The main general Guo Shao and the provincial envoy Zan Jurun led the army from Tokyo, marched more than 1,000 miles, and arrived at the border of Qizhou (northeast of present-day Shijiazhuang City) in October.

"Look! Hutuo River. Zhou Duanyao pointed to a quiet river in front of him, which was very conspicuous on the barren plains in autumn and winter.

Guo Shao saw that Zhou Duan was a little excited, so he was surprised, and hurriedly asked if there was any allusion to the Hutuo River? Zhou Duan said: "There is no allusion, but this Hutuo River is one of the three major rivers in Hebei. In the land of clouds, once the north and south directions of Yanshan Mountain are a horse and a flat river that can be defended, but it is not necessarily, the three big rivers that are vertical and horizontal from east to west are actually the three barriers of Hebei. One is called the Juma River, which is under the control of the Liao State; The second is called the Hutuo River, which is this, which is the barrier of the middle road of Gongwei Hebei; Three said Zhangshui, is the last line of defense in Hebei, the loss of Zhangshui then the Central Plains is almost no danger to defend, (later) the Jin Dynasty lost Beizhou, then the death of the country, in fact, the loss of Zhangshui. ”

The strategic location of these places is not something to be seen, but something that has been summed up in countless wars throughout history. Guo Shao read few history books, and the famous history books only record major events, and the specific places are unknown.

Zhou Duan, this guy can explain the situation in the north clearly, I'm afraid he has read a lot of books that ordinary people can't see, and the people from the big family, even if their families are poor, seem to be able to borrow from relatives in the clan, and they really have a little more knowledge than ordinary people. Zuo You listened attentively to the side, without words, it is estimated that he couldn't figure out these things, and his face was quite envious.

"No wonder the Privy Council called us to 'patrol the border' and chose Qizhou." Guo Shao suddenly said at this time, "I was also a little puzzled in my heart before, what Qizhou doesn't seem to be very famous and I haven't heard of, how could I choose this place, it turns out that it is because of the Hutuo River!" According to what Mr. said, the northernmost Juma River is in the hands of the Liao, so the Hutuo River has become the frontier of Hebei's defense line. ”

"Exactly, but there is still a heavy city defense in front of it, which is a forward stronghold." Zhou Duan said, "Dingzhou is not in the hands of Zhou Jun. ”

Guo Shao listened to him speak with his head in the head, and he was more respectful in his words, and called him "sir" instead of calling him by his name as before.

At this time, Li Chuyun rode his horse and said: "There is no bridge on this river, so we have to send someone to Qizhou to find a place to assassinate Shi, and ask them to take things to build a pontoon bridge, so that the army can cross the river." ”

Guo Shao thought it was good, so he asked Zuo You to write a message with a sealed letter, and sent it across the river to contact the magistrate.

He and Zhou Duanzheng talked about it very quickly, but when he was interrupted just now, he brought up the topic again, wanting to hear more about the opinions of civil officials. He said casually, "The Waikou rose in the Northeast, and the Central Plains lost the clouds, so we can only rely on this barrier to defend, but fortunately, we have more ......."

Unexpectedly, Zhou Duan didn't give Guo Shao face at all, and had a sneering expression: "There are too many people? ”

Seeing this, the companion next to him was also interested in seeing how the end of the week ended, and everyone seemed to be a little fed up along the way, this guy didn't run alone (in fact, he was caught at first), but he always looked very arrogant.

But Guo Shao was not angry about Zhou Duan, but looked modest, and asked curiously: "Isn't there the most Han people?" ”

Zhou Duan sneered: "If you compare it only by tribal blood, there are probably the most Han people." However, the Han people in Shu, Tang, Northern Han and other places, can Tokyo command; Even places like Wuyue and Nanping don't necessarily need to be used if you want to. And there are also many Han people in Youyun, Bohai Old Land and other places in Liao, who are those people helping?

I'm not wrong, before the Battle of Huainan, there were only more than 900,000 households in the whole country of the Zhou Dynasty, and even if some people didn't make a register, there were not many of them...... At the end of the Tang Dynasty, there was a hundred years of fighting, and after the Tang Dynasty was destroyed, it was a few decades, and there was only this number in the world. Today, the emperor of the Zhou Dynasty is civilized and martial arts, and the government is clear, but the emperor and the ministers can't change the mouth, but the war for years and years consumes the strong Ding is no different from the dynasties. ”

Guo Shao did not refute it, because he did not know the specific data, and he did not specifically inquire through the courtiers. He is just a military general, and those things have little to do with him for the time being...... And with his natural intuition, he has never felt that the Han population is a problem, and modern society still has too many family plans; In ancient times, underpopulation was a big problem.

Zhou Duan said again: "Then that the Liao country, there are not only Khitans, but also Xi, Bohai, Han, Tatar, Jurchen, Wuguo, and Daluyu...... Many tribes, most of the tribes, were subservient to the Liao state and served it. The number of Khitans alone may not be as good as that of the Han Chinese; But if it is compared with the Liao State and the Zhou Dynasty, it is obvious that there are more people in the Liao State, not a little bit. Just to say that the old land of the Bohai Kingdom should have several million people (the three eastern provinces, the coast of Russia, and the north of Korea). The Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun are also densely populated, and their territory is comparable to the Hebei region controlled by the Zhou Dynasty; But how many Hebei are there in Dazhou?

