"Bangbangbangbang..." A green-robed official was beating the gong on the street with a few Zaoli, yelling, "The Liao people are coming, and Zhuozhou cannot be defended, so they pack up their places and walk to the south!"

Guo Shao rode around the street on his horse and saw fire everywhere, burning black smoke filled with firewood, and a pile of burnt headless corpses on the matches he was carrying.

The sun shines brightly on the head. If the corpse is left in the city, it is easy to rot and plague. There are also people who are digging up the heads, brains and skulls, and then lime is placed, and they have been sent away in the morning. They can only be dealt with in a centralized manner. If the court sends the reward money, everyone will share it equally.

Guo Shao asked Li Chuyun again: "Have you commanded the war horses distributed?"

Li Chuyun said: "It has been divided. There are still about 9,000 people in the Third Army, the Fifth Army and the Sixth Army in Zhuozhou. If there is a slight shortage of horses, there are only about 300 to 400 horses in one command. However, some soldiers who are slightly smaller and have few armors can ride a horse. It is only forty miles from Zhuozhou to Qigou Pass, so there is no problem."

At this time, a general asked: "Most half of the troops have been withdrawn, what are we still staying in Zhuozhou?"

Guo Shao said: "It is best to wait for the main force of the Liao army to move south."

Li Chuyun turned around and said, "The court has not issued an order to withdraw troops from Zhuozhou... But if we are surrounded by this place and the food will not last long, will everyone be willing to stay in this city?"

The general said: "I don't want to."

Guo Shao heard them discussing, then lowered his head to ponder. After a long period of nervousness, he was now inactive and many chaotic thoughts poured into his mind. At this time, he remembered the father and daughter of the Lu family, who had cured his illness... There were so many people in Zhuozhou, and Guo Shao had only had contact with the people of the Lu family.

Seeing Lu Chengyong beside him, he said, "What's wrong with the people from Doctor Lu's family? Do you know?"

Lu Chengyong said: "Last night, Bei Zhi went to the Lu family and wanted to pack up his lord's things. When we met, the Lu family's father and daughter were fine; but the whole family of Li's family who opened a pharmacy shop was slaughtered by the soldiers. Bei Zhi advised Doctor Lu to pack up his things quickly, and leave Zhuozhou with the soldiers who escorted the wounded soldiers in Licheng last night and walk south. After hearing my words, Doctor Lu cleaned up his fine clothes overnight and ran away. Now he doesn't know where it is."

"It is a wise choice to leave Zhuozhou, and Doctor Lu is a smart person." Guo Shao said.

At this time, many people in Zhuozhou were unwilling to leave. After all, the houses and property that local people rely on for survival were all here. Guo Shao could not accuse them of seeking money but not having life. In that case, it might be suspected of "why not eat meat minced meat"... Perhaps for many people, losing their only property is also difficult to survive. They can only bet their fate in the thought of the Liao army commander.

Guo Shao couldn't help them. First of all, he was a general. Killing enemies and being responsible to his subordinates was his primary responsibility. He could do his best to restrain his subordinates from slaughtering and looting, but he was not as kind as to the point of putting the entire army here for the people in the city.

There are still some people in the city who don’t rush to run away and rob property while the chaos is taking advantage of the situation, so they don’t care about them.

...In the afternoon, the northern Liao army vanguard suddenly reported that the northern Liao army vanguard headed south and headed straight to the north bank of Zhuo River.

Guo Shao immediately ordered the entire army to ride horses out of the city from the four gates and run straight towards Qigou Pass in the southwest.

The supplies, food, and tents that had not been taken away were all thrown away by them. Zhuozhou became a completely unprepared and defeated city. Some of the fires that happened yesterday in the city have not yet been put out, and some places have almost turned into ruins.

As soon as he arrived at Qigou Pass, he met the generals who had run away last night. When Yang Biao met, he said, "Qi Tuo, the Xiangdu School, was summoned to the Xiongzhou Palace."

