As an old father-in-law, and even more so as the contemporary head ......of the old Yuan family of the third prince of the fourth generation, when the arrogant Yuan Sangong heard the reconciliation conditions offered by his son-in-law, of course, he was thunderous, whispering, slapping the table and smashing the bench, oh no, it should be the roar and roar of the cushion a few times, threatening to personally lead the 200,000 army to Qingzhou to teach a lesson to the unscrupulous son-in-law who dared to blackmail the old father-in-law.

Although the Three Princes Party headed by Yuan Shanghe was somewhat dissatisfied with Deputy Director Tao's broad appetite, they were worried that once the relationship between Yuan and Tao was completely broken, it would inevitably affect the fundamental interests of their own party, so they could only persuade Yuan Sangong to calm down, and never act impulsively, so that the relatives would be painful and the enemies would be happy! There are also neutral factions led by Fu Zhu and Cui Yan who also strongly persuade them to oppose it, asking Yuan Sangong to calm down and carefully consider the relationship with Tao, and must not destroy the Yuan-Tao relationship that had the hope of being re-bridged because of a momentary anger, and cheapen the real enemy of Yuan Sangong, Cao Laoda, in vain.

"Calm down? How do you tell me to calm down?! Da Yuan Sangong patted the case and shouted: "Five thousand war horses, Qingzhou is bounded by Jishui, how can such conditions be agreed?" If you agree, where will the face of my fourth and third dukes go? ”

"Don't worry, your majesty thinks that this is just Tao Ying's sky-high asking price, and the lord might as well pay back the money on the ground." Fu Zhu suggested: "Your Majesty suggests that the lord either instruct Guo Tu to bargain with Tao Ying by letter, or send another plenipotentiary envoy south to Xuzhou to negotiate reconciliation with Tao Ying, Tao Ying originally intended to reconcile with our army, and I think he will make concessions in the future, and our army can also avoid many losses." ”

"Yes, my lord, Mr. Gong Yu is reasonable." The two hardcore three sons of the trial and Fengji also persuaded: "The sworn enemy of our army is the Yanzhou Cao thief, not Xuzhou Tao Ying, after the Guandu War, our army's vitality was greatly damaged, and I need to go all out to win over Tao Ying for my use, and it will only be cheap for the national thief Cao Ying to break with it, the lord might as well make a slight concession and bargain with Tao Ying." ”

After listening to these persuasions, the notoriously soft Yuan Sangong was inevitably a little moved, but out of the arrogance of the fourth and third dukes, the face-loving Da Yuan Sangong couldn't pull his face to bargain with his son-in-law, and hesitated, the eldest Yuan Sangong suddenly glanced at the eldest son Yuan Tan who was standing aside without saying a word, and the eldest Yuan Sangong, who had long been accustomed to the eldest son and the unscrupulous son-in-law, was inevitably a little strange, and shouted: "Xiansi, why don't you speak?" Tao Ying wants me to land and city in Qingzhou east of Jishui, what do you mean? ”

"It's a big matter, and the child doesn't dare to say anything." Yuan Tan Gongzi was rarely humble once, and even more unprecedentedly did not take the opportunity to instigate Yuan Sangong to go to war with his rival brother-in-law.

"I want you to say, 'What do you mean?' Da Yuan Sangong asked again.

"No." Yuan Tan agreed, and asked cautiously: "But before the child speaks, the child has to dare to ask his father, I don't know that my father intends to reconcile with Tao Ying, can Yuan Tao form an alliance to destroy Cao?" ”

"This is not nonsense?" Da Yuan Sangong said angrily: "If my father has no intention of reconciling with Xuzhou and forming an alliance, why should he send Guo Tu south to Xuzhou? ”

"Got it." Yuan Tan nodded, and said in a surprising voice: "Since my father intends to reconcile with Xuzhou and form an alliance, then the child proposes, and my father simply doesn't send someone south to bargain, and directly agrees to Tao Ying's conditions." ”

"What?!" Yuan Shanggongzi and his party were all dumbfounded, they all couldn't believe their ears, and the neutrals such as the frustrated professor were dumbfounded, and the big Yuan Sangong stood up in surprise, but after a little thought, the big Yuan Sangong said angrily again: "When is it, what are you still talking about?" ”

