Yuan Shang led his troops to retreat eastward, but there was almost no fortified city to defend east of Jixian County. Badun suggested that Yuan Shang withdraw to Liucheng with him. Because of the road from Linyu in Youzhou to Liucheng, the road goes south, and it has been in operation for many years, and there are five mountain passes that are heavily guarded by narrow places, and Cao Cao will definitely not be able to conquer them. Wait until the day when Cao's army is cut off, and then strike back, and retake Youzhou as if it were a hand.

Yuan Shang was unable to agree to Badun's proposal. Wu Yan thought that his old nest in Youbeiping still had a lot of treasures, and there were 10,000 horses, so he hesitated a little. "I just said that I would go to clean up the old department first, and then go to Liucheng to meet with Badun in the future."

Badun said to Yuan Shang in private, "Wuyan has always been cunning, if he refuses to return to Liucheng with us, I am afraid that he will definitely surrender to Cao Cao." In this way, Cao's army is more powerful, and our army is even smaller. The general might as well feast Wuyan tonight to show his gratitude and kill him at the banquet. I led my troops to control the men and horses under the command of Uyan. ”

Yuan Shang felt that what he said was reasonable, when he invited Wu Yan and his main commanders to the banquet at night, the guests and hosts at the banquet were very happy, and they drank so much that their eyes were red and their ears were hot. Poor Uyan calculated for a lifetime, but in the end he died at the hands of his own people. The Nanlou that drove away Gongsun Xu and surrendered to Wuyan was also in the midst of death.

Yuan Shang killed Wuyan, and Badun annexed Wuyan's tribe, becoming the only and last Wuhuan king in the entire Youzhou.

Putting aside Yuan Shang's withdrawal to Liucheng, Jixian now has less than 10,000 defenders, and Yuan Xi is timid and cowardly, and he is not the material for leading the troops. Looking at the current situation, I know that Jixian County can't hold it. After some consultation with everyone, Kaesong surrendered.

Cao Cao's goal was to eliminate the remnants of Yuan's forces in Youzhou and firmly control Jizhou and Youzhou, so he only gave Yuan Xi a false position of Guangluxun this time, and this was to return to Xu Du to be an official under Cao Cao, although Yuan Xi was dissatisfied in his heart, he didn't dare to say it. On the contrary, it was the generals under Yuan Xi, Cao Cao had their own rewards, and promoted many talented people. This is also Cao Cao's consistent way of employing people.

Just as the war in Youzhou began at the beginning, Yuan Tan of Qingzhou received a letter from Liu Bei in Jiangxia. Liu Bei regarded himself as an uncle, saying that Yuan Tan should not surrender to Cao Cao when Yuan Shao's bones were not cold, and Yuan Shao Jiuquan was afraid that it would be difficult to look at him. Now Cao Cao is angry and resentful, everyone betrays his relatives and leaves, and there are countless anti-Cao people in the states and counties of the world. Bei has united with Jiangdong Sun Quan and Jizhou Liu Biao to raise troops together, and directly smashed Xu Du, and the Qing monarch flanked to support the Ming Lord. If the virtuous nephew mentions the division of the first brigade and enters Jizhou in the west, why not eat the pot pulp in the old department of Jizhou to welcome. When the time comes, Cao Cao's troops are trapped in Youzhou, and the rear Xu has been attacked, and he will definitely have no time to take care of himself and withdraw his troops hastily.

After Yuan Tan received Liu Bei's letter, he was indeed very excited. He is not a person who has lived under the people for a long time, and he also has the ambition to make achievements and dominate the world. But when Yuan Shao was there, he always suppressed Yuan Tan and made way for his third son Yuan Shang to succeed to the throne. So Yuan Tan has been suppressing his heart all these years, and this time is indeed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in his opinion. Therefore, after Yuan and the strategist Xin Ping discussed, he decided to write a letter to Shi Gaogan, the assassin of Bingzhou, inviting him to attack Cao's army together.

