People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 284 World Affairs
"The battle in Yanzhou had already had its results. Although Liu Dai had gained a certain advantage on the front battlefield, Cao Cao was better at setting up camps.

As the war between the two sides dragged on, Cao Cao began to win over Yanzhou forces such as Bao Xin, and eventually gained the support of local Yanzhou gentry, turning defeat into victory and killing Liu Dai.

Now that the situation in Yanzhou is stable, Cao Cao will take over as governor of Yanzhou. He may be known as a hero in the future."

Xun Chen told Xu Chen the news of Yanzhou. Xu Chen did not say much but just nodded calmly.

This is just things moving forward according to the existing historical inertia.

In the end, Cao Cao took Yanzhou, and this was the beginning of Cao Cao's career.

However, although the inertia of history is strong, the influence brought by Xuan Xia cannot be ignored. The development of the situation in the future will be very different from history.

After the last battle, Yuan Shao was badly damaged and was no longer as strong as before, so the relationship between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao would probably also undergo corresponding changes.

"Cao Cao rose to prominence by relying on Yuan Shao, and now he has reached this point. After his strength grows, he may not obey Yuan Shao again, not to mention that Yuan Shao has suffered a great defeat and his power has been greatly reduced. I am afraid that he will be looked down upon by Cao Cao."

Ju Su on the other side pondered for a moment, then analyzed the situation: "From now on, Cao and Yuan will have more equal status, but they should not turn against each other."

Ju Su's judgment exactly hit the mark of what Xu Chen was thinking. Cao Cao's strength was growing, while Yuan Shao's strength was declining. As one grew stronger, the other grew weaker. Cao Cao would certainly not be willing to continue being Yuan Shao's thug.

If Xuan Xia hadn't existed, these two would have turned against each other sooner or later, even if it hadn't happened so quickly.

But now there is a monster called Xuan Xia lurking in the north, which may cause the original historical context to shift. In front of Xuan Xia, these two guys may have to huddle together for warmth.

"How about Yuan Shao?" Xu Chen asked.

Xun Chen said: "After Yu Fuluo left Yuan Shao, Zhang Yang's attitude also became uncertain. However, Zhang Yan was still determined to follow Yuan Shao. However, even if Zhang Yan was included, Yuan Shao now only occupied a few counties in the northern part of Jizhou. His strength is not enough to be feared."

Hearing about Yuan Shao’s current situation, Xu Chen felt a little sorry for him.

In a sense, today's Xuan Xia has actually replaced the role of Yuan Shao in history, but only after it truly occupies the four northern states can Xuan Xia be considered to have completely replaced the original Yuan Shao.

With Yuan Shao's current territory, he is indeed no longer a big enemy of Xuan Xia.

As for why Zhang Yan still follows Yuan Shao wholeheartedly, it is not difficult to understand, because Zhang Yan has no choice, unless he changes his attitude and joins Xuan Xia, but this option obviously no longer exists.

Xuan Xia has occupied half of Jizhou. Xu Chen was crowned king and served as the governor of Jizhou to preside over the situation in Jizhou. The pressure Zhang Yan faced was even greater than when he faced Zhang Baiqi. He could only follow Yuan Shao to survive.

However, in the eyes of Xu Chen and others, the situation in Jizhou has not changed much.

Once the time comes, both Yuan Shao and Zhang Yan will inevitably become victims of Xuan Xia's sword.

At this time, Xun Chen looked at the letter in his hand, his face unconsciously solemn. The following news was what really touched people's hearts: "My lord, now that the Emperor of Han has returned to Luoyang, Cao Cao has taken the lead in sending people to the capital to pay tribute. I don't know how the situation will develop in the future."

Hearing about the Emperor of Han, Xu Chen couldn't help but look at Ju Su and asked, "If you were a vassal of the Han Dynasty at this time, what would you think?"

Ju Su was stunned, but did not refuse. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Nothing else, I am here to punish the disloyalty of the emperor."

Xu Chen nodded and frowned: "This is not a good thing. If we talk about disloyalty, in the eyes of the Han court and the princes, I, Xuan Xia, am the biggest disloyalty. Is it possible for them to unite under the banner of the emperor and attack me together?"

After hearing this, Xun Chen and Ju Shou fell silent; they were also unsure about this question.

If there was no Xuan Xia, in the chaotic situation, the princes would have fought each other and there would have been almost no possibility of sincere cooperation.

But the bad thing is that Xuanxia is too special. All the princes have common conflicts with Xuanxia, ​​and they are conflicts that will never end. This is determined by the teachings of naturalism.

When Xuan Xia was relatively weak, the princes would not take it too seriously.

But as Xuan Xia's strength gradually increases, the princes may unite based on common conflicts. If Xuan Xia becomes a hegemon, it will be more terrifying than any other prince.

But to say that the princes can definitely unite is a bit too idealistic. The heroes on all sides must have their own ulterior motives. It was difficult enough to defeat Dong Zhuo, so how could they cooperate sincerely against Xuan Xia?

"We can only wait and see what happens in the future. It is really hard to predict now." Ju Shou and Xun Chen both shook their heads.

Xu Chen thought about it and felt relieved. Even he, who knew the future well, could not predict what would happen, let alone Ju Shou and Xun Chen, who were the natives of the time. Although they were all elite talents at the time, they were just ordinary people after all. If there were too many variables, they could not make any predictions.

