After returning to Xinzhou, the King of Wei summoned all the generals overnight. Shi Yanchao was injured in many places, so he hurried to find a doctor to treat his injuries and did not go to see the King of Wei. Xiang Xun valued Guo Shao very much, and despite his low position, he took him to see the King of Wei.
In the Battle of Xinkou, in Guo Shao's opinion, Prince Wei Fu Yanqing should bear a lot of responsibility for the 4,000 soldiers killed and wounded.
But Fu Yanqing had already been crowned king, his daughter was about to be crowned queen, and his brothers and sons were all generals. The Fu family was basically a big family. Guo Shao believed that a general of Xiang Xun's level would not say anything unpleasant. He planned to participate in the summons and not say anything unless there were questions that had to be answered.
When Guo Shao saw Fu Yanqing for the first time, he remembered what Zhang Jianxiong said: Prince Wei is old.
Fu Yanqing's hair and beard were all gray, his eyes were a little sluggish, and he looked very tired, probably because he was too old to stay up late. There were many wrinkles on his face, and age spots on his cheekbones, but upon closer inspection, his face shape and facial features were actually very regular. Maybe he was a capable person when he was young, but at least now, there was no longer anything inspiring on Fu Yanqing's face, only a gloomy look.
It is not only the women who lament the fading of spring flowers and the passing of youth. Occasionally, Guo Shao also thought that when people get old, they may no longer have an excited mentality. Half of their bodies are buried in the ground and their years are numbered. What can they gain from working hard for a long time
In addition to Xiang Xun, there were several military commanders present. Guo Shao didn't recognize any of them, but he guessed that they might be Guo Congyi, Bai Chongzan, Sang Gui and others, because Xiang Xun had mentioned military commanders stationed in Xinzhou before. But Guo Shao didn't know who was who.
Soon, everyone present noticed the unfamiliar Guo Shao. This question was finally asked by Fu Yanqing, who pointed at Guo Shao and asked: Who is he
This question made Guo Shao feel that the world was full of vicissitudes. In his memory, there was a young man named Guo Shao who truly belonged to this era. Many years ago, he was starving and cold in Yanzhou. It was the old man in front of him who accepted his daughter's request and ordered his men to rescue the young man. Of course, Fu Yanqing couldn't remember that incident or that person.
Guo Shao replied: In reply to King Wei, my name is Guo Shao.
Xiang Xun said: King Wei, he was the one who shot Zhang Yuanhui to death with one arrow in the Battle of Gaoping.
Oh Fu Yanqing nodded, and then said, I think back then, I could also shoot a ten-stone bow.
After hearing this, Guo Shao thought that Fu Yanqing had a high-tech motor tied to his arm, or he himself was a Transformer with infinite strength, whose arm strength could be used as a jack and who could play with the catapult as a crossbow.
However, the shooting of Zhang Yuanhui seems to be very famous. Because it is difficult to do. Such a fierce general may be wearing two or three layers of heavy armor, and it is difficult for the bow and arrow to penetrate and cause fatal injuries to him, unless it hits a small area such as the face; in the battle formation, people and horses are rushing around, and it is difficult to hit such a place, otherwise Shi Yanchao would have died long ago, and there would not be a straw man borrowing arrows. Even Guo Shao felt that he had a part of luck. Even if he practiced thousands of times, he still couldn't guarantee that he would hit the bull's eye every time.
Xiang Xun said again: "We were able to rescue Shi Qianfeng this time, and Guo Lang also made a great contribution. First, our troops fought desperately to rescue him, but at that time Shi Qianfeng was full of courage and anger and fell into the enemy's formation again. If we rescued him again and again, I am afraid that our troops would be exhausted and our spirits would be lost, and we would be powerless in the end. Guo Lang told me a truth, saying that to rescue a person who fell into the water, you have to wait until he can no longer struggle before rescuing him, otherwise you will also be pushed into the water. So we waited until Shi Qianfeng's troops were exhausted before we went out. The Liao army had many soldiers and strong generals, which delayed some time, and Shi Qianfeng was seriously injured.
Fu Yanqing said: Fortunately it was timely.
Xiang Xun praised him highly: "I think Guo Lang is very good at seizing opportunities. If we had not listened to him today, Shi Qianfeng would have been trapped again and again. How could our army rescue him every time? When we finally rescued Shi Qianfeng, our army was already at the end of its rope. It was also thanks to Guo Shao's brave help that we barely broke through the Liao formation."
Guo Shaodao: It is only because my subordinates fought bravely that I dare not take credit for it.
