Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 102
After Yuan Xi left Zhen's house, he dispatched troops to the arsenal in Yecheng, where he met Zhang He.

When Zhang He saw Yuan Xi, he hurried over and whispered: "These days, He heard that Young Master is busy dealing with locust plague affairs, so he didn't dare to come and disturb him."

He lowered his voice: "Last time there were two carts of goods, He didn't expect them to be so valuable, and only half of the cart was used to pay for the pensions of the casualties and the rewards of the whole army.

"The rest depends on when the young master is free, let Xi send it back to the house?"

Yuan Xi heard this, and said with a smile: "Brother Junyi, you are too polite. Money is something outside of the body, and it is not as important as human life."

"Brother Junyi helped me a lot last time. If it wasn't for brother, I wouldn't be able to repel the Xuzhou army. I have a small fortune and put it away."

Seeing Yuan Xi's insistence on not accepting him, Zhang He could not refuse, so he could only thank him.

Thinking of what happened in Fei County, he shook his head and said, "More than a year ago, when Liu Bei, governor of Yuzhou, was still Prime Minister of Pingyuan, I was there when Tian Kai fought against the eldest son in Pingyuan, but I didn't take part in the battle at that time."

"Back then, Eldest Young Master was beaten back into the formation. At that time, He didn't think what happened to the opponent, but it wasn't until the fight a few days ago that he realized that there were some problems, which were quite different from before."

Yuan Xi became interested and said, "What's the difference?"

Zhang He said, "The Battle of the Plains, what are the names of the two horse archers behind Liu Bei?"

"Guan Yu and Zhang Fei."

"Oh, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, the young master knows the enemy very well. From the riding posture of the two of them to the way of shooting, in Hee's view, they are quite jerky, with many loopholes. Obviously, they have not experienced many battles. It’s not very skilled either.”

"At that time, He thought to himself that if he fought alone, he would be able to defeat him within fifty rounds."

"At that time, we fought Liu Beijun back to the east bank of the Yellow River with a lot of fighting. I never had a chance, so I didn't pay much attention to the opponent."

When Zhang He said this, a look of disbelief appeared on his face, "But outside Fei County, my thinking has completely changed."

"As soon as I played against each other, I felt something was wrong."

"Guan Zhang, two people, compared with a year or two ago, today is not what it used to be!"

"Whether it is in terms of tricks or momentum, they are completely different than before."

"A year ago, I thought I could defeat it, but outside of Fei County, I only have the power to parry!"

After hearing this, Yuan Xi finally understood, "You mean, they have made rapid progress in the past year or so?"

Zhang He's face was solemn, "Exactly, they didn't seem to be hiding clumsy before, but their strength was insufficient, but now they seem to be completely reborn, and their strength has increased dramatically!"

"I was at least a few years behind them in battle, but they surpassed me in just one year. I am really ashamed."

Yuan Xi thought that this is the case, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are still potential players, no wonder they did not have a good reputation with Liu Bei in the early stage, and they became more and more powerful as they progressed.

If we meet again in the future, we must be more careful!

He said to Zhang Yun, "Isn't the general's strength increasing all the time?"

Zhang Xi was a little disappointed: "When a person's martial arts reaches a certain level, his progress will slow down. This is the limit of personal talent."

"But shutting down two people is obviously much higher than my upper limit."

Yuan Xi nodded slightly, that's indeed the case, sometimes there is really no reason to talk about the talent gap between people.

But thinking about it, Liu Guanzhang and the three of them are all masters. They practice against each other every day and promote each other. This kind of condition is indeed unique.

He comforted: "Don't be discouraged, general. The battle is not purely a competition of force, but a comprehensive manifestation of strategy, morale and logistics. Wen Hou, who is superb in force, has been defeated several times?"

