【Yuan Tan begged for surrender】

According to the "Heroes", after Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang fought outside Yecheng, Yuan Tan lost and fled with his army. Guo Tu persuaded Yuan Tan and said: "Now that the general's territory is small and weak, and there is still a lack of food supplies, if Yuan Xianfu (Yuan Shang) calls, we will not be able to resist after a long time." The subordinates foolishly thought that we could ask Cao Gong for help against Yuan Shang. When Cao Cao comes, he will definitely attack Yecheng first, and Yuan Shang will inevitably retreat to save him. At that time, the general is leading his troops to the west, and the places north of Yecheng can be captured by us. If Yuan Shang is defeated by Cao Cao, his soldiers will inevitably be scattered, and we can assemble them against Cao Cao. And Cao Cao came from afar, and there was not enough food and grass, so he would inevitably return. At this time, the places north of Zhao will be in our hands, enough to confront Cao Cao. If you don't, the consequences may not be too good. ”

At first, Yuan Tan did not accept Guo Tu's suggestion, but later he really couldn't beat Yuan Shang, so he adopted Guo Tu's method and asked Guo Tu: "Who should I send to meet Cao Cao?" Guo Tu replied: "Xin George (Xin Bi) can," so Yuan Tan sent Xin Bi as an envoy to Cao Cao for help.

[To the north? To the south? 】

Xin Bi went to Xiping to meet Cao Cao and conveyed Yuan Tan's request for help.

At that time, most of Cao Cao's subordinate officials thought that Liu Biao was powerful and should be eliminated first, and Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang killed each other, so they were not worried. Xun You said at this time: "At present, it is the opportunity for the world's heroes to compete for hegemony, and Liu Biao sits between the Jiang and Han Dynasty, so it can be seen that he has no ambition to occupy the Quartet. The Yuan family occupies the land of four states, there are hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, Yuan Shao won the hearts of the people with his generosity, if his two sons live in harmony and keep the existing inheritance, then the disaster in the world can not be quelled. Now that they are brothers, they are at odds with each other, and if one of them swallows up the other, the power will be concentrated, and after the power is concentrated, it will be difficult to forge ahead. They should take advantage of the fact that they are unable to hold each other, and the world can be pacified. This opportunity cannot be lost. ”

At this time, it was very different from the situation when Xun Yu advised Cao Cao not to crusade against Liu Biao, when Xun Yu persuaded Yuan Shao was not dead, the Yuan group was still a unified collective, and at this time Yuan Shao was dead, Yuan Shang was in charge, and he also met with his brother Yuan Tan Bingrong.

So do you want to fight Yuan at this time? More to fight! Taking advantage of people's illness and wanting people's lives, Yuan Shao had to crusade against the north first when he was alive, and now that Yuan Shao is dead, his two sons have broken with each other, and if he doesn't fight at this time, he will wait for Yuan Shang to eliminate Yuan Tan and unify the north to become the new Yuan Shao.

Cao Cao agreed when he saw that his mastermind Xun You had spoken. But a few days later, Cao Cao had plans to pacify Jingzhou first, so that Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang would weaken each other. Xin Bi observed Cao Cao's face and knew that he had changed his mind again, so he went to tell Guo Jia. But at that time, the proposal to crusade against Liu Biao may have been the first to be put forward by Guo Jia, so Guo Jia reported Xin Bi's words directly to Cao Cao.

When Cao Cao found out, he said directly to Xin Bi: "Is Yuan Tan necessarily credible?" Will Yuan Shang be able to be conquered? ”

It seems that Cao Cao did not trust Yuan Tan, and at the same time thought that Yuan Shang was not easy to fight. But Simpi is also a bad comer, and he is very well prepared.

