Warrior in Turbulent Han Dynasty

In the afternoon, the sun was in the clouds, the sun was not clear, and there was no wind in the sky. It was already a bit muggy in early summer.

Guo Shao came out of Zhou Xian Palace full of food and wine, turned his head and smiled at Zhou Xian: "The taste of Jiangnan people is lighter than that of Central Plains, but that dish is still delicious."

Zhou Xian said softly: "If Your Majesty likes to eat, I will cook some dishes next time."

Guo Shao turned his head to Chen Jiali again and said, "It's almost time to be on duty, so let Ehuang talk to Mrs. Shen."

"Congratulations to His Majesty."

Guo Shao walked down the stone steps at the main entrance of the palace, but seeing Jingniang's unhappy face, he was stunned for a moment, and suddenly remembered that Jingniang never liked Chen Jiali.

He looked up at the clouds in the sky, and said to the eunuch who was standing beside him: "I want to go, you wait for the car to go first."

"Here." The eunuch hurriedly responded.

Guo Shaosui and Jingniang walked slowly along the brick road together, one in front of the other, and Jingniang followed the rules of Guo Shao. He was speechless for a while, and Guo Shao didn't know what to say, so he looked at the fallen leaves on the road, thinking that it's not only autumn that leaves fall, because the life of most leaves cannot last two full seasons from spring.

Unexpectedly, at this time, Jing Niang took the initiative to speak: "I have always been unclear about something. Your Majesty is a wise king, and he has the people of the world in his heart. However, since he has a quiet cloud, a world-class martial arts, and a stable country, why is he still focused on fighting south and north?"

"Huh?" Guo Shaoxian was a little surprised.

If this issue was in public, Guo Shao would use a lot of glamorous and righteous words, but when he was with Jing Niang, there was no need to speak those official words.

"Most people do it for themselves." Guo Shao turned to look at her, "Dynasty is not as safe as it seems."

He pondered for a moment and said: "In the past few years, the world was in chaos, the land was shrinking, and the population was withered. I am afraid that people with brains will not feel safe, and they will feel fear in their hearts. If their own family is weak and withered, who can believe that strange conquerors will be kind to us? The reason why there are countries and tribes in this world is nothing more than people with similar languages, customs, and cultures.

Guo Shao said in a low voice: "Justice or not, but the position is different."

Jing Niang was thoughtful, she was silent for a moment and said: "The Liao Kingdom and the Northwest Tribes are probably very resentful at the Daxu court at this time, and don't think we have any righteousness."

"It should be so." Guo Shao said frankly, "So what? Dare I be able to help others threaten myself for the sake of justice?"

After talking for a while, Xuanyoumen was already ahead, and the servants in the car were waiting there. Guo Shao and Jing Niang walked over there, and they had to go to Jinxiang Palace for work in a while.

Recently, he has to determine the candidate for the coach of Xizheng. Guo Shao doesn't have to go to the army frequently now, his achievements are unmatched by anyone, and it is not a good life to eat and sleep in the open, and as long as he goes to the battlefield, there are always risks.

Guo Shao was more inclined to Li Chuyun, and ensured the victory of the Western Expedition to the greatest extent possible. Li Chuyun was reliable, courageous and resourceful.

...

Daliao went to Beijing. A servant in Xiao's mansion said a few words in Xiao Siwen's ear, Xiao Siwen's expression changed: "Bring him in."

After a while, a man in ragged clothes like a beggar walked into the room, and the maid beside Xiao Siwen quickly covered her mouth and nose with her sleeves, the smell was really unpleasant.

Xiao Siwen also took out a clean white silk handkerchief, he always paid attention to his appearance, sometimes some Khitan people criticized Xiao Siwen for not being like a military general.

"Plop!" The man knelt down on the ground, tremblingly said: "I have failed Duke Xiao's high expectations, I am ashamed of Duke Xiao..."

When Xiao Siwen heard the voice, he was sure it was Yang Dagon, "You can still come back alive."

Yang Gun's voice was also a little choked up: "It's a capital crime to come back, but as long as I can die in my homeland, I'm a little relieved."

Xiao Siwen sighed after hearing this: "Get up, I don't want your life, so you don't have to ask for death."

Yang Gun said: "I have humiliated my mission, and I have gone through untold hardships on the way home. I don't need to steal my life, but I have seen some strange tactics of Xu Jun on the East Island. I want to tell Xiao Gong so that I can feel at ease."

Xiao Siwen frowned and said, "Hurry up to take a shower and change clothes, clean up and come see me."

When Yang Gun was taken out by the servants, Xiao Siwen also pushed away the guests who were going to meet today, and went straight to the courtyard of the inner house, ready to have a detailed talk with Yang Gun who came back from a long way.

The peach trees in the yard are still there, but the peach blossoms have withered now... Xiao Yanyan, who used to climb the trees to pick the peach blossoms, is gone. When Xiao Siwen came here, he couldn't help feeling hurt.

