Cao Cao is not a master who likes to regret afterwards, he will feel nervous and anxious before it happens, but as long as it happens, he will also face it bravely.

The decision to assassinate Yuan Shao was made by him, and although he failed at this time, he would not complain. After announcing to the public that this matter was Lu Bu's own decision, Cao Cao did not leave the Tiger Prison Pass, and seized the time to prepare for the battle, and he was even in the Tiger Prison to closely monitor Yuan Shao's movements.

After Yuan Shao crossed the Yellow River and returned to Yecheng, Cao Cao did not return to Xudu in a hurry, but continued to transfer troops and send generals at Hugao Pass, and at the same time sent envoys to the surrounding Sun Ce, Liu Biao, and Liu Xie, who represented the orthodoxy of the imperial court. Don't expect others to help him deal with Yuan Shao together, as long as he doesn't cause trouble for himself at that time, Cao Cao will have achieved his goal.

Liu Biao and Sun Ce are easy to handle, their own affairs are still too busy, how can they have time to take care of Yuan Cao's idle affairs. But Liu Xie was different, Cao Cao didn't know that Liu Xie already understood Xiqiang's thoughts, and he was about to take action. Yuan Shao's Qing monarch side can be said to have been completely defeated, Yuan Shao retreated to Hebei, and although the imperial court was injured, it was not without the strength to fight. Once the imperial court really sends troops, Cao Cao is really worried that he will not be able to bear it on his own.

The envoys sent to Liu Biao and Sun Ce were goodwill, but the envoys sent to Liu Xie were more of a temptation to figure out who the next target of the imperial court was.

Liu Xie was not interested in playing with Cao Cao's envoy, let alone kindly telling the envoy to let him bring a message to Cao Cao, so that Cao Cao could rest assured and boldly fight with Yuan Shao, and he would only come forward to clean up the mess when they were exhausted. Man Pet lived in the post house in Chang'an for a month, and finally he couldn't wait, and Cao Cao also sent someone to let him go back, so Man Pet had no choice but to leave Chang'an.

However, when Man Pet returned to the Tiger Prison Pass, he knew that Yuan Shao had sent troops.

"My lord, Chang Xi acted without permission, and his sin is unforgivable." Cheng Yu got up angrily and said to Cao Cao.

"Zhong De is not annoyed, as long as Na Changxi comes back, he must be good-looking." Seeing this, Cao Cao comforted in a good voice.

Lu Su, who was sitting opposite Manzhong, suddenly spoke: "Lord, I'm afraid that Changxi won't be able to come back this time." ”

"Zijing, how do you say this?" Guo Jia asked when he heard this.

Guo Jia is Cao Cao's mastermind, and he is also the introducer who recommended Lu Su to work for Cao Cao, in the face of Guo Jia, Lu Su did not sell Guan Zi, and replied: "That Chang Xi used to use troops without authorization, he was a thief before, and it is not surprising that he did not obey the general's orders." But it's strange when he was so brave in Changxi, with only a rabble of less than 10,000 people, he actually broke through several cities in Gaomi and Chang'an in Qingzhou. When did Yuan Shaojun in Hebei become so unhelpful? ”

"Zijing, do you mean to say that Chang Xi is being used by others?" Guo Jia asked with a smile.

"Not to be taken advantage of, but to conspire with others. Chang Xi is a villain repeatedly, forgetting righteousness for profit, and he will not die a good death. Lu Su said with a determined face.

"Zijing is so confident?"

"Seeing the people who forget their righteousness, how many people in this world can tolerate? Chang Xi was bewitched by others and provoked the battle of Yuan Cao, but once Yuan Cao started the war, Chang Xi's chess piece was useless. In addition, Chang Xi knew the inside story very well, in order to avoid leaking the news, how could the conspirators with him spare him. ”

Hearing Lu Su's analysis, everyone nodded again and again, and Cao Cao frowned and asked, "Then according to Zijing, who colluded with Chang Xi to provoke this battle of Yuan Cao?" ”

"My lord, from the current point of view, the most suspicious should naturally be the imperial court." Lu Su replied when he heard this.

"Imperial Court ...... What does Feng Xiao think? Cao Cao muttered a few times and asked Guo Jiadao on the side.

Guo Jia shook his head lightly, "Duke Ming, Zijing's previous analysis is correct, and it coincides with what Jia thinks, but when it comes to who colluded with Changxi, Jia feels that not only the imperial court is suspicious, but also the Yuan family is also suspicious. ”

“…… Fengxiao, don't laugh, if Yuan Shao wants to go to war, why bother? Is it just to be famous? Cao Cao shook his head in disbelief.

