Warrior in Turbulent Han Dynasty

Lingzhou is dry and windy, and the howling of the wind outside can be heard inside the palace.

The deputy privy envoy hurried to the door of the study, where Guo Shao stopped talking with Lu Duoxun and beckoned Wei Renpu to come in. Wei Renpu cupped his hands and said in a hurry: "Your Majesty, there is news from Cao Bin. Zhou Jun reported victory in the north of Shaozhou, but the situation does not seem to be going well."

Guo Shaodao: "I read Cao Bin's report before, as long as he takes Shaozhou and conquers the Southern Han Dynasty, it will be just around the corner. Can he not take Shaozhou?"

Wei Renpu said: "I think it's very difficult. Since the confrontation between the Zhou army and the Southern Han army, they have mostly been on the defensive. If you repel the Southern Han army's attack, you will win. The progress is extremely slow. The Zhou army was affected by the miasma in the south, and many people fell ill. Some people even secretly reported that they encountered the plague! I speculate that Cao Bin may be considering retreating!"

Guo Shao frowned, and said in a short while: "Tell Taichang Temple to send an imperial doctor to the south line for consultation to solve the disease."

Wei Renpu clasped his fists and said, "Here."

Guo Shao pondered for a moment and then said: "Send the letter back and ask Zuo You to go too! I used to lead troops to have a method of isolation and disease prevention. Cao Bin has never followed me, so he may not be familiar with it. Zuo You is the most familiar with those methods."

Wei Renpu couldn't help but said again: "Cao Bin has no achievements to praise, and his performance in attacking the Southern Han Dynasty was mediocre. The court spent so much money, armor, weapons, and food and fodder were all sufficient. He had as many as 100,000 soldiers. He spent a lot of money on the expedition, but he fought the battle like this..."

Guo Shaodao: "Although Cao Bin has a large number of people, we have to consider that he is not leading veterans of the battle."

Wei Renpu sighed: "The Southern Han Dynasty is a weak country, the ruler is dark and the ministers are dim. It is much worse than the previous Southern Tang Dynasty."

Guo Shao said without hesitation: "Cao Bin hasn't written to give up yet, let him think of a way, we can't rush too much."

Wei Renpu noticed Guo Shao's attitude and tone, so he stopped talking... Cao Bin was selected by Guo Shao himself, and Guo Shao was not willing to admit that he was wrong until he really failed.

Speaking of this, the three monarchs and ministers in the study were slightly silent.

Guo Shao reached out and rubbed his forehead a few times, feeling a sense of exhaustion in his heart...Thinking that he didn't do much every day, but everything went wrong, and his mood would affect him.

Guo Shao pretended to be calm and said: "You all perform your own duties, don't be in a hurry."

Wei Renpu and the other two bowed and said, "Your servants will follow the instructions."

Lu Duoxun said at this time: "I will send the party members away tomorrow. I ask you to be the court envoy and go back to Xiazhou with them. See you again Li Yiyin."

Guo Shao and Wei Renpu were surprised when they heard this. Guo Shao reminded: "This time is different from last time. Mr. Lu will go there, and his life is in danger."

Lu Duoxun said seriously: "If Xiazhou rebels and kills the ministers, the war is inevitable, and more people will die. Why should I cherish my life?"

After hearing this, Guo Shao nodded in agreement, and silently waved his hand.

The two clasped their fists together and said, "I will take my leave."

Guo Shao stood up and paced around the small room a little restlessly. After thinking about it, it is the most favorable situation if there is no accident in the west... If there is a war in the north, the Liao Kingdom is likely to intervene. Moving the main front to the west would not be beneficial to the Central Plains dynasty, which was costly to transport. Moreover, the Liao Kingdom would have one more ally. The Dangxiang territory in Xiazhou was not large, but the Dangxiang people were all soldiers and the terrain was complicated, so it was not easy to deal with. However, Li Yiyin is not necessarily willing to be caught between the two great powers and be used as a weapon.

Guo Shao took a deep breath, and only then did he realize that he was a little paralyzed after taking the throne firmly, and the fault tolerance rate for many things is still not high.

He suppressed his anxiety and irritability in his heart, got up and walked out of the study.

Guided by the eunuch Wang Zhong, Guo Shao walked through a corridor and went to see Li Yueji again.

Li Yueji was sitting in the old house in a daze, when she saw Guo Shao coming in, she looked at him vigilantly, and didn't get up, there was almost no etiquette. Guo Shao didn't care too much, and asked nicely, "Is Concubine Li Xian feeling better these days?"

Li Yueji became more and more haggard, she said in a low voice: "I shouldn't let my temper and agree to run away with brother Ling... I thought it was just a trivial matter, even if I was caught, no one could do anything to me."

As she spoke, her voice was a little choked up: "If I were more sensible, I wouldn't..."

Guo Shaodao: "Concubine Li Xian suddenly came to an unfamiliar place, and it is understandable. Everyone will do wrong things, but the responsibility for wrong things must be counted on my head."

Li Yueji was a little surprised when she heard that, and looked up at Guo Shao: "You are so vicious to brother Ling, why are you so tolerant to me? If I don't agree to brother Ling, nothing will happen!"

Guo Shao was noncommittal, and said: "Tomorrow we will send the party item to the party and the corpses of the Wuzang father and son back to the hometown. Concubine Li Xian will go with me to send them off."

Li Yueji said: "You still want to keep me here?"

Guo Shaodao: "I am married to the Li family, not to the Wuzang family."

Li Yueji frowned and said, "Your Majesty thinks my father will marry the royal family?"

Guo Shaodao: "It's hard to say now."

...

