Wu Teng took Peng Youcheng and his entourage back to Yuzhou to meet the general Deng Yuanjue. Shi Luosheng, Liu Zixuan, and Dong Hai also returned to their camps, and a group of recruits were surrounding them to inquire about Wu Teng's rescue of the Yan State Mission by the Chu Army just now.

At this time, a herald came in and said: "Shi Luosheng and Liu Zixuan will go to the Shuai camp quickly, and the general will be summoned for something." ”

The two walked into the shuai camp, Deng Yuanjue, Wu Teng, and Peng Youcheng, the envoy of Yan State, and others were there. Deng Yuanjue sat in the middle, saw the two of them come in, looked up and down a few times, and nodded with satisfaction: "I just heard Master Peng say that Shi Luosheng used a trick to trap the Chu army, it's really wonderful, I didn't expect that the recruits under my account actually have the art of war, it's too surprising to me." Wu Teng also told me that you were also the one who killed Tian Qin, the captain of the Chu Military Academy, and you know the art of war, and your martial arts are also good, where are you? Who is the teacher? To be able to cultivate such a young hero, General Ben must find a chance to meet him. ”

Shi Luosheng remembered that Shi Pre had said that Ling Zhen was also a fierce general under Deng Yuanjue's command back then, so he said: "General Yu, the two of us are from Kokura City, and we have been studying and practicing calligraphy with Shi Pre, a teacher in the city, since we were children, and we have been learning the art of war and martial arts with Ling Zhen, a blacksmith in the city, since last year. ”

Deng Yuanjue glanced at Wu Teng and was a little surprised: "Shi Pre? Ling Zhen? Now you two will rehearse everything you have learned and let General Ben see it. ”

The two of them walked to the center of the big tent and practiced the Heavenly Sword Technique passed on by Ling Zhen one move at a time.

Deng Yuanjue nodded after reading it and said: "Sure enough, it's the two of them, no wonder they can cultivate a young hero like you, you just said that Shi Yu is your teacher?" Ling Zhen is a blacksmith? It seems that they still haven't come out of what happened back then. When you came to join the army with me, you must have known that the two of them also served under my account back then, Shi Zhen was the main bookkeeper of my account at that time, Ling Zhen was the battalion commander of the previous forward battalion, and Wu Teng was still his deputy at that time. ”

Shi Luosheng only knew that Ling Zhen had served under Deng Yuanjue back then, but he didn't know that he was still the commander of the previous forward battalion, and Shi Pre, he actually served under Deng Yuanjue, or Deng Yuanjue's chief book, and he hadn't heard anything about Shi Pre.

Shi Luosheng asked with some curiosity: "Dare to ask what happened to the general back then, so that the two of them would go to Kokura City to live in seclusion?" ”

Deng Yuanjue sighed: "You can ask them yourself in the future, now that Master Peng is also here, let's not talk about this for now." This time you have done a great job, and I have to reward you well. If the stone falls, you will be promoted to centurion if you have merit in breaking the enemy. Liu Zixuan sent back the information in time, killed the enemy captain on the battlefield for the first time, and also promoted you to centurion, and the two of you are still serving in the forward battalion. In addition, although you have learned the martial arts of the Heavenly Sword Sect, but you are not yet the official disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect, after I went back, I saw Senior Brother Ding and asked him to accept you as an official disciple, this general is not only the general of the Great Song Dynasty, but also the senior brother of Ding Jiaxuan, the current head of the Heavenly Sword Sect. Ling Zhen is not here now, and no one will teach you martial arts, let Wu Teng continue to teach you kung fu from today, he is also Ling Zhen's junior brother. ”

Wu Teng has always respected Ling Zhen, a senior brother, and is also full of good feelings for the two young people in front of him, and said with a smile: "Okay, you will come to me every night after the drill is over, and I will open a small stove for you alone, and if you can't hold it at that time, you will have to get out of the forward battalion." ”

The next day, Deng Yuanjue sent a personal army to escort Peng Youcheng and his party to Jianye City, the national capital, to discuss the specific matters of the alliance. Not long after Peng Youcheng left, Xiang Chu, the eldest son of Xiang Tong, the general of Chu State, shouted war outside the city gate, threatening to take Yuzhou City to avenge Chen Cheng.

