The news that the Liao State had sent troops to the Southern Courtyard had only been known for two days. From time to time, there was an explosion of "bang ......" on the north city, which never stopped, it was the palace tent army training war horses; The Liao people found Nancheng craftsmen to concoct ** stuffed in a hard bamboo tube and tamped with mud, and it was blown up at one point, and the camp tent was filled with gunsmoke, as if it was setting fire.

When Yelu met at Xiao Siwen's mansion, he said: "When Xiao Gong was the king of the Southern Courtyard that year, he hurriedly sent troops to the south, and the Great Khan was more suspicious. And now Yelu Hugh is knocking on the side, but he doesn't know whether it is merit or fault? ”

Xiao Siwen said: "At the beginning, the three Li in the Zhou State wanted to rebel, and I should have reacted. ”

Yelu nodded after hearing this: "Although I feel that the Great Khan is a little unfair, Yelu Xiuge is still very relieved to break through the city of Zhou, and he has reported the evil breath at the beginning of the year!" The southerners became more and more arrogant, and how many times did they go north to tease, but they really didn't take Da Liao seriously? ”

"Blacksmith Guo is not afraid of Da Liao." Xiao Siwen said quietly, "When the Great Khan returns from hunting this time, I want to write a letter to warn him not to go out on patrol again, and to stay in Shangjing to deal with the affairs in the south." ”

Yelu listened and muttered for a moment: "Blacksmith Guo will come north to Youzhou?" ”

Xiao Siwen said: "Who can say for sure? But it never hurts to be on guard. ”

Yelu bowed obliquely and said, "Gong Xiao is far-sighted. ”

Xiao Siwen said: "There is no need to worry too much, at the beginning of the year, Guo Blacksmith couldn't beat Youzhou, and it has only been more than half a year, and the situation is no different; It is said that the Southern Han Kingdom was destroyed by the Zhou State, and the Zhou army added 100,000 troops, but those people are still available to fight mediocre small countries such as the Southern Han Dynasty, and it is a joke to be transferred to fight against the Great Liao!

In recent years, Da Liao has not been at peace, and I don't advocate attacking and provoking Zhou Guo without incident, but the matter has already happened, and we don't have to be afraid. The rules of the grassland still apply to the southerners, and after all, they still have to speak by force! ”

Yelu bowed obliquely and said, "What Gong Xiao said is extremely true. If the Great Liao is unbearable, how can the grassland tribes obey us? ”

Xiao Siwen stood up and paced back and forth a few steps: "Let's not attack Brother Yelu Xiu for the time being, in case the Zhou army takes the opportunity to go north, Brother Yelu Xiu can use his troops well, this person has some brains on the battlefield." ”

Because Xiao Siwen led his troops to invade the south back then, he did not break through the important towns of Hebei, that is, he came back after plundering in the suburbs. And Yelu Hugo successfully won the gate of Yizhou City, but he was not a brute fighter.

Xiao Siwen thought of this and said: "Everything is based on the overall situation. If Blacksmith Guo wants to go on another Northern Expedition, his situation will be even worse if he fails once. The old man waited for him to die first! ”

……

On the first day of September in the second year of Xuanren, the shorter the day is, the longer the night.

The sprawling metropolis of Tokyo has woken up early. On the tower of Xuande Gate, a team of soldiers came up neatly, and under the dim and white sky, they saw shadows of the same height. A military general stepped forward to report the name of the official, took the military talisman and checked it with the military general on duty at night, and the two faced each other and bowed with fists. I heard a short military order: "Change the guard!" ”

After a while, a long shout: "When the hour comes, open the city gate......"

As soon as the drums sounded, it immediately disturbed the sleeping dreams of a large number of surrounding neighborhoods. On the edge of the women's wall, the soldiers in neat clothes and armor held cherry spears, standing on them with their heads held high on their legs, yellow, red, and cyan pennants fluttering in the air, and a military general walked on it with his sword, turning his head to look at the scene outside.

Outside the castle tower, there is another scene on the long royal street, a long bright light extends into the distance, like a huge lantern dragon, which is extraordinarily spectacular. Today is the day of the Great Dynasty, there is no special reason, the officials above the five grades in Beijing have to enter the palace to worship, these people are the officials who came to the court, plus the accompanying guards and entourage, the royal street is busy before dawn, and there are a lot of people.

......The heavy city gate rubbed against the brick floor, slowly opened, and the lights in the city shone out.

People got out of the car and dismounted, tidied up their clothes, and strode towards Xuande Gate.

