The Nameless of the Common Clans

Not long after Yuan Tan's envoy left for Luoyang, Xun You arrived in Linzi. He originally thought that Yuan Tan was in Pingyuan, but when he arrived in Pingyuan, he learned that Yuan Tan was still staying in Linzi to defend against the enemy. Xun You took Dian Wei south to cross the river and arrived. Linzi came to see Yuan Tan.

Xun You did not see Yuan Tan immediately, but first found Guo Tu and Xin Ping.

Guo Tu's study was quite elegantly decorated. After the servants served sake and cakes, they all left. Only Xun You, Guo Tu and Xin Ping were left in the room.

"It seems that Gongze and Zhongzhi also know about Jizhou." Xun You took a sip from the wine glass and chuckled.

"Gongda knows it, how can we not know it?" Guo Tu said with a smile.

"If you knew it, Gongze and Zhongzhi should not be in Linzi at this moment but in the plains. Without the support of Jizhou, Qingzhou alone cannot stop Cao Cao's tiger and wolf troops." Xun You smiled rudely and said: "You and I know each other. Twenty years later, you have come thousands of miles away, and Gongze is so dishonest, which is really disappointing. "

"Gongda must have a plan when he comes here. Speaking of which, you and I are enemies, how can we dare to treat each other with sincerity?" Guo Tu said disdainfully: "Don't tell me that you are here for me."

This kind of thing is just to deceive other people. We all know each other well. They all came from Yingchuan Academy and know each other well. Others don’t know who you, Xun You are, but he, Guo Tu, knows very well. Xun You said it was especially for him. He came to relieve his worries, but Guo Tu didn't believe a word he said.

Xun You shook his head and said with a smile: "Since the Lord is so candid, then You will tell the truth. This time, you are here for the future of the eldest young master."

Guo Tu: "..."

"Listen to me." Looking at Guo Tu's darkened face, Xun You smiled and said, "Of course, we will benefit from the union of our two families, for the eldest son and for my master."

"Ha~" Guo Tu just looked at Xun You and said, "Don't think I don't know. Taishi Cibing came out of Daijun. You and I are enemies, not friends. How can we benefit from both?"

Xun You looked at Guo Tu and said: "This moment and the other moment, it's just like the Third Young Master has given up Qingzhou to Cao Cao. The eldest Young Master has lost the foundation of Qingzhou. He should have inherited the foundation of Jizhou, but now he can only succumb to the Third Young Master. , even being harmed is not impossible. Imagine that the two of them have always supported the eldest young master. If the eldest young master is killed, how will the two of them deal with it? "

A hint of gloom flashed in the eyes of Guo Tu and Xin Ping. When Yuan Shao took over Jizhou, the factions under his command had already begun to fight. They, including Xu You, all belonged to the Yingchuan faction, while Feng Ji, Jushou, Tian Feng and others belonged to the Jizhou faction. , the two factions were originally about the same strength, but this time Xu You turned toward Yuan Shang, and Xun Chen, who had always remained neutral, also turned toward Yuan Shang. Yuan Shang had an absolute advantage at this moment, both in terms of territory and strength.

On their side, although Xinbi is still in Jizhou, they are still alone. With Yuan Tan's strength alone, he will definitely not be able to defeat Yuan Shang. What's more, now that Cao Cao's army is approaching, Qingzhou has become Yuan Shang's abandoned son, and Chen Mo Joining forces is the best choice, otherwise Guo Tu would not let Yuan Tan ask Chen Mo for help.

Now Xun You put the matter aside and said that they now have something to ask for, and they really can't be stubborn.

"How are Gongda going to help my lord?" Xin Ping asked, breaking the deadlock.

"Qingzhou is isolated outside, and Jizhou refuses to help. Even if my lord is willing to send troops to help, it is difficult to save the fire from afar. If the eldest son is willing to join forces with my lord, my lord is willing to contain Yuan Shang on the front line in Hanoi. The eldest son will lead The main force will cross the river and camp in the plains to attack Yuan Shang. After this is accomplished, I will lead Youzhou and form an alliance with the eldest son to fight against Cao Cao." Xun You looked at Guo Tu and said with a smile.

"It's just to help contain the soldiers and horses, but at the expense of Youzhou?" Guo Tu frowned.

"If this doesn't work, there is another way. Our lord takes the initiative to send troops, and you and I attack Yuan Shang. But in the end who will win Jizhou, how about relying on means?" Xun You said with a smile.

"This..." Guo Tu snorted and said nothing. Chen Mo's soldiers were fierce. In his heyday, Yuan Shao was defeated by Chen Mo, let alone Yuan Tan today.

"If we follow the previous plan, our lord will concentrate our efforts to capture Youzhou, but if you and I each rely on their own abilities, the main force that has already gone to Bingzhou will be transferred to Hanoi." Xun You said with a smile: "It's not a threat. But in the current situation, it is very difficult for the eldest son to keep the foundation of Jizhou, not to mention the second son of Youzhou, I am afraid that he is also on the side of the third son. Our Lord's sending troops to Youzhou is also to distract Yuan Shang's troops. "

Guo Tu nodded. If there is no fight, Yuan Shang has already formed an alliance with Cao Cao. Yuan Tan has no choice but to surrender. Yuan Shang can hand over Qingzhou to Cao Cao. Youzhou is much colder and colder than Qingzhou. Yu Chenmo?

"If it is true as Gongda said, Changling Marquis is indeed willing to form an alliance with the eldest son and is willing to promote this alliance!" Guo Tu said with cupped hands.

