I don't know if the soldiers and horses of Bingzhou attacked too fiercely, or if Yuan Shao's soldiers and horses retreated too quickly. In less than two months, Xiang Ao's army had already brought Yuyang and Zhuo counties under his rule.

Tian Yu who entered the Bohai Sea and Gao Shun who sent troops to Changshan Pass were stubbornly resisted by Yuan Shao Jizhou soldiers and horses, and within two months, Gao Shun who sent troops to Changshan Pass had already captured Tang County, Shangquyang, and Beiping counties in Zhongshan, but under the menacing Jizhou soldiers, Gao Shun was not too abundant and was forced to give up many county towns that he had finally captured, and retreated back to Changshan Pass.

Not to mention Tian Yu's army on the right, there was no key pass that could be defended in Bohai County, and under the condition that Yuan Shao's army was exhausted, Tian Yu had to retreat north of Yishui and face Yuan Shao's Jizhou army across the water. As for the Chinese army led by Xiang Ao, when they captured Zhuo County and continued to attack Guoyi County in Hejian in Jizhou to the south, they were also desperately resisted by Yuan Shao's generals Yan Liang and Wen Chou.

It took Xiang Ao two months to recapture Zhuo County, but in Yi County, he confronted Yuan Shao, and Xiang Ao's army was unable to advance in a few months. In addition, Yuan Shao didn't seem to have any intention of fighting a decisive battle with Xiang Ao, and kept shrinking and only focusing on defense, so that Xiang Ao and his generals couldn't find the flaws in Yuan Shao's army at all.

After a stalemate for several months, the time quietly came to the sixth year of the initial peace.

Although the Jizhou battlefield failed to make a contribution, the eastern army of Bingzhou, under the command of Xu Shu, smashed Huanglong, and killed Gongsun Du, who had seized Liaodong, in Xuansu County, which was trying to flee north, and pocketed all the remaining border counties of Youzhou. Although the unification of Youzhou was already in Xiang Ao's expectation, Xiang Ao did not expect that it would be so smooth, and it only took more than a year to capture the land of Yizhou.

And the other princes at this time also had their own gains and losses. Under Guo Jia's strategy, Cao Cao rebelled against Chen Deng, Chen Qi, father and son of the Chen family, the largest family in Xuzhou, and made the Xuzhou family fall to Cao Cao. Among the Xuzhou families, Cao Bao of the Cao family is also good at martial arts, and most of the elites of Xuzhou surrendered to Cao Cao. In this way, Tao Qian could only be like Han Fu at the beginning, and aggrievedly gave up the position of Xuzhou Mu.

And Yuan Shu, who was the emperor of Yuzhou, was even more ugly, under the attack of Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Jian, he lost his armor and shrank in the only small part of Runan County that could still be controlled. After Sun Jian recovered Jiujiang County, under the advice of his advisers, he sent troops to the state. Jiaozhou is already remote, and there are not many powerful families, so it is occupied by Sun Jian.

Jingzhou did not change much, but most of the troops were arranged by Liu Biao in the three counties of Nanyang, Changsha and Jiangxia County, and while fighting against Sun Jian, he was guarding against Liu Bei, who was also a member of the Han family. As for Yizhou, Zhang Lu, who seized Hanzhong, was defeated by Li Dao and Guo Yan, which made Liu Yan tremble.

While the princes of the world were gaining time to expand their territory, Xiang Ao also did not intend to stalemate with Yuan Shao like this.

"Lord!"

Hearing this, Xiang Ao put down the pen and paper in his hand, raised his head and smiled lightly at Jia Xu, who was recruited by himself: "Wenhe sits down first." ”

Xiang Ao said, Jia Xu was not polite, and slowly came to the futon that Xiang Ao had prepared a long time ago, slowly knelt down and sat down: "I don't know what the lord is doing here?" ”

Xiang Ao handed the teacup full of tea to Jia Xu, and said with a light smile: "What else can happen, isn't it the situation between us and Yuan Shao!" ”

"Don't be in a hurry!" Jia Xu respectfully took the teacup handed by Xiang Ao and said slowly: "Yuan Shao can resist the army of the lord, but he is just the wealth of Jizhou. ”

"There are countless fertile fields in Jizhou, and the population is even more abundant. In addition, the Qingzhou Yellow Turban, which was dismissed in various places, is inevitable. However, all this is not difficult for us to merge the state. The lord only needs to wait a little time. ”

When Xiang Ao heard this, his brows furrowed slightly, and he asked uncertainly: "What Wen He said, but wait for Yuan Zhi to recover Liaodong?" ”

"Yes!" Jia Xu nodded lightly and said confidently: "The lord's ministers and generals are innumerable, and there is no disadvantage compared to Yuan Shao. After Gao Ran, Judge and other generals and ministers were captured, the lord was above the virtuous, even surpassing Yuan Shao. As for the troops, Youzhou is all in the owner's pocket, and with the development of the state for more than ten years, it can barely gather eight million people. ”

"With such a large base, it is not difficult to raise an army of 200,000. Moreover, unlike other princes and families, the lord attaches great importance to the ministry led by the horse worker. The armor is excellent, and no one in the world can match it! ”

Jia Xu picked up the teacup and took a sip gently, as if to ease the interference of his tongue, and continued: "The biggest disadvantage of the lord is that there are enemies all around. There are Xianbei in the north, Gongsun Du in the east, Ma Teng and foreign Qiang people in the west, not to mention the south. Even if Yuan Shao is solved, Cao Cao, Lu Bu, and even Liu Bei and the former Guo Yan and Li Dao may become the enemies of the lord. ”

