Man Zhong led the defeated army to take refuge in Nanjun, Cao Ren saw that Xiangyang had been lost and the road back to the north had been broken, so he could only hold on to Nanjun and wait for support. Although Liu Bei captured Xiangyang, he only had 50,000 horses in his hands, and this time he also took advantage of Cao's unpreparedness to steal Xiangyang.

Now there is Cao Ren in Nanjun, and there are still 50,000 horses, which is difficult to capture for a while. Zhuge Liang suggested that Liu Bei first welcome Liu Qi back to Xiangyang, and that supporting Liu Qi would be justified, and Cao Ren would be isolated in Nanjun and would be self-defeating.

Liu Bei listened to Zhuge Liang's suggestion and supported Liu Qi as the pastor of Jingzhou, Liu Pan continued to guard Jiangxia, and the four counties of Jingnan also maintained the status quo. Soon, the four counties of Jingnan sent envoys to support Liu Qi, hoping that Xiangyang would send troops as soon as possible to capture Nanjun.

Sun Quan originally wanted to attack Liu Bei with Cao Ren a month later, but he didn't expect Liu Bei to preemptively seize Xiangyang. Sun Quan's advisor Zhang Zhao suggested: "My lord, Liu Bei promised to give up Jiangxia if he had a place to stay, although the two-month deadline has not yet arrived, he can send someone to take over Jiangxia." ”

Lu Su retorted: "Lord Mingjian, Uncle Liu Huang's honest person will not lose his trust in the world for the sake of Jiangxia. Our army might as well wait for another month, and Jiangxia will have no excuse to avoid more trouble. Although Sun Quan has coveted Jingzhou for a long time and wants to consolidate his position by seizing Jingzhou, he still has such patience after waiting for an extra month.

When the news of the fall of Xiangyang reached Xuchang, Cao Cao was shocked, Cao Ren was isolated, and he was afraid that it would be difficult to last long, so he wanted to recapture Xiangyang. His subordinate strategist Liu Ye persuaded: "The lord can't, Yuan Xi is extremely treacherous, although he sent us a war letter saying that he would start a war next year, but once there is an opportunity, he will definitely not sit idly by." Although Liu Bei won Xiangyang, his power was not strong, and the ability of General Zixiao was enough to protect Nanjun. Sun Quan was very ambitious, how could he let Liu Bei capture Jingzhou, and he would definitely start a war with Liu Bei soon. After listening to Liu Ye's analysis, Cao Cao was relieved, so he did not send troops to Xiangyang.

In the past few years, Yuan Xi has been busy fighting Dongying and Sanhan, and he has not been to Luoyang much, so he wants to take advantage of the rare leisure time to go to Luoyang and meet the Son of Heaven. Yuan Xi and his entourage came to Luoyang, Luoyang is also becoming more and more lively, although Luoyang does not have many troops, but it is the most stable city in the Han Dynasty, and naturally Luoyang has become an ideal place for foreigners to migrate.

Yuan Xi went on a pilgrimage to see the Son of Heaven, and Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty commended the general Yuan Xi for his meritorious service in pacifying Dongying and Sanhan, and decided to seal Yuan Xi as the Marquis of Wei, with Wei County as a fief, all in Yecheng. This time, no one objected, Yuan Xi opened up the territory for the Han Dynasty and pacified Karasuma, Xianbei, Dongying, and Sanhan, which was enough to seal the marquis.

After the dispersal of the dynasty, Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty left Yuan Xi alone in the palace to dine and entertain him warmly. Emperor Han Xian and Yuan Xi talked freely about drinking, originally talking about how to select talents and develop national strength, and later the drunkenness became stronger, Yuan Xi began to talk about family affairs, he still has five wives and concubines, and has two boys and two girls, persuading Emperor Han Xian to recruit concubines and concubines, and open up branches and leaves for the Han family. Emperor Han Xian said that although he was young, his ability was not good, although Xun Yu and others also helped him choose a few concubines, but he still has no heirs.

Emperor Han Xian smiled but did not speak, and continued to drink and have fun with Yuan Xi, Yuan Xi saw that it was getting late, and advised Emperor Han Xian to abstain from drinking, and drinking too much would inevitably hurt his body. Emperor Han Xian saw that Yuan Xi was drunk and walked unsteadily, so he ordered the palace maid to help him rest. Zhao Yun and Pang De saw that Yuan Xi was drunk, and they didn't dare to be careless, and wanted to escort Yuan Xi back to the General's Mansion to rest. Emperor Han Xian said with drunkenness: "I am like a brother and sister with the general, it is better to sleep with me, the palace is heavily guarded, please rest assured that the two generals are at ease." ”

Zhao Yun and Pang De hesitated, and at this time, they only heard Yuan Xi say in a daze: "The emperor invites you, it's an honor, Zilong and Ling Ming, you can come to pick up Ben Hou tomorrow." The night was fine, Yuan Xi only said that he had drunk too much. When Zhao Yun and Pang De came to pick him up, he realized that he had lost his temper yesterday and apologized to Emperor Han Xian, who waved his hand and replied with a smile: "Yesterday, I was fortunate to have the general as a companion, and the wine is less than a thousand cups of confidants, and I hope the general will always come to accompany me!" Yuan Xi actually lost to Emperor Han Xian yesterday, and he also felt incredible, and said that he would come back next time.

