Receiving Ma Chao's news, Sun Ce was surprised and delighted. This is an unexpected gain, first, Zhou Xin transferred crossbowmen to reinforce, which shows that his loss yesterday was really not small. Second, after losing so many crossbowmen, the defensive strength of Stone City will be seriously weakened, and the difficulty of attacking the city will be greatly reduced.

"The three brothers of the family are really stupid one by one, I really don't know how they became celebrities. One general is incompetent, and the three armies are exhausted. ”

Sun Ce patted his thigh and sighed. Zhou Yu and his father Sun Jian fought for Yuzhou, not only failed miserably, but also was seriously injured, the only credit is to shoot Gongsun Yue to death, or accidentally injured. Zhou Ang fought with Wu Jing, was ambushed by Guan Yu and chopped directly. Zhou Xin sat on nearly Wan Danyang soldiers, but he didn't care about his head, gathered his heavy troops in the Niuzhu camp, and ignored Shicheng behind him, and his defense was outrageously lax.

Yuan Shao was really blind to expect such a person to help him control Yangzhou.

Yang Xiu stood aside, pretending not to hear. He also felt that Zhou Xin was very incompetent, Danyang soldiers were known as the elite of the world, but the military discipline was so lax that they didn't even have basic vigilance. When the two armies were fighting, they didn't even have a good bowstring on the march, isn't this death?

Although Sun Ce's words are ugly, they are the truth. One general is incompetent, and the three armies are exhausted. Compared with Sun Ce, who attaches great importance to training, Zhou Xin is simply an idiot, and he does not have the basic ability to lead troops in battle. How could such a person be responsible for the military of a county? But it's not surprising to think about it, since Emperor Guangwu's revival, even the Taiwei has mostly been served by Wenchen, and the governors of prefectures and counties have been controlled by Confucian ministers, and there are countless people like Zhou Xin.

How can state affairs not be bad?

Zhou Xin is not Sun Ce's opponent, Danyang will soon fall under Sun Ce's control, how long can Wu Jun and Yuzhang hold out? Xu Gong and Zhou Shu (Note*) are not much stronger than Zhou Xin.

Cheng Pu is crossing the river. Because of the impact of the fog, which was delayed for most of the day, Sun Ce decided to set off first and rushed to Niuzhu Mountain to set up a formation to block Zhou Xin. According to the current situation, Shicheng's defense force should be limited, and the main trouble is Zhou Xin himself in the Niuzhu camp. Although he is a scumbag with military ability, he has people in his hands. If it doesn't work well, even if you win, the casualties will be relatively large.

Sun Ce left Chen Duan to wait for Cheng Pu, and after he crossed the river, he asked him to rush to Shicheng immediately. After the arrangement was completed, Sun Ce was about to get on the horse and set off, but Yang Xiu grabbed him. "What about those merchant ships? Let them go? ”

As soon as Sun Shiji thought about it, he understood what Yang Xiu meant. The merchant ships were willing to cooperate with him, partly because he had the force of arms, and secondly because they also wanted to leave early. But he couldn't let them go now. Zhou Xin and Chen Wen are both downstream, they lack warships, the connection between Jiangnan and Jiangbei is cut off, and seeing so many merchant ships will definitely be forcibly requisitioned. If these businessmen are bold enough to ignore them and leave directly, then that's it, and Zhou Xin and Chen Wen can't stop them. The problem is that businessmen have a low status and are used to being forcibly requisitioned, and nine times out of ten they will accept their fate. In this way, the little warship in Gan Ning's hands alone is not enough. If you really want to let Gan Ning play, I don't know how many people will drown in the river.

It's a real dilemma.

He frowned, weighed it repeatedly, and still couldn't decide. "What's your best of both worlds?"

Yang Xiu breathed a sigh of relief. Sun Ce did not give a direct order, which shows that he was also entangled and did not completely start from his own point of view. "Why didn't the general take their goods?"

