It was drizzling in Jinyang, and a large army had gathered outside the city.
Guo Shao stood on a small mound for a long time, holding his sword, watching the army marching in formation on the road. The soldiers' boots stepped on the wet dirt road, and the whole road was covered with mud. The drizzle in the wind hit his face with a chill, and the drizzle slowly gathered on his iron helmet, dripping down from time to time along the steel brim, and dripping on his cheeks suddenly, making him feel alert.
The orderly marching of troops was a great success, especially when the emperor was watching. The breeze was filled with the peculiar smell of soil, and the petals were quickly trampled into the mud.
Guo Shao glanced at the two peach trees beside the road. In the wind and rain, the pink petals were falling from the trees. In the rough scene, the peach blossoms reminded Guo Shao of the spring in Tokyo and the women in the country who were worried about their sons.
At this moment, two men, one tall and one short, rode their horses to the foot of the hill from the crowd of people and horses, dismounted together, and walked up the hillside.
Guo Shao looked carefully and found that they were Gao Yanchou and Hou Mao, the generals and deputy generals of the Jiannan Army who were marching in a mighty manner on several avenues. Hou Mao was short and thin, while Gao Yanchou, who was with him, was a tall and strong man with a round face. The two of them walking together looked very strange, like an adult and a child. But Hou Mao was not a mediocre person. During the battle to attack Shu, he had caused Xiang Gong headaches for several months at Qingni Ridge.
The two men walked up and knelt on one knee without paying attention to the mud on the ground. Gao Yanchou saluted and said: "Your Majesty, I have been ordered to lead the Jiannan Army to Jinyang.
Guo Shao took two steps forward, helped the two men up one by one, and said: “The soldiers have traveled thousands of miles to the battlefield, you have all worked hard.”
Gao Yanchou was stunned for a moment, then bowed and said: "I dare not. I am just doing my duty. I am willing to lead the way for Your Majesty. I will not return until Jinyang is conquered."
Guo Shao looked at the troops marching in large numbers on several roads, and said: The soldiers all have families waiting to return home, so you must be cautious and try to reduce casualties as much as possible when going into battle.
Gao Yanchou and the others were slightly moved after hearing this. They clasped their fists and said: "Your Majesty treats the soldiers like sons. How dare we disobey your orders?"
After the three of them talked for a few words, Guo Shao looked up into the distance, and the two generals also followed his gaze.
The sky was hazy and misty as if covered by a layer of fog. The towering Jinyang Tower was looming in the depths of the clouds. This city was nicknamed Dragon City in the world. As for the origin of its reputation, it was clear at a glance that the ministers including Guo Shao believed that this city was a city of desire. The warlords entrenched here had ambitions; the geography was hanging over the heart of the Central Plains. Completely recovering Jinyang was a necessary step to ensure the safety of the dynasty, and it must be destroyed.
This place not only holds the desires of the warlords, but also what Guo Shao wants.
A few years ago, when Guo Shaochu came into this world, except for the change of environment, his situation was no different from that in his previous life; he had to adapt to the society and rack his brains to find a place to stand in the world. In his previous life, he studied hard in order to have a good career, and in this life, he chose the career of a warrior just to find out that he was skilled in archery and to have a job and a place in the world.
Just as he once dreamed: a place of his own, a woman of his own, something to do during the day, and someone to talk to after a busy day.
However, as the saying goes, one should sing the song that suits the hill one is standing on. Today, Guo Shao finds that everything has changed. What he needs is not only to adapt to society, but he also finds that he has the power to control the world. The desire and excitement of domination is incomparable to squeezing into a good position.
He can change whatever he wants to change; he can create whatever he wants to create immediately; he can bestow favors on whomever he has mercy, making people grateful; people will worship him for what he has done, and will continue to praise him for thousands of years as the master of the world, no longer afraid or worried, no longer caring about anyone else's wishes, everyone will care about his will. The world is objectively centered on oneself, and that feeling and experience is indescribable.
