Warrior in Turbulent Han Dynasty

In the Tokyo market, there are some shops that open late, and shops selling fabrics are generally not in business in the morning. The wooden boards inlaid on the facade by the roadside (in Guo Shao's eyes, it is equivalent to a rolling shutter door) are being taken down, and the day's business has not yet started; but at this time, Guo Shao has finished handling the affairs of the front office for a day, and is riding a black horse towards the imperial city.

In the imperial study room of Jinxiang Palace, Guo Shao walked outside the inner gate, only to see Fu Jinzhan still processing the memorial. There were many memorials on the case covered with a yellow tablecloth, but they were all neatly placed there. Jinzhan was wearing a purple round-neck gown and a hooded head. He looked very calm, and his movements were elegant and unhurried.

An eunuch next to him saw Guo Shao, bent down beside Jinzhan and said a word, and then withdrew with several others. Fu Jinzhan also looked up at Guo Shao with a smile.

"The minister kowtowed to the queen mother."

"Stay flat."

Guo Shao walked to the table, Fu Jinzhan pointed to the round stool next to him: "Sit down and talk." Guo Shao said: "Thank you, Queen Mother." He sat down on the stool immediately, "Yesterday, the minister sent someone into the palace to report a private matter. Did the Queen Mother hear about it?"

Fu Jinzhan gently put the writing brush in her hand on the inkstone, and then pressed a paperweight against a piece of paper in front of her. She had a bright yellow ring on her finger. The finger was slender and jade white, but the details were very round and integrated. If there is such a thing as infusion in this era, her blood vessels must be hard to find. The sunlight from the window shone through, and at a certain angle, the reflection of the ring shone.

"Didn't the second sister and Li Yuan'er have both? If you can have a boy, your Guo family will have successors." Fu Jinzhan did not have much emotion when he said this, and narrated it calmly.

Guo Shao bowed his body and said in a low voice: "If someday there will be Jinzhan..."

A trace of shame flashed across Fu Jinzhan's face, he looked out from the inner door, and said softly, "I don't want to."

"Why?" Guo Shao asked.

Fu Jinzhan said: "General Guo has a successor, so you have done your duty for the ancestors of the Guo family; our Fu family has males. I don't need to bear this kind of responsibility now."

"Is it just doing your duty?" Guo Shao thought.

Fu Jinzhan said: "I have never liked children."

Guo Shao thought for a while, and then said: "It is said that when Wu Zetian wanted to pass on the throne, he wanted to pass it on to someone from the Wu family. Di Renjie said that after a hundred years from the emperor, if your descendants are in power, they will put the tablet on your mother's tablet in the Taimiao. That's why Wu Zetian gave up the idea of ​​passing on to your natal family..."

"I don't need others to remember me, as long as you remember me." Fu Jinzhan said.

Guo Shao was startled when he heard this, and said again: "What if I'm not here anymore?"

Fu Jinzhan looked at his face and said, "Won't you let me go with you?"

Guo Shao said: "That would be too much, it's like being buried."

The expression on Fu Jinzhan's face was like a smile but not a smile: "I have walked through the gate of hell twice, and I wanted you to be buried with me at that time."

Guo Shao didn't want to understand Fu Jinzhan's words for a while. He often feels that his knowledge is more advanced, and he always thinks that the ancients may not understand some of his remarks, but it is rare that he does not understand the thinking of the ancients...as long as they speak spoken language instead of classical Chinese and written language. But now, he found that he didn't necessarily understand Fu Jinzhan's words.

"Wang Pu also wrote a letter, suggesting to continue to use troops in the south first." Fu Jinzhan changed the subject, "After conquering Shu, the imperial court has tasted a lot of benefits. If we continue to attack the Southern Tang Dynasty, the entire country and military will support this strategy."

Guo Shao came back to his senses and said: "Great Zhou established the country by force. As long as the army does not strongly oppose it, we don't need to listen to the wishes of the people of the world... Sometimes the truth is in the hands of a few people."

After hearing the last sentence, Fu Jinzhan twitched his delicate black eyebrows on his white skin, and said, "What does General Guo mean, first go north and then go south?"

Guo Shaodao: "No, I have expressed my attitude before, and I also support the next step to deal with the Southern Tang Kingdom; what I said just now means that my attitude is not to conform to everyone."

Fu Jinzhan supported his chin with his wrist, looked at Guo Shao's face with bright eyes, and asked with great interest: "Then why did General Guo make such a judgment?"

In a piece of history I read before, after Zhao Kuangyin unified southern China, he wanted to take back the Sixteen Youyun Prefectures, but he never did it. He set up a savings warehouse and declared that he would buy the Sixteen Youyun Prefectures back from the Liao Kingdom... It is also said that he secretly saved money and used it to reward the beheaded heads of soldiers. No matter what that warehouse is for, at least it can show that Zhao Kuangyin is very cautious about going to war with Liao, and can fully realize the strength of Liao.

Otherwise, Zhao Kuangyin is unwilling to take back Youyun Sixteen States? That is impossible, and he probably wants to take it back even in his dreams. This kind of feat of being exiled for hundreds of generations, if it can be done, no emperor will refuse.

Although Zhao Kuangyin is Guo Shao's mortal enemy, Guo Shao will not deliberately slander his ability in his heart. Zhao Kuangyin is a hero with real skills... This kind of people think that Liao is difficult to fight, and they dare not act rashly. They must have his insight.

