As the so-called "one word wakes up the dreamer", the words of this thin middle-aged man made Zou Zhenyuan, who had been focusing on how to keep it secret and how to prevent Han Deshu from knowing the news of Han Shouzhong's betrayal, suddenly opened, nodded yes, and introduced to Han Shouzhong: "This is the military envoy of the right army of my Great Zhou Northern Expedition, General Ma Zhengsheng Ma. ”

Although the Ma Jian army had not participated in the negotiations before, as soon as he entered the Chinese army's tent, Han Shouzhong had noticed that the color of the badge and collar badge was obviously different from that of the other Zhou generals present - including Zou Zhenyuan, all the other generals in the tent wore dark green badges and collar badges. Therefore, when Zou Zhenyuan introduced him as the capital supervisor of the Zhou Army's Northern Expedition to the Right Army, Han Shouzhong couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart, and hurriedly got up, and while saluting Ma Zhengsheng, he asked the other party for advice on the general way to transfer and protect his family and its reliability. After all, although the Zhou army's supervisors at all levels were not exactly the same as the previous dynasties' supervisors in terms of settings, functions, authority, and roles, Han Shouzhong didn't know much about them. However, in his view, his functions of assisting in military affairs and supervising generals will certainly not change. In other words, this Ma Zhengsheng Ma Jian Jun is the highest representative of the Great Zhou Imperial Court stationed in Zou Zhenyuan's department, and it is not good for himself or even his brother Zou Zhenyuan to collide with him.

Fortunately, although this Ma Jianjun had a cold expression and a straight tone, he did not put on a show and put on a show because he was responsible for the duties of assistant military affairs and supervising the generals, but explained the next few things that should be done in a straightforward but coherent manner, that is, Zou Zhenyuan sent people with his cronies to carry tokens -- including those representing Zou Zhenyuan's identity, as well as those representing Han Shouzhong's identity and enough to persuade his family to leave with the "Dark Feather" agent -- to contact the "Dark Feather" Heye Branch and order them to quickly send someone to Liaoyang City to pass the orderThe "Dark Feather" Liaoyang Mansion Branch and Liaoyang City Branch contacted Han Shouzhong's family as quickly as possible, covering him to quietly leave the mansion, and then the latter was responsible for smuggling him out of the city or finding a secret and safe place to hide for a while until the Zhou army captured Liaoyang City.

After listening to Ma Zhengsheng's explanation, Zou Zhenyuan and Han Shouzhong nodded in agreement. Subsequently, the two of them took out the relevant tokens under Ma Zhengsheng's urging without further ado-Zou Zhenyuan's token was a "gold medal" made of brass that was transferred to him by the Yellow Sea before the Northern Expedition, recognized and authorized by the Crossing Team Committee, and issued by the Ministry of Intelligence ("Dark Feather") to mobilize the "Dark Feather" organizations at all levels along the combat operations; Han Shouzhong's token was a jade pendant that he had always carried with him, and a letter from his own handwritten home - handed over to the former, and the former was fully responsible for the rescue operation.

It stands to reason that Zou Zhenyuan, the former commander of the Right Route Army of the Northern Expedition who was authorized by the committee, should be personally responsible for such work as sending people to liaise with "Dark Feather" and issue orders, rather than Ma Zhengsheng, the military envoy in charge of the capital. In the past, when the Beiping Army or the Zhou Army went out to fight, this work was basically done by the brothers of the military department who led the army, and they would not fake their hands. And the reason why this situation is happening under Tsuruno Castle now is due to many reasons. First, Zou Zhenyuan has been responsible for the training of recruits since he started the team, and he is too busy with his own duties all day long, so he has no time to deal with "Dark Feather". In addition, he has never led troops to go on an expedition, so he has no opportunity and necessity to deal with "Dark Feather"; Second, although the crossing team committee repeatedly emphasized that all brothers should treat each other equally and treat each other equally, Zou Zhenyuan, on behalf of the Khitans, confronted the original crossing team and did not join the team until he was captured. As a result, one had no time or need to ask, and the other had no heart or intention to teach, which eventually caused the embarrassing situation that although Zou Zhenyuan was a member of the crossing team, he was not as good as a senior veteran like Ma Zhengsheng in one of the most important departments of the "Dark Feather" team.

