Thief Emperor

Chapter 767 King Wu is kind and righteous!

At this time, Su Sheng had indeed led his troops to Xuzhou and had joined forces with Chen Da.

Su Sheng acted quickly. He had even prepared the logistical supplies and was ready to cross the river and head north.

Xuzhou is separated from Hebei Province by the Yellow River. Although it is not too difficult to cross the river to the north, it is not easy either.

Fortunately, when Su Sheng was preparing to cross the river in Xuzhou, a man came to him and said that he could help the Jiangdong Army cross the river smoothly to the north, and could also help the Jiangdong Army transport supplies across the river.

When Su Sheng came out of the camp and saw this man, before he could say anything, his deputy general Chen Da beside him had already whispered to him, "General, it's the governor of Pinglu."

When Su Sheng heard these five words, he immediately reacted, stepped forward, clasped his fists, and saluted, saying, "It turns out to be General Zhou. I'm sorry to meet you."

At this time, Zhou Xu had aged a lot, almost visibly.

His hair was nearly half white, and the wrinkles on his face, which were not deep before, seemed to have deepened. He looked Su Sheng up and down for a few times, and then sighed: "A tiger son of a general."

"As expected of Brother Su's son."

General Su Jingsu is almost the general with the most military achievements among Zhou Xu's generation. When General Su was making great achievements on the battlefield, Zhou Xu had just taken over the family business in Qingzhou not long ago, and Wei Quanzhong was just a middle-level general in the army and had not yet made a fortune.

Therefore, General Su has a very high prestige among this generation.

The reason why the rebellion in the Central Plains at that time was so powerful was largely because General Su Jingsu died at the hands of Wang Junping's rebels.

This incident greatly boosted the morale of the rebels, and they even managed to fight their way into the capital.

Now, General Su has passed away, and his eldest son Su Sheng has become an important figure on the battlefield. When meeting Su Sheng, Zhou Xu naturally has to mention his father.

Hearing Zhou Xu mention his father, Su Sheng raised his eyebrows, then turned sideways and said, "I didn't even know when the general arrived in Xuzhou."

Zhou Xu sighed and said, "This Xuzhou was originally my Qingzhou territory. I ceded it to the Jiangdong Army. Before this, my Pinglu Army was stationed here. It doesn't seem strange that General Su didn't know about my coming here."

Su Sheng did not dwell on this question. He just smiled and said, "I just heard from my subordinates that the general can send our army north. How did the general know that our army was going to go north?"

"The King of Wu's manifesto to fight the rebels has almost spread all over the world. At this time, if the Jiangdong Army has a large-scale force arriving in Xuzhou, the intention is naturally clear."

Zhou Xu said with his hands behind his back: "Although I have lost to the King of Wu many times on the battlefield, I am not a fool. I can still see this situation."

Su Sheng heard this and smiled, "General, this is too serious. Our king once said that the general is the king's elder brother..."

Zhou Xu waved his hand: "It's just to leave a way for future generations, don't mention it."

While they were talking, the two had already entered the general's tent. In the tent, a map of Hebei Road was hung high. Zhou Xu glanced at the map and was about to speak when Su Sheng silently stepped forward and covered the marching map drawn by Jiusi on his desk.

The larger maps of Hebei Province were not that important, but the marching maps drawn by Jiusi every day were all actual marching routes. If others took a look at these things, there might be problems.

Zhou Xu walked to the large hanging map, pointed at a point, and said, "Here, your army can cross the river to the north. Both the north and south banks are controlled by our Pinglu Army. We can ensure that your army can cross the river to the north safely."

Su Sheng looked in the direction of Zhou Xu's finger and saw that his finger was at Jeju. Across the river from Jeju was Bozhou in Hebei Province.

Su Sheng asked, "General, Bozhou in the north."

"I said that."

Zhou Xu said, "Both sides are under the control of our Pinglu Army."

“Although we have not occupied Bozhou, there is absolutely no problem with this port.”

Su Sheng thought for a moment, then nodded with a smile and said, "The general is really enthusiastic. Logically, we should ask the general for help, but the general actually came to help us on his own initiative."

"Look at Zhou's appearance."

Zhou Xu laughed at himself: "How many years can I live?"

"It's all for the sake of my children and grandchildren."

He looked at Su Sheng and said slowly: "My son is in Hebei Province now. He may fight with others at any time. What's more terrible is that it is still unclear whether he will fight with the Khitans or the Fanyang Army."

"Since he has surrendered to the King of Wu, as his father, I must help him. After all, General Su's army is his friendly army."

Su Sheng thought about it, but couldn't think of any problem, so he could only smile and said, "I'm just worried about how to go north, so I'll trouble you, General."

"No trouble."

