prince Su has
If the Shang Shui army supported by His Highness is offended by the Qi soldiers because they are angry about the Wei army's behavior yesterday, it may lead to an unnecessary civil war between the two armies.
Looking at the three Wei armies, Fenxing Army, Yanling Army, and Shangshui Army, only King Su Zhao Hongrun can restrain these Wei soldiers. Therefore, before meeting Zhao Hongrun, Tian Dan would never allow it out of consideration for the overall situation.
Any one of his soldiers made any offense against Wei soldiers.
Not long after, Tian Dan arrived at the city guard's mansion as soon as he marched, which is where Chu general Wu Yuan once lived. Now, this place has become the headquarters of the Wei army. Tian Dan guessed that Zhao Hongrun should have already entered the city and was in this mansion.
.
Precisely because this place is special, the number of Wei troops here is also the largest.
It may be that the Wei army has not arranged a resting place for the soldiers under its command, so the streets are full of Wei soldiers sitting with weapons in their hands, taking a nap and resting together.
Similar to the patrolling Wei soldiers we encountered just now, the nearby Wei soldiers also showed mocking smiles when they saw Tian Dan and his group.
Some people even pointed in the direction of the gate tower of the city guard's mansion, where Zhao Hongrun's royal flag with the words "King Wei" and "King Su" on it was fluttering in the wind.
snort!
Tian Dan snorted secretly, his face showing a hint of perseverance.
However, he was too lazy to lower his status and argue with these Wei soldiers. He rode his horse straight to the city guard's mansion, hugged his fists to the guards of King Su who were guarding outside the mansion, and said, "Tian wants to see King Su."
Cen Chang, the chief of the Su Wang Guard, was outside the palace. Hearing this, he clasped his fists and said with a smile: "Shuai Tian is so polite...His Highness has already given instructions. If it is Marshal Tian, he can come in directly."
…
Tian Dan frowned slightly.
Zhao Hongrun guessed that he would come, and Tian Dan was not surprised. What surprised him was Zhao Hongrun's attitude towards him.
Logically speaking, Zhao Hongrun instigated Wei Jun to do such a shameful act last night, so Tian Dan should be ashamed and unwilling to meet him. Why did he seem to be eager for him to come?
With suspicion in mind, Tian Dan ordered his entourage to stay outside the mansion and walked into the mansion with only a few personal guards.
Under the guidance of Cen Chang, the chief of guard of King Su, Tian Dan came to the inner garden of the mansion.
I saw a few simple dishes already prepared on the stone benches in the inner courtyard garden.
Tian Dan took a look at it and realized that it was really an ordinary dish: pickled vegetables, bacon, and broth in a bronze pot.
Except for the broth, I don’t know what kind of meat it is, the other two items are military dishes.
And besides that, there is a pot of rice porridge.
What does this mean?
Tian Dan turned around and looked at Cen Chang, the chief of Su Wang's guard.
Cen Chang understood and explained with a smile: "My Highness knows that Tian Shuai has not eaten all the grains of rice since last night, so he specially ordered me to cook a pot of porridge and invited Tian Shuai to eat with him."
Tian Dan frowned when he heard this. He really didn't understand what Zhao Hongrun was thinking, but as Cen Chang said, he was really hungry at the moment.
So, he was not polite. After sitting down, he ate pickled vegetables and fresh meat and drank porridge. After taking a few sips, he casually asked: "Where is your highness? Isn't it another trick?"
Of course, Cen Chang knew why Tian Dan was speaking in such a tone. Hearing this, he smiled and explained: "Shuai Tian, wait a moment, His Highness is taking a bath in the palace."
"Too many things!"
Tian Dan snorted coldly, but said nothing more.
After an unknown amount of time, Zhao Hongrun and Shi Shiran came over from the house after bathing and changing clothes, and sat down opposite Tian Dan.
During this period, Tian Dan heard the movement and glanced up, but because there was still food in his mouth, he did not say hello to Zhao Hongrun.
Seeing the two of them quietly drinking porridge, it was hard to imagine that they actually disliked each other.
Tian Dan ate early, but he had a big appetite, and although Zhao Hongrun ate late, he had a relatively small appetite. Therefore, it was a coincidence that they put down their chopsticks almost at the same time.
At this time, Tian Dan vented his dissatisfaction.
