Warrior in Turbulent Han Dynasty

The torrential rains in summer come as they come, intermittently, sometimes big and sometimes small, and the rain has not stopped for three days in one breath.

When the rain curtain is blown by the wind, it is like strips of milky white gauze curtains floating with the wind, and it is like a thick fog rippling in the air. Looking at Jinyang City from a distance, the city towers and walls seem to be shrouded in deep smoke. The rain extinguished the beacon smoke and washed away the bloodstains left by the casualties on the city walls.

The war was put on hold, and fences and fortifications were built outside the city to besiege the city. Behind the fortifications, there are only a large area of ​​tents, which are densely covered like countless umbrellas on a rainy day.

The weather turned cooler after the rain, which took away the heat of the scorching summer; but in addition to the coolness, the humidity also made people miserable, because there were not so many houses for all the soldiers to live in. The tents could not completely block the rain, and there was a shortage of dry firewood. The wet armor of the soldiers could only be half-dried by the fire, and the half-wet clothes were not so comfortable to wrap around the body.

The most inconvenient thing is the muddy roads. The roads connecting the camps are trampled to pieces. People and horses walking on them are like walking in a swamp, or walking in the mud of a rice field. When you step down, your ankles will be submerged in the mud.

The generals of the Zhou army went to the camp of the Chinese army every day, and seemed to be arguing endlessly about whether to fight or retire.

General Xiang Xun once again sent someone to call Guo Shao to meet him in his big tent. This time Xiang Xun looked a little embarrassed and turned away. Judging from the days when Guo Shao and him have been friends, Xiang Xun is actually a real person. But in fact, people will inevitably slap their chests occasionally and say light words such as "I will take you to see the official, and let the official appoint you another official"; seeing Xiang Xun's expression now, Guo Shao knew that this matter might not be so easy.

The Zhou Dynasty was not as great as the unified empire of the Han and Tang Dynasties, but at least it was the strongest regime in the Central Plains in the world. Chai Rong was also the emperor recognized by the world... Even if the Lord of the Northern Han Dynasty and others did not verbally recognize Chai Rong as the co-lord of the world, they would definitely take the emperor Chai Rong seriously in their hearts.

Is the emperor so nice to see?

Seeing this, Guo Shao hurriedly said: "I salute the corporal to the general, and I have met the junior general many times, and the latter is already flattered. The imperial court will definitely reward the junior general for his little merit, and there is no need to ask for an official position."

Guo Shao didn't say this to flatter Xiang Xun, nor was he being modest. It was true that Xiang Xun's status was too different from his own. When he met alone a few times, it was indeed very face-saving and enough respect.

Xiang Xun asked: "By the way, last time Commander Zhang Du performed meritorious service for you, what position did you want to be promoted for?"

"Commander." Guo Shao said.

Xiang Xun frowned and said: "The commander is only a little bit more official, and there are no more than five hundred soldiers under his command, and he may not be able to tell what kind of soldiers they are. It's too low!"

Guo Shao replied truthfully: "Before this battle, the last general only served as Dutou." Not only did he answer truthfully, but he didn't explain in detail: Dutou only served as a captain for one day, but he was actually a small captain.

Xiang Xun shook his head: "Beheading Zhang Yuanhui's name doesn't fit a commander. What's more, if others don't understand, they would not understand in the future? Xinkou rescued Shi Yanchao. If Guo Lang wasn't there, Shi Yanchao would be dead. With these merits alone, not to mention the accumulated military merits of Wuqi Town in Luzhou, you are not only allowed to be a small commander."

Although Guo Shao also wanted to get ahead, he hadn't thought about reaching the sky in one step, and he had a word in his mind: If you take too many steps, you will be scratched.

Xiang Xun pondered for a moment and said: "I have always been friends with Prime Minister Wang Pu, so I will talk to him about this matter first, and I will give you news in a few days."

Guo Shao didn't refuse either, he thought to himself that a few months ago he was still an unknown and nobody cared about the team leader, so could he be related to the prime minister?

Xiang Xun patted his chest again and said, "I can't guarantee anything else. You should definitely not just be promoted to be a commander! To become a commander after killing the number one fierce general in the Northern Han Dynasty and saving Shi Yanchao, you really want to make the world laugh..." He lowered his voice slightly, "The official family killed more than 70 generals in Luzhou, and they have to manage the army when they go back. There are a lot of vacancies at this time. Don't worry, I will talk to Prime Minister Wang, as long as he nods, this matter will be easy to handle."

Guo Shao hurriedly thanked him.

However, what Xiang Xun said was indeed a bit exaggerated, not to the point where he laughed the world off. Slaying Zhang Yuanhui in the battle, defeating the poor Liao army in Wujun Township, saving Shi Yanchao, these things can be big or small, the size of the credit depends on what the emperor thinks and what others say.

If you talk about it in a small way, these things have not reached the level of affecting the battle situation, and they are not considered great achievements; if you talk about it in a big way, you can use mystical "Qi" to discuss that the army needs heroes and specific deeds that can be talked about.

...

The rain still fell from time to time, and it took Guo Shao many days to return to Jinyang City, and the Zhou army never attacked the city again. After finally clearing up for several days in a row, news came from the army that the emperor ordered the troops to retreat in batches.

