On the eastern front, on the route to Xuzhou, although Yuan Shao also sent heavy generals and heavy troops, Yuan Shao himself and his most elite troops were still fighting Cao Cao's forces in Baima and Yanjin, as well as other major ports of Hebei in the Central Plains.

Because in Yuan Shao's heart, although the potter is talented and the leader of the next generation, in his subconscious, he still thinks that Cao Cao is more dangerous than the potter.

This is also normal, after all, Cao Cao is a good friend who grew up with Yuan Shao, and Yuan Shao is far more familiar with Cao Cao than he is with the potter, and he also understands Cao Cao's danger better.

No matter how capable and talented the pottery merchant is, he is just a little cub in his twenties, and in Yuan Shao's opinion, the surname Tao is still so much worse than himself and Cao Cao.

Therefore, Yuan Shao still came to deal with Cao Cao in person, and handed over the Yellow River port that the potters were responsible for to the Hebei generals under him.

No matter how capable the potter is, compared with the thousands of good generals under his command, it is too much worse.

Unfortunately, some things didn't work out as he thought.

Yuan Shao and Cao Cao clashed several times, and the two sides won and lost each other, but after all, Yuan Shao had many generals and a wide range of generals, although Cao's army was elite, but there was indeed a gap in numbers.

Yuan Shao personally sat in Baimadu, commanded the battle, and ordered his elite soldiers to attack several times, but Cao Cao was not an idle person, and he was stunned to resist Yuan Shao's soldiers outside Baimadu.

"Cao A's secret is a good thing!" Yuan Shao sat in the handsome tent, snorting to himself, and the strategists and generals below did not dare to speak, for fear that he would not say anything to anger his brows.

"Ordered Lu Yi and Wen Chou to immediately increase troops from the rear, and Yuan Mou will also crush Cao Cao to death."

Fu Zhu hesitated for a moment, and said: "General, our army is already hundreds of thousands, and the current recruitment and dispatch committee of Hebei men is really too much, and the general can't increase the number of troops...... Otherwise, the heavy taxes on the people are too heavy, and I am afraid that it will cause chaos. ”

"Joke!" Yuan Shao frowned and said: "It's a matter of unification of the world, a major matter of peace in the country, what's wrong with paying taxes for two more years?" After two years of hard work, you have to live a peaceful life, this simple truth, how can the people not understand? Besides, with the strength of my Hebei, even if it is to raise millions of soldiers, why not? ”

Hearing this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Standing in different strata of people, the perspective of things is different, the people just want to be fed and clothed, what Yuan Shao said, many cultivators really don't understand.

But he couldn't continue to say this, because Yuan Shao's anger had obviously reached a critical point, and it would only be counterproductive to continue.

While everyone was debating what to do next, a scout hurried outside the tent to ask for an audience.

"General Qiyu, General Jiang Qi's soldiers and horses in Licheng on the eastern front of the Yellow River were defeated and retreated, and General Jiang was hit by an arrow from the Tao army and was seriously injured!"

Yuan Shao was taken aback when he heard this.

Not only him, but also the civil and military ministers in the tent were also a little confused.

Yuan Shang's army has a wide range of generals, Jiang Qi is one of the best, although not as famous as Liyi, Zhang He, Wen Chou and others, but he is by no means an idle person, it is an exaggeration to say that he has experienced a hundred battles, but he has experienced dozens of battles.

Such a character, who has been to Licheng for less than a month, why did he suddenly fail?

"Who is the general of the Tao army guarding Licheng?"

Yuan Shao looked left and right and asked.

Guo Tu has always been in charge of Yuan Jun's espionage and intelligence matters, and when he heard this, he stood up and said: "General, the pottery merchants will disperse the troops and horses under their command to guard the passes everywhere, and the town generals in Licheng are Jiang Qin and Ling Cao. ”

"Jiang Qin? Ling Cao? Yuan Shao frowned and said, "Are these two people very good?" ”

Guo Tu then replied: "Jiang Qinnai is a naval captain under the command of Tao Shang, it is said that he was born as a water thief in Jiujiang, and Ling Cao was born in the southeast...... But if they can defeat Jiang Qi so quickly, I'm afraid this matter will be ......."

Tian Feng stepped out of the class and said, "General, I feel that there is something wrong with the war in Licheng. ”

"Oh?" Yuan Shao turned his head, looked at Tian Feng and said, "How do you say this?" ”

Tian Feng said: "Jiang Qin and Ling Cao are the generals under the command of the pottery merchant, and it should be good to be able to use the skills of the pottery merchant, but I haven't heard of any great achievements between the two of them for so many years, but there is nothing surprising in thinking about it, with their ability, they should not win Jiang Qi." ”

Yuan Shao suddenly realized, a little reminisced, and said: "What does Yuan Hao mean, these two people are someone to help?" ”

After all, Tian Feng is a wise man in the world, and his strategy is not bad: "The heavy generals under the command of the pottery merchant have all come out, only him, Guo Jia, and Chen Deng, the two big arms are still in Kaiyang City, and there has been no movement on the side of the senior cadres, and the pottery merchant has always been cunning, will he?" ”

Yuan Shao frowned when he heard this: "You mean, the potter has left Kaiyang?" ”

Tian Feng pondered for a long time and said, "It's just a guess...... Maybe Guo Jia or Chen Deng went to Licheng, maybe it's not true. ”

Yuan Shao lightly tapped his fingers on the table, his brows furrowed.

Xiao Ji stood up and admonished: "General, according to the foolish opinion of the following, whether the potter is in Kaiyang or not at the moment, you will know if you try it." ”

Yuan Shao turned his head to look at him: "How to test the law?" ”

Xiao Ji had been captured alive before, and now he was in the ranks of the eight masterminds of the Yuan family, so he was ridiculed for this matter, and he was ranked last, and now he finally found an opportunity to save his reputation, and hurriedly admonished:

"The general can send someone to pass the book quickly, let the senior cadres of Qi try to attack Kaiyang, try to test the reality of the other party, if the potter is still in Kaiyang, then let the high-level cadres continue to hold on to the potter, but if the potter is not there...... The general immediately ordered Gao Gan to storm Kaiyang and take Langya in one fell swoop. ”

"Well, that's a good thing." Yuan Shao agreed.

……

A letter was carried by Yuan Jun's fast horse and went straight to Qi Di and was delivered to Gao Gan's hand as quickly as possible.

After Gao Gan got the letter, he was a little difficult.

Gao Gan is a very talented person, but he is good at defending and not attacking.

He also has a very clear understanding of himself.

When Cao Cao leveled the four states, the senior cadres successfully resisted the general of the Cao army, Lejin, and defended the Huguan alone, fighting Cao Cao's army alone for eight months, saying that he was the first general in Hebei to defend the city, and deservedly so.

But when it comes to offense, he's a lot worse, and it depends on his character.

Gao Gan is thinking about it right now, and it is not impossible to test the potter, but if he falls into the potter's strategy, how can it be good?

Gao Gan frowned and sighed.

When Gao Rou first returned to Yuan Shao, he also persuaded the Quartet to attach himself to Gao Gan, expanding the team of Gao Gan, which can be described as the right-hand man of Gao Gan.

"Brother, why are you so worried?"

Gao Gan said: "The general asked me to send troops to test Kaiyang City to see if the pottery merchant was bluffing and left Kaiyang." ”

After Gao Rou heard this, she said: "Brother, this is not a bad thing, and after the future of the state princes, they have not made an inch, and they are in a hurry, according to the foolish brother's view, let the generals go to fight the Tao army now, even if the pottery merchant himself is here, he may not lose." ”