"The father misunderstood, and the child is by no means talking back." Yuan Tan shook his head and explained: "The child sincerely suggested that his father accept Tao Ying's conditions in full, because the child thinks that since his father intends to reconcile and form an alliance with Tao Ying, instead of wasting time and creating more contradictions through bargaining, it is better to agree to Tao Ying's request, so that he can immediately conclude an alliance with Xuzhou and join forces with Tao Ying to destroy Cao, and it can also appear that his father has a broad mind, which is far better than bargaining with Tao Ying bit by bit. ”

Yuan Shanggongzi and Fu Zhu and others continued to be stunned, and Yuan Sangong also looked at his eldest son as if he didn't know him, and was stunned for a long time before saying: "But that's five thousand war horses, and most of the land and cities in Qingzhou, all given to Tao Ying, don't you feel distressed?" ”

"How can I not feel distressed? I was so distressed that I was about to cry! ”

Poor Yuan Tan Gongzi wailed in his heart, but there was no way, even the frustrated Yuan Tan Gongzi was already inferior to Yuan Shang Gongzi in terms of strength, if he lost Guo Tu's arm that could only speak in front of the Great Yuan Sangong, Yuan Tan Gongzi really wanted to turn defeat into victory and had no chance, so Yuan Tan Gongzi had no choice but to bite Guo Tu's letter and said: "Father is wrong, five thousand war horses and Qingzhou land are not given to Tao Ying, but temporarily lent to Tao Ying. ”

"After Cao is destroyed, he will take back the principal with interest?" Da Yuan Sangong blinked his eyes, and finally began to move.

"My lord, the eldest prince's words are in line with the soldiers' reasoning." Another former deputy director of Tao's nemesis, Jizhou important minister Xin Ping, also stood up and said: "In the Spring and Autumn Period of the past, Jin Xiangong wanted to destroy Yu, so Xun Xi brought jewelry and famous horses to bribe Yu Gong to send troops through the road, and after the extermination, Jin Xiangong returned to the division through Yu State, and destroyed Yu in one fell swoop, and the jewelry and famous horses returned to the hands of Xiangong intact. ”

"Although our army is strong today, it is difficult to defeat Tao Cao to join forces, if the first joint Tao to destroy Cao, it is easy to break Cao, and then destroy Tao after breaking Cao, it is also easy to do it, the lord is now in order to jointly destroy Cao temporarily lend the war horse land to Tao Ying, and Jin Xiangong will lend the jewelry and famous horse to Yu Gong, since the borrowed war horse and land will sooner or later return to the hands of the lord, why should the lord be stingy to borrow Tao Ying temporarily?"

Speaking from the heart, Xin Ping's truth is by no means crooked, but the reason of the soldiers who have broken it, but the more reasonable it is, the easier it is to say that it moves others, so not only the three princes of Yuan are moved, but also Cui Yan, a famous scholar in Jizhou who replaced Xun Chen who disappeared in the battle of Guandu, as the strategist of the Yuan army, also stood up and said: "Lord, what Mr. Xin Ping said is very true, in line with the reason of the soldiers who have been attacked from afar and close and each broken, and I hope that the lord will accept it, first break Cao, and then destroy Tao, no matter how much land and city are lent to Tao Ying now, the original amount can be recovered in the future." ”

Da Yuan Sangong sat down again, and after thinking cross-legged for a while, Da Yuan Sangong finally hesitated and said: "Although it makes sense, if I cede the land and city and spread it, my face will be ............." ”

"Father, it's okay." Yuan Tan Gongzi hurriedly said: "Father might as well show the Xuzhou general Zang Ba as the governor of Qingzhou, and let Zang Ba guard the east of Jishui, so that he doesn't have to bear the shame of cutting the land, and then order Tao Ying to pay tribute to his father a batch of jewelry, gold and silver, and reward Tao Ying with 5,000 war horses, and then he can give an explanation to the people of the world." ”

