Bang, bang, bang! A green-robed official and several runners were beating gongs on the street, shouting, "The Liao people are coming. Zhuozhou cannot be defended. Pack up your things and head south."
Guo Shao rode his horse around the street and saw huge fires everywhere. The firewood was burning and the air was filled with black smoke. There was a pile of charred headless corpses on the matches.
The sun was shining brightly overhead. If the bodies were left in the city, they would rot and cause plague. As for the heads, the brains and flesh in the skulls were dug out, covered with lime, and sent away in the morning. They could only be dealt with collectively, and if the court gave out a reward, everyone would share it equally.
Guo Shao asked Li Chuyun again: Have the war horses been distributed to the commanders
Li Chuyun said: "It has been divided. Now the third, fifth and sixth armies in Zhuozhou still have about 9,000 people in total. There is a slight shortage of horses. Each commander has only about 300 to 400 horses. However, some soldiers who are smaller and less armored can ride two people on one horse. Zhuozhou to Qigou Pass is only 40 miles, so there is no problem."
At this time, a general asked: "More than half of the troops have withdrawn, why are we still staying in Zhuozhou?"
Guo Shaodao: It would be best to wait until the main force of the Liao army moves south.
Li Chuyun turned around and said: The court has not issued an order to withdraw troops from Zhuozhou, but if we insist on staying here, we will not be able to eat the food for long. Are you willing to stay in this city
The general said: I don’t want to.
Guo Shao listened to their discussion and lowered his head to think. After being in a state of mental tension for a long time, he was not energetic now, and many chaotic thoughts flooded into his mind. At this time, he thought of the father and daughter of the Lu family. The great doctor Lu had treated him. Of all the people in Zhuozhou, Guo Shao had only come into contact with people from the Lu family.
Seeing Lu Chengyong standing nearby, he asked: "Do you know what happened to the people in Doctor Lu's family?"
Lu Chengyong said: "I went to the Lu family last night to pack up my master's things. After meeting them, I found that the father and daughter of the Lu family were fine; but the entire Li family, who ran a medicine shop, were slaughtered by the chaotic soldiers. I advised Dr. Lu to pack up his things and leave Zhuozhou with the soldiers who left the city last night to escort the wounded, and head south. Dr. Lu listened to me, packed up his belongings and ran away overnight, and now I don't know where he is."
Leaving Zhuozhou is a wise choice. Doctor Lu is a smart man. Guo Shao said.
At this time, many people in Zhuozhou were unwilling to leave. After all, the houses and properties that the local people depended on for survival were all here. Guo Shao could not accuse them of wanting money over life, as that might be considered as not wanting to eat meat. Perhaps for many people, losing their only property would also make it difficult to survive. They could only bet their fate on the thoughts of the Liao army commander.
Guo Shao couldn't help them. He was first and foremost a military commander. Killing the enemy and being responsible for his subordinates was his primary responsibility. He could try his best to restrain his subordinates from slaughtering and looting, but he was not righteous enough to trap the entire army here for the sake of the people in the city.
There are still some people in the city who, instead of running away, take advantage of the chaos to steal and rob property, so we can't take care of them at all.
In the afternoon, there was a sudden report that the vanguard of the Liao army in the north was moving south and approaching the northern bank of the Zhuo River.
Guo Shao immediately ordered the entire army to ride out of the city from the four gates on horseback and head straight towards the southwest direction of Qigou Pass.
They threw away all the baggage, food, and tents that they had not taken away. Zhuozhou had become a completely undefended, dilapidated city. Some of the fires that broke out in the city yesterday had not yet been extinguished, and some places had almost become ruins.
As soon as he arrived at Qigou Pass and met the generals who had fled last night, Yang Biao said as soon as they met: Xiangdu Xiao Qi Tuo has been summoned to the Xiongzhou Palace.
After hearing this, Guo Shao thought to himself: The emperor is most likely going to ask Qi Tuo to verify the situation in the memorial. Fortunately, I specifically praised Qi Tuo in the memorial. This guy is an honest person, he won't sell me out.
