A faint smile!
There was a touch of warmth in Guo Rong's eyes. Although he had lofty ideals and ambitions, Guo Rong knew better that because he had a bad temper since he was a child, he had always been able to suppress his temper with outsiders. Later, he followed an expert to do business abroad. Although he learned a lot more forbearance and discovered his own shortcomings, as the saying goes, it is easy to change the situation, but it is hard to change the nature, and Guo Rong still could not completely control himself.
Looking at this erect palace maid, Guo Rong seemed to be in a trance, as if he saw her shadow. Although she is not as noble and beautiful as her, her persistence and gentleness are very similar to her.
Looking at her figure, although it was not as plump and moving as hers, the image he saw in a trance seemed to be her standing next to him.
That is the eternal pain in Guo Rong's heart, but for his own ambition, Guo Rong knows that there must be a lot of reluctance and pain in life. Occupying the highest position in this era, people say that it is too cold to be at high places, but Guo Rong knows that there is a farewell at this high place.
It was the third year after he ascended the throne that Guo Rong personally led troops to conquer the Southern Tang Dynasty. Queen Xuanyi believed that the area south of the Yangtze River was not suitable for imperial conquests and tried her best to dissuade Guo Rong. But how could Guo Rong listen, because he knew that the Central Plains had no supplies at all due to years of war.
As a teacher of justice, Guo Rong must have a reputation. Although everyone knows what is going on, they cannot pierce this film to the outside world. Looting the land and materials of the Southern Tang Dynasty could not only replenish the empty treasury of the Central Plains, but also prepare for the next conquest.
Guo Rong did not explain to Queen Xuanyi, but he had to fight in person because there was another reason: his grasp of the Zhou army was not thorough and comprehensive enough. In this era when handsome men wanted to be kings, Guo Rong could only establish his prestige among the army and the feudal lords by conquering it himself.
Guo Rongyi went without hesitation, and Queen Xuanyi had no choice but to follow him.
It was a hot summer day, and there was no progress at all after the army pushed southward. Guo Rong was also depressed. He would never forget that day. Because he saw that his team was making no progress, he personally went to the front line to supervise the battle and inspect the military situation.
Empress Xuan Yi, who was born as a general, was a woman, so she naturally followed her. The two of them and an army of bodyguards came to the riverside to watch the enemy camp. Who knew that the other party actually knew that someone was spying on him and sent a team of spies to harass him.
The scale of the harassment this time was not large. Although it would not affect Guo Rong, it just happened to entangle Guo Rong and his party. Queen Xuanyi was naturally worried about Guo Rong's safety and followed Guo Rong every step of the way. She didn't even know that she had just become pregnant with a dragon fetus.
When Guo Rong was harassed by the other side's spies and couldn't get away, it suddenly started raining heavily. When the two sides were entangled on the front line, although Queen Xuanyi was not injured at all, she was drenched.
After the guards and soldiers who came to support drove away the Tang Army's spies, Guo Rong happily praised the accompanying guards. After everyone returned to the military camp calmly, Queen Xuanyi felt tired and uncomfortable.
After the accompanying military doctor took Queen Xuan Yi's pulse, he naturally discovered that the queen was pregnant with a dragon fetus. But because Xuan Yi had already suffered from the cold, and the military doctor was also the imperial doctor in the palace, he naturally reported it with great fear.
Although Queen Xuanyi had both joys and sorrows, she also made Guo Rong regret it.
Because Queen Xuanyi subsequently suffered from heatstroke and severe wind-chill. Although people hurriedly sent Queen Xuan Yi to Kaifeng, the capital, they saw that the situation was dire along the way. No matter how many doctors arrived, they were unable to save her.
A few days after Queen Xuanyi returned to Kaifeng, she rode a crane back to the west.
Although Guo Rong was out of court for seven days, this incident has since become a pain in Guo Rong's heart. Because Queen Xuanyi was more than just his wife to Guo Rong, he always compared her to Queen Changsun.
For outsiders and foreign ministers, they may just regard Queen Xuanyi as a rare and strange woman in the world.
