Zhu Meng's face became more and more gloomy, he was extremely dissatisfied with Xiao Jing's behavior.
In fact, he has always been quite supportive of Xiao Jing, because he is indeed a subordinate who can lead troops, fight, and is loyal enough to him. But the only thing that Zhu Meng couldn't accept was that this guy was too upright. Sometimes even nine oxen could not pull him back after he found his way. Therefore, even though Xiao Jing had made many contributions, in the end he was just an army training in a group. That’s all.
In fact, Zhu Meng also knew that he still had to keep some people with real talents and learning around him, instead of just useless people who only flattered others, so even if Xiao Jing did sometimes say inappropriate things or even contradict him, he would not Tolerated.
But today, in front of many officials, Xiao Jing repeatedly mentioned the Changshu War and the encounter of Sun Tu's Shandong Army, which made Zhu Meng unbearable. At that moment, he said with a straight face: "Xiao Tuanlian, you are making too much fuss. Naturally, the war chiefs in Changshu already knew about it. Not only me, but everyone present also got the news early. But it was just a game. It's just a small-scale war, it's just been exaggerated by some people to make it seem serious, so you don't have to worry about it anymore."
"But..." Xiao Jing was about to say something more, but was quickly interrupted by Zhu Meng: "Don't mess with our military's morale with your nonsense! I invited you here today to celebrate the New Year, not to discuss how to use the troops. Today But on the first day of the new year, let’s only talk about romance on this wonderful day, and we’ll leave the official business until the end of the year!”
Seeing that Xiao Jing was still unwilling to give up, some colleagues around him immediately stepped forward and pulled him back: "Xiao Tuanlian, you are drunk. Zhu Shuai naturally knows better than me about this kind of thing. How could he be wrong?" What? Come on, let’s drink first..."
These people's persuasion, coupled with the rapid change of the topic by other officials, made it difficult for Xiao Jing to say the next words. He could only sit on the table in frustration and drink a few glasses of water and wine to relieve his worries.
Because of his commotion, the atmosphere at the banquet became a little weird. Fortunately, the most important thing around Zhu Meng was people with a lively atmosphere. Several officials stood up and told some jokes one after another, and after some people stood up and toasted, the hall became lively again. For a moment, everyone was changing cups, drinking and drinking, and they were all smiling happily. There was no sense of urgency that a powerful enemy was approaching, and half of the south of the Yangtze River would fall into the hands of the rebels!
But the more they behaved like this, the more irritable Xiao Jing felt. After drinking a few more glasses of wine, he felt even more hot and hot all over. He couldn't stay in this depressing hall any longer, so he just found an excuse and walked out. . The others just ignored it and felt more comfortable without him.
In sharp contrast to the warm environment and warm atmosphere inside the hall, is the deserted and cold outside. I don't know when, snowflakes continued to fall from the dark sky again. Under the howling of the biting north wind, the temperature dropped below the freezing point. Xiao Jing who had just walked out shivered, but what made him feel even more cold was his heart.
He once wanted to do something, but after many years he achieved nothing. In addition, Zhu Meng, whom he took refuge in, was a greedy, selfish, and despicable person, and he felt that he was so worthless and useless. Many things could even be called accomplices and aiders.
I thought that Zhu Meng would change during the Jiangnan turmoil, but now it seems that this was completely wishful thinking. Instead of correcting it, Zhu Meng and some officials only worsened the situation.
. Not only had Jinling City been turned into a mess before, but now they didn't even care about the life and death of tens of thousands of troops.
This made Xiao Jing feel even more depressed. Even if he was blown by the cold wind, he still felt like there was a burning fire in his heart, but in the end it could only turn into a sigh. Because he is so powerless against all these things.
"Xiao Tuan is so excited about practicing that he actually came out to enjoy the snow scenery." A leisurely voice suddenly came from behind, making Xiao Jing tremble. He suddenly looked back and saw Tong Mu looking at him with the same gloomy face.
One of them is a Suzhou team coach, and the other is a Suzhou promotion officer. They had some friendship in the past, and they didn't feel awkward meeting each other now. Xiao Jing smiled bitterly: "I just can't stand the atmosphere in the hall. What about you, Tong Tuiguan?" Why are you thinking about coming out for some air?"
"Haha, I'm actually just like the general, worried about the war in Changshu. Changshu is just a small city, the walls are not high, the pool is not deep, and the garrison only has 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers, but it has to face 100,000 or more rebels. The army is besieging us, and even if the Shandong army is brave and capable of fighting, I'm afraid they may not be able to defend it."
"Yes, if I were to defend the city, I'm afraid I might not be able to survive even ten days and a half. If Zhu Shuai continues to delay and not send troops to rescue, I'm afraid not only Changshu will not be saved, but most of the soldiers guarding the city will die there. ”
After a pause, Xiao Jing looked at Tong Mu again: "Since Tong Tuiguan is what I thought, why didn't you come forward to help just now? Why don't you and I go in together now to explain our interests to Zhu Shuai and ask him to send troops quickly? …”
Tong Mu looked at him a few times in surprise, then shook his head with a smile: "General Xiao, do you really not know what Zhu Shuai is thinking? He is deliberately trying to kill people with a borrowed knife, and wants to use Fang La to rebel against the Shandong Army to kill the Shandong Army. . Even if you don't think of this, you should know about the conflict between Sun Tu and Zhu Shuai of Shandong Qianjun earlier, right?"
