The doctor in the healing camp handed Xu Erniang over to Lu Lan because Lu Lan was a female doctor.
Lu Lan followed north by herself, but she did not stay in the central army, but stayed with her uncle the old man.
Previously, Lu Lan unexpectedly cured the illness of Wang Pu, the Privy Councilor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. In order to repay her, Guo Shao asked her relatives to serve as officials in the court. When there was no one left in the Lu family, the people of her uncle Bai's family came to Beijing. Bai Lao became the Minister of the Imperial Physician Department and is now a powerful official among the military doctors. However, the official in charge of the healing camp is from the Taichang Temple.
Lu Lan, dressed in men's clothes, met Xu Erniang in the tent.
The doctor who brought Xu Erniang in explained: This woman's origin is fine. She is Zhao Shuyuan's woman, and is guaranteed by Zhao Hu, a soldier of the Tiger Guard Army. She is Zhao Hu's unmarried daughter-in-law.
Xu Erniang could see that the doctor was quite respectful to the young lady in front of him. She knew that although the lady was young, she must be from a prominent family.
At this time, Lu Lan was looking Xu Er Niang up and down.
Xu Er Niang hurriedly hugged the fur blanket Zhao Hu gave her to cover her dirty and torn clothes. She lowered her head and stroked her messy hair, and whispered: I don’t know medicine, my lady, just treat me as your servant.
She was quite generous, otherwise ordinary people would not be able to speak clearly in such occasions.
After hearing this, Lu Lan hurriedly said: You are a soldier's wife, how can I treat you as a slave? Did something happen to you that you became like this
When Xu Erniang heard this, her eyes turned red and she buried her head even lower.
Lu Lan immediately stepped forward to comfort her: If you don’t want to say it, don’t say it. Don’t cry, you’re fine now.
Xu Erniang choked up and said: My home is in Zhaoshuyuan, Yizhou. We were robbed here by the Khitans and soon became speechless.
Lu Lan said hurriedly: "The Khitans are indeed very bad, and you are also a pitiful person. My mother was also kidnapped by the Khitans in Zhuozhou and has not returned for many years."
The two felt sympathy for each other, so Lu Lan personally boiled water, helped Xu Er Niang bathe and change clothes, and cleaned her up.
Lu Lan was very kind to the woman he had just met and even found her a clean quilt. But Xu Erniang kept holding the dirty military fur blanket.
Lu Lan said casually: That blanket of Zhao Hu
Xu Erniang nodded.
Lu Lan smiled and said: Your heart has been taken away by someone.
Xu Erniang buried her head in embarrassment, because Lu Lan was really good to her. She finally spoke in a low voice: I don't know how I got through the past two days, it seems like I'm in the underworld from which there is no return. As soon as Brother Hu appeared, the sky cleared up, and the sun shone on my body and it was very warm.
Report a horse galloping into the military camp.
A civil servant at the door immediately came forward and asked: Where is the report
The knight clasped his fists and said: The military report from Vanguard General Shi Fudu.
The civil servant turned around and said: Take him to the front camp military headquarters to submit a report.
Not long after, Wang Pu received the report first, walked quickly into the central army tent, and bowed, saying: Your Majesty, Shi Yanchao has arrived at the city of Youzhou. No troops from Youzhou city have come out to fight, and the four gates are closed.
"Okay." Guo Shao raised his head and replied.
Lu Chengyong, who was standing nearby, walked over to take the military report and returned to place it next to Guo Shao's desk.
Guo Shao picked up a map and placed it directly on the map below. He pointed with his finger: "Tell Shi Yanchao to stay here and build military camp fortifications. Order the central army to speed up the march and reach Youzhou City as soon as possible."
Wang Pu stepped forward, understood what was going on, and said: “I understand your command.”
Wang Pu added: "As soon as the central army arrives in Youzhou, they will immediately start building siege works. When the follow-up infantry arrives, the siege works will be almost completed, and they can start the siege after a short rest."
Guo Shaodao: That's right, we must seize the time to capture Youzhou
Wang Pu said: The Liao army will cross Yanshan in half a month at the earliest, but it is not certain. If they want to gather enough troops, it will take a long time.
Guo Shaodao: Scatter the scouts to the narrow passes such as the West Mountain of Yanshan Mountain. We also have undercover agents in Shangjing. We will know as soon as the Liao army reinforcements move south.
At this moment, a civil servant strode into the tent, bent down and said: Your Majesty, Ma Pengyi, the Han general garrisoning Zhuozhou, requests to see you.
Guo Shao and Wang Pu looked at each other and immediately said: Bring him in.
Not long after, a civil servant came into the tent and bowed, saying: "Your humble servant has been ordered to go on a diplomatic mission to Zhuozhou, and I have completed the mission smoothly." Then he took Ma Pengyi straight back to the camp.
Guo Shao praised him personally.
Then a bearded man in armor came in, fell to his knees, and burst into tears.
Wang Pu watched calmly.
The man cried, "I and the soldiers and civilians of Zhuozhou have long been looking forward to the royal army's northern expedition. Today it finally comes. How dare we not welcome Your Majesty? I respectfully welcome Your Majesty to send troops to take charge of the military and political affairs of Zhuozhou."
At this time, the vanguard of the Zhou army had passed Zhuozhou for a few days, and the main force of the central army had also passed Zhuozhou. He came to surrender. However, as long as he was willing to surrender, Guo Shao did not care, and immediately said kindly: General Ma is very righteous and loyal. I still order you to be the defense envoy of Zhuozhou.
Ma Pengyi was overjoyed and bowed, saying: "I thank your majesty for your grace."
Guo Shao added: You can continue to be in charge of Zhuozhou, and the Qianying Military Headquarters will send more troops to assist in the city defense.
Ma Pengyi kowtowed and said: I obey your order.
As expected, in the past two days, civil and military officials have come to the Central Army of the Great Zhou to surrender. Some of them were received by Guo Shao, and some were handled by officials of the Front Camp Military Office. The Zhou army marched northward in a mighty manner. The Han generals and officials in Youzhou almost did not resist and surrendered one after another. The southern towns were occupied without bloodshed.
The people of Youzhou did not resist, as most of the people in this area were Han Chinese. The Zhou army's northern expedition was as smooth as fighting in the interior. At this time, there was no concept of nation, but the people obviously trusted their own people more and were more willing to be ruled by the Central Plains dynasty, and there was also public opinion for justice.
The weather had cleared up, and Guo Shao led his army to Youzhou smoothly.
Youzhou is the Beijing of later generations. Sometimes Guo Shao could hardly imagine that the place that later became the capital was occupied by foreigners for decades, and according to history, it would be occupied for hundreds of years.
On the plain, a towering city gradually appeared in sight. At first glance, it was not as large as Tokyo Daliang, and even less imposing than Jinyang. The population around it was not too dense, and there were farmlands everywhere. But this city was still a majestic town and had always been an extremely important fortress in Hebei.
Guo Shao withdrew his gaze and looked up at the flag with Zhou written on it among the horses. After decades, the troops from the Central Plains finally arrived at this place.
The soldiers' eyes were almost all looking in one direction. On the horizon at the end of their sight, the shadow of the city was like a mountain, looming like a dream.