The Most Romantic of the Three Kingdoms

In Ye County, Yuan Shao received a letter from Cao Cao asking for help. After reading it, Gu Yutang said: "Meng Defu was defeated by Yan, and he has returned to Dongjun, and Zhang Mengzhuo has also returned to Chenliu. Shanyang, In the two counties of Jiyin and Yin, Meng Dexuan won and lost, and was taken away by Xunzhen, Mengde asked me for help, how do you think I should answer him?"

One person stood up, as if filled with righteous indignation, and said angrily: "Xunzhen steals Yanzhou and kills the people. Even if he can show his murderous intentions for a while, he will inevitably lead to defeat in the end."

Everyone saw that the person who spoke was Guo Tu.

As mentioned above, this Guo Tu is a native of Yingchuan and a fellow of Xun Zhen. The two used to work together as colleagues in the Yingchuan Prefecture, but the relationship between the two has always been at odds. As long as Tu hears news from Xun Zhen's side, it is usually an attitude of contempt and rejection. In fact, his attitude is not only because of the old grudges between the two, but also because he has an old grudge against Xun Zhen. Now majestic, dominating the current position of the southeast, there is envy and jealousy.

There is no need to explore the thoughts in his heart, he just said that Yuan Shao listened to Guo Tu's words, and thought in his heart: "In the past, the heroes rose together to discuss Dong Zhuo, and all the participants were all handsome and important ministers of this world. He didn't care much about Xun Zhenzhi, but he didn't expect it to take a few years. This Xunzhen not only established a firm foothold in Xuzhou, but also invaded Yan and Zhou, and he was already one of the little tyrants in the southeast!

"However, what Gongze said is not bad. Although he is now a small tyrant in the southeast, after I destroy Gongsun Zan in the north and the Heishan army in the west, I will rely on the power of the Ji and You states and ask him from the east. What can I do? If you come down to me, then let it go, without losing your wealth and honor, if you don't want to come down, how difficult is it to destroy it with your backhand!"

The Yuan clan of Runan, the fourth and third princes, has an unparalleled reputation in the sea now, and no gentry can match it. Although the Xun clan is also famous, the reputation of the Xun clan in previous years was only due to Xun Shu and his sons. In other words, the "Eight Dragons of the Xun family" are just outstanding in virtue. In terms of the "power" and "nobleness" of the family in the old days, Xun Shu was the highest and only served as the head of a county, and his sons, except Xun Shuang, either never served , or at most, he has only been a small official such as county magistrate, county magistrate, and government official, and only Xun Shu, the second son of Xun Shu, has been appointed to the position of the two thousand stone prefects. He was the prime minister of Jinan. , in other words, that is to say, the Xun clan could not even meet the most basic conditions of a noble clan of "two thousand stones for generations". Therefore, with the Yuan clan, who had "disciples and officials all over the world", in terms of "right" and "precious" In this respect, it was a world of difference and could not be compared at all. This was one of the reasons why Yuan Shao did not pay much attention to Xun Zhen earlier.

Another reason is that Jizhou's geographical location is much better than Xuzhou. Jizhou is connected to You and Bing in the north, overlooking the Central Plains, and the three states of Qing, Yan, and Xu are all in the east. If you compare it to a person, Jizhou is the torso and heart of a person. You and Bing, then go to Yuzhou, or go to Qing, Yan, Xu, it is good to have a comparison, all of them will be built in a high-rise building, and they will be sweeping. From a strategic point of view, if Jizhou is a treasure of gold and silver, Xuzhou is a corner.

Therefore, even though Xun Zhen is doing well in Xuzhou, in fact, Yuan Shao is not very vigilant about him. This is one of the reasons why he has not tried his best to help Cao Cao. In his opinion, As long as Cao Cao and Zhang Miao can block Xun Zhen first, what will happen in the future? As he thought, if Xun Zhen didn't surrender to him, he would have the confidence to "kill him with his backhand".

After Guo Tu finished speaking, another person got up and said: "Ming Gong, in my humble opinion, please don't grant Meng De's help for the time being."

Yuan Shao saw that the person who spoke was Feng Ji.

However, the current Wenzuo counselors under Yuan Shao's account are roughly divided into two major factions and three minor factions.

