Warrior in Turbulent Han Dynasty

In late July of the fifth year of Xiande (958), the season had already entered autumn, and Tokyo was sunny and sunny for days, and the temperature was still very high. Even so, the morning wind has already brought the coolness of autumn, and the fallen leaves of the broad-leaved trees drifted to the mid-air early, swirling in the wind, adding a bit of desolation to the atmosphere.

There are many people staying at the ten-mile long pavilion on the post road south of Tokyo at this time.

There are always traces of the activities of ancient people in the world, such as this long pavilion. At first, it was left over from the system of "ten miles and one pavilion" in Qin and Han Dynasties. Later, this system ceased to exist, but Changting was endowed with new meaning. Willows and long pavilions have been preserved as the meaning of farewell. Guo Shao turned his head to look outside the pavilion, and sure enough there were willow trees.

"The cavalry has stopped marching." A young general clasped his fists outside.

Li Chuyun turned his head and said: "Get off the horse and rest." The young general said: "I have to order."

Seeing Li Chuyun's stately appearance and his complacent behavior after getting the opportunity of military power, Guo Shao felt more relieved. Guo Shao feels that the more a person wants something, the easier it is for him to get it... There is no reason, it is just an intuition. Li Chuyun is eager to establish military exploits and wants to win, which is a good sign.

Guo Shao took a glass of wine from the wooden tray carried by the servant, and several people around, including Wang Pu, Li Gu, and Li Chuyun's daughter Li Yuan'er, all took a wine glass, and Li Chuyun finally took it up too.

"This glass of wine is practiced by Marshal Li, and I will wait in Tokyo for your good news." Guo Shao raised his glass and said.

Several other people said one after another: "I wish General Li a victory, and Wuping will be determined early."

"With the help of Guo Du's inspection and everyone's auspicious words, I will go here, and I will never return it if I don't break the Wuping! Do it!" Li Chuyun said loudly.

"Do it!" Everyone raised their heads and gulped it down. Even Li Yuan'er covered her lips with her wide sleeve and drank a glass of wine. She put down the glass and said, "Father must be careful when he goes abroad to fight."

Li Chuyun said: "Don't worry, the old man will be fine."

Guo Shao looked sideways at the horsemen on the post road, there were about two hundred cavalry soldiers waiting in the dust that hadn't dissipated, Li Chuyun didn't even need to bring the guards with him. Just go to Jiangling Mansion to transfer troops, and the water and land are all in order.

"I just got the news that the Lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty has obeyed the imperial court's order and transferred Lin Renzhao from Jiezhen, Wuchang, back to Jinling." Guo Shao said, thinking that I can only help you here, and Li Chuyun has to make a real decision on how to fight.

Wang Pu said: "General Li will not be threatened by the Southern Tang army on the water, crossing the river is easy."

After hearing this, Li Chuyun laughed loudly: "In this way, the new emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty is a soft persimmon, and he can't stand it! The imperial court's decision to make a trip to the south of the Yangtze River is just around the corner. Today, I will check the predecessors of Guodu. I will take Zhou Xingfeng first. This victory is in my hands. Wait for my news, gentlemen, and report back within two months."

Li Chuyun laughed, his long mane and big beard trembled, the sound was like a bell, as if it would shake the pavilion. He was also tall and burly, and Guo Shao once again had an illusion that if he dyed his face red with red paint, he could pretend to be Guan Gong, because Guan Gong in the temple also had long sideburns and a beard, and was tall and strong.

Li Yuan'er, who was standing beside Guo Shao, was round and fair, and naturally she didn't have a thick beard like Li Chuyun. But only Guo Shao knew that Li Yuan'er was actually very similar to Li Chuyun, but outsiders couldn't tell.

"There is no time limit for attacking Zhou Xingfeng, but I still hope that Li Gong can return to Tokyo before becoming a grandfather." Guo Shao laughed. Li Chuyun glanced at Li Yuan'er, her pregnancy was still completely invisible, so he smiled and said, "That's too easy."

