I pay my respects to the young master. Zhou Tong saluted Fu Zhaoxu with his fists, and glanced at Guo Shao, who was sitting steadily. He was wearing old clothes, but his words and deeds still had the decisive temperament of a warrior, and his face was serious, but there was indeed some depression between his brows.
Coach Zhou, do you still remember me? Guo Shao asked.
Zhou Tong was at a loss, obviously he had forgotten. Guo Shao turned around and joked: In the Imperial Guards, I usually forget many people, but they all remember me. In front of Coach Zhou, it was the other way around.
Fu Zhaoxu extended his hand in the direction of Guo Shao: "Zhou Tong, this is the second aunt of the Fu family, the inspector of the imperial guards." Zhou Tong suddenly realized: "I have heard of your great reputation for killing Zhang Yuanhui in a battle and breaking Shouzhou in one month, killing 10,000 Liao cavalrymen in one battle. It is like thunder in my ears."
There is one more thing that Coach Zhou forgot. I shot and killed the Northern Han general with one arrow. I learned archery from Coach Zhou. Guo Shao said with a smile.
Zhou Tong was surprised by this. Perhaps he immediately understood that someone of Guo Shao's status would not joke in front of him, and hurriedly said, "The disciple is better than the master."
Guo Shao gave a thumbs up: "It's still the same old Master Zhou. He can even quote Han Yu's articles. I wonder if Master Zhou's martial arts skills have been neglected in recent years."
Guo Shao said that his archery was taught by Zhou Tong. Zhou Tong was not as reserved as before. He smiled and said: Although I beat up a dandy boy a few years ago and was punished, fortunately King Wei treated me well and sent me to the horse farm. I still like riding horses and shooting arrows.
Very good. I am in need of capable warriors. If Coach Zhou is willing to follow me, I will ask Brother Fu for you. Guo Shao said decisively.
Guo Shao, the highest-ranking general of the Imperial Guards and the Inspector General of the Palace, did not need to promise anything. He believed that Zhou Tong would realize his future immediately.
Sure enough, Zhou Tongdao: When will Guo Du Dianjian stand up
Haha, Guo Shao turned around and said to Fu Zhaoxu, it seems I have to ask Brother Fu for some talents.
Fu Zhaoxu smiled but said nothing.
The next morning, Guo Shao took Fu Ermei to say goodbye to the Fu family. Fu Yanqing, Madam Xiang, Zhao Xu and Zhao Yuan saw them off to the gate. Before Fu Ermei got into the car, she looked reluctant and sad.
Fu Yanqing laughed and said: "I see that you have been eager to follow Guo Shao back to Beijing for a long time. Now that you have finally succeeded, why are you still crying and pretending?"
"Dad, you are so arrogant. People have been filial to you for so many years, and yet you say this? I'm sad," Fu Ermei said angrily.
Fu Yanqing's eyes betrayed him, he actually looked reluctant, but the old man would not nag in public. He waved his sleeves and said casually: A married woman is like spilled water. Let's go.
Guo Shaodao: Father-in-law and aunt, you two elders must take care of your health and live a long life. Brother Fu, third brother, we brothers will meet again in the future.
Fu Yanqing nodded: "The situation in Tokyo is up to you, the Queen Mother." The two brothers of the Fu family, one tall and one short, also said goodbye.
Guo Shao looked back again before getting on the carriage, only to see Fu Yanqing standing there with gray hair on his temples, watching him leave. He really felt a sense of kinship in his heart. No wonder in this era, alliances often involve marriages. Indeed, relatives will subtly create some feelings and trust in the process of getting along.
At first, Fu Ermei was very well behaved. Once she left Daming Prefecture, she was free and didn't want to ride in a carriage, but wanted to ride a horse. Guo Shao left the carriage behind and rode south with Fu Ermei and a team of cavalry.
In this season, the wind was very cold when riding fast, and it felt like riding a motorcycle in winter. Fu Ermei was behind him with one hand around his waist and the other hand holding down the veil on his head. But halfway through the journey, she simply wrapped her head tightly with a silk scarf, leaving only a pair of curved eyes, and she didn't wear a hat anymore.
At this time, in the southeast of Taiyuan, Liaozhou, near the border of the Northern Han Kingdom, Li Chongjin was cursing.
In the central army of the Huainan Army and the Gande Army, Li Chongjin was not scolding those around him, but scolding others from a distance. He was younger than Li Jixun and had a quicker temper, so he cursed loudly in anger, regardless of everything.
Liu Jun of the Northern Han Dynasty was a timid, cowardly, treacherous and cunning man, very different from his father. One generation was worse than the other. When his father heard that Emperor Taizu of Zhou had passed away, he dared to send troops to fight in Gaoping. Now that the opportunity was so good and there was an internal support, he was shrinking back, saying nice things and convincing others to attack, but he himself was reluctant to send troops.
Li Yun of Luzhou is short-sighted and arrogant. With his character, he still wants to be emperor and kill Li Jixun's son. I think he is a nobody. What will happen to him in the future
The generals and staff below did not dare to say a word. It was not until Li Chongjin had cursed enough that someone stood up and spoke.
An aide said: The Lord of Northern Han is keeping his troops on hold, but he must be willing to let us pass through, and he might even send some military supplies; since Li Jixun has sent someone to contact us and wants to take Jinzhou, we can send troops through Northern Han to reinforce Li Jixun and attack Jinzhou together.
Someone immediately seconded the proposal: Taihang Mountain is controlled by the towns of Hebei, and this place is attacked from all sides; it is also very barren, and Hebei will definitely not send food. The longer our nearly 30,000 troops stay, the easier it will be to run out of food. It is better to attack Jinzhou from the North Han territory to the west and occupy Jinzhou as the king; Li Jixun can provide food in the southeast, and we can attack the places in Hezhong in the southwest for food. This is the best strategy.
