While eating breakfast, Sun Ce listened to Guo Jia's introduction. When Zulang appeared outside the tent, he waved.

"Sorry, you've been there for too long, I'll eat it first."

Zulang didn't take it seriously, just a polite word. But when he saw the porridge bowl, sauce and jerky on the table next to him, he was stunned for a moment, and then realized that Sun Ce had indeed prepared breakfast for him. He felt warm in his heart and bowed. "When he saw the injured brother, he chatted a few more words and treated the wound, which made the general wait for a long time."

"It's okay, sit down and eat." Sun Ce grinned. "I've been beating for a day and running for another night. I must be hungry. But you can't rest yet. After eating, I have something to do. What's the injury? Is it in the way?"

Zulang hurriedly bowed and said, "It's okay, it's a bad thing. Please give me instructions, General."

"Don't be so polite, sit down and eat first. Time is tight, and I don't have any rules to keep eating here. Let's talk while eating."

Zulang couldn't help laughing, and without being polite, he picked up the bowl and ate it. Taking advantage of this time, Guo Jia gave a brief introduction to the situation. It is still unclear how many people Chen Deng entered the Shicheng. Judging from the situation Ma Chao saw, there were at least three or four thousand. Sun Ce had arranged for Cheng Pu to reinforce Li Shu from Niuzhuji to block Zhou Xin on Niuzhuji. After Zulang's subordinates were dispersed, in addition to more than a thousand people who died in battle, more than three thousand people who were injured, and more than five thousand people who were captured, about ten thousand people scattered in the fourth field. Sun Ce hoped that Zulang would come forward and gather these defeated soldiers so as not to be used by Chen Deng.

Zulang had just eaten halfway, and Sun Ce had finished eating. He pushed the chopsticks aside and looked at Zulang with a smile. He didn't eat for a day and a night, and Zulang was also hungry. He drank eight bowls of porridge and three plates of jerky. Then he put down the chopsticks and wiped his mouth.

"The general regrets it now."

"What do you regret? I'm afraid you will lose me?"

"It's okay for me to gather my old subordinates. Once the battle flag is up, they will come here. However, they are used to being wild and will be willing to accept the general's control. I can't guarantee that I might threaten me to go back to Jingxian at that time. General, don't blame me."

Sun Ce stared at Zulang for a long time and couldn't help laughing. "I said before, if you want to do it again, I don't care. But next time I catch you, I won't be so polite. I don't even have a slaughter. I will just send you back to heaven." He paused and said, "As the saying goes, the saying is different, and I don't plan for each other. If you really want peace in the world and are willing to work hard for it, I can't ask for it. If you are born to be a thief, I won't force you, so I have to treat you as a thief and eliminate the roots. I give you the opportunity to choose, how to choose is your freedom."

Zulang bowed his hand and turned around to leave the tent.

Sun Quan was a little worried. "Brother, this bandit is hard to get rid of. Should I change someone?"

Sun Ce touched Sun Quan's head. "Then tell me, who is better?"

"Uh..." Sun Quan rolled his eyes and thought carefully.

Sun Ce was not in a hurry to urge him. Among his younger siblings, his favorite was his third brother Sun Yi and his younger sister Sun Shangxiang, who had some preconceived ideas about Sun Quan. However, since his parents sent Sun Quan to him, he could not help but give him a chance to grow. He just controlled it a little and did not give him the opportunity to follow the old path of history. The key to this is not Sun Quan, but himself. As long as he did not commit suicide, Sun Quan would not have the chance to become the Emperor of the Eastern Wu.

During this period, Sun Quan and Lu Xun often listened to their discussions and grew up very quickly. Unlike Lu Xun who listened most of the time, Sun Quan often took the initiative to ask some questions. This is of course a good thing, and he is willing to listen to Sun Quan's opinions. He and Guo Jia and Pang Tong have been together for a long time, and they have become more and more tacit. They have many ideas that are consistent. They often ignore some of the analysis process of decision-making and make decisions directly. Whether Sun Quan and Lu Xun really understand the truth is not completely clear, and sometimes they don't care about it.

