Li Gu was sent to Qigou Pass to meet Guo Shao through the will of the eunuch Wang Zhongchuan. But when he returned, he was personally received by Chai Rong.

"Knock to your majesty." Li Gu bowed down, of course he couldn't see the emperor at this time, and his face was almost against the floor tiles.

Hearing a sound of "flat", Li Gu got up cautiously. I heard the eunuch whispering beside him: "Li Fushi, you can't make the official family angry." He still didn't dare to look up at the emperor, but this hall was not big, and there were no steps that were high enough to look up to see it, even if he didn't look directly at Chai Rong, he could see seven or eight out of ten.

Chai Rong was not wearing armor, he was wearing a loose purple robe, his face was black and spotted, and he really looked sick. Li Gu remembered a deceased fellow countryman, and the symptoms were similar to those when he was sick; The fellow had swollen lungs, and in addition to his face, his legs were swollen. But Li Gu is not Langzhong, and he does not have a deep understanding of this Tao, so he can't be sure what kind of illness the emperor has.

But for the time being, it seems that the emperor is still standing, able to sit there and talk.

Chai Rong spoke again: "Guo Shao has won 10,000 people, are they all Khitans, is it true?" ”

Li Gu hurriedly replied: "There should be no lies. The minister saw the heads that were transported back from Zhuozhou, and there were thousands of them with his own eyes, all of which were the heads of the Khitan and Xi people...... When crossing the Qigou Pass, Han Lingkun and other generals also saw it; Take a lot of big cars full of heads, it's terrifying to watch! ”

Chai Rong was a little emotional when he heard this, and said: "Guo Shao is a good general. ”

Li Gu said: "What Your Majesty said is very true, most of the Hujie army is an infantry army, and it is not easy for the infantry army to fight cavalry to win so much. ”

Chai Rong nodded and said, "Let that Yelu know that he is a faint king, can I still be afraid of him?" ”

Speaking of this, he sighed slightly, but he didn't know what to sigh about.

At this moment, Li Gu took out something from his arms and presented it with both hands: "Your Majesty, the minister met General Guo at Qigou Pass, and he put on a letter for the minister to bring back and present to Your Majesty." ”

The eunuch Wang Zhong walked over, took the envelope from Li Gu's hand, and turned his head to look at Chai Rong. Seeing Chai Rong nodding slightly, Wang Zhong opened the envelope, pulled out the paper inside, unfolded it, and handed it to Chai Rong's hand.

Chai Rong looked at it and said, "Wang Zhong, go and you will gather the generals, and then go to the lobby to discuss the matter." ”

…… The generals came soon, and Guo Shao did not arrive in Xiongzhou on the way, and Han Lingkun was in Qigou Pass. When everyone learned that the emperor had summoned them, they all came early, because they hadn't seen the emperor for several days, and the people in the army were panicking. If you can see the emperor, you can always feel at ease.

Chai Rong's complexion is very bad, but today's situation is better, he can walk to the public seat in the lobby by himself, and of course he can talk.

After seeing the ceremony, Chai Rong didn't say a word and directly asked Wang Zhong to take out Guo Shao's recital and hand it over to the generals first. There were not many senior generals, but it took a lot of time to pass it on and see it, and the hall was very silent and the atmosphere was a little depressing.

Chai Rong neither mentioned Guo Shao's merits, nor did he say that he ran away from Zhuozhou without authorization, and no one in the hall mentioned it.

As a martial artist, Chai Rong's style is also very simple, and he said immediately: "Guo Shao recommended Han Lingkun to patrol the northern frontier, and I plan to let Han Lingkun withdraw his troops to Xiong and hegemony; The army has returned to the DPRK, and he will come again at another time. What do you think? ”

Zhang Yongde came out of the column and said: "The Khitan lord's army of more than 100,000 has gathered, and the people have reported that they have marched to Zhuozhou; Zhuozhou to Xiongzhou is only more than 100 miles. Your Majesty, now that our dynasty has withdrawn its troops, will Yi, Xiong, Ba, and Mo Zhuzhou be attacked back by the Khitan? ”

Chai Rong endured the pain and gasped for a while, and suddenly sneered: "The Liao State is really ready for a big attack?" If Yeluming really dares to cross the river, I will accompany him. ”

After hearing this, the generals suddenly felt a domineering aura rushing towards them, and they were speechless. The officials didn't take Yeluming, the emperor, in their eyes at all.

Chai Rong quickly retreated, probably because he was too weak to sit for too long. However, he has already finalized the big thing in a few words, as soon as Han Lingkun arrives in Xiongba, the army of the Zhou Dynasty can retreat.

There is no need to discuss and argue, I am afraid that this matter is irreversible.

…… Zhao Kuangyin left the palace sullenly and returned to the camp. He retreated and summoned Zhao Pu to see him, and told him about the emperor's affairs and Guo Shao's letter.

Zhao Pu also frowned when he heard this: "Then Guo Shao is too ruthless, he is so blatantly slanderous." The official family actually passed on the book to the ministers, which is really ...... The official family directly accepted Guo Shao's recommendation and stayed with Han Lingkun to patrol the border, did he listen to Guo Shao's slander? ”

Kuang Yin sighed and said: "Everyone knows that Guo Shao has a gap with me, he just slandered and said a few bad words, and everyone also thinks that it is just human nature. ”

"That's right." Zhao Pu was at a loss, "I thought Guo Shao wouldn't be able to leave Zhuozhou, but unexpectedly it became like this." That's really hard to deal with...... Hey, can a military general fight? I heard that Guo Shao's main staff member is called Zuo You, but he used to despise it, and I don't know where it came from. ”

Kuang Yin said: "This matter has little to do with the staff, I woke up in the palace just now." I remember that before the Northern Expedition, the official family once said that whoever made great contributions to him in the Northern Expedition would rely on him more. Guo Shao cracked the bureau we set up for him, which was to capture the thoughts of the officials.

