Not long after Yuan Tan's envoy left to Luoyang, Xun You arrived in Linzi, he thought that Yuan Tan was in the plain, but when he arrived in the plain, he knew that Yuan Tan was still in Linzi to defend against the enemy, Xun You took Dian Wei south to cross the river, and rushed to Linzi to meet Yuan Tan.

Xun You didn't see Yuan Tan immediately, but found Guo Tu and Xin Ping first.

Guo Tu's study was elegantly furnished, and after the servants served sake and pastries, they each retreated, leaving only Xun You, Guo Tu and Xin Ping in the room.

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

"Gongda can know, how can I not know?" Guo Tu smiled.

"If you know, at this moment, Gongze and Zhongzhi should not be in Linzi but in the plain, without the support of Jizhou, Qingzhou alone will not be able to stop Cao Cao's tiger and wolf army." Xun You smiled very politely: "You and I have known each other for 20 years, and this time you have come from thousands of miles away, and it is really disappointing that the public rule is so insincere." ”

"When the public arrives here, there will be a plan, speaking of which, you and I are hostile, how dare you treat each other with sincerity?" Guo Tu said disdainfully: "Mo told me that this time was for me." ”

This kind of words, it's just a matter of deceiving other people, everyone knows each other's roots, they all come out of Yingchuan Academy, they know each other's roots, what kind of person are you, others don't know, he Guo Tu is very clear, Xun You said that he came to relieve his worries, Guo Tu didn't believe half a sentence.

Xun You shook his head and smiled: "Since the prince is so honest, then you will also say it bluntly, but I came here for the future of the eldest prince." ”

Guo Tu: "......"

"Listen to me." Looking at Guo Tu's blackened face, Xun You smiled and said: "Of course, you and I will benefit both of them, for the eldest son, and for my lord." ”

"Heh~" Guo Tu just looked at Xun You and said: "Don't think I don't know, Taishi Cibing is out of Dai County, you and I are enemies and not friends, how can we benefit both?" ”

Xun You looked at Guo Tu and said: "This time and that time, it seems that now the third prince will give Qingzhou to Cao Cao, the eldest prince has no Qingzhou foundation, this Jizhou foundation should have been inherited by him, but now he can only succumb to the third prince, and even being harmed is not impossible, imagine that the two have always supported the eldest prince, if the eldest prince is killed, how should the two deal with themselves?" ”

Guo Tu and Xin Ping's eyes flashed a haze, when Yuan Shao took over Jizhou, the factions under his command had already begun to fight, including Xu You, all belonged to the Yingchuan lineage, and Feng Ji, Fu Zhu, Tian Feng and others belonged to the Jizhou faction, originally the strength of the two factions was comparable, but this time Xu You was towards Yuan Shang, and even Xun Chen, who had always remained neutral, also to Yuan Shang, whether in terms of territory or strength, Yuan Shang occupied an absolute advantage at the moment.

On their side, although there is still Xin Bi in Jizhou, they are still alone, only with the strength of Yuan Tan's side, they will definitely not be able to fight Yuan Shang, not to mention that now that Cao Cao's army is pressing, Qingzhou has become Yuan Shang's outcast, and joining forces with Chen Mo is the best choice, otherwise Guo Tu will not let Yuan Tan ask Chen Mo for help.

Now Xun You put this matter aside and said that they are asking for help now, and they really can't get angry.

"How is Gongda going to help my lord?" Xin Ping broke the ice and asked.

"Qingzhou is lonely, Jizhou is unwilling to help, that is, my lord is willing to send troops to help, but also far from the water to save the near fire, if the eldest prince is willing to unite with my lord, my lord is willing to contain Yuan Shang in the Hanoi line, the eldest prince led the main force to cross the river and camp in the plain, flanking Yuan Shang, after the fact, I mainly Youzhou, and formed an alliance with the eldest prince to fight Cao Cao." Xun You looked at Guo Tu and smiled.

"Just to help contain the soldiers and horses, it will be at the expense of Youzhou?" Guo Tu frowned.

"If this move doesn't work, you can also change the method, my lord took the initiative to send troops, and you and I attacked Yuan Shang, but in the end, who gets Jizhou, how about relying on means?" Xun You smiled.

"This ......" Guo Tu snorted and didn't speak, Chen Mo's soldiers were fierce, and Yuan Shao in his heyday was defeated by Chen Mo head-on, not to mention Yuan Tan today.

"If the previous plan is followed, my lord will concentrate on attacking Youzhou, but if you and I have our own abilities, the main force that has gone to Bingzhou will be transferred to Hanoi." Xun You said with a smile: "It's not a threat, it's just that in the current situation, it is very difficult for the eldest prince to keep the foundation of Jizhou without losing it, not to mention that the second son of Youzhou is probably also on the side of the third prince, and my lord sent troops to Youzhou, which is also to disperse Yuan Shang's forces." ”

Guo Tu nodded, if it is not argued, Yuan Shang has already allied with Cao Cao, Yuan Tan has no room at all except for being captured, Yuan Shang can give Qingzhou to Cao Cao, Youzhou is much colder than Qingzhou, and there are troubles outside the plug, how can you not let Yu Chen Mo?

"If it is really as Gongda said, the Marquis of Changling is indeed willing to ally with the eldest prince and is willing to promote this alliance!" Guo Tu arched his hand.

