On the south bank of Yishui, the camp of Yuan's army.

Yuan Shao turned his hands behind his back and went back and forth in the tent, wiping his nose with a handkerchief from time to time. Entering August, it was cold in the morning and evening, and if I was not careful, I got cold at night, and my nose was running non-stop, and after blowing for a long time, half of my head hurt, which made Yuan Shao feel a little anxious.

But what made him more anxious than the cold was the war in front of him.

Liu Yu did not wait for him to arrive in a hurry, but was defeated by Gongsun Zhan in a battle, and now the Youzhou army has collapsed, although there are Xian Yufu and others in the center to contact and gather people, but it cannot be compared with Liu Yu when he was alive. What was originally an expected quick victory turned into a stalemate, which put Yuan Shao in a dilemma.

If he continued to attack, he would not be able to decide the winner in two or three months, even if he could defeat Gongsun Chan and take Youzhou all, he would have to pay a certain price, and he would not be able to turn south immediately, and the autumn offensive that had been prepared for nearly half a year would die before it could be launched. If he gives up the attack and takes Yanyu first, then Youzhou is likely to fall under the control of Gongsun Zhan, and the Youzhou war horses he has longed for will be transported to Yuzhou in a steady stream and become a sharp weapon in Sun Ce's hands.

Without the advantage of cavalry, he was not sure at all whether he could defeat Sun Ce.

All this is Liu Yu's fault. I already knew that he didn't live up to his name, but I didn't expect him to be so incompetent, and the 100,000-strong army couldn't capture Gongsun Zhan's small fortress, but was defeated by Gongsun Zhan's surprise attack.

The footsteps sounded, Tian Feng walked in quickly with a cane, and saw Yuan Shao pacing in the tent with a hesitant expression, Tian Feng's white eyebrows trembled, and his face sank. "Lord, the three armies can win the commandery, but the horseman cannot win the ambition. Before the war, the lord should be clear and pure, and his heart should be unhindered. ”

Yuan Shaoqiang laughed for two days and cleared his throat. "Brother Yuan Hao, how is the situation? Have you got in touch with Xian Yufu? ”

Tian Feng sighed. "I got in touch, but ...... The situation is not good. ”

Yuan Shao's heart tightened, and his heart jumped violently. "How?"

Tian Feng didn't speak, and handed over a document. Yuan Shao took it in his hand, glanced at Tian Feng again, and then reluctantly concentrated his mind on the document in his hand. The document was written by Lu Yi, but the person who wrote it should be Fu Hu. As a forward general, there is no doubt about his ability to march and fight, but his writing is not good, and after he took up his post in the battalion, he helped him exchange documents, and it is said that the two got along very well.

"Frustration, this article is a bit interesting, did you ask Kong Zhang (Chen Lin) for advice?" Yuan Shao read two sentences and laughed deliberately: "I think these two sentences have the flavor of Kong Zhang's last "Asking Gongsun Zhan" last time. ”

Tian Feng replied noncommittally. He had read this document and knew that he was learning from Chen Lin, but he knew the content of this document better, and he didn't know if Yuan Shao would be able to laugh later.

didn't get Tian Feng's response, Yuan Shao was a little bored, so he had to look at it with a smile. The more he looked at it, the more ugly his face became, and in the end he couldn't even maintain the smirk on his face, if it wasn't for thirty years of cultivation, if it wasn't for Tian Feng's face, he would almost tear this document to shreds and scold.

The situation is not optimistic. Liu Yu was defeated, and the food and ordnance that he had accumulated for many years were either robbed by Gongsun Chan or burned by Gongsun Chan. Xian Yufu and others gathered tens of thousands of people, but they didn't have enough food or armaments, they hoped that Yuan Shao could help, otherwise it would be difficult to cooperate with Yuan Shao to fight. After the defeat, morale was low, and no one dared to send troops easily if there was no food and no armament. It's one thing to want to avenge Liu Yu, it's another thing to send him to death. In the face of the brave Gongsun Zhan, there is not enough food and ordnance, which is almost no different from sending him to death.

