Now that Tongguan had been recovered, the vanguard army continued to march westward, arriving at the foot of Shaanzhou City two days later.
Although the city of Shaanzhou is not big, it is close to the Yellow River, so it is the military base of the Baoyi Army. On the way, Guo Xin had already learned about the situation in Shaanzhou from Wang Kou. The former Baoyi Army's military governor Zhao Hui had been there for half a month. The imperial envoy to Fengxiang had been moved to replace Wang Jingchong. Two weeks ago, he led his troops into Guanzhong at the head of the vanguard army, while the new Baoyi envoy Bai Wenke was still on his way from Yunzhou. Wang Yu, the commander of Shaanzhou's military and horse forces who had just conquered Tongguan, was leading the remaining state soldiers in Tongguan to prevent the soldiers and horses in the river from coming back.
Shaanzhou City was only ten miles away from the Yellow River. Guo Xin rode up to a high place and could already see the Yellow River from a distance. It was summer and the water volume was large. He saw the Yellow River turning north of Shaanzhou City. The fjord is almost right-angled. Although it is too far to see the waves clearly, you can already vaguely hear the sound of rushing waves hitting the shore.
Last year, Liu Zhiyuan crossed the river from the other side to enter the Central Plains and win the world. This year, he will pass here to defend the world for the Liu family. It is not only the river that is flowing endlessly, but also the soldiers and horses that have been coming here for thousands of years are also carrying out a certain process. Kind of reincarnation.
Wang Jin ordered the army to set up camp three miles west of the city. Soon, officials from the city came to reward the army with cattle and sheep. The soldiers had been running around for more than ten days and had already eaten enough dry food, mud and water. The army was killing sheep and cattle all the time, and it was a lively scene. Guo Xin was also invited by Wang Jin to have a banquet in the middle tent. In addition to several commanders, there were also several state officials from the Shaanzhou government office.
The banquet was naturally more than just eating and drinking. After three rounds of drinking, Wang Jin asked about the details of the recapture of Tongguan a few days ago.
The civil official who was asked knew everything and said: "After Zhao Gong went west, he was worried that the empty Tongguan Pass would be captured by thieves, so he set up an ambush in the pass early as a precaution. When Wang Dujian lit a fire in front of the pass at night as a signal, the thieves were sleeping soundly, and they were violently attacked. All those who were attacked fled away, but it was a pity that the thief general Wang Jixun led his troops to break through and failed to achieve full success."
"Zhao Gong is really a wise general!" Everyone applauded, and Guo Xin also praised him. Zhao Hui is really a talented general. Otherwise, if Tongguan fell into the hands of Li Shouzhen, it would only become more difficult to suppress the rebellion.
The good news of recapturing Tongguan was like a spring breeze, which suddenly eased the pressure of Guo Xin and others to fight. It also made the atmosphere of the entire banquet very relaxed and happy. Even Qi Tingxun, who was talking depressingly not long ago, repeatedly raised his glass to Wang Jin. Toast.
Wang Jin also did not forget to encourage everyone's morale at this time: "Although the three thieves Li Shouzhen, Zhao Siwan, and Wang Jingchong have rebelled, there are also loyal ministers of our court in Guanzhong, including Huazhou Hugong Yanke, Pizhou Wanggong Shouen, and Jingzhou Shigong Kuangwei. We are all doing our duty to defend the territory, but the three rebel towns have made no progress and are only shrinking their cities. When we and the imperial army enter the pass, we will be like a broken bamboo and completely destroy the three towns."
The army only stayed in Shaanzhou for one day before continuing on the road. After passing Shaanzhou, they arrived at the Xiaoqin Mountains. There are rolling hills and mountains to the south. The official road basically meandered along the Yellow River. After three days of walking, they almost reached Tongguan. , Guo Xin and others finally received military orders from the Privy Council in the rear.
Wang Jin quickly gathered the generals in front of the army to listen to the order. Only then did Guo Xin find that the person who came to deliver the order was an acquaintance - Zan Jurun. Zan Jurun was not surprised to see Guo Xin. He obviously knew that he was in the army. He smiled and nodded to Guo Xin, and then began to announce the decree in public.
There are only two orders from the Privy Council brought by Zan Jurun. One is a general document from the imperial court Xiaoyu's military prefectures and counties, stating that the imperial court has mobilized troops and generals to form two camps in Hezhong and Yongxing. Among them, Guo Congyi, the envoy of Zhenning Jiedu, is Yongxing. The Xingxing camp was deployed, with Shang Hongqian, the commander of the Xingjie Youxiangdu of the Forbidden Army, as the camp capital Yuhou, who led the Zhenning Army headquarters and the Xingjie Youxiang troops to attack Zhao Siwan; Baoyi Jiedu envoy Bai Wenke was also used as the camp capital in the middle of the river. According to the deployment, Liu Ci, the commander of the left wing of the country, was the camp capital of Yuhou, and Huazhou Hu Yanke, Luzhou Changsi and other Jiedu envoys were sent to attack Li Shouzhen.
