Guo Xin left Wang Shiliang to continue to blockade Li Shouzhen's house, and then went with Wang Pu to find Guo Wei's return.
Guo Wei had used the Jiedu Envoy's Office in the river as a temporary residence. When he entered the office, he saw blood stains that had not yet dried up everywhere. However, the corpses after the massacre were gone, leaving only many broken objects scattered on the ground.
Guo Xin and Wang Pu walked through the messy front yard and saw Guo Wei, Liu Ci and others in a side hall of the back office.
There are seven or eight short tables in the side hall, and letters and papers are piled on top of the low tables. Guo Wei, wearing military armor, sat cross-legged behind one of the low tables, quickly flipping through the letters he picked up from the table, his expression very gloomy.
The side hall was surprisingly quiet. Bai Wenke, Hu Yanke, and Liu Ci stood aside with their hands down. Even they did not dare to make a sound, looking like they were holding their breath and concentrating. Seeing this, Guo Xin and Wang Pu had no choice but to wait below with several capital commanders.
Not long after, Guo Wei raised his eyes to look at everyone, and suddenly slapped his hand on the case. There was a loud "bang" sound, and everyone present was shocked. All the letters on the case were knocked to the ground, while Guo Wei's wide eyes swept over everyone's faces.
Everyone was shocked. Guo Xin also saw Guo Wei angry for the first time. For a moment, he felt that Guo Wei seemed to be a completely different person.
"I'm waiting here to kill the thief, but I don't know how many people behind me are in league with the thief." Guo Wei's tone was low, but Guo Xin felt that there was overwhelming anger suppressed in it.
Liu Ci leaned over to pick up the letters scattered on the ground, but noticed that Hu and Bai beside him were unmoved, and their slightly bent waist immediately straightened up again.
Guo Wei stood up suddenly, put his hands behind his back, and asked a question: "Li Shouzhen was trapped in an isolated city, but he dared to resist the imperial court on his own. We thought that Li Shouzhen was old and fatuous, but unexpectedly it was not his wishful thinking, but outside the pass, There are even many people in Tokyo City and several towns in Shandong who want to hand him knives secretly... Tens of thousands of our soldiers have been fighting hard for a year. If they know the details of this, how can the morale of the army be at ease?"
Several generals were speechless and could only exchange glances with each other below. Hu and Bai above just frowned and said nothing. Only Liu Ci immediately changed his expression: "We are selling ourselves to death, but it turns out that the bandits are not only inside the city, but also outside the city?"
Hu Yanke nodded in agreement: "Such Xiaoxiao is really hateful!"
Then Bai Wenke also let out a long sigh: "The ministers in the court eat the emperor's salary, and the vassal commanders and commanders receive the favor of the court. Who is not favored by the court? This generation of treacherous ministers really has a debt to the court and to the official family. "
Guo Xin looked at Guo Wei closely and saw that the three of them had expressed their stance. He was about to express his support when he suddenly felt his sleeve being tugged. When he looked back, it was Wang Pu who shook his head imperceptibly.
At this time, Guo Wei's expression became serious and he glanced around the hall: "In this case, what do you think we should do?"
Liu Ci made an impassioned speech: "How can the morale of the army be calmed if the traitors in the court are not dead? If the commander-in-chief wants to report to the Central Committee, I am willing to submit the letter together with him!"
Hu Yanke and Bai Wenke immediately expressed their stance. Although their attitudes were not as enthusiastic as Liu Ci's, they still expressed their support to Guo Wei.
At this moment, Wang Pu's voice suddenly sounded among the warriors: "No!"
Everyone looked at Wang Pu in surprise. Wang Pu immediately stepped forward, bowed to Guo Wei first, and then bowed his hands to Liu Ci and the other three. He said unhurriedly: "I think everything should be done to the emperor." Thinking twice, taking these letters as an example, although the vassal officials' collusion with thieves damaged the dignity of the court, Li Shouzhen was dead and the matter did not cause serious harm. As for the fact that the letters are now in public hands, it is enough to frighten Xiaoxiao.
I humbly heard that the demons came out at night and fled at sunrise. Now that the most difficult town of the three towns has been conquered, the little thief Fengxiang of Chang'an is not afraid. It is the time when the group of thieves are fleeing and Guanzhong is recovering. The general situation has been decided, why don't you learn from the Wei Wu of the future and burn all the letters here to calm the hearts of all the princes in the world? "
Guo Xin observed Guo Wei's expression and clearly noticed that Guo Wei's eyes lit up for a moment and then immediately calmed down. Although it was only for a moment, Guo Xin suddenly had a feeling: Guo Wei was not really angry, but pretending to be angry!
Guo Wei then sat down again, pondering slightly, as if after some careful thinking, he then said: "Without Wang Pu's words, we a bunch of rough guys almost missed the important event. The imperial court has been using troops for many years, and now it is a year old. There is more than enough, and there are still two towns that have not been pacified. The armies and the three divisions can no longer afford to make trouble with the current plan.
As the prime minister, I have to consider the overall situation of the imperial court, so I follow Wang Pu's words and burn this palace and these letters to calm the world. What do you think? "
Guo Wei's sudden change of attitude caught everyone by surprise, but when Guo Xin thought about it carefully, it seemed that Guo Wei had just raised the issue for everyone to debate, and had never expressed his attitude before Wang Pu spoke. It was just that Liu Ci and Guo Wei were getting closer. , making everyone mistakenly think that what Liu Ci said was what Guo Wei meant.
