There was still some time before the luncheon. In the peaceful Jinxiang Palace, the family first gathered together to talk. Gradually, they seemed to become more casual and split into three groups. Madam Xiang Fu Liu and her second sister were chatting with the children; Guo Shao and Fu Zhaoxu went to the study outside the door to talk. The King of Wei and his eldest daughter Fu Jinzhan were talking on two couches near the door. Their voices were not loud, and their voices were even harder to hear amid the laughter of the children.
Fu Yanqing glanced sideways, and Jinzhan followed his gaze. Through the open palace door, they could see Guo Shao's profile. Guo Shao was sitting on the upper seat in the study, talking about something. Opposite him, there was only the back of Fu Zhaoxu, whose buttocks touched a little on the stool, and he sat in a very respectful posture. Generally speaking, when people are talking, they are unlikely to hear what others are saying, not to mention that they are far away.
Sure enough, Fu Yanqing's expression changed slightly, and he said earnestly: Among my children, you are the most sensible and mature one.
Fu Jinzhan felt something was wrong when she heard this, but she listened with a calm expression.
Fu Yanqing pondered for a moment and said: The Fu family is a relative of the royal family. The current emperor is the nephew of Taizu, the late emperor Chai Rong, and the adopted son is nominally the current emperor's cousin just like a son; you are the descendant of the late emperor, so you are the current emperor's brother and sister-in-law, and the current emperor is your uncle.
Jinzhan had completely understood what her father meant by this time. She was in a state of confusion, but she tried to pretend that nothing had happened. Since her father had mentioned this, he must have some guesses, and it would be even more difficult to say if it showed on his face.
However, Fu Yanqing observed Jinzhan's expression and seemed to think that she didn't understand, so he continued: "You were once the queen who was the mother of the country, and now you are honored as the Queen Duanci. You are very respected both before and after your death. Besides, my second sister is the current queen and has given birth to a legitimate son. What else do we need?"
When Jinzhan heard this, her face flushed. She could control her expression, but she couldn't control the reaction in her heart. In front of etiquette and morality, she felt a strong sense of guilt and shame. Jinzhan had been well-read since she was a child, so how could she not understand etiquette? She had been influenced by it for a long time, and she also agreed with the nobility of those things.
Amid the righteous truth that was roaring in her heart, all kinds of secret details flashed through her mind. Her fingers were caught in the man's hair, and she felt the touch of his beard, the wetness and smoothness of sweat on his muscular arms, and all kinds of touches and feelings.
Her face was getting hotter and hotter, and her mind was a little dizzy. But she still understood the meaning of her father's words: saying that she was respected was to persuade her not to lose her virtue, which would bring shame to the Fu family; talking about the second sister meant that there was no need for her to continue to bear the responsibility of marriage. Today, Jinzhan saw the grown-up Fu Liu, and she knew in her heart that if the royal family wanted to marry the Fu family, there was more than one choice.
Jinzhan was filled with mixed feelings, and there was also a sense of loss as if she had lost her value and been abandoned. She glanced at Guo Shao outside the door, but found that Guo Shao was looking at her while talking.
He usually pays attention to his etiquette with Jinzhan, but Jinzhan can notice that whenever he is around, Guo Shao's attention is always on him, and this has never changed in the past few years.
Are you Fu Yanqing looking at Jinzhan? His hair is mostly white, and he seems to be unable to lead the troops, but he is still in good spirits.
Jinzhan stood up straight and said: I can't even speak about such things.
Fu Yanqing hurriedly said: "I shouldn't have said this. I just sigh that your mother has passed away, and your aunt doesn't dare to intervene. It's good that you understand my painstaking efforts."
Jinzhan no longer dared to look at Guo Shao, but just observed what he was doing out of the corner of her eye.
Guo Shao was not as conflicted as Jinzhan, he even felt that there was nothing wrong with this matter. He and Guo Wei were not related by blood, not to mention that Chai Rong was Guo Wei's adopted son; he did not dare to do this openly, it was just slightly contrary to the ethics of the time, not that he thought it was wrong.
He was discussing military affairs with Fu Zhaoxu in a serious manner: Zhaoxu will have about 50,000 troops in this battle, 20,000 from the left wing of the Longjie Army and about 30,000 from the Huainan Army of Gan De. The imperial court does not want you to destroy the Northern Han Kingdom with 50,000 troops. There are three purposes: first, to further erode the territory of the Northern Han Kingdom and consume its military and national strength; second, if the Liao army comes to help, it can make them exhausted, anyway, the route of the Liao army to help is much longer than our offensive route; in addition, it can also respond to the Liao army's harassment of Hebei in retaliation.
Fu Zhaoxu said: I am deeply honored and will do my best to complete your majesty's strategy.
Guo Shao recalled that when Luzhou was in a critical situation, Fu Zhaoxu had the courage to go into the tiger's mouth alone. He felt that although this man was kind, he was still a courageous person. What he lacked was nothing more than the experience of a big battle. He immediately said kindly: General Fu is a military commander who has led troops before, so there is no need to worry, as long as you know how to advance and retreat. The Longjie Army and the Gan De Army both belong to the Imperial Guards Cavalry and Infantry Division, and have a complete system of messengers. The Privy Council will also send officials to form the Front Camp Military Office. There are rules for marching and deploying troops, and those who dare to disobey military orders can be traced.
