The Liao ruler Yelu Jing was assassinated. Wei Renpu walked into the living room, looking very excited. Xiao Siwen joined forces with Yelu Xizhen and other generals to support Yelu Xian as emperor and had already sent troops to Shangjing.
Guo Shao's so-called palace was just a small courtyard of a wealthy family. There were two coffee tables and several chairs in the living room. He was sitting on the chair and was very shocked when he heard the news.
Although the loss of Youzhou might have caused problems for the Liao Kingdom, it was too fast for an emperor to die at any time.
Guo Shao asked: Xiao Siwen did it
Wei Renpu bowed and said: "I don't know either. Rumor has it that it was the cook who did it. The Liao ruler disliked the cook's slow cooking and wanted to kill him to vent his anger. Several attendants and the cook were afraid of the Liao ruler's usual brutality, so they used a kitchen knife to hack the Liao ruler to death out of fear."
He said in a deep voice: "It is impossible to know whether Xiao Siwen was behind this or not. Xiao Siwen would not admit it either."
Guo Shao sighed secretly. Although the ruler of Liao was not a great ruler, he was still the emperor of a great country. He actually died under the kitchen knife.
Wei Renpu said: After Xiao Siwen escaped from Youzhou, he quickly defended himself. He said that the Liao ruler wanted to abandon Youzhou and only wanted to delay the time, which caused the Liao army in Youzhou to almost mutiniate; in desperation, Xiao Siwen opened the city to fight a decisive battle, but he did not win due to the huge disparity in strength and he did not escape, but was held hostage by his subordinates.
Guo Shao was speechless after hearing this, and recalled the day when Xiao Siwen sent him a letter of challenge
It looked like a decisive battle, and many people could attest to that. But in reality, it was nothing. As soon as the battle started at the East Gate, Xiao Siwen broke out from the West Gate and ran faster than a rabbit.
Guo Shao originally thought that only Han officials from the Central Plains were good at this tactic, but now it seems that the Liao people are not bad either, and can even say that black is white.
Wei Renpu presented a file copied in Chinese with both hands and said: Xiao Siwen has issued a letter and circulated it to various places, bitterly accusing the Liao ruler Yelu Jing of fifty crimes. He said that Yelu Jing was the most foolish, cruel, and licentious tyrant in history. Even I couldn't stand some of his words, such as he liked to eat babies with human brains and summoned his daughters to sleep with him. Your Majesty, please forgive me for my crimes. It is really an insult to your ears.
In this way, with such a monarch in power, how could the Liao Dynasty not be in chaos? Yelu Jing was the culprit of all things.
Guo Shao listened calmly while reading the manifesto. He had never met Yelu Jing, and he did not know the details of the Liao Dynasty's government, so it was difficult for him to be sure whether Yelu Jing was really that bad.
Based on his personal opinion, Yelu Jing was at least not that stupid. Otherwise, with the chaos after Emperor Taizong of Liao, Yelu Jing was the only one who sat on the throne the longest. It was not easy to be an emperor. It was not easy for Yelu Jing to maintain stability for so many years.
But Guo Shao was sure of one thing: Xiao Siwen and the Liao Kingdom needed to be as bad as Yelu Jing, the worse the better; otherwise, who would take the blame for the accumulated evils and chaos that had been created before? Those who created the chaos had long been dead, and it was unclear what was being attributed to them. It was most appropriate to put the blame on a failed emperor.
Wei Renpu continued: Even Yelu Xiuguo was unlucky. Yelu Xiuguo was famous in Liao and was known as the best general of Liao. Now he has become a treacherous and guilty minister who relies on the favor of the Liao ruler to command the army. All his previous military achievements have been overturned. When he suppressed the rebellion, he first instigated and forced other ethnic groups to rebel, and then slaughtered civilians for false reputation; when he captured Yizhou of Zhou, he also took advantage of the opportunity to enter, killed civilians and falsely reported the gains in the battle.
After Yelu Xiu'ge attracted the Zhou army, his true colors were exposed. He was incompetent and made no achievements at first, and then he used troops recklessly to reinforce Youzhou. He was the biggest culprit for the Liao Kingdom's loss of Youzhou.
When Guo Shao heard this, he thought of Yelu Xiu'ge's flexible use of troops during the first Northern Expedition, and naturally disagreed with the Liao Kingdom's conclusion.
He couldn't help but sigh, feeling that many things were just passing clouds.
As for Xiao Siwen, Guo Shao thought he was going to die, and wondered how he could save his life, but ended up doing such a big thing. He really underestimated this man. His scheming was so deep that Guo Shao was completely surprised.
Now Guo Shao could not care about the grievances of the Liao Kingdom, or the lament that it was lonely at the top. He said directly: "Send the ministers to see me. The Liao Kingdom has no time to look south at this time. Let's immediately deploy to capture Yunzhou, Wuzhou and Pingzhou."
Guo Shao didn't even need to look at the map. He had already thought about these places in the north many times and made a general decision off the cuff.
Yunzhou is Datong, which is the first entrance from the Mongolian Plateau to the Hedong region.
Wuzhou is Zhangjiakou. Looking from west to east, it is also the second opening of the northern barrier of the Central Plains.
Pingzhou, the entrance to the Liaoxi Corridor, controls Yuguan Pass, which is the fortress of Shanhaiguan, the first pass in the world, and the eastern important place of the northern line of national defense.
As long as the Great Zhou occupies these three states and controls the land to the south of them, the eastern half of the entire territory can be formed into a thick and solid barrier by relying on the terrain and the Great Wall, which can be used for attack or defense; the northern tribes who want to enter the Central Plains will first face a long and difficult road and a copper wall and iron fortress.
Most of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun will also be incorporated into the territory of the Great Zhou.
There is only one Yingzhou left, which is on the northeastern edge of Liaoxi region and is quite far away. Guo Shao does not want to rush to take it back for the time being. It involves a more distant strategic direction, and the court has not yet made a decision.
There are two reasons why we don't need to rush. First, Yingzhou is a stronghold for developing towards the Liaodong region, which is equivalent to the purpose of setting up four towns in the Western Regions during the Tang Dynasty, and it does not affect the complete defense line. Second, although that place belonged to the Central Plains during the Tang Dynasty, it was just a stronghold and was later lost; over the years, most of the people of various ethnic groups such as Khitan, Xi, and Jurchen have been active there, and the Han people have long been assimilated to the Hu people. The Great Zhou lacks a population base there, and it is difficult to control in a short period of time.
Not long after, the generals entered the living room one after another.
This house is not a good place to work. There is an incense table at the top, but no seats; Guo Shao sits on a chair on the left side.
Dong Zunhui came in first and saluted Guo Shao. Guo Shao said casually: "If there is a chair, please sit down."
Dong Zunhui took a look at the situation in the room and said: Thank you, Your Majesty, I'd better stand.
Guo Shao noticed his gaze and also glanced at the remaining chairs. Because he was sitting on the left, the two chairs opposite him would not dare to sit on an equal footing with the emperor. There were only four chairs left, and when Li Chuyun and others came in, it seemed that Dong Zunhui would not have a turn.
Guo Shao said casually that General Dong was good at archery and leading troops. He could observe the surrounding environment keenly and make quick judgments, which were indeed the necessary qualities for a good general.
Dong Zunhui was very happy to be praised, and bowed and said: I dare not, I do not deserve such praise from Your Majesty.
After a while, Shi Yanchao came in. When the etiquette officer heard that he was invited to sit down, he found a chair and sat down without saying a word.
Wei Renpu was busy arranging for someone to hang up an appropriate map on the wooden shelf in front of the incense table.