Chapter 277: A Calculated Plot? A Conspiracy?

"Your Highness, please look."

Ma Jin took a map of Jinzhou from his bosom.

Drawn on it were the important mountain ranges, rivers, and the locations of cities in Jinzhou.

Zhao Xu took a look and nodded slightly.

Although the drawing Ma Jin brought out was very crude.

It basically interpreted the geographical essence of Jinzhou.

Jinzhou is the Shanxi of the contemporary era, and Shanxi is surrounded by mountains on all four sides.

Especially in the west, where it is blocked by the Yellow River and traversed by the Lv Liang Mountains.

To attack Jinzhou from the west, one must not only cross the Yellow River but also pass through the mountain passes of the Lv Liang Mountains.

The pass in the north is called Yanmen Pass in the contemporary era, and Tongguan in the Great Song, facing the Yin Mountain directly.

Currently, the south of the Yin Mountain is the territory of Xiliang, and Tongguan is also occupied by Xiliang.

To the east is Feihu Pass, which is called Pingxing Pass in the contemporary era.

The south is likewise blocked by the Jin River; to attack Jinzhou from the south, one must cross the Jin River and then pass Ping Pass in the south.

From this, it can be seen that Jinzhou is truly easy to defend and difficult to attack.

In the history of the Great Song, in wars between the Central Plains dynasties and the Grassland empires, Jinzhou was often the focus of contention.

If a Grassland empire gains Jinzhou, it can advance to attack and retreat to defend against the Central Plains dynasty.

Basically, if the Central Plains dynasty loses Jinzhou, its North Territory will be shrouded under the haze of the Grassland empire from then on.

If things go poorly, the entire Central Plains could be lost as a result.

As long as the Central Plains dynasty does not lose Jinzhou, the Grassland empire cannot move south with peace of mind.

After all, this is a nail that threatens their supply lines.

The Central Plains Cavalry can even set out from Tongguan in Jinzhou to launch surprise attacks on the tribes of the Grassland empire.

In Zhao Xu's memory, there was a very powerful Grassland empire over four hundred years ago.

This empire first conquered Jinzhou, then broke through Yanzhou, and immediately swept south, wiping out the Central Plains dynasty of that time.

It implemented sixty years of rule in the Central Plains.

It is just that this Grassland empire expanded too rapidly.

Historical records mention that the Grassland empire reached the end of the western lands.

But because it was strong in conquest but weak in governance, the Grassland empire collapsed in a mere sixty years.

The current Northern Di claims to be the successor of this empire.

Whenever he thinks of this, he recalls a similar empire in the contemporary era.

Perhaps in this world, Gunpowder also spread to the West in this way.

At the same time, another cruel fact is that in this world, the other side clicked the right technology tree for Gunpowder.

While the Central Plains dynasty, dragged down by the powerful clans, is like the Qing Dynasty.

The powerful clans rank themselves as first-class citizens and enslave the common people.

They use every possible means to maintain their own interests, reject any reform, and drag down development.

They fear the common people's contact with other countries, believing it will bring unstable factors.

The Great Song's sea ban is partly due to sea pirates, and partly due to the clamor of the powerful clans.

Their stubborn conservatism is evident.

Of course, there are also men of insight who cry out with great effort, but how can these people contend with a hall full of powerful clan officials?

"The Ma Family is to the south of Jinzhou, and Your Highness is to the west of Jinzhou. On the day of the attack, our Ma Family will cross the Jin River via the Sizhou Ferry and attack northward. I hope Your Highness can attack from the west, so that our two armies can meet under Jincheng and jointly attack Jincheng," Ma Jin said.

After a pause, he continued: "At the same time, the Ma Family Navy will also head north up the Jin River from the Yongzhou Ferry to block the Xiliang reinforcements."

Zhao Xu recovered from his chaotic thoughts. He was stunned for a moment and said, "Hmm, not bad. This is indeed an excellent strategy."

Although he did not fully trust the current Ma Family.

The attack route Ma Jin mentioned could be called perfect.

Cutting off Xiliang's reinforcements and attacking the Xiliang troops entrenched in Jinzhou from two sides.