"Take it?" Sun Ce smiled bitterly: "I don't have so much money? ”

"General, taking these goods is not the same as buying. The New Year is approaching, you need a lot of materials to reward your subordinates, and you can also transfer the excess to Wu County, Huiji sales, and maybe even make a fortune. Although the merchants made less money, it was certainly better for them to get cash and have time to trade again than to wait here. If nothing else, it's possible to earn a little more. For them, time is money. ”

Sun Ce stared at Yang Xiu again and again, and nodded again and again. "Okay, you've got a good idea. You go and discuss with Cai Mao, if you can do it, you can do it, and you don't have to repay me. Without waiting for Yang Xiu to speak, he patted Yang Xiu on the shoulder. Oh, I said, you are Xiao He, and the logistics will be handed over to you, yes. ”

Without waiting for Yang Xiu to speak, Sun Ce laughed, turned on his horse, and chased after the army.

Yang Xiu spread his hands, a little reluctantly. "I'm just making a suggestion, how did it become my business? I'm not in the mood to take care of the logistics for him, and I'm annoyed to death by settling accounts all day long. Yuan Yao on the side laughed silently, Yang Xiu was so weak by his laughter, glared at him, snorted, held his head high, put his hands behind his back, and strode away. Yuan Yao looked at his back and laughed: "Hypocrisy!" I said I didn't want to, but I didn't know how to be beautiful in my heart. Xiao He, Wanhu Hou, don't you want to? ”

——

Sun Ce marched in a hurry for more than an hour and arrived at the southern foot of Niuzhu Mountain. With Jiao Zhongqing's cooperation, Yan Xing had already chosen a position. After Sun Ce checked it, he was very satisfied, and couldn't help but look at Yan Xing differently. Although he doesn't talk much about Yan's jargon, he is reliable, and he is more down-to-earth than Brother Ma, who is cooler all day long.

Jiao Zhongqing found an opportunity to tell Sun Ce about Ma Chao and others killing prisoners and robbing money. Sun Ce also felt that it was inappropriate, but he did not directly agree with Jiao Zhongqing. He did not agree with the view that the Xiliang people were regarded as barbarians, there was serious discrimination and misunderstanding, and there was also a sense of superiority of the Kanto people, which was not conducive to uniting the Xiliang people. Why are Xiliang people so greedy? Because they are so poor, it will be difficult for them to survive if they do not seize every opportunity. In the face of survival, there are few who can maintain their demeanor, because most of the graceful ones starved to death. Guan Zi said, Cang Liao is honest and knows etiquette, this sentence is a wise saying. If the Kansai people live in good conditions and don't worry about food and clothing, they will also become polite.

Of course, the practice of killing prisoners is unacceptable, even if it is better to put them in custody and wait for the war to end before releasing them than to kill them directly.

"I'll tell them about this matter, and I promise that there won't be a next time."

Jiao Zhongqing was grateful, and repeatedly thanked him. Sun Ce called Ma Chao and invited him to patrol the formation. Ma Chao has been paying attention to Jiao Zhongqing, and when he saw him muttering in front of Sun Ce, he was very unhappy. He followed, preemptively.

"What did Zhong Qing say about me?"

Sun Ce glanced at him, and he didn't intend to hide it. "First, it means that you are brave in battle, and the Xiliang Knight is worthy of his name; The second is that you are too murderous, and you have a dry day. Meng Qi, you are a descendant of Ma Fubo, your ambitions are more ambitious, you can't be satisfied with being a fighting general, you want to be a famous general. There will be five virtues, wisdom, faith, benevolence, bravery, and strictness, benevolence and courage. Throughout the ages, how many of the prisoners killed were able to die well? You name a few and tell me about it. ”

"Uh......" Ma Chao laughed awkwardly twice, scratching his head. I...... Pay attention next time. ”

"Jiao Zhongqing is a righteous man, and he did this not only for the sake of those prisoners, but also for my reputation. You should know what I said to Gan Ning, true bravery is not to give in to the strong, not to kill those who have surrendered. If you can't control yourself, it will be difficult to become a real celebrity, and it will be a waste of my hard work, so it's better to go back to Xiliang as soon as possible. ”

Ma Chao's face was red, and he begged again and again. "General, I know, don't drive me away. How embarrassing would it be for me to go back like this? ”