Hundreds of civil and military officials came to the main hall of the Jinxiang Hall one after another, standing on the hall according to the high and low order, waiting for the court.

But today, the throne of the dragon chair above has been empty for a long time, and after waiting for a long time, the sky outside the hall has been bright, the sun is about to come out, and there is still no movement on the throne. The eunuchs stood on both sides of the steps, and no one came up to explain or give advice.

Gradually, some people finally noticed the abnormality of today, many seats in the front row were vacant, and some important ministers did not go to court.

However, the Beijing officials were quite calm, and everyone noticed that the atmosphere was wrong, but no one was noisy, just stood there and waited. At some point, even if these people don't eat or drink, they may be able to withstand it for three days and three nights, and what they fight for is perseverance and endurance.

…… Of course, Guo Shao didn't sleep, he was no longer in the palace.

On the school field of the forbidden army barracks, the door of the camp was wide open, and Guo Shao, who was dressed in armor and wearing a high crown, walked in on a horse with a sword, on the left was Wang Pu, a privy envoy with gray sideburns and beard, and on the right was a red-faced Li Chuyun with a black and thick beard. Behind is a group of brightly armored inner sanctum straight cavalry.

There is a large area of iron helmets on the school field, and the swords, guns and flags are like woods.

Guo Shao rushed into the barracks, and when the soldiers saw him, they raised their swords and guns one after another, and immediately shouted. Guo Shao was inspired by the atmosphere, pulled out his sword from his waist, and pointed diagonally to the crowd to greet the soldiers.

The atmosphere was even more lively, with the crowd shouting: "Hurray! Hooray......"

The generals from all over rode over and knelt down on one knee in front of Guo Shao's horse to greet him.

"The generals are flat." Guo Shao's voice was loud and powerful, full of energy, showing people that his body was healthy and strong.

Everyone said: "The last general will wait to thank the emperor!" ”

Guo Shao kicked the horse and ran out, and the generals hurriedly got up and turned over the horse and chased after him. A herd of horses galloped along the front of the army, shouts and hooves of horses rushing like a torrent.

He reined in his war horse and said loudly: "The people of the country are in trouble, only I and the warriors of the Great Zhou are willing to fight to the end for the world!" ”

Dong Zunzhi's voice said loudly: "Bloody battle to the end!" ”

The army was in an uproar, all staring and shouting, and the barracks were even more lively than the downtown area.

Shi Yanchao jumped off the horse, hugged his fists and said straightly: "Just as the Liao people are entering the Kou, please be the forward!" ”

Seeing this, the generals expressed their attitudes one after another: "Your Majesty's sword is pointing out, even if it is a mountain of swords and a sea of fire, the last general will never frown......" "Your Majesty wants to use soldiers, and the ministers are ready to follow Your Majesty at any time." "The ministers are blessed with warm clothes and food by His Majesty, and they only serve the country by fighting to the death......" "I am willing to take the lead for Your Majesty and repay the emperor's kindness with my life......"

Guo Shao sat on the horse, feeling the attitude and breath of the army. Either way, he was at least sure he had the support of the military.

With the current system of the Great Zhou, the martial artists are quite supportive of war, and only with war can they rise and get rewards, and can be relied on, otherwise their right to speak and status will decline. There are also middle and low-level generals, everyone knows that people will die in war, but it is better to fight a big battle than to be in the army for ten years, and the low-level soldiers are old for ten years! Just like the battle of Gaoping in the previous dynasty, how many people started in the first war.

Only many civil officials may not be very supportive, they are different from military generals, it is not good for them to fight, to maintain the operation of the imperial court in all aspects, the consumption of resources is too large, the increase in taxes and forced labor, the levy of the people and the strong are not conducive to stable rule, which is not conducive to stable rule, is something they do not want to see.

The timing is also very appropriate, usually just through the military establishment of the country, the emperor personally led the army to win the world, in the army prestige and familiarity is relatively high, it is easier to personally mobilize the army to start a war. If the emperor of later generations cannot directly lead the troops, and the military power is divided in the hands of the ministers, it will not be so easy to start a war, and it will be a very complicated and troublesome matter.

Moreover, Guo Shao's powerful ministers such as Wang Pu, Wei Renpu, Wang Pu, Li Gu and other prime ministers, and even cabinet ministers who participated in politics, have all been rallied to him, and he must do something, and it is easy to get the support of his confidant ministers.

This is the situation in front of Guo Shao, he can mobilize the entire forbidden army with a single sentence, and his control is still very strong.