Because she is not Guo Rong's first wife, her marriage to Guo Rong is not her first marriage. Queen Xuanyi was originally married to someone else, and this person turned out to be famous. That was Li Chongxun, the son of Li Shouzhen, the governor of Hezhong, one of the major festivals of the Later Han Dynasty.
Although he was a minister in the post-Han Dynasty in the troubled times of the Central Plains, Li Shouzhen became uneasy and wanted to be the emperor because he saw that the emperor had changed in a few years and he had a large number of troops.
At this time, Hou Han was not stable, and no one could control Li Shouzhen, so he had always been a little restless. He secretly invited a Taoist priest to come back to read the family's fortune. Who knew that after the Taoist priest saw that Queen Xuanyi had an extraordinary face, he told Li Shouzhen that she would be a mother to the world.
Li Shouzhen believed it to be true, and actually started an army with his son Li Chongxun. The commander who led the troops to quell the rebellion this year was Guo Rong's uncle, the later emperor Guo Wei. Although Li Shouzhen was defeated and fell to his death, his son Li Chongxun also knew that he would not be spared.
This Li Chongxun was a ruthless character. He killed his younger brothers and sisters with a sword, and then wanted to kill his wife Fu Shi before committing suicide. Who would have known that the Fu family, who was born in a general family, and later became Queen Xuan Yi, would have some insight and great courage. When Li Chongxun was looking for her, she actually escaped by hiding behind the curtain.
The rebel army had no general, and Guo Wei's army easily invaded the Li Mansion. Han soldiers found Queen Xuanyi, who took the initiative to reveal her identity. Firstly, she is Li Shouzhen's daughter-in-law, and she is a big shot this time; secondly, her father is the prince of Han Dynasty, which is extremely precious in this era.
The soldiers who searched Li's mansion were impressed by her appearance and courage. He also knew that she was the daughter of King Wei Fu Yanqing, so he took her to see Guo Wei.
Guo Wei was a bit concerned at this time. Although he was not a new vassal town, his scope of influence had always been limited. After all, Fu Yanqing has been a general for generations and is a famous prince in this era. Guo Wei naturally thought that this was an excellent opportunity.
For Guo Wei himself, he could handle it by himself after picking up Fu Xuanyi's treasure. After all, the biggest need of the imperial court is to pacify the Hezhong area. If it were any other person, he would end up like Li Shouzhen.
Although Fu Yanqing did not seize the throne as king, nor did he have the slightest intention to express his support for Li Shouzhen, several of his brothers were military governors, and his daughter was Li Shouzhen's daughter-in-law.
The imperial court did not dare to offend Fu Yanqing, but also did not want him to become more powerful. It was obviously a good idea to use Guo Wei to contain Fu Yanqing. Therefore, the court's original decision was to let Guo Wei act on his own convenience.
This undoubtedly gave Guo Wei a great opportunity. Guo Wei wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to get close to Fu Yanqing and his family, so he praised the Fu family and acknowledged Queen Xuanyi of the Fu family with great righteousness. As a foster daughter.
Because everyone in her husband's family died, the traditional and conservative Princess Wei wanted her daughter to become a nun in order to uphold the virtues and etiquette of her husband's family. But Queen Xuanyi herself had great ideas, and her ability to escape death showed her unique decision-making.
Naturally, she refused to obey at that time, and said to her mother something that will be famous in later history: "Life and death have their destiny, it is God, so why destroy the body and hair!"
Apparently when Guo Wei came into contact with Fu, he tested her tone and thoughts, and when he saw her insight and courage, he naturally admired her very much. If it were anyone else, he would probably take Fu as his wife. After all, there are many benefits to marrying Fu. But Guo Wei was an extremely self-disciplined person. His character can be seen from his simplicity after he ascended the throne.