After hearing this, Guo Shao thought to himself: The emperor probably asked Qi Tuo to verify the situation in the memorial. Fortunately, I praised Qi Tuo in the memorial. This guy is honest and won’t sell me, right?

At Qigou Pass, Guo Shao met Li Gu, who was in charge of food and supplies. The two met and sighed. Guo Shao learned that Chai Rong had not seen civil and military officials for many days and suspected that the dragon's body was in trouble.

He also met Han Lingkun, the commander of the Ma Jun. Everyone was a general of the Guards Division. Han Lingkun did not make things difficult for Guo Shao, and let a large group of chaotic soldiers cross the river... The officials knew how to deal with Guo Shao and ran away, so Han Lingkun didn't have to worry about him.

After crossing the Juma River, Guo Shao's troops stopped in Yizhou for a while. Li Gu said that Yizhou had little grain and had to supply Qigou Pass defenders; Guo Shao and others had to lead the riots to march towards Xiongzhou.

At first glance, the generals of the left wing of the Hujie Army were in chaos and the army was in chaos and collapsed. In fact, they were still under the control of several members of the Guo Shao shogunate. A military order could be quickly deployed, specifically to a unit that commanded 500 people.

Guo Shao learned that the emperor was in Xiongzhou and happened to meet the saint.

Li Gu said: "I have figured out the situation of General Guo and the soldiers in the left wing. I have to rush back to Xiongzhou overnight to report. We will have a date later."

Guo Shao said, "It's not too late for Brother Li to leave tomorrow morning. I just happened to want to submit a memorial, so I'll ask Brother Li to take it back and present it to His Majesty."

After hearing this, Li Gu said, "Since that's the case, then we will leave tomorrow."

Guo Shao went camping that night and lost a lot of tents in the army. At this moment, the military camp was filled with smoke. Those who didn't know thought a fire had occurred. It was the soldiers who had made herbs to smoke mosquitoes. They had no good days anyway. They were so cold that they were shaking in winter, and they were not cold in summer... but there were many mosquitoes.

The central army had a tent to live in, and Guo Shao immediately thought about writing a memorial in the tent. This was the second step of his plan to return to Beijing: find a replacement for the emperor who stayed in Hebei.

This person has no one else, it is Han Lingkun!

But directly recommending Han Lingkun may not be effective. Guo Shao thought about a lot of things.

...First of all, Li Gu revealed Chai Rong's condition, which made Guo Shao very puzzled.

I thought about it again: the Battle of Shouzhou must have greatly accelerated the progress of the Huainan Battle and saved a lot of time for the Zhou Dynasty emperor Chai Rong; that is, this Northern Expedition was earlier than in history.

In history, Chai Rong fell ill during the Northern Expedition, which made him regret that he had "achievement and failure" (in fact, there was no decisive battle yet, and it was hard to say that he had won or lost); but now, if people have a fate, Chai Rong shouldn't have fallen ill at this time, as the time was too early to match.

Anyway, Chai Rong shouldn't have passed away now. What Li Gu said about Long's health is bad. Could it be that the decisive battle of the Northern Expedition was unfavorable, and Chai Rong's health was so bad that he was angry?

Guo Shao couldn't figure out the emperor's condition, nor could he tell when the emperor died; anyway, it was certain that Chai Rong's physical condition would not last a few years... As an emperor, his health was not good, and he was sick and he didn't even see his ministers; would he consider the safety of his own country?

...When Guo Shao thought of this, he ordered his determination and said silently: "What, Zhao Hei-faced comes first, and I'm going to be in a dilemma in Zhuozhou; don't blame me for writing a letter to say a few words to you."

He immediately picked up his pen and wrote a draft, and the name of the memorial was apology.

Guo Shao wrote quickly in a sloppy brush: Although I defeated Xiao Siwen, the king of the Southern Court of the Liao Kingdom in Zhuozhou, I was unable to defend Zhuozhou City. When I learned that the Liao army was heading south, I was worried that the entire army of the Hujie Army was wiped out, so I had to abandon the city and "turn forward". I knew that I had to bear the heavy trust of Your Majesty, so I asked Your Majesty to surrender.

