Chapter 26: Man’s Calculation Is God’s Calculation

Zhou Shengchen gave him a slight nod to express his gratitude, and then said: "The killing here is so intense that the surrounding military towns have neither come to reinforce the king's army nor seen any movement of troops, so we know that we must be in danger."

After hearing this, Military Advisor Xie Chong not only said nervously: "Your Highness is saying,"

He couldn't remember it for a moment and quickly searched carefully in his mind.

"The Daizhou next door is indeed very dangerous." Zhou Shengchen said on his behalf.

Xie Chong immediately felt so and couldn't help but shudder. He quickly assisted the generals and urged the generals in the battalions to act quickly according to the order.

The terrain of Daizhou is dangerous and condescending. It was originally a garrison of strong men, and there were sufficient reserves of food and fodder.

Six towns in the north rebelled, and there was an uproar all around. Some indeed dare not send troops to protect themselves, and some are indeed watching in secret, waiting for opportunities to cause chaos.

The Daizhou garrison had long wanted to rebel, but because it was King Xiao Nanchen who was quelling the rebellion this time, he did not dare to act immediately.

He originally wanted to wait and see, but because he received a large number of secret gifts, he became determined to become the king.

These precious gifts are neither grain, nor weapons, nor gold and silver, but more than two thousand war horses!

In this battle, having a war horse is equivalent to having extra strength and powerful lethality.

There is no doubt about it. But who gave such a large number of war horses so generously? The person who gave the gift knew that the general Daizhou was going to rebel, but why did he still do it?

The person who sent thousands of war horses was Jin Rong, the governor of Taiyuan County and the envoy of soldiers and horses.

This man was extremely cunning and cruel. He sent his daughter to the palace earlier, thinking that he could get more favors and develop his own power.

Although Jin Bin was not favored for the time being, Jin Rong didn't care. Because he had a vast territory, he also had many people and soldiers.

As for the horses, Jin Bin later said to Liu Zixing: The war horses raised by my father need to be divided by color.

From this we can see how magnificent Jin Rong is. From this we know that Jin Rong has many war horses.

This time there were rebellions in several surrounding towns. Jin Rong did not take the initiative to attack because he had frequent contacts with those defenders.

When he heard that King Xiao Nanchen came from afar, Jin Rong couldn't help but became angry: King Xiao Nanchen's power was originally in Guanzhong, and there is no order from the court at this time. Isn't it obvious that you are here to grab territory? !

Therefore, Jin Rong simply took out a large number of war horses and gave them to the rebel generals in Daizhou, hoping that they could repel Zhou Shengchen or wear him away.

In short, Jin Rong has not found a suitable reason for him to rebel now, but he has been making various preparations for it.

The guard of Daizhou was originally fierce, but now he got thousands of horses. He only said to the outside world that he had obtained it from trade, and then quickly distributed it to each camp.

When the news came that several military towns such as Qingcheng, Jiangzhou, and especially Shuozhou had been defeated, the guard of Daizhou was shocked at first: King Xiao Nanchen is really fierce!

After thinking about it, he was not in a hurry to rebel, but sent an envoy to Shuozhou. In the name of labor force, this messenger was conducting reconnaissance.

Seeing that the various units of the king's army were busy but also very tired, the envoy paid homage to Zhou Shengchen, put down some food and crops, and then quickly returned to Daizhou to report.

The Daizhou guard was still hesitating, but Jin Rong's secret message arrived first.

In the letter, Jin Rong only said that it was not easy to get the war horse, and he regretted this "transaction". If there is no intention to use those horses, please send them back in full and they will be redeemed twice.

This is a hint to urge Daizhou to rebel. It is not talking about the horse trade.

The guard of Daizhou was thinking about it while holding this letter, and got the news that the Wang army was gathering in the direction of Daizhou.

The guard of Daizhou thought for a long time and burned Jin Rong's secret letter.

Immediately, with a livid face, he gave the order to rebel.

Most of the generals in the border areas were rough and wild. On weekdays, they enjoy drinking and killing. After receiving such an order, they would like to turn the world into a pot of porridge immediately.

It was as if an invisible hand had opened the prison of sin. The ferocious beasts inside surged out, and the surrounding areas immediately fell into misery.

The royal army immediately came into contact with the rebels and launched a series of fierce battles.

The battle started from the border of Daizhou to the city walls. The rebel generals in Daizhou gathered their troops again and drove the king's army out of the canyon.

They fought back and forth several times over several canyons to enter the army, and both sides paid a heavy price.

Although the rebel generals in Daizhou saw that their own troops were reduced, they were still determined to fight back against the king's army because of their large number of war horses and the favorable geographical location.

Jin Rong only watched from the sidelines and wrote to Wang Jun saying that there were rebel activities in his area and he did not dare to go out to help.

Zhou Shengchen knew that this person would rebel sooner or later, but at the moment he had no time to quarrel with him and just continued to attack Daizhou.

