In the sixth year of Jian'an, the Northern War came to an end.

As the last battle of the Battle of Puwu, 3,000 Xianbei cavalry unexpectedly defeated more than 100,000 Hebei soldiers and horses stationed in Puwu, and killed tens of thousands of captured Hebei soldiers and people after the war, and built their corpses into a Jingguan, in order to show off their martial arts and shock the hearts of the people of Hebei.

Subsequently, the Xianbei cavalry with great fanfare escorted a small number of prisoners and a large number of booty to withdraw to the north, invincible along the way, along the way Hebei counties or according to the city to protect themselves, or abandon the city to flee, no army dared to attack and intercept, so let the Xianbei cavalry leave the country with great power, won a complete victory, and returned with a full load.

For Hebei, in recent years, the indirect continuous defeat, there has never been such a serious time, Hebei's elite soldiers and good generals are almost a battle, at present, just tens of thousands of soldiers and corpses piled up indiscriminately in Jingguan and the wandering stragglers, has been passed on by the word of mouth of the people in the market, causing all kinds of rumors to fly all over the sky, frightened the women and children of Qianshou, so that the hearts of the people of Hebei fell into endless panic, the border county will be afraid of Xianbei like a tiger, the county is worried about the invasion of the Xiliang soldiers, and the weakened Black Mountain thieves are also faintly resurrected. During the attack on the county, some cities in the territory even set off rebellions of large and small scales······

Of course, the most worrying thing about the Yecheng General's Mansion is the movement of the Xiliang soldiers in the two places and Hedong.

In the eyes of Tian Feng, Feng Ji and others, who have fled back to Yecheng, Xianbei outside the Saiwai and the wandering Black Mountain are just delicate mustard diseases, which cannot threaten the foundation of Hebei.

Once the Xiliang soldiers crossed the Taihang Mountain and sent troops to attack Yuan, even though Tian Feng and others believed that they could not swallow the foundation of Hebei with the power of Guanxi, but judging from the current situation, it was inevitable that some counties and counties near the eastern foot of Taihang Mountain would fall, and if the situation took a sharp turn, the Yecheng General's Mansion, which had no danger to defend, might also move to Hejian, Bohai and other places.

Fortunately, in the day and night worries of Tian Feng, Feng Ji and others, the worst situation did not appear after all, and the Yan Xing army in Hedong, Bingdi and other places did not move, and there was no sign of launching an attack on the cities of the Hebei garrison for a long time, and after a major battle on the border between the two families, it returned to the state before Yuan Shao's army launched the autumn offensive last year.

Tian Feng and the others, who gradually settled down, began to believe that the strength of the Xiliang army, which had won one after another, had also reached the end of the strong crossbow, at least the neighboring counties were not threatened by large-scale invasion in the short term, and they immediately turned their attention to the troubled interior of Hebei.

Indeed, although there were still some radical generals under his command who advocated taking advantage of the victory to pursue and conquer the city, Yan Xing, who was in Hedong, had already decided to call off his troops and make a truce.

Although the timely response of Wei Qi and others did not lead to a greater disaster, the grain reserves in the warehouses in the Kanto and Kansai regions were now exhausted, and the soldiers and horses were exhausted, and the Kansai really did not have the ability to launch a new offensive.

Moreover, a suicide note from Xi Zhicai, who died of illness in Ye County, also strengthened Yan Xing's thoughts.

In the suicide note, the dying Xi Zhi spent his last bit of strength to write his final judgment on the situation in the north, although he did not know that Yuan Shao's army would be defeated by the Xianbei cavalry in Puwu, a small place with no name, but he had a clear view of the situation at the beginning and made a prophecy at the beginning that the Kansai side would win and the Kanto Yuan and Cao families would be defeated.

It's just that in his subsequent pen and ink, on the one hand, he pointed out that the Yuan and Cao families lost the ability to attack Kansai after this northern war, but on the other hand, the alliance between the Yuan and Cao families against Yan Xing will become stronger with the change of the situation.

At least, the two Yuan Cao families, who are now cold-hearted, no longer dare to harbor their own evil intentions as they did when they first sent out their troops: while actively using troops to invade the counties under Yan Xing's rule, they are secretly thinking about how to move the troubled waters eastward and lead the soldiers and horses of Guanxi who have gone out of the decisive battle to the allies on the other side.

The situation forced them to unite and jointly defend against the great threat from Kansai.