The two major schools are Jizhou native scholars represented by Ju Shi, Shen Pei, Tian Feng, etc., and Yingchuan scholars represented by Guo Tu, Xin Ping, Xin Pi, etc.; the three small schools are Yingchuan scholars In this faction, there are also a few old friends of Yuan Shao, such as Chunyu Qiong from Yingchuan, Xu You from Nanyang, etc. Chunyu Qiong was originally from Yingchuan, and Nanyang borders Yingchuan, so they and Guo Tu and others can go well. relatively close.

This Fengji, in terms of his background, was a small group of Yuan Shao's old friends, but unlike Chunyu Qiong and Xu You, he was not close to the big group of Yingchuan, but the big group of Jizhou scholars. I mean, why is that? This is related to the traditional habits of Yingchuan scholars. Yingchuan has been influenced by the Legalists for a long time, and the people are prone to lawsuits, lawsuits and disputes. One of the consequences is the formation of parties and exclusion from foreigners. He was accommodated by Guo Tu and others, but Feng Ji was originally from Qingzhou, and his home was far away by the sea. Because he could not integrate into the small group of Guo Tu and others, he could only move closer to the Jizhou scholar faction.

Since Feng Ji was not of the Yingchuan faction, he was indifferent to Guo Tu's "indignation", so he did not follow Guo Tu's words and attacked Xun Zhen again, but just discussed the matter and asked Cao Cao to ask for help. Express your opinion to Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao heard Fengji's words and said, "Yuantu, Meng De's words are urgent in the letter of request for help. He said that he was deeply worried that Xun Zhenzhi would take advantage of the victory to advance westward and take the eastern county, but why did he say that, for the time being? Don't you need reinforcements for Meng De?"

Feng Ji replied: "Although Xun Zhendong is now defeating Meng De again, but due to the dangers of the river, the south is connected to Chen Liu, and the back is my Ji. Even if Xun Zhendong invades Dong County, it is expected that Mengde's defense should still be possible. As for the immediate fall of the whole county. This is one of them.

"Sun Jian of Yuzhou is an ally of Xun Zhendong, and now that Sun Jian is dead, although his descendants Ce has been the prefect of Yuzhou for Xunzhendong, Sun Ce is young, has no prestige, and it is difficult to control the situation, not to mention foreign wars? This means that It is to cut off Xun Zhendong's largest foreign aid.

"Yuan Gonggong and Lu Fengxian were defeated and retreated to Nanyang. Yuan Gonggong was not a man of Hongya, and Lv Fengxian was proud of Wufu. It is expected that they will not be able to live together in Nanyang for a long time. In order to find a way out, Lu Fengxian is very likely to invade Yuzhou again. This is Yuzhou and There are still foreign aggressions, and if something happens to Yuzhou, Xuzhou will be uneasy. This is the third.

"So, in my humble opinion, Xun Zhendong is definitely not in the right now, and he doesn't dare to launch an army to invade Dongjun and Chenliu. What he urgently needs to do now is to first take care of the internal and external troubles in Yan and Henan. To appease and solve it, therefore, Duke Ming can ignore Meng De’s request for help for the time being, but he can go to Meng De and tell him the analysis of the situation, so that he can just stay safe and secure.”

Feng Ji's analysis was reasonable and well-founded, Yuan Shao nodded unconsciously and said, "Your words are reasonable."

With Yuan Shao's approval, Feng Ji went on to say: "In the current situation, from a humble perspective, Duke Ming should still focus on Gongsun Zan and the Black Mountain bandit. The number of defeats, but the strength still exists; the black mountain thieves are known as one million, and they are entrenched in the valleys between Ji and Ji, not only hindering the Ming Gong from taking the merger, but also threatening the hinterland of Ji Ji all the time... I didn't hear that Gongsun Zan and Liu Yu were becoming increasingly inseparable. He, the two even met for a long time, and they heard that the Black Mountain thief was short of food, so they were fighting infighting? In my humble opinion, seize these two rare opportunities to eliminate the Black Mountain thief and Gongsun Zan as soon as possible, and take You and He Erzhou, this is the top priority for Duke Ming! After destroying Heishan thieves and Gongsun Zan, he will take advantage of Ji, You, and merge the three states, use the wealth of Ji, take the horses of You and merge, train the soldiers of the three states, and then go south to the Central Plains , looking at Xu Yan from the east, at that time, why should Xun Zhenzhi be worried! Half of the world is already owned by Duke Ming!"

