Warrior in Turbulent Han Dynasty

The scenery outside the city of Jiangling Mansion (now Jingzhou) is very pleasant. The vast rice fields on the endless plain are lush and green; village houses can be seen everywhere, and amidst the smoke from cooking, the peach and plum trees have already bloomed, and the red and white colors are dotted with the vibrant green, which is very beautiful.

Guo Shao was looking at the distant scenery from the top of the city. He has repeatedly prohibited soldiers from disturbing the people. It must be a pity if this rare scene of prosperity is destroyed. Jingzhou has been a strategically important place since ancient times, not because its terrain is so dangerous, but on the contrary, it is on the Jianghan Plain; however, its position as a water and land transportation hub connecting the north, south, east and west is very important, and its flat terrain is rich in resources and easy to rule. It is really a good place to raise troops.

Now Guo Shao plans to use Jingzhou as the base camp of the East Route Army. There are food and people here, and the transportation is convenient. It will become the rear center of the army. Luo Yanhuan led 20,000 tigers and soldiers from the left side of the army to the south. They will station here with elites and firmly control Jingzhou to stabilize the rear of the Eastern Route Army.

Horseshoes rattled on the road below the city, and the soldiers were happily galloping on the road between the fields. Someone nearby found Guo Shao standing at the top of the city, and some people waved their weapons and shouted towards the city, and the army booed for a while.

"Everyone's morale is very high!" Zuo You said beside him.

Wang Pu said: "It's so easy to occupy such a good place. Now the soldiers eat, drink, race horses and play every day. That's it, and there are money points. Who is not happy?"

After hearing this, Guo Shao looked to the west and said casually, "The good days won't last long."

In the sunny afternoon, everything is so bright and bright, and peace and joy are enveloped inside and outside the city. But Guo Shao's tone and eyes suddenly made the atmosphere a little gloomy.

Zuo You and the others followed his gaze to the west, and there was still an endless wilderness... But everyone knew that as long as you go west, you will soon enter the dangerous mountainous area of ​​Songshan Mountain.

At this moment, Guo Shao suddenly smiled and said: "We will trek hard, but we will definitely win."

"The Shu army is unbearable, and it will certainly not be able to stop the elite soldiers of the Great Zhou." Wang Pu also echoed, and everyone gradually regained their ease.

Guo Shao didn't affect everyone's mood anymore, but this mentality of pinning the hope of victory on the opponent's weakness really made him feel uneasy. But what can be done... From Tokyo to Jingzhou, Guo Shao has a detailed understanding of the terrain and customs around the Shu Kingdom, and believes that as long as the Shu Kingdom can really defend it with all its strength, almost no ancient army can enter it all at once! Therefore, most of the time, they quickly invaded the Shu Kingdom, relying on their own internal problems; for example, the former Shu emperor liked to worship Buddha everywhere and abandoned the military administration.

What if Meng Chang and his ministers suddenly stop being stupid?

If the war drags on, various problems and contradictions in the Zhou Dynasty will intensify and ferment.

Conversely, as long as one of the great powers at this time, Shu, is defeated, the prestige of Guo Shao and even Fu Jinzhan's regime will rise rapidly. Victory will be like a shot in the arm for the Zhou Dynasty, and it will also give a substantial increase in national strength, and all hidden dangers will be easily solved...

Guo Shao turned around and walked down the city wall, returning to the camp of the Chinese Army not far from the city gate. Going from the warm sunshine to the shade all of a sudden, I felt the residual chill of spring, a bit gloomy.

He asked Lu Chengyong to find Mrs. Sun's people, the leaders of several business gangs, people who often traveled to Shu and Jingnan. Before the war, the Privy Council and the Dianqian Division had sorted out a lot of things about the road to Shu, including a road map and some articles written by officials; but Guo Shao still wanted to talk to the people who actually walked through it.

When Guo Shao talked with him, the members of the business gang spoke very excitedly, and two or three courageous people showed their faces in front of Guo Shao.

"To sail against the current, it is better to use wheel shovels, water wheels and oars to make it faster, but it also requires more boatmen. It is best to avoid going against the current and the wind, and to set the sails when the wind is down..." "The water in the narrow part of the river is generally fast, and the oars and sails are not very effective. At that time, you have to use the towing. The most important thing to travel in the Three Gorges is to avoid dangerous beaches and reefs. If you hit it, the boat will be destroyed."

Guo Shao listened carefully, and then asked carefully: "Do you know the location of those dangerous shoals and reefs?"

A man said: "The shop in Jiangling Mansion also has a map of the dangerous shoal. If you are a small one, let someone go back and bring it to Marshal Guo."

"That's a good thing." Guo Shaoxi said.

The man took the initiative to ask for orders again: "Just having a picture is not enough. Marshal Guo took me with me. I am familiar with this waterway and can recognize many places. I also know how to find familiar guides along the river. We have traveled many times, but we still have to find guides every time."

Guo Shao didn't put on airs, and asked gently: "From Jiangling Mansion, can the road along the river go directly to Kuizhou?"

One person rushed to say: "Yes! But in many places such as Qutang Gorge, the cliffs on both sides of the strait have no way to go, so you have to take the plank road, which is very dangerous."