Once we set out to support Li Jixun in Northern Han, he will surely be emboldened and immediately launch a surprise attack on Jinzhou. If the surprise attack fails, the two armies will combine to form a 50,000-man army to besiege Jinzhou.
The first aide to speak said: "I dare to make a suggestion. My lord, do not rush to declare yourself emperor. When you start a rebellion, you can only claim to be the leader of the alliance. Tokyo is not in chaos for the time being, and the whole world is watching. Once you declare yourself emperor, you will not only be unable to command the various towns, but also cut off other people's thoughts. This is not a wise move. The current situation is that the ruler is weak and the ministers are strong, and chaos will not be far away. My lord should first try to protect himself, split off the territory and wait for the opportunity. When he started the rebellion, he used the name of clearing the emperor's side, and accused Guo Shao, the chief inspector of the imperial army, of colluding with the inside and outside, and using his confidants to eliminate dissidents and hold the emperor hostage with evil intentions."
After he said that, he presented an article with both hands, saying, "I have written a manifesto, please have a look at it, my lord."
Li Chongjin thought about it for a while and felt that it made sense. His anger was slightly relieved, so he took the article and read it. He laughed out loud when he saw that the article scolded Guo Shao and described all kinds of thieves and prostitutes as sinister and vicious. At least at that moment, he felt very happy.
Thinking of the hand-fried fish, although he failed to do it in the end, Guo Shao humiliated him in public; Li Chongjin saw that the criticism in the article was sharp, and he was happy and said: It would be better to spread the message to the world, so that everyone can see that you are good at writing and understand my heart.
At this moment, someone suddenly walked in hurriedly and whispered something in Li Chongjin's ear.
Zhao Kuangyin arrived at the border of Northern Han. Li Chongjin was slightly surprised and asked, "How many troops did you bring with you?"
The visitor said: Three hundred riders.
Li Chongjin didn't know whether to laugh or cry: What can he do with 300 cavalry? He was the commander of the imperial guards. If I give him a low position, he will say that I insult him; if I give him a high position, his number of people is not enough to be a commander. Am I going to divide my troops with him
This is the letter sent by Zhao Kuangyin. Please have a look, my lord. The guard who just came in presented an envelope with both hands.
Li Chongjin took the letter in his hand without even wanting to read it, and handed it to his aide. The aide opened it and read it, then looked up and said: Zhao Kuangyin is not coming to surrender to the lord, but to persuade the lord to send troops to help Li Jixun fight Jinzhou.
After hearing this, Li Chongjin slapped his forehead and said: Isn't Li Jixun his brother? If he wants to vote, he should vote for Li Jixun. It's not that difficult for me.
The aide said: That is indeed the case. Zhao Kuangyin and others just need to wait for Li Jixun to attack Jinzhou, and then they can go to Jinzhou from Northern Han to join Li Jixun, or they can first surrender to their lord Li Chongjin and follow the army to Jinzhou to reinforce Li Jixun and join up with Li Jixun.
The southern border of the Northern Han Kingdom was like a V-shape, with the tip facing Zezhou, which was controlled by Li Jixun. However, Taiyue Mountain blocked the way out of the border in the south, and it was difficult to cross the mountains to reach Zezhou. But now the southwestern Jinzhou (now Linfen) was controlled by Xiang Xun, and the southeastern Luzhou was controlled by Li Yun.
The best route for the Northern Han to go south was through Luzhou in the east and Jinzhou and Linfen in the west; Jinzhou was the Linfen Plain, and the road was easier to travel. Therefore, Jinzhou and Luzhou were the important towns for the Zhou Dynasty to control the Northern Han.
The staff member said: Zhao Kuangyin is more compatible with Li Jixun. Li Jixun was Zhao Kuangyin's elder brother at first, he was older and had a higher position; in recent years, Zhao Kuangyin was appreciated by the previous emperor and quickly rose to the second position of the imperial guards, with more power than Li Jixun. However, Zhao Kuangyin was also a hero at one time, and now he is in a difficult situation, so he will probably recognize Li Jixun as his elder brother according to his strength.
After Li Jixun got Zhao Kuangyin, his strength could not be underestimated. Although Zhao Kuangyin only had 300 cavalry, he was a good general, and his brother Shi Shouxin was also very powerful. I don't know much about Wang Shenqi and Han Chongyun, so I don't know how talented they are. But Zhao Kuangyin and Shi Shouxin alone would be like a tiger with wings. As the saying goes, it is easy to get thousands of troops but hard to get a good general.
Will Li Jixun's strength surpass that of the lord? Will he still accept the lord as the leader of the alliance? The general reminded in a low voice.
Li Chongjin pondered for a long time, but he did not have much prejudice against Zhao Kuangyin. He had some conflicts with Zhang Yongde in the past. Zhang Yongde once said in front of Chai Rong that Li Chongjin had two hearts. Because Zhao Kuangyin was previously under Zhang Yongde's command, Li Chongjin and Zhao Kuangyin had a distant relationship. Later, Zhang Yongde rode into Li Chongjin's military camp alone, drank and talked, and the grudges actually faded, and Li Chongjin did not care too much.
Now Li Chongjin and Zhao Kuangyin have no hatred or favor towards each other.
The general who had just spoken in a low voice said softly: Since Li Jixun has Zhao Kuangyin, why don't we wait for them to attack Jinzhou first and then raise the army
The staff immediately scolded: "You always come up with bad ideas. How can Guo Shao tolerate the lord? Sooner or later, we will meet in battle. Instead of building trust and unity with Li Jixun, we will fight among ourselves. Do you think our strength can be compared with the imperial guards?"