Zhang He praised: "Young Master is right. Marquis Wen is really powerful. When he attacked the Black Mountain Army, he led dozens of cavalry into the battle. After more than ten days in a row, he captured all the troops and completely defeated the morale of the Black Mountain Army. He couldn't do it. "

He then sighed: "It's a pity, Marquis Wen is too arrogant and willful to plunder the people. This will greatly damage Yuan's reputation, so he was expelled."

Yuan Xi understood that, in order to win the reputation of benevolence and righteousness, Yuan Shao's military discipline was considered good compared to the feudal lords in the late Han Dynasty, especially in the aspect of restraining and looting the common people, he did a good job.

He said aloud: "That day Marquis Wen was able to leave under heavy ambushes and siege, that's amazing."

Zhang He looked around and whispered, "Don't you know, my lord?"

"Marquis Wen was able to escape, I heard it has something to do with Gao Shun."

Yuan Xi and Zhang Yun chattered for a long time, just waiting for this sentence.

Regarding Gao Shun, Yuan Xi also asked Yuan Tan Gaolan, but they were vague.

He looked puzzled: "I haven't been in Yecheng for three years, and I don't have any information. Please ask the general to clarify."

Zhang He hesitated for a while, but it was hard to refuse at this moment when he took Yuan Xi's property, so he could only whisper: "I don't know the inside story, but I have worked with Gao Shun, so I know some information."

"But what is certain is that Gao Shun was born in the Chen Liugao family, and belongs to the same family as Gao Gan Gao Lan."

"Gao Shun's military strength is acceptable, but compared to our four court pillars, he can't be said to have an advantage, but his strength lies in his military training."

"You also know that a person like him can't get any military exploits, so it's not easy to get ahead. In the Gao clan of Jizhou, he is not as good as Gao Lan."

"Later Wenhou fled from Jizhou, and Gao Shun disappeared with him, and the pursuers failed to catch up. Many counselors suspected that Gao Shun had provided news to Wenhou, and they left together."

Yuan Xi thought in his heart that this is the case, so things will be right.

Just like Cao Cao believed in the Xiahou family, Yuan Shao also vigorously promoted and appointed his wife's Gao family, so that the later Bingzhou was also handed over to senior officials.

It's no wonder that Gao Shun has a detached position under Lu Bu, but he is also jealous.

Most of Lu Bu's generals were from Bingliang warriors, and most of them were cavalrymen. It seemed extremely strange that Gao Shun, a pure infantryman, appeared.

Moreover, the army and armor in the trapped camp were well-equipped, which was even more abnormal. Since Lu Bu was defeated by Li Jue and Guo Si and led a hundred cavalry to escape, he spent most of his time living under the fence.

There are not many princes in the world who specialize in training infantry, even if they have armor, they are reluctant to use it for infantry. Qingzhou soldiers like Cao Cao, who mostly wear civilian clothes, can be regarded as powerful.

Only Yuan Shao, who may be located in the most affluent Jizhou and has the greatest influence, can support such a team with Qu Yi's first dead men as the foundation.

It is even possible that there are former dead soldiers who fell into the camp!

Yuan Xi felt that things were gradually getting connected.

No wonder the Yuan family was so secretive about this matter. Gao Shun probably took away an elite infantryman who was still training from the Yuan family when he followed Lu Bu, which caused Yuan Shao a lot of losses.

This can also explain why Gao Shun suffered from suspicion under Lv Bu and was once deprived of military power. In the end, Cao Cao beheaded him without asking. It is probably because of his background.

It seems that if we want to dig the corner of Lu Bu's wall, Gao Shun may not be able to dig the wall brick.

With Yuan Xi's nature of plucking wild goose, how could he help Lu Bu for no reason.

Although Lv Bu has been defeated many times, his team has always been strong. Zhang Liao, one of the eight generals under his command, made Yuan Xi envious.

And Gao Shun, who is above the eight masters, has a detached status, and is extremely famous in the [-]-trapped camp, and he is even more of a trump card.

