Chapter 27: Reward

Facing the royal army, the morale of the army dropped slightly, and the rebels on the opposite side could also clearly notice it. The rebel general inspected the battle between the two sides and immediately ordered all ministries to attack.

The opponent's arrogance was so arrogant that Wang Jun had to retreat one by one.

Military strategist Xie Chong watched the battle anxiously from behind, feeling like fireworks were rising in his heart. He continuously ordered all ministries to fight back, but still could not stop the decline.

Seeing that this time he was about to go out and return without success, Xie Chong found Zhou Shengchen helplessly, saluted and said: "Your Highness, please forgive me for my incompetence. If this is still the case, the king's army, the king's army will have to retreat again."

His tone was quite dejected, but Zhou Shengchen still looked high-spirited.

"Just order all the troops to hold their ground. The enemy will not hold on for long." He said confidently.

Xie Chong received such an order and had no choice but to return to continue supervising the battle.

Just when the royal army was unable to withstand the counterattack of the enemy rebels, Zhou Shengchen's figure appeared in the camp of the former army.

"My king has arrived!"

The soldiers of the Wang Army were originally tired, but when they saw Zhou Shengchen arriving at the forward position in person, they immediately shouted.

The sound mixed into waves and spread out wave by wave. Even when the rebels heard it clearly, it still couldn't stop.

"The rebels seem to be strong, but they are at the end of their tether!" Zhou Shengchen shouted loudly, "If the fate of God is on my side, how can the enemy remain undefeated?!"

Before his shouting stopped, the soldiers of the Wang Army once again shouted in agreement: "Fight for the people to live and work in peace and contentment, and for the continuous smoke of the world!"

Such oaths turned into roars, and the soldiers of the royal army once again cheered up.

Zhou Shengchen swung the ring-headed sword in his hand, and the soldiers shouted to kill and rushed towards the rebel position.

The two sides were fighting inextricably, flesh and blood flew across the air, and the sky and the earth changed color.

After more than ten days of fighting, the rebels finally found it difficult to resist the royal army's offensive, and their positions showed signs of loosening.

Seeing this, the rebel general had no choice but to order, "Those who retreat will be killed." Such an order is both cruel and terrifying, but it cannot go against the facts.

The momentum of the royal army continued to rise, and the rebels could no longer hold on.

Faced with this situation, the rebel general hesitated again and again, thinking of retreating to Daizhou. Even if Daizhou could be defended against the enemy king's army, he had no choice but to order a retreat.

The rebels were already at a disadvantage, and finally received the order to retreat and reorganize. They no longer paid attention to the military orders and retreated in an extremely disorderly manner.

The king's army took advantage of the situation to charge fiercely. The rebel troops were immediately killed by such a charge and torn apart even more.

Just when the rebel general was angry about this, he received news that he would eventually be defeated - most of Ping Qin King Gao Yuchao's troops suddenly appeared outside the city of Daizhou and were attacking the city fiercely!

Immediately falling into a situation of being attacked from both sides, the rebel generals had to retreat anxiously to save Daizhou from the crisis.

The royal army attacked even more fiercely, and the corpses of the rebels and deserters appeared chaotically across the mountains.

The road back to Daizhou was blocked by Gao Yuchao's orders in advance. At this time, the rebels had no way to go to heaven and no way to enter the earth.

In desperation, the rebel general no longer cared about the royal army behind him, and just wanted to quickly break out of the siege and retreat to Daizhou City.

Gao Yuchao defended the pass, while Supervisor Zhou Shengchen led a heavy army and arrived in an instant.

No matter which side the troops came from, the rebels knew that it would be difficult to fight against the enemy, not to mention that they were coming from both sides at the same time.

The corpses of rebels are scattered throughout the post roads and valleys. Seeing this, the rebel general knew that he could not kill King Xiao Nanchen's troops, let alone fight back to Daizhou City.

After some thought, he had no choice but to order his close followers to flee together to Taiyuan County where Jin Rong was located.

It didn't take long for King Xiao Nanchen and King Qin Ping's troops to achieve a successful rendezvous.

It was only then that Xie Chong and the generals of the Wang Army realized that Zhou Shengchen had already made such a plan - to hold back the enemy here, while Gao Yuchao, who had already occupied the towns of Rouxuan and Huaihuang, , suddenly went south to kill, cutting off the enemy's retreat in one fell swoop.

When the two sides met, Zhou Shengchen and Gao Yuchao exchanged brief greetings and immediately attacked Daizhou City together.

At this time, there were not many guards in Daizhou City. When they saw the boundless royal army approaching, they immediately abandoned the city and fled.

The royal army quickly entered the city to restore order on all sides.

Gao Yuchao laughed loudly and said: "I won this city for Your Highness, how would Your Highness want to thank me?"

He thought it was a joke, but he didn't expect Zhou Shengchen to respond immediately: "Congratulations to King Ping Qin for becoming the King of Dingbei!"

"Huh?" Gao Yuchao was immediately surprised.

"The six towns, together with Qingcheng, Jiangzhou, Shuozhou, and Daizhou, all belong to you." Zhou Shengchen said with a smile.