At Qigou Pass, Guo Shao met Li Gu, who was in charge of food and supplies. The two exchanged pleasantries. Guo Shao learned that Chai Rong had not seen Wenwu for many days and suspected that he was ill.
He also met Han Lingkun, the commander-in-chief of the cavalry. They were all generals of the Imperial Guard. Han Lingkun did not make things difficult for Guo Shao and let a large group of disorderly soldiers cross the river. The emperor knew what to do with Guo Shao if he escaped, so Han Lingkun did not need to worry about it.
After crossing the Juma River, Guo Shao's troops stopped for a while in Yizhou. Li Guyan said that Yizhou had little food and needed to supply the troops guarding Qigou Pass; Guo Shao and his troops had no choice but to march towards Xiongzhou with their scattered troops.
At first glance, the generals of the left wing of the Hujie Army were in chaos, and the ranks were in disarray. In fact, they were all under the control of a few people in Guo Shao's shogunate. A military order could quickly deploy them, down to a unit commanding 500 people.
When Guo Shao learned that the emperor was in Xiongzhou, he went there to meet him.
Li Gu said: I have already found out the situation of General Guo and the soldiers of the left wing. I will rush back to Xiongzhou to report to you overnight. We will meet again later.
Guo Shao said, "Brother Li, it won't be too late to leave early tomorrow morning. I just want to submit a memorial, please take it back to present to His Majesty."
After hearing this, Li Gu said: In that case, let's set off tomorrow.
Guo Shao set up camp that night, and the army lost many tents. Now there was smoke in the camp, and those who didn't know thought there was a fire. It was because the soldiers used herbs to smoke mosquitoes. It was not a good life to sleep in the open air. In winter, people were shivering with cold, and in summer, it was not cold but there were many mosquitoes.
The central army had tents to live in, and Guo Shao immediately thought about writing a memorial in the tent. This was the second step of his plan to return to Beijing: to find a replacement for the emperor who stayed in Hebei.
This person is none other than Han Lingkun
But directly recommending Han Lingkun might not work. Guo Shao thought about many things involved.
First of all, Li Gu revealed Chai Rong's illness, which made Guo Shao very confused.
I thought about it again: The Battle of Shouzhou must have greatly accelerated the progress of the Huainan Campaign and saved a lot of time for the Zhou Dynasty Emperor Chai Rong; that is, this Northern Expedition was earlier than in history.
Historically, Chai Rong fell ill during the Northern Expedition, which led to the regret of failure at the critical moment of success. In fact, the decisive battle had not yet begun, and the outcome was hard to say. But now, if people have destiny, Chai Rong should not have fallen ill at this time. The time has been advanced and it does not make sense.
Anyway, Chai Rong shouldn't have died now. Li Gu said that the dragon was ill. Could it be that the Northern Expedition was not going well, and Chai Rong's poor health made him angry
Guo Shao couldn't figure out the emperor's condition, nor could he tell when he would die. Anyway, it was certain that Chai Rong wouldn't survive for more than a few years. As an emperor, he was already in poor health, and he was sick and didn't even see his ministers. Would he consider the safety of his own country
Thinking of this, Guo Shao made up his mind and said silently: Damn it, Zhao Heimian was the first to do this, and put me in a dilemma in Zhuozhou; don't blame me for writing a letter to say a few words about you.
He immediately picked up his pen to write a draft, and the name of the memorial was a letter of apology.
Guo Shao wrote quickly in a sloppy brush calligraphy: Although I won a great victory over Xiao Siwen, the King of the Southern Court of Liao in Zhuozhou, I was unable to defend Zhuozhou City. When I learned that the Liao army was heading south, I was worried that the left wing of the Hujie Army would be annihilated, so I had to abandon the city and move in. I know that I have failed your majesty's trust, and I ask your majesty to punish me.
The soldiers of the left wing of the Hujie Army are exhausted, and I am also unable to defend the northern line. I recommend Han Lingkun, the commander of the cavalry, to take over.