After everyone discussed it again, Li Chuyun clasped his fists and said, "Guo Du checks, colleagues, please stop, the old man is about to leave."

Guo Shao and the others in the long pavilion clasped their fists in worship again, Li Chuyun strode out of the pavilion in return, got on his horse, waved to Li Yuaner again, and shouted: "Let's go!"

The sound of rumbling horseshoes on the post road gradually sounded, and Li Chuyun's figure quickly disappeared into the dust on the dirt road. After the horse team left, the group left the pavilion and walked towards the chariots and horses parked on the post road.

Guo Shao lifted the curtain behind a carriage with his own hands, and helped Li Yuan'er up. Seeing this, everyone looked sideways. The habit at this time, of course, high-ranking people would not be so gracious to women, so Guo Shao's behavior seemed a bit out of date, but when everyone thought that this woman was the daughter of Li Chuyun who had just left, maybe they could understand. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Li Yuan'er's cheeks also turned slightly red.

"Slow down." Guo Shao didn't forget to ask again, "Did you get dizzy in the car?"

"Ah Lang, I'm not dizzy." Li Yuan'er looked at him and shook her head slightly, before she lowered the curtain to cover the entrance of the carriage. Guo Shao subconsciously remembered one thing. The wheels of the ancient carriages were made of wood, and the floor of the carriage was also a simple plank. There was no shock absorption at all. The carriage bumped a lot on the post road, but he had never seen anyone with motion sickness. It was a bit strange.

The woman rode in a chariot, and everyone else rode back to Tokyo City.

There are cavalry guards at the front and back, and the three riders walk side by side in front of the carriage, Guo Shao is in the middle, Wang Pu on the left, and Li Gu on the right, both are civil servants. The group of people on horseback walked more slowly, because the carriage ran faster and bumped more. Guo Shao then turned his head to the left and said casually, "Zhou Xingfeng is on the south bank of the great river. Let's attack him. The plot is obviously the Southern Tang Kingdom. The Southern Tang monarchs and ministers will not fail to guess, but they listened to our wishes and transferred Lin Renzhao so soon. I really didn't expect it. When I suggested that the Empress Dowager ordered an envoy to go there, I didn't have much hope."

Wang Pu stroked the sparse beard on his chin, and said calmly: "The Southern Tang ruler's move is really not wise. However, it is not easy for them to make up their minds to go to war with the Great Zhou. People in the south of the Yangtze River may still wait and see. After all, we are not going to attack the Southern Tang in a fair manner."

He paused for a moment, then turned his head and said: "It is in our interest to delay for a while. Since the Southern Tang Kingdom responded in this way, the old man thought that sending envoys to the Wuyue Kingdom to contact them to jointly attack Jinling could be postponed, so as to paralyze the Southern Tang Kingdom as much as possible."

Guo Shao nodded in agreement.

Seeing that his words were approved, Wang Pu went on to say: "Over there, the generals and officials dispatched must be cautious. Our country will go to Shu this year, and we can immediately deploy troops to the Southern Tang. This is the reason why Shu has been peaceful since it changed hands. Otherwise, it will drag down our rear."

"I have read the letter Wang Shijun wrote to me at the beginning of the year, and I deeply agree with it," Guo Shao said.

After hearing this, Wang Pu's gaze brightened a bit: "Guo Du inspection can have this insight, it's not in vain for you and my friends."

Guo Shao said with a smile: "I am really happy to have Wang Shijun as a friend... Please Wang Shijun enlighten me on our philosophy of governing the Kingdom of Shu."

"Idea?" Wang Pu frowned slightly.

Guo Shao hurriedly said: "It is a strategy, a general direction, and a true attitude."

