Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 917 Changes in Huaicheng

Seeing that the opposite side was getting closer and closer, Yuan Xi's cavalry was ready to prepare, but found that there were not many people coming, only a few hundred cavalry.

The leader came to the front on horseback alone. The forward cavalry of Yuan Xi's army came forward to meet him. The leader said: "I am going to be humble and want to see the envoy."

When Yuan Xi heard the message from the soldiers, he led his troops to greet Bei. He went to see Yuan Xi personally to greet him. He quickly dismounted his horse and went forward, saluting Yuan Xi and saying, "Bei was delayed in Taiyuan. I hope you will forgive me."

When Yan Xian saw him, he muttered to himself first. He naturally knew Qubei and knew the other person's status. He spoke with Yuan Xi in such a courteous tone, maybe he had known each other before.
Seeing Qu's humble expression, Yuan Xi understood that he had something to say to her in private, so he said to Yan Xian: "You go back to the city to rest today. If anything happens, I will send someone to find you."

After hearing this, Yan Xian understood what he was saying and immediately said goodbye and went back to the city. Yuan Xi indeed led Qubei to the military camp outside the city. After the two of them entered the tent and took their seats, Qubei opened his mouth and told what he had done in Taiyuan during this period. .

Among them, Qubei focused on the conversation between the two after meeting Huchuquan. Of course, Qubei would not explicitly say that he had secretly taken refuge with Yuan Xi, but instead asked Huchuquan's thoughts about the Han Dynasty in a subtle way.

Hu Chuquan's reaction was similar to Yuan Xi's original prediction, that is, he would fall to whoever was stronger, but he would not put all his bets on one side. After all, the situation in the Central Plains was changing, and if someone gains power today, he might lose tomorrow. My fortune and life are gone.

Nowadays, Gao Gan is powerful in the southern part of Bingzhou, so Huchuquan ostensibly supports Gao Gan in his fight against Cao Cao, and orders some small tribes to assist Gao Gan, but Qubei guesses that Huchuquan is not completely sincere.

Because if he sincerely surrendered, he should have gone to Taiyuan County to persuade the remaining Xiongnu die-hards, namely King Guli of the left and right, but in fact Huchuquan was not very active, so the power of Gao Gan was in Shangdang County and Taiyuan. There was resistance on the county's borders.

Yuan Xi smiled and said: "I thought you would wait for me in Guanyin and help call the city together, but I thought wrong."

"You're afraid you want to see what I'm capable of, right?"

The topographic feature of Bingzhou is that there are passes everywhere. To the north of Taiyuan County is another basin, the Datong Basin. Mayi City, where Mayi Zhimou is located, is in the Datong Basin. It is separated from Taiyuan County by Juzhu Mountain. The terrain is higher than that of Taiyuan County. It is also a dangerous place, and it is also an extremely suitable place for an ambush, so Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty wanted to annihilate the Xiongnu army here.

"Now it seems that what you have done is far beyond my expectations. I really admire you."

Qubei replied: "Indeed, I was in Taiyuan at that time. The Southern Xiongnu people were panic-stricken, so I traveled over starry and night."

Qubei straightened his body and said: "On the one hand, I really want to see how the commander treats the dissatisfied Southern Huns. After all, the hatred between the two sides has lasted for hundreds of years, and it cannot be resolved overnight."

Guanyin in the north of the Datong Basin is also an important pass. In order to prepare for it, the Southern Xiongnu defended various passes in the Datong Basin. However, they obviously underestimated and did not expect that Yuan Xi would lead the army to attack the north. Therefore, once the Yin Guan was lost, Yanmen's The northern portal has been declared lost.

"But in this case, I will fight each city with my own hands."

The reason was apparently because the die-hard party headed by King Guli was very resistant to the Han people. They said that the Gaogan had evil intentions and wanted to destroy the Southern Xiongnu, so they united the large and small tribes and accumulated heavy troops at the border of the Taiyuan Basin to block the power of the Gaogan. .

