Chapter 288: The Road to the South (III)

When the two entered the inner room, Guo Xingjian did not talk nonsense and directly entered the topic. As the saying goes, there is no speculation. After a few words, Guo Xingjian's face is already angry. He slapped the table and shouted: "From today, no Guo family is allowed to be an official in the court."

Guo Jiong stood respectfully in front of Guo Xingjian, with a helpless look on his face and said, "There is a saying that people are in the world and cannot help but behave."

Guo Xingjian immediately interfered: "I'm afraid this is not a common saying, but Hou Dayong's words. You are obviously a general of the court, so what are you talking about in the world."

Guo Jiong knew that his father was the best eloquent among the censors in the Later Han Dynasty. Guo Wei, the master of the unrest, also admired his ability to make trouble. At this time, Guo Jiong tasted his father's eloquence, kept smiling bitterly in his heart, and said sincerely: "Even if I immediately quit the army, even if the Hou Prime Minister does not pursue it, others will still regard me as a member of the Black Eagle Army. If you say you can avoid disaster, you will be deceiving yourself. Once those people gain power, you don't have to think about the consequences."

Guo Xingjian didn't think about it and counterattacked: "Those people, please explain them clearly to me."

Guo Jiong said to himself: "Thinking back then, if the Hou Xiang led his army to raid Cangzhou City, our Guo family would have been a ghost under Liu Cunxiao's sword."

Guo Xingjian sneered several times and said, "Stop talking far away. I know, your wings are hard now, and you can't listen to your father's words. Can't I practice the law?"

Guo Jiong lowered his head and kept his heart down for a while, and said, "Since ancient times, loyalty and filial piety cannot be achieved at the same time. I would like to ask my father to forgive his son's crime of unfiliality."

Guo Xingjian simply made it clear, "Hou Dayong led his army to recover the Eighteen Prefectures of Youyun, which is also considered a hero. However, he successively killed Tian Min, Tian Shufei, Zan Jurun, Fan Zhi and Zhao Kuangyin in Daliang City. His methods were ruthless and narrow-minded. He really made the heroes in the world cold."

"All those who are killed have the crime of killing, and the imperial edict is clearly stated."

"The imperial edict, now the imperial edict is the thing in Hou Dayong's hands. Don't think that I am far away in Cangzhou, so I don't understand the situation in the court. Don't forget that I am an old minister of the Later Han Dynasty and have never seen anything."

Guo Jiong quickly broke out from his back with a cold sweat and said hurriedly: "Father, if you say this, you will destroy the nine clans, how can you say it randomly?"

"Hmph, if you are afraid, if you are afraid, just take off your armor and return to the field."

Guo Jiong's eyes suddenly flashed with a cold light. He straightened his waist and said, "No matter what outsiders say, in his son's mind, Hou Dayong is an amazing hero. Even if he is Cao Cao, I will follow him. Now the Guo family, the Bai family, the Hou family, and the Cui family in Shandong are all prosperous and prosperous, and the ones are destroyed."

Guo Jiong did not give Guo Xingjian the time to show his eloquence, and said unquestionably: "Your grandson is in Lingzhou, so I will send someone to Cangzhou to pick up my mother. I will send you to Lingzhou to see your grandson. Cangzhou is too close to the Khitans and is not safe."

When Guo Xingjian saw his son's expression, he heard his son's decisive tone and suddenly realized that his son was no longer the son of the past. He had transformed from a scholar who had suffered all day long after losing his wife to an ambitious and energetic general. It was impossible to make him turn around at this time.

Guo Xingjian has no prejudice against Hou Dayong. He even admires Hou Dayong from the bottom of his heart. However, in the past six months, he has heard various rumors. From his perspective, even if a small part of these rumors are true, Hou Dayong has changed from a loyal minister to a Cao Cao-like character.

The bloody massacre of the Later Han Dynasty was a nightmare that Guo Xingjian could never get rid of, so he finally came to Daliang City. He wanted to dissuade his son from retreating bravely, but when he saw him today, he understood that his son was already in a situation and could not withdraw. Guo Xingjian suddenly realized that his son's face and expression were very similar to that of Taizu Guo Wei when he led the army. He was so determined and decisive, and he felt awe-inspiring and powerful.

