Wang Pu is really sick. At the beginning, Guo Shao thought that Zhang Yongde was pretending to be sick, but Wang Pu didn't need to pretend.

"Ahem, ahem." Wang Pu coughed for a while when he let a maid help him up, sat up with a cloth pillow behind his back, and said with a sick face, "It's really ...... to meet like this." ...... faux pas"

Guo Shao had just arrived at his house and saw Wang Pu in his bedroom. The room was very warm, but out of nowhere there was a strong smell of Chinese medicine, which was very pungent. People in high positions are sick and have special people to serve, and there are often people who want to visit the sick, and the situation is not bad. Wang Pu seems to be in his early fifties, just in the prime of life, but his body is indeed weaker, and he looks thinner after getting sick.

Guo Shao hurriedly stepped forward to support him and said, "The king is in poor health, what do you still care about the vulgar etiquette?" I asked the Queen Mother for a decree and invited a few imperial doctors from Taichang Temple (Taichang Temple Shaoqing is Zuoyou) to come and take a look at you. ”

Although Wang Pu was bedridden, his face was not bloody, and his sick appearance was obvious, but he was not serious enough to become delirious. He said, "Thank you General Guo for your kindness. ”

Guo Shao said: "It won't be long before I will lead my troops out of Beijing, and I can't come to visit Wang Envoy Jun for a while." ”

At this time, Wang Pu suddenly sighed and said slowly: "The old man has become a privy envoy from a small official, and he has no regrets about his ancestors. But when the sky is not off, we can't see the unification of the world, the return of Youzhou, and the general situation that has affected hundreds of years...... I really feel a little sorry in my heart. If General Guo thinks of the old man by chance, he pours a glass of wine on the ground and calls the old man to tell him. ”

After listening to this, Guo Shao suddenly remembered a poem: Wang Shi set the Central Plains Day in the north, and the family sacrifice did not forget to tell Nai Weng.

He hurriedly said: "I heard that the king envoy is only infected with the wind and cold, you just need to recuperate with peace of mind, and you will be cured in a few days." ”

Wang Puwei spoke.

Guo Shao said: "The recent strategic level is in accordance with the deployment of Wang Zhijun, Xiang Gong rests in Guzhen, and after the weather is warm, the Great Zhou army attacks Shu from both sides of the North Road and the East Road. ”

Wang Pu nodded: "In this way, it is better than just staring at Hanzhong." ”

Guo Shao only felt that his heart was shrouded in inexplicable sadness...... A very faint and lingering emotion. It's not sadness, although he admires Wang Pu's talent, but the friendship is really not deep, to say how sad and heartbroken he is worried about his illness can only be a joke; Of course, it is impossible to gloat, Wang Pu and others can be regarded as his allies and very capable allies. So my heart is a little sour, and it seems that this feeling is called sadness.

Guo Shao said a few more words to him, and then instructed him to rest more and recuperate with peace of mind, and leave a bunch of good medicinal materials such as ginseng he brought, and not much left.

…… When returning home, Guo Shao passed by a relatively large restaurant and ordered a few good dishes to be delivered to the house.

It was rare for him to take the initiative to get close to the little Taoist priest, and when she felt that today's food was not bad. Guo Shao asked, "Can your master, Daoist Chen Shu, cure the wind and cold?" It's not an ordinary cold, it may have caused other diseases, and many Lang Zhong have not been cured......"

Qingxu frowned: "I was wondering just now, as expected, this is called nothing to be courteous or a thief!"

Guo Shao was stunned and said: "You can't say it so ugly, you just say that I will admit it temporarily." But there's nothing wrong with that, I have a request for you, don't I be nice to you, but yell at you? ”

Qingxu said earnestly: "Master Guo, you have to figure it out. Master and I are both Taoist priests, not Langzhong, if we can heal diseases, why should we be Taoist priests and change careers? ”

Her single eyelid is delicate and has a childish face, but her tone is like this, Guo Shao feels inexplicably funny. But he was in no mood to joke with her, so he immediately said: "The Queen Mother's previous serious illness was not cured by Chen Shu's elixir and your cultivation method?" ”

Qingxu said: "That's a blind cat encountering a dead mouse, just the right symptom, it's not that we have medical skills." The pill and the method of the inner pill were originally used by Taoists to drive away the fire, and the queen mother happened to be because of the fire poison invasion of the body, so she tried it unexpectedly. Now what incurable diseases are called for us to treat, how do I know how to treat them? ”

"Wind cold is cold poison, there is no elixir to ward off cold poison?" Guo Shao asked.

Qingxu said with an unhappy face: "I can't make it clear to the layman!" My master is now in Huashan, and if you don't believe what I said, send someone to ask him yourself. ”

Guo Shao was helpless...... In this world, it is possible to die if you really have a cold and fever, maybe Wang Pu has a cold that caused symptoms such as pneumonia, but he doesn't understand, after all, he is not a doctor. He still didn't want to see Wang Pu die of illness like this, so after thinking about it, he wrote a letter according to what Qingxu said, and planned to send someone to Huashan to find Chen Tuan.

……

As soon as the first lunar month passes, the festive atmosphere is gone, and there is a busy scene everywhere. In the suburbs, you can see people driving oxen to plow the fields, carrying fertilizer and water, and wearing straw hats and bending over to work. The officials of the various yamen were most concerned about agricultural affairs this season, but the military establishment in Tokyo was still stepping up preparations for war, completely ignoring the agricultural work.