It turned out that it was not Yuan Xi who drank too much yesterday, but Emperor Han Xian ordered people to give estrus and sent several palace maids to have sex with Yuan Xi, hoping to get a seed and dispel the suspicions of the ministers about themselves. Yuan Xi is a person who has revenge, even if he is the emperor, what can he do, if he doesn't support himself, he is still a puppet in the hands of Cao Cao, thinking that he can use himself by sealing himself as the Marquis of Wei. Since Liu Xie wants to hide his incompetence so much, then I will repay you well, Yuan Xi sneaked into the palace quietly with his super high skills and spoiled the harem.

Yuan Xi's acceptance of the Marquis of Wei also stimulated Cao Cao, and in order to be on an equal footing with Yuan Xi, he sent an envoy to request that he be named the Marquis of Chu. Emperor Xian of Han didn't want to agree, and he was afraid of annoying Cao Cao, so he sent troops to attack Luoyang and asked Yuan Xi for his plan. Yuan Xi replied: "The emperor can't agree, Cao Cao is not satisfied as a commoner, and he wants to threaten the Son of Heaven, which is really an unforgivable crime, and I will send troops to fight against Cao Cao in the coming year, so that he will personally come to apologize to His Majesty." Emperor Xian of Han thought that he could not encourage this bad trend, followed Yuan Xi's suggestion, and rejected Cao Cao's request.

Cao Cao saw that Emperor Xian of Han had rejected his request, so he hated Luoyang, but Cao Cao knew that Luoyang had Yuan Xi's support behind him, so he sent troops to attack Puyang. How could Yuan Xi sit idly by, bid farewell to Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, leave Luoyang, and after returning to Jizhou, he ordered Zhao Yun to be the vanguard to support Puyang, and the battle between Yuan Xi and Cao Cao began in advance.

Xu Huang and Zhao Yun met in a narrow way, the two were also old rivals, they were familiar with each other, and they confronted each other near Puyang, and they couldn't hold each other. Yuan Xi and Cao Cao then arrived with their troops, and Yuan Xi questioned Cao Cao: "Cao Mengde, you and I agreed to fight a decisive battle next year, why did you change your hexagram?" ”

Cao Cao is also able to change words, and countered: "Yuan Xi, don't be too self-righteous, you say when you fight, I didn't agree, today I will recapture Puyang!" ”

The Yuan army and the Cao army fought in Puyang, and the troops of both sides were equal, both of them had 100,000 people, and it was difficult to distinguish the victory from defeat for a while. Compared with the battle of Guandu, the situation was different, at that time the disparity between the forces of the two sides, but the combat effectiveness of the Cao army was stronger than that of the Yuan army, and now the strength of the two sides is equal, and the combat effectiveness of the Yuan army has surpassed the Cao army.

Yuan Xi's strategy is very simple, that is, to fight a war of attrition, relying on Hebei's comprehensive strength to drag down Cao Cao, as long as he fights steadily, Cao Cao will undoubtedly lose, this was the case before, and it should be even more so now. Yuan Xi used powerful catapults and repeaters to successfully defend Puyang.

After more than a month of confrontation, Cao Cao saw that he could not capture Puyang and prepared to retreat to Xuchang. Although Yuan Xi knew that Cao Cao must have an ambush, he just didn't want Cao Cao to retreat easily, so he sent Zhao Yun and Pang De to lead light cavalry to harass Cao's retreat. Cao Cao saw that the Hebei cavalry was just bluffing, coming and going in a hurry, and knew that Yuan Xi would not dare to chase after the army, so he withdrew the ambush and quickly retreated to Xuchang.

Yuan Xi's army was still stationed in Puyang, and did not return to Hebei, but gathered everyone to discuss the battle plan. Xu Shu carefully checked the map of the Central Plains, pointed to Runan County, and proposed to Yuan Xi: "My lord, attacking Xuchang at this time is mostly in vain, it is better to attack here directly!" ”

Runan County is the birthplace of the Yuan family, the seat of Yuzhou, and the hinterland of the Central Plains, but Cao Cao in order to resist the soldiers and horses of Xuzhou, the soldiers and horses of Runan County were withdrawn to Shouchun, and the current defense of Runan County is quite weak. Although it was more risky to go deep alone, Yuan Xi's generals asked for battle, hoping to establish the first merit of conquering the Central Plains.