Zhu Mian's face became more and more gloomy, and he was extremely dissatisfied with Xiao Jing's performance.

In fact, he has always been quite supportive of Xiao Jing, because this is indeed a subordinate who can lead troops, can fight, and is loyal enough to him. But the only thing that Zhu Mian couldn't accept was that this guy was too upright, and sometimes he couldn't pull back the nine cows after he identified the way, so even if Xiao Jing had made a lot of contributions, in the end, it was just a regimental training in the first army.

Zhu Mian actually knew that there were still some people with real talents and real learning around him, and they couldn't be all wastes who would only meet and pat horses, so even if Xiao Jing did sometimes say something inappropriate, or even contradict him, he tolerated it.

But today, in front of these many officials, Xiao Jing repeatedly mentioned the Changshu War and Sun Tu's Shandong Army, which made it difficult for Zhu Mian to bear. At that moment, he said with a blank face: "Xiao Tuanlian, you are too much of a fuss." Naturally, the war officer in Changshu already knew about it, not only me, but also everyone present who got the news early. But it was just a small-scale war, and it was only deliberately exaggerated by some people that it seemed to be serious, and you don't have to worry about it anymore. ”

"But......" Xiao Jing was about to say anything more, but was quickly interrupted by Zhu Mian: "Don't talk nonsense to mess with our army's heart!" Today, I invite you to wait here to celebrate the New Year, not to discuss how to use the army. Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, let's only talk about Fengyue on a good day, and it's not too late to leave the official business to the end of the year! ”

Seeing that Xiao Jing still had the intention of not reluctantly, some colleagues around him immediately stepped forward and pulled him back: "Xiao Tuanlian, you are drunk, Zhu Shuai naturally knows this kind of thing better than me, how can he be wrong?" Come on, come on, drink first......"

The good persuasion of these people, coupled with the fact that other officials quickly changed the topic, made it difficult for Xiao Jing to say his words after all, so he could only sit on the table and drink a few glasses of water to relieve his sorrows.

Because of his trouble, the atmosphere at the banquet became a little weird. Fortunately, the most important thing around Zhu Mian is the people who have a lively atmosphere, several officials got up and said some jokes in a row, and after some people got up and toasted around, the hall became lively again. For a while, everyone pushed the cup and changed the lamp, and they were all smiling, how could there be a sense of urgency that half of the south of the Yangtze River fell into the hands of the rebels!

But the more they were like this, the more irritable Xiao Jing felt in his heart, and after drinking a few more glasses of wine, he felt even more hot and couldn't stay in this stuffy hall, so he casually found an excuse and walked out. Others didn't see it, but without him, everyone was more comfortable.

In stark contrast to the warm environment and warm atmosphere inside the hall, it is cold and cold outside. I don't know when, there were snowflakes falling in the thick black sky again, and under the howling of the cold north wind, the temperature dropped below freezing, which made Xiao Jing, who had just come out, shudder, but it was his heart that felt even colder.

In the past, he also wanted to do something, but after many years, he achieved nothing. In addition, Zhu Mian, who took refuge in him, was a greedy, selfish, and despicable person, so he felt that he was so useless, and even many things could be called acting for the tiger and aiding and abusing.

I thought that Zhu Mian would change this time in the turmoil in the south of the Yangtze River, but now it seems that this is completely wishful thinking, and Zhu Mian and some officials not only did not correct it, but on the contrary, they intensified it. Not only did he make a mess of Jinling City before, but now he even cares about the life and death of tens of thousands of troops.

This made Xiao Jing's heart even more depressed, even if he was blown by the cold wind, he still felt as if there was a fire burning in his heart, but in the end, he could only turn into a sigh. Because he is so powerless about all these things.

"Xiao Tuan is so interested in practicing, he actually came out to enjoy the snow scene." A leisurely voice suddenly came from behind, which made Xiao Jing's body tremble, and when he looked back, he saw Tong Mu, who also had a depressed face, looking at him.

The two of them are Suzhou group training, and the other is Suzhou Tuiguan, and they used to have some friendships, and they didn't feel embarrassed when they met at this time, Xiao Jing smiled bitterly: "I just can't stand the atmosphere in the hall, what about you, why do Tong Tuiguan want to come out to breathe?" ”

"Hehe, in fact, like the general, I am worried about the war in Changshu. Changshu is just a small city, the wall is not high, the pool is not deep, and the defenders are only 30,000 or 40,000, but they have to face 100,000 or more anti-army sieges. ”

"Yes, if I were to defend the city, I was afraid that I might not be able to survive even ten days and a half months. If Zhu Shuai delays any longer and does not send troops to rescue, I am afraid that not only Changshu will be difficult to protect, but even most of the soldiers defending the city will probably die there. ”

After a pause, Xiao Jing looked at Tong Mu again: "Since Tong Tuiguan is the same as I thought, why didn't you say anything to help just now?" Why don't you go in with me and tell Zhu Shuai about the benefits and harms, and let him send troops quickly......"

