The rainstorm in summer comes at any time, intermittently, sometimes big and sometimes small. It took three days of rain to stop.

When the rain curtain was blown by the wind, it was like milky white gauze curtains floating in the wind, and it was like fog rippling in the air. Looking at Jinyang City from afar, the city wall seemed to be shrouded in deep smoke and clouds. The rain extinguished the beacon smoke and washed away the blood left by the casualties on the city wall.

The war was put on hold, and fortifications were built outside the city to siege the city. Behind the fortifications, there were only large tents, like countless umbrellas on rainy days.

After the rain, the weather turned cold, washing away the heat of the hot summer; but in addition to being cool, the humidity also made people suffer because there were not so many houses for all the soldiers to live in. The tents could not completely block the rain, and the dry firewood was also short of dryness. The soldiers' wet clothes could only be roasted half-dry with fire. It was not so comfortable to wrap half-wet and undry clothes on their bodies.

The most inconvenient thing is the mud on the road. The road connecting the camps is trampled to pieces. People walking on it is like walking in a swamp, and it is like being in the mud of rice fields. It is hard to walk in an instant. The mud is directly flooded with ankles... It is better on the road of the post road. The land is crushed by carriages and horses for a long time and it is very strong. The rainwater cannot soak too deep. However, a thin layer of mud is attached to the hard soil surface, like lubricant. People walking on it is very slippery and will fall if they are accidentally caught.

The generals of the Zhou army went to the Central Army camp every day, as if they were arguing endlessly about whether to fight or retreat.

General Xiang Xun sent someone to ask Guo Shao to meet him in his tent again. This time, Xiang Xun looked a little embarrassed and stepped back. Judging from the days when Guo Shao had been with him, Xiang Xun was actually a real person. But it is inevitable that people would occasionally say light words like "I will take you to the official family and ask the official family to give you another official"; when they saw Xiang Xun's current expression, Guo Shao knew that this might not be so easy.

The Zhou Dynasty was not as good as the unified empire of the Han and Tang Dynasties, but it was the strongest Central Plains regime in the world. Chai Rong was also an emperor recognized by the world... Even if the Northern Han Lord and others verbally did not recognize Chai Rong as the common ruler of the world, they would definitely take Chai Rong, the emperor, seriously.

Is the emperor so easy to see?

Seeing this, Guo Shao hurriedly said kindly: "I treated the generals with wise men and nobles, and received the last generals many times. The last general was already flattered. The last generals would be rewarded with this little merit, so there was no need to ask for an official position in detail."

Guo Shao said this not to flatter Xiang Xun, nor to be modest. It is true that Xiang Xun has a huge gap between his status and his own. When they meet alone several times, they really give face and give enough respect.

Xiang Xun asked, "By the way, the last time the commander Zhang Du performed his merits on your behalf, what position would he be promoted to?"

"Commander." Guo Shao said.

Xiang Xun frowned and said, "How big is the commander? He has no more than five hundred soldiers under his command. He may be some of them. It's too low!"

Guo Shao answered according to fact: "Before this battle, I have only been to Dutou." Not only did he answer according to fact, he had no specific explanation: Dutou had only been to Dutou for one day, but he was actually a team leader.

Xiang Xun shook his head: "The name of killing Zhang Yuanhui in the formation is inconsistent with a commander. What's more, others don't understand, how can I not understand in the future? Xinkou rescues Shi Yanchao. If Guo Lang is not here, Shi Yanchao is dead. With these contributions, not only will the military merits of Wuqi Town, Luzhou be added to you, you will not only be a small commander."

Although Guo Shao also wanted to make a name for himself, he had not thought about reaching the sky in one step. He had a saying in his mind: If the steps are too big, it is easy to pull the egg.

Xiang Xun pondered for a moment and said, "I have a good relationship with Prime Minister Wang Pu. I will talk to him about this first, and I will give you news in a few days."

Guo Shao didn't refuse, thinking that a few months ago he was an unknown squad leader, and he was not interested in others. Is this related to the prime minister?

Xiang Xun patted his chest again and said, "I can't guarantee anything else, you should never be promoted to commander! He killed the most powerful general of the Northern Han Dynasty and saved Shi Yanchao, and was the commander. He really laughed at the big teeth of the world..." He lowered his voice slightly, "The official killed more than 70 generals in Luzhou, and he had to manage the army when he returned. There were a lot of vacancies at this time. Please rest assured. I will tell Prime Minister Wang that as long as he nodded, this matter is easy to deal with."

Guo Shao hurriedly thanked him.

However, Xiang Xun's statement was indeed a bit exaggerated. He did not reach the level of laughter from the world. He killed Zhang Yuanhui in the formation, defeated the Liao army alone and defeated the enemy, and rescued Shi Yanchao. These things are all big or small. The merit depends on what the emperor thinks, and what others say.

If we talk about it in a small way, these things have not reached the level of affecting the situation of the war, it will not be considered a great achievement; if we talk about it in a big way, we can create a mysterious "qi" to discuss it. The army needs heroes and specific deeds that can be discussed, those who have a reputation as the first general, or those deeds that are easy for the soldiers at the bottom to understand can affect the morale of the army.