Deng Yuanjue didn't bother to deal with him, ordered the city gate to be closed, and let Xiang Chu scold outside the city, just not out of the city to face the battle.

The city of Yuzhou is thick and thick, easy to defend and difficult to attack, all kinds of defensive equipment are sufficient, the Chu army has been beaten back several tentative attacks, and a pile of corpses of the Chu army is left under the city wall.

Xiang Chu was a little anxious, and scolded: "Deng Yuanjue, how long do you want to shrink, you are still the number one general in the world, and you hide behind the city wall every time, do you dare to come out and fight with me in a dignified manner?" ”

Deng Yuanjue said with a smile: "Little general, you better go back, the method of agitating generals is useless, your father Xiang Tong is also a generation of famous generals, and he has been fighting with me for many years, but he has never taken any advantage, let alone you." General Chen Cheng's body can be returned to you, and I will also bring a message to your father, this time your interception and killing of the Yan State delegation has been revealed, and the Yan Kingdom will not give up, and the subsequent revenge will come soon, let your father think about how to deal with it. At the same time, please ask your father to consider the people of Song and Chu, it is better to stop the army, and from now on not invade each other and live in peace, wouldn't it be all good? ”

Xiang Chu said angrily: "Phew, your pseudo-Song Dynasty was originally the territory of our Great Chu, and you want us to withdraw our troops, unless you surrender the whole country." ”

Deng Yuanjue sneered: "In that case, then the little general, please, I want to see how much ability you have, and I want to take this Yuzhou City." ”

Xiang Chu led his army to launch another attack, but apart from a few more deaths, it didn't change much compared to the previous attacks. Xiang Chu had no choice but to collect his troops and return to the camp, and Deng Yuanjue did not send anyone to chase after him.

Back in the camp, Xiang Chu reported to Xiang Tong about today's siege and brought Deng Yuanjue's words to Xiang Tong, Xiang Tong pondered for a while, and said to Xiang Chu: "Chu'er, in fact, Deng Yuanjue is also reasonable, and his father has long intended to withdraw from the army. ”

Xiang Chu asked with some surprise: "Father, you also want to withdraw from the army?" Why? ”

Xiang Tong explained: "I have been fighting with Deng Yuanjue for many years, and I know his way of using troops, Chu is strong and Song is weak, he will not go out of the city to fight a decisive battle with me, and I will not want to take Yuzhou City under his defense." If he wants to win against me, he can only wait, wait for a major change on our side, and then wait for the opportunity to send troops to have a chance of winning. In the same way, if I want to win him, I can only lure him into battle, but what method has I not tried over the years? He never went to war, Emperor Xiao Daocheng of the Song Dynasty regarded him as a pillar of the country, and he listened to him in all military matters, never interfering, and it was useless for us to make a divisive plan. ”

Speaking of this, Xiang Tong glanced outside the tent, lowered his voice and continued: "It was my idea to intercept and kill the Yan State delegation this time, and Your Majesty pretended not to know about this matter. If this thing is done, of course Your Majesty will be happy, but unfortunately now that the matter is messed up, Yan Guo will definitely not just forget it, unless Your Majesty wants to start a war against Yan and Song at the same time, otherwise in order to give Yan Guo an explanation, he will inevitably blame me. If there was a change in the army at that time, the opportunity that Deng Yuanjue had been waiting for for many years would have appeared. ”

Xiang Chu heard Xiang Tong say this, and also understood that he was in a very disadvantageous situation now: "Then what should we do now?" ”

