In August, the news of Yanzhou Zhang Miao, Chen Gong and Chen Guoguo's Luo Jun rebellion against Cao Cao spread, which immediately attracted the attention of Yuan Shao and others.

"Ladies and gentlemen, now that Yanzhou is in turmoil, I don't know what you think?" After Yuan Shao heard the report, he immediately summoned everyone to discuss.

"Lord, my subordinates think that they can send someone to Yanzhou to persuade and let General Cao lead his troops and family members north to Jizhou to join the lord!" Xu You said respectfully when he heard this.

As Yuan Shao's friend, Xu You naturally understood that Yuan Shao had always hoped to truly include Cao Cao in his account. Therefore, when Zhang Miao and others took Cao Cao as the pastor of Yanzhou, Yuan Shao ignored the opposition of many people under his command and directly withdrew Yuan Yi and others back, just to show favor to Cao Cao.

Sure enough, when he heard Xu You's proposal, Yuan Shao was immediately moved. And now Cao Cao still has 60,000 soldiers and horses under his command, if he really goes north to join him, it will be a great enhancement for him.

You must know that today's Yuan Shao is also under great pressure. As the leader of the alliance to defeat Dong Zhuo's coalition army in the past, but now there is only one territory in Jizhou, and even with such a territory, the richest Wei County is still occupied by Li Yi in the west, including Yecheng, not to mention a large amount of territory occupied by Zhang Yan of Montenegro.

And what about the surrounding forces? Originally, Li Yi, who only had a state, has now extended his influence to Sili, and two years ago he almost captured Chang'an and entered the imperial court. And Liu Bei, who has been resting and recuperating without moving, has now obtained Xuzhou out of thin air, and his strength has increased suddenly. In this case, how can he Yuan Shao not be in a hurry?

After pondering for a while, Yuan Shao nodded and said, "What Ziyuan said won my heart, so let's do it." Tell Meng De that if he is willing to defect to me, the post of deputy general will be his! ”

It's just that after finishing speaking, he looked at the direction of Yicheng outside the tent quite helplessly, and sighed with a slightly dissatisfied tone, "It's a pity that Gongsun Zhuzi has not been destroyed, otherwise, Yanzhou will be completely in my hands!" ”

Since Yuan Shao personally led the army to Yicheng, Gongsun Chan directly chose to live in the city and defend it, no matter how Yuan Shao lured and insulted, Gongsun Chan ignored it with an iron heart. This made Yuan Shao very helpless, because today's Yicheng has been made into an iron plate by Gongsun Zhan, in addition to the high and thick walls of Yicheng itself, several camps built by Gongsun Chan outside the city have also increased the difficulty of attacking the city.

In this case, Yuan Shao could only choose the strategy of attacking one by one and pulling out these camps one by one when he didn't want to lose too much.

"My lord, why don't you send someone to negotiate peace with that Gongsun Zhan?" Hearing Yuan Shao's words, Guo Tu on the side proposed, "You can negotiate peace with that Gongsun Zan first, and then send troops to Yanzhou in the name of helping General Cao quell the rebellion." Come to think of it, with the current situation, General Cao will not refuse. At that time, whether it is Yanzhou or General Cao, they will all fall into the control of the lord. ”

"This ......" Yuan Shao suddenly showed a tangled expression when he heard this.

But before he could think about it, Feng Ji on the side objected, "Lord, my subordinates think that the most important thing now is to capture Youzhou as soon as possible, as long as the lord gets Youzhou, he can form a powerful cavalry." Then sweep away Montenegro and collect all the people, and by that time, it will not be too late to send troops to Yanzhou. ”

"My lord, my subordinates thought that they should attack Yanzhou first, and now Gongsun Zhan is no longer as good as he was at the beginning, and defeat is already a doomed thing. In this case, if General Koji and Captain Yan still joined forces to deal with Gongsun Zhan, the lord would lead the main force south. In this way, it won't be long before Youzhou and Yanzhou will fall into the hands of the lord! Xun Yan opened his mouth and said persuadingly.

"Lord, my subordinates agree with Yuan Tu's words, and now we should give priority to capturing Youzhou!" Seeing this, Xu You spoke again and said, "Su Ri is in chaos in Yanzhou now, but it is precisely because of this that it is not appropriate to interfere. Yanzhou is the land of the four wars, with Li Zikang in the west, Yuan Highway in the south, and Liu Xuande, who has just obtained Xuzhou, in the east. If the lord dares to meddle in the affairs of Yanzhou, it is very likely that he will become the target of public criticism, and it will also give Gongsun Chan a chance to breathe......"

"This ......" Yuan Shao looked at everyone entangled, he felt that everyone was quite reasonable, which made it difficult for him to make up his mind for a while.