He first ambushed the Liao army, captured a lot of people, and only then did he have the audacity to retreat without permission. caused the established things, and blatantly wrote to know the benefits, so he got out...... I also beat a rake, so that I am now sitting on pins and needles. ”

Zhao Pu pondered for a moment and nodded yes.

Kuang Yin said again: "Although I am worried in my heart, I have to be convinced after losing this game." In this matter, he has the ability to win against Xiao Siwen, has the courage to retreat without authorization, and can grasp the thoughts of the officials, and the layout is defensive and offensive...... Brilliant! It's brilliant! ”

Kuang Yin pondered for a long time, but then shook his head and muttered: "But it's really not like the means that a military general like Guo Shao can have......

Zhao Pu whispered in his ear: "In case something goes wrong in the official family, let Guo Shao go back to Tokyo now, and then join the queen inside and outside, the future of the lord is worrying." ”

Kuang Yin nodded thoughtfully: "We have been staring at Guo Shao, but we have actually ignored another person. If there is no such person, Guo Shao, a general of the Guard Division, is only the same as the Hujie Army, plus Gao Huaide, and his strength is only like this...... I don't think it's Guo Shao who lays out this matter, but that person. This person had long planned to let Guo Shao return to Beijing, the purpose was very clear, and the layout was profound and ingenious, so he had to guard against it. ”

Zhao Pu suddenly said: "Lord, I still have a plan......"

Kuang Yin said straightly: "But it doesn't hurt to say it." ”

……

Wei Renpu (who had just arrived in Hebei) left the palace with Wang Pu, and was also talking about what had just been done to the ministers. The relationship between the two is good, but a little gentleman's friendship is as light as water, and they rarely interact in private, and they happened to meet together today.

The two of them were a principal and deputy privy envoy of the Privy Council, and many people once said in front of Wei Renpu that Wang Pu would take his place.

But Wei Renpu didn't mind, but praised Wang Pu for his great talent, and if Wang Pu was a privy envoy, he would be willing to let Xian. When Wang Pu heard this, he rarely had a personal relationship with his colleagues. The two are competitive and appreciate each other...... Wang Pu admired Wei Renpu's demeanor and bearing, and Wei Renpu appreciated Wang Pu's vision and strategy.

It's really not easy to make friends with Wang Pu. There are almost no officials in the court, and almost no one has any friendship with Wang Pu...... This person is difficult to get along with, and often uses the skills of Legalism to control people, lacks sincerity, and everyone who is with him is careful.

At this time, Wang Pu said: "Guo Shao's book is indeed very strategic. ”

Wei Renpu said: "General Guo and General Zhao are not in harmony, and it is not surprising that General Zhao is too strong in the book, and it is not surprising to write words that condemn him. He smiled again: "If I have an enmity with the king, I will also speak ill of you in front of the officials." ”

Wang Pu glanced at Wei Renpu next to him, but did not smile. Wei Renpu laughed dryly twice in embarrassment, as if he had made a joke that was not funny, and suppressed his laughter.

Wang Pu said at this time: "I mean his means of fighting back at Zhao Kuangyin are very strategic. He thought for a while and said, "But you can't just talk about strategy, 20,000 infantry swallowed Xiao Siwen's thousands of iron cavalry in one go, and ordinary people can't do it." This matter has to be done with the force of the army and the strategy of the layout, if it is just a martial artist, what is he doing in a hurry to run back after making a great achievement? It's good now, the first contribution of the Northern Expedition, and the officials didn't praise it in public. ”

Wei Renpu was noncommittal.

Wang Pu said again: "Actually, if Guo and Zhao are both in Tokyo, there is no way to balance. ”

Wei Renpu casually asked, "Why?" ”

Wang Pu looked left and right, and said in a deep voice: "How can we check and balance?" For example, you and I check and balance each other, because we have no enmity, we don't have to be divided into high and low, so we can coexist. ”

He can't say that it's inappropriate to give an example, but why is Wei Renpu so harsh when he listens to it?

Wang Pu said again: "Guo and Zhao are different, both of them are holding back to put each other to death and then hurry, once no one presses them, I am afraid that they will do whatever it takes to follow the rules." There will be a win or a loss, and the results will come quickly...... Therefore, if the official family wants to use Guo Shao to contain Zhao Kuangyin, it will be in vain, and it can only intensify the infighting. ”

Wei Renpu said tentatively: "Then the deputy envoy of the king thinks that what should be done is the best?" ”

At this time, Wang Pu was noncommittal and silent.

Wei Renpu knew that Wang Pu was a very thoughtful person, and when he saw that he didn't say it and guessed that he was unwilling to say it, he couldn't help but provoke him again: "Could it be that the deputy envoy of the king should put one in the outer town and separate them?" ”

Wang Pu immediately vetoed: "Let one of them take the elite of the forbidden army outside, is it to encourage them to fight in the future and consume half of the elite of the forbidden army first...... But if you take the military power and then release it, can the people who go out of the town and the border towns still fight with another person without elite soldiers in their hands, and what kind of checks and balances can they talk about if they become fish and meat? It's no different from picking a side and helping one side deal with the other! Balance can't be done anyway. ”

After a while, Wang Pu said again: "However, we don't have to worry about it for the time being. As long as the official family is there, none of them dares to act rashly. ”