At the end of the Han Dynasty: a stingy husband from his hometown

Chapter 408 Watching the Fire from the Other Bank
However, before Shen Pei arrived in Qingzhou, Cao Cao ordered Xiahou Yuan and Wang Ling to attack Youzhou from Bingzhou, while Cao Cao personally led the army out of Henei to capture Dongjun.

Once Cao Cao captured Dongjun, he would be able to cross the Yellow River to the north and take Yecheng directly.

At the same time, Liu Bei, who had been dormant in Nanyang for a long time, finally could not sit still and ordered Guan Yu to lead his troops north to attack Yingchuan.

Dongjun and Yingchuan had already suffered from the war, and most of the people in the area had been moved to Guanzhong by Cao Cao, which led to these two places being sparsely populated and the garrison was very weak.

Even though Yuan Shao later relocated some refugees to the two places, it did not change much.

In addition, the death of Yuan Shao made the people in the two places on the border panic. Cao Cao and Guan Yu encountered almost no decent resistance wherever they went, and Chenliu and Yingchuan soon changed hands.

On the contrary, Xiahou Yuan, who attacked Youzhou from Bingzhou, encountered great trouble.

Yuan Xi, the governor of Youzhou, was the second son of Yuan Shao. Although he had no intention of competing for the throne, he was much more calm than Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang.

After he received Yuan Shang's edict, he was hesitating whether to return to Yecheng when he heard the news from the spy that there were some unusual movements of Cao's army in Bingzhou.

Yuan Xi did not dare to delay. On the one hand, he submitted a petition requesting to postpone his return to Beijing, and on the other hand, he began to reorganize his troops.

Since Yuan Shao defeated Gongsun Zan, the appearance of Xun You changed history, so the Yuan family's control over Youzhou in this time and space is far greater than in the original history.

In addition, Yuan Xi has been operating here for many years, so he can be said to have a solid foundation.

Moreover, since the defeat of Gongsun Zan, Yuan Shao also made friends with northern ethnic minorities such as the Wuhuan through marriage. This resulted in Youzhou not having experienced war for many years, and its development in all aspects began to flourish and become very powerful.

Although Xiahou Yuan was brave, Yuan Xi was personally stationed at the front line and ordered the soldiers not to go into battle and to defend the city to the death.

Xiahou Yuan and the Xiongnu cavalry could not break the city for a long time.

Yuan Shang was horrified by the joint attack from three armies and urgently summoned Feng Ji, Zhong Yao and others to discuss countermeasures.

Zhong Yao said, "Youzhou is guarded by the Second Young Master. As long as he does not take the initiative to leave the city to fight Xiahou Yuan, there will be no loss."

"Liu Bei lives in Nanyang, with few soldiers and generals under his command, and there are few households left in Yingchuan and even the entire Yanzhou. Even if he takes them all, it will not matter. He will have to divide his troops to guard various places. Your Majesty, you only need to repel Cao Cao, and it will be easy to retake Yanzhou."

"Among the three armies, the one from East County is the most threatening."

"This route was personally commanded by Cao Mengde, who mobilized almost all the elite troops in Guanzhong. His intention to seize Dongjun is false, but his real intention is to take over Jizhou. Your Majesty must be on guard."

Yuan Shang said, "I also want to fight against Cao Cao, but Yuan Tan in Qingzhou refuses to obey orders, and the troops in Youzhou are being held back by Xiahou Yuan. If I lead the troops in Jizhou to fight Cao Cao, Yuan Tan will take the opportunity to attack us from behind. What should I do?"

Zhong Yao said: "Although there is some rift between your majesty and the eldest son, they are brothers after all. Now that the enemy is invading, your majesty only needs to send someone who is eloquent to Qingzhou to persuade him with emotion and reason, and he will surely be able to persuade the eldest son to send troops to help your majesty fight against Cao Cao."

Yuan Shang asked, "Who can serve as an envoy?"

Zhong Yao said: "Although I am not talented, I am willing to go and persuade him!"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Shang hesitated.

The Yingchuan faction had always preferred Yuan Tan to inherit the throne, and although Zhong Yao had not made a clear statement before, he was more inclined towards Yuan Tan.

Xin Pi had already fled Yecheng and defected to Yuan Tan. If Zhong Yao was allowed to leave, and if he really defected to Yuan Tan, then two of the three leading figures of the Yingchuan faction would have defected to Qingzhou, which would pose a huge threat to Yuan Shang.