Although he admired Mrs. Fu, he did not accept both. He happened to see the death of his nephew Chai Rong's first wife, Mrs. Liu, and privately asked Chai Rong how he felt about Mrs. Fu. Chai Rong naturally admired Mrs. Fu's courage very much. Guo Wei was overjoyed and wanted to get close to Fu Yanqing, so he proposed marriage to Fu Yanqing on behalf of Chai Rong. Fu Yanqing saw that Guo Wei was becoming more and more powerful, especially after pacifying Hezhong, his momentum had reached its highest point. The most important thing was that he saw that Guo Wei was far from being comparable to Li Shouzhen. He was also a person with ideas and a good livelihood, so he promised to marry Queen Xuanyi to Chai Rong.
In this year, Guo Wei replaced the Later Han Dynasty and established the Later Zhou Dynasty. However, Fu family followed Chai Rong all the way to the war until he became a stayer in the first mansion. In the end, Chai Rong became Guo Rong, and he rose from the governor of Kaifeng to the crown prince. In the end, he even made suggestions to help Guo Rong securely ascend the throne.
The importance of Xuanyi Fu in Guo Rong's heart is no longer comparable to that of ordinary relatives. Beauties love heroes. Although the unexpected death of Queen Xuanyi caused eternal pain in Guo Rong's heart, the queen's sister, Queen Xuanrui, took the place of her sister and walked into the palace to take care of Guo Rong. Fu Diqing, the head of Luquan County dressed as a palace maid, is an outstanding woman of this generation of the Fu family. Although she is not as beautiful as the two queens, she is also rare among women. Of course, the most important thing is that she is the most controversial among the women in the Fu family.
Not only has she acquired the secret skills passed down from her family, but she also has excellent martial arts skills, and is also familiar with various military strategies. She is the most talented among the younger generation of the Fu family. Following Guo Rong, firstly, she admired Guo Rong as a hero and applied to become a general of the Northern Expedition Army; secondly, she was entrusted by her sister to accompany the army to take care of Guo Rong.
Guo Rong naturally understood Fu Diqing's thoughts, but Guo Rong, who had the world in mind, did not reveal it. Looking at Fu Diqing with a concerned look on his face, he couldn't help but smile and said: "The capital must have received my news at this time! Lu Quan lured the snake this time You should take the lead in our actions!"
"This is what Lu Quan should do! Your Majesty, you have just lured the snake, but you have not yet completely hoeed it. Your Majesty's dragon body is still in good health. Lu Quan knows that your Majesty is planning a strategy, but the other party's plan is so far-reaching, it must be secretly Your Majesty's great enemy!" This seemingly quiet woman was thinking about what Guo Rong was thinking.
Guo Rong looked at Chen Shouyuan and said sincerely: "Sir! I am extremely ashamed! I did not abide by your instructions, which led to the current difficulties! Now that the arrow is on the string, I hope you will give me some advice!"
"Your Majesty, you're welcome!" Chen Shouyuan gently stroked his beard, and his expression became more relaxed than before. He glanced at Guo Rong's face and said quietly: "The old Taoist is naturally deeply grateful to Your Majesty for your knowledge. These things are just a piece of cake! In the future, Your Majesty does not need to mention this matter in front of the old Taoist!"
"Last night, the old Taoist discovered that several masters came in. He originally wanted to meet them for a while, but then he discovered that His Majesty's hidden poison had relapsed. At this time, he thought that the other party was a group of the other party. They knew that there were masters around His Majesty, but His Majesty's The dragon's health may be under their consideration. Taking advantage of the old Taoist's inseparability, he blatantly sneaked in!" Chen Shouyuan looked at Guo Rong thoughtfully, then turned to look at Fu Diqing aside.
"Your Majesty, do you need Lu Quan to send an order to conduct a thorough investigation of the pro-military forces!" Fu Diqing was appointed by Guo Rong as the commander of the pro-military bodyguards. Her power now seems to be higher than that of her superior, the pro-military commander. Of course, given her current state, this is extremely rare and reasonable. After all, she has a special status and a title.
Guo Rong frowned and his eyes became sharp. He was definitely not an indecisive person and he would never be merciless towards his enemies. He turned his head and looked at Chen Shouyuan and said, "How's it going with Zhang Yongde?" Speaking of the person who can compete with him the most, Guo Rong suddenly felt something in his heart.
