In the city of Chaisang.

Zhou Shengfeng couldn't settle down for a moment. He first walked back and forth in the house, and after walking back and forth for a few times, he sat back and forth before the desk and picked up the book to read it, but after reading it for a long time, he couldn't read a word. He picked up his pen to write, but forgot to dip ink, which made him so angry that he scolded his servants loudly, blamed them for not grinding ink for not grinding ink for him.

He restless for an afternoon, and kept sending people to ask if Wei Meng had returned. When it was dark, Wei Meng rushed over. When Zhou Shengfeng saw him, he stood up suddenly and asked anxiously: "How is it? How is Zhao Xi?"

"This thief was cunning and refused to enter the sand water. I led his men to intercept the river. They fled in scattered areas. I led my troops out for most of the day, but did not find Zhao Xi."

Zhou Shengfeng said with a vaginal face: "So Zhao Xi is still alive?"

"We have killed hundreds of people, maybe Zhao Xi is also inside, maybe he is dead now! Wait until tomorrow morning, the officials will go and search again."

Zhou Shengfeng suddenly said angrily: "Nothing! I said at the beginning, but you insisted on doing this unjust thing with all your might. Now, your face turned over and the matter was not done. If Zhao Xi was alive, how could he give up? Then he would ask for the crime, how could I deal with it?"

Wei Meng said: "Did the prefect want to take Wei to get him responsible?"

"Of course you can't get rid of it!" Zhou Shengfeng's face turned blue and black.

Wei Meng suddenly sneered: "The prefect's request for killing Zhao Xi is the one whom the prefect agrees. How can it be pushed to me? Wei is just acting on orders. If Zhao Xi comes to take revenge, the first person to look for may not be Wei, but you, the prefect!"

Zhou Shengfeng's face looked extremely ugly. He felt as if he had jumped into a pit dug by someone else and could not escape. Unfortunately, things had been done, and it was too late to regret now. The revenge had been formed. He could only hope that Zhao Xi really died in the chaos.

Although he was angry, he still needed Wei Meng and others to support him. He only suppressed his anger and said, "I will send more people tomorrow. I must find Zhao Xi. If he escapes, we can't escape!"

Although Wei Meng angrily criticized Zhou Shengfeng, he actually didn't want to break up with the prefect. After all, the two of them are now grasshoppers on the same rope, and they have to be together if they have to die.

He said, "If Zhao Xi surrenders Ma Yuan first, he will definitely say bad things about the prefect and lead Ma Yuan's army to attack. Please send envoys to surrender immediately. As long as you surrender early, you can take the initiative. At that time, even if Zhao Xi is not dead, there is nothing to do. If he wants to fight, the prefect and Ma Yuan will attack each other on both sides. It is easy to break. If he wants to surrender, he will be in the same position as the prefect, and he will not be able to cause trouble for the prefect."

Zhou Shengfeng said: "I will write a letter now and I will send an envoy tomorrow morning to contact the Han army in Jiangbei and Jiangnan!"

Zhou Shengfeng regretted his intestines. If he had known this, wouldn't he have surrendered directly at that time? Why bother like this?

The next morning, Zhou Shengfeng sent an envoy to contact Zhuge Zhi, the general of Wuwei in Jiangbei, and Tang Jing, the general of Zhenwu in Jiangnan. At this time, he only wanted to go down quickly, but Ma Yuan was separated from him, and the traffic was unstable. He could only show his goodwill to the two men who wanted to attack him, and then detoured from Jiangbei to ask for a surrender to Ma Yuan.

Zhou Shengfeng summoned his officials and announced that he would abandon the darkness and turn to the light and turn to the Chang'an court. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Now that it is almost everyone's common wish to turn to Chang'an. If Zhou Shengfeng does not surrender, someone will probably think about taking his life.

The originally tense preparedness for war suddenly relaxed in the city. Now everyone feels that Chaisang is safe and will not fight again.

Wei Meng brought more people out early in the morning, searching for Zhao Xi's traces everywhere, and searching for his body near yesterday's battlefield.

Zhou Shengfeng was discussing the surrender with several officials in the prefect's mansion. Suddenly, his family came in to report that several fishermen came outside the city, saying that a corpse was salvaged in the river. The fishermen thought this was a big man and came to report to the prefect.

The family presented a seal with an official seal and said, "This is what the fishermen uncovered from the body."

During the Han Dynasty, officials had to carry their seals with them, and tied them with a ribbon around their waists. Losing the seal would be a serious crime of dereliction of duty.

Therefore, it is reasonable for fishermen to find the official seal from the body.

Zhou Shengfeng took it over and took a look. It said: "The Seal of General Zhennan." It was Zhao Xi's seal.

Zhou Shengfeng was happy and hurriedly said, "Let them come in, I want to ask a few questions."