But first of all, Guo Shao wanted that kind of power to strengthen his own strength.
Although swallowing up the Northern Han Kingdom in Jinyang would have little economic or material benefit, the people here made it an excellent source of military personnel; and with the land, no dynasty would think that its territory was too large. Arable land meant food, and territory meant size and strategic depth, which was most important. Occupying Hedong could greatly reduce one's weaknesses.
A powerful force not only lies in strength, but its own flaws are also extremely important aspects.
Longcheng, Jinyang Guo Shao looked at the distant city wall with complicated eyes and whispered two sentences.
He pressed one hand on his old waist ornament, and the city in his sight seemed to be transformed into desires, dreams, and the deepest emotions in his heart; his other hand tightly grasped the hilt of the sword, and the strength of his strong hand with bulging veins seemed to be his determination
Guo Shao was always the most watched person in the crowd, and his movements and expressions were seen by the generals. In the faint atmosphere, the generals clearly felt the emperor's strong will.
The palace of Shangjing Imperial City on the grassland was built on a hilltop. The rough and tall palace overlooked the entire grassland. A Khitan nobleman in the palace shouted: We must save Jinyang, and Hedong cannot be lost from us.
The high and mighty Liao Emperor Yelu Jing had a gloomy face and held an old bone scepter in his hand, but the ministers did not remain silent because of fear.
Although it was spring, the northern grasslands were still chilly. The copper vessels in the hall were burning with flames, and black smoke was rising. In addition to keeping warm, it also provided light. Yelu Jing had the windows nailed shut, as the lighting in the palace was not very good. The fire in the dark hall added some mystery and horror to the place, and the people standing around were not friendly.
Hedong is an important gap leading into the Central Plains. The Liao nobles could see its role very directly. They could maintain the initiative in the offensive because of these places and plunder more things from the imagined rich Central Plains; they could also demonstrate the power of the Khitan and build their own self-confidence.
The Great Khitan is the leader of all ethnic groups. A bearded man held his head high and shouted, "No matter if it's Tatar, Shiwei, Jurchen, or Han, they should all fear the Great Liao and become our servants. No matter who provokes the Great Liao, betrays or is hostile, the Khitan cavalry will make them bleed until they look up to and fear the Great Liao again."
Yelu Jing looked coldly at the nobles in the hall. In the heat of the fire, he smelled the bloody smell of desire and force. The Khitan people's desire for strength has never changed, because in this vast land, strength and force are the basis for maintaining everything. Why are the Shiwei, Jurchen and other tribes willing to offer things to the Khitan every year? Because they cannot resist the Shiwei, they misjudged that the Liao Dynasty was weak due to the internal strife and wanted to betray.
Once the Liao Kingdom lost its power to threaten those tribes, the huge country would collapse. All the nobles knew how to survive on the grassland, so even if some of them had ill intentions towards the throne, they could reach a consensus on how to deal with foreign enemies.
Yelu Jing could not sit idly by and watch the Northern Han. He already felt that his prestige and position were unstable. If he lost a strategic location under his rule and the situation deteriorated, he would be even more disadvantaged.
At this time, Yang Gun stood up and bowed, saying: To keep the Northern Han Kingdom, we only need to defend Jinyang. Jinyang is a strong city and the foundation of the entire Hedong. The Khan only needs to let the Northern Han Kingdom know that the Liao cavalry will come to rescue and actually respond, and Jinyang will not surrender.
Another noble also agreed, believing that as long as the threat to Jinyang City was eliminated, the entire Hedong region could be protected. After Yelu Jing and others expressed their opinions, an order was issued, asking Yelu Xiu'ge and Yang Gun to gather the army again and reinforce the Northern Han Kingdom from the north to defeat the Zhou Dynasty army that was attacking the city.
Jinyang City must not be lost. Yelu Jing only said this sentence.