To the southeast of Fangcheng Mountain Pass, this is already the boundary of Tangzhou. The 160,000-strong army led by Guo Xu, Zhao Yuankang, and dozens of high-ranking generals of the Great Zhou Dynasty had already crossed the mountain pass in the afternoon and arrived at the last open land in Nanzhao County on the east side of Funiu Mountain. Ahead, under the brilliant autumn sun, the continuous Funiu Mountains seem to be right in front of you. But as the old saying goes, Wangshan runs a dead horse, in fact, it is still seventy miles away from Funiu Mountain.

On the gorgeous car, under the bright yellow umbrella, Guo Xu sat in the high chariot, looking left and right, seeing the flags waving, the war horses neighing, and the army led by him swarming like the sea, the momentum was like a wave, not only happy, laughing loudly.

"My Great Zhou soldiers are fierce and fierce, and the soldiers are full of food, which is what those thieves can imagine. Soon after, I will take down the heads of Lin Jue and Guo Bing's father and son, and teach the world to know that if I dare to go against me, I will go against the court. ”

Zhao Yuankang, who was riding a horse and following on the side, said with a smile: "What the emperor said is very true, they will arrive at the eastern mountain pass of Funiu Mountain early tomorrow morning, and their good days are numbered." The minister wondered if they had already fled. ”

Guo Xu sneered: "Escape? The whole world is my country, where can they flee to? I have ordered Junzhou, Xiangzhou, Fangzhou, Suizhou, Shangzhou, Shaanzhou and other states to assemble and surround Funiu Mountain. However, with my understanding of Lin Jue, this person will not shed tears when he sees the coffin, and he must have a fight to the death with me. I knew that he was pretended to be handsome, and thought that he was the number one general in the world, and disdained my leading talents. So, I know he won't run. You must be ready for battle. ”

Zhao Yuankang said with a smile: "If he thinks so, then he is not far from death." It didn't take half a day for our army to break through the bandit village of Luoyan Valley in Funiu Mountain, maybe from tomorrow, there will only be a group of lonely ghosts left in this Funiu Mountain. ”

Guo Xu laughed loudly, but suddenly shook his head and said: "Zhao Yuankang, although your words sound exciting, but you are suspicious of the enemy. I didn't dare to underestimate the enemy, but you did. You may not have dealt with this Lin Jue. This person is not simple, many people are just as dismissive of him as you are, but in the end it is yourself who suffers. Therefore, I advise you, don't underestimate the enemy. Lest you slap yourself in the face when the time comes, it won't be good. ”

Zhao Yuankang smiled embarrassedly and said yes again and again. For the new emperor, Zhao Yuankang was contemptuous and afraid. He has witnessed the viciousness and ruthlessness of this person, and after killing his father, brother, queen mother and others, he can still feel at ease like no one else, which shows that he is hard-hearted. After ascending the throne, Guo Xu specifically talked to him, and told Zhao Yuankang straight to the point that from now on, he, Zhao Yuankang, must be loyal to himself, and he must not have an eye for Lu Zhongtian again. All kinds of things have been wiped out before, if he Zhao Yuankang still wants to be Lu Zhongtian and be his eyes and ears, then what awaits him will be the disaster of raiding his family and destroying his family.

Guo Xu's straightforwardness made Zhao Yuankang frightened. Zhao Yuankang knew that it was because Guo Xu knew that he was Lu Xiang's person, and he refused to leave a person from Lu Xiang in the important position of the front secretary of the palace beside him. It was an open and honest conversation, and it was also a rebellion of grace and power. Zhao Yuankang didn't dare to disobey, he could only follow Guo Xu's thoughts, and in turn become Guo Xu's eyes and ears, and listen to the secret of reporting to Lu Zhongtian. Guo Xu did not break his promise, promising that he would appoint him as a privy envoy soon after, and immediately made him a privy deputy envoy.

To put it bluntly, this successful rebellion is still an integration of interests. I'm afraid that even Lu Zhongtian himself didn't expect that Guo Xu would risk offending and angering himself to have a showdown with Zhao Yuankang directly. Lu Zhongtian is a veteran politician, and the methods he is used to using are never so direct, and he will not use other people's people, because he feels that such people are unreliable. And Guo Xu didn't care about any of this.

Zhao Yuankang is not blindly patting on the back, listening to what Guo Xu said solemnly at this moment, he also knows that bragging is bragging, and things can't be messed up. Otherwise, he will carry this big black cauldron, and he will die without a place to be buried. So, he quickly understood what he had to do.

"The minister asked the emperor to make it clear what to do next. The emperor gives some advice, so that the ministers can do things according to the rules and do it wholeheartedly. Zhao Yuankang said.

Guo Xu nodded, he was very satisfied with Zhao Yuankang's attitude, he didn't like self-righteous people the most, because he himself was that kind of person, so there was some rejection of the same kind.

