In the second year of Taiwu, on October 22, Yangqu, Linfenyi.
At this time, outside the reception pavilion of Linfenyi, various flags, umbrellas, and honor guards crowded the straight road. Hundreds of armored soldiers also stood solemnly under the mulberry forest of Tingyi under the scorching sun, holding these cards high.
The October sun was warm, but it still made everyone's clothes wet, especially the armored soldiers. Some of them fainted from the sun and were dragged to the pavilion to rest.
But even so, it still didn't move.
Because their general Guo Lin was right in front of them, wearing uniforms like them and facing the scorching sun.
The person Guo Lin is waiting for is Wang Yun.
This Bingzhou minister came to Taiyuan after all. This is not only Ding Yuan's request, but also his nostalgia for his hometown.
After Wang Yun arrived in Taiyuan, he heard that Guo Lin's side had won the battle before he and Ding Yuan had exchanged greetings for long, and then he volunteered to reward the army.
Now Guo Lin is waiting for Wang Yun's car.
It seems that Guo Lin was also hit on the head by an unexpected achievement. Who would have thought that a defensive commander who was not optimistic at first would suddenly emerge as a ruthless person who could kill his nephew to stabilize the morale of the army.
The news of Xun Cheng's murder of his nephew had already spread throughout the rear areas, and Guo Lin was shocked when she heard it.
You must know that the basis of the wealthy families in this world is clan blood relations. It can be said that family comes first and then country. Therefore, it is natural to serve family first and then country. It is unheard of to destroy family for the sake of country.
And now? Xun became a guard at the pass, but he could kill his own nephew. This was like abandoning his own family.
Guo Lin felt that she could not be as ruthless as Xun Cheng. If he had not had a blood feud with the Taishan Army on the opposite side, and his family was not tolerated by the Taishan Army, he would not have fought so hard.
But why would Xun Cheng do this now? It's like you risk your life with someone for an inconspicuous thing, and you don't understand.
However, Guo Lin didn't intend to delve into this person's motives. His main task now was to receive Wang Yun well.
Wang Yun's identity is very special. He is a person trusted by the powerful forces of Taiyuan, the Bingzhou Army, and the Kansai court.
With him here, Ding Yuan knew that the powerful people in Taiyuan would continue to support him, and reinforcements from the Kansai court would also arrive. So Ding Yuan wrote to Guo Lin a long time ago, asking him to protect Wang Yun.
So, Guo Lin brought all her armored guards over.
But time passed little by little, but there was still no sign of Wang Yun's frame. At this time, Guo Lin was already a little anxious.
His nephew Guo Huai next to him noticed his uncle's uneasiness and took the initiative to ask for orders:
"Uncle, I will take a few horses to explore first."
Guo Lin turned her head and glanced at her nephew, whose armor was larger than his body. The softness in her heart was touched.
He said warmly:
"No, since Wang Shangshu won't let us match, then we will listen. As for Wang Shangshu's safety, there is no need to worry too much. You may not know that our Wang Shangshu's riding and shooting skills are no worse than your uncle's."
Guo Huai was surprised, but he still followed the military salute and didn't ask any more questions.
Guo Lin was both relieved and sad to see her nephew so sensible.
He had returned to the clan to ask for soldiers, and Guo Huai, who had not yet reached the rank of crown at that time, also wanted to join the army. Guo Lin felt that her nephew was too young and was the only flesh and blood left by her deceased brother, so she refused.
But Guo Huai said this:
"I, the son of the Guo family, cannot avenge my father in life, nor can I donate to the country in death, so what can I do if I live in this world?"
These words showed the fierceness of the martial arts disciples, so Guo Lin refused to persuade him and asked the clan leader to give Guo Huai a chance to win the title in advance, and then took him to join the army.
Guo Huai's performance in the army convinced Guo Lin that this person must be the one who can prosper our Guo family.
Just as Guo's uncle and nephew were talking, a burst of dust rolled up on the straight road to the south. The festival specially given by the emperor was fluttering in the wind, and more than ten carriages, horses and carriages were driving towards the inn.
Guo Lin hurriedly led the chiefs of Cao Cao from Yangqu County and his important generals to greet him.
From a distance, Guo Lin saw Wang Yun's tall and muscular figure standing on the lead car, and she quickly bowed down.
But at this moment, Wang Yun’s unique loud voice from Bingzhou came out:
"Junqing, why are these false courtesy between you and me?"
Guo Lin was not deterred by these words, and still led a group of people to complete the containment of the emperor's envoy. This is not only because Wang Yun represents the only remaining authority of the Han family, but also because Guo Lin knows this person very well.
Just like what Wang Yun said, the relationship between the two is very close. Both of them were Guo Tai's disciples. Guo Tai is the uncle of the same clan as Guo Yun and Guo Lin. The two of them studied at Guo Tai's side since they were young, and so did Wang Yun.