Rather than being completely taken over by Cao Cao after Lu Bu's death, it is better to find a way to make a profit by yourself, anyway, Cao Cao can't be cheap!
Yuan Xi and Zhang Yun talked for a while, and finally said: "The trip to Pingyuan depends on the general."

This time, Yuan Xi's [-] soldiers and horses were still commanded by Zhang Yun, while Yuan Tan's [-] soldiers and horses were led by Yan Liang, Gao Lan and others, and each person could have four to five thousand soldiers and horses.

It seemed that Zhang He was at a disadvantage. After all, he led more soldiers and made more military exploits.

However, since Zhang He dared to take it, it was because of the cart of goods Yuan Xi sent, and Zhang He guessed that Yuan Xi would also transfer elite soldiers from Beixin City this time.

Zhang Yun felt wrong when he saw the thirty cavalry last time. Their average quality and force far surpassed the Jizhou cavalry, so Zhang He guessed that following Yuan Xi this time, he could make more military exploits!

Zhang He asked, "How many soldiers will the young master transfer from Beixin City this time?"

Yuan Xi calculated, "There are about 100 cavalry and [-] infantry. This should be my limit."

Zhang He was slightly disappointed: "The two cavalry generals from last time?"

"They won't come."

Zhang He was even more disappointed.

Yuan Xidao: "However, I will send another capable general over here, who is not inferior to the previous two."

Only then did Zhang He feel a little satisfied, but five hundred soldiers and horses were still a little small.

Forget it, let's see it when the time comes, Zhang Xi always feels that he has not fully seen Yuan Xi through.

The weather turned cold and entered late autumn. Yecheng was full of fallen leaves, and it looked unusually calm, and Jizhou was also peaceful.

But the surrounding states are in chaos.

Lu Bu and Cao Cao fought several battles surrounding Juancheng.

Lv Bu had stored food earlier, and he had more confidence than Cao Cao's army, but with such an advantage, he still couldn't defeat Cao's army.

However, Cao Jun's food is almost bottoming out.

At this time, Yuan Shao sent another messenger to Cao Cao, saying that as long as Cao Cao was willing to attach himself to Yuan Shao and send his family to Yecheng, he would immediately send troops and food.

Cao Cao was indecisive in the Juancheng mansion, and his advisers were also arguing endlessly, but this time, even Xun Yu and Xi Zhicai had nothing to do.

Suddenly a person stood up and said, "I'm going to collect food."

When Cao Cao saw it, his expression softened, and he said, "Zhongde, what can you do?"

The counselor who got up was Cheng Yu, and he said, "I'll go back to Dong'e to find a way."

Cao Hong snorted coldly: "Where is there any food in Dong'a, Zhong De wants to run away?"

Now that there is a shortage of food in the city, everyone is in panic, and deserters are increasing day by day, so Cao Hong can't bear his temper at this time.

Cao Cao shouted: "Shut up!" Cao Hong immediately shut up.

Cao Cao turned to Cheng Yu: "Zhongde, I can trust you, but there is no food in Dong'e."

Cheng Yu's face remained unchanged: "There are living people."

Everyone's faces changed drastically, and Yu Jin felt nauseated.

Cheng Yu clasped his hands and said, "For now, we are at the end of our ropes. Only in this way can we support it. I hope Duke Ming will make a decision."

He looked around: "Or, do you have other ways?"

Everyone bowed their heads.

Xun Yu said slowly, "Zhongde, that's your hometown."

Cheng Yu said coldly: "If we lose, what will happen?"

Everyone was even more speechless.

Cao Cao sighed: "It's all thanks to Zhong De."

The day after Cheng Yu left, news came that [-] troops from Jizhou were attacking Qingzhou!
As soon as the news came out, several parties were caught off guard.

Cao Cao's side felt like they had eaten flies. They didn't accept Yuan Shao's conditions before, but Yuan simply went directly to Qingzhou, ignoring the messy Yanzhou.

Even more uncomfortable than Cao Cao was Liu Bei in Xuzhou.

(End of this chapter)