Guo Shao usurped the throne. In the year of Jiwei, on the bank of the Yangtze River, a person on a black-sailed boat stretched his neck to look at a stone tablet and read a sentence. The stone was half buried in the mud on the river bank and half exposed outside, appearing and disappearing under the scouring of the waves. The people on the boat on the river saw a stone protruding from the river bank and were curious, so they rowed over to see it.
On the road along the river, passers-by occasionally stopped to look at the wonder.
I don't know how long this stone has been here, and I don't know how many people have seen it, but no one has paid any attention to it. People in the world are very active in seeing something strange, but it is difficult for them to intervene.
The people on the Wupeng boat said: There is also a goat carved on it with two horns. What does it mean
An old man's voice in the cabin said: This year is the Year of the Sheep. Row the boat, hurry up
The curious man also jumped down from the bow and got into the cabin. The man in short clothes rowing the oars at the bow said: This year is exactly the Year of the Sheep. Is the event on the stele about this year or twelve years later
The old man's voice said: Stupid, after twelve years, will the Chinese zodiac still be Jiwei
The black-sailed boats slowly drifted on the vast river amid the sound of oars and casual conversation.
At this time, a group of horsemen came from the road. Several people who were pulling donkey carts on the road hurriedly pulled the carts to the side of the road and stopped to watch. In front of the horsemen was a very tall man who looked very scary. Behind him were all heavily armored cavalrymen with feathers on their heads. As the horses galloped, the feathers were swaying like reed flowers in the wind. Behind them was a group of servants who were not so glamorous. Passersby saw this scene and almost ran away.
The sturdy man was Shi Yanchao. His troops were stationed by the river. He only knew about the existence of such a thing after hearing the report from the scouts.
Shi Yanchao led his men to the stone, jumped off his horse, and walked to the riverside to look at the words on the stone. The soldiers were silent, and no one said a word. Shi Yanchao squinted his eyes and looked for a long time.
A general nearby asked: General, what should we do with this thing
Shi Yanchao said: Use something to cover it up, leave two people to watch it, and send someone to Jiangning City to report to Marshal Guo.
Yes. The general clasped his fists in response and immediately called for someone to do the work.
A few hours later, Shi Yanchao received a reply from Jiangning City in the military camp. He took it from his subordinates, unfolded it, and saw that it was stamped with the seal of the Jiangnan Front Camp Military Office, and it read: People with ulterior motives in the Southern Tang Kingdom spread rumors, smashed the stone, carried it to the river and sank it into the river.
Shi Yanchao read it out in public and handed it directly to the generals around him: Do this according to the military order.
The generals sitting on both sides discussed it for a while, but no one mentioned Guo Shao's attempt to usurp the throne, they just talked about how the stone appeared there. Under Shi Yanchao's command, the main troops were the two groups of the Control Crane Army and the Straight Bow and Arrow Army; this army had not changed its number for several dynasties, because no matter who entered the imperial city, they would be given generous treatment to show favor and win over.
At this time, a general asked: What does General Shi think about this matter
Although Shi Yanchao often acted recklessly, he had risen from a low-ranking general, so he had some sense. He casually slapped the table with his palm, and with a loud bang, everything on it jumped up. The generals were startled and immediately stopped talking and turned to look over.
Shi Yanchao said: There is no point in talking so much, just shut up
The generals hurriedly responded. No matter whether they obeyed Shi Yanchao or not, no one was willing to contradict this guy.
Guo Shao was at the military headquarters in Jiangning City. Not only did he receive the report about the appearance of rocks in the Yangtze River, he also had a memorial written by the Imperial City Office according to the Empress Dowager's wishes: "The Yellow River is showing signs of rocks."
Compared with the eight words reported by Shi Yanchao, the stones washed out of the Yellow River have richer content: A woman serves three husbands with an obscene talisman, and the mountains and rivers are her wedding clothes; a domestic servant responds outside the door, and snakes and wolves all forget their gratitude.
Guo Shao looked surprised, and Wang Pu was looking at the paper in his hand.
According to the usual practice, after reading the report, Guo Shao would usually pass it to his colleagues, and then everyone would give advice. But this time, Guo Shao didn't let anyone around him, he just folded the paper and stuffed it into his pocket.
Wang Pu then stopped talking, and Zuo You asked: What happened
Guo Shaodao: It’s similar to what Shi Yanchao reported. This time it’s rocks coming out of the Yellow River, slandering the Queen Mother and me.
Zuo You said: The stone by the river must have been done by the people of Southern Tang. Stones were also fished out of the Yellow River. It was done by spies of the Northern Han Dynasty, or by the people of Hedong.
Guo Shao did not answer, but frowned and thought for a while. He thought, it seems that imposing heaven's will by taking stones out of the water has become a routine since ancient times. The Yellow Turban Army did it, and Wu Zetian did it too. This time, he was not ready to be mysterious, but others had done it first, but what they wrote was not a good thing.