Guo Shao thought about it and said: "The Liao Kingdom is now the weakest time. The timing is more appropriate, but we should not be too impatient... First, if we miss a single blow, the external pressure we put on the Liao Kingdom will most likely have an impact on its internal motivation; successive returns without success (last year Chai Rong's Northern Expedition occupied several peripheral states) will weaken our country's confidence in victory."

Fu Jinzhan nodded slightly: "It makes sense."

Guo Shao said again: "Secondly, risk. After the victory of the Shu Kingdom, the country of the Great Zhou was a little more peaceful, the authority of the court rose, and the internal conflicts were alleviated; but it was not as stable as Mount Tai, and it still could not withstand too much failure. Once defeated, it may lead to internal turmoil; it will also weaken the elite strength of the Great Zhou accumulated over the years.

It is not easy to accumulate elite soldiers who are good at fighting. I was born as a low-level general, and I know very well how rare it is to have a soldier with combat effectiveness; not just any male can become an elite. The average person's arm strength is only twenty or thirty catties. A qualified elite soldier should at least draw a strong bow that kills two with one stone and fight. His physical strength is not at the same level at all. It requires a strong body, long-term training and accumulation of actual combat experience. It is not just a few months and one or two years of training to be able to fight a tough battle. The 100,000 or 200,000 troops of the Shu Kingdom, facing more than 20,000 people on the east side of me, are still too weak to dare to fight, and this is the reason. "

Guo Shao continued: "Thirdly, our own preparations are insufficient, and we still need some time. Attacking the Southern Tang Dynasty itself is also a form of preparation. When we fight against a country whose military strength is not as strong as that of the Great Zhou Dynasty, we will not lose money but still make money and continue to expand our armaments. Successive war victories will continue to raise the status of our court, and the layout will be more stable. At that time, our resilience to bear losses will increase."

Fu Jinzhan said: "The three reasons General Guo said are very real, and I agree with your proposition."

Guo Shao nodded and said: "So we have to prepare well in advance. After concentrating our strength, we need to go all out."

Fu Jinzhan said softly: "If it is really impossible to take back the Youyun Sixteen States, it is useless to force it. There will be other ways to continue to maintain it."

"What the queen mother said is very true. If there is nothing that can be done, then no one can do anything about it." Guo Shaodao, "But I want to try. The queen mother is in power in the Great Zhou Dynasty now. If such great achievements have been made during the reign of the queen mother... the world will remember the queen mother, and the history of thousands of years will also record this."

He looked into Fu Jinzhan's eyes and said in a low voice, "Not only I will remember the Queen Mother, but billions of people will remember you."

A smile appeared on Fu Jinzhan's face immediately, "The moment I leave, I probably won't be so scared anymore."

The two were silent for a while, immersed in the longing just now. Guo Shao said: "To fight the Southern Tang, you can attack Wuping (Hunan) first, and approach the Southern Tang from the upper reaches. The Wuping Jiedushi originally belonged to the Chu State, and Chu State rebelled after being attacked by the Southern Tang. The remnants of Chu are not strong enough, so you don't need to work too hard. Luo Yanhuan's guards and horses stationed in Jingnan, together with some of the sailors returned from the Shu Kingdom, are enough to deal with Wuping."

Fu Jinzhan nodded.

Guo Shao murmured: "How about letting Li Chuyun take command and go to Jingnan to transfer troops to take charge of the battle of Wuping?"

This time Fu Jinzhan didn't answer right away, she didn't say a word, she stretched out her hand to play with her ring, as if she was thinking about something.

Many people in the Forbidden Army thought that the higher-ups would stare at Shi Yanchao, but in fact Guo Shao and Fu Jinzhan didn't care about him... Last year Guo Shao thought about Li Chuyun's matter, now seeing Fu Jinzhan's hesitation, he understands that some thoughts are not unique to him, and Fu Jinzhan's heart is probably the same; although the two of them never talked about Li Chuyun's matter.

Fu Jinzhan finally whispered: "If Li Yuan'er gave birth to a boy, and Li Chuyun is powerful, how will you end up?"

Guo Shaodao: "At least Li Chuyun can't reach my level."

Fu Jinzhan still didn't let go: "Brother Shao, think carefully again, there is no shortage of generals who can stand alone in the court... Isn't Xiang Gong also very useful, although he didn't break through Jiannan Pass, taking down Hanzhong is still a good way to find things."

Guo Shaodao: "Based on my judgment, Li Chuyun is a rare general. But he doesn't have much prestige in the army, and it is very difficult to lead troops. If he is left idle like this, he will not be able to give full play to his abilities in the future Northern Expedition. Our Northern Expedition is not going all out."

"Do you care about using one or two less people?" Jinzhan said.

Guo Shaodao: "It's up to people to make things happen, but we have to do our best first before handing over the judgment to God...and Li Chuyun can't wait for the day when he becomes a hidden danger."

Jinzhan moved his body and asked softly, "What do you mean?"

Guo Shao said: "Once the court's external military pressure decreases, the current military system will no longer be safe. The Privy Council and the Second Division centrally control all the power of the army, as if the sword is always out of its sheath... In the future, we will divide the military power and separate the power of command, deployment, and logistics. Weaken part of the war capability and add more insurance; in peacetime, of course, the system of the war-torn era should not be used again. It is difficult for anyone to use force casually."

After hearing this, Fu Jinzhan said: "Since you have reached this point, let's let Li Chuyun take charge this time."

!!