Chapter 355 New Situation

Shouchun was finally defeated. Yuan Shu could not even take care of his family. He only took his son and escaped from Shouchun surrounded by generals. However, Runan had already been captured, and Yuan Shu had nowhere to go and could only stay in Shouchun. At the suggestion of his subordinates, he prepared to go to Hebei to defect to Yuan Shao. However, the journey was too far, and almost all of it was Cao Cao's territory. It was understandable that the journey would be difficult.

When passing by Xuzhou, the soldiers who escaped with Yuan Shu dispersed. After all, they had no money, no food, and a slim future. How could these soldiers still be willing to follow him?

"How could this happen?" At the foot of Funiu Mountain, Yuan Shu sat tiredly on a piece of bluestone. Even at this moment, he had to have the bluestone cleaned before he sat down. Looking at the green mountains and green waters in front of him, Yuan Shu was extremely confused. , he doesn’t understand why he has reached this point.

"Lord, drink some water." Yang Hong brought a glass of water from Yuan Shu's jade glass and handed it to Yuan Shu.

Yuan Shu took a few sips and suddenly said in a harsh voice: "It would be great if we could find some honey water..."

Yang Hong and Yuan Yao on the side looked at each other and shook their heads helplessly. Where can you find honey in the barren mountains and wild mountains? This is something that most people can't find.

We were already at this stage, and we still couldn't see the situation clearly. Thinking of this, Yang Hong suddenly felt that the person in front of him was really not worthy of his help. That night, while everyone was sleeping, he quietly prepared to leave, but was grabbed by a hand. On the shoulder, he was suddenly startled. When he looked back, it was Yan Xiang.

Yan Xiang pointed outside. After the two left for a while, Yang Hong said, "Brother Yan is leaving too?"

It is really difficult for Yuan Shu to achieve great things. You and I have done our best to assist him so far. Even if we go to Hebei, it will be difficult to follow this person. It is better to find another way out.

Yang Hong nodded. He and Yan Xiang had the same idea. They left side by side and soon disappeared into the night.

Yuan Shu woke up early the next morning and found that Yang Hong was gone. He immediately became furious and vented his anger to the air. However, he was helpless and looked at Yuan Yao absentmindedly: "Why is this so?"

"Father..." Yuan Yao didn't know how to say it, but he could understand it better. If he wasn't his son, I'm afraid he would have left quietly like Yang Hong and others at this moment. But the son didn't say anything about his father's fault. Even if Yuan Shu was wrong in every way, , that was also his father. Yuan Yao couldn't bear to say it, so he could only smile bitterly and said: "Human relationships have always been like this since ancient times. There is still a way to go to Hebei, but it is not far from Qingzhou. When we get to Qingzhou, we will be under the rule of my uncle. ”

The father and son walked all the way to Qingzhou. They lost the aura of the aristocratic family, and their clothes gradually became damaged. Walking through the streets and alleys like this, it can be said that they experienced the indifference of the world.

After all, Yuan Yao is young. Although he is pampered, he can bow his head when he should. Along the way, he has gradually become more mature. However, Yuan Shu cannot accept that he has been reduced from a hegemon to a beggar on the street and is looked down upon by others. Changes, he gave orders several times along the way, and drove away the people who wanted to be kind and give them some food. When they arrived in Langya area, the father and son who had been running all the way were not chased by Cao Jun, but Yuan Shu was sick. fall down.

Yuan Yao had no choice but to carry Yuan Shu on his back all the way to Qingzhou, wanting to see Yuan Tan, but at this moment, the father and son were dressed like this, how could they see each other? Yuan Yao carried his father on his back to beg all the way to Yecheng, and stopped the man who had just left the General's Mansion. Tian Feng came out.

Thanks to Tian Feng's intention, he noticed something strange and allowed the father and son to be received by Yuan Shao.

"General Yuan has been working hard all the way and has contracted the wind and cold." The doctor withdrew his hand to take the pulse, looked at Yuan Shao and shook his head: "Moreover, it took too long, and he was so angry that he couldn't calm down. The wind and cold can go away slowly. But the heart disease is difficult to cure. Forgive me for my lack of knowledge, I can only prescribe some medicine to remove the cold, but General Yuan... I'm afraid he will die soon. "

"Is there no other way?" Yuan Shao frowned. Although he was very unhappy with this brother, seeing that he was in such trouble, the previous grievances and resentments have finally dissipated a lot. After all, they are still a family. Before entering Luoyang, the relationship between the two In fact, it was not bad. Seeing him like this now, Yuan Shao felt uncomfortable.

The doctor shook his head and sighed: "I'm sorry for my incompetence!"

"You are a famous doctor in Jizhou, and you can't even do anything?" Yuan Yao on the side quickly held the doctor's hand and cried.

"Young Master, forgive me..." The doctor sighed. He had seen this kind of scene too many times, but after all, he came from a famous family, so he still said: "General Yuan's illness is a heart disease, which cannot be cured by medicine or stone. If you can get rid of the knot in your heart, you may be able to return to heaven.”

To put it bluntly, Yuan Shu had put himself in this state by himself. It was difficult to recover, but it was also simple to say. As long as he let his heart flow freely, he would be cured naturally without medicine.

But how to make Yuan Shu's heart flow smoothly?

What is Yuan Shu's heart knot?

This is very complicated. If Cao Cao's head can be sent to Yuan Shu now, it may make Yuan Shu a little happier. If the heads of Sun Quan and Lu Bu can also be brought, he may be even happier, but... is it possible?