Zhou Xu looked at Su Sheng and asked, "Excuse me, how many troops are heading north?"

Su Sheng thought for a moment and said, "About 30,000. Your Majesty, we will continue to send more troops to support the war in Hebei Province." Zhou Xu was silent for a while, then raised his thumb and praised, "To be honest with you, General Su, I used to think highly of the King of Wu. I thought he was just a nouveau riche in Jiangnan Province who got rich by luck and opportunity. Now..."

"I really admire him, my sworn brother."

General Zhou sighed: "What a benevolent man!"

Su Sheng smiled and said, "What do you mean, General?"

General Zhou looked at Su Sheng and said slowly, "Now, Qingzhou has been controlled by the King of Wu, and the Central Plains is short of troops. If the situation were reversed, I might also support Hebei Province, but I would definitely wait until Qingzhou was exhausted before sending troops to support Hebei. At the same time, the longer the better."

"The longer it drags on, the more stable the Central Plains will be, and the more secure I, as the ruler of the Central Plains, will be."

"At this juncture, we can force 30,000 people out."

Zhou Xu said with a sigh: "It's really not easy."

Su Sheng smiled and said, "Your Majesty has always been like this. The general may not know this."

"Your Majesty has only been in Jiangdong for five or six years, and now every household in Jiangdong is vying to join the army."

He toasted Zhou Xu with a glass of wine and chuckled, "As long as the superior is willing, it will be quite easy to pull out another 200,000 troops from Jiangdong."

"By then, there won't be any problem of shortage of troops. It's just that the superiors are kind and righteous, and don't want too many of their subjects to join the army."

Zhou Xu raised his head and drank the glass of wine, then said with a smile: "General Su, don't try to bluff me. After you guys got started in Jiangdong in the past few years, which lord in the world didn't stare at you with wide eyes? Study you?"

"I may know more about Jiangdong's situation than you do."

General Zhou said calmly: "It is true that every household in Jiangdong wants to join the army, but they want to join the army not necessarily out of loyalty to you, King Wu, but more because the Jiangdong Army has generous salaries and good treatment."

"Even if Jiangdong had another 200,000 soldiers, could the King of Wu still afford them the military pay and treatment they deserve?"

Zhou Xu smiled and said, "By then, I'm afraid that even the weapons won't be fully deployed. With all the good and bad troops mixed together, if they encounter an army like the Shuofang Army, they will probably be beaten and flee in panic. By then, a part of the defeated army will lead a whole group of defeated troops, and their combat effectiveness may not be as good as it is now."

At this point, Zhou Xu said with emotion: "In the world, only the King of Wu can lead troops like this. In just a few years, the Jiangdong Army can go head-to-head with the battle-hardened Shuofang Army with equal strength."

Su Sheng was somewhat curious and asked, "The general is also in charge of a region, why doesn't he learn?"

"You can't learn, you can't learn."

Zhou Xu drank another glass of wine, looked at Su Sheng, and said, "I have asked someone to calculate. If the Jiangdong Army raises soldiers in this way, our Qingzhou's annual income will not be able to support 30,000 soldiers."

"In the world, only the King of Wu has been able to establish a state from the beginning, and has been doing things on his own. He has also gathered a large number of civil servants who can make money. Only then can he afford to support an army like your Jiangdong Army."

General Zhou murmured, "I'm afraid his annual military expenditure will exceed that of the old Wu Zhou Dynasty."

Su Sheng was startled, then he didn't say anything, just picked up the wine glass and said, "Come, I'll toast to the general again."

Zhou Xu happily picked up the wine glass and they both drank it in one gulp.

…………

A few days later, Su Sheng led his troops north from Jeju Ferry and successfully entered the territory of Hebei Province.

When the Jiangdong Army crossed the river, Su Sheng and Zhou Xu watched them cross the river. After the last battalion crossed the river, Su Sheng clasped his fists towards Zhou Xu and said, "General, my troops have crossed the river, and I am heading north as well. After we finish our business in the north, I will go to Qingzhou to have a drink with you, General."

Zhou Xu withdrew his gaze from the Jeju Ferry, then looked at Su Sheng and said with a smile: "General Su is dishonest, how can you have 30,000 troops?"

"I counted, the most is... twenty-five or twenty-six thousand."

Su Sheng was startled, then he clasped his fists and said with a smile: "General, our more than 20,000 Jiangdong troops are far superior to the other 30,000 troops!"

"Farewell!"

After saying that, he also stepped onto the ferry.

Zhou Xu stood with his hands behind his back, watching Su Sheng's ship heading north at Jeju Ferry.

The Pinglu Jiedushi looked at it for a long time before he let out a long sigh.

"It's the young people's world now."

(End of this chapter)