Who is not selfish! Only you know what you are thinking!
Guo Rong believed in Zhang Yongde from the perspective of a monarch and his ministers, and of course from the perspective of him being his brother-in-law.
Guo Rong doesn’t believe Zhang Yongde!
Because Guo Rong is also a human being and has the thinking of ordinary people. Zhang Yongde's current wife is his cousin, the only bloodline left behind by the late emperor, and the only reasonable competitor for his throne.
Although the late emperor asked Zhang Yongde to be loyal to him in front of the emperor when he was in danger. However, since ancient times, not only the fight for the throne, but also the distribution of property among ordinary people may have caused fights due to unfairness. Guo Rong had never truly believed in Zhang Yongde, so when he received rumors on the way to the North Expedition that he would be emperor after inspection, Guo Rong first put Zhang Yongde under house arrest. Although Guo Rong was a little puzzled by Zhang Yongde's lack of resistance and lack of discrimination, he didn't even think about listening.
Whether it is true or not, it doesn't matter to Guo Rong, because he needs this opportunity to decompose Zhang Yongde's rights.
Zhang Yongde seemed to understand this matter even more, so he simply pretended to be stupid and pretended that he knew nothing. No matter how Guo Rong arranges it, whether it is to give himself a decent title or to take him down because of it, he will not react.
At this time, any reaction he had would be wrong, so Zhang Yongde simply did nothing. Even if Guo Rong sent someone to follow him, he would act as if he didn't know.
"As your Majesty expected, everything was normal with the Prince Consort, and there was nothing wrong with him. The old Taoist followed him personally, but he discovered some movements from others. The old Taoist has already analyzed it, although he is not sure yet. Who, but in the heart of the old Taoist, this person should be inseparable!" Chen Shouyuan had a smile on his face.
He saw Guo Rong frowning, and without saying a word, he took more medicine and said, "But this time we found some new problems. Sure enough, Buddhist disciples from the capital were involved, and the guards sent by His Majesty were robbed and killed. , the people from the Old Taoist sect discovered their traces. If the Buddhist sect and the Jiuyang sect are really colluding, then His Majesty will really be cruel!" Chen Shouyuan is neither salty nor indifferent. He is well versed in the art of control, so naturally he will not go Show Guo Rong what to do.
"In the past, I issued a strict order in the capital, and the ascetics in the capital were the first to make a fuss. This time, it seems that we really want to find the Lord of Vinaya to see if these ascetics can practice wholeheartedly. Otherwise, we will just abandon the ancient temples in the capital!" Guo Rong said with an eyelid. The constant twitching made his face look less red, but more serious. He seemed to be lost in thought, but when he saw Chen Shouyuan's eyes were a little fiery.
Outsiders have always felt that the emperor had great ambitions and rarely cared about small things. In fact, Guo Rong knew that he cared more than anyone else. As the saying goes, bad things start from small things. Naturally, he didn't want it to end like this. He made a plan in his mind and said: "The Nine Yang Sect is a scourge after all, but they are also from the Taoist sect after all. If they can show weakness to me, I will not be stingy in the Central Plains! If they are stubborn, I will have no choice but to treat Samanatha as I did that day. As a general measure, force them to disband the sect!"
Chen Shouyuan said nothing, with an unpredictable expression on his face, and looked at Guo Rong calmly.
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The grass is long and the eagle is flying. Although the grass is green from a distance, it is also desolate.
From time to time there are vultures and eagles circling in the blue sky, their screams never ending for a long time.
In this endless plain, yes, it looks like an endless prairie!
No one can imagine where this place used to be or what kind of people came here. Now all that is left here is endless grassland.
Although you can occasionally see ruins among the weeds, and even bones and skulls, you can't see a human being.
This may have been a bustling city, this may have been a bustling town, many people may have lived here, or it may have been the hometown of many people.
But at this moment, no one can be seen here.
Years of battles and expeditions, warlords and towns constantly attacking and occupying each other, warlords fighting for separate regimes for decades, and the constant replacement of short-lived dynasties, have made people forget what this place is and what its name is.