Sitting silently for a while, Guo Xingjian sighed: "What I said today is actually not what I say alone. These are all rumors in society. Everyone talks and accumulates gold and destroys bones. If anyone wants to unify the world, the world must return to his heart. This is a good word. I hope you can understand." Speaking of this, Guo Xingjian had an indescribable loneliness in his expression, "Stop, let's go, let's just send your mother to Lingzhou, which should be the strongest fortress of the Black Eagle Army."

Seeing that his old father was like this, Guo Jiong felt a little disgusted. He personally stayed in front of his father's bed and went to bed with him.

Before Guo Xingjian could go to bed, Hou Dayong's messenger had arrived at the doorstep.

The lights under the Secretariat were bright, and more than a dozen oil lamps were shaking one after another. Hou Dayong, Wang Bo, Wei Renpu, Li Jixun, Xiang Xun, Guo Jiong, Shi Ying and other generals in Daliang City were gathered together, and young people already accounted for half of them.

As soon as Fan Zhi died, Hou Dayong was already the chief auxiliary minister. When he saw that he should have arrived, he said, "Li Yun rebelled. He colluded with the Northern Han soldiers and rushed towards Daliang."

Li Yun was an old minister of the Great Zhou Dynasty. He has been guarding the Zezhou area for seven years. His responsibility is to guard against the Northern Han Dynasty. Although he has repeatedly defeated wars, his troops have not been annihilated by the Northern Han Dynasty and the Khitan Army, and his combat effectiveness is also quite good.

During this period, there were too many unexpected things, and the generals did not show any more surprises when they rebelled against Li Yun.

Hou Dayong glanced at the ministers, stopped his eyes in front of Li Jixun, and said, "Sir Li, what are your good plans?"

Li Jixun was originally the commander of the Bian River Naval Division. In the early seventh year of Xiande, he was promoted to the deputy envoy of the Privy Council. Shi Ying replaced him as the commander of the Bian River Naval Division. He and Zhao Kuangyin and others became the "Ten Brothers of Yishe". During the rebellion, Li Jixun had the highest position and became the leader of the ten brothers. However, as Zhao Kuangyin's status grew higher and higher, Zhao Kuangyin gradually replaced Li Jixun's position and became the de facto leader of the ten brothers.

Zhao Kuangyin was executed, and the "Ten Brothers of Yishe" scattered among the army were not implicated. This made Li Jixun feel cold while secretly rejoicing. He did not dare to act like a Privy Councilor in front of Hou Dayong. He immediately stood up and bowed: "The camps in the north are deployed to garrison Zhang Yongde in Zezhou. It is difficult for Li Yun's rebels to break through the Zezhou defense line. In the early years of Xiande, the situation of the Northern Han army entering the hinterland of the Central Plains will not happen again."

Xiang Xun, the envoy of the Southern Court of Xuanzheng, had been promoted to prime minister at this time. He took over Li Jixun's words and said, "Li Yun's army is not worth worrying. What I am most worried about is the Northern Han army. Although the Northern Han people are few and the land is small, its army is extremely strong. Last year, the Northern Han army sent 30,000 out of Tuanbai Valley, with extremely strong troops. The Li Yun's army and the Northern Han army, the strength of the rebels should not be underestimated."

Deep in his heart, Hou Dayong did not take the rebels seriously at all. He attached more importance to the stability within the Great Zhou Dynasty, but this emotion could not be expressed. "Xiang Xiang was extremely worried that we must defeat the rebels with thunder. If we give the rebels a chance to breathe, it would have a very bad impact on the overall situation. At present, Zhang Yongde's army in Cizhou has only 30,000 people, which is inferior to the rebels in terms of military strength. I suggest reorganizing the northern camps and deploying them, drawing 10,000 people from Han Lingkun's troops, drawing 10,000 people from Yuan Yan's troops in Cangzhou, and drawing 10,000 people from Daming Mansion to form a northward coalition to fight against Li Yun." Hou Dayong waved his hand vigorously in the air and said, "I will lead the troops myself this time."

