Yuan Shu's defeat was a foregone conclusion. The heroes can't stand the crowd, the tigers can't resist the wolves, the Yangzhou occupied by Yuan Shu is not as good as Guanzhong, and there is a Tongguan natural danger as a barrier, and because Yuan Shu called the emperor to let his subordinates centrifuge, this time and place are favorable, and the three Yuan Shu are not occupied, who will fail if he does not fail?

In just two months, the counties controlled by Yuan Shu changed hands one after another, and Yuan Shu hid in his capital Shouchun, as if he also had a premonition of his demise.

Yuan Shu is an arrogant person, and his arrogant capital is his family background of the fourth and third dukes, but when this family background can no longer help him, Yuan Shu is like an emperor who has been stripped of his new clothes, exposing his true nature.

To this day, Yuan Shu has no hope of surviving, rather than being captured and humiliated, it is better to make a decision on his own. Yuan Shu wants to burn all the jade! Hoarding a large amount of grain and grass in Shouchun City was originally Yuan Shu's reliance on holding on, but as the war continued to deteriorate, Yuan Shu had realized that this catastrophe could not be survived by delaying time. His generals Ji Ling, Zhang Xun, Chen Lan, Lei Bo and others missed one after another, and they were either captured or killed. What's more, Yuan Shu didn't know whether he could hold on until the princes of all walks of life retreated.

Cao Cao and others did not know that Yuan Shu was going to drag Shouchun to accompany the funeral, the war was going well, and the biggest harvest belonged to Cao Cao, and several of the counties in Yuzhou controlled by Yuan Shu were large grain-producing counties, which was also the fundamental reason why Yuan Shu was strong, he had grain in his hands, and he was not panicked. This time, the soldiers were very fast, and the counties occupied by Cao Cao greatly alleviated Cao Cao's demand for grain and grass, as long as he could win Shouchun, the capture would be enough to support Cao Cao's unification of the Central Plains. So for Shouchun, Cao Cao is determined to win.

In addition to Cao Cao, Sun Ce, Lu Bu, and Liu Bei also coveted Shouchun, but Liu Biao, he was more like he came to play soy sauce, after taking a part of Geyang County and Runan County, the Jingzhou army was not much interested in the war, and Cai Mao, who led the army this time, also kept silent at the princes' meeting.

Don't look at the alliance of the princes of the Five Roads to deal with Yuan Shu, but their relationship in private is not harmonious. Lu Bu has contradictions with Liu Bei, Liu Bei has contradictions with Sun Ce, Sun Ce has contradictions with Liu Biao, and Cao Cao can only act as a peacemaker, at least until Yuan Shu is completely resolved, this alliance still needs to be maintained.

However, Cao Cao is not just a peacemaker, in private, he is also wooing Lu Bu and Sun Ce, actively preparing for the next step to deal with Liu Bei, and Liu Bei is also not idle, privately wooing Liu Biao, trying to find help for himself. However, compared with Cao Cao, Liu Bei's wooing work was obviously not smooth, and the reason was Cai Mao, who came on behalf of Liu Biao this time.

The Cai family can be regarded as one of the best families in Jingzhou, and if Liu Biao had not received the support of the Cai family and the Kuai family, it would have been a question whether he could gain a foothold in Jingzhou. And after Liu Biao married Cai Mao's sister and gave birth to a son, Cai Mao can be said to be more than 10,000 people under one person in Jingzhou. Cai Mao originally had no opinion on Liu Bei, but after seeing the Yi nationality around Liu Bei, Cai Mao's attitude changed abruptly.

Liu Biao's youngest son Liu Cong is Cai Mao's nephew, and his uncle loves his nephew, not to mention that if Liu Cong inherits Liu Biao's throne in the future, it will also be of great benefit to the Cai family. But if you want Liu Cong to become the son of the king, the biggest obstacle is that Liu Cong has a half-brother Liu Qi, this Liu Qi is not from Jingzhou, and has nothing to do with the Cai family. It's just that Liu Qi was protected by a group of Shanyang people who defected to Liu Biao at the beginning, and Cai Mao didn't have a problem with Liu Qi for a while.

Seeing that Yi and Liu Bei are talking and laughing and have a close relationship, Cai Mao naturally subconsciously classified Liu Bei into Liu Qi's group, and it was not pleasing to look at Liu Bei by the way. Liu Bei didn't know the reason why Cai Mao was hostile to him, and only thought that Cai Mao didn't want others to see that the two Liu were in alliance, so he deliberately did it for outsiders to see. But he didn't know that it was because of this wrong perception that he almost lost his life.

