Chapter 991 The Boss and the Junior

Killing someone while he is sick is a principle that most people in society understand.

Although Yuan Shu is not a social person, he still understands some social principles. On the one hand, he sees his allies failing to do their best, and on the other hand, he also wants to solve the problem as soon as possible and end the situation where the Yuan family is divided into two parts.

After all, he is Yuan Gongli!

I don't know when it started, but a prophecy spread quietly, "Those who will succeed the Han Dynasty should be Tu Gaoye."

To be honest, Yuan Shu didn't really believe in these prophecies at first, thinking that these things were just nonsense and not worthy of belief.

But now, it seems that sometimes you can still listen to it...

Those who represent the Han Dynasty should be painted high.

What great words.

Catchy and meaningful.

But what makes Yuan Shu particularly depressed is that the specific time was not specified! This bastard!

But forget it, it will happen sooner or later, right?

The important thing now is not this, but that little son of a bitch...

This greedy thing!

Taking advantage of the Yuan family's reputation, Yuan Shu said, that's all, he is considered to be a member of the Yuan family, so he doesn't care.

After seizing Han Fu's position in Jizhou, Yuan Shu said that it was fine, since the meat was in the pot anyway, so just take it.

But I didn't expect that this damn little son of a bitch would actually send that eggless junior to Yanzhou to cause trouble!

How can I bear this?

How could Yuan Shu endure this?

Above Yuzhou is Yanzhou, and this territory of Yanzhou was originally planned by Yuan Shu for a long time. When he was about to take it into his pocket, the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans he instigated finally killed Liu Dai, but Cao Cao suddenly intervened. Even the men, horses and territory were ready to be swallowed up in one gulp. How could Yuan Shu's mood be described as sour and refreshing?

In fact, the current Yuan Shu can be considered a strong force, with a vast territory, sufficient food, and many soldiers. He also has Ji Ling and Sun Bi as generals, Zhang Xun, Qiao Rui, and Liu Xiang as deputy generals. All of them can act independently. If Sun Jian still If he's still here, oh, this damn old cousin of the Liu family...

After Sun Jian's death, it was not impossible to fight with Liu Biao, but then Liu Biao, on the advice of Kuai Yue and others, led troops to attack Yuan Shu's grain camp in Nanyang, and put a certain amount of pressure on the side of Yuan Shu's offensive line. In the end, Yuan Shu gave up his offensive plan and turned his attention to the north.

The general in Yuan Shu's hands originally belonged to Lu Bu.

It's just that this guy Lu Bu has become a lost dog and still clings to the air of warmth. What can a distant magistrate be proud of?

If you want territory but don’t have territory, if you want soldiers but you don’t have soldiers, how can you show off your authority in front of me?

If he was willing to put down his body and come to beg Yu, Yuan Shu said that he was not incapable of tolerance and would naturally make some arrangements. As a result, after Lu Bu arrived in Yuzhou, not only did he not lie down and be a coward, but he also wanted money, food, and soldiers. , need equipment...

Do you really take yourself seriously?

So Yuan Shu deliberately delayed it for a few days and ignored it. As a result, Lu Bu not only didn't know how to come to ask for help, he actually sent troops to surrounding villages and counties to extort money and food!

Now Yuan Shu can't bear it anymore. Leave me to cool off!

However, it was because Lu Bu had killed Dong Zhuo to save his face that he drove him away. Of course, Yuan Shu still spoke beautifully and did not embarrass Lu Bu too much.

The pond in this place is small and cannot tolerate the torment of a big bastard like Lu Bu. That's probably what it means.

Then Lu Bu left, looking for a wider mud pool...

Anyway, now that Yuan Shu has thought about it, he feels that the most important thing is not to focus on people like Lu Bu, but to focus on the north.

This little mother-in-law Yuan Shao puts pressure on him in everything, and is also the biggest obstacle to his future career. If he does not get rid of this obstacle to his career, serious troubles will always exist, not to mention that once Yanzhou is no longer in his hands, his narrow Yuzhou and North Jingzhou The base areas in this area may be attacked everywhere.

The most important thing is that it is not conducive to Yuan Shu's march into Heluo!

Chen Liu was stuck at the intersection of Heluo and Henan. He wanted to march into Yin, Henan, and then get involved in the central government. How could he do it without controlling Yanzhou?

So Yuan Shu took advantage of the stalemate between Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan, and joined forces with Xuzhou Mu Tao Qian, and even had contact with the Black Mountain Army, to launch a large-scale joint encirclement and suppression operation against Yuan Shao in Jizhou to eliminate the scum of the Yuan family.

However, due to the limited communication conditions of the Han Dynasty, the first encirclement and suppression operation failed to succeed.

