"Mengde, you're going a little too far, aren't you?" Xu Du, Yuzhou, who became Yuan Shao's special envoy again, said to Cao Cao very dissatisfied.

"Ziyuan, don't be annoyed. I have this idea in mind, and I think about the future in the first place. Cao Cao explained to Xu You with a sincere face.

"Heh~ Then Meng De is talking about it, what is the benefit of this joint attack on Lu Bu in the beginning?" Xu You laughed angrily and asked angrily.

"Ziyuan, please sit down and listen to me slowly."

Xu You sat down angrily and glared at Cao Cao to explain to himself. He had wasted a lot of saliva before to persuade Yuan Shao to agree to stay still, and it was already rumored that he worked so hard because he received Cao Cao's benefits, which made Yuan Shao dissatisfied with him. And this time Liu Bei has become a lost dog and ran to Liu Biao, Xu You originally thought that Cao Cao would no longer shirk it, but he didn't want Cao Cao to join forces with Yuan Shao to deal with Lu Bu this time.

At present, there are two forces left in the Central Plains, Cao Cao and Lu Bu, and once Lu Bu is destroyed, the Central Plains will become Cao Cao's territory. Yuan Shao is not a stupid person, how could he easily agree to make a wedding dress for Cao Cao.

"Ziyuan, you must also know the relationship between Lu Bu and the imperial court, although Lu Bu left the imperial court, the imperial court did not accuse Lu Bu more, but awarded him Xuzhou Mu. Although Lu Bu is a real villain, how can he do things that are not beneficial? Originally, he wanted to clean up the court in the name of the Qing monarch's side, can you guarantee that when you and I are in a fierce battle with the imperial court, he Lu Bu will not stab you and me in the back? At that time, the main forces of you and me were in the Central Plains, if Lu Bu had sent troops to Hebei at that time, he could have guaranteed not to withdraw his troops in the event of a fire in his own backyard? ”

"This, Meng De, are you thinking too much? That Lu Bu is just a person who forgets his righteousness at first sight, how can he have the slightest loyalty to the imperial court? ”

"I'm not afraid of 10,000, I'm afraid of what if, didn't Ziyuan think about the possibility of Lu Bu really sending troops to help the imperial court? Over the years, you and Benchu have been busy dealing with Gongsun Zhan, and you don't know much about the affairs of Guanzhong, but I am adjacent to Guanzhong, so I know much more about the situation in Guanzhong than you do. Don't think that the current imperial court is still when Dong Zhuo is in power, the current imperial court alone has more than 100,000 combatable soldiers, and there is Tongguan in hand, whether it can take Tongguan is still unknown. ”

"Hmph, my Hebei fierce generals are like clouds, and strategists are like rain, what's the use of having soldiers in the pass?" Xu You snorted coldly.

"Ziyuan, who told you that there is no one in Guanzhong? Huang Zhong, Zhao Yun, Dian Wei, Pang De, and Tai Shici all have the courage of ten thousand people, Zhang Liao and Xu Huang are also generals who can take charge alone, plus the Xiliang Ma family has now returned to the imperial court, and the imperial court is not a military general. ”

“…… Meng De, you are very clear about the details of Guanzhong. Xu You looked at Cao Cao with some surprise and asked.

Cao Cao smiled bitterly when he heard this: "Ziyuan, don't laugh at me, I have no choice but to do it." Today's son is by no means a mediocre and incompetent person like the first emperor, although this son does not behave like a human monarch on weekdays, but he must not be underestimated for the means of winning people's hearts. ”

“…… How can you have courage without strategy, Meng De, you just said that the generals in Guanzhong, the strategists must be fearful, right? ”

"Well, Xun Yu Xun Wenruo won't talk about it, as far as I know, there are still Jia Xu, Fa Yan, Xun You, Zhong Xuan and others in Guanzhong who give advice to the Son of Heaven, and Sun Gan, Guan Ning, Zhang Ji, Yang Fu, Bu Qi and other capable officials to govern the place for him. In recent years, there have not been many internal wars in Guanzhong, and the people have lived and worked in peace and contentment, and the success of the expedition to the west has also allowed the imperial court to obtain a large amount of grain and grass. I won't hide it from you, to be honest, even if Ben Chu didn't send you, I intended to form an alliance with Ben Chu and help each other. ”

"If it is true as you say, the original idea was indeed a little simple. Meng De, can you give me a copy of the information you know about Guanzhong, so that I can use it as evidence to convince Ben Yuan? ”

"Absolutely. Ziyuan, today should not be underestimated, but anyone who underestimates today's son will pay a heavy price. If you want to make your wish come true, you need to be cautious. ”

"Well, what is Mengde's next plan?"

