The Nameless of the Common Clans

Qingzhou, Linzi.

"Why is Lord Xuande doing this?" Yuan Tan looked puzzled at Liu Bei who was kneeling on the ground.

"My lord!" Liu Bei sighed and said, "Yuan Shu's claim to the throne is a treasonous act. As a relative of the Han Dynasty, I should have supported the Han Dynasty, but I was in a low position and my words were not taken seriously. I saw the traitor killing the emperor but was unable to repay the late emperor. Now Yuan Shu has claimed the throne and all the heroes in the world are fighting against him. Although I am in a low position, I am a descendant of the Han Dynasty after all, so I should do my best for the Han Dynasty."

"This..." Yuan Tan frowned slightly when he heard this. He naturally understood what Liu Bei meant. Borrowing troops? After all, although Liu Bei's status here is not low, Yuan Shao also intends to recruit Liu Bei into the court, but in fact, both Yuan Tan and Yuan Shao are a little afraid of Liu Bei. After all, he was a vassal. Before, under the pressure of Cao Cao, Liu Bei and his three brothers took the military power to resist Cao Cao, but after Cao Cao withdrew his troops, Yuan Tan took back the military power.

"Lord Xuande, Yuan Shu's claim to the throne is a great rebellion, and my father has already issued a document to denounce him. However, we have to pass through Cao Cao's territory when we go to Huainan. I'm afraid..." Yuan Tan frowned and said that Cao Cao might hold someone hostage.

"Don't worry, sir." Chen Gong smiled beside Liu Bei and said, "Cao Cao has also called on the princes of the world to fight against Yuan Shu, but now only Sun Ce's family in Jiangdong has really mobilized troops to respond. We are going there in the name of the prime minister for the greater good. If Cao Cao doesn't want to lose his credibility with the world again, he won't dare to interfere."

Yuan Tan nodded. The princes' attack on Yuan Shu was a righteous act. In theory, Cao Cao naturally didn't dare to stop it, but if he really mobilized troops, Cao Cao might not be willing. This is also the reason why Yuan Shao and Chen Mo did not send a single soldier even though they responded to the call. Chen Mo even took the initiative to retreat dozens of miles to reassure Cao Cao.

If Yuan Tan mobilizes troops here without authorization...

Yuan Tan was a little hesitant for a while, and Chen Gong took the opportunity to step forward and whispered: "Sir, although Yuan Shu's claim to the throne is a rebellion, he is still a member of the Yuan family. If we go, we may be able to save Yuan Shu's life, but if we let Cao Cao and Sun Ce attack and destroy him, it will not be appropriate for the Yuan family."

Although Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu fought fiercely in the early years, they were both members of the old Yuan family after all. If they were killed by Cao Cao, it would not be a glorious thing for the old Yuan family.

Yuan Tan agreed with what he said. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "I wonder how many soldiers Lord Xuande wants to borrow?"

"Three thousand!" Chen Gong said firmly, "If there are too many soldiers, Cao Mengde may not be willing to let us go. Three thousand soldiers are not a big threat to Cao Mengde."

Yuan Tan nodded. He could accept three thousand. Liu Bei made great contributions in the war against Cao Cao this time. Yuan Shao also appreciated Liu Bei. Now Liu Bei wants to borrow three thousand soldiers, and it is also for the face of his Yuan family. Yuan Tan thought about it and agreed.

Now the world situation has been determined. There is no place for Liu Bei to rise again. At the beginning, Sun Ce swept across Jiangdong with three thousand soldiers, but today, those who can still stay are all heroes of the time. If you want to conquer a piece of land with three thousand soldiers, I am afraid that even if Sun Wu is resurrected, he can't do it.

"Well, let's give Lord Xuande three thousand soldiers and appoint Cen Bi as the military supervisor. What do you think, Lord Xuande?" Yuan Tan said with a smile.

Cen Bi was a general under Yuan Tan and a confidant. He was sent to Liu Bei to prevent Liu Bei from not coming back after the battle.

Liu Bei was overjoyed when he heard this and bowed, saying, "Thank you, sir."

At that moment, Liu Bei led his men and the team he had recruited in the past few years and set off together. After meeting Cen Bi, he did not go directly to Huainan, but took a detour through Langya and prepared to go to Huainan from Xuzhou. It was impossible to seize Xuzhou, but after all, Liu Bei still had some influence in Xuzhou, and there was still a batch of his assets there that he had not taken with him, so now it was just right to take them all with him.

…

Huainan, Shouchun, the Imperial Palace

Let's call it a palace. After all, no matter what, Yuan Shu has become an emperor now, so his residence can naturally be called a palace. Moreover, Yuan Shu is very luxurious. Even though he was defeated by Cao Cao one after another and lost the big counties of Runan, Nanyang, and Yuzhou, he never treated his quality of life harshly. Since he entered Shouchun, the mansion where he lived has undergone several large-scale expansions and renovations. In terms of luxury, Suiyang Palace and Luoyang Palace may not be comparable.

"Your Majesty, Sun Ce and Cao Cao are coming from the north and south, and the princes of the world are also denouncing them. Your Majesty should think about how to repel the enemy as soon as possible." Yan Xiang bowed to Yuan Shu with a bitter face.

When Yuan Shu became emperor, as counselors, Yan Xiang and Yang Hong had urged Yuan Shu not to be anxious, and to support a relative of the Han Dynasty as emperor like other princes to gain political autonomy.

In fact, with Yuan Shu's current power, it is not enough to support an emperor, and it is a bit reluctant to support a king.

