Warrior in Turbulent Han Dynasty

Guo Shao's troops were halfway there when they heard that Zhao Chao's luggage was suddenly attacked by "white armor soldiers" dozens of miles away. Zhao Chao was furious and sent troops to slaughter the farms along the way as a punishment.

The white armored soldiers had appeared in Shouzhou, and Guo Shao had heard about them. The Southern Tang Kingdom has been guarding against northern attacks along the Huaihe River, and has been operating for decades: in addition to stationing heavy troops, it also reclaims large areas of farmland to drive young and strong to farmland. The idea is to train soldiers while farming.

Li Jing and his son had a good idea, but it was not very successful in implementation, and the troops suffered a lot from it. After the Zhou army attacked Huainan, the troops of the Southern Tang Dynasty surrendered one after another, and they were welcome to become the leading party.

But the reality once again gave Huainan soldiers a slap in the face, and the Zhou army was not good at it. The soldiers of all ministries regarded themselves as conquerors, and they robbed and killed them at every turn. So Shouzhou stationed soldiers revolted one after another. They had no armor and used paper stacked together as armor, so they were called "White Armored Soldiers"! Some people even have no weapons, and they fight when the bamboo is sharpened. Revolts arose everywhere.

After Chai Rong came to Xingshouzhou, he adopted Li Gu's suggestion, forbidding killing, and personally went to the mountain where the white armor soldiers gathered to persuade them to go back to cultivate the land. After some governance by Li Gu, it gradually calmed down. But the reputation of the White Armored Soldiers has spread throughout Huainan.

Because the combat effectiveness of the white armor soldiers was not very good, they could only play side drums empty-handed. Zhou Jun actually didn't pay attention to them.

But when Guo Shao heard about Zhao Chao, he immediately attached great importance to it. No one else has seen it before, but he knows what is "the vast ocean of people's war"! At that time, you will be surrounded by hostile civilians, scouting, setting up sentries, finding ways, and all kinds of military affairs will be difficult to handle. Isn't this poaching your own eyes?

He first sent someone to strictly order Zhao Chao not to kill the soldiers and the people of Huainan, but the effect was almost ineffective; the guy appeared to obey the order, but in fact he did nothing, and the soldiers were furious after being attacked... Zhao Chao's rule did not impose severe punishments, and killing people did not require their lives, and things that cost nothing were easily done.

At that time, the emperor had already led the Inner Palace Zhizhuban, the Crane Control Army, and a group of civil and military personnel to Shouzhou, focusing on the deployment of the Battle of Haozhou.

Guo Shao thought about it all night. He knew that Zhao Chao and Zhao Kuangyin's father had a good relationship, so he didn't intend to make enemies; he didn't even want to punish him. But if the battle in Haozhou does not go well, the loss will be even greater! The harm between the two powers was the lesser, so Guo Shao decided to ride a fast horse to Shouzhou to meet the emperor and make a small report.

...In the Xingyuan of Shouzhou City, Chai Rong was sitting on the high seat, unconsciously stroking the sparse beard on his chin with one hand, as if he was thinking about something.

His face was tanned by the sun, but it gave the illusion of being pale. It may be that the light tan is unhealthy... Most strong men have oily and dark skin after being exposed to the sun, but Chai Rong's skin is only light-colored and has spots. I don't know, I thought the emperor was drinking too much, so it looked as if his talent had been emptied; in fact, Chai Rong drank moderately and was never drunk, let alone a womanizer.

He is thinking about Gao Huaide.

Gao Huaide was then the captain of the right wing of the Iron Cavalry Army. He has been in the army for eleven years, and he has served the Zhou Dynasty since the time of Taizu (Guo Wei), and he was also in the army in the crucial battle of Gaoping last year. But since then, he has been standing still and has not been promoted.

After arriving in Huainan, some meager skills were not enough for promotion, but Chai Rongnian and his qualifications wanted to retrace his military achievements in the Battle of Gaoping and Huainan's meager skills, and promote him so that he could gain the status of a senior general.

Because the march to Huainan has been going smoothly in all aspects so far in the past few months, Chai Rong has promoted many people, such as Zhang Yongde as the inspector of the front of the palace, Zhao Kuangyin as the commander of the front of the palace, Guo Shaojianjie... and many others.

Unexpectedly, as soon as Chai Rong mentioned the matter of Gao Huaide's establishment of the Festival, Zhao Kuangyin's voice had just landed: "Gao Huaide led the right side of the iron cavalry, galloping to defeat, the military law of the battle was not strict, and the march was negligent. It was only by luck that he was not defeated."

Is Gao Huaide really bad? Leading elite soldiers will lead to trouble? Chai Rong is not a person who fully believes what others say, he has considered some personal factors: it is said that Gao Huaide and Zhao Kuangyin are at odds.

The grudge between Zhao and Gao may have been planted when they were both Sidong and Xiban generals, and it intensified later. Gao Huaide's qualifications are higher than Zhao Kuangyin's, and he used to be Zhao Kuangyin's top leader; but last year and this year, Zhao Kuangyin was promoted very quickly, and he is already the second leader of the two elite divisions in the Dianqian Division, and Gao Huaide is still in Xiangdu School. It might be a little embarrassing for Gao Huaide, a veteran military general, to humble himself to his former subordinates, and even those who have discord and grievances.

Of course, Chai Rong considered more and deeper things. Everyone knew he was thinking, but no one knew what the emperor was thinking.

At this moment, Guo Shao, commander of the vanguard army, was suddenly reported to see him. Chai Rong immediately ordered him to come in.

After Guo Shao met, he told about Bai Jiabing and Zhao Chao.

After hearing this, Chai Rong said directly: "Zhao Chao doesn't suit you, so I will replace him."

