The next morning, Guo Shao had just packed up when he was informed that Prime Minister Wang Pu had come to visit him. It was no small matter for the Prime Minister to come to visit him at the gate so early in the morning. Guo Shao walked quickly to the gate and ordered: Open the gate.
After the door opened, he stepped out and saw Wang Pu wearing a purple official robe and a black gauze hat. Beside him were a group of ceremonial guards and two civil servants in green robes. They were all dressed in official uniforms. Guo Shao knew one of the officials, Lu Duosun. This young official had been ordered to go to Qinfeng in the northwest to commend the soldiers.
Prime Minister Wang came in person, which made Guo Shao feel honored.
Wang Pu also responded: General Guo, I am here today to convey your order.
Guo Shao hurriedly said: Please.
When the group entered the palace, Wang Pu stood in the north of the living room and took out a piece of paper. It was a piece of paper without any particulars. Wang Pu said: "This is written by the emperor himself. Please accept the order."
Guo Shao then respectfully stepped forward and took it with both hands. He unfolded it and saw that it said: Summon Guo Shao to the palace to meet the emperor. Let Wang Pu go to call him personally.
Wang Pu remained calm and said softly: This is the emperor's own handwriting, General Guo, don't worry.
Guo Shao immediately understood what he said. The atmosphere was a little tense, and Guo Shao really had no knowledge of the emperor's handwriting.
I have received your Majesty's order. Guo Shao pretended to be calm and said, "Let me get ready and change my clothes."
Wang Pu said: "Okay, we will wait for General Guo here. We will send General Guo to the palace later."
When Guo Shao was ready to go out, he suddenly saw Yang Biao, Luo Mengzi, Li Chuyun, Luo Yanhuan, Zuo You and others at the door. When they saw Guo Shao, they asked what was going on. Guo Shao said: I just received the imperial edict from His Majesty and went to the palace to see the emperor.
Yang Biao and Luo Mengzi said they wanted to go to the palace gate together, but Li Chuyun said: No, General Guo is out for something and cannot meet guests, let's disperse.
Guo Shao felt that Li Chuyun was indeed more stable, and thought: If something really happened, what's the point of having so many people go there? The general has no soldiers around him, and they will be gathered together and caught in one fell swoop. It would be better to stay in the barracks.
He immediately got on a car and left the mansion with Wang Pu and others.
The curtains of the carriage were crackling in the wind, just like Guo Shao's turbulent mood. Wang Pu came on horseback, but it was not good to ride a horse behind the carriage on the way back, so Guo Shao invited him to ride in the same carriage. The two of them were silent along the way.
Wang Pu and Guo Shao actually had a good relationship, but it was just a good relationship.
In later dynasties, civil officials fought to the death, but in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, it was very low-key, because it was the military generals who killed each other; the civil officials were more aware of the current situation and supported whoever had soldiers. Wang Pu and military generals such as Li Chuyun were not the same kind of people. Even if Guo Shao fell, Wang Pu would still be an official. Maybe he didn't want to see such a thing because of his personal relationship, but he would not involve himself in it.
Halfway through the journey, Wang Pu said casually: The commander-in-chief of the Palace Front, Zhao Kuangyin, will also enter the palace.
Although Wang Pu said it so casually, because there was a long silence before and after the sentence, it was very abrupt to say it suddenly. After hearing this, Guo Shao hurriedly clasped his fists and bowed: I will remember Prime Minister Wang’s reminder today.
Wang Pu said calmly: No, no, I just said it casually when I remembered it.
The group stopped at Donghuamen, and Guo Shao and Wang Pu got off and walked. As soon as Guo Shao got off the car, the morning sun dazzled his eyes, and the hem of his clothes was blown by the wind. Suddenly, he felt that the street was filled with dust and smoke.
It was a sunny day, but the sunlight seemed pale, as if the sky was covered with haze.
Guo Shao turned around and saw the majestic palace in front of him. The double-eaved tower at the entrance of the palace was simple and magnificent, standing tall. The palace architecture at this time was different from the Forbidden City of Ming and Qing Dynasties that Guo Shao had seen. The palace at this time was more magnificent but the colors were simple and monotonous, not as bright as the Forbidden City, so it was more solemn and majestic. The emperors and dynasties of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms changed quickly, but the imperial power and the emperor still had a great deterrent power. When Guo Shao walked here, he was also shocked.
Chai Rong and Zhao Kuangyin were both real men, not the kind of people who were used to escaping or secretly scheming. They had the courage to face Guo Shao and had to face him. Walking towards the palace gate was like stepping into a war without the smoke of gunpowder.
In just a few years, Guo Shao had gone through many life-and-death tests and critical contests, most of which were fought on the battlefield. Today, there were no weapons and no battlefield smoke, but he realized that he had to go through another test.
Wang Pu led Guo Shao across a bridge and then entered a palace. When they entered, they saw that there were only three or two eunuchs in the huge palace, which suddenly seemed very empty and deserted. This situation made Guo Shao's heart tighten. Why did it seem a little wrong
But whether it was right or not, he had to grit his teeth and bear it. He was alone in the imperial city, and there was no reason to struggle if anything happened.
