Chapter 181: The Storm and Clouds (Part 1)

Jingnan, Zheng Pingyuan's mansion.

The atmosphere that permeated the mansion was a little depressing.

The mood of the Chu Marquis Zheng Pingyuan at this time was very subtle. As well as the people around him, they have been cautious these days, for fear of touching the Lord's anger.

Even so, Zheng Pingyuan's face was still ashen and he scolded several times.

"Is there any news from Xiangyang?" Zheng Pingyuan asked while sitting in the upper head of the hall and looking at the official standing with his head down in front of him.

An official left the list and said carefully: "Lord, small groups have fought frequently these days, and there are no major moves."

"Hmph! I haven't seen any big moves?" Zheng Pingyuan's expression suddenly turned angry, and he wanted to throw the cup in his hand directly on the official's face, but he still endured it.

"Shu and Jing counties all submitted a letter to persuade Wang Hongyi to call him King of Chu. Isn't this a big move?" The more he said, the more angry he became. Zheng Pingyuan simply stood up, stared at his official, and scolded him.

By the way, officials are keen. Wang Hongyi just asked someone to make secret preparations, so there were a large number of officials who submitted a letter to persuade them to advance, and the one who persuaded them to advance was the King of Chu, which undoubtedly touched Zheng Pingyuan's keen nerves.

Zheng Pingyuan was the Marquis of Chu. With the King of Chu, where did he place him?

"Also, as my marquis' aide, what bad ideas do you come up with? Well?" Zheng Pingyuan scolded him impolitely in front of an old scholar who was slightly hunched.

"Let me take the initiative to attack. Are you aide to the King of Wu or aide to the King of Wu? Are you planning to let me become a cross-he-stricken servant for the King of Wu? Hum?"

"Don't be angry, please calm down..." Not only the old strategist, but also the others were angry when they saw Zheng Pingyuan get angry, and they also thumped down and knelt down together, with a look of panic on their faces.

"And you, as General Weiping of this marquis, how are you trained in infantry now? Well? The navy is well trained, that is the matter of the navy's governor. What does it have to do with you? Can you be equal to the Shu army? No, what's the face of enjoying yourself at home?"

Then Zheng Pingyuan's intention was attracted by another person.

"There are also the detailed works sent by you, one by one, and even the information from Xiangyang cannot be found out. If it weren't for the more disturbance this time, I wouldn't have known any news. What kind of person like you have in front of me? Get out! Get out of me! And you, you, you all get out of me!" The officials kneeling on the ground were so scared that they immediately retreated.

After driving several ministers out, Zheng Pingyuan sat in the upper seat, constantly gasping for breath.

At this moment, I felt angry just now, so I was soaked in my underwear and stuck it tightly to my body. The whole hall was silent. I took a heavy breath and left the hall.

Several guards guarding the entrance of the hall were so scared that they saw Zheng Pingyuan coming out.

This anger was caused by the backlog of pressure. For nearly three months of the battle, 20,000 navy officials had to eat every day, and they also had to train and provide for 50,000 infantrymen.

The five counties in Jingnan in Xinping should have been cultivated to establish authority, but at this time they had to fish out of the lake. Not to mention ordinary people, even the Jingnan clans also had complaints.

The accumulated reputation flowed away like water, which undoubtedly made him feel his foundation was rapidly shaking. No wonder Zheng Pingyuan, who has always been calm, got angry.

At this time, he remembered the words of his father in the past, and his eyes were slight tide.

"Father, my son is unfilial. Most of the huge Jingzhou land was occupied by an outsider. My son could only retreat to Jingnan, but he was not at peace. I hope that my father's spirit in heaven could protect his son, so that he could retreat to the Shu army and revitalize the Zheng family's business!"

Zheng Pingyuan slowly walked around the corridor. After a long time, he breathed a deep breath and returned to the hall, but saw someone coming to report that it was the navy general who asked for a meeting.

"Please come in." Zheng Pingyuan said, calm.

The only thing that could comfort him now is that the Chu Navy was very powerful.

After a while, Zhao Jing, the governor of the Jingzhou Navy, stepped in from outside.

Zhao Jing is about forty years old, with a burly figure, a handsome appearance, four sides, thick eyebrows, a pair of eagle eyes, a straight nose, thick lips, and a beautiful beard under his lips. He is very clean, making the whole person feel a kind of elegance, which makes people look at it at first sight, and add a lot of points to this person in terms of appearance.

Zhao Jing was wearing Ming armor, and it seemed that he had just returned from the army.

"Greetings to the lord!" As soon as Zhao Jing entered the hall, he shook his Ming armor and knelt down very quickly, and said in a bow to Zheng Pingyuan, who was heading up.

Although Zheng Pingyuan was born in a noble family, he actually had natural talents. This general Zhao Jing was not only majestic, but also had real skills and a prominent background. He was met and promoted by Zheng Pingyuan. The navy was of today's scale, and Zhao Jing made great contributions.

Seeing that Zhao Jing came in, Zheng Pingyuan's tone eased slightly and said, "Governor, please calm down."

"Thank you, lord." Zhao Jing stood up, and just stood up, exuding his energy, giving people a deep and heavy feeling of awe.

Seeing this person, Zheng Pingyuan felt a little relieved and pointed to the side: "Governor, sit down and talk."

"Thank you lord." Zhao Jing bowed and thanked her again, and sat down on the side with a rigorous expression.

"Governor, the situation of the battle is slowing down now, which makes me anxious. What countermeasures does the governor have?" Zheng Pingyuan asked.

