Gao Xingzhou stood on a hill on horseback, looking at Weizhou City, the capital of Ye, in the distance. The rain curtain blocked his sight, and the previously clearly defined city became blurred. The raincoat was already soaked by the autumn rain, but Gao Xingzhou allowed the slanting wind to slap the drizzle on his face and still made no plans to return to camp.
Ever since he arrived in Weizhou, he often had trouble sleeping for several days in a row. This is not a normal thing for him. Although he will reach the age of seventy in two years, his body has always been strong, otherwise he would not still be fighting at this age—— But he is indeed a veteran.
The autumn rain continued for days, and Gao Xingzhou's heart became more and more gloomy day by day with the weather.
The Jianchi of Yedu City within sight is deep, and it doesn't look like a place that can be taken lightly. Murong Yanchao didn't know much about military affairs, but he had been fighting in the south and north for decades, and had been leading troops in wars since the time of Emperor Wu of the Tang Dynasty. How could he not know the difficulty of attacking a city? In the final analysis, Murong Yanchao only rose to the position because of his family ties to the new emperor, otherwise he would not be worthy of spending these days with him.
Gao Xingzhou looked down upon Murong Yanchao, but Murong Yanchao had already put him in a very embarrassing situation. Although he firmly believed that as long as the city was trapped for a long time, Du Chongwei in the city would sooner or later be unable to surrender. But he couldn't deny that Murong Yanchao's noisy words were not entirely wrong... He was indeed thinking about his daughter in the city.
People of his age no longer care about many things. Power, women, and status are no longer so important to him, and what he has is enough. However, his relatives, especially the son and daughter under his knees, he could not let go of easily.
In Gao Xingzhou's view, waiting for Du Chongwei to surrender in the trapped city can not only avoid unnecessary casualties among the soldiers, but also allow Du Chongwei to maintain a decent result and prevent his daughter from being left a widow. This is a matter that benefits all parties. But Murong Yanchao saw his thoughts and insisted on forcing him hard...
Now that he is in this position, many things can no longer be decided by his own judgment. Just like the siege a few days ago, he naturally knew that it was a futile move that cost the lives of soldiers, but he had to do it in order to show off to Liu Zhiyuan.
Fortunately, his pretense has had its effect, and Liu Zhiyuan is on his side now. But Gao Xingzhou didn't know how long Liu Zhiyuan's patience could last.
Gao Xingzhou looked at Weizhou in the distance. The lieutenants around him thought he was thinking about the war, but they didn't know that he was just thinking about his young daughter.
…
After the rain, the sky cleared, and as expected, the superiors did not order the troops to continue attacking the city.
Guo Xin had lunch in the army, and Guo Pu suddenly reported that his uncle Li Chong came in to see him. Li Chongjin was very close to the Guo family. Now that Guo Wei was promoted to deputy privy envoy, Li Chongjin visited his family more often. However, when Guo Wei's family was in Hedong, Li Chongjin had been serving as a former imperial guard in Kaifeng Mansion, so Guo Xin was not familiar with him. After arriving in Kaifeng, he only met Li Chongjin twice when he visited Guo Wei.
Guo Xingang wanted to ask Guo Pu to invite Li Chongjin, but then he thought that although Li Chongjin was of the same generation as him, he was the oldest in his generation, one year older than Guo Rong. As an aunt, he is also the commander of Xiaodi Army in the army. He is one level higher than himself, so he should go out to greet him.
So Guo Xin put on his boots and stepped out of the tent.
The sky was cloudless after the rain, and the air was still very cold and humid. The soldiers everywhere were busy draining away the water in the camp. Li Chongjin went around the camp gate with a few cavalry followers.
"Erlang, you're fine." Li Chongjin dismounted his horse and clasped his fists slightly.
Seeing that Li Chongjin was not worthy of his position in the military, Guo Xin responded politely: "Brother, why do you have time to come to my place?"
Li Chongjin patted the wine bottle on his body: "There is nothing in the army, so I came to ask Erlang for a few words." After saying that, Li Chongjin took an object wrapped in lotus leaves from the hands of the soldiers behind him, peeled off a corner slightly, A strong aroma suddenly rushed into Guo Xin's nose.
Seeing Guo Xin's nose twitching, Li Chongjin laughed: "It's been wet and cold these days, and the officials gave roast goose to the commander and above. I thought Erlang hadn't eaten much these days, so I came here to eat with Erlang. Erlang hasn't eaten yet." ?”