Wang Pu nodded, and said: "Just a few words, keep the original status." He paused and explained, "The people of Shu used to live in the same way, and now they live in the same way. Most people's property has not been plundered, and the poorest people will not face the disaster of starving to death, and they will not take risks... Don't beat the bones of Shu for the sake of immediate benefits. For example, if the salt government is implemented in the Central Plains, 50 to 200 Wen for a catty of official salt, and it is suddenly implemented in Shu, the people of Shu feel that the difference is too great. There are grievances everywhere."

"The price of salt is so expensive, this item alone is really worth it." Guo Shao said in a low voice.

Guo Shao was not the poorest person in this era when he was the most downcast, after all, he was a strong young man, but he had lived in the market and knew the life of the people better. The purchasing power of one penny is roughly equivalent to one yuan in modern times, but the income of ordinary people at this time was very low, and it was very heavy to pay at least a few tens of pennies for every catty of salt.

He said: "The burden on the Central Plains is too heavy. The only strategy for treating people equally is to reduce taxes in the Central Plains in the future; it is not to copy the methods of the Central Plains to the newly captured lands."

Wang Pudao: "What Guo Du inspected said is very true. That's why I couldn't resist writing you a letter when I was seriously ill at the beginning of the year. There are indeed some scholar-bureaucrats in the court who came from high-ranking families. They don't get mud on their fingers, and they ask why not eat minced meat. We must not let the Queen Mother listen to the nonsense of these people."

Guo Shao clasped his fists and said, "Wang Shijun made a sincere remark, and I decided to echo Wang Shijun's words in front of the Queen Mother. However, national policy and strategy should be discussed in a long-term manner, and dare not rush forward. The prince's words of 'maintaining the status quo' are quite insightful. It is true that we should adjust slowly according to the current situation, and expedient measures should not be underestimated."

Wang Pu calmly glanced at Li Gu, who was riding a horse and didn't speak, and said, "This old man is a privy envoy. He doesn't care about government affairs, and he can point fingers at the government. Others will say that this old man is a dog. Li Xianggong is a member of the Zhengshitang, and he has such a good friendship with Guo Dudian. Why don't you find a time for the three of us to sit down and see if we can talk together?"

Wang Pu's speech is always a bit harsh, and I really don't know why, probably because the way he speaks is too direct. For example, words like "Li Xianggong and Guo Dudian have such a good friendship" are really not very pleasant.

Guo Shao didn't say a word, and slightly turned his head to look at Li Gu.

Li Gu finally opened his mouth and said: "Wang Shijun wrote the letter to Guo Du at the beginning of the year, what was it about? I don't know what the two of you talked about, I was confused, so I didn't dare to speak rashly just now."

Wang Pu said: "The letter is in the hands of Guo Du, and it is up to you to dispose of it."

"How about tomorrow afternoon? Come to my house and drink a cup of rough tea." Guo Shao said bluntly, he is a relatively straightforward person, and he will do whatever he thinks of. After hearing this, both of them said that there was nothing important to do tomorrow afternoon. Guo Shao thought about it again, Wang Pu was still in the Kingdom of Shu, otherwise he still wanted to recruit Wang Pu to join the group and participate in this political discussion. He said, "There are two more people, one is Taichang Temple Shaoqing Zuoyou, and the other is Kaifeng Mansion Zuoting Huang Binglian."

Wang Pu immediately said: "Zuo You is General Guo's staff, the old man can figure it out..."

Guo Shao's forehead darkened slightly. He thought it was better not to say anything about the staff...but Wang Pu had no choice but to endure it because of his temperament. The most important thing is that Guo Shao has nothing to fear now. He is not afraid of anyone saying that he forms a clique. If he forms a clique, he will form a clique. What can he do?

Then I heard Wang Pu say: "I also know Huang Binglian, a criminal who decides a case, what is there to talk about with him?"

Guo Shaodao: "I think this person is quite knowledgeable and reliable. It's okay for everyone to make friends with each other."

!!