"If Ben Chu is willing to help me break Lu first and relieve my worries, then I, Cao Cao, am willing to take the lead in the future. But if you don't want to do it at the beginning, then please don't blame me Cao Cao for being a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty. ”

“…… Well, I'll try my best to convince Benchu and ask Meng De to sit back and wait for my good news. ”

……

Three days later, Xu Yu returned to Hebei with a piece of information that Cao Cao had ordered to be transcribed. Yuan Shao was naturally furious when he saw that Xu You didn't bring back the result he wanted. However, after he saw the information that Xu You brought back, Yuan Shao couldn't help but be silent. If the information in his hand was true, he really couldn't challenge the court as he originally thought.

Tongguan is dangerous, and the difficulty of wanting to attack is not lower than that of the Tiger Prison. At the beginning, Dong Zhuo would abandon the Tiger Prison Pass, because at that time, the white wave thief Guo Tai and the Huns went south, and Dong Zhuo was worried that he would be attacked by the enemy, so he withdrew his troops, allowing the princes' alliance to pick up a bargain. And now, Guanzhong is stable, the white wave thieves have long been destroyed, and the Black Mountain thieves have also been edicted, even if the Huns can be invited to go south, Yuan Shao is unwilling to use the hands of foreign people. In this way, if you want to break through Tongguan, the only way is to gnaw hard, but the Tongguan guards will have Hao Zhaoshan's reputation outside, how much price do you need to pay to win Tongguan?

Yuan Shao now has millions of soldiers, but the more soldiers, the more grain and grass needed, although Hebei is now surnamed Yuan, but if the people are forced to have no way to live, they don't want to sit firmly in the position of the lord of Hebei.

"Ziyuan, did Meng De really say that?" Especially when he heard the last sentence that Cao Cao entrusted Xu You to bring to him, Yuan Shao didn't dare to make a decision easily. The meaning of Cao Cao's words is obvious, if he doesn't help him deal with Lu Bu first, then when he goes south, the first thing he will face is Cao Cao.

Yuan Shao didn't blame Cao Cao for ignoring the old love, the major matter of life and death, and personal friendship naturally had to stand aside. After all, the court represents orthodoxy and holds righteousness in hand, although he has the Qing monarch as an excuse, he can become a king and lose the king, if things don't go well, the following crimes will still be deducted on his head. The benefits of forming an alliance with himself and attacking the court together are far less great than the benefits of standing with the court, and he will make the same choice as Cao Cao if he changes.

"Lord, Xu Yu exaggerated and bewitched the lord, and his crime should be punished." Just when Yuan Shao was hesitating whether to agree to Cao Cao's request, Guo Tu suddenly spoke.

"Guo Tu! What did you say!? Xu You was furious when he heard this. Although he is a little greedy for money, his loyalty to Yuan Shao is more true than real gold.

"Humph! Do you dare to say that you didn't accept a bribe from Cao Cao? worked so hard for Cao Cao, those who didn't know thought you were a messenger sent by Cao Cao. ”

"You fart! You ......"

"Shut up! In front of the lord, you must not be presumptuous! The judge shouted angrily.

"Matching! It's not that I don't know the etiquette, but it's that this Guo Tu is too deceitful! ”

"Okay, don't say a word, I have a headache when you make a noise, let me be quiet." Yuan Shao spoke up to stop everyone's quarrel, waved his hand and said, "Let's all step down and let me stay alone." Due South stays. ”

The lord spoke, and Xu You and the others had no choice but to retreat, that is, when they left, Xu You and Guo Xiang were fighting cocks, you stared at me, I looked at you, it seemed that as long as there was a little spark, the fire would break out.

After everyone retreated, Yuan Shao asked the interrogator: "Zhengnan, how is the matter for you to investigate?" ”

"Lord, his subordinates are still investigating, but Xu Ziyuan did accept bribes from Cao Cao." The judge hurriedly replied. The trial is fair and impartial, and Yuan Shao is responsible for supervising hundreds of officials. Yuan Shao had already heard about Xu You's acceptance of Cao Cao's bribes, but there was no real evidence, so he ordered the trial to conduct an investigation. Now that he heard that the trial confirmed that there was indeed such a thing, Yuan Shao's heart suddenly became angry. Xu You's image in Yuan Shao's heart also plummeted suddenly.

"Lord, do your subordinates have something to say?"

"Speak."

"Lord, although Xu You is greedy for money, his loyalty to the lord has never changed, it is a matter of the lord's great cause, and his subordinates think that Xu Yu will not betray the lord for some money."

“…… Zhengnan also felt that he should agree to Cao Cao's request? Yuan Shao frowned and asked.