It is rumored that the standing army of the Liao State can immediately mobilize 300,000 troops, and if it is a long-term battle, it can use tribal soldiers and recruit troops. Can the Zhou Dynasty have a million troops? How many people are there in the forbidden army? ”

Yang Biao listened and shouted: "This guy from the Southern Tang Dynasty is from the Southern Tang Dynasty, and the Southern Tang Dynasty has colluded with the Khitan in the past, so he is not a spy!" Grow up others to destroy their own prestige! ”

"Haha......" Zhou Duan raised his head and laughed, pointing at Yang Biao and laughing, "What did I just say, Shu and Southern Tang are all Han Chinese, can the court of Tokyo Daliang use it?" ”

Guo Shao said: "Second brother, don't talk nonsense. He turned his head to Zhou Duan and said, "You didn't say this last time you came back. ”

Zhou Duan suppressed his laughter and said calmly: "I couldn't finish talking about Youzhou last time, so naturally I didn't talk about Bohai Country and other places." ”

Guo Shao said: "According to Mr. Zhou's words, my Zhou Dynasty attacked the Liao State, and its strength was actually weaker than the Liao State?" ”

"Self-explanatory." Zhou Duan said unceremoniously, "General Guo is a general under the emperor, don't you know why the prestige of the emperor of the Zhou Dynasty is so great?" He dared to fight with Liao, that is, to attack the strong with the weak. Thinking about the battle of Gaoping, Yang Gon, a native of Liao, led 50,000 divisions, plus the Northern Han army, there were more than the Zhou army; Rao is like this, Emperor Zhou also hit Jinyang...... In this Northern Expedition, the total number of elites of the Zhou Dynasty was only 100,000, and they could not change more, and no one and national strength could not afford to raise them; And the Liao State controls millions of strings. The Great Zhou Emperor dared to attack, which was prestige and strength. ”

Guo Shao couldn't help but shudder when he heard this, he was reminded that China's existential pressure had reached such an unbearable point in this era; The rise of rival tribes in the surrounding area has become unstoppable. He didn't pay attention to these questions before, but now after listening to Zhou Duan's detailed explanation, he suddenly realized that the strength and weakness of the strength have long changed, but the north of Youzhou is too far away for ordinary people to see, and knowledgeable people are unwilling to say it.

Thinking about being able to get to where it is now is actually the fortune of the country, if the luck is a little worse, it is not impossible to go to the point of chaos like Wuhu.

The later Song Dynasty has been passively beaten, and it is simply unable to control the rise of the surrounding tribes, and it is under the trend that cannot be stopped...... The Khitan and Jurchen took turns to dominate, and later the Mongols even ransacked the world, probably to blame the Central Plains Dynasty for being powerless in this era; Otherwise, so many nomads will not have the opportunity and space to rise, and they will naturally not be able to sit big without development space.

Guo Shao was a little depressed for a while.

What Zhou Duan said may be exaggerated, but his judgment is still more credible. Since the Jin Dynasty, the Central Plains has been threatened by the Khitan, and the Jin Dynasty itself was still destroyed by the Liao State; The rulers of the dynasties were like swords hanging over their heads. In recent years, the Liao State was in the midst of civil strife, and the Battle of Gaoping could also make the Zhou Dynasty feel the threat of life and death...... If the Liao State does not have the strength, how can it do these things?

When Guo Shao looked back, he saw that a large number of people and horses on the road were approaching the Hutuo River, and the pieces of people and horses he saw were the left wing of the Hujie Army under his command. At that moment, he sighed a little and looked back on the people: "I always thought that 'China' was very big and there were many people, but we can see that these 20,000 people are already one-eighth of the elite of 'China'; Ladies and gentlemen, we have a great responsibility, and we really can't take it lightly. ”

The generals just listened to Zhou Duan's "alarmist" remarks, and they were also serious at the moment, and they all hugged their fists and agreed. Dong Zunxun said loudly: "I am willing to follow Uncle Guo's command and strive to be strong." ”

Guo Shaodao: "Thinking of the glory of the Qin, Han and Tang dynasties, and the coming of all countries, 'China' has always been a strong and civilized country in all directions, and the world is not the king's land, but today it has fallen to the ground!" I hope that one day our country will be able to regain its former glory. ”

Zhou Duan and Zuo You listened to Guo Shao, a military general, speak the truth, and they also had admiration at the moment.

…… Not long after, Qizhou sent people to the army, saying that they had built a pontoon bridge upstream and waited. Guo Shao asked the general of the scout battalion, but he didn't find it.

At that moment, the local officials of Qizhou were asked to lead the way, the vanguard army went first, and the army followed behind to cross the river. There was only one bridge that was not very wide, and 20,000 people with their baggage could not all cross the river that day, so Guo Shao had to order to camp and wait by the river.

In the afternoon, Qizhou Assassin Shi came to the Chinese army to meet him, nodded and bowed very respectfully. Guo Shaohang's official position is the position of the envoy of the temperance, and there are also defense envoys and regimental training envoys below, and then the level of the assassin history, which is really a few levels higher than the history of the Qizhou assassin.

Thorn Shi said: "There are few huts in Qizhou City, and there are not so many spare houses for the forbidden army to live in, according to the meaning of Shangfeng, we transferred the local prefecture and county people to build ten camps on the north bank of the Hutuo River, and we can only grieve Guo Dashuai and the forbidden army brothers to be stationed outside the city." The place chosen by the camp has a mountain in the northeast, which can block the east and north winds, and can avoid the cold a little after winter. ”

After Guo Shao listened, he thought that the magistrate might not be willing to garrison the city with a large army; In particular, no one could restrain the forbidden army, and they were afraid that the people in the city would be bullied and cause contradictions and troubles. At the moment, it was inconvenient to compete with Qizhou Assassin Shi and other officials to win or lose, and promised to camp in the riverbank military village first.

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