Guo Shao led his men and horses to inspect several forbidden army camps, and the morale and situation of the army were relatively good. After half a year of rest, the forbidden army basically regained its combat effectiveness.

At three o'clock in the sun, Guo Shaocai returned to the imperial city.

He first went to the east hall to discuss with more than 20 ministers, and Wei Renpu hung up the map to explain to the ministers and generals the strategy that the imperial court had come up with in advance. The proceedings continued until noon. As for the civil and military officials in the main hall, they were still standing there for a long time.

At noon, the emperor finally walked onto the dragon chair in a military uniform. Hundreds of officials in the main hall shouted long live.

Guo Shao asked the eunuch to issue an edict. The Liao army entered the Kou, and the people of Hebei were desperate and looked forward to Wang Shi, and the emperor decided to lead the forbidden army to the north to patrol the border; During the period of leaving Beijing, the West Hall (Fu Jinzhan Mansion) supervised the country, and the Privy Council and the Political Hall were in charge of state affairs.

The emperor issued a direct order, and the group of most powerful officials who were obviously absent this morning were all discussed, and no one from the following officials objected...... According to the pattern since the end of the Tang Dynasty, ordinary officials are powerless to object, because during this period for military purposes, the imperial court pattern is very centralized. This time is different from the last Northern Expedition, the result of the last time is completely unknown, but this time with experience and the situation is clearer, many people are not very optimistic about the recent Northern Expedition.

Now the start is relatively low-key, nominally not claiming that the Northern Expedition is a decisive battle with the Liao army, and it seems that the initial intention was to expel the Liao army from Yizhou.

However, this was the beginning of the war.

…… Fu Jinzhan went to the west hall and saw Guo Shao, who was wearing armor and a sword, waiting there on the stone steps of the back door. She looked up at him, as if she saw the figure of the guard.

She lifted the hem of her skirt lightly and walked up the stone steps. Spotless embroidered shoes, gently stepping on the old stone slabs, Fu Jinzhan's mood fluctuated a little.

Hearing the ministers' remarks, together with Fu Jinzhan also had little confidence in this war, because in just half a year, the strength of the Zhou army did not change much.

Some failures have serious consequences that cannot be easily afforded.

In a short section of stone steps, Fu Jinzhan seems to have gone through the ups and downs of these years, and how many times she has escaped from death has been accompanied by Brother Shao above. It was not easy for them to get to where they are today.

"Your Majesty." Fu Jinzhan's body was slightly short, and he took the lead in making a gift. Her voice was still so soothing and unwavering.

Guo Shao clenched his fists and said: "I am still a guard. ”

Fu Jinzhan raised her head, a shallow smile on her beautiful face.

Guo Shao said in a deep voice: "I know very well the feeling of parting from life and death, and everyone in the world has their own family, so it is unbearable for people to watch their loved ones being robbed and killed. After weighing it repeatedly, I decided to go on the expedition again, and the soldiers were willing to fight for the people of the world. ”

Fu Jinzhan smiled: "Your Majesty will be able to win, and you will never let me down." ”

Guo Shao was really relieved when he heard this, and hugged his fists and said: "This time, Empress Duanci only needs to wait for my good news in Tokyo!" ”

Fu Jinzhan nodded and said, "I will bathe and fast every day, pray for Your Majesty and the soldiers in front, and wait for the forbidden army to return to the court with victory as soon as possible." ”

She walked up, reached out to hold Guo Shao's sword hilt, pressed it gently, and heard a metal sound of "bell", and slowly pulled it out. The blade is new, bright as a mirror, and very sharp. The person who dares to hold the unsheathed sword in Guo Shao is probably only Fu Jinzhan . Guo Shao didn't move, he was like that, I'm afraid that even if Fu Jinzhan really wanted to stab him, he wouldn't hide.

Fu Jinzhan looked down with a calm smile, lowered his eyes to the hilt of the sword, and when he lowered his head, he revealed a trace of gentleness and shyness.

She very gently pulled out a piece of red silk embroidered with gold thread patterns from her sleeve, and Ruyu's hand slowly wrapped the red silk around the hilt of Guo Shao's sword, then tied it with a button, and put the sword back into Guo Shao's scabbard.

After Fu Jinzhan finished doing this, he looked up at him, his face crimson, very nervous.

There were also many palace people bent over behind her, and this was the first time she had done such an intimate thing in front of Guo Shao in public. Guo Shao silently looked at the bright red on the hilt of the sword, behind the quaint and heavy hall, it looked extremely beautiful.

This time, in the words of wishes, somehow, the breath is inexplicably a little tragic.