That night, in Boshan County, Zhu Kui's army had successfully entered this county, including Luyang and Zhenping counties, and defeated three county towns in four days. This was unprecedented in ancient and modern history, if not unprecedented.
It is also rare.
In the government office, Zhu Kui slept here today. At this moment, in the hall, he and his soldiers were lining up for a banquet, and they were raising their glasses to a black-faced and bearded northern man.
"Yuanfu, I didn't expect to see you here today. With Yuanfu, Zhang Mancheng of Nanyang will be worry-free!"
Zhu Kui held up the wine bottle and laughed loudly to the generals in the hall.
Wancheng, the capital of Nanyang County, has a high city and abundant food supplies, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. As long as there are ten thousand soldiers and horses, and if there are famous generals in charge and the soldiers are dedicated, even if a hundred thousand troops come to attack, it will take less than a year and a half, and it is absolutely impossible.
He had simulated the battle against Wancheng many times in his mind, and it was always 70%, but it would still cost more than half of the troops. Even though the siege of the city went smoothly for several consecutive battles, in fact, he was not very sure that it could be defeated within three months.
Zhang Mancheng.
But it's different now. With Zhou Cang, he has a plan in mind and is 90% sure of defeating Wancheng.
"My lord, I have given Cang a helping hand to survive. If I am destined to go through fire and water, Cang will not hesitate to do so!"
The grace of survival mentioned by Zhou Cang was that Zhu Kui gave him wine money in Piaoxiang Tower that day, and also provided money to help his relatives. Although Zhou Cang may not die of hunger, the ancients often gave him alms
The gift of food is the gift of survival.
During the day, Zhu Kui led his army to conquer Zhenping County and was about to lead his army into the city. The rear army sent horses to report that there were yellow scarf thieves attacking from behind.
Therefore, he immediately turned around and set up his army. Zhu Kui was waiting with his horse and one hand on the Xuanyuan sword. The only Yellow Turban reinforcements in this area were from Boshan County. What interested him was that the leader of the bandits seemed to have foresight.
Yes, if it weren't for his strong soldiers and strong horses, who could defeat Zhenping County in an instant, if it had been someone else who would have been surrounded by both front and rear during the siege, the entire army would have been in chaos and would have been defeated.
From a distance, it appeared that the enemy had no intention of charging. They kept marching at a slow pace and stopped five miles away from Zhu Kui's army formation.
The army was in good order, but I didn't know what the fighting strength was. The enemy didn't move, and I didn't move. At this time, the ant bandit army slowly separated a road, and a tall man with a beard rode out from the middle of the army.
Zhu Kuiyi seemed to have a similar feeling, and couldn't help but said to the people around him: "Hey, this thief general seems to be familiar to him, as if he has seen him somewhere, but he can't remember it."
Shu Shu'er also took a closer look: "I don't know you! Brother Kui, did you remember it wrong?"
"General, there are so many acquaintances in the world! It's not surprising that we met by chance!" Xi Zhicai also felt that things couldn't be such a coincidence.
Zhou Tai and Guan Hai even shook their heads to express that they did not know them.
"No! I must have seen it somewhere." Zhu Kui confirmed.
As if to verify Zhu Kui's idea, the thief shouted in front of the formation: "Is General Erna the Storyteller of Moling?"
"Have you heard this voice before?" Zhu Kui rode forward a few steps and shouted back: "This general is really Zhu Kui of Moling! Who are you? You actually know my name!"
The leader of the thieves was Zhou Cang. He took a serious look at the young general's appearance. Although he had only seen him briefly back then, he had already remembered it in his heart. In the past few years, Zhu Kui's appearance had changed greatly, but he could not erase the past.
After a quick look at the traces, it turned out to be exactly who he was.
Then he shouted with great joy: "Young Master, from a certain Zhoucang family, I was indebted to you for having a meal that year. Do you still remember me?"
"Zhou Cang! It's him." Now he remembered everything, and Zhu Kui also said happily: "It turns out to be brother Zhou Cang. We said goodbye in a hurry, and I missed you very much. I sent people to Wu County to look for you, but there was no news.
!”
"Haha! Back then, a certain family ended up here in Nanyang. Yesterday, I heard that the army had conquered Luyang. The leader was the new imperial general Weilu, who was from Moling County, Jiangdong. His surname was Zhu Mingkui. A certain family guessed that it was you, Xiao Langjun.
Here we are, today we have brought our soldiers and horses to seek refuge with us.”….
Zhou Cang was as straightforward as ever, clearly explaining his purpose in two sentences.
Zhou Tai, Xi Zhicai and others were greatly surprised. The traitor general actually knew Zhu Kui and came to serve him. This is incredible!
"General, there is fraud in the police!" Xi Zhicai warned carefully.
"Brother (Brother Kui), yes, be careful of fraud!"