Guo Xing had just eaten a meal of dough that he didn't know what to make. He didn't know how long he would have to eat in this city. How could he be at odds with the roasted goose? So he smiled and invited Li Chong to enter the tent: "We haven't eaten yet, let's go in and talk first."
The two entered the felt tent one after another. Guo Xin and Li Chongjin sat on the couch, with a low table between them. Li Chongjin placed the roast goose on the table, slowly unfolded the lotus leaves, and the dense mist of fragrance filled the room. Instantly it jumped up, and a golden-skinned and fragrant roast goose appeared in front of the two of them.
"The old man said that if you mix roast goose with old wine, you can live ninety-nine." Li Chongjin asked his soldiers to bring wine glasses, poured two glasses of wine in the pot, and pushed it to Guo Xin.
Guo Xin twitched his index finger, looked at Li Chongjin and said politely: "Money and food are hard to come by these days, and I'm afraid this goose, brother, is hard-earned."
"Expenses in the court are tight. The officials and Wang Jixiang can still cook sheep and slaughter cattle. I, the commander, can only give them to a goose. If the soldiers below can drink the broth, it will be regarded as a favor from the emperor. "
After Li Chongjin said this, he unceremoniously tore off half of the goose's butt with his hands and legs. Seeing that Guo Xin made no move, he asked again: "Why don't Erlang eat it?"
Guo Xin saw that the goose's butt had entered Li Chongjin's mouth, and the oil was dripping down his beard, and it happened to fall on his copy of "Xu Qixie Ji", so he also laughed and tore off the other half of the roast goose's butt. …
Two men with good appetites were left with nothing but skeletons on the table in no time.
Li Chongjin burped, wiped the oil on his mouth, and still said dissatisfiedly: "It's really not a good job here, and Erlang and I can't even enjoy the wine and meat."
Li Chongjin tapped his fingers on the table and said in a fierce tone: "It's just about eating. It will be even more difficult when winter comes. If you ask me, if you attack the city and kill Du Chongwei as soon as possible, the soldiers will be better." Everyone can take the reward and go home to sleep in a warm bed, why bother being trapped in the city and suffering in vain."
Guo Xin was short-tongued, and there was no need to refute, so he casually flattered him and said, "What my uncle said is that Du Chongwei will die sooner or later if he just sits there and waits for death."
Li Chongjin asked again: "How long do you think the officials will keep their troops on guard?"
Guo Xin thought for a moment: "As my uncle said, the government is short of money. If Du Chongwei is still unwilling to surrender, I'm afraid the army will not be in a stalemate under the city for too long."
Li Chongjin showed a sly smile: "Brother Rong told me before that I still didn't believe it, but now it seems that Erlang is indeed very knowledgeable."
Guo Xin smiled and didn't say much. Li Chongjin came closer and said, "I often go in and out of the Chinese army and have heard about it. Although the officials ordered Murong Yanchao to apologize to Taifu Gao, Murong Yanchao still went in and out of the officials' accounts every day. , strongly urged the officials to attack the city... I also heard that Han Xun of Inner Palace wanted to build a new chariot. Inner Palace is the official's personal guard, how can it be without the official's approval? "
Li Zhong kept talking, but Guo Xin was very interested in the car-throwing in Li Zhongjin's words. He had also heard of cart-throwing equipment, which was probably a stone-throwing device. However, because the technology was slightly more complicated than a cart-throwing machine, and the military organizations were in chaos at this time, it was not often possible to build it... On the other hand, that thing It seems that the effect in the past has been very limited.
But Guo Xin still decided to go to Han Xun to observe and learn. Maybe he could make some improvements with his limited knowledge of later generations, which would save some soldiers from casualties and would also be of great benefit to the siege.
The two talked for a while in the tent. Li Chongjin was different from Shi Dejuan in his straightforwardness, but in a smart and frank manner. He talked congenially with Guo Xin, but Li Chongjin had no choice but to have commanders on his shoulders and many military matters. After a while, he was ready to say goodbye and return to the camp.
Guo Xin escorted Li Chong in and out of the tent. Li Chongjin clasped his fists in front of his horse and said, "Erlang and I are brothers. It's just that we were separated from each other in the past and were very estranged from each other. If you can find me usefully in the future, just come to Xiaodi Army to find me." .”
Guo Xin also replied politely, and Li Chongjin smiled and patted his horse away. Looking at Li Chongjin disappearing outside the camp gate, Guo Xinxin was thoughtful.