The center of Taiyuan County is the Taiyuan Basin. There are only a few key passages that can be entered here. It is easy to defend but difficult to attack, so senior officials are not allowed to enter.

Qubei said: "Yes, but the five northern counties have a weakness, that is, if Taiyuan County wants to go north for reinforcements, it almost has to go to Yanmen County."

"It's not impossible to surrender to the city if you humble yourself, but if the city surrenders, is it because of your ability as a king, or because of the humility of the people who came before you?"

Yuan Xi became interested and said, "Oh? Then tell me what you think."

Yuan Xi spoke out: "It's been almost half a month since I took over the underworld. I'm afraid Taiyuan County already knows about it, right?"

Yuan Xi nodded and said: "You are very accurate. I also planned this."

"But this Kuai Basin is not easy to fight. Mayi is now one of the largest cities in Bingzhou, right?"

After hearing this, he hurriedly leaned over to apologize and said, "Please forgive me. I did have an idea at the end, but there are also difficulties in doing this."

"Now if the envoy can gain a firm foothold in Yanmen, capture Mayi, and completely occupy this basin, he will be able to prevent Taiyuan County's reinforcements from leaving Juzhu Mountain in the north, and the five northern counties will have to fight on their own."

"If it is true that the majority of them are the latter, aren't you afraid that they will rebel again after you leave that day?"

"On the other hand, when you are sent to the city, you have to rely on your own means and prestige to convince the tribes. If you are present, it will be superfluous."

Yuan Xi burst out laughing after hearing this, "I just like your straightforward temperament."

Qubei nodded and said: "Indeed, it was the trading center of the Southern Xiongnu from south to north. When it was prosperous, horses, cattle and sheep filled the mountains and fields, and grain and cloth were piled up like mountains. King Gu Li deployed heavy troops on the left and right, and he would not give up easily."

Yuan Xi thought about it and now he had two choices, attack Mayi first, or continue westward to attack Yunzhong County.

He said aloud: "Who is King Guli now?"

"Who else is there besides you in the Four Corners?" King Zuo Xian, King Zuo Guli, King You Xian, and King You Guli are collectively known as the Four Corners. They are the four highest-ranking kings of the Southern Huns. Qubei explained the situation of the other three people one by one. He smiled bitterly and said: "The upper class of the Xiongnu are still very resistant to joining forces. After all, they are doing well now. The Han Dynasty is declining and they can't control them. After the Sili Rebellion, the Zhonglang who protects the Xiongnu will be vacant for many years. Therefore, the Southern Xiongnu internally feels that it is best to maintain the status quo. very good."

Yuan Xi spoke up: "Don't they think that the Central Plains will be unified sooner or later and the troubled times will be settled? How will they face the powerful Central Plains regime in the future?"

Qubei spoke up: "Among the Southern Xiongnu, some people feel that this troubled times will last for many years, while others feel that even if the Central Plains is unified, nothing will be done to them. After all, the policy continued from the Eastern Han Dynasty is to abandon the border."

Yuan Xi was silent, the Southern Xiongnu guessed it right. If history does not change, it will be like this in later generations. The Jin Dynasty also continued the policy of the Eastern Han Dynasty and adopted a policy of almost giving up on the border, which led to the annexation of the Xiongnu to Xianbei, and finally together Involved in the Wu Huan incident.

In fact, there are not many similarities between the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Western Han Dynasty, except that their names have the same Chinese character. Even the annotation for Liu Xiu's accession to the throne does not mention a single Chinese character in the whole text. Instead, it says that he inherited the new dynasty of Wang Mang. The legitimacy is Liu Xiu's name should match the prophecy.

Moreover, Liu Xiu's Red Eyebrow Army lacked military spending and dug many tombs of Western Han emperors. Moreover, Liu Xiu's ancestor came from Liu Heng who was persecuted by Empress Lu, so he was quite indifferent to the Western Han Dynasty throughout his life. Cut with the Western Han Dynasty.