...

The rain still took place from time to time. Guo Shao returned to Jinyang City and spent many days, and the Zhou army never sieges the city again. Finally, a few days later, news came from the army that the emperor ordered the army to retreat one after another.

The battle of besieging Jinyang should end here. Although the Zhou Dynasty did not directly destroy the Northern Han, Gaoping severely damaged its main force. After arriving in Jinyang City, it spread all the territory of the Northern Han. Except for Jinyang City, all the other prefectures and towns had surrendered to the Zhou army. This time, the Northern Han might have been calm for a long time and dared not take any action. It is still a matter of whether they can recover their vitality.

The Xiaodi Army infantry was no longer established, with only some scattered soldiers and defeated generals left; but the horse soldiers suffered little losses and the main force still existed. Guo Shao and others accompanied the Xiaodi Army and the horse soldiers commanded the commander of the Xiaodi Army, and retreated with them.

The troops returned to the court and still walked, and the horses had to hold something, but they rarely rode. Guo Shao couldn't calculate, but he felt that he had walked thousands of miles in a few months. He soon discovered that his small group of people and horses were not controlled by him, and there was neither Du's head nor commander on the top, and no one cared about the troops that were not under his control. They only had one commander, the commander of the Xiaodi Army, Horse and Soldiers.

When the army arrived in Luzhou, there were troops in the front and the road was blocked. A minister was going to coordinate, and the troops behind stopped for a while.

The weather in Luzhou was clear, so Guo Shao then invited the two brothers to visit the old place nearby, but no one cared about them anyway.

The three of them rode horses outside Wuqi Town, and Luo Mengzi asked, "Do you want to go in and take a look?"

Guo Shaoluo thought about it and found that Wuqi Town had no one he wanted to meet. Seeing Li Desheng? The town general Li Desheng is actually not a bad person, but Guo Shao had no interest in making friends. He felt a little intimate with the people in the town, but when it came to a specific person, he was not very familiar with or concerned about it. After thinking about it, he had bleeding here and could not find a reason to nostalgia. So when he went in, do he want to see if the people had erected monuments for him and praised merits?

He shook his head, and then moved south slowly with the two of them.

By noon, due to the stuffy weather, the water in the three people had run out of water in their water bags and there was no well nearby. They decided to find a village to replenish some drinking water, then eat some dry food and return to the station.

I saw smoke from cooking stoves on the slope not far from the road. It seemed that there were several families, so they led their horses along the way.

As soon as they approached, they heard the noise of someone on the slope, and then they heard the sound of a little girl calling for help. The three of them could hear it clearly. After a glance, Guo Shao hurriedly took down the Ershikou and prepared an arrow; Yang Luo and others did not bring the soldiers, so they immediately took out their waist knife to guard.

They continued to walk upwards and heard someone in the soil yard above shouting, "Grain! Where is the grain hidden?" Another voice said, "Dear heroes, my family really has no grain. At the beginning of the year, the government issued an additional levy. Last time, the soldiers from Jinyang came to collect it, and they wanted to scrape off the ground a layer... The child was sick and starved to death, and my family could only eat the bark and roots of the tree. The heroes let us go..."

"Can you live so old when eating tree bark? Grain! If you don't give it, you will cook this little lady!"

Guo Shao and others followed the sound and walked into the broken courtyard. There was a small earth dam and several thatched huts. There were two ragged and thin people standing at the door, looking very much like refugees. When they saw Guo Shao and others wearing armor, their expressions changed drastically, and they hurriedly shouted inside: "The officers and soldiers are here!"

As soon as they finished speaking, Yang Luo and the other two stepped forward and put the knife on the necks of the two refugees. The two were shocked and stared at each other and did not dare to move. At the same time, Guo Shao had already rushed into the room.

There were four people inside, an old man knelt on the ground and turned his head to look at Guo Shao blankly; two ragged refugees next to him were holding a little girl and pressing it on the stove. The little girl was wearing a patched torn dress, unimaginable thin, her head was facing a pot on the stove, and the water inside was so boiling that it was so hot that she cried by the steam, and her face was dirty, black and white, colorful flowers.

Yang Luo and the others then rushed into the house. The old man kneeling on the ground moved over with his knees and hugged Guo Shao's legs: "Save us!"

Seeing this, the people at the stove said sternly: "Don't move! Otherwise, I will let go and cook her!"

"Don't be impatient, I'll put the bow and arrow down first." Guo Shao carefully lowered the arrow first, then collected the arrows on the string, and continued, "We have food and three fast horses. They are all in the yard."

"Let them go!" The person who spoke out looked the most fierce, and other refugees were so scared that they dared not let it go.

Guo Shao said: "You let that little girl go, my people will let them."

The man said, "You are so stupid! If you let me go, can we beat you and live?"

Guo Shao kept calm and said, "If you let her go, beg for mercy immediately. If you kill her, can you survive? Do you think we have something to do with this family? We just came up to ask for water and drink."

The person who was held on his neck was terrified and said in a hurry: "Mr. Jun, please spare me!"
Chapter completed!