Bai Wenke asked: "I just don't know if the hearts of the world are at peace, and whether the hearts of the army are at peace?"
Guo Wei remained silent, and Wang Pu once again raised his hand and said: "The traitors in the court are just silverfish. The rebels have been defeated, and the military's expectation is to repair and reward them. After the commander is rewarded, all the troops will perform their duties, and what will happen here at that time But the spring breeze blows through the grass, and there will be no other words in the future.”
"In this case, I have no objection and will just follow what the envoy said." Bai Wenke turned to Guo Wei and worshiped.
With Bai Wenke taking the lead, the rest of the generals immediately responded.
Guo Wei quickly made a decision: "Tomorrow we will discuss matters in the hall. Please don't tell the soldiers about the secrets here."
Walking out of the palace alone, Guo Xinxin was still trying to figure out what happened in the palace just now: Wang Pu grabbed him at that time, obviously because it was not the time for him to speak, but Guo Wei deliberately took this opportunity to test Bai, Hu and others. They all command the attitude of the envoys.
As for what Wang Pu said, it didn't look like an idea at all. Could it be a play planned by Guo Wei and Wang Pu in advance? However, Wang Pu followed him after entering the city. There was no reason to know what happened in the side hall, unless Guo Wei had already known that there was someone in the court who collaborated with the enemy!
Guo Weizheng, with the power of great victory, easily suppressed the two Jiedu envoys and the chief general of the Forbidden Army in only a side hall in front of all the generals. This was the method. In addition to those letters that only Guo Wei has read, from now on, from the imperial court to the feudal towns, no matter who has communicated with Li Shouzhen or not, doesn't everyone have to be wary of Guo Wei?
Thinking of this, Guo Xin suddenly recalled what Wang Pu said in the palace. Wasn't the Wei Wu who burned the letter Cao Cao? Wang Pu is really good at giving examples.
When Guo Xin looked back, a wisp of green smoke had risen from behind him.
…
The Han army completely took over Hezhong City. Guo Wei mobilized the forbidden troops to stay in the city, while the remaining vassal troops from outer towns were still stationed in the camp outside the city. Later, he ordered Wang Pu and other subordinate officials to issue a notice to calm the people, and held discussions in the Yashengtang of the Jiedu Envoy Office.
The position of the Jiedu envoy in the river was vacant. Guo Wei naturally sat in the main seat, and Guo Xin stood among the generals.
Soon, Guo Wei ordered the prime ministers Jingyu and Sun Yuan appointed by Li Shouzhen, the Privy Councilor Liu Rui, as well as the fat monk Zong Lun whom Guo Xin had seen in the Li Mansion and other filthy criminals to be escorted into the palace, where they would stay in front of everyone. After the general read out the crime in front of him, he ordered the sergeant waiting outside the door to escort him to the prisoner presentation palace in Tokyo.
After the discussion of crimes came the discussion of merits. Wang Pu read out the rewards and appointments for the meritorious soldiers:
"Wang Yanchao captured the enemy's formation and planned to be promoted to the Commander of the Left Wing of the Protector of the Saint; Han Tong performed meritoriously in the battle and was declared the Marquis of Yu, the capital of the right wing of the country; Wang Shenqi fought desperately in front of the formation and was promoted to the deputy general of the Left Wing..."
Guo Wei has already drafted the Privy Council Notice in advance, and after returning to Tokyo and submitting it to the Privy Council Chief Yang Bin and the Guards Division Chief Shi Hongzhao for approval, the promoted generals can take up their posts in the Forbidden Army.
The air in the hall was filled with an atmosphere of joy. There were countless soldiers listed on the reward rolls. Even those generals and generals who used to have serious faces and frowns were all beaming with joy at this time.
"You, the generals, have gone through hardships together. Now that the bandits have been defeated, we will return to the court as soon as we get the order. In the recent days, the troops should be repaired and repaired!"
A series of personnel changes for the expedition to the Forbidden Army had been completed in Hezhong Mansion, but the selection of Hezhong Jiedushi after Li Shouzhen was not within Guo Wei's power.
According to common sense, the most likely candidate for the Jiedushi of Hezhong should be between Bai Wenke, the Jiedushi of Baoyi (Shaanzhou), and Hu Yanke, the Jiedushi of Zhenguo (Huazhou), who came to quell the rebellion. Of course Another possible candidate is Liu Ci, who has not yet taken charge of the town but is qualified to lead the town. Not long ago, Shang Hongqian inherited the position of commander of the infantry capital of the guards.
Although Hezhong Prefecture is not a rich land, it is far away from Khitan, Tang, Shu and other countries. Compared with places such as Hebei and Guanxi, it is obviously a good territory. In addition, this place guards Pujin, controls Hehe in the north and holds Shaanxi and Guo in the southeast. The terrain is advantageous. This led to his prominent position, which was also an important reason why Li Shouzhen dared to rebel with a town in the river.
The three major coaches, Bai, Hu and Liu, were all showing their favor to Guo Wei either explicitly or covertly.
A few days later, Tokyo sent envoys to Hezhong Prefecture to read out edicts to reward the soldiers, and brought a large number of cattle, sheep, and property to reward the troops. The Han army camp was suddenly full of joy, even more lively than during the New Year.