"Ming Gong, it's not Jiahu who said, but the Yuan family at this time is making a fuss about the establishment of the heir, but at this time, Yuan Shao, who has the most right to speak, is sick in bed and can't be a director, so it's not impossible to borrow our military power."

"Huh?" Hearing Guo Jia's explanation, Cao Cao couldn't help but look at Guo Jia and waited for Guo Jia to explain. Guo Jia was not polite, and continued: "Since Yuan Shao dominated Hebei alone, he handed over the three prefectures of You, Qing, and Hezhou to his two sons and a nephew to take care of, and each of them had 100,000 horses in his hands. If Yuan Shao hadn't sent troops to do anything about Qingjun's side before, then Hebei would be unbreakable, but he sent troops and returned defeated, and Hebei's stability would have been problematic. Hebei has a million soldiers, and this time there are 500,000 troops, but less than 200,000 returned to Hebei with Yuan Shao this time, and those who did not go back either escaped halfway or became prisoners of the imperial court, or stayed in Henan forever. After Yuan Shao returned to Hebei, in order to recuperate, most of the remnants of the soldiers he brought back had been disbanded and returned home to restore Hebei's vitality. In other words, at this time, there were only 500,000 soldiers and horses that could be used in Hebei. And Yuan Shang, who was regarded as the successor of Yuan Shao, only had 200,000 in his hands, and even if he ordered those disbanded generals to be re-recruited, he would not have so much money and food to support. ”

“…… Fengxiao, do you mean to say that the people who colluded with Chang Xi this time are people who are dissatisfied with Yuan Shang's ascendancy? Cheng Yu asked.

"That's right, Yuan Tan was Yuan Shao's eldest son, and before Yuan was born, he was cultivated by Yuan Shao as an heir, but after Yuan Shang was born, Yuan Tan was left aside, and asked Yuan Tan how he was willing. Moreover, Yuan Shang relies on Yuan Shao's pampering and disrespectful eyes on weekdays, and his relationship with Yuan Tan is on the same level, even if it is for self-preservation, Yuan Tan will not watch Yuan Shang step on his head. ”

"Then in your opinion, now that Yuan Tan has led the army into Xuzhou, how should I deal with it?" Cao Cao asked.

"Ming Gong, the soldiers will block, and the water will cover the earth. However, Yuan Tan is not worried, and maybe it can be a help for our army to enter Hebei in the future, so this time I ask Ming Gong's subordinates to be merciful. ”

"Hmm...... Who does Bong-hyo think is more appropriate to send to meet the enemy? ”

"Jia thinks that the eldest prince is more suitable."

"Zixiu? No, no, Zixiu is still too young. ”

"Ming Gong, the eldest prince is not young, they are all married and have a baby, and Jia is not saying that the eldest prince will go alone, Xuzhou Zang Ba and Chen Deng are all talented, with him and the two of them by his side, even if the eldest prince does not win, there will be no danger."

“…… Feng Xiao, let Zixiu deal with Yuan Tan, who are I going to deal with? ”

"Ming Gong, Yuan Tan is Yuan Shao's eldest son, and Zi Xiu is also the eldest son of Ming Gong, this son is a son, Lao Tzu should naturally go to Lao Tzu for trouble."

"Ziguan crossed the Yellow River and went straight to Yecheng?" Lu Su asked.

"That's right, but before the chaos in Hebei, Jia doesn't recommend that the lord send troops." Guo Jia nodded and replied.

"Then Feng Xiao thinks that when is the right time to send troops?" Cao Cao asked.

"Jia thought that when Yuan Shao's life was whimpered, it was a good opportunity for Ming Gong to conquer Hebei."

……

A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance! Yuan Tan's good news made Yuan Shao, who had been sick in bed for a long time, recover some of his spirits, and looking at the battle report sent by Guo Tu himself, Yuan Shao nodded and praised: "Okay, Xiansi did a good job, and it really lived up to my father's usual teachings." ”

The speaker was unintentional, the listener was intentional, Yuan Shang, who was waiting on the side, heard his father praise his brother, and his heart suddenly became unhappy, and he couldn't help but say to Yuan Shao: "Father, my brother sent troops without authorization, and he entered Xuzhou without an order, why do you still praise him now?" ”

"The third prince is wrong, although this battle was not provoked by our army, but Cao Cao took advantage of the opportunity of the lord's illness to provoke after he failed to assassinate the lord, if he didn't give him a good taste, wouldn't it have fueled Cao Cao's arrogance." When Guo Tu heard this, he hurriedly retorted.