For example, Chen Wen and Chen Deng appeared in Shicheng, which was not within their previous plan and was an unexpected situation. It was unclear how many people they had, how powerful they had, and whether there would be others. Chen Wen was the governor of Yangzhou. He could not only command the defenders of Shicheng on behalf of Zhou Xin, but also recruited the county soldiers of Wujun, Yuzhang and even Kuaiji. The situation was very unfavorable to him. If he could not fight quickly, he would be very passive.

However, the soldiers of the personal guard camp fought with Zulang's troops for most of the day yesterday, with limited casualties and considerable physical exhaustion, especially Yicong infantry and cavalry, who followed him to chase Zulang for a night, and now he urgently needs rest. There is definitely a risk to ask Zulang to recruit old subordinates. Even if he contacts the prisoners and wounded soldiers, it is impossible to guarantee that he will be convinced. It is indeed possible that he will rebel again after recruiting old subordinates. But other than that, he has no better way, and this method is relatively reasonable. Zulang was defeated and his morale was low. Even if he was determined to rebel, he was confident that he would defeat Zulang again and use this opportunity to eradicate the roots. It would be better than letting Zulang rest for a while, recover his physical strength and escape.

If you surrender and rebel again, what's the point of keeping him?

This is a test and a delaying strategy. He wants to take this opportunity to test Zulang's intentions, and he also needs to take this time to rest and recuperate the soldiers and inquire about information related to Chen Wen and Chen Deng in order to prepare for the next action.

——

Chen Deng climbed to the top of the city and looked at Niuzhu Mountain from afar.

He had just received the news that Cheng Pu rushed to the southern foot of Niuzhu Mountain and cut off the intersection of Shicheng to Niuzhuji. It was obvious that Sun Ce had already known about his arrival and was worried that he would pick up Zhou Xin to break through, so he sent Cheng Pu to reinforce him. He was no stranger to Cheng Pu. During the Battle of Shucheng, Cheng Pu was a general under Sun Jian and was responsible for attacking the East Gate. After the Battle of Shucheng, he became the prefect of Lujiang, and had more troops under him, some of whom were his former subordinates.

When Chen Deng thought about Lujiang, he felt a little regretful. He was too young at that time and was eager to make contributions, so he did not consider Zhou Quan. Lu Kang's official reputation in Lujiang was very good, and he was very supportive of the people. The expulsion of Lu Kang had a very bad influence on him. In addition, the Zhou family, the strongest aristocratic family in Lujiang was unknown. He was in Lujiang for half a year and was unable to get the support of the people of Lujiang.

Of course, he also overestimated Zhou Ang's ability and commanded more than 10,000 people. He had been unable to defeat Wu Jing after using it for so long. In the end, he was killed by Wu Jing, which directly led to Shu County becoming an isolated city. Without help, he had no other way except to abandon the city and leave.

Fortunately, God treated him well and gave him another chance. Chen Wen was about to die of illness and handed over the seal of the Yangzhou governor to him. Zhou Xin was trapped in Niuzhuji and waited for him to rescue him. As long as he could rescue Zhou Xin and prove his ability, he could gain a foothold in Yangzhou and decide again with Sun Ce. Danyang soldiers are the elite in the world, and Yangzhou has large areas of dense forests for dealing with him. If he mastered such resources, as long as it was properly managed, it would be enough to trap Sun Ce in Yangzhou and unable to escape.

The vision is beautiful, but the difficulties are not small. How can we defeat Sun Ce, rescue Zhou Xin, and prove our abilities? Chen Deng was worried and could not find a way to break the situation.

The sound of rapid footsteps sounded, and Li Yan appeared on the city, followed by a middle-aged Confucian scholar. When Chen Deng saw this, he quickly pulled his sleeves, straightened the crown on his head, and bowed to his salute.

"Xia Pi Chen Deng, whose courtesy name is Yuanlong, I dare to ask about the name Gao's surname."

The Confucian scholar nodded with satisfaction and bowed back. "Wei Teng, whose courtesy name is Zhou Lin, has met Chen Jun."

Chen Deng was shocked. "Is my old Wei Jun Shaoying the same clan as my old Wei Jun?"

"Isn't it the son of Wei Shaoying."
Chapter completed!