Although the united Yuan and Cao families did not have the ability to attack Guanxi, they still had the strength to fight in coordinated defense, and Liu Biao of Jingxiang had already withdrawn in advance, if Yan Xing was carried away by the victory of this big war, and recklessly made a strategy of taking advantage of the victory to use troops and annex the two families, then I am afraid that the Guanxi soldiers and horses at the end of the crossbow will inevitably suffer defeat after penetrating deep into the enemy's territory.

Therefore, at the end of the suicide note, Xi Zhicai suggested that Yan Xing should call off the army and make a truce, gather lessons in Guanxi, wait and see the changes in the situation in Kanto, first attack the rich and fertile Bashu, and when the time is ripe, then send troops out of Kuohan, attack on a large scale, annex Yuan Cao's two families in one fell swoop, and unify the north.

It is not so much that this is a suicide note before his death, but rather that it is the last concern of Xi Zhicai for the foundation of Kansai, because Yan Xing read the whole text and did not see that Xi Zhicai talked about any family affairs related to his wife and children and the field house in the suicide note.

"Heavenly Fallen Talent, I can't wait to strategize with you again!"

The hussar general, who won a great victory in this battle, held a suicide note in his hand, sat on the couch and looked at the courtyard with a gloomy expression.

···

Yecheng, the General's Mansion.

Although Yuan Shao, who escaped back to Yecheng, was exempted from being a prisoner, he was sick and experienced some more fright and turbulence, his condition became more serious, and he could not be promoted to the director.

The military and political documents that had been piled up and shelved were temporarily discussed and disposed of by Tian Feng, Xianpei, Feng Ji, and Yuan Shang, and after making a decision, they were sent to the shogunate's Cao, prefecture capitals, counties, and three prefecture garrison camps.

In the lobby, the judge got up and handed the military book to his son Yuan Shang, and said with a frown.

"Jiang Zhonglang will send a quick horse to report again, saying that the morale of the army is low, the soldiers and civilians are fleeing more and more, there is a strong enemy pressing the border, there is no food and grass reinforcements inside, and Chaoge is already undefensible, and he requests to move the camp to Shaocheng and Dangyin to defend the heartland."

"Nonsense, Chaoge is located in a key place, the east and west thoroughfares, attacking can enter Hanoi, defending Yecheng, it is a place where soldiers must fight, how can there be a reason to abandon the city and withdraw the army. Jiang Yiqu was a great general, but he was afraid of the enemy like a tiger, and repeatedly asked to move the camp and withdraw, if he did not reprimand him strictly, he was only afraid that he would support his own army, and take advantage of this opportunity to threaten the shogunate in turn. ”

After listening to the words of the trial, Tian Feng, who was sitting on the side with white hair, suddenly changed color, these days he was worried about the current situation and his face was haggard, but his upright temper did not change at all, and he did not wait for Yuan Shang, who was the leader, to speak, and immediately said.

Yes, after the defeat of Puwu, although there was no threat from Hanoi and the annexed land for the time being, the situation in Hebei was still full of problems: the foreign Xianbei and Wuhuan in the border area, the Montenegro, fugitives, and rebellions in the territory, the generals who held military power, and the ambiguous heirs······

Although these problems have not yet evolved into a monstrous disaster, once they are not properly handled, they may set off huge waves in Hebei at any time.

Therefore, the general's office recently promulgated a military political decree quite cautiously, and the generals Zhang He and Gao Lan, who led the army to flee back, were not punished by the shogunate, but were encouraged to allow them to make meritorious contributions, lead the troops to quell the rebellion in the territory, collect the deserters, and were ordered to drive the Montenegrin thieves back to the deep mountains.

The strategist Xun Chen was ordered to rush to Xudu to contact Sikong Cao Cao, and agreed on the next alliance between the two families to resist the Xiliang army, and his staff Xin Ping was also sent to Youzhou to assist Yuan Xi in appeasing and encircling the Wuhuan of the three counties, cleaning up the mess of Daijun and Shanggu, and trying to win over the eastern Xianbei lords such as Suli and Mica outside the Saiwai, in an attempt to divide and clamp the strong Xianbei Kebi Neng Department.

Yuan Tan of Qingzhou also received an order from the shogunate to hurry back to Yecheng to discuss major matters.