"When I came, I had already thought about it on the road, I was going to feint to attack the Dongshan Gorge, and send another cavalry to attack the Shiren Mountain on the southeast side of Funiu Mountain. Lin Jue thought that I would attack the Dongshan Gorge with all my might, but I told him that I would also use soldiers. This is called striking the east. As long as you capture the Shiren Mountain Pass, you can attack the inner organs of Funiu Mountain from south to north. Lin Jue and the others were clumsy, and they were embarrassed. At that time, we will change our feint attack to a strong attack at Dongshan Pass, break through its defense line in one fell swoop, and approach Luoyan Valley. This hand is called the Void and the Truth. Zhao Yuankang, do you understand? ”

Zhao Yuankang laughed and said: "The emperor's clever plan is simply Zhuge in the world. That Lin Jue thought that we would attack Dongshan Pass to the death, but he didn't expect the emperor to give him this hand. Well, the sound of the east and the west, the virtual is real, the emperor has read a lot of the art of war, and the five bodies that he admires are thrown to the ground. ”

Guo Xu laughed and said: "You also read more about the art of war, in the future, I will still pacify the north, and there will be a time for you to make meritorious contributions." Before coming, Lu Xiang was still worried, and asked me to be careful when fighting Lin Jue, so as not to fall for him. said that Lin Jue was scheming and extremely clever, and the implication was that I was not his opponent. I don't say anything to my face, I don't like to talk big, let me answer him with facts. Zhao Yuankang, without further ado, I think you should choose a soldier and horse to go south, who do you think is suitable? ”

Zhao Yuankang straightened his chest and said: "If the emperor can trust the minister, the minister is willing to lead 10,000 soldiers and horses to establish miraculous achievements." ”

Guo Xu laughed and said: "You are not humble at all, this matter is clearly a great credit, you don't think about others, you want to go." That's it, I'm right, I'm not at ease when others go. You immediately reorganize your army, lead 10,000 cavalry to the south immediately, and tomorrow morning, when you launch a feint attack on the North Mountain Pass, you will launch a surprise attack, and you must break through the Shiren Pass. I will give you the credit for the ugly words in the front, but if you do not act effectively, then you will also have to bear the blame, and then it is no wonder that I will be strict with you and unsympathetic. ”

"The emperor can rest assured, if the minister can't take the Shiren Pass, the minister will die on the battlefield, and he is willing to suffer the disaster of ten thousand arrows piercing his heart." Zhao Yuankang raised his hand and swore a poisonous oath to the sky.

……

As the sun sets, the mountains and fields under the autumn sun look particularly magnificent. Where the mountain peaks are continuous, the autumn leaves on the slopes are golden and fiery red, and the pieces are like a carpet paved with brocade, which is extremely gorgeous.

This is Bowang Town, located in the southeast of Funiu Mountain, an ancient town in the northeast of Nanyang County, which is under the jurisdiction of Dengzhou. It is only 30 miles away from Funiu Mountain here, and the remaining veins of Funiu Mountain stretch here, and the terrain is undulating and very dangerous. The official road that passes through the town of Bowang passes between the Yumai hills of Funiu Mountain and the hidden mountains in the southeast, and the slopes on both sides are densely packed with lush forests.

Yes, this is where the famous battle 'Burning Bowang' during the Three Kingdoms War took place. If someone is familiar with history, he should know the danger of the terrain in which Bowang is located. Since ancient times, there has been a saying of 'Xianghan Narrow Road', which is a place where soldiers must fight.

Of course, from the end of the Han Dynasty to the present, hundreds of years of ups and downs have passed, and after the Sui and Tang dynasties and the Great Zhou Dynasty, it is different from the past. Today's Bowangpo has long been connected by official roads. The trail is trimmed and can be used by horses and carts. It's much more convenient and smooth than it was back then. However, what remains unchanged is that the terrain is still precarious.

The iron horse shook, and the smoke and dust obscured the light of the setting sun. Zhao Yuankang arrived at the Bowangpo Pass at this sunset.

In fact, there is more than one entrance road to Shiren Mountain on the south side of Funiu Mountain, out of the pass of Bowangpo, and there is another official road in the left of Funiu Mountain nearly ten miles, which is a more flat official road. However, Zhao Yuankang did not want to expose the whereabouts of the army, because the closer he got to Funiu Mountain, the easier it was for the other party to detect the army's movements. If you stand on the mountain peak on the east side of Funiu Mountain, even if a large force of cavalry runs ten miles away, the smoke and dust it stirs up will be immediately discovered.

In order to ensure the success of the entire plan, Zhao Yuankang certainly didn't want the other party to notice it. Therefore, it is best to walk through the Bowangpo Pass. Thirty miles away, that's out of sight, so there's no need to worry.

The men and horses galloped wildly for an hour, and when they arrived here they were rather sleepy and thirsty. As the sun sets, it will soon get dark. After the Bowang Pass, you will be able to turn west, and before dark, you will arrive at the entrance of the Shiren Mountain peak on the south side of Funiu Mountain. Zhao Yuankang accepted the suggestion of his subordinates and made one last rest and replenishment here. Both men and horses had to drink and eat, for it was the last meal before the battle began. After dark, the men and horses had to sneak to the left of the pass to lay an ambush, and there was no chance to feed the horses dry food.

The 10,000 cavalry stopped in the meadow below the pass of Bowangpo and began to rest. Zhao Yuankang nibbled on dry food and looked at the top of the peaks on both sides, not to enjoy the gorgeous scenery of autumn leaves, but to see the movement on the top of the mountain. On the top of the hill here, there should be a beacon set up by local soldiers. If there is an enemy, a beacon will be used as a warning. Now it seems that there is no movement at the top of the mountain, and everything is going smoothly according to plan.

After a stick of incense, Zhao Yuankang drank the last drop of water in the kettle, flushed the dry food residue in his mouth into his mouth, turned over on his horse, and ordered in a loud voice: "Get on the horse and go." ”

The cavalry mounted their horses one after another, straightened their formation, and the long procession began to move along the official road towards the top of the Bowangpo Pass. The ramp is not steep, and when the official road was opened, the height of the slope was obviously lowered to facilitate the passage of cars. The gravel floor is also level. Although the warhorse cannot gallop quickly uphill, it can also trot up the hill. The width of the ramp pass is not narrow, and there is no problem at all with seventy or eighty riding in parallel. Therefore, in just half an hour, more than 3,000 cavalry had already passed the pass.