Guo Shao had already rushed to the front line with his men on horseback and settled down in Shi Yanchao's tent.
He sat on a rough wooden stool that hurt his buttocks, looking at a human head in front of him. The blood on the face of the head had already solidified, but the eyes were wide open, and it looked lifelike even after death, with no signs of weakness at all, and even the beard was stiff.
A group of Yunzhou generals below kowtowed and shouted, "The guilty general is waiting to be put to death."
Wang Pu stood up and bowed, saying: "Li Yun is a traitor and has committed treason. Your Majesty has now sent out troops. Wherever the troops go, the rebellion will be quelled in one day. Your Majesty is wise and brave."
The civil and military officials on both sides immediately shouted: Your Majesty is wise and powerful.
Everyone shouted together, and the momentum was very impressive. All the rebels bowed their heads and almost fell to the ground.
Wang Pu said loudly in public: It is because of these traitors who disregard justice and the overall situation and stir up trouble in the rear that our Great Zhou Imperial Army cannot fully resist the foreign invaders. Imagine that the Imperial Army is fighting hard in the front, and they are stabbed by their own people in the back. The worries behind are unimaginable; fortunately, your majesty is wise and has suppressed the rebellion with lightning speed, which will surely scare those with ulterior motives.
Zuo You quickly echoed: If there were no disturbances in the country, the Great Zhou army would not have any concerns and would have retreated in a hurry.
The rebel generals of Yunzhou were frightened by the righteous words and begged for mercy. The guilty generals were just afraid of Li Yun's accumulated power. The guilty generals were waiting to be put to death. Your Majesty, please spare their lives.
Guo Shao can kill them now, no problem at all, the power of life and death is a kind of imperial power. But he can also forgive them with just one word, which is also power.
Guo Shao recalled the scene where the official he personally sent was chopped off and returned with official documents in his head, and he was still angry. If it were up to him, he would have chopped off these rebels to vent his anger.
However, reason told him that killing them indiscriminately would only do harm and no good. First of all, these people no longer posed a hidden danger after Li Yun's death, and secondly, it would damage his reputation for benevolence and righteousness. The civil war had not yet ended, and he did not want to waste any more effort.
If you do one or two things carelessly, there may not be any serious consequences, but if you do too many things wrong, quantitative changes will lead to qualitative changes. This was what his teacher in his previous life taught him.
Guo Shao picked up the cloth beside him and covered the head. When he spoke, everyone bowed to him. He said: Li Yun is a good general.
The tent suddenly fell silent, and everyone was obviously surprised by the emperor's words.
Guo Shao thought: If Li Yun is a weak opponent, what is there to brag about if I defeat him
He continued: When Li Yun was in Hedong, the soldiers of the Zhaoyi Army fought bravely and guarded the gates of the Great Zhou. They were all warriors. In the battle of Yunzhou this time, he took the initiative to attack the front of the imperial army. He was also the best choice for being good at judging the battle situation. I said he was a good general, and it was not an exaggeration. Unfortunately,
Guo Shao sighed: He does not understand the great principles and is not aware of the general situation. He has violated the great principles, so that his lifetime achievements were destroyed in an instant. When I ascended the throne, he was already regarded as the emperor and father. Today, he betrayed me again, which is disloyalty. My Great Zhou army fought bloody battles for the people of the world to recover their homeland, but he was plotting a rebellion behind the scenes. Isn't it just for the desire of one person? It is unjust. The world has been in chaos for a long time due to civil war. Now that the world has just settled down, he is trying to provoke a civil war again, going against the general trend and the way of heaven. The way of heaven is unstoppable, those who follow it will prosper, and those who go against it will perish.
All the ministers seconded the motion.
Guo Shao added: "Now is the time for the court to employ people. I feel extremely sorry that Li Yun has put the soldiers of Zhaoyi Army into an unjust situation for his own selfish reasons." He looked regretful and uncomfortable as he spoke.
All sins will be felt.
Guo Shaodao: The military officers and civil officials of the Zhaoyi Army will temporarily leave their posts to be investigated by the court. Those who were coerced into participating will be punished; those who instigated rebellion will be punished according to the law. Those who killed the rebel leader for the sake of justice will reduce the casualties of innocent soldiers and civilians, so they must be rewarded according to their merits. Ordinary soldiers are innocent.
After hearing this, Wang Pu and others clasped their fists and said: We obey your order.
The criminals bowed and said: "The grace of heaven is great, we thank you.
Guo Shao did not interfere in the aftermath of Yunzhou, as the Youzhou Front Camp Military Headquarters had not yet been disbanded and a large number of officials were around the emperor with great power who were able to handle specific matters.
Now Guo Shao often talks about benevolence and righteousness in front of others, which was unimaginable in the past because he was not a person who liked to flaunt morality. People have a light and dark side, and many people have this nature. How many people in the world are really so noble? Even the wise emperor Tang Taizong did a lot of things that were hard to explain.
However, there are rules and orders in the world that most people are willing to recognize. Guo Shao understands that the reason why the imperial power is so strong is because many people are willing to recognize it. If the rules are violated and too many people are unwilling to recognize it, the authority will be lost and the power will gradually become ineffective.
He sat under the lamp, pondering these abstract things.
At this time, Wang Pu, Li Chuyun and Zuo You came into the tent to pay their respects.
There was almost no furnishings in the tent. Only Guo Shao had a place to sit, and several ministers had to stand.
Wang Pudao: The first person who can be confirmed to have been contacted by Li Yun is Yang Ye, who is now in Tokyo. If Yang Ye had not taken the initiative to report it, Li Yun’s rebellion might not have been leaked so quickly. The second person is Zhe Dejian, the governor of Jingnan Army. There is no news about Zhe Dejian yet.
Guo Shao glanced at Li Chuyun and suddenly remembered a small incident. In the past, Guo Shao and Zhe Dejian's cousin Zhe Deliang had a feud because of Li Chuyun's daughter.
Li Chuyun stood there with his head bowed, seeming to be very silent. In the Youzhou battle, Li Chuyun lost the initiative, Guo Shao never blamed him, but he might have been worried.
Zhe Dejian Guo Shao put his hand on his chin and made some trivial movements. Although the people present were ministers, they were all familiar people. Now it was dark, so Guo Shao was still relatively relaxed.
He recalled the past and looking back now, it was not a big deal, at least there was no fundamental conflict of interest. However, Guo Shao was just a military commander back then, and Zhe Deliang wrote a letter to criticize Guo Shao, which did make him a little upset.
Wang Pu said: "The Zhe family did not come to Tokyo to show their loyalty, and they did not even send the memorial in time. What does that mean? Do they still think that the court does not know?"
Asking Zhe Dejian to come to Tokyo in person is a bit unreasonable, Guo Shao said.
Wang Pu frowned. Zuo You nodded subconsciously, looking at Li Chuyun, but didn't say anything. After all, the matter involved Li Chuyun's daughter, so it was not easy to bring it up in front of others.
Guo Shao said softly: People in the world value human relationships and it is not easy to trust unfamiliar people, especially when there was some conflict between them.
Wang Pudao: These Jiedushi who have troops at their disposal have not had their military power stripped away completely, and yet they dare to negotiate terms with the imperial court just because they have a few soldiers.
Guo Shao thought about it and said: This matter must be handled conservatively. We cannot order Zhe Dejian to come to the capital. If we threaten Zhe Dejian and move him, Yang Ye may become alienated.