Xiang Xun shook his head and said: "Your subordinates are fighting bravely, but you don't fight for the lead. This is what I admire about you. But I noticed that Guo Lang can seize the opportunity to attack and save the vital points every time. If Guo Lang hadn't been behind you today, your subordinates would have died several times in battle. How could they fight bravely?"
General, I am not worthy of your praise. Guo Shao was more modest today, firstly because all the people present were generals, so he could not be too arrogant; secondly, he came up with a plan to save Shi Yanchao, which caused Shi Yanchao to kill all his personal soldiers, and he turned into a hedgehog and almost died. After Shi Yanchao knew about this, it was hard to say whether he and the people present would really thank him.
Fu Yanqing listened to the two people's words with great interest, and then said: Let's return to Jinyang tomorrow.
Guo Shao was stunned after hearing this. He managed to hold back from saying anything and just listened silently.
A general next to him looked very unhappy.
Fu Yanqing turned his head and looked at the general with an ugly face and said: Sang Gui, your men just need to stay and guard Xinzhou.
Sang Gui was a military general of the Northern Han Dynasty. He was originally in Xinzhou and later surrendered to the Zhou army.
Fu Yanqing looked around again and asked: What do you think
No one answered, neither agreed nor echoed. This awkward silence itself was a kind of tactful opposition.
Fu Yanqing said: Shi Yanchao was seriously injured, and the elite cavalry was lost. Our army suffered heavy losses and was unable to fight the Liao army. Defending Xinzhou to the death, there is not enough food for so many people and horses, and it will not play an important role. Sang Gui can defend Xinzhou. Therefore, I decided to return to Jinyang for the time being and wait for the government to make a decision.
Several generals had no choice but to accept the order reluctantly.
So Guo Shao and Xiang Xun's remaining troops walked back to Jinyang. They went to Xinzhou and fought a battle, where three of their brothers died. But they felt that they had not done anything meaningful. The Liao army was neither repelled nor stopped, and they only saved Shi Yanchao's life. However, if Shi Yanchao had not been sent out to die with a small force, why would they have gone to such lengths to save him
The battle to siege Jinyang City has temporarily subsided. The Zhou army is surrounding but not attacking, waiting and watching. Guo Shao thought of the ants a few days ago. He was afraid that the Zhou army's mindless wall-climbing siege tactics would not work very well. There must be a lot of casualties, but there seemed to be few other ways. For example, digging tunnels was a strange trick. All the methods that could be thought of had been overused in the years of war. The defenders also knew how to prevent it, so it would not work at all.
After returning to Jinyang, Xiang Xun promised to fulfill his promise before sending troops to Xinzhou and try to bring Guo Shao to meet the emperor so that the emperor could reward him with an official title. In his words of gratitude, Guo Shao also mentioned that he planned to meet Zhang Yongde first.
Zhang Yongde had once taken special care of me and was also a powerful general in the imperial guards. It would be nice if we could meet and say hello first.
Xiang Xun was surprised, he didn't expect Guo Shao and Zhang Yongde to still have contact. Guo Shao thought he would ask, and was thinking about how to answer to appear more sincere, but Xiang Xun didn't ask, just pretending not to know.
Xiang Xun only talked about some recent events about Zhang Yongde, saying that Zhang Yongde is currently very popular with the new emperor.
At that time, during the Battle of Gaoping, the right army's cavalry commanders Fan Aineng and He Hui were the first to flee and were in front of Guo Shao's small army. The cavalry fled as soon as they were touched, and the infantry scattered. Later, the Zhou army turned the defeat into victory and pursued the Northern Han army. These two people spread false news on the way.
The emperor was of course very angry. After the Battle of Gaoping, he wanted to settle the score and kill the two men as a warning to others, but he was hesitant. When Guo Shao listened to Xiang Xun's narration, he guessed that Chai Rong still did not have complete control of the army at that time. He was afraid that after killing the generals, other generals would have resistance. At this time, Zhang Yongde, the commander-in-chief of the imperial guards and a powerful figure, supported the emperor in time and strongly demanded that the two generals be beheaded.
With Zhang Yongde's firm support, the emperor immediately killed the people he wanted to kill. He not only killed Fan Aineng and He Hui, but also killed more than 70 generals who displeased him in one breath. He cursed those generals in public, saying that they treated me as a rare commodity and wanted to sell me to Liu Chong, the ruler of Northern Han, for a good price. It meant that it was treason and if he didn't die, who would die
Zhang Yongde was immediately appreciated by the new emperor.
Many generals had problems, some were greedy for money and lustful, some were drunkards and beat and scolded their soldiers, some had a reputation for being unjust, or like Shi Yanchao, who was bloodthirsty but powerful, it was difficult to find any obvious shortcomings in Zhang Yongde.