Mother, I have returned to the throne.

Chapter 216: Hiding one's weakness

The next day, Song Yuan did not go to the South Camp for the first time.

Early in the morning, he told Ye Xuan and Situ Jing everything.

After that, he washed up and put on his golden armor.

Then, surrounded by his personal guards, he mounted a tall horse and headed straight for the Beidaying.

In Song Yuan's plan, Zheng He, along with his men and the entire Mohai City, have now fallen into his calculations.

It won't be long before these people become our own.

However, his goal is far more than that. In addition to the regular troops in Mohai City, Song Yuan also wants to annex the soldiers who are farming in Beidaying!

Now, people come all the way here just to think about how to drag the other party into the water.

Long before the action, Song Yuan had made a detailed plan and inquired about a lot of information about the generals of Beidaying.

The other party's name was Zhou Shen, and he was only a lieutenant general of the fifth rank.

The word "lieutenant general" is meaningless in the Qin Dynasty, and his position is equivalent to that of a staff officer in the previous life.

Those with high status can reach the third rank.

Those with lower status are just minor officials of the sixth rank.

They often do not hold real power, and naturally lack experience in leading troops.

In Song Yuan's opinion, dealing with Zhou Shen is a piece of cake.

But even a lion will use all its strength to fight a rabbit. Today I will go out on my own and I must have a good time with Zhou Shen!

Song Yuan led his personal guards and made a big circle. It took only half an hour to reach thirty miles north of Mohai City.

The scale of Beidaying is no less than that of Song Yuan’s Nandaying.

From a distance, Song Yuan saw the huge crowd of heads.

It was clearly a scout outside the South Camp who noticed the arrival of Song Yuan and others. Zhou Shen learned the news and hurried out to greet them.

"Don't bring Zhou Shen to see the prince!"

The man in front of him was about thirty years old, with a straight face, and could be considered powerful.

Seeing this man's appearance, Song Yuan raised his hand calmly.

"I'm free of charge!"

I have to say that Zhou Shen knows how to adapt to the situation and has no doubts about his identity. Just based on this vision, he has won the recognition of Song Yuan.

"I came here suddenly without any prior notice, which seems a bit abrupt. I hope General Zhou won't blame me!"

"Your Highness, what are you talking about? My entire camp is honored to have you here. Please come in, Your Highness!"

After some pleasantries, the two men saw the other party extend his hand and turn sideways, trying to invite him into the barracks.

Song Yuan smiled faintly and directly explained his purpose: "General Zhou, you are too polite. To be honest, the reason I came here today is to seek your advice!"

Learn from experience?

Hearing this, a hint of surprise flashed across Zhou Shen's eyes.

Why would a prince seek advice from me?

What is this guy up to?

Facing Zhou Shen's puzzled look, Song Yuan smiled and explained, "General Zhou may not know this, but since I arrived here, I've been assigned to the South Camp to take over the soldiers who are farming there. Our missions are essentially the same, but General Zhou's actions are far superior to mine!"

"I've heard that the soldiers trained by General Zhou are all very decisive in killing, so I'm thinking about how to learn from him. After I return, I can use this method to train my men!"

"Your Majesty, this is serious!"

Upon hearing Song Yuan's true intention, Zhou Shen suddenly felt a little frightened.

What virtue and ability have I possessed?

Can you actually give advice to the prince?

Song Yuan didn't mind at all. Instead, he turned to Zhou Shen and urged, "General Zhou, if you don't mind, could you take me to visit the parade grounds?"

"Yes, sir!" Zhou Shen bowed and nodded immediately after hearing this.

He immediately took Song Yuan to tour the Beidaying.

Song Yuan glanced around, taking in everything around him. He had to admit that the situation in the North Camp was not much different from that in the South Camp.

It seems that the group of people I accepted at the beginning were not targeted.

The camp in Beidaying is also a temporary tent.

The surrounding fortifications were also pieced together and looked quite haphazard.

When he arrived at the training ground, Song Yuan's pupils shrank slightly.

In just a moment, he noticed the difference in numbers.

In Song Yuan's sight, the number of soldiers in training was far greater than that of the Beidaying Camp. For a moment, he couldn't help but ask Zhou Shen beside him for advice.

Now I understand the reason.

It turned out that the situation Zhou Shen faced was exactly the same as Song Yuan's. Most of the troops were old, weak, sick and disabled. In order to reorganize them, they had to screen these people.

However, Zhou Shen relaxed the rules more broadly, and anyone under the age of 40 was included in the training quota!

In this way, the quantity has increased.

However, the overall quality is far from what Song Yuan requires.

"It seems that we are both miserable people. No one is better than the other!"

After hearing the last part, Song Yuan couldn't help but shook his head, and a bitter look appeared on his face.

Then he expressed his guess without hiding anything.

"General Zhou, to be honest, besides asking for advice today, I was also thinking about comparing our men. I even thought for a moment that General Wei was deliberately targeting me!"

"But now that I see the current state of your army, I realize that I was a little too naive after all. It seems that I really did wrongly accuse that bastard General Wei!"

Song Yuan mentioned General Wei's name and deliberately belittled him.

And this is done intentionally.

He simply wanted to test Zhou Shen's attitude through this action.

When the other party heard what Song Yuan said, there was no expression of surprise on his face. He knew this detail, and Song Yuan couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

There is a play!

However, Zhou Shen still had to say some polite words. When Song Yuan kept silent, he deliberately sighed.

"Your Highness has actually wrongly blamed General Wei. What you have seen is the current situation of these soldiers who have settled in the fields!"