If it is within Yuan Shu's plan, Gongsun Zan from the north attracts Yuan Shao's main force, Tao Qian from the east leads an army to attack Qingzhou and knocks out Yuan Shao's younger brother Zang Hong, and then the Black Mountain Army causes trouble in Yecheng. In this way, Yuan Shao will lose it even if he doesn't die. Half a life!

But the result was unsatisfactory.

Gongsun Zan fought, but was defeated too quickly.

Yecheng also rebelled, but it was a pity that it was difficult to survive alone.

Tao Qian sent troops, but when the momentum was not right, he turned around and went back...

These short guys really can't choose a tall one!

So Yuan Shu decided to do it himself.

At this time, in addition to being entrenched in Nanyang, Yuan Shu also controlled most of Yingchuan, most of Runan, and even Chen and Pei in Yuzhou, and these places were all large counties with large populations.

At this time, Cao Cao had just taken advantage of Liu Dai's death to get the appointment of Yanzhou governor from Yuan Shao. Everyone knew that this appointment was actually not recognized by the central court...

In fact, all of Cao Cao's current official positions, such as the governor of Dongjun and General Fenwu, are the same as the governor of Yanzhou this time. They were all appointed by Yuan Shao.

When Liu Dai's death was reported to the central court, the court still sent out the new Yanzhou governor, Jin Shang.

When the miserable Jin Shang finally arrived at the territory of Yanzhou, he found that Cao Cao had already arrogantly started to organize and consolidate the relevant government and military affairs of Yanzhou as the governor of Yanzhou. In desperation, Jin Shang firstly did not want to return in disgrace, and secondly, he did not want to return in disgrace. Return to Chang'an where the war continues. In desperation, Jin Shang chose to settle himself nearby and temporarily attached himself to Yuan Shu.

Therefore, Yuan Shu took the opportunity to accuse and denounce Yuan Shao and Cao Cao for being defiant and domineering under the banner of safeguarding the Han Dynasty government. On this basis, Yuan Shu led Jin Shang and 160,000 troops to attack Yanzhou. The first stop of the attack was Chu Chenliu County at the junction of Yanzhou and Yuzhou.

Yuan Shu set out from Luyang, passed through Yuzhou and then entered Chenliu. He stationed his main force in Fengqiu County of Chenliu County. At the same time, he sent Liu Xiang to lead a part of the army to garrison Kuangting. Yuan Shu planned to divide his troops into two groups, so that no matter where Cao Cao attacked, they would be able to respond head to tail.

In order to prevent Liu Biao from making any small moves, Yuan Shu left Sun Ben behind in his hometown.

At the same time, Yuan Shu also invited Tao Qian from Xuzhou to attack and fight together. Of course, Tao Qian also felt that this was a good opportunity and expressed that he would cooperate with Yuan Shu in the fight.

Zhang Miao, the prefect of Chenliu, knew that he could not resist Yuan Shu's army, so he quickly asked his friend Cao Cao for help. Cao Cao naturally knew the importance of it, so he obliged and agreed to help Zhang Miao resist Yuan Shu's attack. A battle that might have The battle that will determine Cao Cao's life and death begins here.

We must fight. If we don't fight, Cao Cao will have no retreat. However, the problem is that this battle is not easy to fight.

No matter from the perspective of territory or military strength, the gap between Cao Cao and Yuan Shu is still relatively large. At this time, Yuan Shu was at his peak. Although Sun Jian's defeat was a bit of a blow to Yuan Shu, it was not a big deal. The 160,000 troops that attacked were enough for Cao Cao to drink. The pot is ready.

Of course, Cao Cao also knew that there was some water in the 160,000, but this was also a common practice, just like himself, didn't he also claim to have received 300,000 Qingzhou soldiers...

It’s good if everyone knows it well.

Simply speaking from numbers, it seems that 300,000 is greater than 160,000, but in fact, among the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans that Cao Cao has just gathered, a large part are ordinary people who came with them. How much fighting power can these ordinary people have?

Even if the Qingzhou Yellow Turban soldiers are compared with the soldiers from Nanyang, Runan and other places, it is clear which one is higher and which one is lower.

On the other hand, although Cao Cao is now the governor of a state, the territory he actually controls is mainly Dongjun, and other places have not yet fully accepted it.

Because of this, Cao Cao's food and grass has been a big problem from the beginning, especially after accepting the Yellow Turban of 300,000 from Qingzhou, which is equivalent to an invisible extra 300,000 mouths! Although the Yellow Turban Soldiers have always been used to hardship, it does not mean that they can stop eating...

