Yuan Shao talked to Yuan Xi about his old past in front of the bed, starting from serving as a lieutenant of the Chinese Military Academy, and told him about the killing of eunuchs, confrontation with Dong Zhuo, seizure of Jizhou, extermination of Gongsun, and the wonderful life experience of sitting in Sizhou. Yuan Shao spoke very slowly, Yuan Xi listened very carefully, understood the hardships of Yuan Shao's entrepreneurship, shed tears, and promised that he would take care of the foundation left by his father. Yuan Shao nodded, he believed in Yuan Xi's ability and hoped to make up for his regrets. Yuan Shao's biggest regret was that he led Dong Zhuo into the customs and killed the eunuchs, which caused chaos in the world and was ashamed of the people of the world.

Yuan Xi persuaded Yuan Shao not to blame himself, it was out of consideration for the Han Dynasty that he made this decision, and he will do his best to dominate the world as soon as possible, so that the people of the world can live a happy life. Yuan Shao tried his best to show a happy smile, so that Yuan Xi didn't have to worry about himself, and continued: "Your ability is stronger than mine, whether it is to see people or use people, but there is one thing I still don't worry, you are too soft-hearted!" Remember, as long as it's your opponent, you can't be appeased! ”

Yuan Shao showed his true character at the last moment, but he was worried that he was not tough enough, not vicious enough, but he didn't want his brother to be an opponent, Yuan Xi was afraid that Yuan Shao would not feel at ease, and he also explained his arrangements for Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang, and replied: "The child remembers his father's teachings, as for the eldest brother and the third brother, the child is ready to let the eldest brother go to Qingzhou, and the third brother goes to Bingzhou, I hope they can understand and develop the Yuan family's power with peace of mind." Within five years, I will destroy Cao Cao, and then my three brothers will work together to rule the world. ”

After listening to Yuan Xi's arrangement, Yuan Shao was very satisfied, so he summoned his advisers, frustrated with him, judged, Feng Ji and others, and announced his will: Yuan Xi took over the position of general, led Jizhou pastor, Youzhou pastor, Yuan Tan as Qingzhou pastor, Yuan Shang as merge state pastor. For the distribution of family business, Yuan Shao did it as fair as possible, and he was really an excellent good father.

A few days later, a generation of heroes Yuan Shao passed away, Yuan Xi arranged the funeral in accordance with Yuan Shao's last wishes, and the people of Jizhou heard the news of Yuan Shao's death, and they all cried bitterly and wept to thank Yuan Shao for his kindness. After handling the funeral, Yuan Xi prepared to report to the imperial court in accordance with Yuan Shao's will, and named Yuan Tan as the pastor of Qingzhou and Yuan Shang as the pastor of the state.

Although Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao that day, Yuan Xi led the Youzhou army to arrive, knowing that he could not capture Yecheng in a short time, so he returned to Xuchang, but he did not expect the news that the general Yuan Shao died of illness soon after. Everyone was happy and wanted to take advantage of the fire to rob and capture Jizhou. Cao Cao said sadly: "Although I was an opponent at the beginning, I was also a young confidant, his bones are not cold, how can I take advantage of the danger of others?" And he can disobey common sense and appoint Yuan Xi as his successor, I also admire his courage and courage. I intend to send people to Jizhou to mourn Ben Chu and truce with Yuan Xi for a year! ”

Xun You, Guo Jia, Cheng Yu and other smart people naturally know that this is not the time to attack Jizhou, and attacking the place while people are new will only make the people of Jizhou rise up to resist. Yuan Shao's last order was to let the three brothers share the four state pastors, rather than the eldest son to inherit alone, which is like the three families divided, if there is a foreign enemy, the brothers work together, if there is no strong enemy, then they will do their own thing, and over time there will be contradictions, so Cao Cao's truce for a year is the best choice, not only to give himself the opportunity to develop, but also to give Hebei time for internal fighting, all called Cao Cao Gaoyi.

When everyone dispersed, only Guo Jia knew Cao Cao best, and he knew that Cao Cao also had the heart to abolish the elder and establish the young, so he reminded: "Lord, subordinates should not be involved in the prime minister's family affairs, but Yuan Shao's approach is really undesirable." Although Yuan Shao's death is a good father's act, it has left hidden dangers, if Yuan Xi does not handle it well, there will be civil strife! ”

Cao Cao did not have a choice between Cao Pi and Cao Zhi, and also referred to Yuan Shao's practice, and after being broken by Guo Jia, he asked: "Then who can inherit my mantle?" Of course, Guo Jia thinks that Cao Pi is more suitable, Cao Pi is moody and angry, decisive and fierce, suitable for living in troubled times; Cao Zhi is gentle and elegant, talks about poetry and endures, treats people sincerely, is the king of benevolence, and is more suitable for a peaceful dynasty. However, Guo Jia would not bring it up, he replied euphemistically: "This is the prime minister's family matter, and I have no right to participate, but I just reminded the prime minister not to refer to Yuan Shao's practice." Cao Cao laughed, not blaming Guo Jia at all, this was his most satisfactory answer.

