The wind rises in the imperial city, and the yellow flag on the upper floor of Beiyuan City sways in the wind.

Fu Jinzhan slowly walked up the stone steps, and a group of palace maids and eunuchs behind him bowed down to follow. The wind blew her dress against her body, her hair was also blown up, and a few strands of green silk floated in the wind and floated on Ruyu's face, adding a bit of poignancy to her beautiful face.

She walked up, and her eyes saw a man in military uniform standing there alone in the Beiyuan grassland, he was Guo Shao, the emperor of the Great Zhou.

Guo Shao's backslope was facing the city tower, and the direction was very incorrect. Fu Jinzhan raised his face, felt the direction of the wind in the air, and guessed that Guo Shao was following the wind for the accuracy of archery.

There he shoots an arrow, the action is monotonous and repetitive, he pulls out an arrow and puts it on the bowstring, spreads his arms, aims at the target in front of him, aims and stays for a while, and then releases the arrow. Then draw the arrow again, and so on and so forth, without any pauses or surprises.

"Smack!" Every now and then there is a dull sound of strings. After a while, there was another "pop".

The bowstring seemed to vibrate in Fu Marigold's heart, and somehow, she felt a faint pain in her heart when she saw this scene.

The eunuch Cao Tai said carefully: "Your Majesty met the minister in the morning, watched the recital for an hour, and shot arrows here until now. ”

Fu Jinzhan straightened his neck and looked down at the pasture, without saying a word.

Guo Shao has become the emperor, and there are many, many people around him, but Fu Jinzhan thinks that no one really understands him except himself, because people are different in height, and they will see different things.

After a long time, Guo Shao finally turned around and found Fu Jinzhan's yellow clothes. He stood there looking up, and Fu Jinzhan looked at him as well. The two of them were separated by a long distance, the wind was whistling in the middle, and one looked at each other as if they had passed away, as if they had passed through a thousand years of time.

Cao Tai said: "This morning, Prime Minister Fan Zhen wrote a letter to discuss peace, and he was dismissed by His Majesty on the spot......

Fu Jinzhan finally spoke: "Your Majesty is still a person who can tolerate compromise, as long as there is benefit, you can negotiate peace with anyone, but you can't negotiate peace with Liao. ”

Cao Tai hurriedly said: "Yes, the slave and maid look at Fan Qian, this person seems to be loyal, but in fact, he is a person who sells his reputation and reputation!" ”

Fu Jinzhan stood for a long time, didn't intend to persuade anything, turned around and left the city tower.

…… The more things a person has, the greater the responsibility, the less courage, and the more he walks on thin ice.

Guo Shao fully understood the seriousness of the matter, and he didn't make a decision for a long time. But there is an unbearable unwillingness to block his chest, which makes him unwilling to give up.

Occasionally looking back, I may be a little prejudiced against Fan Qian, which is why I am so dissatisfied with him. At the beginning of the year, the Northern Expedition was a shallow stop, but it was not easy to try out the Northern Expedition, otherwise the result would not be a hasty retreat.

Fan's suggestion is a bit harsh, but it is not a path, and perhaps it seems to them to be a very pragmatic approach. In the current situation in the world, it is not difficult to unify at least most regions and establish a unified dynasty, and the general trend is inevitable; Sticking to the territory that has been gained and governing it well is beneficial to the emperor himself and the ministers and nobles who have received a lot of resources, at least it is okay to share the glory and wealth...... Historically, the Central Plains found it difficult to defeat the Liao State, and they did the same.

But Guo Shao was unwilling, and even more uneasy.

After practicing arrows for most of the day, he already felt a sore back and a weak arm, so he took his things and left Beiyuan. In fact, this kind of practice was practiced every day seven or eight years ago, and it has been a bit lacking in the last two years.

Back in the Hall of Grace, Guo Shao did not call any concubines to sleep, and Yulian took care of his life.

When Yulian saw Guo Shao, she said: "That day, Mrs. Dong (Gao) came to visit me, and I know that she and His Majesty have had the righteousness of Jinlan, but they are not familiar with me......

She glanced at Guo Shao, paused and said, "Mrs. Dong loves the golden lock (princess) very much, and gave her a pair of gold bracelets inlaid with gems, which should be very expensive." ”

Women are really sensitive to some things. Guo Shao pretended not to understand, and said, "If you send something, just accept it." ”

"Hmm." Yulian Road.

Guo Shao sat down on the Jin Nan chair in front of the bookcase, reached out and touched his forehead, thinking of the Gao family, he also wondered if her wife of that status had never run away and been arrested by the Khitans...... But it is also conceivable that the Khitan raid and captivity and plundering the population are very serious!