Feng Ji's words were right on Yuan Shao's mind.

Yuan Shao agreed and said, "Your words are very true!" Advisor Guo Tu asked, "Gongze, can Bo Qian send a reply?"

"Bo Qian", whose name was Guo Xun, was a follower of Guo Tu. After hearing the news that Gongsun Zan and Liu Yu were becoming increasingly at odds, Yuan Shao accepted Guo Tu's suggestion and planned to contact Liu Yu and make an appointment with Liu Yu to plan a joint attack on Gongsun Zan. This matter was brought up by Guo Tu, and Yuan Shao handed it over to him. Guo Tu sent his servant, Guo Xun, to meet Liu Yu in secret in Youzhou.

——Feng Ji just mentioned that at the moment, destroying Gongsun Zan and the Heishan Army is Yuan Shao's top priority. This is true, but Gongsun Zan and the Heishan Army are two forces, and the strength of the two forces is the same. Very powerful, so which one should be eliminated first? As early as when Yuan Shao first got Jizhou, Ju Shou had given him a plan. According to Ju Shou's strategic blueprint, he would first destroy the Heishan Army, and then destroy Gongsun Zan. Because, after Gongsun Zan was defeated by Longcuo and fled back to Youzhou, Yuan Shao followed the overall strategy that Ju had given him. While defending Gongsun Zan from attacking again, he focused on attacking and hiding in the Taihang Valley to the west. of the Montenegrin Army. But they never knew that the Heishan army, led by Zhang Yan, was quite cunning in fighting. They could take advantage of them if they could, but they would flee back to the mountains if they couldn't. When Yuan Shao's troops were withdrawn, they would come out to harass and loot the counties along the border. The reason is that despite the continuous attack of Yuan Shao's troops, the survival and scope of activities of the Montenegrin Army has gradually shrunk, and there is even a situation of "lack of food" as Fengji said. It is obviously impossible to eliminate the Black Mountain Army, which is said to be one million, which makes Yuan Shao very annoying now. Because of this, another voice has emerged from the counsellors under Yuan Shao's account. The Yingchuan scholars represented by Guo Tu proposed that Gongsun Zan is the biggest enemy of Jizhou today, and the Heishan army is not easy to annihilate quickly, so they He believed that too much power should not be expended on destroying the Montenegrin Army, it is better to first destroy Gongsun Zan with all his strength, and then fight the Montenegrin Army. Both of these opinions have their own advantages and disadvantages. Yuan Shao felt hesitant for a while now, and it was difficult to make a decision. Therefore, after hearing that the conflict between Liu Yu and Gongsun Zan was becoming more and more intense, he adopted Guo Tu's contact with Liu. Yu's suggestion. What he was thinking about was to make a final decision after he figured out what was going on with Gongsun Zan and Liu Yu.

And needless to say.

Guo Tu replied: "There is no news yet. Calculating the distance, Guo Xun should have arrived in Youzhou, and there may be a reply within ten days."

After discussing the matter of Cao Cao, Yuan Shao asked the chief clerk, Chen Lin, to write it on behalf of Cao Cao.

The last sentence of the reply is: "I have sent reinforcements to help you, but you have not been able to win Zhendong, but you will lose. Today, I will attack Gongsun Zan in the north and defeat the Heishan army in the west. There are no soldiers to help you for the time being. Lord, guard the border, wait for me to destroy the two bandits, and then personally bind Zhendong under the tent."

"Your Majesty and guard the border", so to speak, is a bit domineering, but it is also in line with the current status of Cao Cao and Yuan Shao. To Yuan Shao, Cao Cao is now roughly equivalent to the status of a vassal if the country is used as a metaphor, so as the suzerain Yuan Shao, it is very reasonable to speak to him in such a condescending manner.

There is not much to say about this, and I only talked about this topic. Yuan Shao discussed with everyone about Gongsun Zan and Liu Yu for a while, and then discussed how to deal with the Montenegrin army for a long time. There is no other good way. In addition to the suppression, the chief officials and guards of the counties along the Taihang Mountains, such as Changshan, Zhao, and Wei, were ordered to strictly guard against Zhang Yan and other Montenegrin troops.

However, Yuan Shao sent Guo Xun to Youzhou to meet Liu Yu's Guo Xun. As Guo Tu said, he had already left Jizhou and entered Youzhou.

