The envoys of the Southern Tang Dynasty came to sue for peace in the name of Li Jing, the lord of the country. The conditions are: Li Jing removed the title of emperor and changed his title to the lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty; Ceded the six prefectures of Shouzhou (lost), Haozhou, Sizhou, Chuzhou, Guangzhou, and Haizhou, and paid an annual tribute of millions of gold and silk, begging the Zhou Dynasty to strike down the army. But Chai Rong did not hesitate to refuse the envoy's conditions and demanded the entire territory of Jiangbei; And unequivocally carry out naked threats, if the Southern Tang Kingdom does not obey, they will cross the river in the south, directly destroy the Southern Tang Kingdom, and use their treasury to reward the soldiers.

Chai Rong first refused to sue for peace, and then summoned several civil and military ministers to discuss the military plane.

Guo Shao had the honor to participate in the negotiation of this major military event, which had never been done before...... Before that, he could only obey the orders of the upper peak, and he didn't know anything about what he wanted to do except guess. But now I finally have the opportunity to be a part of this kind of big thing. However, Guo Shao didn't say a word during the whole process, just listened to what they wanted to do.

The first thing to know is an important piece of news...... Hantong departed from Tokyo, bringing with them hundreds of warships that had been built and trained before the war, and was advancing towards Huaishui.

…… Many people spoke and expressed their opinions.

However, the words of the privy envoy Wei Renpu were the most direct: "This is the second time that the Southern Tang Kingdom has sued for peace, there is the first time, the second time, and the third time!" first made a momentum, asking Nandu to destroy the Southern Tang Kingdom in a battle, in order to force them to sue for peace for the third time; Secondly, preparations for a sweep to both wings were carried out at the same time......"

Guo Shao probably understood the strategy from Wei Renpu's words: the imperial court actually only wanted the land north of the Yangtze River, one to enhance its own war potential, and the other to cut off the possibility of the Southern Tang Kingdom looking for an opportunity to attack; But there was no rush to prepare for the destruction of the Southern Tang.

In addition to the intention of controlling the Huai River, the most important purpose of the warship sailors brought by Han Tong was to intimidate the Southern Tang Kingdom.

This is nothing short of fraud! It turns out that this is also played between countries...... If this kind of military aircraft leaked out, so that the Southern Tang Kingdom had the bottom of his heart, he would naturally not be so afraid of the Zhou Dynasty's fraud. Guo Shao realized that Chai Rong had regarded himself as his own person who could be trusted to a certain extent.

Wei Renpu brought a rough map hanging on a wooden shelf at the top position, and Guo Shao saw the map up close this time. The map is very different from the way the ancients drew it, and the biggest difference is that circles and lines are used to outline important towns, roads, and water systems; I feel that Wei Renpu borrowed the drawing method of Qin Feng's drawings that Guo Shao presented last year, no wonder Wei Renpu's eyes seem to be very pleasing to the eye.

"The Privy Council has agreed on a strategy that can take into account the two strategies of 'forced surrender' and 'land expansion'. The navy of the Han Tong Department has entered the Huaishui near Shouzhou from the Yinghe River, and can start from Shouzhou and go down the Huaishui, and at the same time advance eastward from Shouzhou with land troops, and the water and land will be parallel. first swept away the Southern Tang naval army on the Huaishui, and then reached Chuzhou through Hao and Si; After dredging the stork water in the northwest of Chuzhou, it went south to the river from the Cao Canal. ”

"If there is progress in the general situation, our Great Zhou army will have signs of seizing the Great River and crossing to the south, and the lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty will inevitably panic and fear losing Jinling (the capital Jiangning Mansion, now Nanjing)...... This is a forced surrender. Wei Renpu spoke calmly and calmly, "At the same time, on the way to transport the naval army along the road to the Yangtze River, the land troops swept and tried to seize the Haozhou, Sizhou, and Chuzhou lands along the Huaishui and in the east; And use Huaibei town troops to attack Haizhou (north bank of the Huai River, Lianyungang). If it is acquired, the occupied land will be connected together, and it can further echo with the border of Wu Yueguo...... This is the 'expansion of the land.'" The best of both worlds, too. ”

Some of the generals were confused when they heard this, and they were so frightened that they couldn't understand it for a while. Guo Shao found that he knew more than many generals in this regard, and he knew exactly what Wei Renpu wanted to do...... It was really the first time that Guo Shao had participated in the formulation of such a grand strategy.