"Mr. Guo's words are inappropriate, if all the generals in Hebei take their brother as an example in the future, then who will obey their father's orders?" Yuan Shang retorted unconvinced.

"Okay, it's rare to be happy for a while, what's the noise?" Yuan Shao was a little dissatisfied and stopped the two of them.

"The subordinates (children) know their mistakes." Yuan Shang and Guo Tu said in unison.

"Let's all go down, let me be alone."

"Lord, the eldest prince's request ......," Guo Tu hurriedly asked.

"Hmm...... Now Xiansi has 150,000 horses under his command, and there is no need to send more soldiers. It's Xianyi, I heard that the northern Karasuma people and Liaodong Gongsun Du have been a little restless recently. Xianfu, order Zhang Jaw and Gao Ran to bring 10,000 horses each to support. Yuan Shao thought about it and instructed Yuan Shangdao.

“…… Yes, the child obeyed the order, and he will go to inform the two generals Zhang Jaw and Gao Ran in a while. Yuan Shang wanted to object, but when he saw his father glaring at him, he could only agree first.

After Guo Tu left, Yuan Shao said to Yuan Shang in a serious tone: "Xianfu, this Hebei foundation will be passed on to you in the future, but do you know that as the lord, you should have the capacity to tolerate people, if you can't even tolerate your own brothers, who is willing to work for you?" Xiansi is your brother, Xianyi is also your brother, and he will be the lord in the future, remember not to favor one over the other. Remember, brothers work together, and their benefits are broken, and your two brothers, as long as you treat each other sincerely, it will become your help......"

Yuan Shang bowed his head and agreed, but how much he listened to it, as long as he understood it in his heart. When Yuan Shao finally finished what he wanted to say and closed his eyes to recuperate, Yuan Shang quietly withdrew. It's just that as soon as he exited the door, Yuan Shang's hatred for Guo Tu deepened a little.

When he came to see his father, Guo Tu had been with his father for a while, and his father suddenly said to himself that the brothers were united, it must be this Guo Tu who said bad things about himself while he was away, otherwise his father would not have been able to say this without warning.

"Guo Gongze, you should die." Yuan Shang secretly hated in his heart.

There is no need to be in a hurry to deal with Guo Tu, Yuan Shang first went to deal with Fang Cai's father's explanation, and ordered Zhang Jaw and Gao Ran to lead 10,000 troops to Youzhou to help in the war, and at the same time sent Feng Ji as a supervisor to win over Yuan Xi for himself. Yuan Shao's persuasion not only did not make Yuan Shang wake up, but made Yuan Shang realize that he wanted to sit firmly in the position of the lord of Hebei, and his father's appreciation alone was not enough, but he also needed to win over the other two people in Hebei who held military power.

Gao Gan didn't have to worry about it, as long as his father appointed him as the heir, he would support him. What is difficult to do is his two brothers, needless to say, Yuan Tan is already on the same page, even if Yuan Shang has the heart to ease, Yuan Tan may not be willing to appreciate it. In contrast, Yuan Xi is still a little easier to woo.

Due to Yuan Xi's reasons, Yuan Shang didn't look down on this brother very much, but he didn't tear his face with Yuan Xi because of this, and the two sides maintained a nodding friendship. And Yuan Shao's conversation today made Yuan Shang realize that he had to face up to his brother, no matter what, Yuan Xi had 100,000 soldiers and horses, if he was allowed to join forces with Yuan Tan, the gap between the two sides would be even smaller.

Even if he didn't look down on this second brother in his heart, for the sake of the overall situation, Yuan Shang still entrusted Feng Ji to secretly woo Yuan Xi for himself, and even wrote a letter himself, trying to make up for the brotherly love between the two.

From beginning to end, Yuan Shang never considered reconciling with Yuan Tan, and Guo Tu has been shouting for Yuan Tan, so Yuan Shang naturally looks at Guo Tu unpleasantly. Previously, he was afraid of the master-slave friendship between Guo Tu and Yuan Shao, but today when he saw Guo Tu saying good things for Yuan Tan in front of him, the evil fire in Yuan Shang's heart suddenly emerged. After dealing with the task assigned by his father, Yuan Shang returned to the house, and it didn't take long for a trusted person beside Yuan Shang to leave Yuan Shang's mansion through the back door in disguise.

……

Guo Tu's home is located in the city, and as one of the six masterminds around Yuan Shao, Guo Tu's treatment in Yecheng is naturally not bad. However, since he supports the eldest prince, those who support the third prince or are good at seeing the wind and steering the rudder will naturally not come to visit at this time and disturb Guo Tu's purity.