After waiting for a long time, Yang Gun finally came in clean, but saw that he was sallow and thin, and he seemed to have suffered a lot.

Xiao Siwen stood on the corridor, staring at the lush green peach trees without saying a word.

Yang Gun put his hand on his chest, gave the salute, and said, "Before Japan was defeated at sea, they besieged Xu Jun's fortress in Shijian. They besieged Xu Jun's fort with 50 times more troops for several months, but failed to take down the fort defended by 500 men. In the end, more than half of them were killed or injured by the reinforcements! Xiao Gongming, I think that the most difficult thing for Xu Jun to attack is the castle fortification!"

After he finished speaking, he took out a leather bag from his clothes, which contained some paper, and handed it to Xiao Siwen with both hands, "I have gone through the siege battle, and recorded the tactics at that time in the book, please take a look at it."

Xiao Siwen took the things over, but still looked at the trees without saying a word.

Yang Gun was a little at a loss after he said that, because Xiao Siwen didn't respond to anything.

After a while, Xiao Siwen finally turned around: "Fortunately, the fortress can't run by itself, and its firearms infantry is still infantry."

Yang Gun hurriedly said: "During the Battle of Youzhou, Xu Jun built the fort properly, which caused the Liao Army to suffer a lot. Now the fortifications in Japan are even better than before. The fortress of Xu Jun in Shijian Kingdom is ingenious in shape. No matter how you attack, it can be shot|killed by its firearms. Its firearms are roughly the same as those in the Pingxia War. When shelling for one mile, the range of the firecrackers is at least fifty or sixty steps. It is difficult for the army to besiege."

Xiao Siwen suddenly said in a deep voice: "No one can stop Guo Tiejiang."

Yang Gun was stunned for a moment.

Xiao Siwen glanced at him: "Now we are not only thinking about fortresses. Li Yiyin is in Hexi, if Xu Jun marches west, he will go for war horses; Guo Blacksmith collects Luoliang horses everywhere, and he must deal with Daliao!"

Yang Gun said in a daze, "The southerners... can really attack the grassland?"

Xiao Siwen's face was ashen and said: "During the Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu was a large single in the grassland, where are the Huns now?"

Yang Gun couldn't help asking: "How should Daliao respond?"

Xiao Siwen said coldly: "In the current situation, who in the whole world can do nothing to win Tiejiang Guo? We can only sit back and watch the changes."

Yang Gun asked, "Did Li Yiyin turn to Daliao for help?"

Xiao Siwen said: "We can't help him, Hexi is too far away, Daliao can't take care of itself, has already increased troops to the east, and made preparations early. Unless Li Yiyin can find a way to block Xu's army and stand on the west, Daliao will not be able to help."

The two fell silent. When Xiao Siwen looked up, he could vaguely see the roof of the palace on the hill not far away, and he had mixed feelings for a while.

The Khitan nobles were not alert yet, but Xiao Siwen was panicked. In the past, Daliao Xiong dominated the north and south of the grassland, and the country was very powerful, but now Xiao Siwen feels precarious... The Khitan people may not be wiped out by Xu Jun. If they cannot maintain their force, the resistance of all ethnic groups in the grassland can overthrow their foundation!

The next day, Xiao Siwen took Yang Dagon to the king's palace to face the saint. Sure enough, someone criticized Yang Dagon for not making an inch of merit. Fortunately, Great Khan Yeluxian obeyed Xiao Siwen's words and pardoned Yang Gun's death crime on the spot. However, Yang Gun returned home in embarrassment, and it was hopeless to restore his official position and aristocratic status.

Dong Dao surrendered for several months, and the facts were in front of him. Many nobles in Daliao were already very afraid of Xu Jun's military power, and some people advocated to negotiate peace with Xu Guo one after another. On the contrary, Xiao Siwen did not advocate a peace negotiation, because he was worried that Daliao's prestige would decline too quickly, which would backfire on himself.

Xiao Siwen proposed to send secret envoys to Goryeo to restore relations with Goryeo.

Some nobles retorted: "The Koreans are greedy for the old land of Balhae, and everyone knows it."

"At this time and at that time, the Koreans are stupid enough to want the old land of Bohai Kingdom, so they are undoubtedly seeking skin from tigers!" Xiao Siwen said.

Several people concurred: "Korea has very close contacts with Xu, and I am afraid that it will not form an alliance with Daliao for a while. I only hope that they will no longer help the tyrant."

Xiao Siwen said softly: "Pingxia Province is a lesson from the past! The East China Sea can't stop Xu Jun. If things go on like this, from the grassland to the sea, there will be no country anymore. It will all be the province of Xu State! Everyone will become slaves, and the Han will still rob our ore, cattle and sheep!"

The hall suddenly fell silent, and the nobles were dumbfounded.