The second is to issue military orders specifically for the vanguard army, ordering Wang Jin's headquarters to divide the vanguard troops into the Yongxing camp, and obey the orders of the camp to deploy Guo Congyi to go to Yongxing Prefecture (Chang'an).
After announcing the decree, the army continued on its way. Zan Jurun also carried the commendation of the Tongguan soldiers, so he temporarily accompanied the army to Tongguan.
When Guo Xin returned to his army, he heard Guo Pu complaining: "Zan Jurun has received a lot of favors from brother Yi and Lang Jun. Why doesn't he come to say hello to brother Yi? Instead, he makes out with Wang Jin."
Guo Xin shook his head: "Although we have a personal relationship, he is currently on official business, so naturally it is not easy for him to meet me in public. If he wants to meet me, he must meet me privately at night."
"Anyway, the Privy Council now also has the surname Guo. What's the difference between a public official and a private official?"
Guo Xin's mouth twitched, he glanced at the soldiers marching silently around him who seemed to have heard nothing, and slapped Guo Pu on the head: "Nonsense! All imperial yamen are named Liu."
After teaching Guo Pu a lesson, Guo Xin also thought to himself that in a few years the imperial court would really have the surname Guo.
After traveling all night, Guo Xin waited for his soldiers to set up a tent for him and spread the bedding. He was about to take a rest when he saw Guo Pu poke his head in with a smile on his face: "Brother Yi never lies when he speaks. Mr. Zan is indeed here." .”
Guo Xin quickly ordered Guo Pu: "Please come in quickly."
Zan Jurun quickly opened the curtain and walked in. He cupped his hands towards Guo Xin and said, "I'm asking for a private meeting. I hope it won't disturb General Guo's rest."
Guo Xin also smiled and returned the salute, pointing to the Hu chair beside him: "The army is simple and simple, Mr. Zan, please sit down. If Mr. Zan's coming is just a disturbance, then I wish there were people here to disturb me every day. By the way, Mr. Zan If you're not on duty at the Military Registration Department, why are you here suffering so much hardship?"
Zan Jurun sat on the short Hu chair nonchalantly and explained it to Guo Xin in detail. It turns out that Guo Wei was previously promoted from Deputy Privy Envoy to Chief Envoy, and Yang Bin also took away many direct staff from the Privy Council because of his concurrent appointment as Tongping Zhangshi, resulting in many vacancies in the Privy Council. Zan Jurun was naturally promoted next to Guo Wei, and is now being promoted to Privy Council. In accordance with the decree, he was responsible for drafting and submitting military orders to the Privy Council, and he was considered to be an important position in the court.
"I had known that Mr. Zan was talented. In these difficult times, when the court is employing people, Mr. Zan will be of great use in the future."
"General Guo has already said that it is just a matter of relying on Prime Minister Cheng's appreciation and being loyal to the emperor." Zan Jurun was humble and took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Guo Xin, "This is what the Prime Minister asked me to give to you." General Guo’s home letter.”
Hearing that Guo Wei had written a letter home to him, Guo Xin was surprised and hurriedly took it with both hands and read it.
Guo Wei's letter was extremely concise and concise, with only a few sentences in it, which was no different from an official document from the Privy Council. In addition to encouraging him to fight hard, the content also mentioned a family matter: his sister-in-law Wang was pregnant.
Guo Tong and Wang were married for only two months, and now they are pregnant. It seems that although Guo Tong is weak, he is doing well in that regard. If the war goes well, maybe I can see the Guo family’s new child when I return to Tokyo.
Seeing Guo Xin put away his family letter, Zan Jurun said: "The Prime Minister is busy with everything, but he still misses the general. This shows that the Prime Minister loves his son. If General Guo has a message for the Prime Minister, I can also deliver it on my behalf."
Guo Xin thought for a while: "Then I would like to ask Mr. Zan to tell my father on my behalf that the child will obey the instructions carefully. In addition, the morale of the army is high, and they are not afraid of Li Shouzhen and other thieves. Please rest assured, father and the court officials." . Please also ask my mother and family members not to worry about me."
…
On April 15, the vanguard army arrived at Tongguan, leaving Zan Jurun and his party behind but did not stop at Tongguan and continued marching southwest to find out whether Zhao Siwan was real or not.