But Yuan Shu obviously didn't want to have another person above him out of thin air, even if it was a puppet. Over the years, he first suffered from Cao Cao's anger, and then was betrayed by his former general Sun Ce. He suffered a lot of humiliation. Now that the emperor is finally dead, he feels that it is time for him to rise.

After all, there is actually no difference between supporting the emperor and becoming the emperor himself, at least in Yuan Shu's opinion.

The truth is actually correct. Supporting the emperor is just an extra fig leaf. In fact, the emperors supported by the major princes of the world today are probably not as good as Liu Xie at that time, but this fig leaf cannot be lifted casually, and even if it is to be lifted, it cannot be so rough. There are rules.

"What countermeasures do you have, my dear ministers?" Yuan Shu frowned, feeling quite unhappy. We are all doing the same thing. Why can you do it but I can't? Cao Cao is fine, but Sun Ce did not help him at this time and instead united with the princes to fight him. This made Yuan Shu a little unacceptable. After all, Sun Ce was just a young general under his former tutelage. It was too rampant.

Yan Xiang and Yang Hong looked at each other and could see the helplessness in each other's eyes. Yan Xiang stepped out and bowed and said: "Your Majesty, for now, our army can't defeat the two major princes. I think Your Majesty can temporarily resign the throne to calm the public anger, and then negotiate with Cao Cao and fight Sun Ce with all your strength."

As for why he didn't negotiate with Sun Ce to fight Cao Cao... he had to be able to beat him. In Yuan Shu's heyday, he was defeated in battles with Cao Cao. Now most of the territory has been taken by Cao Cao. How can Yuan Shu defeat him?

Moreover, based on their understanding of Yuan Shu, between Cao Cao and Sun Ce, Yuan Shu would probably rather seek peace with his former enemy Cao Cao than with his former subordinate Sun Ce, right?

"Ridiculous!" Yuan Shu frowned and said, "The throne is granted by heaven, how can I give it up easily?"

"But if I don't give it up, our army will find it difficult to resist the joint attack of Cao and Sun!" Yan Xiang advised, "My lord! It is not a good time to be an emperor now. With the current situation, even the emperor is just a title. If you are willing to give up the throne temporarily, we still have a chance, but if you insist, the day of Dacheng's demise may be here!"

At this time, Yan Xiang directly gave up the title of His Majesty. He wanted to wake up Yuan Shu and continue to bear the title of the emperor. Now among the princes, he might be the first to perish.

Yuan Shu frowned upon hearing this and looked at Yang Hong: "Apart from this, is there no other way to repel the enemy!?"

"Please forgive my limited knowledge and it is difficult for me to come up with a win-win strategy!" Yang Hong sighed and nodded. He had followed Yuan Shu the longest. When the heroes fought against Dong, he was already Yuan Shu's military advisor. He witnessed the rise of Chen Mo, Cao Cao, Yuan Shao and even Sun Ce. Only Yuan Shu, who originally had a good situation, became a foil and weakened step by step in the rise of these people. Now he insisted on becoming an emperor, which brought him a catastrophe. Until now, he still wanted to continue to become an emperor. In fact, even if Yuan Shu resigned from the throne, Yang Hong was not sure whether Cao Cao would be willing to withdraw his troops.

"Report~"

Just when Yuan Shu was hesitant, he saw a palace officer coming outside the palace to ask for an audience.

"Enter!" Yuan Shu frowned and shouted.

The palace lieutenant came in quickly and bowed to Yuan Shu, saying, "Your Majesty, a war report has been sent from outside the palace. Cao Cao's army has reached Ruyin. General Ji Ling went to fight but was defeated by the enemy general Le Jin. Now he has retreated to Xia Cai!"

"It's so fast!" Yuan Shu was shocked when he heard this. He looked at Yang Hong and gritted his teeth and said, "Send someone immediately to tell Cao Cao that I am willing to resign the throne and ask him to withdraw his troops immediately!"

Although he wanted to fight, he had no choice. Yuan Shu knew that the total number of his troops in the two counties was only 50,000, and he had to defend various places. It was impossible to defeat Cao Cao, so he could only admit defeat.

"Yes!" Yang Hong sighed in his heart, bowed to Yuan Shu, and said goodbye.

But before he left the hall, another palace officer came in and bowed to Yuan Shu, saying, "Your Majesty, there is news from Lujiang that Zhang Xun surrendered to Sun Ce, and now Lujiang has been completely taken by Sun Ce!"

"How could this be!? How dare Zhang Xun betray me!?" Yuan Shu was furious when he heard this, and stood up and cursed. Zhang Xun had been following him since Nanyang, and now he was entrusted with an important task and stationed in a county, but he surrendered so simply, and surrendered to Sun Ce, which made Yuan Shu even more difficult to accept.

"My lord, at this time, we should first focus on the overall situation, stabilize Cao Cao, and then wait for an opportunity to recapture Lujiang!" Yan Xiang hurriedly said to Yuan Shu.

"Okay, tell A Man that as long as he is willing to withdraw his troops, I am not only willing to resign the throne, but also willing to be a vassal to Liu Wei!" Yuan Shu took a deep breath, and he almost fainted just now.

Submitting to Liu Wei was almost the same as submitting to Cao Cao. Although he still had absolute autonomy in Jiujiang, after this battle, Yuan Shu could no longer be counted as a separate vassal.

"Yes!" Yang Hong nodded upon hearing this. Even so, it was still a question whether Cao Cao would accept Yuan Shu, who only had one county left. Moreover, after the loss of Lujiang, Yuan Shu was already at the end of his rope. Even if Cao Cao finally agreed, Yuan Shu would probably have to leave and go back to Suiyang with Cao Cao.