Although Yuan Tan Gongzi's suggestion is a typical self-deception, it is also in line with the appetite of Yuan Sangong, who likes to save face and not have a heart, plus no one finally stood up against Yuan Tan Gongzi's proposal this time, so Yuan Sangong quickly made up his mind and said: "Just do it, write back to Guo Tu, let him agree to Tao Ying's conditions, act according to the plan, and re-establish the Yuan Tao Covenant first." ”

After the letter of the Great Yuan Sangong arrived in Xuzhou, Deputy Director Tao quickly promised to pay tribute to Yuezhang a batch of gold, silver and jewelry, and concluded an alliance with Yuezhang, and then the Great Yuan Sangong also ordered Wen Chou and Yuan Xi to retreat to the west of Jishui, and played the Xuzhou general Zang Ba as the governor of Qingzhou, guarding the land of Qingzhou west of Jishui - although there was no position of governor in the Eastern Han Dynasty official system, but just a passing scene Yuan Sangong couldn't take care of so much. At the same time, the Xuzhou army also released the captive Qingzhou Beijia Wang Xiu and others, and allowed the Donglai Taishou Commander, who was unwilling to serve Xuzhou, to lead the team to return to Jizhou through the controlled territory, and successfully received the 5,000 war horses rewarded by the three princes of the Great Yuan.

By the way, after Deputy Director Tao fulfilled his promise to put Guo Tu back in Jizhou, Yuan Shanggongzi was furious and had to send Deputy Director Tao to condemn him, but Deputy Director Tao, a good brother-in-law of the Three Kingdoms, insisted that he had not received a letter from his wife and brother, and explained that the messenger did not disappear halfway, and Yuan Shanggongzi, the embroidered pillow, sighed when he heard it, regretting that the sky did not help him, although he and Feng Ji and others had doubts about this, but they were worried about offending the strongest foreign aid of their own party, and did not dare to make a big deal about it, just hiding this matter in their hearts, I don't dare to have too naïve illusions about Deputy Director Tao.

………… Blessings and misfortunes depend, just when Deputy Director Tao was rejoicing in Xuzhou City for his own blackmail and miserly father-in-law, Cao Boss was furious in Xuchang City, because it was impossible for the Xuzhou army and the Jizhou army to hide from Cao Jun's eyes with such a big move, and when he heard that the third prince of Yuan had 'rewarded' the land of Qingzhou west of Jishui to his son-in-law, Boss Cao, who was looking forward to the third prince of Yuan and Deputy Director Tao, was disappointed, and he was inevitably angry and scolded, "God kill your pottery thief, It's shameless to this point, the Guandu War fought so hard, I didn't get an inch of land, and most of Qingzhou was taken by you by the opportunity! It's cheap, and you're not afraid of God?! ”

In addition to the anger, there was also a deep fear, because Boss Cao knew very well that the reason why the third prince of Da Yuan was able to make such a big concession to his son-in-law must be that his purpose was to collude with his son-in-law to avenge the revenge of the official crossing, and he would immediately face the unfavorable situation of being attacked by the enemy in the north and the south. So after having enough fire, Boss Cao immediately summoned a group of strategists under his command to discuss the countermeasures for this matter.

Like Boss Cao, when he learned that Deputy Director Tao had taken most of the land in Qingzhou without much effort, a group of strategists under Boss Cao were also furious, and they scolded Tao thieves for deceit, hiding farther than anyone else when it was time to exert their strength, but their hands were stretched longer than anyone else when picking the fruits of victory. After scolding angrily, Xun You suggested to Cao Laoda: "Prime Minister, Tao Yuan has been reconciled, and he said that when Yuan Shao comes to take revenge again, our army will inevitably suffer from the enemy in the north and south, and it will be difficult to parry. ”

"Although Gongda's words are reasonable, they are easy to provoke in both ways." Boss Cao smiled bitterly: "If you attack Tao in the south, Yuan Shao will come to take revenge, and if you attack Yuan in the north, it will not only be urgent and difficult to win, but Yuan Shao will also make the Tao thief go north to attack me, and Tao Ying thief is a capricious thief who is to the extreme, even if you don't want to listen to the order, you will inevitably take the opportunity to weaken me, so who is it for me to attack?" ”

"Attack the pottery!" Someone suddenly spoke at the last seat of the strategists, and said categorically: "If the prime minister sends troops to attack Tao, Yuan Shao will not save him!" It's easy to hit the pottery thief hard! ”

"Who proposed? Why is this voice so unfamiliar? Boss Cao was a little surprised, and when he took a closer look at the person who proposed, Boss Cao was stunned for a moment, it turned out that the person who spoke was actually abducted from Uncle Liu Huang, and he had never given himself a plan or a strategy - Xu Shu Xu Yuanzhi!