In fact, it is not only the Ministry of Intelligence that does not trust Zou Zhenyuan, as the military department to which he belongs, it is also wary of the former Khitan general, which can be seen from the fact that the Military Department has always let Zou Zhenyuan be responsible for the training of recruits and has never let him lead the troops to the battle. And this time in the Northern Expedition to Khitan, although the brothers of the Military Department ostensibly accepted the instructions of the crossing team, Zou Zhenyuan was arranged into the highest command level of the Northern Expedition Army and served as the deputy commander-in-chief of the Right Route Army of the Northern Expedition. But secretly, he used the rules of the order to do something small in the supervision of the army. According to the past custom, the Beiping Army or the Zhou Army would set up a military envoy to fight abroad. However, generally speaking, this position is either held by the brother of the military department who leads the army, or although the military envoy is assigned to the capital supervisor, he usually only accompanies the commander of the army, and never appears next to other military department brothers who lead partial divisions and detachments to fight alone.

Not to mention, taking this Northern Expedition as an example, although the Left Route Army and the Middle Route Army also set up a military envoy, they have always accompanied Yang Xin and Zeng Zhilin, and acted together with the former enemy headquarters of the two major armies, and will not follow Wang Feng, Wu Peng, Cheng Fei, Mutel and other deputy generals to attack separately. Only the military envoy of the Right Route Army did not march with Huang Hai, the commander-in-chief of the road, but followed Zou Zhenyuan, the commander-in-chief of the former army of the road, to the north and counsellor military affairs. Although the Military Department claimed that this arrangement was made so that Ma Zhengsheng, a veteran general with many years of experience in warfare, could assist Zou Zhenyuan, who had never commanded a large army alone, in order to make up for the latter's lack of command experience, a discerning person could understand the meaning of the precaution at a glance -- you must know that in terms of command experience alone, Wu Peng, chief of staff of the Left Route Army, was not much stronger than Zou Zhenyuan. Otherwise, he would not have made mistakes again and again, and almost gave his life to Yuzhou City.

Such an arrangement, to say that Zou Zhenyuan didn't feel it at all, it would definitely be a lie. Although Zou Zhenyuan usually concentrates on his work, he has little contact with the brothers of the crossing team, especially the brothers of the military department, and he does not know much about some of the rules and regulations of the crossing team, but he is not stupid, and some things can still be seen. However, whether or not to react violently on this matter is another matter. On the one hand, as a member of the crossing team, even if he usually communicates with the brothers less, Zou Zhenyuan still sees the general trend of the world very clearly, and knows very well that the fifth brother Wang Kunjun is now only one step away from the supreme position, and it is only a matter of time before he crosses over. Once he sat on that chair, he was bound to reward his brothers for their deeds. Among all kinds of merits, military merit has always been the most obvious, the most direct, and the most effective. I have been in charge of the training of recruits in the past, although I am also wholeheartedly dedicated, conscientious and conscientious, but the effect is far less obvious than those brothers who have military merits. When it comes to rewarding meritorious deeds, it is likely to be ranked behind or even ignored. If this is the case, I am afraid that I will never have the future of life, and I can only be a military academy instructor silently for the rest of my life. In addition, the Northern Expedition to Khitan is likely to be the last large-scale military operation before the fifth brother Wang Kunjun "added a yellow robe", and after this village, there will be no such shop. Therefore, Zou Zhenyuan cherished the opportunity to lead the army this time, even if the military department had any special intentions in personnel arrangements, he didn't see it at all, and he just did his duty completely with his own tasks.