The news of Yuan Shao's death also reached Jingzhou, and Jingzhou Mu Liu Biao summoned Liu Bei, who had taken refuge in him, and discussed: "Brother Xuande, Yuan Benchu is newly mourned, do you think Cao Cao will take advantage of the chaos to capture Jizhou?" Liu Bei said without thinking: "It is absolutely impossible, although Yuan Benchu is gone, but Hebei is strong, and Yuan Xi is in charge, Cao Cao does not dare to raise troops easily, but our army needs to be on guard against Cao's army at all times." “

Liu Biao's situation is similar to Yuan Shao's, and he also prefers his youngest son, hoping to make Liu Cong his successor. Hearing that Liu Bei supported Yuan Shaochuan in Yuan Xi, he naturally affirmed his thoughts even more, looked at Liu Bei mysteriously and asked: "Brother Xuande, Yuan Shao can appoint his second son Yuan Xi as his successor, I also have this idea, I hope you can assist Cong'er well and resist Cao Cao." ”

Liu Bei has his own plans in his heart, Liu Cong has the support of the Cai family behind him, and the eldest son Liu Qi is not welcomed, there are not many people to support him, if he can assist him as the lord of Jingzhou, it will be convenient to act in the future, so he lowered his voice and said: "Brother, abolishing the elder and the young is to bring about his own trouble, Yuan Xixiong is strategic, only he can resist Cao Cao, so Yuan Shao has to do it as a last resort, and there must be internal discord." On the other hand, the elder brother is different, the eldest son Liu Qi is not at fault, and the second son Liu Cong is smart, but after all, he is young, and he still hopes that his brother will think twice! ”

Liu Biao has been in conflict between the two sons for a long time, and the main consideration is the power of the Cai family, so he sighed: "I also know that it is impossible to abolish the elder and establish the young, but the Cai family has repeatedly persuaded me to set up Liu Cong as the successor, and the Cai family has a huge power, I am afraid that even if it is passed on to Liu Qi, I am afraid that Jingzhou will also have civil strife." ”

Liu Bei heard that Liu Biao had the heart of Liu Qi, and he was secretly happy in his heart, and promised: "Although the Cai family is powerful, it is not unshakable, as long as the elder brother unites the other three clans in Jingzhou to support the eldest prince, I will also fully support the elder brother, and I believe that the Cai clan will not dare to oppose the elder brother's decision." ”

Liu Biao was overjoyed when he heard this, so he provided Liu Bei with a large amount of military materials for him to recruit troops and horses, one to guard against Cao Cao, and the other to strengthen Liu Qi. Liu Biao also sent people to Jizhou to mourn, expressing his willingness to continue to cooperate with Yuan Xi to fight against Cao Cao.

There are also the rest of the forces, Jiangdong Sun Quan, Xiliang Ma Chao also sent people to mourn, Emperor Han Xian asked Sima Yi to mourn, and even approved Yuan Xi's request, so that he could deal with the general's posterity with peace of mind, and the scenery was buried. The most surprising thing for Yuan Xi was that the Xiongnu and Xianbei tribes did not take advantage of Yuan Shao's death to make trouble, but instead sent envoys to mourn, and at the same time showed that they would continue to be loyal to the Yuan clan and had no two hearts.

After dealing with Yuan Shao's posterity, Yuan Xi privately summoned Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi. Yuan Xi got straight to the point and said: "Before my father died, I hoped that my three brothers could live in harmony, so I suggested that my father let the eldest brother serve as the pastor of Qingzhou and let the third brother serve as the pastor of the state. ”

The two of them woke up, and it turned out that Yuan Xi did it on purpose. Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi had an agreement, Yuan Xi was willing to continue to let him serve as the land of a state, that was a trust in himself, and thanked: "The second brother is broad-minded, the eldest brother admires it, I will definitely take care of Qingzhou and not let the second brother down." ”

Yuan Shang experienced the failure last time, and he had a new understanding of himself, knowing that he couldn't fight Yuan Xi, and now that Yuan Tan has admitted it, he has no choice but to go to the state to develop his forces first, and he also promised: "Since the last defeat to Cao Cao, I know that only our three brothers can win Cao Cao with one heart!" If the second brother has an order, the younger brother will definitely obey it. It's just that my younger brother has a request, I wonder if I can let my mother accompany me to Bingzhou? ”

Yuan Xi knew that many of Yuan Shang's bad ideas were influenced by the Liu family, so he naturally didn't want the Liu family to continue to sow discord, and at the same time, he was also afraid that this younger brother would have any ideas, so it was better to leave the Liu family in Jizhou, thinking that they should stay in Jizhou to pray for Yuan Shao's blessings and pray for early happiness.