The cottage next to the dining room was dimly lit, and there were not even a window. There were some tables and benches inside, and there were many ceramic utensils on the cabinet. Fu Jinzhan pulled the clothes down and tidied them up for a while. She quickly put a strand of messy black hair falling on her cheeks and gently pulled it behind her ears. She looked back at Guo Shao, her cheeks turned red, and she exhaled and said, "Go out quickly, I'll arrive later."

After saying that, she looked through the crack in the door and looked at the situation in the dining room.

Guo Shao asked, "The second sister hasn't come back yet?"

Fu Jinzhan whispered: "She is not feeling well. She usually asks the palace maids to send some hot water to wash her body, and change her clothes, so she has to delay for a while." Her face was strange, "I was too impulsive just now. I really shouldn't have done this, we..."

Guo Shao was speechless, and opened the door bolt, and slipped out with nervousness. At this moment, he felt like he was a thief... He had never been a thief, but imagine that this was probably the feeling, and he was always worried about being caught.

...When Fu Ermei returned, Guo Shao and Fu Jinzhan were already sitting on the stool in the dining room as if nothing had happened, talking without a sign. Fu Ermei's eyes swept across their faces, as if they felt something was wrong. Guo Shao paid attention to her gaze from the light of his eyes, feeling that he and Fu Jinzhan didn't seem to have any clues now.

"Last month, the court sent people to Nanping Kingdom and met the King of Nanping (named by the Zhou Dynasty) Gao Baorong. The court envoy advised him to surrender, but he seemed unwilling to do so." Fu Jinzhan said calmly.

During the festival, she had no intention of talking about the serious matter, but she mentioned this. Guo Shao felt that Fu Jinzhan was deliberately covering up what had happened just now. When she looked at her expression, she felt dignified and calm. Not only did she feel like nothing had happened, but she also looked like she could not be desecrated... If it weren't for Guo Shao's kiss just now, she would have been almost fooled now. I have to admire Jinzhan's performance.

Fu Jinzhan continued to whisper: "Nanping and Wuyue countries have narrow land and few people. They have always used the strategy of "serving the great people" and serve the country wherever they are strong. They want to wait for the Central Plains to be unified, and rely on their great merits and obedience to surrender to seek wealth. But they are still unable to make the Nanping countries eager to offer their land, and Gao Baorong is reluctant."

Guo Shao also said seriously: "What the Empress Dowager said is very true. However, I think that the national policy of Wu and Yue is more coherent, and the system formed by the monarch and ministers is more formal; the Great Zhou should face up to the diplomacy with Wu and Yue. However, Nanping did not have a long-term stable national policy, and it was not even a country. It was just a force... As far as I know, since Nanping ruled over the local area, it often robbed envoys from various countries with its main traffic routes, and also praised all the kings and tried to please them everywhere in the cracks. It was not too obedient."

Fu Jinzhan thoughtfully: "When you remind me, I remembered the Battle of Huainan. Wu Yue did send troops to attack the Southern Tang Dynasty, but Nanping was slow to hold back and lied about military information many times. In fact, the dispatch of troops was just pretending to behave without any actual results."

Guo Shao said: "That's right, although Gao Baorong is not as good as the King of Nanping, he is actually not very flexible..." Guo Shao pointed to his forehead. He originally wanted to say that he was brain-cracking, but in the end he was quite polite. "All matters are left to his brother Gao Baoxu to make decisions. Gao Baoxu does not seem to be a very clever person. I think that when he attacks Shu from the east, he can also include Nanping in the territory."

Fu Jinzhan pondered and said, "It would be a good thing if you can get that place. Jingnan controls the East Road of the Shu Kingdom and is in the upper reaches of the Southern Tang Kingdom, which is a place to rush."

Guo Shao smiled and said, "The army is never tired of deceit. Since the Nanping Kingdom has been applauded by the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Empress Dowager can issue an order to attack Shu by using the road. As soon as the army arrives, he will not be willing or not. In the coming year, according to the general advice offered by Wang Pu, he will attack Shu from Hanzhong and the Yangtze River, and take down Shu in one fell swoop... The Escort Provincial Department allocated a lot of extra money and grain for me to forge armor. When I take down the wealthy Shu Kingdom, I will decide that I will get more money as the Empress Dowager."

When Fu Ermei heard about state affairs, her face was a little confused. She didn't know much about these things. When she heard this, she asked: "How long will it take for your husband to go to war next year?"

Guo Shao said kindly: "It must not be more than three months, and there is no need to calculate it. I also know that the imperial treasury is not capable of supporting tens of thousands of elite troops in a long-term battle. It must be a quick battle, otherwise it will mean the attack will fail."

Fu Jinzhan asked, "How many troops do General Guo need?"

Guo Shao said: "Xiang Gong has 20,000 soldiers in Fengzhou and Guzhen. He transferred the guards' troops to the front, and Xiang Gong's troops reached 40,000; attacked the North Road. I need 20,000 infantry and cavalry to go upstream along the Yangtze River to attack Dongchuan."

"General Guo only has 20,000 people?" Fu Jinzhan said.

Guo Shao said: "There are too many people and it will increase the logistics burden, and the road there is difficult to walk. I need 20,000 elite troops. The most elite and combat-capable part of the troops should be used to add one of the Hu Ben Army and one of the elite troops of the Crane Army."