They obviously didn't know that money and food were also a pain in Yuan Shao's heart. Jizhou is a big state, but the grain in Jizhou is in the hands of the family, and it is not directly up to him Yuan Shao to have the final say. If it weren't for that, he would have sent troops when Yuan Tan was defeated in the spring, so why wait until now. Jizhou can indeed afford the food and ordnance of tens of thousands of people, but what benefits have not been reaped yet, and the Jizhou family will definitely not be happy to pay a large amount of money and grain first.

It seems that Liu Yu is still a little useful, at least he has been in charge of Youzhou for a few years, and he has hardly asked him for money and food.

"Yuan Hao, what do you think?" Yuan Shao forced his composure and put the paper in his hand on the case. His fingers were a little numb, and he withdrew his sleeve and squeezed it quietly.

Tian Feng sat down, holding a cane in one hand and stroking his beard in the other. "Youzhou Shima is strong, and it can't fall into the hands of Gongsun Zhan, but Liu Yu lost, and now although the generals of Youzhou have the heart to take revenge, they have no money and food to use, and once the war starts, it is difficult to win quickly. The power of the two evils is the greater, the minister thought that the southern expedition should be suspended, and took advantage of Liu Yu's new funeral, and the hearts of the people in Youzhou were available, and they attacked Gongsun Zan with all their might. Just ......"

Yuan Shao turned his head and looked at Tian Feng quietly. He knew that Tian Feng would make such a suggestion, because there was no better suggestion than that, but he needed Tian Feng to say it, only in this way could he get the Jizhou family to support his decision and come up with money and food.

Tian Feng didn't continue for a long time, his expression hesitated, obviously knowing what this suggestion meant. In the final analysis, what is fought for is profit, but different people have different benefits, and what is beneficial to Yuan Shao does not mean that it is beneficial to the Jizhou family, and what is beneficial to the future does not mean that it is also beneficial in the present. He is a strategist, and he should start from Yuan Shao's perspective to seek the benefits of the overall situation and the long-term, but he knows very well that if he can't take into account the immediate interests of the Jizhou family, any benefits will be in vain.

The goal of the trial was achieved, and after the defeat of Yuan Tan Yanzhou, Yuan Shao had to rely on the Jizhou family. If the Jizhou family doesn't pay for food, Yuan Shao will not be able to move an inch. The person who can make the decision now is not him Tian Feng, or even Yuan Shao, but the judge. Before making a decision, you should listen to the opinions of the judges. But he knew Yuan Shao's character better, and such words could not be said in any way. Once Yuan Shao's dignity is damaged, no one knows what kind of decision he will make and what consequences he will cause.

Seeing that Tian Feng didn't speak, Yuan Shao became more and more anxious, and the smile on his face became more and more reluctant.

"Yuan Hao, between you and me, is there anything else unspeakable?"

Tian Feng gritted his teeth. "My lord, the minister thinks that Gongsun Chan is trapped in the fortified city, and it is not urgent to go down, so it is advisable to plan for a long time. As the saying goes, the outside must first be stable, and now Jizhou is surrounded by enemies, only the monarch and the minister are one, and the top and bottom are concentric, so as to defeat the strong enemy in the north and the people in the inside. ”

Yuan Shao's eyes shrunk slightly, and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly. "Yuanfeng said carefully, how can the monarch and the minister be one, and the upper and lower are concentric?"

"The lord has heavy troops in the north, Zang Hong guards the Bohai Sea in the east, Dong Zhao guards Wei County in the south, and Zhao Guo and Changshan should also arrange competent manpower to prevent the thieves in the Taihang Mountains from entering the army.

Yuan Shao drooped his eyelids, his palm rubbed the Sizhao knife ring on his waist, and his face turned red and white, white and red. Zang Hong is a native of Xuzhou, Dong Zhao is a native of Yanzhou, and the people of Jizhou are not satisfied, so they want to get a piece of the pie, but they have not been able to do so. They not only want to be the county guards of Zhao and Changshan, but also have the power to control the overall situation.

I am like a silkworm that eats mulberry leaves, spits out silk, and weaves myself into a cocoon. The cocoon is very beautiful, but the silkworm that spins silk does not end well.