On Gao Gan's side, he helped Yuan Tan seize the position of heir before, but was placed under house arrest by Yuan Shang, and later Cao's army broke through Yecheng, and Gao Gan was rescued and surrendered to Cao. However, Gao Gan not only did not get any additional benefits, but was also inexplicably captured by Tian Jing's Hedong Army in Shangdang and Xihe counties. Gao Gan originally hoped that Cao Jun could help him recapture the second county, but before Cao Cao only cared about Jizhou and did not mean to send troops, and now he went north to attack Youzhou, and if he returned to the west in the future and captured Shangdang and Xihe, he was afraid that he might not be under his own management.

This time, Yuan Tan invited him, but it made Gao Gan see a possibility. Moreover, Gao Gan did not see the bravery of the Cao army attacking the city in Ye County, so Gao Gan felt that he had a great chance to defeat the Cao army.

Gao Gan and his younger brother Gao Rou consulted, and Gao Rou was resolutely opposed. Gao Ju said, "If there was a battle with Cao Jun, the Yuan brothers should have formed an alliance with each other to jointly crusade against Cao Cao, but now the best time has passed. Yuan Tanzhi is talented, not the master, Yuan Shao couldn't win against Cao Cao back then, let alone Yuan Tan? Liu Bei's so-called states and counties in the world all have anti-Cao intentions, and the north and the south unite to fight against Cao, but they are just fighting for each other's own interests. The results of the Eighteenth Road Princes' crusade against Dong Zhuo back then were not unsightly. Cao Cao's Northern Expedition seems to be an opportunity, according to me, Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi will be defeated in two months, when the Cao army goes south, how will the general deal with himself? ”

Although Gao Rou's words were reasonable, Gao Gan heard them harshly. Gao Gandao, "That's it, I asked you to plan with you, not for you to teach me a lesson." Let me ask you, on the day I was not in the annexation of the state, I asked you to manage the annexation of the state on my behalf, why did you lose Shangdang and Xihe two counties in vain? Moreover, the defeat of Xihe is completely caused by your all-out shrinkage of troops, let me ask you, are you colluding with Tian Jing in the east of the river? ”

Gao Gan's question is very serious, you must know that Gao Rou has followed Gao Gan and has been working diligently to assist, and there is no merit and hard work. As for the loss of the party, it was because Gao Gan was under house arrest, and Tian Jing crossed the border with the Jizhou Thorn Talisman, which Gao Rou couldn't control at all. In addition, the loss of Xihe, Gao Rou was completely to preserve his strength, otherwise it would be impossible to completely withdraw more than 20,000 people to Taiyuan. Without these people, where would Gao Gan get the capital to fight Cao Cao.

Gao Rou saw that Gao Gan was suspicious, very cold, he didn't say much, and took out the seal letter in the state governance and handed it over, "Lord Assassin Shi, I failed to fulfill my duty to defend the land before, and the general was generous and did not punish him, but Rouxin is really uneasy, please resign from my post in the governance today, and I hope to return to the hometown to serve my mother." ”

Gao Gan didn't know Gao Rou's ability, but he deliberately suppressed his arrogance, and it was not too late to use grace and righteousness in the future. Gao Gan agreed to his resignation, but Gao Rou was not allowed to leave Taiyuan.

Gao Gan did not get Gao Rou's support, but he remembered the Huns in the north of the West River. He had worked with the Huns before. As long as you give money and food, promise benefits, and are not afraid that the Huns will not send troops to help. Gao Gan ordered people to bring heavy gifts to visit Budugen and ask the Huns to send troops.

The Xiongnu sent 10,000 troops to help each other in the Budugen camp. In this way, there were 40,000 men and Hun cavalry in the headquarters of the senior cadres, and Yuan Tan also had no less than 40,000 or 50,000 horses in Qingzhou.

In May of the fourth year of Jian'an, Yuan Tan and Gao Gan led 80,000 troops to attack Jizhou and besiege Yecheng.