Not only was Boss Cao surprised, but the strategists of Cao Jun present were also very surprised, and they forgot how to speak for a while, but Xu Shu was not surprised by this, and just left the table to salute Boss Cao and said calmly: "Presumably the prime minister must ask, why did you conclude that Yuan Shaoding would not save Tao?" There are three reasons, first, Yuan Shaoguandu was newly defeated, his vitality was greatly injured, and his armor was undecided, which was not a good opportunity to send troops; Second, Yuan Shao is small, small and has no vision, and if there is no vision, he will not help Tao; The third is the most critical, the pottery thief took advantage of the fire to rob and forced Yuan Shao to give up most of Qingzhou by despicable means, although Yuan Shao was forced to give in, he would hate the pottery thief in his heart, and seeing our army attacking the pottery thief, Yuan Shao would only gloat, and would never send troops to help Tao! ”

It took a lot of effort for Boss Cao to react from the shock, and after thinking about it carefully, he found that Xu Shu's analysis was indeed reasonable, with the mean and unkind surname of Da Yuan Sangong, it was indeed very likely that Deputy Director Tao would not be saved at this time, so Boss Cao quickly began to ponder in his heart, "Is it an opportunity to attack the Tao thief at this time?" ”

"Although Mr. Yuan Zhi's analysis is reasonable, why has the pottery thief been in Xuzhou for two generations, and he is quite popular with the people, and Xuzhou is afraid that it will be difficult to go down?" Cheng Yu on the side asked worriedly: "Besides, the prime minister of the lord is still in the hands of the pottery thief, and ...... launching the battle to destroy the pottery at this time, I am afraid it will be ......." ”

Glancing at the accomplice who killed his mother, Xu Shu said quietly: "Mr. Zhongde misunderstood, instead of proposing to destroy the pottery, he proposed to severely damage the pottery thief so that he would not be able to invade the southern front of our army. The prime minister's eldest son is in the hands of the pottery thief, and the pottery thief's brother is also in the hands of the prime minister. ”

"Prime Minister, Xu Yuanzhi's discussion is reasonable." Xun Yu also stood up and arched his hand and said: "With Yuan Shao's surname, I will not save our army when I see our army attacking Tao, but will only sit back and watch our army and the pottery thief consume each other." If we don't get rid of it early, when our army goes to war with Yuan Shao, the pottery thief will come to fish in troubled waters, rather than repeatedly tolerating the thief to make it more and more inch-deep, it is better to take this opportunity to send troops to hit the pottery thief hard, so that he is powerless to threaten the southern front of our army. ”

"Prime Minister, it's time to welcome the eldest prince back to Xuchang." There is more than one person who hates Deputy Director Tao, Xun You also stood up and said: "When the lord entered the army, he asked the Tao thief to exchange hostages in front of the two armies, if the Tao thief agreed, then the son returned, if the Tao thief should not, Yuan Shao Wenzhi must understand that the Tao thief still wants to fish in troubled waters, and he will definitely send troops to attack it and recapture the land of Qingzhou!" ”

"Prime Minister, now is indeed a good opportunity to send troops to Xuzhou." Guo Jia also coughed and said: "The pottery thief went north to Qingzhou, Qingzhou was initially decided, the people's hearts were not attached, and Yuan Shao's team was waiting on the side, it was difficult to withdraw to Xuzhou for a while, and our army suddenly sent troops to Xuzhou, just enough to break the pottery thief team." ”

