si-mexico Chapter 428: The Southern King's Beating
Chapter 428: The Southern King's Beating
A month later, the army led by Prince Lanling finally arrived at Xingyang Pass.
Xingyang Pass is a big pass, easy to defend and difficult to attack. It covers a vast area and is purely for military purposes. It has always been the gateway to Kun State. By occupying Xingyang Pass, Kun State can attack or defend against Qi State.
This place has changed hands three times within two years and is now in the hands of the State of Yan.
After Shen Changgong settled the army, he took the generals to the general's mansion.
The center of the pass is usually not called the City Lord's Mansion or the Government Office, because it is where the general guarding the pass lives, so it is usually called the City Lord's Mansion.
Prince Nan and Shen Changgong were old acquaintances, so they did not come out to greet him.
Shen Changgong just came in as if he was visiting someone, and sat down directly after entering.
There were not many people in the room.
Prince Ma Ling of the South sat on the left side of the Eight Immortals Table, reading a military book, while Shen Changgong sat directly on the right side.
There are three people sitting on the left, namely Zhang Han, commander of the Zhennan Army, Li Bohan, commander of the Pingnan Army, and Jiang Shun, commander of the Zhengnan Army.
On Shen Changgong's side, he only brought Yu Huatian, Nie Bei, Gongsun Wan'er and Tu Que Ling.
Wan'er and Que Ling always followed Shen Changgong during battles, almost never leaving his side.
"Brother Nan Wang, it's been a year since we last met. How have you been lately?"
Shen Changgong just laughed carelessly.
Southern King Ma Ling snorted coldly and continued reading the military book.
Zhang Han, Li Bohan and others also stood up and saluted Shen Changgong, especially Zhang Han. He had gained a lot of military merits when he went to the grassland last time and doubled the number of cavalry under his command. He was extremely grateful to Shen Changgong.
After greeting everyone in turn, Shen Changgong said to Ma Ling,
"Brother Nan Wang, you've been here for a month now, so I'm sure you've figured out Qi's movements. How about we discuss how to fight this war to destroy Qi?"
Ma Ling snorted coldly, put down the military book, and said,
"Didn't your Lord Shen say that I'm just a reckless man with no courage and no sense of war? Why? Now you're here to discuss this with me again?"
Shen Changgong was stunned when he heard this. He felt that these words were very familiar, as if he had said them.
But when was this said?
Oh, I remembered it.
"Hahaha, Lord Ma, I said that to stall the Liang Kingdom's envoys. I didn't want to send troops.
Look at you, you're anxious again.
Why are you so petty? "
“This prince is not very prudent, how can he compare to you, the master strategist, Prince Shen.
I heard that you generously rewarded my Zhennan Army this time, and now the entire Zhennan Army is grateful to you, Prince Shen, and says you are a wise leader."
Shen Changgong now understood why Ma Ling was so sarcastic as soon as they met.
To be honest, Shen Changgong's scolding was nothing, and Ma Ling wouldn't take it to heart.
However, Shen Changgong's act of rewarding the Zhennan Army made him very unhappy.
It's like they're trying to dig out his people.
This violated his taboo.
This guy was jealous, so he wanted to teach Shen Changgong a lesson.
Ma Ling did not want too much military power, nor did he want to be in charge of government affairs. He did not want anything. He just wanted to guard his own troops and then achieve great things.
I can help you conquer the world, but you can't do anything behind my back.
Shen Changgong of course knew what he was thinking, he laughed and said,
"Brother Nan Wang, you misunderstood. How could I possibly have such thoughts? This Zhennan Army isn't my army; I borrowed it. I can't just lend you my men for nothing, can I?
My brothers helped me kill the enemy, so I should show my appreciation, right?
Military merit is calculated uniformly by the military. What you and I say has no effect. The rules have the final say.
The gold and silver rewards were just one or two taels of silver given to each of them by His Majesty as tea money after they returned to the capital.
Besides, after several major battles, you only got 100,000 soldiers and horses. I feel guilty about it, brother.
I know that you value quality over quantity in your troops, so you wouldn't want another legion even if I gave you one.
Then we can only think of other ways. This time we have more than 60,000 horses, and we will allocate 50,000 new recruits with clean backgrounds to you for training, just to make you happy.
Alas, what a pity! My good intentions were taken for granted and I was considered to have ulterior motives.
This world is really difficult."
Shen Changgong sighed sadly and looked like he was about to cry.
Extremely aggrieved.
Ma Ling sneered. He just wanted to remind Shen Changgong not to overreach so much. He, Ma Ling, never cared about Shen Changgong's troops, and Shen Changgong didn't want to care about his either.
"Alright, alright, I know what you mean, stop pretending."
"No, I have to satisfy my brother, the King of Nan. Since he doesn't want the 50,000 cavalry, I will go to the military camp tomorrow and take the 50,000 cavalry away. I also want to thank him for helping with the training during this period."
Hearing this, Zhang Han immediately became anxious and quickly winked at King Nan.
"That won't work."
King Nan smiled slightly, his eyes looking somewhat embarrassed.
"Don't you want it?"
"When did I say I didn't want it anymore?"
"You said the Zhennan Army is grateful to me."
"Isn't that as it should be? You, Prince Shen, are such a great warrior and you even won them military merits. They should be thanking you."
"Tsk, you have to drink three jars tonight, otherwise this matter will not be resolved."
Shen Changgong rolled his eyes.
Once real interests were involved, King Nan immediately gave in.
After all, compared with the troops, the so-called suspicion and warnings are nothing.
Shen Changgong understood the King of the South. He was a man of the type who would not offend others unless they offended him. He would never interfere with his own troops and was very law-abiding. Nothing he did was faultless.
But it is precisely because this person is too perfect that he is difficult to control.
Shen Changgong did not compete with him for anything, nor was he interested in monopolizing power. On the contrary, he was happy to have the Prince of the South help share some military affairs. As long as he could ensure that the Prince of the South posed no threat to him with what he had in his hands, it was enough.
It was normal for the King of Nan to feel a sense of crisis when rewarding the Zhennan Army this time. After all, the prestige he had established in the Zhennan Army this time was too high.
The war is imminent and there will be many more wars in the future, so the two of them cannot fight among themselves.
"Okay, let's get down to business. The situation in Qi is a bit complicated right now. Let's talk about how to fight."
King Nan Ma Ling waved his hand, and the guards immediately brought a large table and spread the map on it.
Ma Ling pointed to a point on the map and said,
"We are now at Xingyang Pass, and heading south we will enter Heqi County of Qi State.
Half of Qi State was in the Central Plains, and the other half was a peninsula extending to the sea.
Our current location is actually in the northwest of Qi State. We need to go southeast and kill our way through to reach Linzi, the capital city located in the central and western part of the peninsula.
From Xingyang Pass to Linzi, one needs to pass through three counties.
Now it depends on whether we can win the battle quickly and attack Huanglong directly.
It is better to proceed steadily and capture Qi city by city."