Wang Pu came to the gate of Jinxiang Hall and reminded Guo Shao not to act rashly against the Iron Cavalry Army camp. Guo Shao had no intention of making any moves, but he still accepted Wang Pu's reminder.
Guo Shao has now lost the determination he had before he took action, regardless of the consequences. After all, seeing that he has already won, he is more inclined to play it safe; he wants to consolidate the fruits of his victory first, and then he is willing to ask for more.
They had to wait until all 20,000 troops of the left wing of the Hujie Army arrived and the Privy Council stabilized most of the imperial guards before they dared to move the Iron Cavalry.
At this time, Wang Pu put a few pieces of paper on the table and pointed with his finger, saying: This is the deployment map I asked for permission yesterday, but the current situation is no longer suitable for implementation. This is a military order approved by the emperor, and I have to ask for permission again to cancel it.
The emperor has ordered the queen to supervise the country, and the matter of withdrawing the military order only needs to be asked to the queen. Guo Shaodao saw Wang Pu gently push forward, and subconsciously thought that it was for him to see, so he took it and took a look.
Guo Shao soon understood. The rough drawings were illustrated with pictures and texts. This kind of thing was very clear to him at a glance, much easier to understand than the descriptions in classical Chinese. He couldn't help but look up at Wang Pu.
Wang Pu looked calm and said as if nothing had happened: "I just made it yesterday, and asked Deputy Envoy Wei to discuss it together, and then I went to see the emperor to ask for his approval. Unexpectedly, it became inappropriate after one day. The situation is really changing."
Indeed. Guo Shao nodded seriously, but no matter how convenient the situation is, the foundation of the Zhou Dynasty cannot be changed; for the sake of the clean government, the ministers who are both virtuous and talented and loyal and righteous cannot be changed, otherwise it will hurt the vitality of the country. When I see the queen, I will definitely make a memorial and give her advice.
Wang Pu picked up his things and said: I have other things to do, so I’ll take my leave now.
Guo Shao hurriedly stood up and walked him to the door before stopping.
Soon, Jingniang came to see him. There were soldiers in the house. She walked up to Guo Shao in armor and whispered in his ear: I have set up spies near the Iron Cavalry camp before, and I just got the news that Zhao Kuangyin is in the camp at the old gate of Fengqiu.
Guo Shao thought, the old gate of Fengqiu is in the north of the city, that guy really wants to go north to the Northern Han Kingdom
He paced back and forth in front of the desk for a few steps, then called in his personal guard deputy general Lu Chengyong and instructed him: "You will immediately lead your personal guards and cavalry, go out of the inner and outer gates in the south of the city, go around the new gate of Fengqiu in the north, and intercept any cavalry leaving the city. If they are Zhao Kuangyin's men, arrest them."
Lu Chengyong asked: Can we kill
Guo Shao said without hesitation: If you can catch them, then catch them. If you can't catch them alive, just kill them.
Lu Chengyong clasped his fists and said: I understand.
Guo Shao now has less than 10,000 troops under his control. Gao Huaide's troops are not very useful in civil wars. They have to be deployed inside and outside the imperial city to be ready for battle at any time. They dare not take risks. Although the situation is favorable now, it is difficult for Zhao Kuangyin to turn defeat into victory. It is best to escape early; but what if they can't afford to lose and have to fight to the death
Guo Shao could not feel at ease just by guessing, he had to be prepared. Zhao Kuangyin's Iron Cavalry had more than 10,000 soldiers stationed in various camps. Although he knew that Zhao Kuangyin had no chance to mobilize troops to form combat effectiveness and his soldiers were waiting for promotion and money and did not want to fight with his own people, the camp would be attacked immediately before the soldiers were gathered. However, as long as the soldiers were there, it was like a sword hanging in Guo Shao's heart.
At the moment, Guo Shao is not afraid that Zhao Kuangyin will run away. He even hopes that he will run away, because once he runs away, the situation will be truly stable.
But Zhao Kuangyin showed no signs of running away. Guo Shao thought for a while and remembered someone: Zhang Yongde
If Zhang Yongde could be won over, with his prestige in the Palace Front Division, he could be ordered to mobilize the various squads of the Control Crane Army to gradually and gently enter the Iron Cavalry Army's defense zone in the northeast of Tokyo; first, the Iron Cavalry Army's various camps could be divided and surrounded, at least making it impossible for them to get together.
Guo Shao immediately got up and went out, wanting to see the queen again and tell her his thoughts.
He found a eunuch at the main entrance of Jinxiang Palace and asked him to go in and report his request for an audience. After waiting for a while, the eunuch came out and said: The queen wants to move to the emperor's bedroom, and asked me to take General Guo to the emperor's bedroom to meet him.
Guo Shao suddenly felt an inexplicable jealousy in his heart. Even though they were at war, the empress was still willing to live with the emperor. After all, they had been husband and wife for several years. Guo Shao had no reason to blame her, but he just felt unhappy.
It is said that a husband and wife for one day will be grateful to each other for a hundred days, let alone a husband and wife for many years. After the Battle of Gaoping, Guo Shao saw the emperor and the empress go in and out together, and saw them in the military camp and the court; after the Battle of Gaoping, Empress Fu made a special trip to Daxiangguo Temple to fulfill her vow and pray for the emperor, and it was Guo Shao who led the troops to guard her, so he saw it with his own eyes; at the beginning of the Battle of Huainan, Empress Fu followed the emperor in person despite the hot weather, and almost lost her life.