"My lord, that Lu Bu is indeed a big obstacle to my southward movement from Hebei. Just as Cao Cao was worried, his subordinates were also worried that when we were attacking the imperial court, this person would take refuge in the imperial court and send troops to attack and harass our rear. ”

"But if you help Cao Cao destroy Lu Bu, then only Cao Cao's family will be the only one in the Central Plains." Yuan Shao asked worriedly.

"Lord, even if we don't help Cao Cao destroy Lu Bu, if our army wants to go south, it will be an enemy of Lu Bu. If he didn't form an alliance with Cao Cao, then Lu Bu might even form an alliance with Cao Cao for self-preservation, wouldn't it be even more difficult to deal with at that time? ”

"Hmm...... If you go down and continue to investigate Xu You's matter, I want conclusive evidence, and as for whether to form an alliance with Cao Cao, let me think about it again. Yuan Shao sent the trial to match.

"Yes, the subordinates retired."

After the trial left, Yuan Shao thought hard for a long time, but still did not make up his mind, Yuan Shao, who was depressed, simply stopped thinking about it and walked back to his back house. Yuan Shao had four sons, Yuan Tan, Yuan Xi, Yuan Shang, and Yuan Mai. Among them, Yuan Mai was the youngest, not yet an adult, and was left by Yuan Shao with Yuan Shang. And Yuan Tan, Yuan Xi and his nephew Gao Gan were all named state pastors by Yuan Shao.

"Father." Seeing Yuan Shao's figure, the young Yuan Mai immediately ran over. Seeing his youngest son, Yuan Shao suddenly felt that there was nothing to worry about, and leaned over to pick up Yuan Mai and teased: "Is my son well-behaved today?" ”

"The child is very well-behaved today, obediently study with Mr., eat obediently......" Yuan Mai wrenched his fingers and counted what he had done today.

Yuan Shao listened with a smile, and bought into the house with Yuan in his arms. Liu came over to pick up Yuan Mai and said to Yuan Shao: "Husband, why did you come back so early today?" ”

"Alas~ I encountered an annoyance." Yuan Shao replied with a sigh.

“…… Husband, can I know? Liu asked tentatively.

"It doesn't hurt to talk to you."

After listening to Yuan Shao's story, Liu was silent for a moment before saying: "Husband, the concubine is a woman, what she said is right, please don't be surprised." ”

"Madame, what you say, but it doesn't hurt to say it."

"Husband, dare to ask if Lu Bu is the person that the husband must behold?"

"I'm going south to the Central Plains in Hebei, and sooner or later there will be a battle with Na Lu Bu."

"Then I don't know if Cao Cao is the person who the husband must beg?"

"Uh...... If Meng De knew the times, I would not want to be his enemy. However, I will not ignore the great cause of the Yuan family because of personal friendship, if he becomes an obstacle to my great cause of the Yuan family in the future, then I still have to fight with him. ”

"Husband, so Lu Bu and Cao Cao may become the great enemies of Husband in the future. Since they are all enemies, if they don't take the opportunity to break each one at this time, does the husband still want to wait for the alliance between his two families before raising troops to conscript? ”

"Hmm...... Sure enough, it was the woman's opinion. ”

……

The next day, Yuan Shao announced his decision in public to join forces with Cao Cao to defeat Lü Bu. Xu You was again instructed to go to Cao Cao's office to discuss the details of the two alliances. Before leaving, Yuan Shao told Xu You, "Although Lu Bu occupies the land of the two states, after the matter is completed, he will not divide the two states into two benefits. ”

Xu You left, and took Yuan Shao's reply to Cao Cao to discuss matters related to the two joining forces. And Yuan Shao was not idle. No matter when Cao Cao sent troops, he would send troops. The eldest son, Yuan Tan, was named Qingzhou Mu by himself, but now that Qingzhou is in the hands of Lu Bu, it is time for Yuan Tan to deserve his name.

In addition to preparing to send troops to Qingzhou, Yuan Shao sent three envoys to Yizhou, Jingzhou and Yangzhou respectively. Yuan Shao was greatly touched by the Guanzhong information that Xu You brought back, and he didn't expect Guanzhong to develop into such a difficult to deal with in just a few years. If the information is true, it is really troublesome to settle Guanzhong with the strength of his own family.

After the destruction of Lu Bu, Cao Apu will no longer have any reason to continue to shirk, but relying on Cao Cao's words alone, the alliance seems to be a little thin, and the Guanzhong court is the orthodoxy of the Han family after all, and it is inappropriate to attack the king with ministers, if the court also contacts Sun Ce, Liu Zhang, and Liu Biao to send troops to help, the chances of victory on their side seem to be even smaller.

For the sake of safety, Yuan Shao wanted to win over these three families, at least let them not help each other at that time, but if he could pull them together to send troops, it would be great. Of course, Yuan Shao didn't have much hope for this, but he just fought with or without dates, and after sending the envoy, Yuan Shao's main concern was to send troops to Qingzhou.

