Yuan Shang inherited Yuan Shao's great cause, not inactive, in order to fight against Cao Cao, he turned his attention to the Guanzhong area, trying to open the road to connect with Guanzhong, unite Ma Teng, Han Sui and other princes, and regain a game, but unfortunately Cao Cao had already occupied the general trend at that time, and this effort was destined to be fruitless.

Although Guo Yuan Yuan sent was brilliant for a while, he did not avoid the fate of losing his life to Huangquan.

【Jiangyi Jia Kui】

At that time, Yuan Shang appointed Guo Yuan as the Taishou of Hedong County, and sent him to attack Hedong County together with Gao Gan and Xiongnu Nandan Yu Huchuquan. At the same time, he sent an envoy to Guanzhong to contact Ma Teng and other generals to raise troops together, and Ma Teng and others secretly agreed.

Hedong County is an important place connecting the east and west in Sili County, which is very critical, and Zhong Xuan, the captain of Sili, also understands this truth, so he personally led the army to stop his nephew Guo Yuan and others. However, under the powerful attack of Yuan's army, Guo Yuanchang drove straight in, and the counties he passed through were captured or surrendered by him.

At that time, the entire Hedong County was about to fall.

At this time, Jia Kui was guarding Jiangxian County, Guo Yuan was attacking more than once, and when the city was about to fall, he saw Guo Yuan's strong military strength, and remembered that he had passed by Pi's with dangerous terrain, so he first sent the seal ribbon back to the county secretly, and told the county guard to occupy the city of Pi's quickly.

At this time, in order to avoid being slaughtered after the city was broken, Jiangyi had to surrender to Guo Yuan Kaicheng, recognizing it as the new Hedong Taishou, but also had an agreement with Guo Yuan, that is, he could not kill the county magistrate Jia Kui. Guo Yuan had heard of Jia Kui's fame and wanted to use him, so he sent troops to arrest him. After Guo Yuan saw Jia Kui, he asked Jia Kui to kowtow to him, the new Taishou, but Jia Kui not only did not kowtow, but reprimanded him sternly: "I only know that Wang Fujun (Hedong Taishou Wangyi) has served as a county guard in this county for many years, but I don't know what the origin of the foot is. How can there be a reason for the governor of the country to kowtow to the thief! ”

Guo Yuan was annoyed and ashamed, so he ordered Jia Kui to be executed, and someone lay on Jia Kui to protect him. When the officials of Jiangyi heard the news, they all stood on the city and shouted: "You have broken your promise to kill our virtuous ruler, and we would rather die with him!" The people around Guo Yuan were also deeply moved by Jia Kui's integrity, and asked for his life one after another. Guo Yuan had no choice but to pardon Jia Kui.

Guo Yuan was ready to continue the march after conquering Jiangxian County, Jia Kui was afraid that he would occupy Pi's first, so he used a strategy to confuse Guo Yuan's strategist Zhu Ao, Guo Yuan was delayed for seven days, which bought enough time for the county to guard Wangyi, and he occupied Pi's City, so as not to fail.

According to Wei Luo, Guo Yuan later imprisoned Jia Kui in Huguan, put him in a cellar, covered the mouth of the cellar with a wheel, and sent people to guard him, preparing to kill him at the appropriate time. Jia Kui said to the guards from the cellar: "Isn't there a backbone here who dares to do it, do you want to let the righteous die in this cellar?" At that time, there was a guard surnamed Zhu, who was not related to Jia Kui, and after hearing these words, he admired his ability to stick to the festival even in danger, so he secretly released Jia Kui at night, and helped him remove the shackles and send him away.

Jia Kui was grateful and asked his name, but the other party insisted on refusing to tell him. It wasn't until Guo Yuan was defeated that Jia Kui knew that the person who saved him was called Zhu Gongdao. Later, this person was about to be beheaded because of his sitting, and Jia Kui could not save him by all means, so he had to mourn him in person.