Seeing this, how could Xu You, who knew Yuan Shao very well, not guess his thoughts? He hurriedly said, "My lord, now there are more than 60,000 soldiers and horses under General Cao's command, and they are quickly rushing back to Yanzhou to prepare to quell the rebellion." In this case, if the lord leads the army south, not only will he not be able to get General Cao's gratitude, but it will even attract General Cao's hostility, and at that time, it will be even more difficult for the lord to subdue General Cao. But it's better to let the two sides fight each other first......"

"Good! So do it! Hearing Xu You's words, Yuan Shao finally made up his mind, "Ziyuan, this matter will be handed over to you." ”

"No!" Xu You replied loudly when he heard this.

Seeing this, Xin Bi and the others on the side originally planned to say something more, but they were stopped by Guo Tu and Xun Yan with their eyes. There are naturally factional disputes under Yuan Shao, the Yingchuan faction headed by Guo Tu, Xun Yan and others, and the faction headed by Xu You, mostly composed of scholars from Jingzhou and Jizhou.

Well, it's the Yingchuan faction again, I have to say that there are really many talents here in Yingchuan...... Maybe it's because the legendary Yellow Emperor was born here? Or is Xia Yujian here after that?

And when Yuan Shao's side was entangled in the matter of Yanzhou, his brother Yuan Shu was not entangled at all.

Although after hearing the news, Yuan Shu's first thought was to immediately send troops to seize Yanzhou while Yanzhou was in civil strife, and by the way, he had a bad anger that had been defeated by Cao Cao before. It's just a pity that the dilemma of reality makes it impossible for him to realize this idea at all.

Without him, there is a shortage of food. A very simple but enough reason for Yuan Shu to dispel the army to Yanzhou.

Speaking of which, since Yuan Shu captured Nanyang, he has been constantly fighting. Fight Dong Zhuo, conquer Yuzhou, fight Liu Biao, attack Liu Xuan, and then send troops to Yanzhou before being defeated by Cao Cao. Over the years, Yuan Shu relied on the richness of Nanyang and Yuzhou to launch frequent wars, but almost no results were achieved. In this case, Yuan Shu's originally rich family background has rapidly decreased, but now, there is not much left.

"It's a pity, the civil strife in Yanzhou is really a good opportunity to send troops!" Yuan Shu sighed helplessly, his tone was full of unwillingness, and at the same time, there was a trace of resentment towards Cao Cao. Because in his opinion, if it weren't for Cao Cao, how could he have fallen into today's situation?

"The lord doesn't have to be like this, I'm afraid the Yanzhou rebellion will last for a long time, as long as the lord recuperates for a year and a half, and when he completely recovers, it will not be too late to send troops to Yanzhou." Yan Xiang said when he heard this.

"That's all there is to it." Yuan Shu shook his head, looking helpless. The troops had no food, and no matter how unwilling he Yuan Shu was, he didn't have any way.

By the way, although Yuan Shu also learned the news of Xuzhou's change of ownership, he didn't have much thought about it except for cursing Liu Bei. Although Yuan Shu didn't want to admit it, Liu Bei, who owned the Qingxu Prefecture, was not much worse than Yuan Shu. Well...... Well, although he has now retreated to Jiujiang, it is obvious that Yuan Shu is still the Yuan Highway who looks down on the world.

Subsequently, Yuan Shu once again discussed various matters of the territory with everyone, hoping to speed up the development of the territory through various decrees to meet Yuan Shu's military needs.

I don't know how long it took, but suddenly, a soldier walked in quickly, "General, a letter from Zhou County's order." ”

"Oh? Gong Jin's letters? Haven't you already borrowed grain and grass? Yuan Shu asked happily when he heard this. Some time ago, Yuan Shu asked Juchao County to order Zhou Yu to send someone to borrow grain from Lu Kang, the Shou of Lujiang County, who was in Shu County.

I didn't borrow much, only 30,000 Hu, and if I saved some food, 30,000 soldiers could probably eat for a month. However, although Yuan Shu now has to stop all military activities due to food shortages, it does not mean that he is so poor that he does not even have 30,000 yuan of food. After all, if this is the case, then Yuan Shu is probably not far from perishing. The reason why this is so is just to let Lu Kang express his position.

Since Yuan Shu concentrated on attacking Lujiang, officials from all over Lujiang gradually fell to Yuan Shu. After all, compared with Liu Xuan, Yuan Shu is more than one step stronger in terms of prestige, status and even strength. Moreover, the Lujiang River is north of the Yangtze River...... If Yuan Shu really led the army to attack, they would not have the Yangtze River natural danger to take advantage of like Liu Xuan.

It's just that...... Soon after receiving the letter, Yuan Shu's face became gloomy. "What a Lu Jining! If you don't agree, it's just a matter of closing the door?! Dare to humiliate me? Yuan Shu scolded angrily.

