After the news of Yuan Shao's successful occupation of Jizhou spread, it was not anyone else who was most stimulated, but his half-brother Yuan Shu. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Yuan Shu has always looked down on Yuan Shao, thinking that Yuan Shao is the son of a servant, and he is the son of a righteous child.

Today, Yuan Shao, the son of the servant, occupies a state with the largest population and grain production in the Han Dynasty, with a commanded strategist like a cloud, a fierce general like rain, and 100,000 soldiers and horses for him to drive, which can be described as a strong soldier and a strong horse.

On the other hand, Yuan Shu only got Nanyang, and not long ago, his subordinate Sun Jian was out of his control and went directly to Zhu Jun, which made Yuan Shu, who has always had a good face, feel like he was on pins and needles, so he was not uncomfortable.

Nanyang is an important town in Jingzhou, Liu Biao has controlled Nanjun and Jiangxia in Jingzhou after more than a year of subjugation and rectification, and Liu Biao is bound to expel the Yuan Shu forces entrenched in Nanyang in the next step.

At the critical juncture, Yan Xiang, the chief secretary of Yuan Shu, proposed to him to immediately lead the army to leave Nanyang and go to Yangzhou, taking advantage of the fact that Yangzhou now has no strong forces, expel Chen Wen, the assassin of Yangzhou, and occupy the land in the south and north of the Yangtze River, so that he can get a vast place to stay, and then wait for the change of the situation in the world.

Yuan Shu's advisor Yang Hong agreed with Yan Xiang's suggestion, and also added that Yuan Shu sent people to Youzhou to contact Gongsun Zhan, and sent people to Xuzhou to contact Tao Qian, and the three families formed an alliance with each other to form an encirclement of Yuan Shao in Jizhou.

Yuan Shu adopted the advice of Yan Xiang and Yang Hong, and first sent people to Xiangyang to blackmail Liu Biao, saying that he was willing to withdraw from Nanyang, but asked Liu Biao to fund 20,000 soldiers and horses. Liu Biao thought that Yuan Shu's price was too high, and he was only willing to fund Yuan Shu's 5,000 soldiers and horses. Yuan Shu just wanted to test Liu Biao, even if Liu Biao sternly refused, Yuan Shu would leave Nanyang. Now that there are 5,000 soldiers and horses that can be obtained in vain, Yuan Shu is simply overjoyed.

After Liu Biao sent Cai Mao to send 5,000 soldiers and horses to Nanyang, Yuan Shu began to "move" the house. He took 20,000 soldiers and horses from Runan, and then went straight to Shouchun, Shouchun's guard Chen Yu did not let Yuan Shu enter the city, Yuan Shu pretended to retreat to Yinling, and then gathered troops to launch a fierce attack on Chen Yu, Chen Yu could not resist, all the way back to Xiapi. After Yuan Shu occupied Shouchun, he immediately led his troops to Jiujiang, killed Chen Wen, the assassin of Yangzhou, and then led Yangzhou Mu and served as a general.

When Yuan Shu played a triumphant song all the way, Cao Cao, the Taishou of Dongjun, was not idle. He was ordered by Yuan Shao to purge the remnants of the Yellow Turbans near Dongjun, because his soldiers were brave and good at fighting, so he repeatedly defeated the remnants of the Yellow Turbans in various places, and took in these Yellow Turban troops. Cao Cao's soldiers and horses gradually grew stronger because of this opportunity.

During this period, Cao Cao recruited Le Jin, Yu Ban and Li Gan, and asked Zhang Miao for a strong warrior Dian Wei to serve as a close attendant. Yingchuan down-and-out scholar Xi Zhicai was recommended by fellow villager Xun Yu to come to Cao Cao, and was recruited by Cao Cao as a military priest to sacrifice wine. Xi Zhong recommended Cheng Yu, a famous scholar from Dongjun, to Cao Cao, and Cao Cao appointed Cheng Yu as the main book.

Because Cao Cao was born in a scholar family, he now only has a county, but he can get Xi Zhicai and Cheng Yu to come to serve. On the other hand, Lu Bu has worked hard in Bingzhou for three years, and so far he has only talked about a few people. Compared with the two, it is really embarrassing.

When the two Yuan brothers were busy grabbing territory, the descendants of the clan, Liu Yan and Liu Biao, were not idle.

