Chapter 1089

Chen Wuyi is alive but barely.

He originally went to Chen Wuji to complain, but he almost didn't get punished by law.

They are already living a life worse than death; if we add a bit more, it will truly kill people.

If the appeal fails, what else can we do?

Only to endure it!

After returning to the camp, Chen Wuyi summoned his subordinates, the officers, and solemnly told them Chen Wuji's good intentions.

The officers stared at each other, their heads full of fog.

Wasn't it agreed to go with the lord to complain and bargain a bit? How did it end up like this?

Unfortunately, Chen Wuyi didn't give these people another chance to speak; after conveying Chen Wuji's meaning, he waved them away.

Now he wants to be quiet and, by the way, consider how to learn those things and avoid those people's grasp.

It's too tormenting!

Learning those things is much harder than fighting.

……

Chen Wuyi was complaining about his suffering, but in fact, the several assistant officers haven't been doing well lately either.

They have to integrate Uyghur intelligence and estimate the situation of the neighbors in Nan Jun; every day, all kinds of documents pile up on their desks.

But to enable Yingxiu Ying to gain a greater advantage on that critical route in the shortest time, almost everyone is gritting their teeth and persisting. Guo Shuhan, to summarize the battle formations, has been sleeping only about one shichen these days, his eye sockets are almost sunken from exhaustion; the others are no better, each one listless.

These days, even the soldiers bringing food to their doorstep deliberately tread lightly, afraid of disturbing them.

Amidst this atmosphere where busyness seems ingrained in everyone's bones, Guo Jin'ge's reply arrived.

Lu Chuan, you guessed right!

In his letter, Guo Jin'ge frankly expressed his awe and delight at Chen Wuji's letter to him, then subtly mentioned that if Chen Wuji trusts him to act freely in Hezhou, he would rather stay in familiar Hezhou to expand territory for Chen Wuji.

He candidly said he came from humble origins, not knowing what noble gates are above, but below he knows the people's suffering and the soldiers' weakness.

Of course, the weakness he refers to is not that his troops are useless, but in this world, soldiers like them are like mourning sticks cut from willow trees and wrapped in white paper—lofty when used, useless when not, with no prospect in sight before or behind.

Because of this, he dares not make decisions lightly, only able to persist stubbornly with his troops in Hezhou city, maneuvering aimlessly.

Only after he carefully understood Chen Wuji's actions all along did he finally make up his mind: to surrender!

Guo Jin'ge's words are both explicit and implicit, but when speaking of this, he is blunt as if devoid of emotional intelligence.

Below, mentioning this is very taboo, but he doesn't care at all; every stroke of the characters he should write is present.

His entire letter is not long, but the content alone takes up more than half of it.

Moreover, relative to the content, he earnestly hopes Chen Wuji can send a chief official to oversee Hezhou's affairs.

For this, he also found a very solid reason.

He says he is merely a military commander, not skilled in governance.

If he were to oversee Hezhou's affairs, it would both neglect military duties and delay the livelihoods of the city's people; he dares not be careless.

Saying this, Chen Wuji couldn't refuse for a moment and also noted this matter in his heart.

But regarding sending reinforcements, Guo Jin'ge's explanation is somewhat vague.

He neither opposed nor fully supported it, merely listing to Chen Wuji the existing forces in Shangfang Commandery and Jiannan Commandery, and how many obstacles they would encounter on the route from Yima Chuan to Hezhou going north.

In short, the meaning in his words is roughly: he doesn't want Chen Wuji to take such a risk; he alone can hold Hezhou, and if he also gets a talent for governance to oversee Hezhou's affairs, he not only can hold it but also wants to go out and expand territory.

Chen Wuji placed the letter on the table and remained silent for a long while.

Xu Zengyi was sitting opposite, mending his robe that had become as worn as a monk's ascetic garment; clearly there are several people attending him, but he still insists on washing and mending his clothes himself, not relying on others.

"Seeing the lord's expression, it doesn't seem like good news?" Xu Zengyi asked.

Chen Wuji pinched his brow and gave a low laugh, "Sir, why don't you guess?"

"Good or bad hard to tell, perhaps it's a good thing; the lord is worrying whether Guo Jin'ge's heart is good or bad!"

"Saying that, it has a bit of the meaning of 'all-purpose oil'."

Xu Zengyi neither agreed nor disagreed.

The term 'all-purpose oil', he now understands what it means.

Chen Wuji said too much indeed.

"Guo Jin'ge opened his heart to me a little, then requested sending a talent for governance to oversee Hezhou's affairs; regarding reinforcements, he seems to think it hard to succeed and does not recommend it." Chen Wuji said.

Xu Zengyi thought seriously, "This person, hearing him, seems like someone who does real work, with little of the officialdom's oily talk. The lord's reason for pinching the spirit platform is, did General Guo open his heart?"

"Yes!" Chen Wuji openly admitted.

Guo Jin'ge went back and forth talking about reinforcements, then advised against sending them; Chen Wuji has no doubt about this at all, and just as Xu Zengyi said earlier, based on this he also considers Guo Jin'ge a person who does real work.

But his earlier lengthy exposition of his heart and mind made Chen Wuji feel somewhat awkward, and he unconsciously added a few more doubts.

Xu Zengyi raised his head, pondered for a moment, then said: "My lord, I believe Guo Jin'ge is an honest person, and moreover should still be an honest person with a not-so-good temper. This letter, he should have pondered and revised it for a long time before writing."

"The reason I make such a definite judgment is that only an honest person would use a large amount of text to repeatedly elaborate his heart and mind, fearing he wouldn't explain clearly, and also fearing that continuing to garrison Hezhou would arouse the lord's suspicion."

Chen Wuji sat upright, "You say that, and I suddenly understood."

"In the central region of Hezhou, even if he wanted to set bait for me and lay traps, it wouldn't be realistic. As long as we exclude this point, whatever he says is actually fine, so he indeed is an honest person."

Xu Zengyi raised his head and laughed hehe, "My lord, great talent, this indeed is the best way to discern!"

"In the central region of Hezhou, if he were to hold troops and establish himself independently, he would have a natural opportunity, but if it's something else, it's indeed not very convenient, fundamentally not suitable for deployment. Our army merely sending up a force of ten thousand cavalry faces great difficulties, let alone anything else; this is not a confrontation before battle."

Chen Wuji lightly tapped the table twice with his finger, "This honest person needs someone to guard the rear; my idea is to provide it, sir, what do you think?"

"Should give!" Xu Zengyi said bluntly, "The most suitable candidate is Kong Fang, unfortunately he has settled among the Uyghurs, seemingly not wanting to return for now."