"Well," Gao Yuchao blinked a few times and whispered, "Although we have made great achievements in the battle, how can we divide the territory ourselves? My territory is still within the pass!"

Seeing his panic, Zhou Shengchen still smiled indifferently and said: "You only have a few states and counties in the pass, but here, you have thousands of miles of steep rivers and mountains. Speaking of which, don't you still think it's not worthwhile?"

"Your Highness, please don't make such jokes again." Gao Yuchao quickly stopped him again, "Of course I am willing, but how can the court agree?"

Smiling, Zhou Shengchen looked south towards Zhongzhou and said to himself: "If I come here, they will definitely not agree. But if you come here, they should be able to agree."

Zhou Shengchen's reputation was so great that he would naturally be jealous of those in the court. This place occupies high ground and has dangerous mountains and rivers. Those in the imperial court would never approve of Zhou Shengchen being transferred here from Guanzhong.

But Gao Yuchao is different, because he is brave but does not have a greater reputation.

"Even so, they will not agree to let me guard this place." Gao Yuchao said still helplessly.

"The rebellion has just been suppressed here, and it needs a prestigious general to guard it. If it's not you, who can it be? Don't worry, I will write a memorial to express your merits in the battle. Besides, I forced you to give up the Guanzhong fiefdom and come here. This pair For those in the imperial court, this is a good thing that can achieve multiple things with one stone - not only can they continue to block me in the pass, but there are also suitable generals here."

Zhou Shengchen continued.

Gao Yu is willing to take over the place supernaturally, but he still has doubts about Zhou Shengchen's words.

"Okay, you just stay here and don't leave. Just talk about the frequent rebellions and the people's need for continued stability. These small reasons are easy for you, who is accustomed to fighting." Zhou Shengchen smiled. said.

"Oh——," Gao Yuchao suddenly realized and immediately laughed, "His Highness really has the world in mind and is far-sighted!"

Zhou Shengchen nodded with a smile and walked out.

"Wait a minute!" Gao Yuchao called out to him, quickly approached, and bowed down on the spot, "If it weren't for His Highness, Gao would have lived a useless life! From now on, Gao will only obey His Highness's orders!"

Zhou Shengchen reached out to help him, but Gao Yuchao insisted on saluting him.

"Since King Dingbei is so insistent, I would like to become a brother with you!" Zhou Shengchen said emotionally.

"This," Gao Yuchao looked hesitant, "Brother Yu, isn't he taking advantage of you again?"

"Hahaha." Zhou Shengchen couldn't help laughing, "You're still talking cleverly!"

After Gao Yuchao bowed earnestly, he stood up, took his hand and said with a smile: "Hey, I have never felt so happy! No need for those people to argue, I was rewarded by my king first."

After saying that, he subconsciously shrank his neck and then laughed happily.

The two burned incense and worshiped, officially becoming brothers with different surnames.

After the sworn vows, Zhou Shengchen held Gao Yuchao's hand and said, "Brother Gao, please be kind to the people and don't force them."

"Just follow His Highness's usual instructions. What other tricks can I do?!" Gao Yuchao agreed with a smile.

Later, Zhou Shengchen was about to order troops again. Gao Yuchao asked in confusion: "What else is your Highness going to do?"

"Forcing Jin Rong to make friends with you!" Zhou Shengchen said bitterly and took a step forward.

Gao Yuchao quickly stretched out his hand and took his arm, persuading him and saying: "Jin Rong accepted the traitorous general. This matter will naturally be questioned by the court. If you go like this, be careful that he still bears the title of 'Guo Zhang'."

Smiling, Zhou Shengchen said: "It goes without saying that Jin Bin is not favored. Besides, Jin Rong violated the law by harboring a traitorous general. This is already a serious crime!"

"I, I'm just worried that if you conflict with Jin Rong, it might be another big disaster." Gao Yuchao said worriedly.

"No. When Jin Rong saw that the king's army was approaching, he would never raise more troops for a rebel general." After Zhou Shengchen explained, he asked with a smile, "Besides, if there is a conflict, what can my brother do? Are you watching from the wall?"

"Of course I will kill him together with my brothers!" Gao Yuchao immediately curled his lips and said.

The two shook hands, looked at each other, and laughed again.

Gao Yuchao continued to garrison troops and carried out activities to eliminate the remaining rebels and appease the people.

Zhou Shengchen organized hundreds of thousands of troops and marched southward, approaching Taiyuan County.

The border suddenly became turbulent, and Jin Rong, who was in Jinyang City, the capital of Taiyuan County, was caught in a dilemma.

Zhou Shengchen pressed too hard, but if Jin Rongruo rebelled at this time, he happened to encounter the powerful Wang army and lost the opportunity.

If he didn't rebel, what should be done with the traitor general who was taken in?

Putting aside the traitor general, Jin Rong summoned a group of civil and military ministers to discuss the matter secretly.

There were different opinions. The military general said, "Stop King Xiao Nanchen immediately"; the civil servants only said, "You must not offend the king's army."

People on both sides couldn't convince anyone, so Jin Rong had to fall into deep thought. Only he could solve his own affairs.