At the same time, it also confirmed one thing: his intention to raise his reputation through foreign wars and then become emperor was too obvious to be guessed by more than one or two people; this time, when he conquered Southern Tang and returned to the court to take action while he had the military power in his hands, he was also targeted by many people.
Compared with Zhao Kuangyin's choice of timing to create an opportunity as soon as he left the country, the opportunity Guo Shao is facing now is more natural, but also too obvious.
In addition to the two civil officials Wang Pu and Zuo You, there were also two military generals Li Chuyun and Luo Yanhuan. Everyone was silent for a long time, and Wang Pu spoke up: For the military generals to stay in Jiangning, I still recommend Cao Bin. It is easy to destroy a country, but it is difficult to defend the land. At the end of last year, our dynasty was able to use troops against the Southern Tang Kingdom. The peaceful situation after the return of Shu Kingdom played a key role. It not only provided a large amount of money, goods and people for our dynasty to go to war, but also did not tie down the Great Zhou army in the rear. After the destruction of the Southern Tang Kingdom, the trend of the world's borders and land division has not ended. The governance of the Southern Tang Kingdom still has to follow the method of Shu Kingdom. Cao Bin was stationed in Shu Kingdom last year and was able to restrain the soldiers. It is not wrong to let him stay in Jiangnan this year.
Wang Pu seemed to be oblivious to what had just happened.
Guo Shao said: "What Envoy Wang said makes sense. The most urgent thing now is to send an envoy to Nanchang, the southern capital, to persuade the remaining places to surrender."
Wang Pu clasped his fists and said: The Southern Tang Kingdom still needs someone to take charge of some of the aftermath matters, and the Wu Yue Kingdom also needs to send people nearby to communicate. If General Guo wants to lead the imperial troops back to the capital in the future, I will ask to stay in Jiangnan.
After hearing this, Guo Shao suddenly had a guess that Wang Pu did not want to support Conglong, but was also unwilling to stop it; that was why he wanted to stay in Jiangnan and stay away from this internal struggle. His purpose might be to preserve the reputation of a loyal minister.
If Wang Pu really had this in mind, Guo Shao could understand it. But for a moment, it still felt a bit frustrating, as if he was being ignored by his friends. Perhaps, he would have no friends at all in the future.
At this time, Wang Pu politely said: I have finished what I wanted to say today, and I will take my leave first.
Guo Shao did not stay and escorted him to the lobby door. When he returned, there were only four people left in the lobby besides himself, the few who had held a secret meeting in the mountain village last time, and the guard general Tan Shitou standing at the door. Guo Shao walked straight in without saying a word, and the others paused and followed him.
When they reached the door of the signing room, Guo Shao looked back at Tan Shitou. Without saying anything, Tan Shitou said, "I understand."
This older man looks old, but seems to be more experienced than Lu Chengyong.
Guo Shao sat down on the chair behind the desk, pointed to the stools and chairs outside and said: Find a place to sit by yourself.
Zuo You said: I just thought about it again, the stone in the Yellow River might not be caused by Li Yun from Hedong, but by Zhao Kuangyin who fled to the Northern Han Kingdom.
Guo Shao nodded after hearing this, and the two generals did not object. Guo Shao thought: According to history, the position originally belonged to Zhao Kuangyin. Now that he sees the situation, he must be very jealous and unwilling. It is normal for him to curse a few times, and he may do more than just this.
Zuo You added: "This kind of mystification can only deceive those fools in the countryside. People with a little knowledge will not believe it. Most people will guess that it was done by the lord's enemies. It is not convenient for us to come forward to defend ourselves. The more we talk, the more we will fall into the hands of the traitors. However, the lord must order the generals to temporarily stop spreading rumors in the army."
Li Chuyun pondered and said: He who wins the hearts of the people will win the world. At this critical juncture, my lord, please pay attention to your reputation and prestige.
Zuo You frowned and said: How should we deal with it
At this moment, there was a faint voice outside the door. The people who were discussing confidential matters were quite alert and immediately stopped talking.
Guo Shao also remained silent for a while and sat on the chair waiting. Sure enough, after a while, Tan Shitou came outside the door and said, "My lord, something happened in the city. A general came in to report. I stopped him and said a few words to him. Now he has been sent away."
Guo Shao shouted: Come in and report, what happened
Qin Shitou pushed open the door and entered, clasping his fists and saying: "Several soldiers slipped out of the military camp and broke into a private house. They not only robbed the property, but also raped the wives and concubines of that family. After being humiliated, those women couldn't bear it and hanged themselves. Now the people in the neighborhood carried the bodies to the front of the military camp. There were so many people that they blocked the road."
Bang! Guo Shao slammed the desk with his palm, his face suddenly changed, and his subordinates immediately arrested him and brought him to the central army for questioning.
Tan Shitou said: I can send the lord's personal soldiers to go, but I need a military order. I will go to the envoy Wang Shumi to give the order.
Guo Shao nodded and said: Order Shi Yanchao to meet with the army in Jiangning City.
"Yes." Tan Shitou responded.