Tong Mu glanced at him a few times in surprise, and then shook his head with a smile: "General Xiao, do you really not know Zhu Shuai's thoughts?" He deliberately wanted to kill people with a knife, and wanted to use Fang La's anti-army to put the Shandong army to death. Even if you can't think of this, you should know the conflict between Sun Tu and Zhu Shuai in Shandong Province earlier, right? ”

Xiao Jing was obviously stunned, and then exclaimed softly: "This ...... Zhu Shuai, how dare he do such a thing? That's tens of thousands of soldiers, once it comes true, the court will hold them accountable......"

"That is also the consequence of Sun Tu's own meritorious service, Zhu Shuai will bear at most a charge of poor rescue, with his foundation in the court, he can't hurt at all." Tong Mu narrowed his eyes and said: "Who let Sun Tu do too many things to offend people before, now it's not just Zhu Shuai, many military horses here in Jinling have no intention of saving him, and it is already benevolent and righteous to be able to fall into the well at this time." ”

The look of surprise on Xiao Jing's face had changed to an atmosphere: "This ...... How unreasonable! In this way, when will the situation in Jiangnan be calm? If this continues, it is difficult to guarantee that the anti-army forces will continue to grow, and by that time, let alone recapture Suzhou and Hangzhou, even Jinling may not be able to keep it! ”

"Who's to say it isn't? Now everyone has selfish intentions, and every general only wants to keep his soldiers and horses, but Sun Tu and his soldiers and horses, who have the heart to do things, were pushed into such a dangerous situation by them. Tong Mu sighed, and said something even more unbelievable: "Do you know that just two days ago, Zhu Shuai had issued a military order to the Wuxi side, asking the defenders there to immediately retreat and return to Jinling!" ”

Xiao Jing really didn't know about this, and he was even more shocked when he heard it: "What? Isn't that giving up this city to the thieves? ”

"Exactly! And he did this in order to completely cut off the back road of the Shandong army, so that they could not even find reinforcements all the way! When Tong Mu said this, there was also deep hatred in his eyes, he really didn't expect Zhu Mian to do so desperately this time, not only did he not save him when he saw death, but also cut off the last hope of the Shandong army. Today's Shandong army in Changshu has really fallen into a situation where the enemy is on all sides and isolated.

Of course, he didn't know that even Sun Tu's appearance in Changshu was the result of Zhu Mian's collusion against the army, otherwise he would only be more angry. And after listening to the narration, Xiao Jing was completely stunned, he really couldn't accept that his benefactor would do such a thing that harmed his own interests and enemies, but only to exclude dissidents.

"I, I must not sit back and watch this kind of thing continue, I want to make a statement to Zhu Shuai!" In a fit of anger, Xiao Jing couldn't care about anything else, and turned around to go back to the hall to say everything he thought. But his action was stopped by Tong Mu, who had been prepared for a long time: "General Xiao, don't come nonsense, not only will you not help if you do this, but you will put yourself in it." Although Zhu Shuai did all this without hiding it, it was not easy to put it on the table, once you said it in public, you would be an enemy of him, and the consequences would be extremely serious. ”

Thinking of Zhu Mian's cruel methods, Xiao Jing's heart suddenly chilled, and he finally calmed down a little and stopped. But he still couldn't accept such a thing in his heart, and said urgently: "Are we just watching like this and doing nothing?" If it is really as you said, Changshu is lost and the Shandong army is completely annihilated, then the enemy will inevitably be arrogant, and maybe he will take advantage of the situation to send troops to the north, which will also pose a threat to our Jinling. ”

"Of course, I know that there will be endless troubles in the aftermath, so I want to discuss with General Xiao to see if we can help the Shandong army fighting ahead."

"How does this help? Zhu Shuai refused to send troops, and the officials inside also ......" Xiao Jing looked at the closed hall door angrily, and now there were constant laughter and coaxing inside, and it could be heard that the interest of the guests was getting higher and higher.

Tong Mu was waiting for his words, and immediately said: "Actually, I still believe that Sun Zhan and the Shandong soldiers have the ability to turn the tide and defend Changshu City." After all, in terms of combat power, all the soldiers and horses in Jinling together may not be comparable to them. The key now is that they are fighting alone, and even the people around them are defecting to the army, and if they can reverse this, maybe the situation can be improved. ”

"How can this be reversed?"

"General Xiao has heard of Xie Mo? He has a very high reputation among the people in Jiangnan, as long as he can appear in the Changshu area, maybe he can change the current situation! ”

"Shemer? Wasn't he burned to death on Qixia Mountain early in the morning? When Xiao Jing asked this, he already had an answer in his heart, and his eyes became cold: "So all the things before were all means to cover people's ears?" "He's just a little straightforward, but he's not lacking in heart.

Tong Mu didn't hide it from him anymore, nodded and said, "The situation was uncertain at that time, so Sun Tu used such a trick to protect Xie Mo." And now, he is the only one who can save Sun Tu and the Shandong army! It's just that now Jinling City is heavily guarded, and I can't send him out of the city safely, so I thought of asking for your help, General Xiao! ”

After a moment of silence, Xiao Jing finally nodded: "Okay, I'll figure it out." "As a close confidant of Zhu Mian's side, he is in charge of the two guards in the southwest of Jinling, and it is naturally easy to let someone out.

It wasn't until he heard this answer that Tong Mu sighed: "Qianli, I finally lived up to my trust, but the next thing is up to you." I don't know if you'll make it to that point, don't let me down! ”