Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 814 Fishing in troubled waters

Yuan Xi and Zhuge Liang's predictions were correct. His raid on Qingzhou was not only beyond Yuan Tan's expectation, but also exceeded the calculations of Cao Ying's advisers. They never expected that Yuan Xi would fight in two consecutive battles. There is still enough energy left to organize a third all-out attack!

So Cao Ying's counselors are now fiercely debating how to intervene in the battle of Qingzhou. Of course, their opinions are not unified.

After all, most of Yanzhou's troops are now in Dong County south of the Yellow River. Only by mobilizing from west to east to Taishan County can they assist Qingzhou and threaten Xuzhou. However, at the same time, the defense in the direction of Xu County must be weak. If we spy on the north bank of the Yellow River, What should I do if Yuan Shang calls me again?

Cao Ying was caught in a dilemma for a while, and Xun You had to sigh: "The fierce tiger's move to surround Wei and rescue Zhao is a stroke of genius."

"Now Jizhou Yuan Shang has become the party with the least pressure, and we are forced to make a choice."

"Otherwise, we are likely to lose our ally Yuan Tan."

Chen Qun said: "Gongda said this, does he think that Yuan Tan will definitely not be able to defeat the fierce tiger?"

Xun You was startled, then smiled bitterly and said, "That's really the case."

"I don't know since when, I subconsciously felt that no one seemed to be able to take advantage of the fierce tiger in the duel on the battlefield."

Everyone was silent, thinking that with the cunningness of a ferocious tiger, even Cao Cao suffered two big losses. In comparison, it seemed that the other defeated counselors in Cao's camp were not so embarrassed.

Cheng Yu spoke up: "But the fierce tiger, the obstacle that stands in front of Minggong's Hegemon Avenue, must be removed."

Xun You said helplessly: "How to get rid of him? It's not like he has never been assassinated before."

"This man is extremely vigilant. He has sent in several groups of spies. He has a very strict surveillance network. It is difficult for our spies to sneak into Jicheng, let alone approach his mansion."

"The last assassination almost killed all the spies in Jicheng, right?"

Hearing what Xun You said, Cheng Yu also lost his face and said angrily: "This person is really difficult to deal with."

"How about kidnapping or killing his female family members in Jicheng? Maybe we can use this to threaten him."

Chen Qun shook his head and said, "I think it's unlikely."

"I heard that Xiu Hu is an extremely lustful person. Everywhere he goes, he will always look for beauties. The golden house hides the beauties."

"Although he has his wife's home in Jicheng, I heard that he has private residences in Shouchun and Haixi to house beauties, and they seem to be of high status."

"What's more, he has always been accompanied by Marquis Wen's daughter. The emperor has personally made her the county monarch, and her status is enough to be his wife."

"Even if we spend so much money to kill Xiu Hu's main wife in Jicheng, a heartless and lustful person like him will only choose another concubine to support him, which will have no impact on him at all."

When all the counselors heard this, they all had headaches. Fierce Tiger was too difficult to deal with!

At this time, voices came from the door, "Since Fierce Tiger is so troublesome, there is no need to deal with him for the time being. Let's start from elsewhere."

When everyone heard this, they all knelt down towards the door and said, "I have seen Mr. Ming."

Cao Cao, who had not been seen for many days, appeared unexpectedly. He looked a little haggard and his eyes were red. It was obvious that he had not rested well these days and had not fully recovered.

Cao Cao strode in and stood up, with a solemn expression on his face. Everyone present suddenly felt that Cao Cao exuded an intimidating aura.

He slowly said: "The princes are discussing how to deal with the fierce tiger. What do you think?"

Xun You quickly expressed everyone's opinions, and finally sighed: "Fierce Tiger is extremely troublesome, and we haven't thought of a way to suppress him yet."

"But if this person is not eliminated, Qingzhou will be in danger. Please tell me what to do, my lord."

Cao Cao didn't look good after hearing this. We have been discussing for several days. Will you finally listen to me?

If I have a good idea, what do I need your advice on?

He said in a deep voice: "The Fierce Tiger is the most dangerous enemy I have ever seen in my life. If I don't get rid of him, I will have trouble sleeping and eating."

"Moreover, this man killed many of my generals. If this revenge is not avenged, how will I, Cao Cao, stand between heaven and earth?"

"Especially when I think of Dian Wei dying to protect me, with his head hanging at the gate of Wancheng, I feel heartbroken."

After hearing this, all the counselors bowed down and said, "My subordinates are incompetent, and they still want to punish me."

Cao Cao shook his head and sighed: "I have been defeated miserably several times, how can I blame you?"

"I am the one who caused you trouble."

As soon as these words came out, all the counselors were even more ashamed and kowtowed one after another: "Please be patient, Lord Ming. We will definitely be able to figure out a way to get rid of the vicious tiger!"

Cao Cao said solemnly: "The battle for the world depends on the final result, not temporary gains and losses."

"In the end, when all parties fight, they still have to decide the winner on the battlefield. If you can't beat the fierce tiger on the battlefield, what's the use of using more small tricks?"

"So before I, Cao's soldiers, are sure to win against the fierce tiger, we will temporarily hold back for a while and use this opportunity to expand our territory and train our soldiers so that they can defeat the fierce tiger with dignity on the battlefield!"

All the counselors thought that they might give up on Yuan Tan?

They looked at each other, and no one wanted to speak out first. Finally, it was Cheng Yu who spoke up: "My lord, please be clear. If Fierce Tiger defeats Yuan Tan and takes Qingzhou, their territories will be connected, and I'm afraid it will be even harder to deal with him in the future."

