When the Hezhong army was defeated, Guo Wei ordered his generals to clean up the battlefield and set up camp. The next day, he went to the Chinese army's tent to discuss matters.
When Guo Xin arrived at the central army, Guo Wei was already sitting on his seat. The generals of the Han army in the tent were red-faced and talking loudly to each other about the results of yesterday's battle.
After all the generals arrived, Guo Wei first announced the status of yesterday's battle in the tent, saying that the troops in the river were unable to fight, and that Li Shouzhen was at the end of his rope. Although he later ordered his guards to escort the prisoners of war from the Hezhong Army into the tent.
After the war yesterday, the Han army captured more than one general of the Hezhong Army. Seven or eight people were taken to the Chinese army's tent. Among them was Zheng Bin, the commander of the Hezhong Horse Army captured by Zhao Kuangyin.
All the captives were kneeling on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs. Guo Xin looked at their faces and saw that the dust and blood on their faces had not been wiped off. After removing their armor, they looked even more embarrassed. As for the performance of each of them, some lowered their heads and said nothing, while others were still struggling and shouting: "Kill if you want! Why humiliate!"
"Mr. Guo! Gong Gong, spare your life! I want to surrender, don't kill me!" Zheng Bin, who was captured yesterday, was lying on the ground, staring at his eyes and shouted first, followed by another voice: "The guilty general Wei Yanlang, I am also willing to join the imperial court!"
"You bitch!" A subordinate who would rather die than surrender spat right into Zheng Bin's face after scolding him.
Not only the surrendered generals, but also the generals around Guo Wei looked at Zheng Bin with undisguised disdain on their faces. Guo Xin observed this with his eyes, thinking that at this time, the martial arts habits in the army would treat surrender more contemptuously than rebellion.
The expressions of Zheng and Wei also became very embarrassed.
Everyone was waiting for Guo Wei's reaction, and saw Guo Wei looking down with a look of disdain: "Is there any reason why he should not be killed for the crime of rebellion?" After saying that, he ordered the guards to drag out the guilty generals for questioning.
"Wait!" A voice suddenly appeared in the tent.
Guo Xin looked at the voice in surprise and saw that the person speaking was Wu Qianyu, the governor of Hezhong who had also made great achievements yesterday.
Wu Qianyu said calmly: "I'm afraid it's inappropriate for Mr. Guo to do this. The officials had previously issued an edict: rebellion in the river will stop the original evil, and the rest will be corrected. Don't worry about anything else. Now that these two people are willing to join the imperial court, why bother?" Are you going to kill again?"
Wu Qianyu has served the Liu family for many years. Now he is the envoy of the Hui Dynasty in the court, and he can be said to be a highly favored figure. In this battle, the military commander of the Han army's camp in the middle of the river was originally Wang Jun, but Shang Hongqian's death was so unexpected that the court had to transfer Wang Jun to Chang'an to check and balance the military governor Guo Congyi. Since then, Wu Qianyu has replaced Wang Jun and become the only person in the Hezhong camp who can check Guo Wei.
Because of his special status, Wu Qianyu represented the existence of the official family in the army. At this time, he deliberately cited Liu Chengyou's decree at the beginning of the year as his support. Therefore, as soon as his words came out, Guo Wei could not answer them for a while. . Guo Xin observed carefully and noticed that Guo Wei's face seemed unconcerned, but there seemed to be some anger in his eyes.
The generals below were also silent. Although no one spoke out to object, they seemed not to be satisfied with Wu Qianyu's words. Everyone has spent more than half a year in the city, and everyone has to have some temper. Now that they have finally caught a few big ones, how can they let them go so willingly?
Guo Xin thought to himself: Wu Qianyu caught such a small loophole in front of all the generals in the army, probably to damage Guo Wei's prestige in the army. As for the matter of killing the rebels, whether it was a big deal or a small matter, Guo Wei, as the commander-in-chief, could handle it by himself, but Wu Qianyu mentioned it like this, and it was impossible to violate the official will in public. Guo Wei is really hard to deal with now.