...There are risks in war, no matter which side to which the Zhou army is. The danger of the Zhou army does not come from Shu, and the Shu army cannot counterattack the Zhou Dynasty; it comes from the domestic. It shows weak force without long battles, and the conflict caused by the large-scale consumption of the national treasury and civilian resources will cause Guo Shao to suffer an unpredictable backlash.

He naturally had sufficient mental preparations for these problems before he was in operation.

Guo Shao and his second sister stayed in the palace for a long time and went home that day...

Then he was preparing for the New Year. He was a little busy for a while, so he didn't care about anything else... After New Year's Eve, he visited every day. The Fu family in Hebei was too far away and didn't have to go. He just wrote a letter and brought some gifts. Guo Shao and Li Yuaner first went to Li Chuyun's house, and then there were a few brothers and colleagues in the palace.

Next, there are more people who have made friends, and he cannot go in person. He can only send people to send gifts and congratulations, but he really can't get there. Because he can't sit and leave as soon as he arrives, at least the owner will prepare a table of wine, food and banquets... he can only meet one person a day and go in the morning; there are many taboos in the world, and you have to meet in the morning on good and festive days, and the funeral is only in the afternoon.

He went there in person with his sister, Mrs. Gao's family; the Dong family not only had sister, but Dong Zunhui was also a capable general of Guo Shao, and Gao Huaide, the general of the Guards Division, was also Mrs. Gao's younger brother.

Guo Shao gave Dong Zunhui four sets of plate armor as a gift. Compared with the Western Regions good horses that Dong Zunhui gave last time, it was obvious that Guo Shao's gift was relatively cheap, so that's all it means.

After working hard, Guo Shao felt annoyed and tired. It was nothing to attend a banquet occasionally, but it was still very happy, but it was inevitable that he would be so uncomfortable every day... He was so impatient and his appetite also decreased, because every day the banquet was full of big fish and meat, and he drank a lot of wine.

But there is nothing we can do. People in this world live like this. After a thousand years, society has changed, and it is not much worse. As the saying goes, relatives and friends should also go around. If you don’t go through this kind of motion, you will often contact you. After a long time, your relationship will become weak (if you suddenly contact me, others will immediately be wary of you having to borrow money).

Fortunately, there is no need to go straight. Guo Shao usually comes back early in the afternoon, so he is more willing to be with his wife and concubine. Yulian will make dumplings and make various glutinous rice snacks by herself. Guo Shao and Fu Ermei will help at this time; they are also very interested in the new clothes they buy.

...In the spring of the fifth year of Xiande (958 AD), he arrived unknowingly in his busyness.

There was snow everywhere, but the red lanterns in the city and the mess left by the festive banquets made the atmosphere of spring come early. Inside and outside the capital, it seemed that there was no difference from the usual years. The emperor changed one, but it had little to do with the people.

The streets are prosperous, but they still cannot cover up the various problems exposed by the Zhou Dynasty... The population is too small and the army is too large. In those cold corners, at the foot of the City God Temple and the city walls, there are still some hungry and cold people who can't even eat enough for the New Year. They take advantage of the festival to get some rice and porridge... Usually when encountering such good days, Kaifeng Prefecture will receive orders to open warehouses to provide relief to the poorest people, claiming to "joy with the people", but their power is very limited; some wealthy families will set up porridge sheds to provide alms, which is called accumulating good deeds.

Yulian knows the things in the market very well. In the first month of the year, she also hired people to set up a porridge shed at the gate of the outer city to do good deeds. But Guo Shao didn't care about that kind of thing... Compared to what he had the power to do, setting up a porridge shed for a few people to have a full meal, which was simply negligible. He felt that there was a simplest and direct way now. Because there was no war for a long time, Shu Kingdom was too peaceful and stable for decades, and the population was dense and very rich. It could "persuade" them to share the benefits. Since they are all from the same clan, they are blessed and difficult to share, and it is not good to have a huge gap between the rich and the poor.

The Shu people should also be willing to contribute to the northern national defense line, but the Meng Chang regime failed to achieve its goal in separating the mountains and rivers.

After the 16th day of the first lunar month, various yamen opened seals to restore government affairs. In the side hall of Jinxiang Hall, a group of core ministers officially began to discuss how to use reason to convince Shu.

The tall Wei Renpu was reasoning against a map: "I ordered Gao Huaide to lead the guards of the Long Jie Army, Zhang Guanghan's troops on the left wing of Zhang Guanghan, to leave Beijing in early February, and to be mobilized to Fengzhou, and cooperate with the Qianzhang to deploy the battle in Gongzai Road. He must take Hanzhong and enter Jianmen Pass from here.

It is planned to use General Guo, the inspector of the Palace Front, as the Grand Marshal of the World, and the Eastern Army recruited the envoy, and led 20,000 elite troops from the Palace Front, and advanced west along the Yangtze River in early March... Luo Yanhuan, the commander of the Guard Infantry Command, mobilized the Hujie Army's left wing to station in mid-March; obeyed orders to reinforce the East Road." "Zhang Lingduo's troops on the right wing of the Long Jie Army were mobilized to station in three cities in Heyang..."

The meeting ended at noon, Guo Shao stepped forward and asked Wei Renpu: "Why didn't the envoy Wang Shumi come?"

Wei Renpu said: "General Guo doesn't know yet? The king sent a letter to tell him that he is sick and is now recuperating at home."

Guo Shao hurriedly asked, "When did Wang Shumi cause what disease?" Wei Renpu said, "It's almost ten days, maybe I was infected with the cold first, but it was not cured later."

...
Chapter completed!