Lingzhou is dry and windy, and the whistling sound of the wind outside can be heard in the palace.

The Deputy Privy Councilor hurried to the entrance of the study room. Guo Shao stopped talking with Lu Duosun and waved to let Wei Renpu in. Wei Renpu bowed and said in a hurry: "Your Majesty, Cao Bin has news. Zhou Jun is in the north of Shaozhou, but the situation does not seem to be smooth."

Guo Shao said: "I read Cao Bin's report before. As long as I take down Shaozhou and conquer the Southern Han, it will be just around the corner. Can't he conquer Shaozhou?"

Wei Renpu said: "I think it's difficult. Since the Great Zhou army confronted the Southern Han army, it has been mostly defensive. It's a win for repelling the Southern Han army's attack, and the progress is extremely slow. The Zhou army suffered from miasma in the south, and many people were sick. Some people even reported secretly that they had encountered a plague! I guess that Cao Bin might be considering withdrawing his troops!"

Guo Shao frowned, and said for a while: "I asked Taichang Temple to send the imperial doctor to the southern line for consultation to solve the disease."

Wei Renpu clasped his fists and said, "Here."

Guo Shao pondered for a moment and said, "Send the letter back and ask Zuo You to go too! I used to lead troops to have a set of methods for isolating and preventing diseases. Cao Bin has never followed me, so he may not be familiar with them. Zuo You knows the best methods."

Wei Renpu couldn't help but say, "Cao Bin has no record of being praised, and his performance in attacking the Southern Han Dynasty was also mediocre. The court spent so much money, with armor, weapons, and food and fodder. He had as many as 100,000 soldiers under his command, and he consumed a lot of money to fight, but he made the war like this..."

Guo Shao said: "Although Cao Bin has a large number of people, we have to consider that he is not the old soldiers in the battle formation."

Wei Renpu sighed: "The Southern Han Dynasty is weak, and the king is dissatisfied, which is much worse than the previous Southern Tang Dynasty."

Guo Shao said without hesitation: "Cao Bin has not given up yet, so let him think of a solution. We can't urge him too quickly."

Wei Renpu noticed Guo Shao's attitude and tone, so he stopped talking... Cao Bin was a talent chosen by Guo Shao himself. Before he really failed, Guo Shao was unwilling to admit that he had taken a look.

Speaking of this, the three monarchs and ministers in the study were a little silent.

Guo Shao reached out to rub his forehead a few times, and a kind of fatigue surged into his heart... Thinking about how much he did not do every day, but everything went wrong, his mood would affect him.

Guo Shao pretended to be calm and said, "You all do their own jobs, don't be too anxious."

Wei Renpu and the other two bowed and said, "I will follow my teachings."

Lu Duoxun said at this time: "Tomorrow, I will send Dangxiang people away. I will ask you to be the envoy of the court and return to Xiazhou with them to see Li Yiyin again."

Guo Shao and Wei Renpu were both surprised after hearing this. Guo Shao reminded: "This time is different from the last time. Envoy Lu went there and was in danger of his life."

Lu Duosun said seriously: "If Xiazhou rebels and kills his ministers, war will inevitably occur, and more people will die. How can I cherish the life of my ministers?"

After hearing this, Guo Shao nodded in agreement and waved silently.

The two of them clasped their fists and said, "I will leave."

Guo Shao stood up and paced in the room with some annoyance. He thought about it and said that the most favorable situation was not to happen to the west... When a war broke out in the north, the Liao Kingdom was very likely to intervene. The main front moved westward, which was not beneficial to the Central Plains dynasty, which consumed a lot of transportation. Moreover, the Liao Kingdom would have one more ally. The territory of Dangxiang in Xiazhou was not large, but the entire Dangxiang people were soldiers, and the terrain was complex, which was not easy to deal with. However, Li Yiyin was not necessarily willing to be caught between the two powerful countries and was used as a gun.

Guo Shao took a deep breath and realized that he was a little careless after he sat firmly on the throne, and the error tolerance rate for many things was still not high.

He pressed his anxiety and irritability into his heart, got up and walked out of the study.

Under the leadership of the eunuch Wang Zhong, Guo Shao walked through a corridor and went to see Li Yueji again.

Li Yueji was sitting in the old house in a daze. When she saw Guo Shao coming in, she looked at him vigilantly, and did not get up, and there was almost no etiquette. Guo Shao didn't care about it and asked kindly, "Have Concubine Li Xian improved these days?"

Li Yueji became much more haggard. She said in a low voice: "I shouldn't have let my temper and promised to escape with Brother Ku... I thought it was just a trivial matter. Even if I was caught, no one could do anything to me."

She choked up as she said, "If I were more sensible, I wouldn't have no uncle..."

Guo Shao said: "It is understandable that Concubine Li Xian suddenly came to a place that was unfamiliar with her. People will do wrong things, but the responsibility for the wrong things must be counted on me."

After hearing this, Li Yueji was a little surprised and looked up at Guo Shao: "You are so cruel to Brother Ku, why are you so tolerant to me? If I don't agree to Brother Ku, nothing will happen!"

Guo Shao refused to comment and said, "Tomorrow we will send Dangxiang to the bride team, and the corpse gifts of Wuzang's father and son are sent back to their hometown. Concubine Li Xian will go with me to send it."

Li Yueji said: "You still want to keep me here?"

Guo Shao said: "I am marrying the Li family, not marrying the Mozang family."

Li Yueji frowned and said, "Your Majesty thinks your father will marry the royal family?"

Guo Shao said: "It's hard to say now."

...