Although Tian Feng was angry that he was afraid of the enemy like a tiger and retreated from the enemy, he still did not bluntly send an envoy to ask for guilt and remove the generals, but advocated moving the book and reprimanding him, ordering him not to make unauthorized claims and lead the army to withdraw.

It's just that his arbitrary attitude really makes Yuan Shang dislike, because Yuan Shao loved his young son before, so the heir of Hebei Foundation has not been decided, but among the four people who discuss together in the hall, Feng Ji and Ju have secretly expressed their allegiance to Yuan Shang, so they have been drafting countermeasures first, and then handed over to Yuan Shang to decide, only Tian Feng, who regarded himself as upright and loyal, did not express his position for a long time, and never considered Yuan Shang's attitude when doing things, and seemed to faintly support the eldest son Yuan Tan to succeed to the throne.

Yuan Shang held the military book in his hand, his eyes changed, and he was silent for a long time, but finally reluctantly smiled under Feng Ji's signal.

"Ahem, what Tian Gong said is very true, and the governance will be dealt with according to Tian Gong's words."

"No."

The judge replied, respectfully retreating to his seat.

Seeing that the trial was like this, although the suggestion was adopted, Tian Feng still showed a look of displeasure, but because of his identity, he snorted and did not speak again.

Every half hour, a special standby clerk entered the hall to remove the processed official documents, and occasionally a new document was sent by each Cao's assistant.

As the shadow of the sun gradually slanted, seeing that the documents piled up on the desk had been processed, Yuan Shang and Feng Ji, who were at the top, exchanged glances, and took the lead in saying goodbye to the three of them, and wanted to transfer to the inner room to serve the father on the sickbed.

After Yuan Shang left, Tian Feng, who had been sitting for a long time and had a sore old body, also said goodbye, but this time he got up to see off the trial and Feng Ji at the door of the lobby.

"Don't stay!"

The judge laughed. Tian Feng saw that the two of them were acting abnormally, and he was displeased, so he threw off his clothes.

"What does this mean?"

"Tian Gong." Among the two, Feng Ji took over the conversation, he looked at Tian Feng and said softly:

"Now the situation in Hebei is unstable, the general is sick and sick, the shogunate can not be left without an owner for a day, the third prince has always respected Tian Gong, and everything he asked for was not allowed, why did Tian Gong pretend to be a gesture and repeatedly refused to be thousands of miles away."

"Feng Yuantu, what do you mean?" Tian Feng's eyes were already angry.

"Hehe, what does Yuan Tu mean, after these days, Tian Gong still doesn't understand, I and the other two think that the third prince has always been smart, deeply loved by the general, and has the posture of a hero, and now the general is sick, once he dies, the third prince should inherit the foundation of Hebei!"

The judge stared at Tian Feng and said abruptly.

"Bold! Waste grows and grows young, and it has been the way to take trouble since ancient times. Not to mention that the general is still alive, even if the general dies for a long time, the eldest son must succeed him. Although the third prince is loved by the general, but the young and the young are orderly, how can they inherit the throne, if they are forced, the lord and the country will be suspicious, and the foundation will be overturned, and the two of you will be the sinners of Hebei! ”

Tian Feng was already furious at this time, he pointed at the judge's nose and scolded, the judge's face couldn't help but change color, he gritted his teeth, and said coldly after a while:

"Tian don't drive, the third prince has already reached the crown, how can the lord say less, Ming Gong was interested in the third prince before, and now although he is sick and unconscious, I am also acting on orders, don't drive from being a lonely loyal, but now I disobey the order and do not serve the third prince as the master, could it be that I have a plan with Qingzhou?"

"On orders? Whose order did you judge Nan, is it really the order of the great general? Or is this just a private conspiracy between you and the third prince? ”

"Hehe, Tian Feng, you think very highly of yourself, thinking that the affairs of the state are up to you, but this matter, it's not up to you to decide, the third prince is pushed by everyone in the shogunate, it's best for you to second, and if you don't second, you have to second!"

"Trial, you harbor evil intentions, even if the general entrusts you with a heavy responsibility, I can't sit back and watch you corrupt the foundation of Hebei today, go, go with me to meet the general!"

Tian Feng's face turned red, and he had to be angry, and wanted to step forward to pull the match, but the judge snorted coldly and avoided it. Seeing that the two of them were about to have branches, Feng Ji on the side secretly screamed in his heart, he and the judge, Geng Bao and others saw that Yuan Shao was ill and Jizhou had no owner, and they all intended to support the third son Yuan Shang to inherit the foundation, and wanted to take advantage of the fact that Guo Tu, Xun Chen, Xin Ping and others were not in Yecheng to draw Tian Feng, who was the most famous in the state, into his own camp, but he didn't expect that Tian Feng and the two upright Hebei ministers were full of discord between the words, as if they were going to make a big deal about the previous plot.