After several fierce battles, the king's army failed to make any progress and had to stabilize the camp and rest.

At night, military advisor Xie Chong quietly entered the tent and met with King Xiao Nanchen alone.

"Your Highness, the old minister said something, please don't blame me." Xie Chong said with cupped hands.

"Commentary, just tell me." Zhou Shengchen replied calmly.

After hesitating again and again, Xie Chong pleaded with tears: "Your Highness, we have been out fighting for more than a year. The soldiers are all exhausted, and we are not making good progress at the moment. I risk my life to beg Your Highness to withdraw the troops."

Zhou Shengchen looked at him indifferently and did not reply.

Xie Chong had no choice but to muster up his courage and continued: "We won one after another, but no edict of commendation came from the imperial court. The soldiers all complained about this. In the opinion of the veteran, this is the imperial court's principle, which is to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight. What’s on your mind!”

He finally said this sentence, and after finishing speaking, he broke out in a cold sweat.

After being silent for a long time, Zhou Shengchen said silently: "I can't control that much for the time being. Hundreds of thousands of troops have moved around and swept away thousands of miles. Now only Daizhou is restless, how can we fall short of our success."

Xie Chong bowed again and said: "What your Highness said is very true, but our food and grass are also very tight. The veteran is even more worried that if the imperial court blames the rebellion in these military towns on His Highness, wouldn't it be even more serious?" Something’s wrong!”

Zhou Shengchen said with hatred in his heart: I wish this was the case! It's just that they still don't dare to do it now. If they are persecuting them now, how can I, the king, just surrender? They will definitely sweep Taiyuan County and go directly south to Zhongzhou!

After a moment of silence, Zhou Shengchen said slowly: "The military advisor has taken the trouble. However, I expect that we will win soon."

"Uh, this," Xie Chong was anxious, but he didn't know how to persuade him.

"The military advisor doesn't believe it?" Zhou Shengchen laughed first.

Seeing that his expression was almost naughty, Xie Chong sighed in his heart: Your Highness has been helped a lot, but I haven't come up with any good strategies recently, but he always manages to win by surprise. Am I really old?

"Does your Highness have any unexpected suggestions?" Xie Chong could only ask in a low voice.

"I am Xiao He, but I am not a god. I can think of more." Zhou Shengchen said with a smile, took his hand and stood up, "Please ask the military advisor to go to the camp with me. Maybe we can get some military information." of relief.”

Seeing that he didn't say much, Xie Chong had no choice but to follow him out of the tent.

Zhou Shengchen walked to the edge of the camp while talking to him about the provisions of the army, the treatment of disabled soldiers and supplies.

Because there were a lot of wars, there were a lot of refugees in Sakon. There are some who are escaping from the war, and some who have sneaked out from the direction of Daizhou.

It was not possible to transport them all out for the time being, so Zhou Shengchen ordered people to set up another refugee camp to resettle these people.

Either they were based on families, or they were divided into men and women. Under the arrangements of the military commander, General Ma Ganhua, these people were settled relatively properly.

"It is His Highness's kindness that enables them to find a place to live." Xie Chong sighed and then praised him.

"I didn't come here to check it out because I wanted to be praised by the military advisor." Zhou Shengchen said with a smile.

Xie Chong was even more surprised and had to continue to follow him.

Arriving at a bonfire, Zhou Shengchen stopped. Xie Chong looked around and saw a few refugees of various ages sitting together to warm themselves by the fire and laugh.

Seeing Zhou Shengchen's arrival, the people nearby stood up quickly and saluted him.

After a brief greeting, Zhou Shengchen ordered his guards to take the rest of the people aside, and then took Xie Chong to sit by the bonfire.

Xie Chong blinked a few times and couldn't help but smile: "May I ask, Your Highness, are you here for a little leisure time?"

Zhou Shengchen smiled and did not say anything, but said to a young man who was still sitting next to him: "Brother, are you still used to life in the military camp?"

The young man immediately raised his hands and replied: "I can tell from the voice that the person I'm talking to is the greatest hero in the world."

Hearing what he said, Xie Chong couldn't help but look at the young man a few more times.

This young man has handsome features and speaks quite intelligently, but his eyes are dull.

"This must be the military advisor of the king's army." The young man raised his hand again and said, "My eyes are naturally blind, but my mind is also sharp."

Military advisor Xie Chong was immediately surprised and murmured: "Sure enough, there is such a strange man, and he is also a handsome young man."

"I see that this young man is lonely, and at this moment I see that the military advisor is very fond of him. How about asking the military advisor to recognize him as his adopted son?" Zhou Shengchen said with a smile.

Xie Chong didn't come to his senses for a while and didn't answer immediately.

"The military advisor already has an adopted son, Xie Yun. I thought it would be a good thing for this young man to be his companion," Zhou Shengchen continued.

Xie Yun is actually Xie Chong's biological son. It is only because Xie Chong's wife is from the Gao family that he is so obscure. Even Xie Yun didn't know that Xie Chong was the biological father.