"Ever since the great war five years ago, the soldiers stationed in the various farming communities have been lacking in training. While they're responsible for logistics on weekdays, without the threat of barbarians, they've become far more relaxed than they were during wartime!"

"If this continues, there will naturally be a lack of successors, and this situation is normal!"

Although Zhou Shen was speaking for General Wei, in the end, his face still showed some reluctance.

In just a moment, Song Yuan realized what the other party was thinking.

The General Zhou in front of him probably doesn't want to take on the miscellaneous task of training the soldiers to farm.

After all, although this mission does not require any risks, the merit is still much less than charging into battle!

This detail is enough to show that Zhou Shen is also dissatisfied with General Wei's arrangement.

The other party's attitude made Song Yuan extremely satisfied. What he wanted was that you were dissatisfied. The fact that you had such thoughts gave me a chance!

Song Yuan stopped interrupting and walked around the training ground several times, just quietly observing the details of Zhou Shen's training.

I have to say that General Zhou is quite capable. He has only been in charge of these soldiers for a short time, but he has already trained them quite well.

When the other party returned with his horse, Song Yuan pretended to be unintentional and began to test the hand of General Zhou.

"General Zhou, I see you are also a great general. I wonder how good your martial arts are?"

"This... is just average in the military!" Zhou Shen was slightly stunned and spoke with some hesitation.

Unexpectedly, Song Yuan immediately perked up and took the initiative to suggest, "How about this, General Zhou condescends to compete with these men of mine, so that I can broaden my horizons. How about that?"

In order to tempt the other party to agree to this, Song Yuan did not wait for Zhou Shen to refuse, and directly pulled out a long sword from Wang Chao's waist beside him.

"General Zhou, don't rush to respond. Take a look at this knife first!"

Song Yuan handed the sword forward as he spoke. Zhou Shen subconsciously took it and gestured with it. He immediately realized how sharp the sword was, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.

"This knife... it's no exaggeration to say it can cut through iron like mud. It's definitely a divine weapon!"

"General Zhou, as long as you like it, how about this? Let's compete with my men. As long as General Zhou can win, I will give this precious sword to General Zhou as a gift."

In order to get the other party to take action, Song Yuan did not hesitate to promise huge profits.

Anyone on the battlefield would definitely not be able to refuse such conditions!

"Are you serious, Your Highness?" Zhou Shen's eyes lit up when he heard this promise.

Seeing that the other party had fallen into the trap, Song Yuan immediately nodded: "This prince always keeps his word, and his promise is worth a thousand gold!"

"Well, Your Majesty, please send someone over. Even if it's just for this precious sword, I will definitely use all my strength today!"

With such a reward, Zhou Shen made up his mind to get the sword in his hand.

Song Yuan immediately waved his hand, signaling Wang Chao and Ma Han to lead the four people to attack Zhou Shen.

From all the previous details, Song Yuan had already seen that Zhou Shen was clearly hiding his abilities in front of him. This lieutenant general was far from being as simple as he appeared.

The outcome of the matter was just as Song Yuan expected. Under the siege of six people, Zhou Shen did not refuse at all.

He dodged and moved around, blocked the attacks everywhere, and finally found an opportunity to defeat the six men one by one!

Seeing that Zhou Shen had such skills, Song Yuan's pupils suddenly glowed.

This person is definitely a powerful general. If I can subdue him...

Just thinking about it, Song Yuan found it difficult to suppress the excitement in his heart. He immediately stepped forward and handed over the sword in his hand.

"General Zhou, as the saying goes, a sword is a gift to a hero. Your performance today has shown me what true prowess is!"

"Your Highness, thank you for your kind words!" Zhou Shen made some polite remarks, then took the sword and immediately became energetic.

Seeing this, Song Yuan sighed: "If I were to ask me, with General Zhou's abilities, he should be shining on the battlefield. It's really a waste of his talent to keep him in the Beida Camp!"

Originally, Song Yuan threw out the bait. As long as Zhou Shen showed any reluctance, he would immediately take advantage of the situation and find a way to recruit him.

However, Zhou Shen didn't fall for it at all. He just nodded calmly: "Your Highness, this is wrong. In my opinion, no matter where you go, you are contributing to the country. After all, wars have to be fought, and logistics have to be taken care of, right?"

Why is this guy so stupid?

You're not falling for it at all. How should I respond?

Hearing such a response, Song Yuan couldn't help but shook his head, but facing such a powerful general, he had plenty of patience!

At this moment, Song Yuan looked for another reason and followed Zhou Shen around the camp.

Before they knew it, it was time for dinner. Seeing a group of soldiers squatting together, eating steamed buns with pickles, Song Yuan couldn't help but show a bit of pity on his face.

"General Zhou, is this what you and your men usually eat?"

"Your Highness, this is already pretty good. If I'm not mistaken, after a while, I'm afraid even this thing will be gone!"

Zhou Shen responded with a hint of bitterness.

Song Yuan sensed an opportunity to show off, and without saying anything, he waved his hand and immediately gave orders to Wang Chao behind him.

"Send a message back immediately. Have someone send a hundred sheep before dark and give them to the brothers in the North Camp. This will serve as a way to improve their food supply!"

When Zhou Shen heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he immediately spoke to Song Yuan with an apologetic look.

"Your Majesty, you are of noble status. How dare I let you..."

But before Zhou Shen could finish his words, Song Yuan waved his hand and interrupted him directly.

"These aren't gifts for you. They're for my comrades in Beidaying. I just can't bear to see others suffer. I want them to eat more meat and stay healthy!"

"This……"

Seeing Song Yuan's true nature, Zhou Shen couldn't help but pursed his lips for a moment.

He couldn't utter a complete sentence for a long time.