"The guards of the Daliang imperial capital are extremely important. The Longwei Army left wing army is 5,000, the Iron Cavalry Army left wing army is 10,000, and the Bianhe Navy Army is 20,000. A total of 40,000 people stayed in Daliang City."

"After I went to the expedition, the Daliang court was chaired by Master Wei, and Master Wang was responsible for preparing the army's land, food, grass and supplies."

As soon as the order for expedition was released, the Great Zhou Dynasty mobilized again.

On December 10, Guo Jiong led 20,000 troops drawn from all over the country to Jingzhao Prefecture. He became the new Yongxing Jiedushi. After Li Chongjin was forced to rebel, his offensive had long been restricted to the west of Fengxiang. Guo Jiong's mission was not to defeat Li Chongjin. His most important task was to control the west of Jingzhao Prefecture. The general attack on Li Chongjin was scheduled on the first day of the first lunar month. The Black Eagle Army, Dabu Army, Dawa Gong Army and Yongxing Army launched an attack on Li Chongjin from four directions at the same time, and the battle was determined to the northwest.

On December 17, Hou Dayong led 30,000 siege troops out of Daliang and approached Cizhou. At this time, the battle in Cizhou was nearly one month long. Li Yun's army and Liu Jiye's army in the Northern Han army defeated Zhang Yongde's army several times. Zhang Yongde was forced to give up the periphery of Cizhou, and the remaining troops retreated into Cizhou City, waiting for assistance.

On December 26, Hou Dayong's troops arrived at the Horse Head Fort about 30 miles north of Cizhou. The Horse Head Fort was the last fortress of the Cizhou Army. At this time, it had been successfully attacked by the Northern Han army, and the flag of the Northern Han army had already floated on the Horse Head Fort.

Hou Dayong's troops were divided into two parts: the vanguard army and the rear army. The vanguard army was led by Shi Shouxin, and the rear army was led by Wang Tengxiang.

Wang Tengxiang was originally a favorite general of Feng Jiye, the governor of Lingzhou. During the Qingshui River Battle. Feng Jiye sent Wang Tengxiang to participate in the Northwest War. Hou Dayong loved this general who looked very much like Guan Yu. He took advantage of Chai Rong's reorganization of the imperial guards and transferred Wang Tengxiang to the imperial guards. This time, in the name of the northern expedition, he transferred Wang Tengxiang to his command.

The Northern Expedition Army was blocked in front of the Matou Fort. On the afternoon of the 26th, Shi Shouxin, Wang Tengxiang, Guang Zituo, Fengsha, Wang Yansheng and others gathered in the tent to discuss the attack on the Matou Fort.

Wang Tengxiang had followed Hou Dayong during the Qingshui River War, and was not surprised by this pre-war discussion. It was Shi Shouxin's first battle with Hou Dayong. When he saw Guang Zitu, Wang Yansheng and other intermediate officers could make suggestions in front of Hou Dayong, he was surprised and admired Hou Dayong with some admiration. However, he had been one of the ten brothers in the Yishe Society, and he was still quite afraid of Hou Dayong.

When Hou Dayong saw Shi Shouxin being steady and unspeakable, he called out, "General Shi, what do you think of attacking Majiabao?"

Shi Shouxin said respectfully: "The last general has visited Matou Fort many times. This fort is a barrier to the ground from Cizhou to Daliang. It has always been a place that military strategists must fight for. If we want to reinforce Cizhou, we must occupy this fort. However, Matou Fort is very solid, and if we attack for a strong force, we will suffer heavy losses."

Shi Shouxin was the first to sit in the fierce general Wang Yansheng. The troops he led were the first to attack Youzhou City. Although his troops were completely lost, they were still promoted due to merit. At this time, he was already Shi Shouxin's deputy. Hou Dayong turned his eyes to Wang Yansheng and said, "General Wang was the first to lead his army to attack Youzhou City that day, and he must have some experience in fighting the city. What do you think? Even if you boldly say that the generals who follow us know the rules, you must speak freely when discussing before the war. Once you make a plan, even the King of Heaven must implement it meticulously. Just tell me."
Chapter completed!