"Oh," Xie Chong came to his senses and said quickly, "Of course it's good. But I wonder if this young man is willing?"

The young man listened and nodded quickly: "I lost my parents when I was young, and my relatives have been separated for a long time. I am alone and wandering, and it is rare for a military advisor to be willing to adopt him."

Xie Chong immediately praised him for his appropriate response and liked him even more. After thinking for a while, he continued: "I saw that he was very close to His Highness again, and I was thinking of giving him a suitable name."

Zhou Shengchen ignored him. After Xie Chong thought for a while, he said frankly: "To thank you for giving me your surname, I will take the word 'Chen' as your name to show your respect and gratitude to His Highness."

Before Zhou Shengchen could say anything, the young man immediately bowed and said, "Thank you, Chen, for paying homage to Your Highness."

"What a young man." Zhou Shengchen praised him and reached out to help him up.

After sitting firmly again, Xie Chen bowed to Xie Chong again.

The three of them immediately felt happy and started talking and laughing from time to time.

Xie Chong finally realized something was wrong and asked with a smile: "Your Highness invited me here just to give this old minister more adopted sons?"

Waving his hands, Zhou Shengchen pulled Xie Chen up and said, "Let's go back to the tent to talk."

Xie Chong quickly took Xie Chen's hand and followed Zhou Shengchen back to the tent with him.

After sitting down again, Zhou Shengchen waved his hand and dismissed the guards in the tent.

Seeing his serious expression, Xie Chong felt serious himself, so he couldn't help but whisper: "Your Highness, do you have something secret that you want to talk about alone?"

Zhou Shengchen took out three copper coins from his arms, weighed them in his hands, and then handed them to Xie Chen's hands.

"I know that you have the wisdom of divination, so you can demonstrate it to us." Zhou Shengchen said with a smile.

Xie Chong was immediately surprised again and stared at the two people blankly.

Xie Chen carefully rubbed the three copper coins in his hand and nodded with a smile: "I'm just telling you something important."

"Just guess when we will capture Daizhou." Zhou Shengchen said in a low voice.

Xie Chen nodded and expressed his approval.

Xie Chong quickly brought a small clay pot, Xie Chen took it and threw three copper coins into it.

After shaking it several times, he reached out and touched the words and the back of the copper coin.

Taking it to heart, he repeated it two more times.

Zhou Shengchen watched calmly, while Xie Chong clenched his hands nervously, his palms full of cold sweat.

Xie Chen's eyes were blank, but his expression was extremely stable.

"How? How will the war be?" Xie Chong asked repeatedly.

After asking several times, he saw that Xie Chen still maintained his original posture, and he couldn't tell whether he was happy or worried from his appearance.

Finally, Xie Chen spoke slowly: "King Xiao Nanchen is invincible, how can he not win? Your Highness is joking with me. But if you ask when we can win Daizhou, I can't tell."

Zhou Shengchen was silent after hearing this. Xie Chong rubbed his hands anxiously and sighed, "I thought you could calculate more accurately."

Xie Chen did not answer, but looked at Zhou Shengchen and said, "What do you think, Your Highness?"

Zhou Shengchen replied with a smile: "I have fought against the Daizhou rebels many times. Although we are tired, they are even more difficult to resist. From my point of view, maybe there will be another fight or two, and we will definitely You can drive directly into Daizhou City!"

A smile appeared on Xie Chen's face, he nodded and said: "If you leave the Daizhou Canyon six times, you will definitely win it."

After he finished speaking, Zhou Shengchen still looked indifferent. After Xie Chong secretly counted the number of battles with the rebels, he wiped cold sweat repeatedly and said in his mouth: "My king is wise and powerful, so there is no need to worry about the world! God decides and people decide. It’s actually the same!”

Xie Chen's divination may indeed be exquisite, but Zhou Shengchen just used it to stabilize the morale of the army.

It didn't take long for this hexagram to spread throughout the military camp. Hundreds of thousands of royal troops in various camps rejoiced for this.

After resting for a while, Zhou Shengchen once again led the army and went out of the canyon to attack Daizhou.

The Daizhou rebels immediately came to counterattack, and the two sides fought fiercely at the exits of several canyons.

After all, the king's army is brave and the rebels cannot resist. However, the rebel general did not want to return to the city and huddle up to defend, thinking that would be too passive and would also waste thousands of horses owned by his side.

Gritting his teeth, the rebel general commanded heavy troops to come back for reinforcements, determined to repel Zhou Shengchen's royal army and reoccupy the exits of each canyon.

This time, Zhou Shengchen did not give in, but ordered all units of the royal army to attack vigorously. The king's army knew in advance that "six out of Daizhou will win", and their spirit and courage were several times higher than usual, and more than a hundred times that of the rebels at this time.

However, the rebels were also tenacious. With their large number of war horses, they gritted their teeth and fought incessantly with the royal army. Seeing the ferocity of the enemy, the king's army couldn't help but doubt the outcome of the divination.