At this time, Cao Cao was recovering the counties of Youzhou, and when the time was ripe, he would attack Liaoxi and sweep away the troubles in the north. When Cao Cao got the news of Yuan Tan and Gao Gan's rebellion, he was furious and said: "Yuan Benchu was ignorant, I had the virtue of a good life to leave the Yuan family with incense, since you are waiting for death, it is no wonder that I am wrong." Cao Cao ordered Lejin and Zang Ba to lead their headquarters back to aid Jizhou, and at the same time asked Guo Jia to send a message to Xu Du, and let Yu Ban and Li Dian lead 20,000 troops north to support. The three sides are encircled, and the main force of Yuan Tan and Gao Gan must be completely annihilated under the city of Yecheng. ”

Guo Jia said: "It's just that Ye County is empty now, I don't know if the second son can hold Yecheng?" ”

Cao Cao said: "Even if I am here, only 10,000 defenders can't hold Yecheng, I have already explained when I am leaving, and let him abandon the city according to the situation." I still have a back hand, disciplining Yuan Tan and Gao Gan to die without a place to be buried. ”

After Cao Cao finished arranging, he was ready to immediately arrange suitable candidates for the counties in Youzhou, and he was ready to personally lead his troops to attack Liaoxi and Huanglong.

At this time, the guards reported that Yuan Xi asked to see him. Cao Cao was itching with hatred for the son of the Yuan family, and he didn't know what Yuan Xi meant here. Intentionally, Guo Jia motioned to Cao Cao to invite someone in.

After a while, Yuan Xi came in and knelt down to plead guilty when he saw Cao Cao. "Yuan Tan, the brother of the criminal minister, does not know the current affairs and offends the lord, and Xi hates it in his heart. Yuan Xi surrendered to the lord and was loyal to the Son of Heaven, and never dared to have two hearts. I also hope that the lord will demote and punish Xi to set an example. ”

Cao Cao knew that Yuan Xi's careful thinking was that he was afraid that he would be angry and punish him because of Yuan Tan's matter, so he said kindly, "Yuan Xi doesn't have to be like this, Yuan Tan is Yuan Tan, you are you, and Lone will not be angry with you." Get up! ”

Yuan Xi thanked Cao Cao for his kindness when he heard this, and then said, "I heard that the lord intends to march into Liaoxi and crusade against Badun. However, the road in western Liaoning is dangerous, and there are many checkpoints, and it is difficult to break through western Liaoning without ten times the number of troops. I recommend a person to the lord, with the help of this person, it is easy to break the Wuhuan of Liaoxi. ”

When Cao Cao heard this, he said, "There is such a thing, what is this person's name?" ”

Yuan Xi said, "This person is a native of Wuzhong County, Beiping, right, surnamed Tian Mingchou, and once worked as Liu Yu of Youzhou Assassin History. This person is well-known in Youzhou, and he deeply hates the Wuhuan people for bullying the Han people, and this person must help him to exterminate the Gangton. When his father was there, he invited this person, but Tian Chou insisted on resigning. If it is Cao Gong's invitation, I believe that this person will definitely come out. ”

Cao Cao listened and said, "I have heard of this Tian Chou, and I once led more than 20 people to Chang'an to meet the Han Emperor. I didn't expect him to be in Youzhou all the time. Cao Cao said to Guo Jia, "Feng Xiao can know this person." ”

Guo Jia said: "Back to Ming Gong, I not only know that this person can help us defeat Bunton. also knew that he was the father of the deceased, and if the Ming Duke had the help of Tian Chou, he was afraid that the tiger in Hedong would win without a fight. “

Cao Cao said, "Could it be that this Tian Chou has something to do with Tian Jing, the general of the expedition to the north?" ”

Guo Jiadao, "As far as I know, Tian Jingnai, the general of the expedition to the north, is the only son of Tian Chou. Most people don't know about this, but my intelligence system has confirmed it time and time again. ”

Cao Cao said, "In that case, let's go to the Wuzhong County Meeting for a while!" ”

Yuan Xi said, "Back to Prime Minister, this person is not in Wuzhong County at present, but has brought hundreds of villagers to form a village in Xu Wushan to defend himself, and I went with my father once back then." If the prime minister wants to see him, Xi is willing to lead the way for the prime minister. ”

Cao Cao thought to himself that if Tian Chou fell, then Liaoxi could be determined, and Hedong could be settled, and said in a loud voice, "Okay, then let's go to Xu Wushan to meet this Tian Chou." ”