Xun You returned the favor with a smile. It would be best if he could promote an alliance. Now that the second son of the Yuan family has won the throne, it doesn't matter who wins in the end. If Yuan Shao is still alive or has a clear heir, then Cao Cao and Chen Mo are just testing it out at this moment and don't dare to take it seriously. They mobilized troops, but now the two sons of the Yuan family are fighting. Although Yuan Shang has stabilized the situation in Jizhou, as long as Yuan Tan is dissatisfied with this result and is willing to come out to fight, the final result will be that he becomes a pawn in the invisible fight between Chen Mo and Cao Cao. Although Cao Cao took the lead and won the land of Qingzhou, it does not mean that Chen Mo lost this game.

Early the next morning, Guo Tu introduced Xun You to Yuan Tan and explained his intention to form an alliance. Now Yuan Tan was facing a very difficult situation. Cao Cao was pressing harder and he was losing consecutive battles. Unless he gave up everything and went to Yecheng to ask for help, Yuan Shang accepted defeat, but Yuan Tan was obviously unwilling to do so. He gave up Qingzhou and allowed Cao Cao to temporarily continue to attack the plains because he had taken over Qingzhou. He then gathered his troops and joined forces with Chen Mo to regain the power of Jizhou. This was a big deal for Yuan Tan. Best choice.

"To be honest, Tan has ordered people to go to Luoyang to report the alliance. Since the Marquis of Changling also has this intention, Tan is willing to dedicate Youzhou to the Marquis of Changling for the benefit of both families." Everything has been discussed and decided. Yuan Tan stood up and took Xun You's hand cordially.

There is no free lunch in the world, and Chen Mo's offer of conditions is the best. This shows that Chen Mo has no intention of Jizhou. If Chen Mo does not offer conditions, or offers some trivial conditions, Yuan Tan will be worried.

"You admire the eldest son for his understanding of righteousness. Since ancient times, seniority and youth have been orderly. Naturally, we should not interfere in the affairs of the Yuan family. It is just the matter of the eldest son that my lord feels sorry for." Xun You patted Yuan Tan's hand. hand, smiling.

As for whether Chen Mo said this, it doesn't matter. It was originally a polite statement, so naturally it was said in a nice way.

Yuan Tan nodded in agreement and said: "I have heard for a long time that Marquis Changling has profound wisdom and insight into the world. Thank you to Marquis Changling for me."

Guo Tu glanced at Yuan Tan in surprise. He couldn't really believe it, could he?

Xun You did not stay in Linzi for long. After discussing the specific cooperation matters, he immediately set off with Dian Wei, detouring through the plains, and went straight back to Luoyang.

On the Qingzhou side, Yuan Tan began to consciously shrink the defense line, and at the same time transported money and food from each city to the plains. The fighting on the front line continued. Under the coordination of Guo Tu and Xin Ping, what was left to Cao Cao, in addition to the people in the city, Not even a grain of rice was left.

Cao Cao's army captured more than ten cities in succession. Although they gained the population of the city, they did not capture even a grain of grain. This made Cao Cao's soldiers quite depressed. Especially this time, Cao Cao issued a strict order not to kill the people without permission. Qingzhou missed farming because of the war. There is destined to be no harvest this year. If he does not want a large number of people to starve to death, Cao Cao has to transport food to provide disaster relief. Although it is easy to capture Qingzhou, it is not easy to digest it.

Suiyang, when Cao Cao got the news, nearly half of Qingzhou had been occupied, but except for the city and population, nothing was captured. This time to attack Qingzhou, Cao Cao mobilized nearly 50,000 troops. This consumption of food and grass was huge. It was very big, and there was no replenishment. Although it was profitable in the long run, it made Cao Cao suddenly run out of extra food and grass turnover.

"Yuan Tan gathered his troops, horses, food and grass on the plain. It seems that the fight between the two sons of the Yuan family has been completed!" Cao Cao looked at the battle report, frowned and thought, this is a good thing. He captured Qingzhou first and has already seized it. I have a head start, but something feels wrong.

"My lord, are you worried that Chen Mo will take action against Jizhou?" Guo Jiaxiao asked.

"It's not a worry, but a certainty. There has been no news since Taishi Ci entered Dai County. I'm afraid Chen Mo's main force has not gone to Bingzhou." Cao Cao said in a deep voice. Now he has realized that once Youzhou is barren, come For Chen Mo, it is a bit far away and has weak connections. It can easily become an enclave. Compared with Youzhou, Jizhou is obviously more important to Chen Mo. Cao Cao took a deep breath and said, "I suspect that this time Yuan Tan made up his mind so quickly to retreat to the plains, and there may be Chen Mo's plan behind it."

Although he won Qingzhou in vain, if he loses the opportunity to capture Jizhou, it will be more than he loses. After Chen Mo won Jizhou, Youzhou will naturally become his bag. The same is true for Cao Cao himself. As long as he wins Jizhou, Isn't Qingzhou also in his pocket?

It seems that he has the upper hand, but this time it seems that Chen Mo will have to strike later!

"My lord, don't worry. You can teach the soldiers who captured Qingzhou to stay in Qingzhou and not to return to the court. If Chen Mo doesn't move, he will just sit back and watch the two sons fight. But if Chen Mo takes action, the plain will also be the land of Qingzhou. Our army can wait until the river floods in winter." Ice, cross the river and attack, take the plain first, and compete with Chen Mo!" Guo Jia said with a smile.

Cao Cao nodded: "I will follow Feng Xiao's words, but even so, if we compete with Chen Mo for Jizhou at this time, our army's food and grass may..."

The original plan was to take Qingzhou first and then wait for the opportunity. The north was still divided into three parts, but the strongest one became Cao Cao instead of the Yuan family. But now it seems that Chen Mo is obviously not willing to watch Cao Cao sit down. Big, if two families compete for Jizhou, the logistics of food and grass will become the key.