"Is there a picture of the plank road?" Guo Shao asked.

Everyone looked at each other and shook their heads. Guo Shao turned his head and said to Zuo You: "We have to send people first to find out the exact location of the plank road." He unfolded the map in his hand, looked at the lines on it, and said, "It is mainly the plank road from the east of Kuizhou to the confluence of Wuxi River, and this part is under the control of the Shu army. You don't have to ask Gui, Xia and other states. In the hands of the Jingnan garrison, there will be no resistance."

Guizhou and Xiazhou (near Yichang City) are also places with dangerous throats. They used to belong to the Shu Kingdom, but now they are under the control of the Jingnan Kingdom. Guo Shao hadn’t figured out the historical origin of it for a while, but he felt that the State of Shu was really doing a bad job...Shu State is also considered a big country, and it is understandable that it did not occupy Jingzhou in the east to form an offensive posture. However, the territory of Guizhou and Xiazhou in the mountainous area can also be lost, shortening the defense depth. This should be regarded as a strategic mistake of the Shu State regime.

So now Guo Shao only needs to break through one place: the Three Gorges. Then it directly threatened Kuizhou, the throat of Shu.

The word Kuizhou on this picture has been blurred, and the ink has been stroked by Guo Shao many times, and it is impossible to make out what is written. Kuizhou, a city in a ravine, became Guo Shao's dream place at this time.

At this moment, there was a noise at the door, and a group of generals walked in talking and laughing. When the members of the Shang Gang saw the general, they all had fear on their faces, and hurriedly avoided the wall... Guo Shao was also a general, but they didn't seem to be that afraid of him.

When Guo Shao looked up, a general yelled at the commoner men by the wall: "Where are you from? How did you come to the lobby of the Chinese Army?" One of the men bent down and said, "Marshal Guo told us to come here."

"Greetings, my lord." The generals saluted Guo Shao casually. The generals are very familiar with Guo Shao, and they have grasped his temper. As long as it is not on a formal occasion, Guo Shao never punishes the generals for private affairs, and even rarely scolds them, so everyone is very casual... Zuo You once persuaded him to take this opportunity to kill chickens and monkeys, so that the generals will have a sense of awe.

Shi Yanchao felt no pressure at all, he found a chair and sat down proudly. He immediately looked at Yang Biao and said, "Oh, what happened to Li Dazhu today, he walks with his legs crossed."

Luo Mengzi suddenly laughed, and said to Guo Shao: "Brother, I was about to tell you about this. Li Dazhu went to drink flower wine a few days ago, and he had a lot of fleshy bumps on his thing..."

The commander of the Second Army made Li Dazhu look embarrassed. This fellow was originally just a commander, because he fought with Guo Shaonan in the Northern War, and after forming the Huben Army, he made great progress. He looked at Luo Mengzi with a very unhappy look, but he couldn't say anything rude... Luo Mengzi was higher than him, and everyone knew that Luo Mengzi was Guo Shao's brother.

"Flower and willow disease, flower and willow disease." The generals booed for a while, saying in one go, "General Li has a lump of flesh, but I also heard that there are pus..." Some people said that the flower and willow disease is not a big deal, and some people booed and said that if it is not cured, it will be useless.

Guo Shao rolled up the map and asked Li Dazhu kindly: "Have you found a doctor?"

Li Dazhu said sullenly: "It's cured, but it hasn't been cured for a while."

Guo Shao turned his head and looked at the leaders of the business gang, "Is there any doctor with a good reputation in Jiangling Mansion?" These people have stayed in the shop of Jiangling Mansion for a long time and are familiar with the local area.

"Jiangling Mansion... I haven't heard of it being very powerful. But it must belong to the 'Wushan White Granny' with its great reputation and medical skills." A man said.

"What does Grandma Wushan do? It sounds like the name of a magic stick." Guo Shao said, "Where is she?"

The man said: "Wushan White Grandma is in Wushan. It is reasonable that Marshal Guo has never heard of her in Tokyo. This person's reputation has only been spread for two years. But if you have been to Jingnan or Dongchuan earlier, you should have heard of her."

Guo Shaolue thought about it, and said casually: "Wushan is so far away from Jiangling Mansion, and there are mountains and mountains blocking it, the reputation spread so far within a year or two, there should be something extraordinary."

"Of course, this person still has the title of 'Wushan Holy Hand'. As long as the person is still alive, there is no disease that she can't cure! It is said that she has saved people who died and put them in the coffin..." The man said excitedly, his eyebrows danced and he boasted.

Of course Guo Shao didn't believe it, although he had indeed seen miraculous things... A Taoist elixir saved Fu Jinzhan's life, but Fu Jinzhan didn't have any serious illnesses, probably caused by heatstroke.

If it is a real terminal illness, not to mention some ancient masters, even the relatively advanced modern medicine dare not claim to cure all diseases. For example, can leukemia and the like be easily cured? This guy must be bragging, but it sounds like that White Grandma of Wushan may be really clever. After all, if there is no example of curing intractable diseases, others will not spread her reputation, let alone spread thousands of miles quickly.

Guo Shao became very interested for a while, not because he was concerned about Li Dazhu's illness... He suddenly thought of Wang Pu who was half dead in Tokyo.