Xiang Tong sighed and said: "The only way to do this is for me to take the initiative to confess my guilt and demote myself by three levels, and the Yan Kingdom is still facing the invasion of the Qi State, so there will be no real action." Your Majesty only needs to give Yan Guo a step down, but he will not really punish me, he will agree to my above table and remove me from the position of general, but he will still let me temporarily command the whole army. ”

Xiang Chu was a little puzzled: "Then in that case, father, why do you still want to withdraw from the army?" ”

Xiang Tong smiled bitterly: "I have been in the Song Dynasty for many years, but I have not gained an inch of land or made an inch. According to this situation, as long as the Song State does not change much, even if I am given a few more years, I will not be able to take Yuzhou City, and then more and more people in the DPRK and China will impeach me. The Great Sima Gaoyi will definitely fall into the well, but he has been staring at the position of the great general. On the other side, Deng Yuanjue is completely on the contrary, he is defensive, stationed in Yuzhou for many years, and strives to protect the country, he has made great contributions. The more time passes, the better it will be for him, and in that case, I might as well retire now. ”

Xiang Chu asked again: "But our Great Chu and the Pseudo-Song Dynasty are feuds, father, you want to withdraw from the army, not to mention that Your Majesty will not agree, even the hundred officials in the court will not agree." What they want is to recover the Song Land and return the state of Chu to the position of the most powerful country in the world, how can they agree to your withdrawal of troops? ”

Xiang Tong smiled: "Don't worry, I will have a way to withdraw from the army, and I will have it soon." ”

Time passed quickly, and half a year passed in a blink of an eye, since the last time Xiang Tong was demoted by the emperor of Chu by Xiong Huan, the emperor of Chu State, because of the last time he ordered the interception of the Yan State Mission, the Chu army has never invaded Yuzhou City again. The Song and Yan states also formed an alliance, and both withdrew the garrisons on the border between the Song and Yan.

Half a year of peace also gave Song Guo a respite, and Shi Luosheng and Liu Zixuan continued to learn the kung fu of Tiandaomen with Wu Teng in addition to normal exercises in these half years. Deng Yuanjue also occasionally instructed the two of them to make a few moves, and their martial arts also improved rapidly.

In the past few days, Shi Luosheng found that there were more people in the barracks walking around, and after another day, Deng Yuanjue sent someone to find Shi Luosheng and Liu Zixuan, and the two entered the camp and found that there were several unfamiliar faces in the big tent in addition to Deng Yuanjue and Wu Teng, which should be the people from the rivers and lakes that he saw a few days ago.

Deng Yuanjue pointed to the person on the left and said, "Let me introduce you first, this is Lin Wenying, the elder of the Heavenly Sword Sect, and also my junior brother." Wen Ying and these two are the students of Ling Zhen I told you, Shi Luosheng and Liu Zixuan, who are also serving in our army now. ”

Shi Luosheng and the others hurriedly saluted, and Lin Wenying nodded slightly.

Deng Yuanjue continued: "Ten days ago, I received a secret report that Emperor Jiang Wushuang of Qi was about to send the fourth prince Jiang Huan Chu to secretly go to the Chu State, if these two countries were to negotiate an armistice and alliance, it would be extremely unfavorable to both our Great Song and Yan Kingdoms, so we must find a way to stop them. This Jiang Huan Chu is Jiang Wushuang's youngest son, as long as he is killed in the territory of Chu State, Jiang Wushuang will definitely blame Chu State, and when the two countries are at odds, Chu Emperor Xiong Huan will not be able to take care of us. Originally, except for the important figures in Qi and Chu, no one knew the specific itinerary of Jiang Huan Chu, so I could only send someone to Shouchun, the capital of Chu, to wait for the rabbit, although this method is a bit stupid, but it is also the best way at present. Just as I was about to send someone to leave, our spy actually found out Jiang Huanchu's itinerary, and I suspect that someone deliberately leaked it to us. Falling, you analyze the whole thing. ”