When Yuan Shang was still hesitating, Shen Pei came forward and said, "Since Sima Zhong is willing to be the envoy, Your Majesty should just agree!" Yuan Shang did not understand what he meant, but since Shen Pei had spoken, he naturally did not hesitate any longer and said immediately, "In that case, Sima Zhong will be the envoy to Qingzhou."

After Zhong Yao left, Yuan Shang asked Shen Pei, "The scholars of Yingchuan have always been friendly with you, my elder brother. What should we do if he leaves and never comes back?"

Shen Pei sighed, "Jizhou is at the critical moment of life and death. If your majesty and your three brothers do not work together, the State of Zhao will be in danger."

"It is precisely because of the friendship between Sima Zhong and the eldest son that we were able to convince Qingzhou and Jizhou to fight against the foreign enemies together. Moreover, Zhong Yuanchang is already one of the three highest officials and is extremely favored. If he were to defect to the eldest son, his reputation would surely be ruined."

"So I am sure that Sima Zhong will not betray Your Majesty!"

Yuan Shang was relieved and ordered an important official to go to Qingzhou with a special envoy. He conferred the title of King of Lu on Yuan Tan, gave him the position of General of Cavalry, and ordered him to lead his troops into Yanzhou to fight against Cao Cao.

Jingzhou, Xiangyang, Prince Chu's Mansion.

Tian Feng stepped forward and said, "After Lord Yuan died, his sons were at odds and each occupied a state. Now Cao Cao and Liu Bei are attacking the Yuan family together. Why don't you take this opportunity to lead your army north and destroy them in one fell swoop?"

Upon hearing this, everyone in the Chu State requested to fight.

Zhou Qi's eyes flickered, and he was obviously quite excited. However, when he looked around and saw Jia Xu, who was pretending to sleep with his eyes closed, he was moved and asked, "Everyone is eager to fight. What do you think about Wenhe?"

Being called out by Zhou Qi, Jia Xu did not dare to continue slacking off. He immediately opened his eyes and said, "I think the time to destroy Yuan is not yet right. My lord, you should not rashly raise an army."

After these words were spoken, everyone was in an uproar.

Xu Shu stepped forward and said, "Chu now occupies half of the country and has been preparing for years. It has sufficient soldiers and food, and its generals are eager to make achievements. It is the right time to lead the three armies and march north. Why do you say that the time is not right?"

Jia Xu returned the greeting slightly and said, "Although Lord Yuan is dead, his foundation is still there; although the three Yuans have conflicts, they are brothers after all. If there is no external enemy, Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan will definitely fight each other. If there is an external enemy, the two brothers will definitely work together to resist the enemy."

"If you mobilize the whole nation to fight the Northern Expedition, you will certainly be able to sweep across Hebei and destroy the Yuan family."

"However, in today's world, there is not only the Yuan family, but also Cao Cao and Liu Bei. They want to divide up the Yuan family, but they are also worried that the lord will sweep across Hebei with overwhelming force."

"Once this happens, Cao and Liu will soon be destroyed."

"So in my opinion, if you launch a large-scale northern expedition, it will not only encourage the Yuan brothers to work together to resist the enemy, but it is also very likely that Cao and Liu will stop fighting with you and then fight against Chu together!"

Jia Xu's analysis was so insightful that everyone changed color when they heard it.

Although the State of Chu was powerful, it was somewhat alone and weak if it wanted to become an enemy of the entire north.

Once the war breaks out, even if Chu can win in the end, it will inevitably suffer heavy losses, and at that time all it will probably get is a devastated north.

Zhou Qi sat up straight, his face solemn, and asked, "Then according to Wenhe's opinion, how should I act?"

Jia Xu stroked his beard and said, "My lord, you don't have to do anything. Just watch the fire from the other side. I think the fight between Cao and Yuan will take more than one day to decide the winner. When the hatred between the two sides is deep, my lord can ally with Yuan to defeat Cao."

"As for the Yuan family, if there were no external enemies, Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan would surely fight each other. My lord, you only need to sit back and reap the benefits, and you can easily seize Hebei."

Zhou Qi was overjoyed, so he accepted his advice and ordered Zhuge Liang to guard Xuzhou and not to act rashly.

(End of this chapter)