The guards who reinforced the Northern Route Army had begun to be transferred out of Beijing one after another; The Eastern Route Army, which is mainly in charge of the front division of the palace, will not move for more than a month...... Because Shu is already on guard against the North Road, there is no need to conceal it, but the truth of Shu's use of troops on the East Road should still be in speculation.

Ten spacious and suitable houses have been requisitioned in the outer city of Tokyo to renovate the armor workshops, and there are two or three workshop organizations in one house; These include forging iron plates, stamping hammers, and some craftsmen who hand-forge corners and assemble armor with rivets. The division of labor and cooperation in each armor-making process can make about a set of four pieces of armor in a day with an average set of forging hammers, which is twenty or thirty times faster than the all-manual fine work of chain mail iron cloth shirts. Of course, the armor protection of only four pieces of armor is very incomplete, and it cannot be compared with the lock change.

Guo Shao expects to be able to make 800 to 900 sets of streamlined armor by the end of February.

He wasn't happy with the speed, but he couldn't do anything about it for the time being. First of all, the supply of raw materials is slow, and then there is a shortage of funds and manpower, and the place is not large; The houses in Tokyo are privately owned, and forced expropriation can easily provoke conflicts, and even the land occupied by the workshop costs money.

…… The local town soldiers and guards under the command of Xiang Gong were less armoured, and the elite soldiers in front of the palace were more well-equipped. Guo Shao transferred the first batch of 300 pairs of armor to the guards who reinforced Xiang Gong.

By the end of February, more than 500 pairs of plate armor had been completed.

Guo Shao directly equipped the first commander of the first army in the left wing of the Huben Army, and this command itself was a heavy infantry man deployed in front of the battle array, and he was all dressed in ring lock armor before. Now it was supplemented by five hundred pairs of plate armor again, and it really became the command of a well-equipped and highly defended heavy infantry; Soldiers wear chain mail and skirt armor on moving parts, and wear head, shoulder, chest, and arm plate armor on the outside...... Guo Shao gave it a try, and he was basically completely immune to bow and crossbow range, and it was difficult for melee weapons to cause effective damage to them except for hammer blunt weapons.

Before setting out for the battle, the soldiers of the Tiger Ben Army created some iron masks to improve their facial defense, so that the soldiers under this command persistently pursued defense.

When Guo Shao inspected the army and set out to fight, even he was shocked by the lineup of the first commander.

In the barracks, I saw more than 500 people covered in iron, and the brand-new plate armor glowed with the cold light unique to metal, and it looked like a group of mecha from a distance. Except for the fingers that emerged from the sackcloth gloves, there was hardly a place on the soldier's body that was exposed. There is an iron helmet on it, and even the face is iron, only the eye sockets are exposed, and at first glance it is impossible to distinguish between people; There are many erect gaps in the mouth and nose for breathing, and it looks like a skeleton's exposed teeth, which is extra terrifying.

This is probably the ultimate infantry equipment in the era of cold weapons, and unlike the world's concept of focusing on mobility and lightness, Guo Shao feels that his path seems to be beginning to deviate from the mainstream.

…… Guo Shao still sent Fu Ermei to the palace, and Li Yuan'er to Li's house. After making proper preparations, he led more than 16,000 people in the left wing of the Tiger Ben Army, more than 21,000 people in the Crane Horse Army, and Crane Bow and Arrow, and left Tokyo at the end of February and headed south. The weather has warmed up completely, there is greenery everywhere, and the flowers are blooming, making it a good time to come alive.

After the new formation of the Tiger Army, there were also big battles in the right wing. But Guo Shao did not want to train troops this time, but wanted to try his best to make a quick decision in the Shu War, so he still chose the left wing of the Tiger Ben Army, which had been proven by actual combat, as the main force of the Eastern Route Army.

Guo Shao led his army to Xiangzhou (now Xiangfan City) first, and Tokyo used to be unhindered and the roads were very smooth. At this time, there was no secrecy about the movements of the Zhou Dynasty's army...... On the endless plains, several large roads running parallel to the fields were full of troops. Far and near there were many people looking out over the fields, looking at this grand scene; In this kind of place with a good line of sight, the marching scene is very conspicuous.

On the way, except for the escort army on duty, most of the people and horses were not so neat and coercive, because everyone went out to march and camp with a lot of things. People led mules and horses on their backs, and behind the army there were many men pushing wheelbarrows and driving donkey carts; If it weren't for the orderly procession and the flags everywhere, it would have looked more like a large group of people fleeing the famine in a dense manner.

Guo Shao's Chinese army also had a passenger carriage...... It is one thing for everyone to ride a horse rather than a car, and it is one thing to have flat terrain on the plains, but the roads in the wild are not even at all, and riding in a carriage is a kind of torture. But there was a woman in the carriage.

Aunt Sun, a half-aged in her forties, also has no appearance. With such a woman in the army, the soldiers obviously would not think that the main general would take the woman to relieve boredom on the journey; Otherwise, at least bring a younger one.

However, Jing Niang, who wears leather armor and rides a horse, is more suitable for relieving boredom. Guo Shao specially customized a pair of cuirass for him, and two semicircular silhouettes were stamped on the breastplate, originally thinking that she would be more comfortable to wear in this way; Unexpectedly, he didn't get thanked for his kindness, and Guo Shao was also scolded. Of course, Jing Niang didn't wear that plate armor either.