Zhao Jing bowed and said, "I will not hide it from my lord. The current situation is very unfavorable to our army."

"How do you say this?" Zheng Pingyuan frowned: "Last month, a big battle almost made Wang Hongyi die on the spot. Even if he was spared, he lost many generals. Even Zhang Fanzhi, the governor of the Shu Army Navy, died on the spot. In this case, how could the Shu army gain the upper hand?"

When the lord mentioned Zhang Fanzhi, Zhao Jing's face changed slightly, and a hint of sadness appeared. Speaking of which, Zhang Fanzhi was still his old subordinate, but he returned to normal in a blink of an eye. He said, "Lord, you can also see that although Zhang Fanzhi is a rebel general, he is indeed a little talented and good at training troops. Although the Shu army's navy has a weak foundation, it has a bit of aura."

"Last month, several generals were lost, and even Zhang Fanzhi died in battle, but his vitality was not injured. Although the new governor Lu Suhai is young, he is also from the Jingzhou Navy and is proficient in water warfare."

Speaking of this, both of them paused, and the king and his ministers met silently.

In fact, the two governors of the Shu army were all from the Jingzhou Navy, but they were given to Wang Hongyi for use, which really made them speechless and sad. After a moment, Zhao Jing said again: "Lu Suhai was well-managed in several battles with the Wu army and our Navy, and the Shu army also had firearms in his hands. It was a big profit to fight on the water."

"In the past, when fighting, only the strong ships and elites could gain an absolute advantage. But now the Shu Navy has mastered the firearms and does not need to take the ship to fight, which can damage our army. Although the Shu Navy is not as good as the coalition navy, with this firearm in hand, it is already vaguely stalemate."

"And I just heard the news, which is related to Jiangling. This is exactly what I want to say when I ask for my lord this time."

"Oh? Let's listen." Zheng Pingyuan heard this and saw that Zhao Jing's face turned pale, and he made a clear mind, signaling the other party to continue talking.

"No." Zhao Jing informed Zheng Pingyuan of the news that the 100,000 Shu troops were approaching the border, "There are 100,000 soldiers in each county, but I am afraid that the disaster will not be far away."

This also changed Zheng Pingyuan's face.

This is different from the previous wars. One hundred thousand Shu troops were scattered in Jingzhou. Not only was the Wu army threatened, but Jiangling could not be protected, but even Jingnan was in danger.

As long as these 100,000 troops can cross the river to Jingnan, it will be a disaster immediately and will be almost invincible.

"The King of Wu must have known this, and if he guessed it well, he would definitely not be able to sit still and contact me..." He stood up and walked slowly in the hall, Zheng Pingyuan was thinking about this matter.

Thinking of this, a man appeared outside the hall door and asked respectfully: "The Lord, there was a man carrying a sign of King Wu, saying that he was an envoy of King Wu, and he sent a letter to the Lord. Will the Lord see him?"

"Let him come in." Zheng Ping said.

Soon with the sound of footsteps, a young man in an eighth-grade military uniform walked into the hall from outside, with strong energy. He came in and saw Zheng Pingyuan and bowed down and saluted: "Gours to the Marquis of Chu!"

"You are the King of Wu who is here to deliver a letter to this marquis?" Zheng Pingyuan said calmly.

"There are guards under the tent of King Wu. They came to deliver letters to the Duke of Chu at the order of the lord." The man said without raising his head and leaning down.

"Where is the letter?"

"Here." The man raised a letter.

Without warning, someone went over to take the letter, checked it, and handed it over to Zheng Pingyuan.

Zheng Pingyuan opened the letter on the spot and read the content quickly.

"I have already known this. Please tell His Highness the King of Wu, and say that Zheng is coming soon." There was no change in expression on his face, and Zheng Pingyuan said lightly.

Although they were united in the front, they only sent the navy commander Zhao Jing to support him. Zheng Pingyuan was trying hard to digest and suppress the Jingnan land himself, and now he is preparing to go in person.

After the Wu army guards left, Zheng Pingyuan handed the letter to the governor Zhao Jing, and asked at the same time: "What do you think about this?"

After Zhao Jing took the letter, he read it in ten lines at a glance and frowned.

"Lord, the King of Wu said it right. Now that he has been fighting for three months, the generals are exhausted. Moreover, this time, the Duke of Shu has started 100,000 soldiers, which is unstoppable. The only way is to join forces with one place to launch a water battle to completely wipe out the Shu army's navy to cut off water transportation and relieve the threat."

"Otherwise, Jiangling will lead to the 100,000 infantrymen passing through the navy and reaching Jingnan, and the situation will be in danger."

After hearing Zhao Jing's words, Zheng Pingyuan also felt that retaining his strength would be extremely unfavorable to his side. He sighed and said, "Only at the invitation of the King of Wu, the two armies will work together to destroy the Shu Navy."

How could King Hongyi of Jingnan want to abandon it?

Jingnan cannot be lost again, otherwise the world will be as big as Zheng Pingyuan will not be able to retreat.

"The Jiangling infantry must be added, either." Zhao Jing said.

"This is the matter of King Wu. The King of Wu has quickly conscripted ships and has transferred a large number of soldiers and generals. He finally made up his mind to protect Jiangling." Zheng Pingyuan said lightly.

The soldiers of Wu were known as 200,000, but in fact, only 100,000 were available. The five towns were damaged and consumed a lot. The soldiers were exhausted. The 20,000 were no longer the maximum extent to which they could not hurt their muscles and bones.
Chapter completed!