Therefore, Guo Lin and Wang Yun are from the same school.
Moreover, Guo Lin was kind to Wang Yun. At that time, his frontier army followed Ding Yuan to the south and was later stranded in Hedong.
Wang Yun's bold statement in front of Liu Hong that he and Ding Yuan were not unfaithful was actually a lie. His real relationship with Ding Yuan was Guo Lin, and he believed that Guo Lin would help him.
It turned out to be the case later. When Wang Yun entered Ding Yuan's camp on his bicycle, Ding Yuan was surprised. He didn't know Wang Yun at all, so he naturally didn't dare to entrust his life and fortune to this person.
At this time, Guo Lin made a strong statement and said to Ding Yuan:
"This is the only person who can stabilize the country."
Ding Yuan was very suspicious:
"Isn't that right, Junqing? Even in Bingzhou, I heard that this person is headstrong and self-willed. Can this person be able to stabilize the country?"
Guo Lin said:
"Prince Master, this man is an upright and selfless person, and he is truly loyal to the Han Dynasty. It is precisely because of this upright man that there is such a slander. The general raised his troops to go south for the Han Dynasty, and in my opinion, those who can protect the country in troubled times in the future will All the princes in the imperial court are the guardians of the family, and those who can do nothing for the Han Dynasty should trust him and let him go."
As Ding Yuan's humerus, Guo Lin has a decisive influence on his decision-making. With Guo Lin as a guarantee, Ding Yuan decided to meet this person.
After the first meeting, he was impressed by Wang Yun's magnanimity and ability, and finally he was willing to lead the Bingzhou border soldiers south across the river.
It can be said that the fate of Wang Yun and Ding Yuan was decided by Guo Lin's words.
Since the two have known each other since childhood and have achieved mutual success in their careers, why is Guo Lin still so reserved with Wang Yun?
No one else, because he knew very well the pride behind Wang Yun's strength.
Wang Yun was very extraordinary, and his family background was inconspicuous among the disciples of Guo Tai at that time. At that time, there was only the Jinyang Wang family in the family, and no one cared about the Qixian Wang family.
For example, Wang Rou and Wang Ze came from the Wang family in Jinyang, a wealthy family.
But among Guo Tai's evaluations of these people at that time, none of them could compare with Wang Yun. Wang Yun was known as "The Talent of Wang Zuo". Who is Wang Zuozhi? That is the name of San Gong. What kind of evaluation is this?
If a child from a public family wants to be one of the Three Officials, even if his ability, morality, and prestige are outstanding, it still depends on his luck. You can imagine how difficult it would be for a family that has never had a Third Duke to become the Third Duke.
In other words, if Wang Yun can really do this, he can directly transform his family from a wealthy county family with only Baishi County officials to the top public family.
It can be seen how highly Guo Tai thinks of Wang Yun.
And Wang Yun's subsequent development was indeed the same. He inherited the family position when he was young and became a county official in Taiyuan. He was the best in riding and shooting in Taiyuan.
At that time, Guo Tai was the leader of the party and had hundreds of disciples under his command. However, when it came time to hunt down the eunuchs' power in Taiyuan, others were hesitant. Wang Yun decisively took over the task and rushed to the forefront.
The final result was that both the party members and the eunuchs suffered losses, but in the end Wang Yun was saved and later entered the Situ Mansion with the protector Deng Sheng. After that, he showed his power on the battlefield in Runan and was promoted to the governor of Yuzhou for his merit.
But later because of the stain of his staying in the Kansai court, Wang Yun, who had just returned to Kansai, was still just a minister. Afterwards, he had numerous meritorious achievements, and now he is a minister, one step away from the position of three princes.
With such achievements and resume, what can Wang Yun not be proud of?
But Guo Lin knew what was behind this pride? That is paranoia and wanton behavior.
As early as the period of Emperor Ling, this monarch had a disagreement with Liu Hong on the cause and culprit of the Yellow Turban Rebellion. At that time, Wang Yun seized criminal evidence on the battlefield that Zhang Rang's guests had contact with the Yellow Turban tribesmen, so he reported Zhang Rang on the spot in the court.
Liu Hong originally angrily reprimanded Zhang Rang for his careless behavior, but when Wang Yun said that the Yellow Turban Rebellion was caused by the eunuch group, Liu Hong became unhappy.
But at that time, the party members did achieve considerable results in the Yellow Turbans. Liu Hong did not want to say more and was about to get up and leave.
Unexpectedly, Wang Yun's temper got worse, and he directly came up and grabbed Liu Hong's sleeves to prevent him from leaving. It can be said that he was a real offender.
I'm afraid there are not many ministers who can do what Wang Yun does.
It was precisely because of this that Guo Lin came to understand more and more that even though he and Wang Yun had an irreconcilable relationship, she still had to follow this person, clarify her position, and hold him above him.