The news of the death of Wuzang's father and son had already reached Xiazhou, and from Xiazhou it was reported to Shangjing of Liao Kingdom.

General Yelu Xiezhen heard the news and rushed to the house of Xiao Siwen, deputy envoy of the North Court to discuss, and was welcomed into the inner court, but he saw Xiao Siwen watching the juniors play leisurely in the courtyard.

After the two met, Yelu Xiezhen followed Xiao Siwen's gaze, took a closer look, and blurted out: "Isn't that Yeluxian?"

Xiao Siwen smiled and said: "This old man is also his uncle's family. The cousins ​​get along well. Yanyan (Xiao Chuo) often talks about her cousin. It's not easy to see him once."

Yelu Xiezhen nodded thoughtfully: "The empress Huaijie, the mother of the virtuous child, is from the Xiao family."

That Yeluxian is already thirteen or fourteen years old, and his body is a little weak, but he still has fun with his pure and lovely nine-year-old cousin, and the two are chasing and making trouble. Xiao Chuo circled a tree briskly and nimbly for a few times, and looked back at Ye Luxian who was bent over and out of breath and couldn't catch up.

Yelu Xiezhen put aside all the party matters, stared at the thirteen or fourteen year old boy with great interest. It's not that the boy is different, but because of the boy's origin!

Ye Luxian's father was Liao Shizong, the first emperor of the Liao Dynasty; his mother was Liao Shizong's queen!

But the young man's status is not high now... because the current emperor is from Taizong's lineage; and the young man's father is from the lineage of Sejong. The alternation of the throne between the two lines was the "Vulcan Lake Change" in which the late emperor was assassinated, and Ye Luxian's embarrassing position can be imagined.

Xiao Siwen was fascinated by the happy look of the beautiful daughter, and it took a while to recover. Turning to Yelu Xiezhen, he said, "Is the Commander here for the affairs of the party?"

Yelu Xiezhen said: "Duke Xiao should have known the situation. The nobles of the party sent off their relatives, and both father and son died in Lingzhou. If there is any change in Xiazhou, we must ask for help from Daliao."

Xiao Siwen nodded and said: "As long as Xiazhou people rebel against Zhou, they will be the second Eastern Han (Northern Han) country! They are more difficult to deal with than Hedong. Hedong people are Han children, and they will not fight with their lives when fighting the Zhou army, but the party members are different. I have already sent envoys to lobby Li Yiyin."

Yelu Xiezhen bowed and said: "Duke Xiao is far-sighted and foresight!"

Xiao Siwen said: "When the Zhou people attacked Hedong, I tried my best to rescue it, but the purpose was to protect Youzhou. What happened? Once the east was lost, Youzhou was immediately threatened by the Zhou army. This matter is not over yet. Youzhou is related to the national destiny, and the Zhou people must not let it be taken away!

If something happens in Xiazhou this time, Daliao should do everything in its power to protect it. The place where the confrontation with the Zhou army will move westward. "

In the past two years, Yelu Xiezhen has been completely convinced by Xiao Siwen's strategic insights, and kept nodding in agreement.

Seeing this, Xiao Siwen was greatly appreciated, so he said in a deep voice: "The Great Khan also agrees with the old man's idea of ​​keeping Youzhou with all his strength, and promised to send troops to the west if there is something wrong in Xiazhou. At this time, there should be no trouble in Daliao. You should focus on the overall situation."

Yelu Xiezhen put his hands on his chest and said: "Let's obey Xiao Gong and listen to Xiao Gong's opinion in everything!"

Xiao Siwen praised him kindly, then turned to look at the two children playing. He squinted, very calmly.

Even if it is the emperor of Daliao, a tyrannical king whom everyone fears, so what? He, Xiao Siwen, is not afraid! Yelujing was suspicious of Xiao Siwen a long time ago, but now he is less and less afraid to act rashly towards Xiao Siwen. Unless they want to die together, the Emperor Daliao can only compromise!

First, the Daliao royal family has always been married to the Xiao family, almost all the prime ministers are from the Xiao family, and they are very powerful; if Yelvjing dares to kill Xiao Siwen for nothing, it will be tantamount to losing the support of the Xiao family.

Two, Xiao Siwen himself also has a force, if Yelujing can detect Xiao Siwen's actions, it should be clear that without Xiao Siwen's mediation, Yelvjing will face a greater risk of accidents! Unless Yelvjing wanted to eradicate the threat completely, moving Xiao Siwen would not be the best thing to do... Unfortunately, there were too many threats, and he might not dare to act rashly.

Xiao Siwen depends on what Yelujing wants to do. Now that the emperor wants to stabilize the situation, it will be easier for everyone to talk.

Xiao Siwen closed her eyes slightly, feeling that the time is not yet ripe. In the eyes of everyone, it seems that Yelvjing should not take all the sins on her shoulders yet.

At this moment, there was a dull sound of "bang bang bang..." in the distance. Yelu Xiezhen looked sideways, "What's the sound? It can't be thunder on a sunny day."

Xiao Siwen said calmly: "It should be the palace tent army training the horses. The Khan listened to my advice. The Zhou army had gunpowder weapons, and they used gunpowder cannons when they attacked Youzhou, which would frighten the horses. I suggested that the Khan let the Liao army's horses get used to the sound of gunpowder explosions, so as not to be confused before the battle."

Yelu Xiezhen said: "Mr. Xiao is both civil and military, we really admire him."

Xiao Siwen shook his head, and said slowly after a while: "I heard Han official Fan Zhongyi say that the ancient Wei State was able to defeat the Shu State because Sima Yi lived longer than Zhuge Liang. As long as we keep Youzhou and wait for time, everything will be safe when Guo Tiejiang dies."\u003c