The Central Plains Dynasty seemed to them to be pastures, and they swaggered to get them when they had no money or food. Not only barbarously plundered resources, but also robbed women for their sexual pleasure, just like their brothels! The question is, on what ground?!

Guo Shao's face grew cold, and a sense of humiliation and anger surged back into his heart. The law of the jungle eats the strong, and the only way to fight in this world is to find a way to fight.

The more he thought about it, the more unconvinced he became, and because of this, his anger gradually subsided. Guo Shao understands that although he has always claimed benevolence and righteousness, for the sake of internal cohesion, what really wins is not benevolence and righteousness, but the more rational and cold-blooded he is, the easier it is to judge accurately.

He opened the file on the table and began to see the strategies of Wang Pu, Wei Renpu, Cao Bin and others.

After looking at it for a while, he picked up the brush and wrote and drew on the paper, drawing his own ideas, which were all circles and squares, analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of both sides, summing up lessons and lessons, and also deducing the strategies put forward by the ministers.

…… Guo Shao's life has become very regular, he is hardly close to women, let alone Fu Marigold. In the morning, I will meet with the central ministers as usual, and then pick some pieces to read. Then I went to Beiyuan to run, practice archery, and ride horses until I was sweating profusely and exhausted.

The situation in Hebei is urgent, like fire and water, and the ministers have all kinds of remarks. But Guo Shao ignored it.

Instead of becoming irritable and irritable, he was calmer and more patient than usual, and had a very good temper, and never rebuked the minister again. Only with a calm mind can we rationally examine risks and various factors!

August 29, the eve of the day of the Great Pilgrimage.

Guo Shao changed his very regular whereabouts for many days and went to the Sanqing Palace. He sat in the temple for a while, not wanting to see Qingxu, who was too stupid, so he went straight to see the concubine Zhang.

The Zhang family seemed to have learned that Guo Shao had come to the Sanqing Palace, and had already dressed up and sat in the monotonous hall and waited. When she saw Guo Shao, she was still a little flustered, and she was busy coming up to greet her.

Guo Shao was very casual, and even wore an old robe that had been worn for several years, not even a decorative jade pendant, if it weren't for the silk robe, he would be a bit like a Taoist priest. People are changing, Guo Shao still likes gold in the past, probably because he thinks that it will retain its value even after a thousand years; But then he lost interest in all these things, because to the highest position where there was no way back, those things lost their meaning.

Guo Shao didn't sit next to the chess table in front of the window, but when he saw a scripture on a bookcase, he pointed it and asked, "Can I read it?" ”

Zhang Shi hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, please feel free." I usually have nothing to do, and I copy the Taoist scriptures. ”

Guo Shao looked through it very carefully and looked at it for a long time. Zhang also gradually adapted from the initial nervous state, made tea, and sat down opposite Guo Shao.

A young woman who can devote herself to copying scriptures every day must have a good heart...... Although it was forced.

Guo Shao looked at it for a while, then raised his head and said, "Taoism seems to pay attention to no desire and no desire, and Taoism is natural. ”

Zhang smiled: "Exactly. ”

Guo Shao relaxed and asked casually, "Can copying scriptures work?" ”

Zhang glanced at him and shook his head slightly. Guo Shao saw that although she was wearing a Taoist robe, her lips were carefully smeared with shallow rouge, although it was deliberately very light, but she could still see her modification on a closer look.

She said softly, "Thank you Your Majesty for allowing me to go to the banquet last time. ”

Guo Shao said: "That kind of banquet is actually not very interesting. ”

Zhang said: "It's much more interesting than copying scriptures." It is really difficult for people to be free of desires and desires. ”

Guo Shao pondered for a moment and said: "Today I just want to come to the Sanqing Palace to be quiet, and I will come to disturb the concubine Taigui temporarily...... Then it occurred to me that this could be a nuisance imposed on you. ”

Zhang shook his head without hesitation and blurted out, "Actually...... Waiting for His Majesty to come here has also given me a little hope for my days......" she said here, blushing, and slowly continued, "Although the time is always long, long, and I understand that there is no result, it is too sad to be like this day after day. ”

Guo Shao looked at her, the pressure of many days made him unrestrained in his words and deeds at this time, he owed his body, brought his upper body closer, and whispered: "People's desires can be realized, if you give up, the degree of thirst is not enough." ”

Zhang looked at him in surprise, speechless.

Guo Shao originally wanted to calm down in the Taoist temple for a while, but at this time, the crazy ambition in his eyes was revealed, and he became more and more difficult to help himself.

In his heart, he originally felt that in ancient times, he had reached the point of mastering the country, he could do whatever he wanted, and the world would be turned upside down, but he couldn't even get back a Youzhou, and he would be coerced and harassed by the Liao army at every turn, which was unacceptable to him! He shouldn't be constrained by the rules here.