Soon, the three people were brought to Zhou Shengfeng. These people brought the hats commonly used by fishermen by the river, pressed the brim of the hats low and lowered their heads.

Zhou Shengfeng thought they were afraid of the officials and didn't care too much, so he asked in a hurry: "Where is the owner of this official seal now? Tell me, I will be rewarded with great rewards."

A fisherman took a step forward, only a few steps away from Zhou Shengfeng. He suddenly pulled off his hat and looked up at Zhou Shengfeng and said, "The Master of the Official Seal is here!"

When Zhou Shengfeng saw it, he was so scared that he was shattered and hurriedly pulled back. It turned out that this person was nothing but General Zhennan Zhao Xi.

Zhao Xi rushed forward with a quick step, grabbed Zhou Shengfeng's hair bun, pressed him against his throat with a short knife, and scolded: "Shameless villain! I have a covenant with you, why do you want to harm me?"

Zhou Shengfeng's voice trembled and he stammered: "This matter is not true at all. I don't know that it is all those villains who do it. General Zhao must observe it clearly... spare your life!"

Zhao Xi pulled Zhou Shengfeng's head forward with force with his left hand, and stabbed Zhou Shengfeng's head with his right knife into his throat. Then he turned his wrist hard and cut off Zhou Shengfeng's head quickly.

All this happened extremely suddenly. Before the officials in the county were able to react, Yuzhang prefect Zhou Shengfeng had his head cut off.

Zhao Xi held Zhou Shengfeng's head and said murderously: "According to the imperial edict of His Majesty the Emperor of Han, the first thief Zhou Shengfeng will be killed. No matter what the rest are, all surrendered will be taken to their original positions!"

The leader is dead, who is willing to stand up for him? What's more, Zhao Xi, like a demon, has suppressed everyone, and all the officials in Yuzhang bowed and asked for surrender. Zhao Xi took Zhou Shengfeng's seal and began to issue orders. After half a day, he actually took over the entire Chaisang City.

When Zhao Xi was young, he was as famous as Deng Feng, not because of his knowledge, but because he was like Deng Feng, and was also a genuine and cruel man. When he was fifteen, he carried a knife to his enemy's house to avenge his cousin and kill his enemies with his hands. He had the habit of being a knight at that time. His name of faith spread throughout Nanyang, so that the name Zhao Xi became a business card and could be used to surrender the powerful people in various counties.

How could a person like him accept Zhou Shengfeng's secret loss?

He brought dozens of his subordinates into Chaisang City, then personally entered the prefect's mansion, killed Zhou Shengfeng, and made contributions in one fell swoop.

Someone ran out of the city to find Wei Meng and informed the scene in the city. Wei Meng was shocked and said, "How could this be?"

His subordinates looked at each other one by one, and someone said with a courageous attitude: "Kongcao, things have come to this point, so why don't we surrender too!"

As soon as he spoke, he immediately evoked a lot of echoes, "Yes, Chaisang City has surrendered. What else can we do besides surrendering?"

"Kongcao, our family members are all in Chaisang City, so we can't fight against Zhao Xi!"

Wei Meng was also regretting at this time, regretting why he came up with such a bad idea, but now that things have come to this, he has no way back.

Seeing Zhao Xi's courage to lead a few people into the city to kill people, he was a lord who would avenge his grudges. Even if he didn't know that this was Wei Meng's proposal now, someone would definitely tell him that by then, Zhao Xi would never spare him.

Wei Meng thought about it all over and over again, and it seemed that if he wanted to survive, he would have to run away.

Wei Meng left his team and fled eastward. He wanted to join his cousin in Danyang County. However, before he escaped from Lujiang, he was caught and killed, and followed Zhou Shengfeng.

Zhao Xi arranged the matter of Chaisang and personally led his troops upstream to meet General Fubo Ma Yuan. As soon as the two met, Ma Yuan said in surprise: "The general strangled the throat of the river and blocked my fleet for half a year. I thought he must be a veteran who had been through the battlefield for a long time. I didn't expect that the general was so young. He is really a heroic young man!"

Zhao Xi said: "The general is a famous general of the world. He uses his troops like a god. He conquered Bashu and wiped out Jingzhou. His reputation was so famous in China. Zhao admired him very much."

The two of them hit it off at first sight and had a long talk all night. Zhao Xi has been with the Wu Han army and is very familiar with the situation in Huainan and Jiangnan. He talked freely about how to advance and manage the Jiangnan region, who can recruit people, and where to use strong positions. Ma Yuan was very happy to hear it.

Zhao Xi followed Ma Yuan's army and led him into Xiazhi and Chaisang, and handed over the remaining cities of Lujiang to the court. Ma Yuan stationed a large army in Chaisang and recruited Zhucheng in Yuzhang. Within twenty days, the eighteen counties of Yuzhang County surrendered to thirteen, and there were several remote cities. Ma Yuan left all the remaining cities to General Yangwu Tang Jing, asking him to lead his troops to fight for peace.