After coming out of Yuan Shao, Guo Tu realized that he was impulsive today, and he shouldn't argue with Yuan Shang face to face for the matter of the eldest prince. Yuan Shangke is not a good person, he confronted him in front of Yuan Shao like this, and he didn't know what he hated in his heart.

When I returned home and had dinner, Guo Tu was reading in the study as usual, but I didn't know what was going on today, and I always felt restless, as if something was going to happen around me, as if something terrible was coming.

Guo Tu, who couldn't read the book, put down the book in his hand, reached out and picked up a saber, intending to move his body, maybe he would be fine. The six arts of a gentleman, not only reading and writing, although Guo Tu's martial arts are not proficient, but it is still quite like that with a sword and two strokes.

Guo Tu instructed the subordinates waiting outside the door to hold the lamp, but no one responded. Guo Tu didn't pay attention at first, but when he walked to the door of the room, he suddenly realized that something was wrong. I'm a master, my lord has an order, why don't you even say a word, my lord is a bit of a failure.

Guo Tu didn't open the door, but took a few steps back, blew out the oil lamp in one breath, and the room instantly went dark. Guo Tu tiptoed to the dark corner of the room, holding a sword in his hand, staring at the door tightly.

Not long after, just when Guo Tu thought that he was thinking too much and was ready to go to bed to rest, there was a sound of soft footsteps outside the door, Guo Tu hurriedly hid, the place where he hid was a dead end, others could not see him at a glance when they opened the door, but he could see what was happening at the door.

A dagger came through the crack in the door, slid slightly, and rested on the deadbolt, and then with a few flicks, the deadbolt was flicked, and the door opened. saw the subordinate of the family standing at the door with a basin of water, first looked inside, Guo Tu hurriedly shrank and hid. And the person at the door saw that it was dark in the room, and could faintly see that there seemed to be someone on the bed through the faint moonlight, so he tentatively called twice, "Master, master......"

No one responded, so the servant walked into the room gently, put the basin of water in his hand on the ground, then turned and closed the door, and walked to the head of the bed, while taking out a dagger from his bosom.

Although Guo Tu, who was hiding in the dark, couldn't see the face of the person who came, he could see the other party's movements, especially the rays of moonlight refracted when the dagger was taken out, which made Guo Tu feel a chill. Fortunately, Guo Tu is not as timid as a mouse, following Yuan Shao in the past few years to fight in the east and west, Guo Tu's courage has also been trained.

Standing up quietly, he quietly went around the back of the subordinate, and the saber in his hand gently rested on the subordinate's shoulder. The subordinate who wanted to do misdeeds felt a sinking on his shoulders, and was almost frightened to death, and then heard a familiar question in his ear: "Who sent you?" Immediately, his legs weakened with fright, and he almost wanted to kneel down and beg for mercy.

"Master, my lord spares ...... life," the subordinate stammered and begged for mercy, not daring to move.

"Throw away the dagger in your hand." Guo Tu commanded coldly. Although he didn't see who the other party was, Guo Tu had already recognized this person as his own retinue.

The subordinate who was restrained honestly threw away the dagger, and then heard Guo Tu ask in a cold voice, "Who sent you to kill me?" In fact, when he asked this, Guo Tu had vaguely guessed in his heart who wanted to take his life, but he still hoped that he guessed wrong, so he asked the next person, but he didn't expect the next person's mouth to be quite hard, and he was silent at this time.

Guo Tu couldn't help but be furious, and threatened in a cold voice: "Do you know what a crime it is to assassinate me, not only will you be unlucky, but even your family will be implicated by you." As long as you are honest, I can let your little horse go. But if you want to carry it for others, then don't blame me for not remembering the old love. ”

“…… Yes, it's the third son. The servant hesitated for a moment before replying in a low voice.

"Is it really him?"

"Yes, master, the villain's family was kidnapped by the third prince, and the villain was also forced to ...... helpless" Without waiting for the subordinate to finish speaking, Guo Tu wiped the subordinate on the neck with a sword, and the subordinate was immediately speechless.

Killing the subordinate who intended to assassinate him, Guo Tu was speechless for a long time. He was cold, he didn't expect that the third son, Yuan Shang, would really send someone to assassinate him, thanks to his alertness, otherwise he would die tonight. However, through this assassination, Guo Tu also realized that if the position of the lord of Hebei really fell on Yuan Shang, he would definitely not end well.