Guo Shao didn't expect the emperor to be so happy and was a little flattered. Seeing this, Chai Rong said, "I've heard that the general guarding Haozhou is Chai Kehong, who has become very famous in the Southern Tang Kingdom recently. As long as you and Han Tong win in Haozhou and win cleanly, Li Jing and the Huainan Tang army will be greatly disappointed. The effectiveness of this campaign is not small! You just use your strength and don't have to follow the rules."

"Thank you, Majesty Long En." Guo Shao said hurriedly.

Chai Rong said again: "Last time you submitted to the Privy Council to ask for credit for the general? Wei Renpu, is there such a thing?"

Wei Renpu bowed and said, "Return to Your Majesty, there is this matter."

Chai Rong said bluntly: "If everything is approved, you can be awarded military ranks and rewards for meritorious officers and soldiers."

"The minister complies with the order." Wei Renpu said.

Guo Shao was very happy to hear that, but the pressure was even greater... He remembered Yuan Chonghuan of the Ming Dynasty, who boasted that the Emperor Chongzhen had fulfilled his requirements in many ways after he pinged Liao Dynasty for five years; The higher the emperor's hopes, the greater the anger when he is disappointed!

Still, the pressure cannot hold a young man back. Everyone subconsciously wants to realize their own value and prove themselves on important links. The more important the event, the more exciting; the more attention and performance opportunities they can get. Guo Shao is no exception, his excitement is more than pressure.

Chai Rong pondered for a moment, then said: "Let Gao Huaide be transferred to the right wing of the Hu Jie Army, and Zhao Chao to the Iron Cavalry Army."

...Gao Huaide, Guo Shao is actually very familiar with this person, he knew it in modern society. He didn't know much about "Hou Zhou", and he was not familiar with many important figures of this era, but he had heard of Gao Huaide, who was not that important.

He heard about Gao Huaide from opera stories. One is called "Three Attacks on Tao Sanchun", and the other is called "Gao Huaide's Farewell Daughter".

But here, Guo Shao is very suspicious of the stories in the opera, especially Gao Huaide's other daughter... It is said that Gao Huaide was poor when he was young.

If Guo Shao understood correctly, Gao Huaide was born in a family of military generals, and his father Gao Xingzhou was crowned king in both Han and Zhou dynasties. With such a family background, his father is a king, and his son can be poor... Can he be so mixed up as to sell his daughter? This is too ridiculous! Could it be that later generations specially made up stories to slander him? It is very likely that he has a bad relationship with Zhao Kuangyin.

Guo Shao was very satisfied with the emperor's appointment, and now he has subconsciously regarded Zhao Kuangyin as an opponent. Guo Shao is most willing to win over people who have a bad relationship with Zhao Kuangyin.

We must not let such a powerful force of the Gao family fall to Zhao Kuangyin! Gao Huaide seems to be known as the general of the Northern Song Dynasty in later generations. I am afraid that he also fell into the arms of Zhao Kuangyin later, and this kind of thing cannot be allowed to happen again.

...Because the army was still camping halfway, Guo Shao rode a fast horse back to the vanguard camp that day.

Guo Shao summoned the generals of the military capital school and vice generals to discuss in the Chinese army, specifically targeting the Baijia soldiers.

"The officials have transferred Huaide to the right wing to serve as the capital school. The massacre by our army should be curbed. But I think the officials of the Southern Tang Kingdom are the 'pushing hands'...they have a purposeful conspiracy. The white armor soldiers have stopped in Shouzhou. Why did they suddenly attack the right wing again?"

The generals didn't think about these things at all, but after hearing Guo Shao's explanation, they nodded and thought it made sense.

Guo Shao continued: "I thought of a second strategy.

First, find some women to make a few tiger flags and send them to the barracks, saying that they were sent by the people of the Southern Tang Kingdom to inspire the brave soldiers of the Zhou army; Let the soldiers not be deceived by Lu Mengjun and used by treacherous people.

Second, the prisoners of the white armor soldiers were captured and treated kindly. He also told them that Lu Mengjun was the one who massacred the people and stationed troops, intending to blame the Zhou army; let the captives go back and persuade the people not to be fooled. It's like this every time, and it spreads. "

At this moment, Zuo You said: "According to my lord's wishes, I wrote a doggerel that can be sung. Let's see how it goes, my lord."

Guo Shao took it over and took a look, and read: "Despicable and shameless Lu Mengjun, sneakily attacked Zhou Jun, and blamed Baijia soldiers. He killed Huainan people behind his back, and turned into Zhou Bing. If you are too wicked, you will be punished. Everyone knows that a villain will do it. Lu Mengjun, Lu Mengjun!"

"Hahaha..." The generals roared with laughter upon hearing this.

Guo Shaodao: "Very good, very good. Neither the soldiers nor the common people know any elegant poetry, and doggerel is the best, and they can be sung whenever there is nothing to do. Post it everywhere and read it for everyone to listen to."

Guo Shaoxing got up and said: "We can also rehearse a few plays. When the army is stationed, we will perform in the army... let Lu Mengjun also make a name for himself."

Zuo You said again: "There happened to be a story that Zhou Duan (the former staff member of Lu Mengjun) said. The people of the Southern Tang Dynasty hid our army's scouts in cellars."

Guo Shao also heard about this incident, and hurriedly said: "The content needs to be changed. It should focus on highlighting the people in Huainan and the generals and soldiers of the Great Zhou Army, as well as the content that our army Qiu Wuzhen is deeply loved by the people in Huainan. Also, don't make the lyrics too difficult to understand. Let's talk like this so that the soldiers can understand."

Zuo You nodded and said: "My lord's words are very true, I will write the script."