Seeing that Xu Chen did not say anything, Xun Chen cleared his throat and talked about the last news of the day, which was the battle report on the grassland.

"The allied forces have received a report of the battle. After a long standoff with the Xiongnu and Xianbei, when victory was in sight, another group of Xiongnu cavalry arrived at the battlefield from Guanzhong, making the battle more complicated and protracted. I'm afraid it will take some time to determine the outcome."

Hearing this, Xu Chen nodded and said, "The alliance is growing bigger and bigger, and the Xiongnu and Xianbei are alone and can't stand alone. We don't need to worry about this. The alliance will definitely be able to win on its own."

Xun Chen and Ju Su both cupped their hands and said, "My lord, this is a good idea!"

The journey was too long, and the news received by Ji County were all about things that had happened a long time ago. For example, the battle between the allied forces and the Xiongnu and Xianbei on the grassland happened half a month ago. When Xu Chen received the battle report, the war had actually come to an end.

The battle between the Allied Forces and the Xiongnu and Xianbei was actually a struggle within the grassland. Up to now, the main force of the Allied Forces was mainly composed of grassland tribes.

With the protracted battle, the original 30,000 allied forces have now expanded to 60,000 or 70,000. Once the alliance's snowball starts rolling, it is difficult to stop. The faster the alliance grows, the faster it grows.

During the long time that Xu Chen led his army south to attack Yuan Shao, the Allied forces had fought countless battles of varying sizes with the Xiongnu and Xianbei. Neither side was able to do anything to the other, and eventually the mode of war began to change in another direction.

When it became difficult for the Allied forces to defeat the enemy head-on, Wuli and a group of Allied generals discussed and finally decided to avoid a head-on decisive battle. Instead, they began to divide their troops and go deep into the grasslands, continuing the original route and continuing to expand the alliance members.

In fact, as the alliance grows bigger, they have slowly realized the essence of the alliance.

The existence of the alliance has never been about conquest, so there is no core conflict with the countless tribes on the grassland. The expansion of the alliance is better described as a transformation, turning small tribes that originally belonged to the Xiongnu, Xianbei or any other large alliance into part of the tributary alliance.

This is a competition between the new system and the old system on the grassland. In addition to the original pyramid-like hierarchy system built on strength on the grassland, the tribes now have another more open and favorable system. In the new system, economic activities have become the core, which can create more wealth and is obviously more beneficial to each tribe.

When the latter's strength has reached a certain level, more tribes will be more willing to participate.

Today, the tributary alliance has demonstrated its strength enough that even the Xianbei and the Huns cannot defeat it. This is enough to reassure many waiting and hesitant tribes. Even if they join the tributary alliance, they don't have to worry about revenge from the Xianbei and the Huns.

Specifically speaking of the large and small tribes roaming the grasslands, neither the tribal people nor the tribal leaders did have a strong concept of large populations. It was not a difficult decision to transform from the former Xiongnu and Xianbei to become part of the tributary alliance.

As long as the alliance has enough strength and interests, they don't mind doing so.

When the Allies began to change their strategy and divide their forces to continue transforming grassland power, the battle began to turn into a long tug-of-war struggle between the two sides, but the main force of the Xiongnu and Xianbei could no longer reverse the trend of the Allies' expansion.

As the alliance continued to erode the power that originally belonged to them, the Xiongnu and Xianbei became increasingly struggling as one side gained strength while the other lost.

Finally, when his strength had almost expanded, Wuli raised his arm and gathered 70,000 troops from his allies to defeat the Xiongnu and Xianbei positions head-on.

But at the critical moment, a Hun force from Yufuluo suddenly appeared to reinforce the battlefield and stabilized the situation on the battlefield again.

This is exactly what Xu Chen said in the battle report, but it happened half a month ago. Now, the two sides have been fighting for another half a month, and the situation has finally come to an end.

On the vast grassland, the positions of both armies remained quiet enough, but this was only the calm before the storm.

As the dominant force in the old order, the Xiongnu and Xianbei were unwilling to give up their dominance over the grasslands and were determined to fight a decisive battle with this newly emerged tributary alliance. Although the situation was unfavorable now, they would never back down.

If they retreat or fail here, then an alliance with Xuanxia as the core will form on the grassland. Even if the binding force of this alliance is not that strong, this is definitely not what the Xiongnu and Xianbei want to see.

In the Allied camp, the generals were already preparing for the final battle.

Zhao Yun, Taishi Ci and Ma Yan were each wearing military uniforms and were about to enter the military tent, but before entering, they stopped at the same time. The three of them looked at each other with serious expressions.

"This battle is not only to defeat the Xiongnu and Xianbei, but also to rescue the hundreds of thousands of Han people abducted by Yufuluo!" Ma Yan said in a deep voice.

Taishi Ci's eyes flickered. "This matter may be easy for only you and me to handle. The other generals are all from foreign races. Even General Wuli is from Wuhuan. They may not care."

Zhao Yun was silent for a moment, then nodded: "If necessary, I will leave the battlefield in time and rush to the rear of the enemy to suppress it, and I will definitely protect my Han people!"

(End of this chapter)