Xun You smiled and returned the courtesy, it is naturally best to promote an alliance, now that the second son of the Yuan family has taken the throne, it does not matter who wins and who loses in the end, if Yuan Shao is alive, or has a clear heir, then Cao Cao and Chen Mo are just tempting at the moment, and they dare not really move troops, but now the two sons of the Yuan family are fighting, although Yuan Shang has stabilized the situation in Jizhou, but as long as Yuan Tan is dissatisfied with this result and is willing to come out to fight, the final result will be to become a pawn in the invisible competition between Chen Mo and Cao Cao, although Cao Cao grabbed the first move and won the land of Qingzhou, But it doesn't mean that Chen Mo lost this game of chess.

Early the next morning, Guo Tu introduced Xun Yu to Yuan Tan, explaining that he wanted to form an alliance, and now the situation facing Yuan Tan is quite tricky, Cao Cao is pressing step by step, he has lost consecutive battles, unless he gives up everything to go to Yecheng to surrender to Yuan Shang, but Yuan Tan is obviously unwilling to do this, give up Qingzhou, let Cao Cao temporarily because he can not take over Qingzhou to continue to attack the plains, and he will gather troops to join forces with Chen Mo to regain the power of Jizhou, which is the best choice for Yuan Tan.

"It's not a secret, Tan has ordered someone to go to Luoyang to tell about 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 the two families." Everything was decided, Yuan Tan got up and took Xun You's hand cordially.

There is no free lunch in the world, and it is best for Chen Mo to mention the conditions, which shows that Chen Mo has no intention of Jizhou, if Chen Mo does not mention the conditions, or mentions some trivial conditions, Yuan Tan will be worried.

"The eldest prince can understand the righteousness and admiration, since ancient times, the young and the young have been orderly, and the affairs of the Yuan family, we naturally should not interfere, but the affairs of the eldest prince, my lord is also quite sorry." Xun You patted Yuan Tan's hand and smiled.

As for whether Chen Mo said this or not, it doesn't matter, it was originally a polite remark, so it was naturally a good thing to say.

Yuan Tan nodded approvingly and said: "I have heard for a long time that the Marquis of Changling is far-reaching, and he can understand the situation of the world, and thank the Marquis of Changling on my behalf." ”

Guo Tu glanced at Yuan Tan in surprise, he wouldn't really believe it, right?

Xun You did not stay in Linzi for a long time, and after discussing the specific cooperation matters, he immediately set off with Dian Wei, detoured to 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 the money and grain from each city to the plain, and the war on the front line continued, under the coordination of Guo Tu and Xin Ping, Cao Cao was left with not even a grain of rice except for the people in the city.

Cao Jun captured more than ten cities one after another, although the city population, but did not capture half a grain of grain and grass, which made Cao Jun soldiers quite depressed, especially this time Cao Cao issued a strict order, can not kill the people, Qingzhou because of the war and mistaken farming, this year is destined to have no harvest, do not want to appear a large number of starving people, Cao Cao also has to transport grain to come to the disaster relief, Qingzhou is easy to capture, but it is not easy to digest.

Suiyang, when Cao Cao got the news, Qingzhou has been nearly half occupied, but in addition to the city and population, there is no capture, this attack on Qingzhou, before and after Cao Cao mobilized nearly 50,000 troops, this grain and grass consumption is very large, no supplement, although in the long run, this is earned, but let Cao Cao suddenly have no excess grain and grass turnover.

"Yuan Tan gathered soldiers and horses, grain and grass on the plain, it seems that the battle 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 took the first step to win Qingzhou, and he has seized the opportunity, but he always feels that something is wrong.

"The lord is worried that Chen Mo will make a move on Jizhou?" Guo Jia asked with a smile.

"It's not that I'm worried, but I'm sure, there has been no news since Tai Shi Ci entered Dai County, and Chen Mo's main force probably didn't go to Bingzhou." Cao Cao said in a deep voice, now he has reacted, Youzhou is barren as soon as it comes, and it is a bit far away for Chen Mo, and the connection is weak, and it can easily become an enclave, compared to Youzhou, Jizhou is obviously more useful to Chen Mo, Cao Cao took a deep breath and said: "I suspect that this time Yuan Tan made up his mind to retreat to the plain so quickly, I am afraid that there are also Chen Mo's calculations." ”

Although he won Qingzhou for nothing, if he lost the opportunity to seize Jizhou, it would be more than worth the loss, after Chen Mo won Jizhou, Youzhou naturally became his bag, and the same is true for Cao Cao himself, as long as he gets Jizhou, isn't Qingzhou also in his bag?

It seems to have taken the lead, but this time it seems that Chen Mo is going to take the lead!

"The lord doesn't have to worry, the soldiers who captured Qingzhou can be taught to be stationed in Qingzhou, don't go back to the court, if Chen Mo doesn't move, then sit back and watch the two sons fight, but if Chen Mo moves, the plain is also the land of Qingzhou, our army can wait until the river freezes in winter, cross the river and attack, take the plain first, and compete with that Chen Mo!" Guo Jia said with a smile.

Cao Cao nodded: "I will follow the words of filial piety, but even so, if we compete with Chen Mo for Jizhou at this time, I am afraid that our army's grain and grass will ......."

The original plan was to take Qingzhou first, and then wait for the opportunity, this north is still a three-third game, but the strongest one has become him Cao Cao and is no longer Yuan, but now it seems that Chen Mo is obviously unwilling to watch Cao Cao sit big, if the two families compete for Jizhou, this grain and grass logistics will become the key.