……

Yuan Shu didn't succeed in burning Shouchun, he was crazy, but there were still people under his command who didn't want to bury him. Taking advantage of the darkness, the gate of Shouchun was opened, Cao Caojun, who got the news in advance, led the city into the city, followed by the chaos of Shouchun, Yuan Shu, who was awakened, panicked, wanted to escape to the sky, wanted to self-immolation and no one was willing to cooperate, so angry that Yuan Shu had to light the fire in the main hall of the palace, originally Yuan Shu also wanted to go to the west with the jade seal, but when he went to find the jade seal, he found that there was still a jade seal in the brocade box where the jade seal was originally stored, Yuan Shu could only hold the empty box and play with fire and self-immolation.

A raging fire broke out in the main hall of the palace, but the fire was extinguished by Cao Cao and his people before it spread. Yuan Shu was burned to death, and the brocade box in his arms was also burned to ashes. The reason why Cao Cao came to the palace so actively was not for Yuan Shu, but for the jade seal. It's not that he wants to learn Yuan Shu to become the emperor, the lessons from the past are not far away, and Cao Cao doesn't want to repeat the mistakes of the past. I want to find the jade seal not for self-reliance, but for the sake of my own reputation.

The imperial court of Chang'an in Guanzhong is getting better and better, and Cao Cao's hope of becoming a powerful minister is becoming more and more slim, and how to make himself recognized by the imperial court and continue to grow himself has become a problem that Cao Cao must face. If you can't be a powerful minister, then you can only be a loyal minister. But being a loyal minister is not just a matter of words, if you want to prove your loyalty to the court, sending back the lost jade seal is undoubtedly the best proof.

It's just that Cao Cao was disappointed that the jade seal was gone...... Well, it can't be said that it is missing, according to Han Hao, who contacted Cao Cao in advance, Yuan Shu's cousin Yuan Yin is usually in charge of keeping the jade seal, and has promised to steal the jade seal from the palace before the army enters the city.

As a result, Cao Cao led the army into the city and did not see Yuan Yin, and when he arrived at the palace, he still did not see Yuan Yin, and Han Hao had no trace of Yuan Yin. Did Yuan Yin encounter an accident or did this Yuan Yin change his mind halfway and flee with his willingness to flee privately? Cao Cao didn't know. What he knows is that the jade seal is gone again!

In order to avoid startling the snake, Cao Cao did not search for people on a large scale, after all, in addition to his own Cao family army in this Shouchun City, Lu Bu, Sun Ce, Liu Bei, and Liu Biao have all sent people into the city one after another to take advantage of it, and Cao Cao needs to send these people away before he can consider the matter of searching for Yuan Yin.

But when the representatives of the five families sat down to discuss how to distribute the seizures, a disagreement arose. According to Cao Cao's idea, his own family took 30%, Lu Bu, Liu Bei, and Sun Ce each took 20%, and Liu Biao, who played soy sauce, took 10%. But Cai Mao did not approve of this division and insisted on a family of two percent.

"Hmph, I can't see a figure when I want to contribute, and I jump out when I share the benefits." Sun Ce snorted coldly, looked at Cai Mao with disdain and said.

"Sun Ce, what do you say, you can say it again." Cai Mao has always looked down on Sun Ce, and it is no wonder that Cai Mao controls the Jingzhou Water Army, and the biggest enemy on weekdays is Sun Ce's Water Army. Cai Mao loses more and wins less, it's strange to see Sun Ce's eyes.

And Sun Ce is also not used to Cai Mao, now that Yuan Shu has finished playing, and the five alliances have come to an end, Sun Ce no longer needs to think about the overall situation to tolerate Cai Mao, hearing Cai Mao's big drink, he immediately got up and looked at Cai Mao with contempt, "It's no problem to say it a few times." Cai Dejun, if you don't accept it, we will see the high and low on the water, do you dare? ”

Cai Mao was furious when he heard this, but if he really asked him to fight with Sun Ce on the water, Cai Mao was a little stunned, and couldn't help but look at Cao Cao, the person in charge of the five alliances. When Cao Cao saw Cai Mao looking at him, he couldn't help but smile bitterly, and said to Sun Ce first: "Bo Fu, don't be impatient, isn't it still discussing right now." Then he turned his head to Cai Mao and said: "Deju, you don't have to say a word, think about it, when attacking Shouchun, did the Jingzhou army you brought suffer casualties?" ”

The princes of the five roads, but Shouchun only has four city gates, Cai Mao originally thought that he could be lazy this time, but he didn't want the retribution to come quickly, Cao Cao was waiting for him here. Yes, if you don't contribute and want to eat more and occupy more, no one will agree. Cai Mao suddenly found himself isolated by others, but he knew that he was at a loss, but Cai Mao still didn't want to admit it. It's just as Sun Ce thought, the biggest enemy Yuan Shu has been eliminated, and the alliance ends here, Cai Mao continues to want to use the alliance as an excuse to ask for benefits, and no one will get used to Jingzhou.