In this context, the different experiences of the founding emperors of the two Han dynasties determined that the two dynasties of the Eastern Han Dynasty had completely different aspirations from the beginning.

Yuan Xi knew this period of history and understood that the more thoroughly these problems were solved when conquering the world, the fewer hidden dangers there would be when establishing a new world. Otherwise, it would be difficult to recover from a sudden outbreak, and the end would be like the Qin Dynasty.

He said to Qubei: "That's why I attacked the five northern counties to cut off the thoughts of those people in Taiyuan."

"When I occupy the Hetao Plain and block their retreat to the outside of the Pass, who else can they turn to?"

"Are they the Qiang people in eastern Liangzhou, or Cao Cao in Sili?"

Qubei heard the words and said: "Since you have already made up your mind, I will do my best to help you."

Yuan Xi smiled and said: "Okay, then you will help me appease the people and see how I can pacify Yunzhong!"

The news that Yuan Xi's army marched westward to the northern part of Bingzhou and captured Yanmen County soon spread throughout the Central Plains, naturally including Taiyuan County and the Sili area.

Unavoidable riots occurred within the Southern Huns, because no one expected that Yuan Xi would send out large-scale troops at this time. You must know that this kind of horse fighting in the ice and snow has a very high horse casualty rate. Even if Youzhou is a horse-producing area, it is not Such a waste!

The people within the Southern Xiongnu were still in panic, not to mention Sili Huaicheng. Zhong Yao urgently gathered a group of subordinates to discuss countermeasures, and at the same time urgently sent an urgent message to Cao Cao in Xu County.

The subordinates were all talking about it. Wei Zhi was the first to speak up. He shook his head repeatedly and said, "How can this fierce tiger get so much money to fight?"

"How did his soldiers hold up despite fighting several battles a year?"

"I heard that he didn't massacre the city and rob, and the soldiers' income was definitely not as much as Ming Gong's soldiers. But you have all seen the strength of Youzhou soldiers. Could it be that the ferocious tiger could do this just by bewitching the Tao of Taiping?" The situation?"

As soon as these words came out, everyone thought that you were too imprudent in what you said. How could Ming Gong's Qingzhou soldiers not be the same?
Sima Fang coughed twice and said: "I heard that the calculation of military merit is very strict. Instead of counting by head, the battlefield merit is divided equally, and then individual achievements are calculated separately. It is quite complicated."

Zhong Yao's eyes flashed, "Jiangong is really considerate of everything. He even knows this kind of thing so clearly."

"According to the spies' reports, the Youzhou Army is indeed very strange. Their monetary rewards are not many, but more of some methods to confuse people's hearts."

"Soldiers like this are the most dangerous and must be guarded against."

"Fierce Tiger once again sent troops unexpectedly and gained the upper hand. We must counterattack, otherwise Sili will be in danger by the time he pacifies Bingzhou."

Sima Fang shook his head and sighed, "This guy has been moving too fast in the past few years. He doesn't show any signs of stopping. I don't know why he is so urgent."

Zhong Yao snorted coldly: "No matter how powerful you are, you are still a human being, and you have weaknesses."

"There is news in the Black Mountains that Zhao Yun has gone north. This is really our opportunity."

"Contact Ma Teng and Han Sui as soon as possible. If they send troops, we will not let them get their wish!"

Wei Jian was startled, "You want to attack Montenegro?"

Zhong Yao sneered: "His plan fell into the trap of attacking Black Mountain."

"Send a letter to Ma Teng and Han Sui to send out all the troops, from Hedong to Shangjun in Bingzhou, all the way north, and directly to the five northern counties!"

After everything was discussed and everyone dispersed, Sima Fang returned to the Sima family mansion in Huai City and went to look for someone as soon as he entered the door.

(End of this chapter)