After Liu Yan was appointed by the imperial court to control the situation in Yizhou, he immediately sent Zhang Lu to entrench himself in Hanzhong, and ordered Zhang Lu to cut off the road from Yizhou to Chang'an, behead the imperial envoys, and cut Yizhou off from the central court. Liu Yan fought against local heroes in Shuzhong and consolidated his own power, and Yizhou has been in a semi-independent state for a long time since then.

Liu Biao went to take office after Wang Rui, the assassin of Jingzhou, was killed by Sun Jian. At that time, there were many bandits and thieves on both sides of the Yangtze River, and Su Dai and Bei Yu, who were from Wu County, occupied Changsha and Huarong respectively, supporting their own troops and dominating one side. Liu Biao entered Yicheng alone, and after obtaining the support of Kuai Liang, Kuai Yue, Cai Mao, and other representatives of the local wealthy clans, he immediately recruited and eliminated all kinds of water thieves and bandits in Jingzhou. A year and a half later, Jingzhou gradually calmed down, and Liu Biao's men also gathered many scribes and generals, and from then on garrisoned Xiangyang, waiting to see the changes of the times.

Gongsun Du, who was far away in the northeast, took advantage of the endless internal strife of the Han Dynasty and established himself as the Marquis of Liaodong and the pastor of Pingzhou. In order to consolidate his power, he flogged Gongsun Zhao in Xiangping City, and then killed hundreds of wealthy families in Liaodong County. For a while, the people of Liaodong were silent, and no one dared to mention the name of Gongsun Du.

In the spring of that year, there was a famine in Qingzhou, and the Yellow Turban Army gathered 300,000 people to attack the Bohai Sea, wanting to join the Black Mountain Army, Gongsun Zan led 20,000 foot cavalry to break the Qingzhou Yellow Turban in Dongguang South and beheaded more than 30,000. The Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army discarded the grain and grass and crossed the river in panic. Gongsun Chan ambushed by the river, defeated the Yellow Turban again, and captured more than 70,000 people. After the war, Gongsun Chan ordered his subordinate Tian Kai to lead an army to garrison Qingzhou, and Liu Bei, who followed Gongsun Chan to fight, was appointed by Gongsun Chan as the county guard of the plains.

Liu Bei has been in many places for seven years since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, but he has never been able to grow and develop, and now he has finally been entrusted with a heavy task by Gongsun Zan and has been given a place to live.

Zhongshan horse dealers Jia Sushuang and Zhang Shiping had funded Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to send troops to fight against the Yellow Turbans, and now they heard that Liu Bei was appointed as the commander of the plains, so they brought money to help.

After Liu Bei got the money from Su and Zhang, he secretly sent his henchman Jian Yong to Yecheng with gold to meet Yuan Shao, and told Yuan Shao that he was not the original intention to serve as the county guard of the plains, and if Yuan Shao was interested in the plains, he would definitely offer them with both hands, and he would not dare to be an enemy with Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao's strategist Tian Feng believed that the biggest threat to Jizhou was not Gongsun Zan in the north but Lü Bu in the west, but with Jizhou's current soldiers and horses, he would definitely not be able to attack and merge with him, so he should send people to befriend Lü Bu and even marry Lü Bu. While appeasing Lü Bu, he secretly supported Cao Cao and Liu Bei to the south, suppressed Zhang Miao and Liu Dai and others, controlled as much territory as possible in Yanzhou and Qingzhou, and then focused on dealing with Gongsun Zan in the north.

Yuan Shao's military advisor Xu You suggested that Yuan Shao further sow discord between Liu Yu and Gongsun Zhan, and it was best to let Gongsun Chan find an opportunity to get rid of Liu Yu, so that Yuan Shao could deal with Gongsun Chan in the name of avenging Liu Yu.

Yuan Shao felt that Tian Feng's analysis and Xu You's suggestion were very reasonable, so he acted according to the plan and secretly started various actions.

Cao Cao, who was across the river from Yuan Shao, was unwilling to submit to Yuan Shao. The strategist Xi Zhicai believed that Dong Zhuo was no longer a problem, and the two most powerful forces were currently distributed in Lü Bu of Bingzhou and Yuan Shao of Jizhou, and before these two families were not separated, Cao Cao must maintain a close alliance with Yuan Shao, and with the support of Yuan Shao, first take Yanzhou, and then plot Xuzhou to the east and Yuzhou to the south.

Cao Cao was originally a man of great strategy, but now with the assistance of Xi Zhicai and Cheng Yu, his ambitions have gradually swelled.