【Turning Point of the War】

At the same time as Guo Yuan attacked Hedong County, Cao Cao also sent Sili Commander Zhong Xuan to surround the Southern Xiongnu Shan Yu Huchuquan in Pingyang, but failed to capture, and the other side's reinforcements had arrived. At this time, the situation was very unfavorable for Zhong Xuan, so Zhong Xuan sent Xinfeng County Commander and Feng Yiren Zhang Ji to persuade Ma Teng, the prince of Guanzhong, hoping to get their support to reverse the situation.

Zhang Ji went to Ma Teng's side and analyzed the benefits and disadvantages for him. After hearing this, although Ma Teng was a little moved, he still hesitated and couldn't make a decision.

At this time, Ma Teng's subordinate general Fu Gan said to Ma Teng: "The ancients said: 'Those who are obedient to virtue prosper, and those who are against virtue perish.'" 'Cao Cao respects the Son of Heaven, quells riots, has strict laws and disciplines, clear politics, and obeys orders from top to bottom, which can be called Shunde; The Yuan family relied on its strong power, committed rebellion, and colluded with the Xiongnu to invade China, which can be called anti-morality. Now the general has respected the imperial court, but he is secretly riding the wall, wanting to sit back and watch the success or failure. I'm afraid that after the success or failure is decided, Cao Cao will be the first to be killed! ”

Ma Teng was terrified when he heard this. Fu Gan took the opportunity to suggest: "A wise person can turn a disaster into a blessing." Now, Cao Cao and the Yuan family are at loggerheads, and Gao Gan and Guo Yuan are attacking Hedong County together, although Cao Cao has a perfect plan, he has nothing to save Hedong County. If the general can lead the army to recruit Guo aid at this critical juncture, and attack from inside and outside, he will definitely be able to win. The general's move not only cut off the arms of the Yuan family, but also saved the danger of Hedong County, Cao Cao must be deeply grateful to the general, and the general's fame will be incomparable. So, Ma Teng made up his mind, and then sent his son Ma Chao to lead an army of more than 10,000 people to meet Zhong Xuan and help him fight against Guo Yuan.

And after Guo Yuan arrived, the generals under Zhong Xuan's command saw that Guo Yuan's army was strong, so they wanted to give up Pingyang and leave. Zhong Xuan said: "The Yuan clan's power is strong, Guo Yuan came this time, and the forces in Guanzhong secretly colluded with him, so they didn't all betray the court, just because they were worried about my prestige." If I abandon Pingyang and leave, showing weakness to Guo Yuan, the people everywhere will become enemies, even if I want to go back, how can I go back? This is self-defeat without fighting. Moreover, Guo Yuan is stubborn and competitive, and must look down on our army, if he crosses the Fen River to set up camp, while he is not finished, we will suddenly attack, and we can win a great victory. ”

And Zhong Miao is worthy of Guo Yuan's uncle, and he knows his nephew well. After Guo Yuan arrived, he really went directly to cross the river, and his subordinates dissuaded him, but Guo Yuan did not listen. When his subordinates did not cross half of the time, Zhong Miao led the army to fight and broke Guo Yuan.

According to the "Wei Luo", after the battle, Zhong Xuan's generals said that Guo Yuan had been killed, but Guo Yuan's head was not found. Later, it was Ma Chao's subordinate lieutenant, Nan'an Pang De, who took out a human head from the bag containing bows and arrows, Zhong Miao cried when he saw it, it turned out to be Guo Yuan's head. Pang De apologized to Zhong Xuan, and Zhong Xuan said: "Although Guo Yuan is my nephew, he is a traitor who betrayed the imperial court, what do you have to apologize for!" "The Southern Xiongnu saw that the reinforcements had been defeated, so they surrendered.

After Guo Yuan's defeat, Cao Cao also taught Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang a lesson, and then the two brothers broke up directly and fought each other, and Yuan Shang no longer had the energy to seek Hedong.