Cai Mao snorted angrily and took the lead in leaving, Shouchun is too far away for Jingzhou, and it is also the place of the four wars, long before Cai Mao sent out the army, he was advised by Liu Biao, and he was not interested in Shouchun's belonging.

The remaining Cao Cao's four Lu Bu also had no thoughts about Shouchun, his goal had been shifted from Yuan Shu to Liu Bei, through negotiations with Cao Cao, when the two families sent troops to deal with Liu Bei, the southern part of Xuzhou occupied by Liu Bei belonged to Lu Bu, and Lu Bu ceded the territory outside Xuzhou to Cao Cao. As for Sun Ce, the Jiangdong occupied by Liu Bei is his goal, and the ownership of this Shouchun is actually Cao Cao and Liu Bei fighting.

"Okay, since Xuande insists, then this Shouchun will be handed over to Xuande." Cao Cao and Liu Bei originally held on to Shouchun's belonging, but after Cao Cao's cronies, Xiahoudun, came in and whispered to Cao Cao, Cao Cao suddenly agreed to give Shouchun to Liu Bei.

Liu Bei almost subconsciously wanted to refuse, but he insisted just now, and suddenly wanted to change his words and couldn't find a suitable reason for a while, so he had to accept Shouchun, which should have been a happy thing, but Liu Bei suddenly had a feeling of swallowing a fly.

As soon as the meeting dispersed, everyone returned to the camp, Sun Ce and Lü Bu needed to pack up and return, waiting for the day when they agreed with Cao Cao to send troops to fight Liu Bei, and Cao Cao found Lu Su after returning to the camp and ordering the whole army to prepare for the march. This Lu Su is a person from Linhuai County, when Cao Cao led the army to crusade against Yuan Shu, Lu Su brought people to the army, Cao Cao saw that Lu Su was extraordinary, so he stayed and chatted for a few days, and then Lu Su was recruited by Cao Cao and stayed by his side to become a staff member. It was precisely because of Lu Su that Han Hao of Shouchun agreed to open the city at night and let Cao's army enter the city. Cao Cao still attaches great importance to Lu Su's opinions.

"Zijing, why did you let Yuan Rang persuade me to give up Shouchun?" Cao Cao asked straight to the point.

"Lord Mingjian, Liu Bei has two generals, one Guan Yu and one Zhang Fei, both of whom have the courage of ten thousand people. Liu Bei is also convinced of the two. If the lord wants to plot against Liu Bei in the future, these two will become the lord's resistance. If Liu Bei and the three of them are gathered together, it will not be easy to defeat Liu Bei, but if they can use Shouchun to separate these three people, then the lord will each break the ......," Lu Su explained to Cao Cao unhurriedly.

After hearing this, Cao Cao pondered for a moment, nodded and said to Lu Su: "What Zijing said is indeed reasonable, but Cao Mou did not think it through. ”

"The Lord is serious. Lord, Liu Bei will come to his senses, let's withdraw the army first. ”

"Well, Yuan Rang, order the army to march and go to Xia Cai."

……

Cao Cao, Sun Ce, Liu Biao, and Lu Bu all took people out of Shouchun, and Liu Bei, as the new master, was a little relieved. Liu Bei, the palace built by Yuan Shu in order to be the emperor, did not dare to live, so as not to give people a handle. Liu Bei moved into the mansion of Shouchun County Shou and regarded it as his residence.

No one competes with him, which is naturally a good thing. With territory, it is equivalent to having soldiers and money and food, and no one likes to spit out what they eat in their mouths. Now that Shouchun belongs to himself, he needs to arrange someone to govern it. Shouchun is the land of four wars, and you must keep a general to make yourself feel at ease. His second brother Guan Yu has outstanding martial arts and is proficient in the art of war, which is the best choice.

asked Guan Yu to come, Liu Bei said his thoughts, Guan Yu agreed without hesitation, and expressed his willingness to guard Shouchun for Liu Bei and resist enemies from all directions.

Liu Bei was very pleased, and asked casually, "Yun Chang, where is Yide?" ”

Guan Yu's expression was a little strange when he heard this, and he hesitated for a moment before saying, "Brother, Yide is drunk. ”

"Huh? He's drinking again? Liu Bei frowned and asked a little unhappily.