With the strength of the Ma Family and his own, fighting a beautiful battle is not a problem.

But the most critical thing is that he only hopes the Ma Family can truly execute it as beautifully as Ma Jin said.

But in any case, the Ma Family took the initiative to send someone and came up with this idea.

He had no reason to refuse.

Otherwise, if the Ma Family sent a memorial to Jingshi saying he was afraid of battle, Zhao Heng would definitely change his expression.

After all, just as he had pondered, the Great Song cannot lose Jinzhou.

"So, Your Highness agrees." Ma Jin revealed a smile.

Zhao Xu nodded affirmatively.

Seeming to heave a sigh of relief, he continued: "According to the statement in Your Highness's memorial, on the sixteenth day of the third month, the Ma Family and Your Highness will send out troops simultaneously."

"It is a deal." Zhao Xu slapped the table.

The Ma Family had kicked the ball to him, and he could not refuse to catch it.

Whether the Ma Family is sincere or insincere this time.

He must prepare for both possibilities. If the Ma Family is sincere about cooperating with him to attack Xiliang, that is of course best.

But if the Ma Family drags their feet, he must also find a way to keep the Ma Family from dragging him down.

"Hahaha..." Ma Jin laughed upon hearing this, as if the cooperation was truly pleasant.

When the laughter stopped, he seemed to recall one thing, his expression sorrowful: "Although Ma Chong is now the Head of the Family, he is merely an acting Head of the Family. Ma Han has neither been seen alive nor his body found to this day. If Your Highness has any news of Ma Han, I hope Your Highness can inform the Ma Family. Ma Chong will yield the position of Head of the Family to him."

"Is that so?" Zhao Xu asked, and he said, "Very well, if there is any news, this Prince will certainly inform the General."

In fact, the last time the Ma Family sent people over, he had already had the Government Office post notices to keep an eye out.

Anyone who could provide clues would be rewarded with one thousand taels of silver.

However, he had not received any feedback to this day.

Although it was regrettable, he thought Ma Han was likely dead.

Ma Jin cupped his hands, "In that case, this Ma will not disturb Your Highness any further."

Zhao Xu was also very busy, and having received people time and again over these past few days, he was a bit weary.

Moreover, he did not much like the hypocrisy at wine banquets.

He only asked him to stay a little longer, but since Ma Jin said he had to return to report, he did not press him further.

He merely ordered Xu Lie to escort Ma Jin to the gate of the Prince's Mansion.

Mounting his horse, Ma Jin led over a hundred guards and departed.

Once outside the city, Ma Jin's expression turned gloomy.

He said to a guard beside him, "Has the message been sent out?"

"It has been delivered to the Ma Family merchants," the guard said.

Ma Jin nodded.

The dead soldiers belonged to the Dou Family, but the pigeon that day had been released by him.

Once, while fighting in Jinzhou, he had seized several women to be concubines and killed some commoners.

Upon returning to Xian City, he was punished by Ma Xuan according to military law and received forty lashes.

He had secretly harbored resentment over this ever since.

Furthermore, his father and Ma Xuan were brothers born of the same mother.

He had always been dissatisfied with Ma Xuan's branch controlling the Ma Family.

Thus, he and the Dou Family hit it off immediately, deciding to kill Ma Xuan and his son and let Ma Chong inherit the Ma Family.

In this way, the Ma Family would have the position of Head of the Family, and he, by virtue of his merit, would seize the real power of the Ma Family.

However, the fact that Ma Han's body had not been found remained his greatest worry.

What he feared most of all was that Ma Han had fallen into the hands of Yan Wang.

This would be extremely disadvantageous for the Ma Family.

Therefore, he decided to come to Yancheng in person, bringing a seemingly sincere plan to attack Xiliang.

He took the opportunity to probe Yan Wang, but he did not find any flaws in him.

Yan Wang seemed to truly not know Ma Han's whereabouts.

"Tell them they must keep a close watch for me; as long as Ma Han appears in Yanzhou, spare no cost to kill him for me."

"Yes, General," the guard replied.