Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 784 Hatred

In the summer of the third year of Jian'an, the actions of the princes in the world fell into a tacit confrontation. Several wars that were supposed to break out at any time never came.

The reason why the situation in the world is at a stalemate is because many princes do not want to fight and cannot afford to fight. The continuous wars have long consumed their reserves and foundation. Now what they seem to do on the surface is nothing more than force. Just support.

Of course, if they are pushed into a hurry, many people will mobilize without a bottom line. When all the people are mobilized, the war may not be able to expand.

Anyway, if the food in your own area is completely consumed, you can still go to the enemy's house to grab food. As long as the world can still grow food and as long as the world is not unified, there will never be a shortage of wars in the world.

On the other hand, the princes do not know the details of the enemy. They do not know how much potential the opponent has, and they do not know whether the opponent is deliberately tempting them. Therefore, the safest way at present is to wait until the situation is clear. situation, take a wait-and-see approach.

The most embarrassing one among them is undoubtedly Yuan Shang.

Although he was reminded by Yuan Xi when he sent troops, he said that there may be many variables in sending troops this time. If nothing can be done, he can decisively return to Yecheng. If there is any need for Youzhou's help, Yuan Xi will try his best to support it.

But he still didn't give up, especially since both Shen Pei and Xu You insisted on the main battle. They believed that Cao Cao was already seriously injured, especially after being attacked by Yuan Xi in Nanyang, so he should use a considerable part of his troops to defend Jianghuai, so the current situation is The capture of Guandu was the best opportunity for Xu County.

So Yuan Shang recruited tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in Jizhou to cross the Yellow River and fight Cao Jun. He made several preparations at the same time, but the situation soon went awry.

The performance of Cao's army was much weaker than previously thought. After several battles, Chunyu Qiong, Wenchou and others became more confident and soon captured Wuchao.

Yuan Shang was also extremely happy. Just when he wanted to continue marching, news came that Yuan Tan's army was attacking Yecheng. Shocked, he recalled his forward troops and returned to Dongwuyang, leaving only Chunyu Qiong to defend Wu. nest.

By some mistake, Yuan Shang escaped Cao Ying's strategy of luring the enemy deep. Otherwise, if the fight continued like this, he would probably be cut off by Cao's army because of his rashness. This is why Cao Ying's counselors scolded Yuan Tan.

No one knows what Yuan Tan was thinking, but his early dispatch of troops did make Cao Ying's plan fail, so much so that Cheng Yu had the idea of ​​​​rebellion.

In fact, Guo Tu and Xin Ping, members of Yuan Tan's army, also admonished Yuan Tan many times because of this matter. However, what puzzled them was that Yuan Tan did not explain anything and just silently marched into Yecheng.

Although Guo Tu and Xin Ping did not have a good personal relationship and had quarreled several times, the two knew that they were now sticking together for warmth, so they could still talk openly and honestly about military and political matters in private.

At this time, Xin Ping was sitting in the tent and said to Guo Tu, "I don't understand."

"I really don't understand why Shijun is so obsessed with Yecheng."

"With Qingzhou's position, it slowly encroached on Jizhou and annexed surrounding counties, leaving only Yecheng as an isolated city. Yuan Shang was naturally defeated."

"Now, regardless of the cost, how much confidence can we have in going on an expedition to conquer Yecheng?"

Guo Tu sneered and said, "I don't understand either, but I can roughly understand what the commander is thinking."

"There are too many noble families involved in Yecheng, and they have too many interests. Many of the properties in Jizhou belong to them. If they are destroyed, my lord will undoubtedly offend many people."

"If you want to gain the allegiance of the Jizhou nobles, attacking Yecheng directly is the cheapest way. There may not be anyone who opens the door to offer the city."

"Yuan Shang also saw something, so he clung to Yecheng with all his strength. After all, once Yecheng was lost, his foundation would be gone."

"If he didn't have so many worries, he could have abandoned Yecheng and invaded Yanzhou long ago, but would he dare?"

Xin Ping heard this and sighed: "Doesn't that mean that Yecheng has become a drag?"

Guo Tu thought that this was not necessarily the case. The key was whether the handling method and the person who got him had a clear understanding of his own strength.

For example, Yuan Xi was like this. After he got Yecheng, he immediately let go and threw away this burden. Moreover, this person was a very chicken thief. He did not have a big city that he must defend. On the contrary, he wandered around the world, making people helpless. Consider its weaknesses.

Jicheng in Youzhou is nothing more than a newly built city in a bitter cold place. It is said that the conditions are far from comparable to the big cities in Jizhou.

Guo Tu also had the idea of ​​persuading Yuan Tan to send troops to raid Jicheng, but after everyone thought about it, they gave up.

Because the cost is too high and the benefits obtained are too few, it is completely worth the loss.

Qingzhou is not far from Youzhou, it is directly across Bohai County in Jizhou, and Bohai has been almost penetrated by Yuan Tan in the past two years, so it is not difficult to mobilize troops.

But further north is Yuyang County in Youzhou, which is where the Youzhou Army is heavily guarded and trained. In front of the Youzhou cavalry, even someone as powerful as Yuan Tan would not dare to use the Qingzhou Army to confront it head-on.

Moreover, even if Jicheng was captured, it would only result in a piece of territory that was extremely difficult to manage. The people in Youyan Land were very tough. If they attacked the opposite house, the whole family might come out with knives to fight.

So in comparison, Yuan Tan wanted Xuzhou more. After all, after Cao Cao's Second Massacre, Xuzhou's population dropped sharply, and its resistance was not as strong as the northerners.

But Yuan Tan had fought with Yuan Xi and knew how difficult the opponent's battle was. Yuan Tan was not willing to meet Yuan Xi on the battlefield unless it was absolutely necessary.