Xiao Jing was obviously stunned for a moment, and then he whispered: "This... Zhu Shuai really dares to do such a thing? There are tens of thousands of soldiers. Once it comes true, the court will hold him accountable..."
"That is also the result of Sun Tu's eagerness to perform meritorious service. Zhu Shuai will be charged with failure to rescue at most. With his foundation in the court, it cannot be hurt at all." Tong Mu narrowed his eyes and said: "Who let Sun Tu He has done too many things to offend people before, and now not only Zhu Shuai, but also many soldiers and horses here in Jinling have no intention of saving him, so it is benevolent not to add insult to injury at this time."
The look of surprise on Xiao Jing's face has turned into a mood: "This... is really unreasonable! If this happens, when will the situation in Jiangnan be stabilized? If this continues, there is no guarantee that the anti-military forces will continue to grow. By then, no one else can When it comes to recapturing Suzhou and Hangzhou, even Jinling may not be able to keep it!"
"Who says otherwise? Nowadays, everyone has selfish motives. Every general only wants to protect his troops. However, Sun Tu and his troops were pushed into such a dangerous situation by them." Tong Mu sighed, Then he told something even more unbelievable: "Did you know that just two days ago, Zhu Shuai had issued a military order to Wuxi, telling the garrison there to retreat immediately and return to Jinling!"
Xiao Jing really didn't know about this, and he was even more shocked when he heard it: "What? Doesn't that mean that this whole city has been given to the rebels?"
"Exactly! And he did this to completely cut off the Shandong Army's retreat, so that they can't even find reinforcements!" When Tong Mu said this, there was deep hatred in his eyes. I really didn’t expect this from Zhu Meng
This meeting was so ruthless that it not only refused to save the enemy, but also cut off the last hope of the Shandong Army. Today's Shandong Army is really in a situation where it is surrounded by enemies on all sides and isolated and helpless in Changshu.
Of course, he didn't know that even Sun Tu's appearance in Changshu was the result of Zhu Meng's collusion with the army, otherwise he would only be more angry. After listening to the story, Xiao Jing was completely stunned. He really couldn't accept that his benefactor would actually do something that would harm himself and benefit the enemy, just to eliminate dissidents.
"I, I can never sit idly by and let things like this continue. I want to speak to Zhu Shuai!" In anger, Xiao Jing could no longer care about anything else, turned around and went back to the hall to say everything on his mind. But his move was stopped by Tong Mu, who had been well prepared: "General Xiao, don't do this nonsense. Not only will it not help, but you will get yourself involved. Although Zhu Shuai did all this, he did not hide it. It’s hard to hide it, but it’s hard to put it on the table. Once you say it in public, you will become his enemy, and the consequences will be extremely serious.”
When he thought of Zhu Meng's cruel methods, Xiao Jing's heart suddenly froze. He finally calmed down a little and stopped. But he still couldn't accept such a thing in his heart, and said anxiously: "Are we just watching and doing nothing? If it is as you said, Changshu is lost and the Shandong Army is completely wiped out, then the enemy will definitely be arrogant. If the price rises sharply, we might take advantage of the situation and send troops to the north, posing a threat to Jinling."
"Of course I know there will be endless troubles after this, so I want to discuss with General Xiao to see if we can help the Shandong Army fighting in the front."
"How can we help? Commander Zhu refused to send troops, and the officials inside also..." Xiao Jing glanced at the closed hall door angrily, and now there were still laughter and cheers coming from inside. It could be heard that everyone The guests' interest is getting higher and higher.
Tong Mu was waiting for his words, and immediately said: "Actually, I still believe that Sun Qianha and the Shandong soldiers can turn the tide and defend Changshu City. After all, in terms of combat power, all the soldiers and horses in Jinling may not be able to match them. .The key now is that they are fighting alone, and even the people around them are turning to the rebels. If all this can be reversed, maybe the situation can be improved."
"How can this be reversed?"
"Have General Xiao ever heard of Xie Mo? He has a very high reputation among the people in the south of the Yangtze River. As long as he can appear in the Changshu area, he might be able to change the current situation!"
"Xie Mo? Wasn't he burned to death on Qixia Mountain early in the morning?" When Xiao Jing asked this question, he already had the answer in his heart, and his eyes became cold: "So everything I said before was just to deceive others. What's the trick?" He was just a little straightforward, but he was very thoughtful.
Tong Mu did not hide it from him anymore, nodded and said: "The situation was uncertain at that time, so Sun Tu used such a move to protect Xie Mo. But now, he is the only one who can save Sun Tu and the Shandong Army! But now Jinling City is heavily guarded, and I couldn’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 find a way." As a close confidant of Zhu Meng, he was responsible for the defense of the two southwest gates of Jinling, so it was easy to let someone out.
It wasn't until he heard the answer that Tong Mu let out a sigh of relief: "Qianli, I finally lived up to my trust, but what happens next depends on you. I wonder if you can hold on until then, but don't let me down. !”