Yuan Yao knew very well that it was impossible to rely on external force to untie Yuan Shu's knot. He could only rely on Yuan Shu to figure it out on his own.

And Yuan Shu... obviously couldn't figure it out. On the third day of Yecheng, he couldn't survive after all. He passed away. Yuan Yao cried miserably. Yuan Shao comforted him and buried Yuan Shu in a grand ceremony, and then let Yuan Yao die. Yao became an official in his own house. Although he had many conflicts with Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao still liked his nephew very much, especially since Yuan Yao lived in the open air and was responsible for the livelihood of his father and son. It seemed obvious that He has matured a lot and has no need to say anything about his filial piety towards Yuan Shu. It is hard to dislike such a person.

Not long after, Yuan Shao appointed Yuan Yao as the county magistrate to take charge of Wei County, which can be said to be an extra favor.

At the same time, Yuan Shao was somewhat dissatisfied with the fact that Cao Cao suddenly became the overlord of the Central Plains in such a short period of time, especially Yuan Shu's last appearance.

In the past, any conflicts between the two Yuans were the Yuan family's own business, but you, Cao Cao, should not be so mean to my Yuan family. You bullied my simple brother. Not only did you take away their territory, you didn't even save your life. !

Although Yuan Shu's fate was ultimately due to him being angry to death, the blame was placed on Cao Cao. Yuan Shao wanted to conquer Cao Cao, but was stopped by Tian Feng and others.

"My lord, the situation in the world is now clear. Lu Bu is in the middle of Guanzhong, eyeing the Central Plains. Our army is high in Hebei, and Cao Cao is in the Central Plains. However, Lu Bu is powerful, fighting forward, and the elite of the Guanzhong army. My lord must still remember, if Our army is in trouble with Cao Cao at this time. No matter who wins or loses, Lu Bu will definitely reap the benefits. I believe that what our army should do now is to fight with Cao Cao instead of fighting with Cao Cao. Once the stalemate is reached, Lu Bu will definitely join the game. By then , the situation in the world will be unpredictable!" Tian Fengsurong said.

Yuan Shao looked a little ugly. The last time he fought with Lu Bu, let alone a big defeat, he always failed to get any benefits and even defeated the general Wen Chou. How could Yuan Shao forget this kind of thing? Do you need to mention it deliberately?

You should have secretly asked people to cut Tian Feng down from the beginning. Not long after he was released, he was causing trouble to himself again!

Although he thought so, Yuan Shao also knew in his heart that Tian Feng was right and there was no attack in the end.

Xu You sighed and said: "My lord, I also think that this is not the time to compete with Cao Cao. The imperial examination is implemented in Guanzhong. As far as I know, many people from Jizhou have secretly gone to Guanzhong. If things continue like this, Guanzhong will be like the old days." The Qin State will become a great disaster in the world in due time. We will make plans early to unite with Cao Cao to attack Lu Bu instead of killing each other. "

Guo Tu, Feng Ji and others also agreed to suspend the war and form an alliance with Cao Cao, preparing to accumulate strength and deal with Lu Bu.

This was the first time that Yuan Shao's counselors were so united in their opinions.

"What do you think about the imperial examination?" Yuan Shao saw that everyone was unanimous and did not insist on his own opinion. He wanted to beat Cao Cao, and he was somewhat angry. However, when it came to Guanzhong, Yuan Shao was still a little worried about the Guanzhong imperial examination. This thing seems to be aimed at aristocratic families.

Tian Feng was speechless after hearing this. He had already analyzed the method of imperial examination with Yuan Shao before. This thing seemed to be a big problem, but it was also conducive to centralization of power. It was just out of date in the Central Plains. If he could win the world in the future, he could gradually implement the imperial examination and centralize the power of the world. stand up.

Of course, there are policies and countermeasures, and it is not difficult to sabotage the imperial examination. Just look at how many people from aristocratic families there are in the imperial examination in Chang'an. If there is one, you can spread rumors that this person is a member of an aristocratic family. Lu Bu said Although they have a high-sounding reputation, they are actually secretly uniting the aristocratic families.

This rumor is actually not very harmful to the common people. For ordinary people, as long as it does not cause harm, it does not matter who is the official.

This rumor mainly targets the Xiliang generals under Lu Bu. These people who were the first to follow Lu Bu can be regarded as the emerging aristocratic families under Lu Bu.

The first thing that is threatened by the imperial examination is actually these people. They are in high positions. This Lu Bu will not touch them easily as long as he is not bad. But according to the laws of Guanzhong, their families do not have this treatment. If they want to become an official, they still have to do it. You have to pass the imperial examination. It's okay if you pass the exam. If you don't pass, will you find Lu Bu to find a way?

If it succeeds, the people attracted by meritocracy will naturally be unhappy. If it fails, it will be the turn of these generals to make trouble. Seeing this, Tian Feng has already started, and has said everything that needs to be said. , there is no point in talking about it at this moment, but you can listen to other people’s ideas.

However, what disappoints Tian Feng is that Xu You, Guo Tu, Feng Ji, Shen Pei and others only said that this was a violation of ancestral precepts and treason, but they did not point out the core issue. How could they not understand the benefits of the imperial examination? Why didn't anyone point it out? It was obvious that he was hiding his selfish motives.

Yuan Shao originally wanted to ask everyone for some strategies that were different from Tian Feng's, but no one was as profound as Tian Feng. He was somewhat dissatisfied, but he couldn't show it. He told everyone how to deal with the new situation next. , since Cao Cao did not fight, he could only win over him, and in the end he had no accurate direction and ended up hastily. After all these twists and turns, the world returned to peace...