So Yuan Tan finally decided to send the Taishan thief Zang Ba to take action. He knew that Zang Ba had no choice but to surrender to him before. Yuan Tan couldn't understand Zang Ba's position, so he wanted to simply kill Zang Ba with a borrowed knife and kill this unstable person. factor. Unexpectedly, Zang Ba had more thieves than Yuan Tan. He went south from Langya County to Donghai County. After pretending to fight a few battles, he stood still. Apparently he was not prepared to let his men die.

So for Yuan Tan, his best choice now is to wait for an opportunity to capture Yecheng, subdue the Jizhou nobles, occupy Jizhou, drive away Yuan Shang, and become the head of the Yuan family.

At that time, Yuan Tan would be qualified to bargain with Cao Cao.

Of course, Yuan Tan had a good idea. Whether he could get what he wanted would ultimately have to be obtained with his own hands on the battlefield. As for the price, it was naturally everything he had risked.

In the chess game of fighting for the world, no one can get something for nothing, and no one can be alone. The final winner of the world must be the one who personally strives for the greatest benefits for his own camp.

In other words, a lord who cannot fight cannot establish prestige. Even if he is lucky enough to seize the world, it will be difficult to hold it.

Now Sun Quan of Jiangdong is also facing this problem.

Zhou Yu was rescued, and Hua Tuo didn't put forward any conditions. Logically speaking, he should be happy, but Sun Quan saw the trace of distrust in himself that was unintentionally revealed in the eyes of his subordinates.

After all, as soon as he took control of Jiangdong, in order to establish his prestige, he used a lot of weapons and weapons. It would be fine if he won, but he lost so miserably!

According to the information obtained by Sun Quan's confidants, many people have already expressed their dissatisfaction with him in private.

Since there were so many people, Sun Quan couldn't find excuses to punish each one. The key was to just complain. Some of them even lamented that Sun Yi looked more like him than the deceased Sun Ce!

The intention contained in this is obvious. If Sun Quan behaves badly, these people may join forces at any time to change the person in charge of Jiangdong!

This is what scares Sun Quan the most, because among these people, Zhang Zhao is included!

It is rumored that before Sun Ce's death, Zhang Zhao suggested that Sun Ce make Sun Yi his heir, and the most terrifying rumor has been confirmed.

Sun Ce actually said to Zhang Zhao, "If my brother is no longer useful, you can do it yourself"!

Is this asking Zhang Zhao to imitate Huo Guang? Does brother distrust him so much?

Sun Quan had a gloomy expression on his face. Zhang Zhao was not good at fighting, and he was not of the same mind as him. My brother kept him, not to contain Zhou Yu and others to prevent them from losing their tail, but to deal with him?

We have to think of a way to tighten the rope around Zhang Zhao's neck!

Sun Quan had a headache for Sun Yi. He would never be able to attack his brother, but if he was around him like this, it would not be good for him if he became more effective in doing things.

After thinking about it for several days, Sun Quan had an idea in his mind. The next day he summoned his subordinates, and most of them arrived except Zhou Yu, Dong Xi and others who were still recovering from their injuries.

Sun Quan spoke slowly, "How is the peace negotiation with Fierce Tiger going?"

Lu Su came out and said: "The envoys sent earlier were scolded by the fierce tiger, saying that there were so many people in Jiangdong that no famous people could be sent. It was obviously a perfunctory job, so the envoys were rushed back."

"Before leaving, Fierce Tiger said that Li Shu had been killed and Lujiang was occupied. If Jiangdong didn't give him a satisfactory explanation, he would send all his troops to Dantu to talk to the lord."

As soon as these words came out, everyone turned pale. The battle at Chaohu was a rare defeat for Jiangdong in recent years. Now that the fierce tiger is winning, if it really attacks Jiangdong with all its strength, no one knows what the consequences will be!

Seeing everyone's expressions, Lu Su sighed secretly, and continued: "Jiang Dong and Yuan Shijun should have sworn to each other to fight against Cao Cao, but they killed each other. It is really a pleasure for relatives to hate each other."

At this time, Zhang Zhao spoke up and said: "Zijing's words are wrong. In the beginning, the ferocious tiger attacked Guangling and seized Lujiang first. How can you believe such a person?"

Lu Su said in a deep voice: "It is difficult to explain the origin of the disagreement between the two sides. What's more, the matter in Lujiang is an agreement that Sun Hou and Xiu Hu had made long ago. Xiu Hu has never done anything treacherous from the beginning to the end."

Zhang Zhao sneered and said, "Then you said that Marquis Sun had betrayed his trust?"

Lu Su cursed in his heart, this is not a trap for me. Isn't it obvious who will break the contract first?

And who doesn’t know that you and Zhou Yu are both from Jianghuai and their hometowns are in Lujiang, so you both encouraged your lord to seize Lujiang to win the support of the Lujiang nobles. Do you think others can’t see your thoughts?

Lu Su was suddenly shocked at this moment. Sun Quan asked Zhou Yu to kill Li Shu personally and offended all the Lujiang nobles. Could it be?

At this time, Sun Quan said, "After much thought, there is really no benefit in fighting Jiangdong Fierce Tiger at this time."

"So I am going to send a group of loyal ministers to make peace with the fierce tiger."

"It can't bring down our prestige in Jiangdong, and it can appease the fierce tiger. Who do you think we should send?"

After hearing this, everyone spoke one after another, thinking that Lu Su was suitable, because just now Lu Su was clearly leaning towards the fierce tiger, and if he went to the peace talks, he would inevitably compromise and fulfill Sun Quan's request.

Unexpectedly, Sun Quan shook his head slightly, and then said: "I am going to let Zibu go."

As soon as these words came out, everyone was stunned.

(End of this chapter)