The news of the death of the father and son had long been spread to Xiazhou, and he reported from Xiazhou to go to the Liao Kingdom to go to Beijing.

General Yelu Xizhen rushed to Xiao Siwen's house when he heard the news. He was welcomed into the inner courtyard, but saw Xiao Siwen leisurely watching his younger generation play in the courtyard.

After the two of them met, Yelu Xizhen followed Xiao Siwen's gaze, looked closely, and blurted out: "Isn't that Yelu Xian?"

Xiao Siwen smiled and said, "I am also considered his uncle's family. The cousins ​​and sisters can get together. Yanyan (Xiao Chuo) often talks about her cousin. It's not easy to see it once."

Yelu Xizhen nodded thoughtfully: "My mother, Empress Huaijie, is from the Xiao family."

Yelu Xian is already thirteen or fourteen years old, and her body is a little weak, but she is still having fun with her innocent and lovely nine-year-old cousin. The two are chasing. Xiao Chuo briskly and flexibly circles a tree, looking back at Yelu Xian who bent down and couldn't catch up with her. She smiled so hard that she couldn't stop laughing, and the "giggle" laughter was like a silver bell.

Yelu Xizhen put everything about Dangxiang aside and looked at the thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy with great interest. It was not that the boy had something unique, but because of the boy's origin!

Yelu Xian’s father was Emperor Shizong of the Great Liao Dynasty; his mother was the empress of Emperor Shizong of Liao!

But the young man's status is not high now... because the current emperor belongs to the Taizong lineage; and the young man's father is from the Shizong lineage. The way the two thrones alternated was the "Huoshen Dian Incident" in which the late emperor was assassinated. Yelu Xian's embarrassing status can be imagined.

Xiao Siwen was fascinated by the cheerful look of her beautiful daughter. After a while, she came to her senses. She turned to Yelu Xizhen and said, "Is the Grand Marshal coming for Dangxiang's affairs?"

Yelu Xizhen said: "Duke Xiao should have known that the nobles Dangxiang sent their parents to their parents, and both father and son died in Lingzhou. If there is any change in Xiazhou, they will definitely seek help from the Great Liao."

Xiao Siwen nodded and said, "As long as the people of Xiazhou rebelled against Zhou, they would be the second Eastern Han Dynasty (Northern Han Dynasty) state! They are more difficult to deal with than Hedong. The people of Hedong are Han'er, and they don't work hard to fight with the Zhou army, but the Dangxiang people are different. I have sent envoys to lobby Li Yiyin again."

Yelu Xizhen bowed and said, "Duke Xiao is far-sighted and has foresight!"

Xiao Siwen said: "When the people of Zhou attacked Hedong, I insisted on full rescue, but the purpose was to protect Youzhou. The result was that when Hedong was lost, Youzhou was immediately threatened by the Zhou army. This matter is not over yet. Youzhou is related to the national destiny and must not be taken away by the Zhou people!

If something happens in Xiazhou this time, the Great Liao should do his best to protect it. The place where the confrontation with the Zhou army is moved westward. No matter whether it wins or loses, it is not our place to lose. If the battle in the west is not determined for a day, Youzhou will be safe for a day."

Yelu Xizhen has been completely impressed by Xiao Siwen's strategic insights in the past two years and has been nodding and echoing.

Seeing this, Xiao Siwen enjoyed it greatly and said in a deep voice: "The Khan also agreed with me to do my best to maintain Youzhou and promised that Xiazhou would send troops to the west whenever there was something wrong. At this time, there should be no trouble in the Daliao country. You should put the overall situation first."

Yelu Xizhen pressed his hand on his chest and bowed: "We obey Duke Xiao, and everything will be listened to Duke Xiao's views!"

Xiao Siwen praised with kind words, then turned to look at the two children playing. He squinted his eyes and was very calm.

Even the Emperor of the Great Liao is a violent king that everyone is afraid of when they see him, so what can he do? Xiao Siwen is not afraid! Yelu Jing was suspicious of Xiao Siwen a long time ago, but now he is increasingly afraid to act rashly towards Xiao Siwen. Unless he wants to die together, the Emperor of the Great Liao can only compromise!

First, the Liao royal family has always been married to the Xiao family, and almost all the prime ministers come from the Xiao family and are extremely powerful; if Yelu Jing dares to kill Xiao Siwen for nothing, it would be like he completely loses Xiao's support.

Secondly, Xiao Siwen himself also has a force. If Yelu Jing could detect what Xiao Siwen did, it should be clear. If Xiao Siwen had not mediated, Yelu Jing would face a greater risk of the accident! Unless Yelu Jing wanted to completely eradicate the threat, it would not be a good move to Xiao Siwen... Unfortunately, there were too many threats, so he might not dare to act rashly.

Xiao Siwen just depends on what Yelu Jing wants to do. Now that the emperor wants to stabilize the situation, everyone will be able to talk.

Xiao Siwen closed his eyes slightly, feeling that the time is not yet ripe. In everyone's eyes, Yelu Jing seems not to bear all his sins.

At this moment, a dull sound of "bang bang..." came from a distance. Yelu Xizhen turned his head and watched, "What sound? It won't be thunder on sunny days."

Xiao Siwen said calmly: "It should be the palace tent army training war horses, and the Khan obeyed my advice. The Zhou army had gunpowder weapons and used gunpowder cannons when attacking Youzhou, which would scare the war horses. I told the Khan made the Liao army's war horses accustomed to the sound of gunpowder explosions, so as not to lose their position in the face of the battle."

Yelu Xizhen said: "Mr. Xiao is both civil and military, and we are very impressed."
Chapter completed!