Chapter 121: The Storm Rises Again

The imperial capital of the Han Dynasty, Luojing City, in the imperial palace, on the bank of the Yushui River.

As autumn turns to winter, the weather is getting colder and colder, and there are gradually snowflakes drifting and dotting the sky.

Time flies, like a surging water, without returning, but in the blink of an eye, many days have passed.

The early morning wind is a little cool, blowing on the face, making people subconsciously frown.

The emperor sat in the pavilion in the garden in a sable fur jacket, watching the water of the Imperial River flowing rapidly with the wind, and suddenly there were many emotions in his heart: After a while, it should be frozen here, and at that time, although the river is stagnant on the water, but secretly the fierce tide is surging, chiseling ice to make holes, probing into it, there will be a cold coldness, hitting the whole body, and you will also experience that there is a river rushing, indomitable, intoxicating.

That's why he loves winter!

In the snowy season, in the days covered in silver, there is always an unsubdued ambition that is not dormant in the dark, jumping wildly, intending to melt this frozen splendid country!

It's just that the vicissitudes of time, time flies, can I see a few more winters, and a few more times to see the frozen river?

His eyes flashed, he looked up at the sky, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart, life is short, decades of cold and summer have passed in a hurry, but the desire to set foot in the world back then is still so far away, and even gradually distant, difficult to touch.

He shook his head and sighed that the country is too heavy, the time is too short, and he can't live for a thousand more years.

Stand on the top of the world, be worshiped by all people, and be the emperor of all ages!

The cold wind blew on his face, but he couldn't dissipate the frenzy in his heart.

It was an ambition that had been dormant for many years, and now there is hope for it to be realized?

Just when the emperor withdrew his gaze and calmed down, there was a sudden sound of hurried footsteps from the door of the pavilion, and then he heard Gonggong Shun trotting all the way over and saluting:

"Qi plays Your Majesty, the king outside the door asks General Zuo to see you."

The Emperor nodded and replied:

"Let him in."

Father-in-law Shun hurriedly kowtowed, and then got up and walked out, his steps were not so steady, although he was trying to stabilize his body, he could still see some faltering.

People will grow old after all.

His eyes flashed, he shook his head, and no longer looked at him, but turned away and looked back at the calm flowing surface of the Yushui River outside the pavilion.

A moment later, behind the Emperor, the king strode towards Zuo, and before he could get closer, he was heard on his knees, and shouted:

"Long live the king's greetings! Long live my emperor, long live, long live! ”

Hearing this, the emperor frowned, and he lost his mind in a trance, the daily title in the past was just a slogan, how many people really want him to live for ten thousand years?

At this moment, in his mind, he suddenly thought of Liu Xiu, who was thousands of miles away and stationed in Pingyan, and his heart suddenly sank.

Even my dearest son probably doesn't want to live that long!

He clenched his fists, as if he had grasped the power, not allowing it to leak in the slightest, the emperor of a country, only by holding the supreme power, can he live well, as for the family affection in the world, in the face of power, it is all vain.

Thinking of this, he sighed, calmed down, turned around, looked at Wang Xiangzuo, who was still kneeling on the ground, and said lightly:

"It's cold and cold, don't be so polite, come here early in the morning, what are you looking for?"

Wang Xiangzuo shouted yes, then stood up, took a few steps forward, stood behind the emperor, and arched his hand:

"Your Majesty, the minister came this time, and he really has something important to report."

The emperor raised his eyebrows and said in surprise:

"Oh? You said. ”

After hearing this, Wang Xiangzuo said respectfully:

"Back to Your Majesty, the minister got the news last night, saying that the border city of Shu Jingyun, for some reason, suddenly increased the army by 100,000, and now Shu has more than 400,000 troops in the border cities, and its soldiers are facing me, cutting my heart, passers-by can know."

The emperor frowned, and after thinking for a moment, he shook his head and smiled:

"If Shu has 100,000 horses in the border city, I may still have concerns, but 400,000, hehe"

After Wang Xiangzuo laughed twice, he rubbed his hands, rolled his eyes, and said with a smile:

"What His Majesty said is extremely true, now that the power of Shu is competing for imperial power, and the two armies in the border city also belong to each other, this increase in troops may also be a move by the two to contain each other, and it is not known, but having said that, the minister thinks that the empire cannot just watch from the wall, but also make countermeasures, so as not to make a sudden attack on the thieves of Shu, and the empire cannot cope with it, which will damage the national prestige."

After hearing this, the emperor thought for a moment, shook his head and said:

"If you want to deal with the 400,000 soldiers and horses of Shu, the empire also needs to increase the number of troops on the border by 100,000, but the empire is defeated after Jingyun"

His eyes flashed, he looked at Wang Xiangzuo, and said with a wry smile:

"If the whole country uses the strength of the whole country to resist the Shu army in the west, once the Yan State goes south to defend it, my good son Liu Xiu will have no soldiers available, and the situation he has worked so hard to open up will also come to naught, and it will also make the empire suffer from the enemy."

After speaking, the emperor stepped forward, pointed in the direction outside the palace gate, and said coldly:

"You know what? Right there, how many people are waiting for me to make a decision, and then secretly transmit the news to the enemy palace in a place where they think others don't know, hmph, if I give an order to increase troops on the border now, within half an hour, that place will be in chaos, and then Shu, Yan, and even Wei and Leave will get my orders and react. ”

He paused, withdrew his gaze, looked at Wang Xiangzuo again, and said:

"At that time, when the army reaches the border of Han and Shu, who do you think will be the first to move?"