At that time, Simbi said: "Don't ask if you have any permission, but look at the development of the whole situation." Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang brothers competed with each other, not considering that others would take advantage of it, but just thinking that the world could be pacified by themselves. Now, Yuan Tan has asked you for help, showing that he is desperate; Yuan Shang saw that Yuan Tan was in trouble, but he couldn't defeat Yuan Tan in one fell swoop, indicating that Yuan Shang was also exhausted. Their situation was that the army was defeated outside, the strategists were killed, the brothers were infighting, the land was divided, and the soldiers were full of lice in their armor after years of fighting. Coupled with drought and locust plagues, which caused famine, natural and man-made disasters, and the people knew that Yuan's rule was about to collapse, and it was the time for God to destroy Yuan Shang. Now that you go to attack Yecheng, if Yuan Shang does not withdraw his troops to rescue, Yecheng will not be able to defend itself; Yuan Shang returned to the rescue, and Yuan Tan would attack behind. With your might, you can deal with the poor enemy and attack the weary army like a wind blowing off autumn leaves. Heaven has rewarded you with Yuan Shang, but you will not attack Yuan Shang, but will crusade against Jingzhou. Jingzhou is rich and happy, and there is no opportunity for you to take advantage of. Once upon a time, Zhong Yu said: 'If the enemy has civil strife, he will seize it, and if the enemy shows signs of destruction, he will invade.' Today, the Yuan brothers ignore the long-term situation and attack each other, which can be called civil strife; Hunger for the inhabitants and lack of food for the pedestrians can be called a sign of doom. The people north of the Yellow River are worried about the day and night, and their lives are not guaranteed, and if you don't appease them immediately, you will have to wait until later. In the future, if you catch up with the bumper harvest and the Yuan brothers wake up to the fact that they are on the verge of death and change their ways, you will lose the opportunity to use the army. Now, it is in your best interest to use Yuan Tan to ask for help and go to help. And your enemy, there is no more powerful than the Yuan clan, who occupies the north of the Yellow River. After you pacified the north of the Yellow River, the military was mighty and shook the world. ”

Xin Bi's words were very powerful, and he directly bypassed the question of whether Yuan Tan was sincere or not, because he thought that this question was not important at all. He directly compared the situation of the Yuan family and Liu Biao, at that time the Yuan family civil strife was an obvious opportunity, and Liu Biao's Jingzhou had little chance of prosperity and happiness, so it was relatively easier to pacify the north. Moreover, Yuan Tan's request for help also gave Cao Cao the pretext to attack the north, and Cao Cao only had to face the enemy Yuan Shang, and finally emphasized that Yuan was the most powerful prince at that time, and if Cao Cao won, the benefits were very great, and Cao Cao could not refuse this temptation.

And the situation at that time was indeed the case, at that time Liu Biao first quelled the rebellion of Zhang Xian and others, and Zhang Jin, the assassin of Jiaozhou, who was hostile to him, had also died, and he also got the refuge of Liu Bei and others, which was not easy to fight, which can be seen from Cao Cao's crusade against Zhang Xiu back then. And the north is strong, if Yuan Shang eliminates Yuan Tan, then it will be too late for Cao Cao to regret it.

Cao Cao finally made up his mind to crusade against the north first, suspended his actions against Liu Biao, and said to Xin Bi: "You are right! So, troops were sent to rescue Yuan Tan.

【Re-cutting the North】

In the winter and October of that year, Cao Cao marched to Liyang. Yuan Shang heard the news that Cao's army had crossed the Yellow River, so he lifted the siege of the plain and withdrew to Yecheng. Yuan Shang's generals Lü Kuang and Gao Xiang betrayed Yuan Shang and surrendered to Cao Cao when they saw Cao Cao's strength.

And Yuan Tan secretly engraved the general's seal letter and sent it to Lu Kuang and Gao Xiang. Cao Cao also knew that Yuan Tan did not really surrender, but Cao Cao needed Yuan Tan, the nail of the north, so he married Yuan Tan's daughter for his son Cao Quan, in order to appease Yuan Tan's heart, and then, Cao Cao's class returned to the court.