A proud smile appeared on Wu Qianyu's face. At this moment, Guo Xin thought of the scene before the battle yesterday and suddenly became concerned.
Just do it! Guo Xin immediately came out boldly and said with a military salute: "When the general captured Zheng Bin in front of the formation, he said that he had confidential military information in the city and wanted to report it. The general is bold enough to make a suggestion. It is better to listen to what he said first. If it is true, It will be beneficial for our army to break the city and avoid his death."
After Guo Xin finished speaking, he glared coldly at Zheng Bin who was kneeling on the ground. Zheng Bin immediately understood and nodded like garlic: "Yes! Yes, yes! The guilty general does have confidential military intelligence report! I am willing to report it to Duke Guo and pay for his crime with merit." .”
Guo Xin clasped his fists and asked Guo Wei for instructions, and met Guo Wei's complicated eyes. Then he heard Guo Wei snort coldly, and his face turned very grim: "In that case, why don't you tell the truth?"
Zheng Bin flattered with a flattering expression: "Guo Gong is wise, and all the generals have learned clearly that fifty-six out of ten people in the city have died of starvation. Li Ni is helpless in the city. He can only drink and have fun in the mansion day and night, and ask monks and Taoists for divination. All the troops in the city have turned away from Li Ni. As long as Duke Guo sends his generals to attack the city now, they will definitely be able to..."
Before he finished speaking, Wei Yanlang on the side was not to be followed, he knelt and crawled forward two steps: "The guilty general thought that as long as Duke Guo used his flying feathers outside the city to send a letter of surrender to the city, the enemy troops would naturally surrender. The city was destroyed without a fight!"
After hearing this, Guo Xin felt that what the two people said was actually nonsense. If Li Shouzhen felt that there was still hope for defending the city, he would not have sent troops to break out and take a big gamble with a small amount of money.
However, all Guo Wei needed was a step, and he quickly waved his hand and said: "You follow the rebellion, and you should be punished. However, Your Majesty has the virtue of benevolence, and remembers that you have returned from the lost way, and you have done meritorious service. I will be exempted." Once you die, you will be demoted to common people from now on."
Zheng and Wei were immediately taken down, while the other guilty generals were still questioned and executed in the army. Wu Qianyu said nothing more and returned to sit in the column.
The brief turmoil ended here, and then came the merit-based rewards after the great victory. Guo Wei always treated the armies with rewards for small achievements and no punishment for small offenses. What's more, yesterday was the biggest victory of the Han army since they arrived in Hezhong. Countless people were killed. The result of a complete victory was the most morale-boosting result, so everyone seemed to have forgotten After the brief scene just now, the atmosphere in the tent became warm again.
When the cheerful and lively atmosphere in the tent reached its peak, Guo Wei said: "Now that the soldiers and civilians in the city are exhausted, the thieves are already at their wits end. It's time for us to attack."
Then Guo Wei asked the generals for advice on how to attack the city. Liu Ci, Bai Yanke and others suggested some common methods, but Guo Wei was unconvinced.
Guo Xin wanted to propose making his own tiger-shooting cannon to attack the city...but he had just offered to help Guo Wei out of the siege before he burned the incense. At this time, being in the limelight would inevitably attract controversy. He was suspected of interfering in the military as Guo Wei's son, so he gave up after thinking about it. , it’s not too late to suggest it to Guo Wei in private.
The generals deliberated for a while, and finally came up with a strategy that was not considered a strategy: first concentrate their forces to attack Xiguan City, which faced the plains for easy attack, and then attack Zicheng inward.
Guo Wei straightened his robes and crown, stood up and said in a firm and majestic tone: "Generals, listen to the order! Each army will supervise the construction of equipment. In fifteen days, troops will be sent to break the city and eliminate the national troubles!"