Wang Xiangzuo's body was shocked, and he frowned and pondered for a long time before he replied carefully:

"Is it Murong Dan, the new emperor of the Yan Kingdom?"

After hearing this, the emperor suddenly sneered, reached out and patted Wang Xiangzuo's shoulder, and said:

"Oh? Why did Yan Guo move first? Let's hear it. ”

Wang Xiangzuo was rarely patted on the shoulder by the emperor to show his intimacy, and his heart was cold, but his face pretended to be panicked, and he hurriedly bowed and saluted, and replied:

"The minister believes that the border increase of Shu is not arbitrary, but aimed at His Royal Highness Liu Xiu, the eastern defender"

Seeing him pause suddenly, the emperor raised his eyebrows and said:

"You go on."

Wang Xiangzuo listened to the order, lowered his head and continued, saying:

"Now His Royal Highness has actually controlled the defense of the country, and now it can be called a large number of soldiers, and the autumn harvest grain and grass are sufficient, and there is the strength of the Northern Expedition, Murong Dan of Yan State has recently ascended the throne as the emperor, but he is familiar with the art of the emperor, for the stability of his country, I am afraid that he has already secretly colluded with Shu State, and the minister thinks that this increase in troops in Shu State is to contain our country's troops, so that Yan State has the opportunity to go south."

"Wang Xiangzuo!"

The emperor suddenly lowered his face, turned his head, and shouted to Wang Xiangzuo, Wang Xiangzuo was startled, seeing that the emperor was suddenly angry, there seemed to be a coldness in his voice, his heart was shocked, his whole body was cold, as if even his heartbeat was frozen, and he came back to his senses after a while, and hurriedly knelt on the ground, and replied:

"Your Majesty, the minister is here."

The emperor sneered, looked down at Wang Xiangzuo with a cold face, and said:

"That's what you really think? Do you think it will be Beiyan who will be the first to move troops? ”

Wang Xiangzuo lowered his head and felt the emperor's cold gaze, even in the cold wind, he still felt cold sweat running down his body.

He bowed his head to the ground and replied:

"The minister is ignorant, and he has not participated in the military for a long time, so he can only see this, and hope that His Majesty will calm his anger"

After hearing this, the emperor snorted coldly, sat down beside him, looked at him, and said lightly:

"I haven't known military affairs for a long time, hehe, my dignified imperial hussar general Wang Xiangzuo actually told me that he didn't know military affairs for a long time, if this word reaches the ears of people all over the world, won't people laugh off their big teeth and scold me for not being able to use people! Let a person who doesn't understand anything, a corpse vegetarian meal for decades? ”

Wang Xiangzuo felt cold sweat covering his forehead in an instant, but he didn't dare to wipe it, allowing the beads of sweat to gather and drip down, and then dissipate in the cold wind and disappear into the dust on the bluestone slab.

He calmed down, and after a while, he strengthened his spirits and said in a dumb voice:

"Your Majesty, the corpse of the minister has been a vegetarian meal for a long time, and the crime deserves death, the minister"

When the emperor heard this, he waved his hand impatiently, frowned, and said:

"You don't deserve to die! But it's not a corpse vegetarian meal, on the contrary, your Lord Wang is in Luojing City, but you can be active and ruthless, how can you have a corpse vegetarian meal! ”

He paused, leaned back, raised his head slightly, looked at the starry snowflakes on the east side of the pavilion, his eyes narrowed, and continued:

"I, I'll ask you again, if I increase my troops on the border of Han and Shu, who do you think Wang Xiangzuo will be the first to move?"

Wang Xiangzuo's face became more and more pale, and the thoughts in his mind turned sharply, and after a while, he gritted his teeth and kowtowed:

"The minister thinks that His Royal Highness will take the lead in sending troops to the northern expedition to Yanguo."

The emperor was not surprised when he heard this, nodded, glanced at Wang Xiangzuo, and then turned his gaze to the east, looking at the desolation in the cold winter wind, and said lightly:

"Oh? It turned out that General Wang thought that my son, who was 'sure to dominate the eternal world', would be the first to send troops, but I was surprised. ”

Having said that, there was no 'surprise' expression on the emperor's face.

Wang Xiangzuo did not hesitate at all after hearing this, and immediately replied:

"Yes, after thinking about it, I think that His Highness is the most likely to take the lead in the Northern Expedition."

When the emperor heard this, he narrowed his eyes and said to Wang Xiangzuo:

"Stand up and speak."

Wang Xiangzuo bowed his head and thanked him, and then stood up, because he had been kneeling for a long time and the weather was cold, Wang Xiangzuo couldn't stop stumbling before he stabilized himself.

Seeing this, the emperor's eyes froze, and he suddenly sighed, sighed, and said:

"You have been with me for decades, years of fighting, iron-blooded battlefields, outstanding achievements, countless kills, I always thought that you would not be old, but I didn't expect that you also have gray hair on your head"

When Wang Xiangzuo heard the emperor suddenly say these words, he didn't know why he dared to answer casually, so he had to bow his head and answer:

"The years are not forgiving, the minister is just a layman, and he will naturally get old"

After hearing this, the emperor sighed, shook his head, and said:

"Old? You say, when you get old, you should let go and take care of your days, or continue to guide the country, step on the world, and kill the enemy on the battlefield? ”I1387