But Guo Lin is also worried about Wang Yun's future fate. For someone as proud and proud of his achievements as Wang Yun, he can certainly turn the tide in times of crisis, but once he succeeds, there will be consequences.
Just when Guo Lin was lying on the ground thinking so much, a pair of strong and strong hands grabbed his shoulders and picked him up.
You must know that Guo Lin is wearing armor at this moment, and her whole body weighs more than 200 kilograms, but she is grabbed by Wang Yun. This shows that Wang Yun used to have the best riding and shooting skills in Taiyuan, and I am afraid it is not a boast.
Wang Yun laughed heartily when he saw his friend whom he hadn't seen for many days, and then bent down to pat the dust off Guo Lin's uniform.
Just when Guo Lin was feeling warm, she heard Wang Yun sigh:
"Junqing, did you know that Shuyou died in the battle?"
Guo Lin was stunned and couldn't believe this sentence at all.
The uncle Wang Yun was talking about was Wang Rou, the current guarding the Huns, a fellow disciple of the two of them. Originally, Guo Lin had written to this person asking for reinforcements. How could he suddenly die?
It turns out that Guo Lin has been busy with the Yangqu war and has never had time to read the Di newspaper. Moreover, the communication of information between the east and the west of Bingzhou is not smooth, so he only knows now.
Wang Yun said seriously:
"In order to bring the southern Xiongnu into the pass, Shuyou provoked them to rebel. Alas..."
Guo Lin was in great sadness. He realized that if Wang Rou died in the battle, the Southern Huns would not be able to count on the support troops. Opposite him, the Taishan Army's troops are gathering more and more, which really makes people feel like Mount Tai is overwhelming.
This feeling of suffocation was suddenly interrupted by Wang Yun:
"You don't need to be sad. This is because Shuyou himself is careless and not secretive. He can't blame others. On the contrary, you are doing well here. I am here this time to see how far you have managed the Yangqu defense line. ”
Guo Lin smiled bitterly and was about to explain the reason behind this victory, but she saw that Wang Yun had already turned his attention to the generals behind him.
He was satisfied when he saw among them a general with an ordinary appearance but a calm demeanor who was neither arrogant nor impetuous.
Wang Yun prided himself on his ability to recognize people. He knew he was a good general at the first sight, so he smiled and asked:
"Junqing, who is the general behind you? Is it Xun Cheng who is guarding Yikou?"
Guo Lin hurriedly explained:
"Captain Xun is still guarding the front line and has not come down, and this is our army's lieutenant colonel Gao Shun, who is responsible for eight hundred of our troops."
This Bingzhou man named Gao Shun silently bowed to Wang Yun, and then returned to being indifferent.
Wang Yun didn't blame him for being overjoyed, he smiled and said:
"The demeanor of a high school lieutenant reminds me of a person, Feng Jiehou, who was known as the 'Big Tree General' under Guangwu in the past."
Of course Gao Shun knew who Feng Jiehou was, it was Feng Yi, the general who conquered the west. Naturally, he didn't dare to take it seriously, his face turned red and he kept waving his hands.
Gao Shun was calmer than his colleagues, but he was not good at words. This action made Wang Yun laugh.
With Gao Shun's pearl in front, Wang Yun praised some other generals again, and the whole atmosphere was very harmonious.
Who thought our Prince Master was strong? It's obviously very high level and very smooth.
After chatting for a while, Wang Yun and Guo Lin went to the inn alone to chat secretly.
Here, Wang Yun began to chat with Guo Lin about more real things.
As soon as he came up, Wang Yun asked:
"Junqing, you and I leave it to the end, do you think the three levels of Yangqu can be defended?"
Guo Lin was very cautious, because he knew that his words would directly affect the support behind him, so he said realistically:
"There is no invincible pass in the world, and the same is true for the three passes. In the final analysis, these three passes are only located on passages, but no one knows how many trails there are from other woodcutters on the mountain. Although I have sent extra manpower to two Patrolling the mountains, but there is no guarantee that we will be able to hold it.”
Wang Yun touched his long beard and was thinking about it. He asked again:
"Can you keep it for two months?"
Guo Lin glanced at it in surprise. She didn't know how she got these two months. He said it based on the actual situation:
"If the powerful people in Taiyuan can supply and support in place, it will not be difficult for two months. The Guangyi Pass can be defended for more than a month, not to mention there are two more passes to follow."
What Wang Yun wanted was this guarantee, and he whispered a shocking news:
"The imperial court's reinforcements came, but they did not go through Puban but crossed the shore through Longmen. Therefore, we need to persist for at least two months. When winter comes, it will be the death of those Taishan troops."
This news was so exciting. Of course Guo Lin understood the meaning behind this sentence and was overjoyed.
So, in the inn, the two looked at each other and smiled, saying nothing.