Cao Cao sneered and said: "You guys only saw that the fierce tiger took advantage, but you didn't see that the current situation is the internal fighting of the Yuan family." "Even if he can eat Yuan Tan, his vitality will be severely damaged. Only then will he Opportunities arise.”

"Before that, I want to compress its possible next expansion direction as much as possible!"

After hearing this, the counselors realized that Cao Cao had other plans!

And when it comes to compressing the expansion direction of the fierce tiger, there is only one choice.

Jizhou!

Everyone was even more uncertain. If they wanted to take Jizhou, they would have to take Yecheng. However, Yecheng was so difficult to defeat. Cao's army failed several times. They looked at the city and sighed. Is there any good way now?

Cao Cao said slowly: "Yuan Shang has grown up very fast. He has been very organized in setting up defenses in the north and south of the Yellow River these few times. It has become difficult to deal with him."

"Given time, there may be a second vicious tiger, and we must not let it continue."

Everyone nodded, and then heard Cao Cao say: "But the three sons of the Yuan family all have a fatal weakness, that is, almost all of them have no heirs, or their heirs are too young."

"Yuan Shang is especially angry. The reason everyone in Jizhou is united now is because he is Yuan Benchu's recognized successor."

"If anything happens to Yuan Shang himself, the Jizhou scholar clan will be leaderless, and there will be internal chaos and a way out."

"At that time, the only two options were to seek refuge with Yuan Tan or Xiu Hu. But what if they are fighting in Qingzhou and have no time to estimate Jizhou?"

Everyone was suddenly enlightened after hearing this, and Cheng Yu also said excitedly: "Yes, Yuan Shang is far less cunning than Fierce Tiger, and he is far less cautious about his own safety than Fierce Tiger!"

"As long as you launch secret agents and make plans in advance, you may not be unable to achieve success in one fell swoop!"

After everyone heard this, they all agreed. Cao Cao nodded with satisfaction, "I'll leave it to you to plan how to do it."

All the counselors took orders one after another. Cao Cao had been feeling unwell these days. He stood up and was about to leave. He looked around and found that Xun Yu was not there and said, "Wen Ruo is not here today either?"

Xun You hurriedly replied: "Uncle has gone to the emperor's palace."

Now Xun Yu is responsible for all political affairs between Cao Ying and the emperor, so Xun You appears in Cao Cao's official residence less and less now.

Cao Cao's expression remained unchanged. Although he knew that Xun Yu was doing normal things, he always felt that Xun Yu was alienating him intentionally or unintentionally. Is this an illusion?

He sighed deeply in his heart and walked away.

In Yecheng of Jizhou, Yuan Shang was also presiding over a discussion among counselors.

After the news of Yuan Xi's attack on Yuan Tan reached Yecheng, Jizhou counselors never stopped arguing. Although they had different opinions about the fierce tiger, they were still quite consistent on one point.

It is Yuan Shang who now faces much less pressure and has even become the most proactive party among the four parties.

But the choice came, and Yuan Shang had to make a choice next, whether to continue attacking Cao Cao, or to mobilize his troops to Qinghe County, attack Yuan Tan with Yuan Xi, and completely defeat him.

Each of these two options has its own benefits and risks. Now it seems that the outcome of attacking Cao Cao is unpredictable, while attacking Yuan Tan has many benefits, but the risks are also high.

If Yuan Tan is defeated, he may be able to divide Qingzhou with Yuan Xi, and at the same time, he can somewhat suppress Yuan Xi's expansion momentum. Both Xu You and Xin Pi agree with this plan.

But the risk is that Cao Cao will take the opportunity to capture Yecheng. When Yuan Shang fails to return his troops, the situation in Jizhou may collapse. Therefore, Tian Feng firmly opposes this plan and insists on destroying Cao Cao first.

He said to everyone: "The Yuan family's biggest enemy is always Cao Cao. How can we give him a chance to breathe?"

"In the direction of Qingzhou, Yuan Xi has a great chance of defeating Yuan Tan alone. Why must we take action?"

"I'm afraid you are coveting Qingzhou's territory and want to seize the food from the tiger's mouth, right?"

"We are now a county and dragging down our allies regardless of the overall situation. Isn't it the fault of the Ming Lord?"

Tian Feng's words were correct, but they were really ugly. Xu You and others couldn't bear to lose face, so they used the topic to accuse Tian Feng of being disrespectful to Yuan Shang, which made Tian Feng so angry.

Although Yuan Shang knew everyone's thoughts, Tian Feng spoke so rudely, and he looked a little worried. He said, "I'll go back and think about it first. You can come up with an idea for me tomorrow."

"This matter is presided over by Zhengnan."

After that, he stood up and left, leaving Shen Pei to helplessly say to everyone: "My lord has spoken, you should also restrain yourself. It is a difficult autumn in Jizhou now. Is it still like when we were in the early days of Duke Benchu?"

Everyone secretly cursed, thinking that you have done such a good job, you are the mastermind now, naturally you can stand and talk without back pain, and you are going too far in collecting money in private, do you really think we don't know about it?

Not to mention the various advisers' own thoughts, Yuan Shang returned to the back house and saw Mrs. Hong approaching cautiously: "My lord (Mrs. Liu) has come to see my husband several times and said that he would go see him as soon as he comes back."

After hearing this, Yuan Shang sighed, got up and went to Liu's house. Seeing that Hong still wanted to follow, he said, "You don't have to go."

Hong agreed quickly. When she saw Yuan Shang's back disappearing, she breathed a sigh of relief. She thought that although Yuan Shang had been in a bad mood recently, he rarely abused her anymore. Is this considered a blessing among misfortunes?

Yuan Shang arrived at Liu's house and was stunned when he entered, because there was another person present.

Yuan Yao.

(End of this chapter)