"Now that Gongsun Du has been killed by Yuan Zhi, the great enemy in the east has been eliminated, and the remaining Fuyu and Goryeo cannot afford to turn over the storm for the time being. Even if Ma Teng in the west wants to send troops to annex the state, he must also take into account the threat of the lord's Fan Lady City and the Qiang people. Although Hanoi is adjacent to Lü Bu and Cao Cao, with Cao Cao and Lü Bu's current actions, they have no intention of becoming enemies of the lord for the time being. ”

"In this way, after Brother Yuan has dealt with the affairs of Liaodong and returns with the army, the lord can move his army south. With the elite of the main army's soldiers and horses, no matter how Yuan Shao resisted, it was useless. ”

Xiang Ao listened to Jia Xu's words, and unconsciously nodded in agreement with Jia Xu's words. But since it has been decided to send troops to Jizhou to kill Yuan Shao's forces, Xiang Ao must not want to have too many frontal battlefields with Yuan Shao, although he can win, but after destroying Yuan Shao, there are Cao Cao, Sun Jian, Liu Bei and others, Xiang Ao does not think that he can fight the world alone.

Jia Xu turned his head to look at the lord who was frowning deeply, the corners of his mouth looked slightly, and continued: "The lord wants to minimize losses? ”

"Hmm!" Xiang Ao nodded slightly and said: "Although Yuan Shao is resourceful, but in my opinion, he is not a great enemy in life, and it would be a pity if he lost too much in Jizhou." ”

"Even if the lord's previous speculation is true, whether it is the Yellow Turban Rebellion, He Jin's removal of eunuchs, or Dong Zhuo's entry into Kyoto, Yuan Shao is secretly manipulating, this person is really extraordinary, but he has the appearance of a hero. However, in several battles and Yuan Shao, who was told by Tian Feng, Fu Zhu and others, there didn't seem to be much threat. ”

Seeing that Jia Xu said so easily, Xiang Ao looked overjoyed, and hurriedly asked, "What is Wenhe's opinion, can you come quickly?" ”

Jia Xu smiled faintly and said to Xiang Aozuo: "Please think about it carefully, the employment of Yuan Shao several times, as well as the performance of the generals headed by Gao Ran, and even the performance of the judge who is also a famous family with Yuan Shao, can the lord find the difference?" ”

"Huh?!" When Xiang Ao heard this, he lowered his head, held his chin and said: "Yuan Shao's employment is not bad, and he is willing to delegate power, especially for military generals, it seems that he can live there." If it weren't for Tian Yu's insight into the opportunity and ambush and sneak attack on Gaolan and Cheng Lian, I'm afraid we wouldn't have been able to capture Zhuo County and Yuyang County so easily. ”

"As for the family, needless to say. Yuan Shaonai is the fourth and third dukes, and he is famous all over the world. Yuan Shaode Jizhou, isn't it the family behind it? ”

"What the lord said is true!" Jia Xu nodded, and said rhetorically: "Then the lord thinks about it, why did the surrendered Jizhou soldiers be scattered and incorporated into the Bingzhou army, and there doesn't seem to be much resistance?" Why don't talented generals such as Gao Ran have too much humiliation? Why does the trial even seem to be liberating? ”

Three questions in a row flashed in Xiang Ao's mind without listening to all the things he had seen in the barracks today, and also made Xiang Ao think of Gao Xian's relaxed look. The more he thought about it, the more shocked Xiang Ao became, and the more he looked at Jia Xu, the more delighted he became.

"Haha..."Xiang Ao stood up a little excitedly, helped Jia Xu up, and said with a hearty smile: "I can have Wen and assistance in this life, whether I can succeed or not, my heart is enough!! ”

The reason why Jia Xu did not take the initiative to tell Xiang Ao after seeing the problems in Yuan Shao's forces was because he was afraid that Xiang Ao would be jealous of his ability to see through people's hearts. Take a risk today, test Xiang Ao, and at the same time, also prepare a way back for yourself. If Xiang Ao behaved with jealousy, Jia Xu planned to be silent in the future, or even stop offering advice; But if Xiang Ao is not afraid of himself, then Jia Xu can rest assured that he will give advice to Xiang Ao in the future.

Although he had a gambling mentality, Xiang Ao's performance at this time reassured Jia Xu.

"The lord praises it!" Jia Xu waved towards Xiang Ao, and said more respectfully: "The lord can trust Xu, and he will be dead!" ”

Hearing this, Xiang Ao was stunned for a moment, and after a little calculation in his heart, he understood what Jia Xu meant. Xiang Ao picked up Jia Xu again, patted Jia Xu on the shoulder and said, "Qing will not live up to me, I will not live up to Qing!" ”

Seeing through it or not saying it is a truth that scholars and even ordinary people know. But after Xiang Ao understood the meaning of Jia Xu's words, he unexpectedly revealed his thoughts without the slightest concealment, which made Jia Xu a little shocked and excited at the same time. Jia Xu raised his hands upwards that had not yet been put down and were even trembling slightly, and said respectfully: "Lord! ”

Xiang Ao saw that Jia Xu, who was usually calm and calm, was a little out of shape, so he chuckled and patted Jia Xu's shoulder and said, "I already know Wenhe's intentions, Wenhe doesn't need to say it anymore!" After that, Xiang Ao ignored Jia Xu's reaction, took two steps back, returned to his futon, and slowly knelt down.

Hearing this, Jia Xu nodded heavily, and followed Xiang Ao to also kneel down, seemingly casual, but the respect between his demeanor and demeanor was completely from the heart, so that Xiang Ao could clearly feel it.

Xiang Ao smiled slightly bitterly, put away his emotions and continued to ask Jia Xu: "Since Wen He has already seen the strangeness, he must have a plan!" ”

Seeing Xiang Ao's expression of hurriedly speaking, Jia Xu stopped selling Guan Zi and opened his mouth to continue.