Before he came in, if the emperor wanted to do something to him, there was no point in struggling. Without the Privy Council's order, the soldiers of the Imperial Guard could not be mobilized, so why did he want to mutiny directly? Under a powerful leader like Chai Rong, let alone other troops of the Imperial Guard, it was still unclear whether even the closest left wing of the Hujie Army would be willing to fight with him. I'm afraid most of them would not be willing. Guo Shao had more people in the Hujie Army who had power to promote, but it was another thing to ask them to follow him and die.
It's like two close friends who are on the same page with you on most normal things and live a good life together, but you suddenly ask them to rob a fully armed armored armored truck together, and if there are still a few people who are willing to not report you immediately, they are your true friends.
If the 20,000 men in the left wing of the Hujie Army suddenly agreed for some unknown reason, but there were not so many men in the barracks, the maximum number of men that could be mobilized at once in various garrisons would be a few thousand. They would have to slowly issue orders to organize and assemble the army, and if they had the time, the rebellion would have been suppressed long ago. Moreover, the left wing of the Hujie Army could not defeat the other imperial guards, which also had the elite inner palace guards, outer palace guards, east and west squads, the Iron Cavalry Army of the Palace Front Department, the Crane Army, the Guards Department, the Dragon Army, and other squads. If they rebelled directly in Tokyo, they would be beaten up in minutes. Once the emperor and the Privy Council issued an order, other troops could be mobilized according to the military order without any pressure or resistance.
Let alone Guo Shao's mutiny in Tokyo, even if Zhang Yongde and Zhao Kuangyin joined forces to do it directly in Tokyo, they couldn't do it. The matter was too complicated. The emperor and the court had a strong control. The Privy Council redeployed the city defense and garrison every ten days. Why
Guo Shao gave up the struggle and had to face reality. He tried to calm himself down and continued to think about the possible actions of Chai Rong and Zhao Kuangyin, as well as his own thoughts on the matter.
After a while, a tall figure suddenly appeared at the door of the hall. Guo Shao turned around and saw a dark and strong man like Bao Qingtian walking towards the door. The sun was shining outside, and the light inside the hall was a little dim. The dark man at the door seemed to be in a sea of light.
A double chin, a wide and dark face, a wide forehead and a flat chin, and a wide face that makes the eyes look smaller. Who else could it be if not Zhao Kuangyin
Zhao Kuangyin was still wearing white mourning clothes and a mourning scarf on his head. This outfit was very solemn and made Guo Shao inexplicably very nervous. Guo Shao couldn't help but think: I really didn't kill your father and brother. I didn't even have the intention to kill them.
General Guo, you have also received a summons from the emperor. Zhao Kuangyin's tone was surprisingly calm, without any hatred, let alone gnashing of teeth and speaking ill of others. This surprised Guo Shao a little. Although he expected Zhao Kuangyin not to be so impulsive, such a calm tone was indeed somewhat unusual.
Guo Shaodao: Yes, I also received the imperial edict this morning, so I arrived first.
Seeing Zhao Kuangyin in mourning clothes, he should have asked a few questions according to common sense, but what should he say? Should he say that he did not attend the funeral or ask Zhao Kuangyin to mourn? It felt like the cat crying over the rat. Only some vulgar women in the market would curse others thousands of times in their hearts and still smile and say polite words; Guo Shao could not do that.
So he turned a blind eye and never mentioned the funeral at the Zhao family.
The emperor had not arrived yet, and Guo Shao was standing in a room with Zhao Kuangyin. The atmosphere was somewhat dull and awkward.
Guo Shao could not look around, but he would observe the palace from time to time. He always had a feeling that Chai Rong was watching him and Zhao Kuangyin from somewhere. But the palace was surrounded by walls, with only a small door at the back, and no one was outside.
At this time, a white, fat, round-faced eunuch came in. Guo Shao had seen this man before, but he couldn't remember his name for a moment. The eunuch took two files, threw the whisk in his hand behind his arm, and said: "These are the files of the cases that Wang Pu, the deputy envoy of the Privy Council, presided over and was mainly responsible for the trial of the left hall of Kaifeng Prefecture. The emperor asked me to bring them to the two generals for a look. The emperor is still changing clothes and will be here soon."
Guo Shao and Zhao Kuangyin each took one, and neither of them spoke a word.
The eunuch continued, "By the way, after you two have finished reading, you will exchange your views. There are stools over here, please sit down."
Zhao Kuangyin nodded and said: Okay.
So Guo Shao and Zhao Kuangyin began to read the files in their hands, but they could only read roughly. Guo Shao felt very disadvantaged because Zhao Kuangyin turned the pages very quickly, but he read very slowly without punctuation. Guo Shao was still not used to it, and could understand it but slowly.
Fortunately, the file in his hand was about Zhao San's suspected conspiracy to assassinate Guo Shao. He was familiar with the general process of the case and did not need to read every paragraph, just some key parts.
After a while, Zhao Kuangyin patted the file. Guo Shao turned around and said, "General Zhao, let's exchange." Zhao Kuangyin nodded, handed over the things in his hand, and exchanged them with Guo Shao.
The one Guo Shao got now was the whole story of Zhao San's death. He first found Dong San's confession. He found that there was indeed a section asking Dong San when he entered Zhao's house, and the answer was the third year of Guangshun. Seeing this, Guo Shao suddenly felt that the record in this file was relatively reliable.
During this process, Guo Shao and Zhao Kuangyin were both waiting silently, probably neither of them knew what the other was thinking.
There will be another update around 2 a.m. That chapter is too late, so please read it tomorrow morning.