Thanks to Cao Cao's blessing, the people of Hebei have lived a stable life for nearly half a year, and when Yuan Shao began to recruit troops, the resistance of the people of Hebei was not great. But Hebei's movements are not small, so naturally they can't hide Lu Bu, who has always been vigilant against Hebei.

Lu Bu is now mainly engaged in Xuzhou, in addition to leaving Zhang Ji's uncle and nephew to lead the headquarters to garrison, Lu Bu usually did not ask, and the civil affairs were also taken care of by Dong Cheng, Wang Zifu and other former Qingzhou officials.

Dong Cheng has never had a good impression of Lu Bu, and he was forced by Lu Bu's force to bow his head at the beginning, but this does not mean that Dong Cheng is willing to be Lu Bu's courtier. It's just that there are few people in Qingzhou, and even if Dong Cheng has the heart to resist, there is no one available. But Yuan Shao's preparation for sending troops made Dong Cheng feel that his opportunity had come.

Compared with Lu Bu, the identity of Yuan Shao IV and the third prince is indeed more attractive. Dong Cheng knew that the possibility of wanting to return to the court was almost zero. Liu Xie was already benevolent and righteous when he let himself go, and if he fell into his hands again next time, he would definitely not be able to save his life.

Although taking refuge in Yuan Shao also can't keep the position of Qingzhou Mu, Dong Cheng feels that taking refuge in Yuan Shao is at least a brighter future than taking refuge in Lu Bu.

Qingzhou is not rich, otherwise Lu Bu would not let Dong Cheng and others govern, as long as Dong Cheng pays taxes on time, Lu Bu doesn't care what Dong Cheng wants to do. As for Zhang Ji's uncle and nephew who are in charge of garrisoning Qingzhou, both of them are martial artists, and they can't play with Dong Cheng, plus Lu Bu has explained before that as long as he holds the military power in Qingzhou, he doesn't have to ask about what Dong Cheng did. So when Dong Cheng quietly sent someone to contact Hebei, Zhang Ji's uncle and nephew didn't know.

For Dong Cheng's surrender, Yuan Shao was very happy, and it was of course a good thing for Yuan Shao to be able to get Qingzhou without wasting energy and time. Qingzhou is poor, but Xuzhou is rich. At the beginning, it was agreed with Cao Cao that the land occupied by the two families was not determined by prefecture and county, which meant that the faster Yuan Shao solved the obstacle of Qingzhou, the more Xuzhou counties could be occupied.

In order to ensure the success of the first battle, Yuan Shao ordered his generals Yan Liang and Wen Chou to lead their troops to the border of Qingzhou, and only waited for Cao Cao to cross the river when the news came back.

Yuan Shao of Hebei gathered in large numbers on the north bank of the Yellow River, and this news naturally alarmed Lu Bu. At this time, Lu Bu was no longer the time when he had no choice but to attack Yanzhou and left in the wilderness, after getting the support of the Cao family and the Chen family of the Xuzhou family, now Lu Bu wants soldiers and grain. Knowing that Yuan Shao intended to invade south, Lu Bu immediately ordered his subordinates to order troops and prepare to go north to meet Yuan Shao in person.

"The lord is slow, and there is no hurry to send troops for the time being." Chen Gong stopped Lu Bu and said.

"Gongtai, the military situation is urgent, and there is no room for delay."

"Lord, let's listen to the public platform first, don't hide it from the lord, Deng also thinks that Yuan Shao's dispatch of troops is a little strange." Chen Deng also opened his mouth to persuade at this time.

Chen Gong and Chen Deng are the two masterminds under Lu Bu, and Lu Bu still attaches great importance to their opinions. Eat a trench, grow a wisdom, Lu Bu, who has suffered many losses, now does not dare to underestimate the importance of strategists. Seeing that Chen Deng also persuaded himself, he had to sit back in his seat and ask Chen Gongdao: "Gongtai, you can tell me to listen." ”

"My lord, it is important for Yuan Shao of Hebei to send troops, but has the lord forgotten to guard against others?"

"Who?"

"Cao Cao, Sun Ce."

"They? Will they take advantage of the opportunity to attack me? ”

"Lord, Liu Bei has learned from the past, and I have to guard against it." Chen Gong shook his head and said.

"Hmm...... The public station is justified in this. In the opinion of the public station, how should I deal with it? ”

"If we don't join forces with Yuan Shao, then we can naturally concentrate on dealing with Hebei, but if they have joined forces with Hebei, then we have to make more preparations."

“…… Who do you think you should send? Lu Bu frowned and asked.

"Xu Yan and Wang Kai can be messengers."

"Okay, according to your words."