People who come here or pass by are all passing by in a hurry or getting lost. The people who originally occupied this place were just for war needs.
Decades of continuous fighting with each other can be said to be a thousand miles away, not to mention this place with some special terrain.
This was originally a haven that made people feel happy, and it was also a very suitable place for people to live. However, because it is located in a key location and terrain, it is also a place that is extremely easy to defend and difficult to attack, so it cannot be avoided every time and becomes a battleground for military strategists.
It is rare to see high mountains in the Central Plains, but here there are mountains behind and a river flowing in front. The far reaches of this river are said to be tributaries of the Grand Canal. Because there are no more original residents, and we don’t know what the name of the river is.
Although large areas of land in front and on the left are plains, they can't be seen very far as far as the eye can see. There are also continuous mountains on the right, but they are very high mountains. They cleverly block the cold wind in winter, making this a natural terrain.
It seems to be half a basin facing the plain!
It is an excellent place with a large open plain in front and high mountains in the back. If a city is built in the middle, it will be a big city.
Just because the place was good, towns were built many times, but they were all destroyed by warlords fighting over them. The previous battles and plunders not only killed and scared away the people here, but also destroyed the towns built before, because if there were no obstacles here, the army could move forward unimpeded.
Time flies, and the sea changes.
Now, I don't know when, in the basin overgrown with weeds, next to the heel of the mountain, rows of houses made of stones were built. The houses made of these stones are very strange. They are all made of piled stones from the mountain. The highest is only two floors, and each floor is only three meters high.
From a distance, these houses blend into the mountains behind them, as if they were born that way. If you don't get up close, you won't even know they are houses. Moreover, the houses are located at the foot of the mountain like stairs, extending from the foot of the mountain bordering the basin to the mountain, with one house extending back and up every ten feet or so, which looks very ingenious and unique.
These stone houses are built without any modification or decoration skills. The stones are placed in whatever shape they want. From the outside, they look like layers of stones stacked on a mountain.
These houses were built one after another up the mountain. The houses at the foot of the mountain have a slight arc design, and the distance between the houses is only ten feet. Many houses were built on both sides, with a span of about one thousand meters, which looked extremely shocking.
There are several natural small trees between these houses. The houses are deliberately bypassed and built next to the small trees. They look more like big rocks.
The layout of these houses is arranged in an orderly manner, with slight arcs radiating outward, and then tightening up the mountain. When we reached the top houses, there were only a few.
There is only one house at the top, but this house is larger than the four or five houses below. Moreover, a large yard of two to three acres is enclosed in the middle of the house, and the houses on three sides half surround the yard. If you stand here, you can see everything under the mountain and even the plain in front.
Standing on the top roof with his hands behind his hands, Ji Hongchang looked at the mountains in the distance quietly, his eyes a little deep and his face a little thin.
He grew a beard, but he didn't make it too long. There were many beards on some handsome faces, which made him look more than ten years older than before, but it also made him more charming.
Ji Hongchang didn't care about his appearance. He only had a beard because he didn't have much time to modify it, and secondly, it could change his appearance. I am different today, and the hard struggle has just begun!
My choice to come to the Central Plains for development that day was a matter of careful consideration. He carefully considered Shiwu's proposal. Shiwu would not make a choice easily, but he chose the new emperor Liu Jixing.
What kind of person is the emperor! Ji Hongchang didn't understand and didn't even have much contact with him.
Ji Hongchang accepted this task because he believed in Shiwu. He believed in Shiwu's vision, not Liu Jixing.
However, as the power of his subordinates improved, the structure came into full play, and the mentality of the people around him made him gradually understand Liu Jixing.
He knew that he, like many others, had completely ignored or underestimated the young emperor's ability and foresight.
Thousands of miles away, he not only grasps the dynamics of the Central Plains, but also accurately analyzes the mentality of each key figure. Guiding the movement and activities of the members of the secret party, almost all of the current major actions and arrangements in the Central Plains came from the young emperor's plans.