As for the entire Yanzhou, whether it was from the Zhongping period to the present, whether it was the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the crusade against Dong Zhuo, or even the plunder of the Black Mountain Army, coupled with the Yellow Turban attack in Qingzhou some time ago, Yanzhou basically belongs to the main The battlefield, production and farming, etc. have been devastated. Both the people and the soldiers have reached their limit. How much spare power can be used?

So now, Cao Cao is also facing an extremely difficult dilemma.

However, under such circumstances, Yuan Shao also expressed that he asked Cao Cao to send his family members to Jizhou to avoid the threat of military disaster...

In the past, when the central court still had authority, local officials had to leave their families in Kyoto. This was no exception when Liu Yan served as the shepherd of Yizhou. However, the subsequent Dong Zhuo period was relatively chaotic. , and no one will take this seriously from now on.

Yuan Shao said this, although it seems full of warmth on the surface, but in reality? In fact, it was the same as what the central court had done before, requiring Cao Cao to hand over his family members as hostages.

After all, Jizhou is Yuan Shao's home base, and whether Cao Cao is General Fenwu or the newly minted Yanzhou governor, they are all appointed by Yuan Shao. In fact, they are equivalent to officials of Yuan Shao's local court.

When Cao Cao received such a letter from Yuan Shao, his whole heart was already cold. In addition to feeling the deep malice in it, he also understood that Yuan Shao already felt that Cao Cao could not defeat him before the fight started. Yuan Shu...

In fact, at that moment, Cao Cao was frustrated and thought about sending his family to Jizhou as Yuan Shao said. After all, the entire Yanzhou situation was also confusing. Now he had to give Cao Cao a guarantee that it would be possible. Cao Cao did not have the confidence to defeat Yuan Shu.

However, Cao Cao did not decide to send his family to Jizhou immediately in the end, because after all, Yuan Shao himself had not defeated Gongsun Zan and was still at a stalemate, not to mention that a rebellion broke out in Yecheng before...

Therefore, Cao Cao also wrote a letter back to Yuan Shao, expressing tactfully that the road was not very peaceful now. The Black Mountain Army was often plundering everywhere. He sent his family members there with more soldiers, but he had problems with the defense on his side and had few soldiers. Well, safety is not guaranteed on this road, so just wait.

After deceiving his boss, Cao Cao turned around and now needed to deal with his younger brother. The rule of Dongjun was not monolithic.

Yanzhou also has nobles and nobles from the countryside.

Cao Cao took over as the governor of Yanzhou, so who should give the seal and ribbon of the governor of Dongjun that he originally held in his hand?

As a Yanzhou nobleman from Dongjun, he naturally watched eagerly. Unexpectedly, Cao Cao changed hands and gave the seal and ribbon of the Dongjun prefect to Xiahou Dun.

After Xiahou Dun was the servant of the Western Han Dynasty, Xia Houying, he was also related to Cao Cao. When Cao Cao raised his troops to attack the Yellow Turban Army, Xiahou Dun followed Cao Cao in the expedition and served as his general. Later, after conquering Dong Zhuo, Cao Cao obtained the title of General Fenwu and made Xiahou Dun his Sima.

After Cao Cao established a foothold in Dongjun, he sent Xiahou Dun to garrison in Baima, and soon he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant of Zhechong, and now he has led the governor of Dongjun...

Of course, for Cao Cao, only his own relatives can rest assured. How could he give up the prefect's seal and ribbon that he had finally obtained so easily to others?

But for the nobles in Yanzhou, Cao Cao's behavior and appearance were quite ugly.

When Cao Cao arrived in Dongjun, there were not many soldiers and horses, and food and grass were not available. Who welcomed Cao Cao and gave him money and food?

Cao Cao wanted to increase his troops, weapons, and food and fodder. Who would provide them?

Who helped Cao Cao issue decrees, organize the affairs of Dongjun, collect taxes, etc.?

It was not easy for Cao Cao before. Everyone knew it, so they didn't ask for anything. But now that Cao Cao has been promoted, the benefits, big and small, should be shared, right?

In terms of military matters, the Yanzhou nobles are self-aware and don't expect Cao Cao to take any position, but in terms of civil affairs, they have to get a share, right?

These local nobles in Yanzhou also knew that Cao Cao was reluctant to give up such an important position as the governor of Dongjun, but he couldn't just give it to Cao Cao's own family without any pretense. , does this still put the nobles and nobles of Yanzhou in the eyes?

As a result, the powerful nobles of the Yanzhou gentry were somewhat dissatisfied. Although this sentiment was not fatal, it was quite troublesome at this critical moment when Yuan Shu was about to attack the country with his troops...

what to do?

Dongjun cannot be lost, but the Yanzhou gentry cannot be offended by Cao Cao now...