Zhu Kui smiled slightly, showing that he was saving it, and said loudly: "You guys are just petty. Brother Zhou came here with good intentions, but you actually doubted me! You still haven't apologized to me."
He actually shouted out his subordinate's words of advice in public. Xi Zhicai immediately reacted, bowed in a decent manner and apologized loudly: "Zhicai was rude, I apologize here!"
Seeing this, Shu Shu'er and Zhou Tai couldn't help but apologize.
This weak apology is obviously another message to Zhou Cang to surrender and be sincere. I, Zhu Kui, believe you, but my subordinates don't believe it.
Zhou Cang is not a mediocre person. After hearing these words, he also understood that Zhu Kui's generals were worried. But he came to surrender sincerely, and his sincerity was very simple. He shouted to the soldiers and horses behind him: "General Zhu, your chivalrous reputation spreads far and wide.
If you wish to surrender to him, those of you who are willing to go with me, put down your weapons and walk with me."
After saying that, he got off his horse, dropped his sword, and strode towards Zhu Kui. All his mounted soldiers also followed suit and dropped their weapons.
The other bandits and soldiers had already abandoned their weapons and surrendered when they saw the commander, but they resisted stubbornly. How come there are so many people on the opposing side? Those who know the current affairs are heroes. This reason is very simple.
"My lord, Cang has led three thousand soldiers and horses under his command, and we are here to serve you!"
In front of Zhu Kui's horse, Zhou Cang knelt on one knee and swore an oath.
At this time, Zhu Kui could no longer sit alone on the horse. He quickly got off the horse, helped Zhou Cang up, and said: "Yuan Fu, you are willing to abandon the dark and turn to the light. It is the good fortune of the country and the good fortune of Kui. Don't do this gift!"
"You all get up too! Your Majesty has said that those who serve the imperial court will not be punished. If they can make meritorious deeds again, they can also be crowned with merit."
At the same time, he also asked Zhou Cang's soldiers to stand up and gave them a commitment to fight.
Afterwards, Zhou Cang invited Zhu Kui to settle in Boshan County.
Zhu Kuiyunzhi.
Another order was sent to the town: "As soon as Guan Hai arrived, he immediately led his troops to support Wang Cheng in advance and help guard the main road of Pingding Mountain. Gan Ning rectified all affairs in the county, appeased the people, and selected wounded soldiers to serve as county soldiers. Two days later, the army
At the meeting point of Pingding Mountain.”
The Zhoucang Division was the only one under Zhang Mancheng that did not massacre and kill those who disturbed the people. For this reason, it was always ranked at the bottom and could not recruit soldiers. There were no more thieves who liked to follow a general who had no money. Speaking of the Yellow Turban Thieves
At this time, most of them did not have military pay, and the commanders under his command had to raise their own food, grass, pay and silver. When Zhou Cang captured Boshan County, he robbed some wealthy people of their money. On the other hand, Zhang Mancheng appreciated Zhou Cang's martial arts and specially allocated it to him.
.
"By the way, Yuan Fu, what happened these years?" Zhu Kui changed the topic and asked about personal matters.
"Back to my lord, my lord gave me money that day. I bumped and bumped along the way and finally arrived at Wu County. Unexpectedly, my relatives had already died in the famine. Finally, my subordinates came to Nanyang and met Zhang Mancheng. It was he who asked me to join
Taiping Dao, at that time, Taiping Dao had a good reputation for curing diseases and saving people, so I accepted him."
"I didn't expect that later, the great sage Zhang Jiao Guangzong raised an army and formally resisted the imperial court, but his subordinates were unable to escape and had to follow the trend. Today I meet the lord, it is really good to set things right and make up for the sins I committed during this period.
"
After Zhou Cang finished speaking, he drank heavily and looked a little sad. It was obvious that his life had not been satisfactory these years.
"There is no need to be sentimental about Yuan Fu. Don't ask where the so-called heroes come from. I see the majestic swordsmen under your command, which shows Yuan Fu's ability."
In the battle formation during the day, Zhu Kui saw more than a hundred people behind him, all holding broadswords. The looks and appearance of those big men were very similar to other thieves, and they were obviously specially trained elite soldiers.
"My lord, Miao Zan, those two hundred people are the soldiers that Cang has been training hand in hand for the past few months. They must be the only ones who have caught the eyes of the lord." Zhou Cang said with some pride.
"Yuanfu is so humble!"
After saying a word, Zhu Kui suddenly sat up straight, his face changed, and he became serious, and said, "Zhou Cang listens to the order, and now you are appointed as the captain of the school sword camp. There are thousands of people in the army. You can choose young men from the Chinese army to make up for it."
I want this battalion to penetrate the enemy's infantry phalanx like a sharp knife."
"General, take your orders and you will not let the general down!"