On the other hand, as a latecomer to the crossing team, especially when he was discovered by the team as a prisoner of war of the Liao Army during the Battle of Youyun and finally joined the team, he was worse than other brothers in terms of foundation, and Zou Zhenyuan was very self-aware of this. Although in terms of the small faction in the team, Zou Zhenyuan can be regarded as a member of the Dongshan faction led by Wang Kunjun because of Zhao Min'an's relationship, but considering that Zhao Min'an himself is not a core member of the Dongshan faction, there is still a gap between Zhang Weixin, Wang Feng, Liang Ziyue, Zeng Zhilin and other Wang Kunjun's absolute pro-confidants, and his own latecomer is even farther away than that, and it is not only impossible to rely on his relationship with Wang Kunjun to fight for opportunities and even interests for himself, but also if he does not do it well, it will cause the other party to be disgusted. Lose the only bit of personal connection you have in the crossing team. Therefore, no matter how unwilling and unbalanced he is in his heart, Zou Zhenyuan will not complain or be dissatisfied, let alone trust the relationship and go to the door, but will do his best to do his own work, in order to use his strength and ability to win a place in the team and the military department, and fight for a better future for himself and his family. Therefore, as long as it does not involve his core interests and does not affect the realization of his ambitions, no matter how many small actions the Ministry of Military Affairs, the Ministry of Intelligence or other departments make, Zou Zhenyuan will turn a blind eye and ignore them completely.

So, except for the few cronies who came with Han Shouzhong, who also left tokens and wrote letters, and their families were withdrawn or protected by the "Dark Feather" Liaoyang Mansion Branch, Zou Zhenyuan no longer participated in the "rescue", but entrusted all of them to Ma Zhengsheng to let go. He himself turned to Han Shouzhong to discuss the specific means of subduing the generals and officials of the non-Han and Wu cronies in the city, subduing the partial generals sent by Han Deshu to be in charge of surveillance, and other generals who might be in the same camp as him, as well as the details of accepting the city, and formulated a relevant action plan.

At the end of the morning, after staying in the Zhou army camp for about half an hour, Han Shouzhong quietly returned to Heye City with his entourage and four Zou Zhenyuan's relatives who were responsible for protecting his safety and liaising with the Zhou army camp outside the city. At this time, the Zhou army's feint attack on Tsuruno Castle gradually came to an end, and completely stopped after a pillar of incense, and the small Tsuruno Castle was also freed from the "fierce" city attack and defense battle and returned to calm.

However, unlike the vast majority of the generals who participated in the defense of the city, Han Shouxin, a partial general who was responsible for monitoring Han Shouzhong's implementation of the strategy of Han Deshu, the left minister, was full of doubts in his heart, and a series of question marks appeared. On the one hand, the Zhou army's attack today came suddenly and ended even more abruptly. In this attack, the Zhou army did not first carry out a deterrent artillery bombardment, as rumored, and then projected a letter of persuasion to surrender, and only launched a formal siege after the persuasion failed. Instead, as soon as they came up, they first bombarded the city wall violently, and then sent their servants and auxiliaries to start burying the trenches on their backs, putting on a posture of not giving up if they did not take Tsuruno Castle. However, in the face of the counterattack with bows and crossbows organized by their own side, the Zhou military servants and auxiliaries who were responsible for filling in the trenches only suffered a dozen casualties. After the bombardment was over, the Zhou army did not organize a second attack, but unexpectedly dropped the "late" letter of surrender into the city, and then retreated back to the camp, leaving a group of defenders there with blank eyes and big eyes.

On the other hand, when the Zhou army's artillery bombardment was fierce, he sent people to the main general Han Shouzhong many times to ask for instructions on how to deal with it, and hoped that he could come to the battlefield and jointly command the troops and horses with him to resist the possible subsequent attack of the Zhou army - although Han Zuo decided to surrender and assassinate, but if the enemy and us engaged in battle, the city would be lost, and how would he and Han Shouzhong implement the relevant plan. Therefore, at least until Han Shouzhong meets Zou Zhenyuan according to the plan, he must try his best to protect the city. However, to Han Shouxin's surprise, every time the people sent back brought back, they tried their best to defend the city and protect the city. Han Shouzhong not only did not come to command in person, but he didn't even see the person he sent, but only asked one of his lieutenant officers to convey it on his behalf, which was really weird. If it weren't for the fear that the army would be disheartened and collapse without a fight after he left, Han Shouxin would have gone directly to Han Shouzhong to ask what happened.

Therefore, after determining whether the Zhou army was really withdrawing rather than feintting, and would not launch a new attack in a short period of time, Han Shouxin handed over the task of monitoring and guarding the city head to a local captain of Heye, and then led several of his henchmen and personal soldiers, along with Sun Delu, the deputy general of the reinforcements, and other generals who were responsible for defending the city returned to the county office, ready to find out what kind of medicine was sold in Han Shouzhong's gourd.