"Slowly, slowly, Tian Gong doesn't have to be angry, the general is still unconscious on the sickbed, how can we, as ministers, attack each other again, disturb the general's rest. This matter is just our private words, and the matter of inheriting the inheritance is a matter of the general's family, and it is all decided by the general's mouth, and non-human ministers can put their beaks on it. When the general's condition improves and the eldest son arrives in Yecheng, I will go to meet with us and consult the general's intentions, how about it? ”

Feng Ji stopped in front of the two of them and persuaded bitterly, Tian Feng's face slowed down when he heard this, he snorted coldly, and stopped the movements in his hands.

The judge was noncommittal, nodded silently, and then turned to leave. Seeing this, Feng Ji wanted to speak to Tian Feng with a smile, but Tian Feng snorted, ignored it, turned his head and shook his sleeves, and strode away.

Seeing Tian Feng's straight back disappear from sight, Feng Ji's face gradually put away a smile, he lowered his head in contemplation, and slowly walked to the inner courtyard.

When he walked to Yuan Shao's bedroom, Yuan Shang and the trial were already waiting at the door after leaving, Feng Ji shook his head at the two, the trial lowered his head silently, Yuan Shang gritted his teeth when he saw this, and walked towards the bedroom.

In the bedroom, there was a strong smell of decoction, Yuan Shang frowned slightly, but he still stepped to the hospital bed and knelt down respectfully.

"Mother, is your adult getting better today?"

Yuan Shang asked his stepmother Mrs. Liu respectfully, Mrs. Liu, who was undressed and served the decoction, immediately burst into tears and sobbed when she heard this, Yuan Shang still had to ask again, Yuan Shao, who was pale on the sickbed and had been in a coma for a long time, opened his eyes slightly.

"But Shang'er is here?"

"Yes, my lord, the child is here."

"Well, your brother is back?"

Yuan Shang and Mrs. Liu exchanged glances and said softly:

"The eldest brother is still on the way, and he sent an envoy to report it before, and it has only been two days since he arrived in Yecheng."

"That's good." Yuan Shao, who had returned to the light, seemed to be in good spirits today, he was silent for a while, and then asked again:

"Have you encountered any difficulties in the recent deliberations?"

"Adult"

Yuan Shang wanted to speak and stopped, but Yuan Shao had become impatient, thinking that there was some bad news to hide from him, so he immediately coughed violently, and Mrs. Liu on the side hurriedly approached to help him calm his breath, while signaling to Yuan Shang, complaining and saying:

"You kid, you have been obedient since you were a child, if there is anything else you can hide from your father, just say it."

"Yui. He said, if the adults had listened to his advice earlier, how could they have lost their divisions, and the elite soldiers would have lost everything, and Hebei would have been in such a situation as it is today. The child follows the commandment of the adult to endure the country, and has been tolerating Tian Beijia's arbitrariness before, but today when he heard this, he was not angry for a while, and he argued a few words, he actually said, actually said that the child is a yellow-mouthed child, what is the right to deliberate, Hebei first has the defeat of the teacher, and then there is the disorder of the elder and young, the day of the overthrow of the foundation is not far away, and the old and young of the Yuan family will inevitably become prisoners of the order. ”

"Really?" Mrs. Liu's face was pale, and she asked in surprise.

"Mother, this matter was seen by the child with his own eyes, and the people in the middle of the rule were also present, and they all heard Tian Beijia's disobedient words."

"Ahh Mrs. Liu continued to help, and exclaimed, "Then how can this be, Tian Beijia is very famous in the state, and he has been in the shogunate for a long time, and there are quite a lot of doormen, once he——"

"Ahem, cough, cough—" Before Mrs. Liu's words were finished, Yuan Shao's face on the sickbed suddenly turned blood-red, and he coughed violently again.

Seeing this, Mrs. Liu and Yuan Shang hurriedly approached, stroked their chests, and pouted their mouths, and finally got out a mouthful of thick phlegm that Yuan Shao was almost out of breath.