The siege of Jinyang should end here. Although the Zhou Dynasty did not directly destroy the Northern Han Dynasty, it severely damaged its main force in Gaoping, and after arriving in Jinyang City, it raided all the territory of the Northern Han Dynasty. Except for Jinyang City, none of the other states and towns had surrendered to the Zhou army. This time the Northern Han Dynasty may have to stop for a long time, and they dare not take any more actions. Whether they can recover their vitality is still open to question.

The infantry of the Xiaodi Army has become disorganized, and only some scattered soldiers and defeated generals remain; but the losses of the cavalry are not large, and the main force still remains. Guo Shao and others attached the Xiaodi Army's cavalry to command envoys and retreated with them.

The class teacher still walks back to court, and the horse needs to carry some things, but he rarely rides. Guo Shao couldn't calculate it, but he felt that he had walked thousands of miles in a few months. He soon discovered that his small group of troops was not under control, Shangfeng had neither a leader nor a commander, and no one asked about the troops that were not under his control. They only had a chief general, the commander of the Xiaodi army, horsemen and soldiers.

When the army arrived in Luzhou, there was a chaotic troop in front that blocked the road. Ministers were going to coordinate, and the troops behind temporarily stopped to rest.

The weather in Luzhou had cleared up, so Guo Shao asked the two brothers to revisit the old places nearby, but no one cared about them anyway.

The three of them rode horses to the outside of Wuqi Town, Luo Mengzi asked, "Brother, do you want to go in and have a look?"

After Guo Shaolue thought about it, he found that there was no one he wanted to see in Wuyun Town. See Li Desheng? The town general Li Desheng is not a bad person, but Guo Shao has no interest in making friends with him; he has some kindness with the people in the town, but he is not very familiar with or caring about an individual. Thinking about it this way, I can't find a reason to be nostalgic for the blood shed here. So why go in, do you want to see if the people have erected monuments and sung praises for themselves?

He shook his head, tuned the horse and continued to walk slowly south with the two of them.

At noon, due to the sweltering weather, the water in the water bags of the three of them was exhausted, and there was no well nearby. They decided to find a village to replenish some drinking water, and then returned to the station after eating some dry food.

There was smoke from cooking on the half slope not far from the road, and there seemed to be several families, so they led their horses up along the road.

As soon as he got closer, he heard people clamoring on the Banpo, and then heard the voice of a young lady calling for help. The three of them heard clearly, and looking at each other, Guo Shao hurriedly took down the two stone bows and prepared an arrow; Yang and Luo didn't bring any long soldiers, so they immediately drew out their waist sabers carefully.

As they continued to walk upwards, they heard someone shouting from the earthen yard above: "Grain! Where is the food hidden?" Another voice said: "Everyone, my family is really out of food. The government raised the levy at the beginning of the year, and the soldiers from Jinyang came to collect it again last time. They wanted to scrape away a layer of land... The child and her mother died of illness and starvation. My family can only eat bark and roots. The good guys just let us go..."

"Eating bark can live so long? Food! If you don't give food, you will boil this little lady!"

Guo Shao and others followed the sound and walked into the broken courtyard, where there was a small earthen dam and a few thatched huts. Standing at the door were two skinny men in ragged clothes, who looked like refugees. When they saw Guo Shao and others wearing armor, their expressions changed drastically, and they hurriedly shouted inside: "The officers and soldiers are here!"

As soon as the words fell, Yang and Luo stepped up and put the knives on the necks of the two refugees respectively. They were terrified, staring and dare not move. At the same time, Guo Shao had rushed into the house.

There were four other people inside, an old man knelt on the ground and turned his head to look at Guo Shao in a daze; beside him were two ragged refugees who were holding a little girl and pressing them on the stove. The little girl was wearing a patched torn dress, she was unimaginably thin, her head was facing a pot on the stove, the water in it was so hot that it was only bubbling, and it was already boiling, she was so steamed that she cried to herself, her face was dirty, black and white, and colorful.

Immediately afterwards, Yang and Luo escorted others into the house. The old man kneeling on the ground moved over with his knees and hugged Guo Shao's legs: "Master Jun, save us!"

Seeing this, the person by the stove said sternly, "Don't move! Otherwise, if I let go, I'll cook her!"

"Don't be impatient, I'll put down the bow and arrow first." Guo Shao carefully lowered the arrow first, then retracted the arrow on the string, and then said, "We have food, and three fast horses. They are all in the yard."

"Let them go!" The one who spoke had the most fierce expression, and the other refugees were too frightened to vent their anger.

Guo Shao said: "You let that girl go, my people let them go."

The man said: "You mother|damn|you think I'm stupid! If you let me go, can we beat you and live?"

Guo Shao remained calm and said, "If you let her go and beg for mercy, you can still live. If you kill her, can you live? Do you think we have anything to do with this family portrait? We just came up to beg for water."

The man whose neck was strangled hurriedly said in fear: "Master, spare your life, spare your life!"

Guo Shao ignored it and just stared at the man with a fierce expression: "Be careful if your hand slips and you hurt innocent lives, it will not be easy for you even if you want to live."