"Master Ji Run, regarding your army's actions yesterday, I hope you can give Tian an explanation."
"Explanation?" Zhao Hongrun said with a smile: "What explanation does Tian Shuai need?"
Need to ask?
Tian Dan's thick eyebrows suddenly raised, and he said displeasedly: "Yesterday, your army took advantage of our army to fight with the Chu army in the city to reap the benefits... It seems that your army's behavior, if spread, would probably cause trouble."
Criticism!"
After hearing this, Zhao Hongrun shrugged and said with pretense of regret: "It turns out that Tian Shuai was referring to this matter, but... I've already done it, so what can I do?"
"You..." Tian Dan was speechless.
But at this moment, Zhao Hongrun laughed and said: "Sorry, sorry, I was just joking." After that, he slowly put away the smile on his face and said to Tian Dan seriously: "Shuai Tian, the truth is
"Sir, I don't think our army needs to give your army an explanation."
Seeing how serious Zhao Hongrun was, Tian Dan put away the anger on his face, frowned and asked, "How do you say this?"
Zhao Hongrun raised a finger and said calmly: "First of all, our army entered the city around midnight last night. According to the agreement between my king and Tian Shuai, our Wei army should attack Suxian today. In this case, I called my subordinates
What fault did the sergeant have when he entered the city after Zishi? Speaking of this matter, I would like to ask Commander Tian, why your army is occupying the north and south gates of the city when your army should not be attacking Suxian today?"
Well?
Tian Dan was stunned when he heard this, and then he remembered that he had indeed made this agreement with Zhao Hongrun.
"Isn't the time limit based on sunrise?" Tian Dan asked in a daze.
Zhao Hongrun burst into laughter, shook his head and said: "How can the date in the world be limited by sunrise and sunset? Of course it is bounded by Zi Shi."
It has to be said that Zhao Hongrun deliberately took advantage of the loophole here.
Because in this era, many people do use sunrise and sunset as time limits, especially in the military. For example, in military orders, what I should do before sunrise and what I should do before sunset are often mentioned in military orders. Very few people would say
What should I do before midnight?
Seeing that Tian Dan was silent, Zhao Hongrun chuckled and said: "This is one of them... Secondly, when your army attacked Suxian County at night yesterday, as far as I know, your army used our army to defend the northern city wall.
Created a gap, right?" At this point, he moved closer and lowered his voice and said: "Who broke the rules first, General Tian Dan?"
…
Tian Dan took a deep look at Zhao Hongrun. At this moment, he suddenly had a guess: maybe the young King Su had already guessed his intention as early as when Tian Dan tried to create a gap in the southern city wall of Su County.
intention.
What a terrifying... and rare enemy!
Faintly, Tian Dan felt as if the blood in his body was about to boil, so much so that after staying up all night, he didn't feel tired at all, but instead felt a hundred times more energetic.
I saw him looking at Zhao Hongrun, and suddenly laughed and said: "That's great... Tian has not felt this way for a long time. Mr. Ji Run, are you willing to make another bet with Tian?"
…
Zhao Hongrun was slightly startled because he vaguely felt that the whole aura of Tian Dan in front of him suddenly became different.
It was as if a tiger was gradually waking up, less lazy and careless, and more fierce and domineering.
"I would like to hear the details!" Zhao Hongrun said seriously.
I saw Tian Dan licking his lips and said in a deep voice: "I bet on whether your Wei army in the west or my Qi army in the east will plant the flag first on the city of Shouxing, the capital of King Chu!"
Playing so big?
Even Zhao Hongrun was shocked by Tian Dan's bold words. As far as he knew, hundreds of thousands or even millions of troops from the Chu Kingdom were stationed near Shouying, the capital of King Chu.
Tian Dan's words sounded as if they were just a mob.
"What to bet on?"
After thinking about it, Zhao Hongrun asked in a deep voice.
A cold look flashed across Tian Dan's eyes, his eyes narrowed slightly, and he said in a deep voice: "I'll bet on your king's flag, sir, and Tian's general's flag!"
Zhao Hongrun was stunned when he heard this.
Don't look at a flag, even if it is Zhao Hongrun's King's Flag, the cost will not be that high. But the problem is the meaning of this kind of flag, which is extraordinary. (To be continued.) 8