After weighing the situation, he wrote a letter to Zhou Shengchen, saying that the traitor general had indeed escaped here. Just when he was about to be sent to Zhongzhou, the capital, the traitor general fell ill due to his serious injuries.

Thinking that he must be gentle after all, Jin Rong only said that after the rebel general improved slightly, he would either hand him over to the Wang Army or escort him to Zhongzhou.

This letter was delivered quickly by the messenger and was delivered to Zhou Shengchen.

After checking, Zhou Shengchen said calmly: "Within ten days, please order Jin Taishou to order the traitor to be sent to the border. He must be alive. Otherwise, the king's army will enter the country to search, to show the majesty of the king's order."

When Jin Rong received such a reply, he was furious at first and cursed Zhou Shengchen for being rude.

A group of civil and military officials repeatedly comforted him, and he gradually stabilized his mood.

Do you really want to be a traitor and fall out with the royal army?

The invincibility of that birthday week is not a legend, it is definitely true. A sneak attack would be a failure, but Jin Rong felt really chilled if he wanted to start a formal battle with the opponent.

We can't start a war just like this. The best way to save face is to execute the traitor general first and give Zhou Shengchen his body.

But it would be better if this was done earlier. Now Zhou Shengchen must live.

After sighing, Jin Rong could only wave his hands and ordered the rebels to be tied up and sent to the prison car.

The rebel general shouted loudly: "I am willing to die for Governor Jin!"

The guard conveyed these words to Jin Rong's ears, and he was also filled with emotion.

After walking out of the government office, he came to the prison car and said to the traitor inside: "It's not that I don't want to rescue him, it's because Zhou Shengchen forced him too much."

"It's a pity that Governor Jin didn't act as soon as possible, otherwise King Xiao Nanchen would never be able to return to Chang'an!" the traitor general said loudly.

Jin Rong was thoughtful and silent after hearing this, and he could not help but sigh in his heart.

After thinking about it, he simply said: "If we don't accomplish anything big, I will always give you a ride."

The rebel general was quite heroic. He laughed a few times and replied, "I will drive for Governor Jin in the next life!"

Jin Rong was hurt again, so he simply took a group of close followers and accompanied the traitor general to the north direction of Daizhou.

Along the way, Jin Rong and Rebellious General ate and drank together, and the two chatted very harmoniously.

The rebel general then talked about the several battles with the king's army, and sighed: "With his rough ability, he fought with King Xiao Nanchen six times! If Jin Taishou came from the flank at that time, he even fought him head-on. The myth of the king’s army being invincible may have been shattered long ago by Grand Administrator Jin himself.”

Jin Rong listened and nodded secretly, but he could no longer regret his previous negligence and cowardice.

More than ten days later, the friendship between the two became deeper, but they had to face the difference between life and death.

The king's army formed different formations of cavalry, infantry, and chariots, and was neatly displayed on the border of Taiyuan County.

After looking from a distance, the rebel general turned his head and whispered to Jin Rong: "Prefect Jin also saw it with his own eyes. The king's army is just like this - it seems to be strict, but it is extremely dull."

Jin Rong nodded silently and replied in a low voice: "Good brother."

A few cavalry stood out from the king's army, saying that they were ordered to hand over the rebel general.

Jin Rong looked at the other party coldly and could only raise his hand and wave it.

The soldiers of the royal army immediately dismounted and led the prison cart.

The traitor general stopped talking at this time and just turned around and smiled at Jin Rong.

When Jin Rong saw his smile, his heart felt like a knife.

Zhou Shengchen over there saw the prison car reaching the middle of the people and horses on both sides, and immediately drove his horse forward.

The prison car stopped, and the soldiers of the royal army opened the wooden fence and pulled out the rebel general.

"Kneel down!" the soldier shouted.

The rebel general was still trying to show off his strength, and a soldier had already kicked him in the hollow of his leg. His legs went weak and he had no choice but to kneel to the ground.

After checking his identity, Zhou Shengchen shouted: "What else do you have to say?!"

The rebel general strangled his neck and shouted: "If I capture you, I will eat your flesh!"

Zhou Shengchen smiled, stopped talking, and rode back to his own position.

The commander of the army, Ma Ganhua, was already furious and immediately shouted: "The traitorous general should be cut to pieces with a thousand swords! Execution in the army is inconvenient, but it is a little more flexible!"

After drinking, he raised his hand and Baiqi immediately followed him towards the traitor general.

In the eyes of Zhou Shengchen and Jin Rong, and under the attention of soldiers from both sides, the traitor general was trampled to pieces by Baiqi.

Seeing the tragic situation at this moment, Jin Rong's soldiers and horses were all horrified - it was obvious that Zhou Shengchen did this intentionally. It was not only to vent Jin Rong's anger for not being accomplices, but also to warn the soldiers and horses in Taiyuan County not to have rebellious thoughts and behaviors.

Jin Rong was also frightened when he saw it, and then he felt angry in his heart. He watched indifferently as the traitor wailed and struggled, then returned to the flesh and blood mold lake, and couldn't help but nodded silently.

"Please give me a reward, Your Highness!" Jin Rong suddenly shouted loudly.