If Wei Renpu can say it simply, it is nothing more than scaring others on the one hand and encroaching on Jianghuai territory on the other. It's just that I investigated some water and land terrain and chose a good road. The war route was a broken line, starting from Shouzhou and advancing in a straight line to the east; Then turn around and head south to the Yangtze River.

Chai Rong thought it was good, and the idea of entering Huainan was to break through in the middle. The first big step has been achieved because of the breakthrough of Shouzhou, and this time the decision is to enter the second stage: expand the results of the battle and force the surrender.

He said: "You can attack in two ways, when the armies of Hantong and Shouju attack to the east; The troops of the palace can attack Xiong and Tai, and at the same time remove the obstacles to the southward movement of the warships after arriving in Chuzhou. ”

Chai Rong said again: "It is reported that there are 50,000 or 60,000 defenders in Haozhou, and there are hundreds of warships of the Southern Tang Navy between Hao and Si. There will be a big war from Shouzhou to the east, who will preside over the land and water army in the north? ”

All the civil and military forces looked at the two people: Zhang Yongde and Li Chongjin.

Zhang Yongde was silent, the Iron Cavalry Army was now near Yangzhou, and the Crane Army was in Qingliuguan (both in the southern region...... Besides, the emperor seemed to have leaked his mouth before: he wanted the "palace front division" to attack Xiong and Tai. Zhang Yongde was inspected before he was promoted to the palace, and he was the supreme commander of the two main forces of the front division of the palace, so there was no reason to take care of the operations of the armies of the guard division.

Li Chongjin's face was a little ugly, and he didn't speak, and looked at Guo Shao who was sitting behind him with casual eyes. This guy still seems to be haunted by the last public humiliation.

However, Guo Shaogang had just been promoted to military commander, and his status and prestige were not enough to command all armies, so it was impossible for him to be appointed to such a large strategic operation.

Chai Rong said: "I want to conquer Haozhou in person." Li Duzhi, you succeeded to the deployment of Huainan, and after meeting Han Tong, prepare to restrain the troops from entering Haozhou! ”

Li Chongjin hugged his fists and said: "The last general will lead the order." ”

Chai Rong turned his head to look at Guo Shao: "You and Zhao Chao led the Hujie army to the left and right, and took the lead in advancing eastward; Obey me directly. ”

Guo Shao hurriedly said: "The last general will set off to return to Shouzhou immediately." ”

Chai Rong said: "The Shouzhou Governance Office was moved to Xia Cai, and Li Gu was sentenced to Shouzhou Mansion. ”

……

Guo Shao left Yangzhou with Jing Niang, Yang and a group of personal soldiers first, and rushed north to Shouzhou. did not return to the garrison near Shouzhou first, but went to Xia Cai to settle Jingniang and the others. Because Li Gu presided over Shouzhou affairs in Xia Cai, and this was the rear, Guo Shao was not in a hurry to let Jingniang and the Yang family return to Beijing.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, the second brother Yang Biao came to Xia Cai Town. said that the people from Fu Yanqing's family went to Shouzhou to find Guo Shao, and Yang Biao brought people to Xia Cai. Guo Shao hurriedly asked someone to come in and meet.

Three people came, but the other two led their horses and talked to the soldiers in the courtyard, apparently entourage. Only a middle-aged man walked towards the door of the living room with a smile on his face.