Yuan Shao's breath, who was barely gasping for breath, became weak again, but his eyes revealed fiery anger, and he gasped word by word and said:

"The old slave dares to insult the lonely, and swears to kill him!"

···

Xu Du, Shang Shutai.

"Axiom, has it been decided?"

Shang Shu Ling Xun Yu looked at the young Zhong Changtong and asked with a sigh.

After the young Zhong Changtong left the state, he returned to his hometown in Shanyang, but because of his reputation, he was soon recruited by the imperial court after returning from a study tour, and then he was valued by Xun Yu, the secretary of the dynasty, and was promoted to the Shang Shulang in the palace province in one fell swoop.

It's just that Xun Yu never expected that Zhong Changtong, who had not been in office for a long time, would have the intention of resigning and returning to seclusion so quickly, and listening to his words, it seems that he does not plan to stay in Zhongyuan Prefecture in the future, but will go south to Jiangdong, Jiaozhou and other places.

"Lingjun, in the past, Dong Zhuo was in chaos, Yingchuan and Chen Liuduo invaded each other, and the well-dressed surnames were all in trouble. Now Yanyan in Guanxi is even worse than Dong Zhuo, first defeated Sikong in Henan with the soldiers of Qin Hu, and then led the Xianbei alien tiger and wolf to chase General Yuan in Hebei, ambushed 100,000 corpses, in order to build a view of Beijing, the sea was shaken, the people's hearts were panicked, and there was no talent to lead the army to resist the enemy. ”

Zhong Changtong looked at Xun Yu, who had always valued him and promoted him, with shame, and said gloomily.

Xun Yu didn't expect Zhong Changtong to be so pessimistic about the situation, although he didn't expect that Cao Cao, who had always used soldiers like a god and was invincible, would suffer defeat in Henan again, and he was even more busy with many political affairs inside and outside the palace recently, but he didn't think that Yan Yan in Guanxi could take advantage of the victory to annex the Yuan and Cao families, not to mention that the current situation was that the soldiers and horses of Jingxiang and Guanxi retreated one after another, and the threat to Xu Duxi and Nan had been lifted.

"Why this, why this." Xun Yu said with a wry smile: "In the past, with Dong Zhuo's strong army, he went against the sky, which was unpopular, and it was difficult to escape defeat. At present, although Yan Yan Shima is prosperous, there is General Yuan in the north, Cao Sikong in the south, the two work together to control the Guanxi Shima in Shandong, how to come to the vain words of the overthrow of the country, axioms, you have only learned people, the current court is the time to employ people, the Han Dynasty, you need to choose the world's talents and use them, how can you leave at this time. ”

"Zhongxing Han Room" Zhong Changtong muttered to himself, like a lost soul, he apprenticed to study, read the classics hard, once in order to save the world and help the people, but now what he can see is the world of competition for strength and starvation, the Great War in the North, Yuan Yan and Cao's three families attacked the city and conquered the land, killing people and killing people, and then he stayed, in addition to adding to his inner depression and loneliness, what can he change.

Moreover, Xu Du under Cao Cao's rule also shook Zhong Changtong's belief in the "Zhongxing Han Dynasty". Indeed, in troubled times, many of the measures of Sikong Mansion and Shangshutai are good strategies that are conducive to pacifying the troubled times and stabilizing people's hearts, but when Zhong Changtong saw with his own eyes that Sikong Mansion School Affairs Sona was a "thief", dressed in a dedignified manner, and the blood was full of blood, thousands of horses in the city of Xudu, the court ministers pretended to be deaf and dumb, and the celebrities and talents were wise and wise to protect themselves, and he was already disheartened with the Han family.

Yes, what Cao Sikong did was for the sake of the Zhongxing Han Room, but will this Han Room still be the Han Room that it used to be?

Zhong Changtong's mouth was bitter, of course he knew that Xun Lingjun in front of him knew everything, but he was still insisting, and he had been working hard to turn around the affairs of the government and the opposition, coordinate the relationship between the palace and Sikong Mansion, and rejuvenate the "Han family" in his heart, even if he was deeply trapped in the whirlpool for this, he would not hesitate.

In a certain dimension, Xun Lingjun in front of him is the real brave man, and he himself is just a coward who avoids the rivers and lakes and makes excuses for his lack of courage.

Thinking of this, Zhong Changtong burst into tears and bowed down again.

"Ling Jun has a good encounter, there is nothing to repay, I hope Ling Jun will work hard to add food, and he will not return."