There are ten counties and one vassal state in Youzhou. The "vassal state" is the administrative area set up for the resettlement of the Hu people. From west to east, these ten counties and one vassal state are Dai County, Shanggu County, To the south of Shanggu County are Zhuo County, Guangyang County, Yuyang County, Youbeiping County, Liaoxi County, Liaodong County, Liaodong County, Xuandu County and Lelang County.

Jizhou is in the south, Youzhou is in the north, and the straight-line distance between the two states is about 400 miles.

The three main counties of Dai County, Zhuo County, and Guangyang County bordering Youzhou and Jizhou, as well as a little bit of the southern boundary of Yuyang County, the rest of the counties and vassals, except Shanggu, which is north of Zhuo County, are all close to the sea.

Jizhou runs from west to east, and bordering Youzhou is divided into Zhongshan Country, Hejian Country, and Bohai County.

Although Guangyang County is the smallest county in Youzhou, it is more than 200 miles long from north to south, and the widest point from east to west is only 100 miles away, but the state of Youzhou, Ji County, that is, Beijing in later generations, is located in this county. The county government is also the state government. Liu Yu and Gongsun Zan are now in Ji County. The border between Guangyang County and Jizhou is almost the narrowest part of the county, only about 60 miles away. After that, the road from north to Guangyang is smooth, and Guo Xun also has another task when he comes to Youzhou, that is, to see the internal situation of Zhuo County along the way - Bizhidai County, Guangyang County Wait, Zhuo County is in the middle, and the second is the longest bordering area with Jizhou, and Gongsun Zan's fief Yi County is also in Zhuo County, so a large number of Gongsun Zan's soldiers are stationed in Zhuo County, which is equivalent to Gongsun Zan's base camp.

Therefore, when Guo Xun entered Youzhou, the first county he visited was Zhuo County.

Jizhou is the birthplace of the Yellow Turban Army. Brother Zhang Jiao, the Celestial Master of the Yellow Turban Army, is from Jizhou. In the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Jizhou was one of the places that suffered the most. After that, Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan fought several times in Jizhou. Jizhou has long been in a state of desperation, and displaced people can be seen everywhere. The fields are overgrown with weeds and deserted for a long time. Seeing the death of starvation, it is no exaggeration to describe it as "white bones exposed in the wild". At the most severe times, even the soldiers of Yuan Shao's subordinates were not there. The military rations are edible, but they have to eat mulberries.

The situation in Jizhou was already so bad. After entering Zhuo County, Guo Xun discovered that the situation in Zhuo County was even worse than that in Jizhou.

What he saw along the way was only a few miles. On both sides of the road, he saw many dead bodies of starvation. There were old people, children, and men and women in the prime of life. Most of the people who died of starvation were naked. Needless to say, their clothes were all naked. It was picked up by passers-by. Many corpses were already decomposed, and swarms of flies hovered on them. From a distance, I could smell a strong corpse odor~www.readwn.com~ and some corpses have long since become bones. In a pile, there are also fresh corpses, or the phenomenon of mutilation, it is unknown whether it was eaten by the jackal or something else.

Guo Xun did not dare to think deeply.

The fields on both sides of the road are large and barren, and the weeds grow beyond human knees, and foxes and rabbits appear in the meantime. Zhuo County has a dense network of rivers. Within the county of 300 miles from east to west and 200 miles from north to south, there are only seven or eight large rivers. Not only is the land fertile, but also there are quite a few pastures. Usually, during this time of year, the wheat in the fields is like the sea. There are sheep and horses in the pasture, but below, it is not just a barren field. Above that pasture, you can see only weeds, but no sheep and horses. Desolation or a feeling of sadness.

On the official road where the loess rises, occasionally you can see some people, all of them are scantily clad, with thin faces and yellow skin. Guo Xun pretended to be a horse merchant. Knowing that there were many thieves along the way, he brought some guards. They were not in uniform, but they were all equipped with swords and spears. When the people saw them, they fled one after another. Tigers, some fell to the ground, and quickly got up, rolling and crawling.

Guo Xun sighed involuntarily and thought: "This is still the land of the king of the Han Dynasty, it is simply a ghost in the world!"

But after walking for a few more miles, they suddenly saw a group of about a hundred soldiers and horses in front of them.