According to what Guo Shao had seen and heard, Fu Jinzhan still had some feelings for the emperor, especially when Fu often attended military and political events. This time, the emperor was so sick and confused that he even suspected the queen and put her under house arrest. However, one or two things obviously could not end the relationship between husband and wife. He believed that Fu did this for power and safety and had nothing to do with feelings.
Besides, Fu Jinzhan was obviously not a heartless person. She was about to lose her husband, so it was impossible for her not to feel sad. After all, people were not cold-blooded animals, and they still had some feelings.
Guo Shao secretly sighed. He didn't really want to be sincere to a married woman. It was really a tormenting thing to share her heart with another man. Fortunately, there was Fu Ermei. At least Fu Ermei's heart belonged to him alone. In fact, no one could force such a woman with a high status and a strong background. As long as she was treated a little better, she would not have to cheat. Moreover, they were ancient women. Even though the customs of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties were more open than after the rise of Neo-Confucianism, they still followed the influence and restraint of Confucian ethics, and their concepts were different.
He followed the eunuch through the corridor into the rear hall of the Jinxiang Palace, and was then taken to a palace room. The imperial physician was boiling medicine directly in the room outside, and there was a strong smell of Chinese medicine; the emperor should be in the bedroom inside.
Guo Shao came to the door of a room that looked like a warm room, and sure enough, he saw a large and gorgeous bed inside with someone sleeping on it.
This room looks inexplicably gloomy. It's sunny outside, and there's a beam of sunlight coming through the roof, but the light is not as bright as outside. A dim room, a beam of pale light.
It was a bit like a prison, too crowded. This situation was not someone else's choice to imprison the emperor. He chose it himself at first. He was lying there anyway, so it was impossible for him to move to a new palace later.
There were a group of women in the bedroom, their faces painted with ink that would not be washed off for a while, and the eunuch Cao Tai was also there. Empress Fu was sitting by the bed, and she might have just felt someone coming, so she turned around to look over.
Suddenly, the person on the bed cursed weakly. Isn't that the official's voice
Guo Shao's heart suddenly went cold, and he was immediately afraid. The emperor could still speak. He felt a little scared that he dared to mobilize troops in front of the powerful lord who had won every battle.
This feeling is irrational, it is just an inexplicable awe. Guo Shao was not an upper-class person in his past and present lives, and he would be shocked when facing such an emperor. He has the consciousness of a modern person, but he is also a human being. Not to mention meeting an emperor, even if he had met a fat and fat leader in his previous life, he would have been a little scared. If modern people were really so equal, the scenes on TV where people were so excited that they wanted to kneel down when they saw a local official would not be so common.
Guo Shao finally calmed down and kept reminding himself: Even if it is the emperor, he can't do anything to me now. Even if the emperor is seriously ill, he can't jump up and hit me.
He bowed calmly and said: I, Guo Shao, pay my respects to Your Majesty the Queen.
"Get up," Fu Jinzhan said coldly, and then waved to Cao Tai. Cao Tai immediately asked the women to quietly retreat.
Fu Jinzhan looked Guo Shao up and down and said: Come here.
Guo Shao felt mixed emotions. He walked over with his head held high, unable to resist looking at how ill the emperor lying on the bed was.
The emperor was indeed very ill, so weak that he couldn't even hold a woman. The black spots on his face were getting darker and darker, and his complexion was weak. If it weren't for his difficult breathing, he would have looked like a lifeless dead person. Even if he was a big man who once dominated the world, at this moment, he only had the breath of ugly death.
Fu Jinzhan next to her formed a sharp contrast. Although she was in her twenties, she somehow still had the vitality of youth. Her fair appearance and bright colors were full of the beauty of life.
Guo Shao suddenly had an illusion that in this dark room full of mystery, he saw two images: one representing death and the other representing life.
They seemed to be from two different worlds, but they were husband and wife. No matter how powerful that big shot was, the most intuitive feeling was like a flower stuck in a pile of rotting cow dung.
The dry and inelastic skin looked like solidified dead skin, the lesions looked like corpse spots that were in the process of decay, and the protruding meridians looked like wriggling black and gray maggots.
The mystery of the emperor is that he is high above everyone else, and usually one cannot get close to him and observe him. But now Guo Shao observed for a while, and gradually gained courage. On impulse, he suddenly glared and said: I want to achieve greater achievements here and completely defeat him.
You have already defeated him, although you did it while he was weak. Fu Jinzhan sneered. Her expression looked very strange, and she had no respect for the emperor at all.
Perhaps no matter how powerful a person is, he is still a mortal, and if he is too close to others, his powerful appearance will be seen through.
Guo Shao said boldly: I want to do what the emperor has done and what he cannot do, so that I can truly stand up from the emperor's shadow.
Fu Jinzhan suddenly said coldly: What does General Guo want to do? There is nothing wrong with becoming emperor. All the emperors in this world obtained their throne by seizing the foundation of the previous dynasty. The emperor and the generals of the Zhou Dynasty who were lying on Taizu’s bed were all ministers of the Later Han Dynasty.
Guo Shao was stunned. It was too early to say this now. His prestige and strength were not enough.
At this time, the emperor suddenly opened his eyes and glared: I, I, I." He seemed to want to tear Fu Jinzhan into pieces, and ignored Guo Shao.