The soldiers of the Hujie Army's left wing were exhausted, and the ministers were unable to defend the northern line. They recommended Han Lingkun, the commander of the Cavaliers.

Han Lingkun had 40,000 elite soldiers in Longjie Army, and there were 20,000 elite soldiers in the left wing of Qigou Pass, and half of the guards and horse brigade were in his hands. He was also a long-time general on the battlefield, with his ability and strength far exceeding those of the weak ministers!

Han Lingkun, the commander of the Ma Army, made friends with the Zhao family when Zhao Kuangyin's father was still alive. He made friends with Zhao Kuangyin for a long time, and his brotherly feelings moved the entire imperial guards!

Zhao Kuangyin, the commander in front of the palace, had outstanding talents. The country's humerals and generals named "Ten Brothers of Yishe" could all stand out. Not only did the iron cavalry in front of the palace, many of Zhao Kuangyin's brothers, but even half of the guards were in the hands of his brother Han Lingkun. Zhao Kuangyin and his brothers supported half of the imperial guards in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

I always ask the capable, and Han Lingkun, the subordinate of General Zhao, did not defend the northern line and did not shoulder the heavy responsibility of the country's border preparations. Who dares to be competent?

...Guo Shao's "slander" was a compliment on the surface, but in fact it pointed out that Zhao Kuangyin was very powerful. He not only controlled the Iron General of the Hall, but also involved in the Guards... The Guards' Office Han Lingkun was also a fact that his party members were involved.

Anyone in the court could see these words at a glance, and could tell they were "slander".

But Guo Shao said there was nothing to hide. He and Zhao Kuangyin were incompatible, and Chai Rong and the court officials knew it. Since they were the opponent, wouldn’t it be normal to say a few bad things? What a fuss?

Although it was slander, it was the truth. Chai Rong was reminded to think about it. Leaving Han Lingkun could still weaken Zhao Kuangyin's power, so why not... Of course, if Chai Rong felt that Zhao Kuangyin was a great loyal minister, the Palace Front Office and the Guard Office could both let him hold it with confidence and not be prepared; then Guo Shao had no choice. If Chai Rong could think so, he deserved to give up his country for nothing.

Guo Shao wrote the memorial and sent it to Zuo You to submit the account, asking him to write the article better.

After seeing it, Zuo You said, "In this way, the official should keep Han Lingkun and let the lord return to the capital?"

Guo Shao said: "I don't think the problem is big. Leaving Han Lingkun can not only differentiate Zhao Kuangyin's influence in the Guards Department and prevent the general from being too strong; but also ask me to go back and stare at Zhao Kuangyin... Why not (check and balance)?"

Zuo You whispered: "The dragon body of the official family is really not good? Then the person he wants to be on guard against the most may be Zhang Yongde."

"Zhang Yongde and Zhao Kuangyin are all the same people, and Zhang Yongde has the kindness of knowing him." Guo Shao said, "After the Battle of Gaoping, I know very well that Zhao Kuangyin can be reused first, so Zhang Yongde recommends it."

Guo Shao pondered for a long time and whispered: "Zhang Yongde is the head general of the front office of the palace, but the Iron Cavalry is in the hands of Zhao Kuangyin... Almost all of the ten brothers hold key positions in the Iron Cavalry."

But why did Zuo You also say that the emperor was most cautious about Zhang Yongde?

In history, it was indeed Zhang Yongde who was first removed from his military power after being shot, and then Zhao Kuangyin took office. Guo Shao thought that it might be a mutiny rule and habit within the military group. After all, everyone in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms played mutiny and took turns to take turns to take the country and frequently.

Military generals only obey the strong. When the successor emperor cannot convince them, they must support or even force a military general to take office in the future. Whoever has a higher position will "force" whoever has. Even if Zhang Yongde does not want to mutiny, he may be in control.

Therefore, everyone thinks about the problem based on experience. If the Zhou Dynasty is really overthrown, as long as nothing unexpected happens, the person who should be pushed up is Zhang Yongde!
Chapter completed!