Ma Yuan strongly recommended Zhao Xi to the emperor, so Liu Yu appointed him as General Dingnan and asked him to lead his troops to guide the counties in the lower reaches of the river. Zhao Xi led a fleet of ships and ran around the lower reaches of the river. Wherever he passed, the enemy surrendered one after another.

Ma Yuan stayed in Jiangnan for more than two months, and then handed Jiangnan to Zhao Xi. He himself led his huge fleet and took advantage of the summer flood season to go north to the Huaihe River and join Deng Feng and others to attack Shouchun.

Handan.

Liu Xiu looked at the battle report on the case and his face turned a little blue. Not only was the entire Jiangnan almost owned by the Chang'an court, but now even the entire Huainan is in danger.

The Lu'an Kingdom, Lujiang, Jiujiang have both fallen, Shouchun City is in danger, and now only Linhuai County and Guangling Kingdom are left in Huainan.

In the letter, General Liu Shang, the general of Wuwei, kept saying that Huainan could not be defended anymore. If he continued to defend, the entire army would be worried about destruction. He asked to withdraw his troops from Shouchun and give up Huainan.

Liu Xiu was furious and said, "Since Duke Wu died in battle, Liu Shang took over Huainan, first defeated Shouchun, and then defeated Hefei. Originally, a army of bears and tigers came to his hands and became a mob. Liu Shang lost his troops and lost his territory, and was insulted by the country's prestige. The crimes were unforgivable! I think he was a son of the royal family and had a lot of old achievements, but he did not punish him. But not only did he not want to make meritorious service, but instead he wanted to escape back and give up Huainan. Huainan was personally defeated by Duke Wu himself. For Huainan, Duke Wu died in battle, and how many soldiers lost their lives? It is easy to abandon it now, but it is even more difficult to retake it back in the future... Why do you have to withdraw your troops? Shouchun is in a strong city, easy to defend and difficult to attack. There are still tens of thousands of elite soldiers in the city, and how can you not defend it for a year? Liu Shangke knew that when Shouchun was thrown, Linhuai and Guangling could not be protected, and even Pei County would fall under the enemy's horse hooves!"

Liu Xiu slapped his hand on the desk and said, "Liu Shang is really incompetent. I want to punish him heavily!"

Wang Ba, the general who fought against the enemy, advised him: "Your Majesty, if you deal with the general in front of the battlefield, it may cause the entire army to fall into chaos. Liu Shangjiu was in Huainan and has always been the deputy of the Grand Sima. He knows everything about his army. With him in charge of Shouchun, he will at least maintain stability."

"Why are you still talking for this waste?" Liu Xiu was still angry.

"Your Majesty," Wang Badao: "Deng Feng's courage is famous all over the world. Even the Grand Sima has suffered many defeats under his command. The General of the Conquest South once suffered his losses. This man... is really a general, and Liu Shang cannot defeat him... nothing unexpected happens."

After thinking about it, Liu Xiusi had no suitable candidate to replace Liu Shang. He couldn't help but hold his forehead and shouted, "If Gongsun was there, how could I be so embarrassed?"

Feng Yi surrendered to Liu Yu during the Luoyang War, causing Liu Xiu to lose his most capable and trusted general. At the same time, Geng Yan's surrender to the enemy was also indirectly caused by the Luoyang War.

It can be said that the Luoyang War was a watershed in the battle between the Han Dynasty. Since the Luoyang War, the establishment of Wuhan has been completely at a disadvantage. What is even more terrifying than the decline is that Liu Xiu has lost a lot of talent now. In the past, he had several generals who could stand on his own, such as Wu Han, Feng Yi, Geng Yan and others. Now he has been dead and surrendered, and only the general Cen Peng, the expedition, is still persisting in Runan.

In the past few days, Liu Xiu has been worried about Cen Peng's journey. Because the journey is relatively long and the national shortage of food, the court is a little overwhelmed with the supply of food and grass for Cen Peng's army.

Now Cen Pengke is the best all the way. He regained most of Runan. While fighting for Runan repeatedly with the enemy, he also sent troops to attack Lu'an, hoping to share the pressure of Shouchun. Unfortunately, Liu Shang was a teammate of Zhu, and he took this opportunity to destroy 30,000 elite soldiers under the city of Hefei.

Liu Xiu felt that Cen Peng could not stay in Runan anymore. If he stayed there, the logistics supply was really insufficient. The soldiers could not eat enough, so how could they fight? Perhaps he should retreat, carry out strategic contraction, and accumulate the power of counterattack.

But if we give up Shouchun at this time and allow the enemy to cross the Huai River to the north in a large scale, Cen Peng would probably not be able to even return to the army.

Therefore, in Liu Xiu's opinion, Runan can give up, but Shouchun absolutely cannot.
Chapter completed!