This person is a man of letters, not only wearing a scarf robe, but also very different from a martial artist in his throws. He stepped forward and made a very thoughtful gesture: "In Xia Qin Liang, I was ordered to visit General Guo." Below is a person from the Weiwang family in Hebei, who is a teacher, haha...... Where there is trouble, I also ask General Guo to do a lot of Haihan. ”

"Mr. Qin, please be seated inside." Guo Shao also said with a smile on his face, "Guo is very honored to meet the people of the Wei Wang family." ”

Qin Liang claims to be the ...... of Fu Yanqing's family Guo Shao didn't distinguish between the real and the fake, but he had seen Fu Yanqing, but the people around him didn't know him. But if you listen to what this person says, you can probably guess whether it is true or false, and most of it will not be false; Who has nothing to do under the guise of Fu Yanqing to meet a general of the Zhou army, and the Fu family cannot interfere in Huainan's military affairs.

The two didn't know each other at all, didn't understand each other, and didn't have a common topic, but after sitting in the living room, they actually sang and exchanged a lot of nonsense. This literati spoke in a twist and turn, and he really didn't have a general.

"Congratulations to General Guo on his victory in Shouzhou, this battle is really famous all over the world, and General Guo will become another general of my Great Zhou."

Guo Shao said: "Wherever it is, it all depends on the command of the official family. ”

After talking for a long time, Qin Liang took out a letter from his sleeve pocket and handed it over: "King Wei sent me down this time, mainly to send invitations. King Wei knew General Guo during the Battle of Jinyang last year, but at that time, the military affairs were complicated, and he did not have to talk to General Guo, which was a regret in his life. I hope that after the end of the Huainan War, General Guo will be able to see King Wei's Mansion in Hebei Province, and King Wei wants to recount the past with General Guo. ”

Guo Shao didn't pay attention to it, so he glanced at it in front of him, and the seal of the envelope was actually stamped with Fu Yanqing's paint seal, and then he opened it to see. It took me a while to read through the letter.

Qin Liang asked again: "General Guo used to serve in the army in the Weiwang Mansion?" ”

Guo Shao smiled: "A few years ago, it was a guard on the Wei Wang's Mansion. ”

Qin Liang sighed: "A few years will become a great tool, General Guo is really a promising man...... I take the liberty to ask, I don't know where General Guo's ancestral home is, and his parents are there? ”

Guo Shao sighed and said: "When I was young, my family was in the countryside of Yanzhou, and I was originally a solid family. At that time, the hometown was hit by a drought and a locust plague, and there was a lot of chaos and thieves within a radius of hundreds of miles, and the clansmen and fellow villagers went out to flee the famine. The Guo family was robbed by mountain bandits again, my father led the people to resist and was killed, and the ancestor had gone in his early years, so I escaped to Yanzhou City alone. Later, he was rescued by King Wei, so he served in the army in the house to repay the grace of saving his life. ”

He wasn't lying, he was talking about what he remembered.

Qin Liang sighed after hearing this, and said a few words of sympathy. Guo Shao didn't need sympathy, because he barely felt anything when he said these things, as if he was telling someone else's story.

"General Guo is not what he used to be, and he has never been married to any family?" Qin Liang said tentatively.

Guo Shao frowned slightly, didn't the queen let me marry a wife, she didn't tell you? Guo Shao had no choice but to say affirmatively: "My parents are not here, no one is in charge, and I haven't married a wife yet." ”

The corners of Qin Liang's mouth showed a smile, and he nodded: "The eldest husband will serve the country first, and then start a family, it's not too late." There's no need to rush...... In the following words, I wonder if General Guo knows the meaning? ”

Guo Shao nodded hurriedly and said, "I understand......"

Qin Liang was very happy when he heard this, and kindly reminded in a whisper: "This battle of Huainan is not over yet...... General Guo no longer has to rush to make meritorious contributions, and seeking stability is the best policy. ”

The two immediately talked happily with each other, and they didn't need to say it explicitly, and they hit it off with their eyebrows. Guo Shao then stayed at Qin Liang's accommodation overnight, asked someone to prepare wine and food for a meal in the evening, and then hurriedly found Zuo You and asked him to write a reply letter thanking King Wei for his invitation, and copied it.