Han Lingkun commands 40,000 elite soldiers of the Longjie Army, 20,000 elite soldiers in the left wing of Qigou Pass, and half of the imperial guards and horsemen are in his command. He is also a veteran general, and his ability and strength far exceeds that of this humble minister.
Han Lingkun, the commander of the cavalry, had been a family friend of the Zhao family since Zhao Kuangyin's father was still alive. He became friends with Zhao Kuangyin over time and their brotherly love moved the entire imperial army.
Zhao Kuangyin, the commander of the Palace Guard, was a man of outstanding talent and a pillar of the country. He was one of the ten generals of the Yishe Society, and each of them was capable of taking charge. Not only did many of the Iron Cavalry of the Palace Guard belong to Zhao Kuangyin's brothers, but even half of the Imperial Guard was in the hands of his brother Han Lingkun. Zhao Kuangyin and his brothers supported half of the Great Zhou Imperial Guard.
I have always asked, "Those who are capable should do more work. If Han Lingkun, a subordinate of General Zhao, does not defend the northern line and does not take on the responsibility of defending the country's borders, who dares to do it?"
Guo Shao's slanderous remarks were, on the surface, compliments, but in reality they were pointing out the fact that Zhao Kuangyin was very powerful. Not only did he control the General Tie of the Palace Guard, he also had his hands on the Imperial Guard, and Han Lingkun of the Imperial Guard was also his cronies.
Anyone in the court could tell at a glance that these words were slander.
But Guo Shao said that there was nothing to hide. He and Zhao Kuangyin were incompatible, and Chai Rong and the court officials knew it. Since they were enemies, wasn't it normal for them to say a few bad things? What was the big deal
Although it was slander, it was true. Chai Rong was reminded and thought that keeping Han Lingkun could weaken Zhao Kuangyin's power, so why not? Of course, if Chai Rong felt that Zhao Kuangyin was a loyal minister, the Palace Front Department and the Imperial Guard Department could let him hold the position without any precautions; then Guo Shao would have no choice. If Chai Rong could think that way, he really deserved to lose his throne.
After Guo Shao wrote a memorial, he sent it to Zuo You and asked him to polish it and make it look better.
Zuo You read it and said: In this case, the emperor should keep Han Lingkun and let the lord return to the capital.
Guo Shaodao: I don't think it's a big problem. Leaving Han Lingkun here can not only divide Zhao Kuangyin's influence in the Imperial Guards and prevent the generals from becoming too powerful, but also let me go back to keep an eye on Zhao Kuangyin.
Zuo You reminded in a low voice: If the emperor's dragon body is really in bad condition, then the person he wants to guard against most may be Zhang Yongde.
Zhang Yongde and Zhao Kuangyin were of the same kind, and Zhang Yongde had shown him favor. Guo Shaodao, after the Battle of Gaoping, I know very well that Zhao Kuangyin was able to be reused because of Zhang Yongde's recommendation.
Guo Shao pondered for a long time and whispered: Zhang Yongde is the commander of the Palace Front Division, but the Iron Cavalry Army is under Zhao Kuangyin. Almost all of the ten brothers hold key positions in the Iron Cavalry Army.
But why did Zuo You also say that the person the emperor was most wary of was Zhang Yongde
In history, it was indeed Zhang Yongde who was first deprived of his military power, and then Zhao Kuangyin came to power. Guo Shao thought that it might be a rule and habit of mutiny within the military group. After all, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms were very skilled and frequent in mutiny to take turns to rule the country.
Military generals only obey the strong. When the succeeding emperor cannot convince them, he will support or even force a military general to take the throne. He will force whoever has a higher position. Even if Zhang Yongde did not want to rebel, he might not be able to do so.
Therefore, everyone is thinking about the problem based on experience. If the Zhou Dynasty is really going to be overthrown, as long as nothing unexpected happens, the person who should be pushed to the top is Zhang Yongde.
But what Guo Shao was most concerned about was Zhao Kuangyin.