"Brother, now that the war is over, Yide is happy in his heart, and it is inevitable that he will be greedy for some cups, and please don't blame him."

"Alas~ Yun Chang, it's not that I want to blame Yide, it's just that this Yide often drinks at any time, and he doesn't know moderation, and he often delays major events excessively. Although it seems that you and I are going smoothly at the moment, but what awaits me in the future will be a big war, and he always does not change like this, how can you let me rest assured that I will entrust him with great things? This time Yuan Shu was destroyed, and the foolish brother originally wanted him to sit in Xiapi and lead his troops to fight for Jiangdong with Sun Ce, but now it seems that I still need to reconsider the candidate for Xiapi. ”

"Brother, since Yide is not suitable, how about the younger brother recommend one for the elder brother?"

"Oh? Who do you want to recommend? Liu Bei asked with interest when he heard this. Liu Bei, the temper of his second brother, is well known, and he is very arrogant, and there are very few people who can enter his eyes.

"What does my brother think of Lu Xun?"

"Bo Yan? His intellect is sufficient, but his prestige is insufficient, and he is ...... force."

"Brother, if the force is insufficient, you can order Xiahou Bo and Guan Hai to assist from the side, it just so happens that Sun Ce is brave, and with the third brother by his brother's side, the younger brother can also feel a lot more at ease."

“…… Well, since Yun Chang strongly recommends it, let Bo Yan try it. Yun Chang, you guard Shouchun, remember not to be careless. As soon as I left, I hurried to repair the city, and I was worried that it would not be long before it would become a battlefield again. ”

"Brother, don't worry, the younger brother has written it down."

……

Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor to the defeat, which lasted less than half a year, and the failure of Yuan Shu meant that the Yuan family's investment in the Central Plains was all in vain.

The dispute between the two brothers Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu is actually a dispute within the Yuan family, Yuan Shu, who represents the Yuan Shu faction, has finished playing, and the power of the faction that supports Yuan Shu has also been greatly reduced, while the faction that supports Yuan Shao is majestic at this time. Yuan Shu failed, but Yuan Shao succeeded, and as Gongsun Chan retreated, the whole of Hebei would become the territory of the Yuan family.

Who doesn't want to be the king? It's just that the time has not yet come, so I can only endure this ambition for the time being. Compared with the Yuan family in the Central Plains, who thought that the time was ripe for the jade seal, the Yuan family in Hebei was more stable. The fourth and third princes of the Yuan family are not fake, but they are ministers after all, and the following offenses are committed, unless it is the king's immorality, no matter how high-sounding the reason is, he can't escape the hat of a chaotic minister and a thief.

Hebei is about to be decided, Gongsun Zhan has become a turtle in the urn, and the Yuan family needs to start thinking about the next step. Yuan Shao will not be satisfied with just separating Hebei, his wish is to dominate the world and be ranked in the Ninth Five-Year Plan, but at this time, there is a lesson from Yuan Shu's past, so Yuan Shao has not made this plan for the time being.

Development is like sailing against the current, and if you don't advance, you will retreat. Yuan Shao didn't want to eat his old book in Hebei, and intended to go south to plot the Central Plains. It's just that as soon as this idea was proposed, it was immediately strongly opposed by his subordinates Tian Feng and Fu Zhi. The two did not object to Yuan Shao's decision to wave his troops south, but only suggested that Yuan Shao could postpone sending troops, after all, in order to compete with Gongsun Chan for hegemony in Hebei, the people of Hebei suffered a lot from the war, and seeing that Gongsun Zan was defeated at hand, the people needed to recuperate and live a peaceful life for a few years.

Tian Feng and Fu Zhu opposed it out of public intentions, but the six strategists under Yuan Shao were accustomed to tearing each other down and opposing for the sake of opposition. What Tian Feng and Fu Zhi opposed, Guo Tu and Feng Ji agreed.

Seeing the arguing of his advisers, the public said that the public was reasonable, and the mother-in-law said that the mother-in-law was reasonable, Yuan Shao not only felt a little headache. Yuan Shao was also happy to see the strategists' performance at the beginning, after all, Yuan Shao didn't have to worry about this gang of people joining forces to empty himself, but after a long time, Yuan Shao regretted it, this is always noisy, when is it a head?

"Shut up!" Yuan Shao shouted, wanting to ease the tense atmosphere, but he didn't want Tian Feng to say it at this time, and blurted out: "If you move troops at this time, if you are not defeated, you will be defeated, and if you are defeated, there will be a big disaster, and it will even shake the foundation of Hebei." Guo Tu, can you afford this responsibility? ”