Hearing this, Sun Ce on the side suddenly said loudly, "Lord, my subordinates are willing to lead the army to attack Lujiang, and the head of Lu Kang will be dedicated to the lord!" ”

Speaking of which, although the Sun family and the Lu family are both in Wu County, Sun Ce and Lu Kang have no friendship. On the contrary, there are some grievances. But in the past, when Sun Ce followed Zhou Yu to live in Shu County, he once went to visit Lu Kang, but Lu Kang only sent his chief secretary to meet Sun Ce, and he didn't even show his face. This, in Sun Ce's view, was completely underestimated by Lu Kang.

And now, isn't it time for revenge? He, Sun Ce, never felt that he was a generous person! Moreover, although this Lu Kang refused Yuan Shu, the messenger was sent by Zhou Yu, and he was not even allowed to enter the door, didn't this also humiliate Zhou Yu? How could Sun Ce endure it?

"Sun Junhou, now that our army is short of food and grass, it is really not appropriate to use troops again!" Hearing Sun Ce's words, Yan Xiang on the side immediately persuaded him.

"Lord, there is no need to send a large army, just give five thousand soldiers and horses to his subordinates, plus the help of his subordinates and Gongjin, it is enough to capture Shu County!" Hearing this, Sun Ce said loudly again.

"Bo Fu is strong!" Hearing Sun Ce's words, Yuan Shu was immediately overjoyed, but then looked at Yan Xiang and the others, and after seeing that they had no intention of opening their mouths to stop them, he nodded and said in a deep voice, "Since this is the case, I will give Bo Fu 5,000 soldiers and horses, and then transfer Gong Jin to listen to the order under Bo Fu's tent." ”

Speaking of this, Yuan Shu paused and said again, "If Bo Fu can capture Shu County this time, then the position of Lujiang County Guard is Bo Fu's!" ”

"Please rest assured, my subordinates will definitely not disappoint my lord!" Sun Ce was overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly thanked him.

At the same time, Luoyang.

"I didn't expect that Chen Gongtai and others would actually bring King Chen over......" Li Yi listened to Guo Jia's report, muttering in a somewhat strange tone.

"My lord, that King Chen has always had great ambitions, and when he was crusading against Dong Zhuo in the past, he tried to raise troops to enter Beijing. It's just that General Yuan and others don't support it, so they can only give up. And now that Chen Gongtai and others are rebelling, King Chen will naturally not let go of such a good opportunity. Xun Yu explained.

Obviously, Xun Yu thought that Li Yi didn't know much about King Chen, but he didn't know that the reason why Li Yi felt strange was because Chen Gong actually regarded Liu Pet as a substitute for Lu Bu.

"Perhaps, this is the so-called general trend, right? Even without Feng Xian, he Chen Gong still pulled Liu Chong in to betray Meng De. Although Liu Chong is not as strong as Feng Xian in history, Chen Guobing has more food, and the identity of King Chen is not comparable to Feng Xian at that time, but it also has its own advantages...... Li Yi thought wildly.

After a while, Li Yi came back to his senses, looked at everyone and said, "In that case, send someone to inform Bowu and the officials of the neighboring counties in Yanzhou, so that they can prepare to collect the displaced people." ”

"No!" Hearing this, Xun Yu and the others responded with a look that was really so. Sometimes, they all think that Li Yi cherishes the people too much? As long as there are any natural and man-made disasters, the first reaction is always to rein in the displaced people, and they will not refuse to come at all, even if it slows down the development of the territory and even various military operations.

"In addition, Feng Xiao, send someone to Yanzhou to ask Meng De if he needs help." Li Yi pondered for a while and said again. Obviously, Li Yi and Yuan Shao were planning to try to take Cao Cao under their account through this means.

"If Meng De agrees......" Li Yi couldn't help but imagine the scene after Cao Cao agreed, well, it must be very wonderful, right?

"No!" Hearing this, Xun Yu and others naturally would not object.

Although Li Yi has been recuperating for a long time, he has been recuperating and developing his territory while thoroughly digesting those displaced people who have taken refuge in him. But they also knew that this was just a preparation for future wars. And now, an opportunity to get Yanzhou is in front of him, how could Li Yi miss it?

However, strictly speaking, Li Yi's doing this is actually just a dispensable temptation, if Cao Cao agrees, then Li Yi will naturally not refuse to send troops to Yanzhou. And if Cao Cao refuses, Li Yi doesn't care, because right now, there are more important things than Yanzhou.

"Ladies and gentlemen, how is the grain and grass reserves in various places now?" Li Yi looked at everyone with a solemn face and asked. Yes, compared to the civil strife in Yanzhou, this matter is what he is most concerned about now. The reason is also very simple, it is now close to September, but the entire division and even the state have still not seen a drop of rain......