After entering the Northern Han Kingdom, you may encounter a field battle with the Northern Han Army, but don't be afraid. According to the Privy Council's estimate, there are at most 20,000 to 30,000 elite Northern Han troops left. They dare not send out all of them, and they are no match for the Longjie Army. General Fu does not need to be anxious, and he should fight steadily and head-on, and then march to the city of Jinyang; when the Liao army comes to help, he will retreat to Liaozhou and wait and see. The Liao army does not dare to attack a heavily guarded city.
Fu Zhaoxu asked again: If the Northern Han army retreated into the city, could they plunder the surrounding areas
What Guo Shao wanted to see most was to forcibly relocate the population of Northern Han to the Central Plains, so as to fundamentally weaken the power of Northern Han. However, if the warriors were to carry out the task, burning, killing and looting would probably not be easily controlled.
Guo Shao was a little hesitant. He pondered for a moment, looked at Fu Zhaoxu and said: We fight wars in the south and the north to ensure peace in the world and to ensure that the people can live and work in peace.
Fu Zhaoxu clasped his fists and said: I will follow your majesty's orders.
When it came to the luncheon banquet, everyone stopped talking about business.
Fu Zhaoxu did not stay in Tokyo for long, and left the next day to prepare for military affairs. Guo Shao was also discussing with his ministers the preparations for conquering Northern Han, including sending Fu Zhaoxu to harass as one of the preliminary preparations. Guo Shao felt that this war was more troublesome than the previous two civil wars, not only because Northern Han was more difficult to fight, but also because Liao was needed to help.
After Fu Zhaoxu left, Guo Shao and others thought of another man who was very good at fighting: Liu Renzhan.
Liu Renzhan was previously under house arrest in Tokyo. After the fall of the Southern Tang, the guards in his yard were withdrawn. Now no one is watching over him, but the court has not allowed him to return to the Southern Tang. Liu Renzhan had nothing to do all day and often wandered around the teahouses in the streets.
He had just returned from the teahouse and saw Liu Chong and Lin Renzhao at his house.
Lin Renzhao and Liu Renzhan were in similar situations, no one cared about them, but they were given money and food every month. This man had bad relations with many generals and officials in the Southern Tang Dynasty, and when he saw Liu Renzhan, he shouted very respectfully: "This general pays homage to Mr. Liu."
Liu Renzhan said: There is no difference in status between you and me now, so there is no need to be so polite.
Lin Renzhao said: I respect Mr. Liu, not because of his position.
Father. Liu Chong also came up to greet him.
Liu Renzhan glanced at his son and asked: What do you want
Liu Chong's face showed impatience and anger: I was just talking about this with Brother Lin. We have been wasting time in Tokyo, and there is no one to look after us anyway, so we might as well go back home and find a job.
Liu Renzhan asked, "As a military general, what can you do?"
As soon as his son said this, the Southern Tang Kingdom no longer existed, and under the current situation, he could not surrender to the Wuyue Kingdom or the Southern Han Kingdom.
Liu Renzhan turned around and looked at the bearded man next to him, Lin Renzhao: General Lin, are you willing to join the Zhou army as a general
Lin Renzhao hesitated for a moment, then quickly said: If Mr. Liu surrenders, I am willing to follow him.
Liu Renzhan nodded, expecting Lin Renzhao to say so, so he asked directly. Lin Renzhao's experience in the Southern Tang Kingdom was not good. He was repeatedly attacked by Huangfu Jixun, the general of Liu Cheng's imperial army, who was deployed in the East. Later, he was about to be executed, but was let go. If he was loyal to the Southern Tang Kingdom, he probably would not want to run away.
Liu Renzhan sighed: "I wanted to serve the Southern Tang Kingdom to repay the kindness of the emperor, but now the country has been destroyed. The Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty also spared my life and pardoned my daughter's crime. I must repay the kindness."
After hearing this, Lin Renzhao nodded seriously, looking thoughtful and with a serious expression.
Liu Renzhan added: "As generals, we also have great righteousness in our hearts. Today, the world is being unified, and it would not be a bad thing if we could serve the Great Zhou."
But we are from the Southern Tang Kingdom after all, we can't just go up and ask for an official position on our own, right Liu Chongdao.
Liu Renzhan snorted and said, "You need to practice your temper more. You are completely impatient and impatient when using troops. I assert that the Emperor of the Great Zhou will summon me to the palace to meet him sooner or later."
Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, a servant came running over and said, "The Emperor is here!"
The three people in the hall were stunned, and Liu Chong asked impatiently: Did you see it clearly
The servant said hurriedly: "The yellow umbrella has everything. And the official came up and asked me to come in and report."
I was still wrong. Liu Renzhan's face flushed and he waved his hand, saying, "Let's go out and take a look."
The three men hurried out of the courtyard gate and saw, as expected, the imperial guards in brand new armor walking on the street, and a carriage surrounded by ceremonial guards. Although it was not a large-scale ceremonial event for the emperor's travel, those items were indeed used by the emperor.
At this time, a young man wearing a purple round-necked robe and a black gauze hat came down. It was none other than Guo Shao. Liu Renzhan was in a hurry. He led several people around him to kneel at the door and shouted: "Long live His Majesty!"
Guo Shao strode up and personally helped Liu Renzhan up: Mr. Liu, please get up. I have wanted to visit you for a long time.
I'm very sorry for the interruption. I wrote this chapter in the hotel arranged by the Internet Writers Association. I took the bus home this morning, which will take several hours. I will update another chapter in the evening. I haven't had anything to delay it recently, so I shouldn't stop updating in the near future.