Originally, there were strategists who stood up and wanted to express their opinions, but they were stopped by Cao Boss waving his hand, and then Cao Boss said decisively: "What the princes said is very true, it's time to teach a lesson to Tao Ying, who will only hide in the back and fish in troubled waters, the thief has been annihilated, our army has been recuperating for more than three months, and the vitality has been restored, I will personally lead 50,000 male divisions to Changyi, and meet the army of Xiahou Yuan, Cao Chun and Liu Dai Shanyang, gather 80,000 troops, and break the pottery thieves!" ”

After the strategists sang the promise, Xu Shu arched his hand and said: "Please follow the army, give advice to the prime minister, help the prime minister break through Xuzhou, and capture the pottery thief!" ”

Boss Cao laughed, and immediately nodded and said, "With the help of Mr. Yuanzhi, the pottery thief has broken the decision!" ”

…………………… As the so-called evil has evil retribution, Deputy Director Tao steals chickens and dogs everywhere with a hammer in the east and a hoe in the west to take advantage, and finally completely exonerates Boss Cao, who can't bear it anymore and doesn't need to endure it anymore, has also completely made himself to the point of being alone, so when the news of Boss Cao's personal expedition to Xuzhou spread, Deputy Director Tao's good neighbors and new and old opponents were also happy, and they all expressed their positions............ "I didn't expect that I would lend most of Qingzhou to Tao Yingxiaoer, and it would have such an effect, I knew that I had borrowed it a long time ago." Da Yuan Sangong said so, "Summoning Liyang, ordering Jiang Yiqu and Meng Dai to restrain the sergeants, Hugh has to let Liyang's team clash with Cao Thief's team at will, let Cao Thief and Tao Ying Xiaoer fight, I will seize the time to recuperate, gather soldiers and horses, and wait until the two thieves are defeated, and then I will take action to reap the benefits!" ”

"It's finally here, it's finally time for this day!" Uncle Liu Huang said so, "This time our army must not sneak attack Xuchang, let the Cao thief and the Tao thief fight, whether it is the Tao thief who destroys the Cao thief, or the Cao thief who destroys the Tao thief, it is a great joy for the people!" ”

"Send more and more carefully, and closely monitor the movements of the pottery thief Huainan team." Xiao Yuan Sangong and Liu Miao said so, "Let our soldiers and horses be ready, once the pottery thieves can't support the transfer of troops from Huainan to the north, we will immediately cross the river to attack the pottery thieves and recapture our lost territory in Huainan!" ”

"We play soy sauce." Liu Biao, Zhang Xiu, Wang Lang and others all expressed their positions in this way. Liu Qigongzi, who was stationed in Jiangxia, said, "Tao Envoy, it's not that your brother doesn't want to help you, it's that your brother's strength can't help you at all, so please ask yourself for more blessings." ”

By the way, let's introduce the situation of Cao Laoda's troops, because Cao Laoda's soldiers and horses in order to guard against the retaliation of Yuan Sangong, the main force is mostly stationed in the Guandu area, and most of the grain and grass military supplies are also stationed in Guandu, and at the same time, Guandu to Xiaopei, and even Pengcheng have Surabaya to transport grain, so Cao Boss adopted Xu Shu's suggestion, and after coming to Guandu, he first announced that he would move the army to the Yellow River to prevent Yuan Shao, and after the soldiers and horses were prepared, Cao Laoda suddenly ordered to march into Xuzhou, and ordered the whole army to go on the road twice, if it is late, it will be beheaded! It took only five days to complete the journey of more than 400 miles from Guandu to Changyi, and then sent an envoy south to declare war on the Xuzhou army, and asked Deputy Director Tao to exchange hostages in front of the two armies and never reconcile!

At the same time, Xiahou Yuan and Cao Chun and other Yanzhou southern line guards tightly sealed the Yanzhou border, cutting off the road for Xuzhou Xizuo to return to Xuzhou to report the news, resulting in Deputy Director Tao receiving the news that Cao Boss sent troops to attack him, even if he had Sima Lang and Sima Yi brothers, when he received the news that Cao Boss sent troops to attack him, Cao Boss's team had actually crossed Heze Lake and arrived in Yanzhou Shanyang County, and killed Deputy Director Tao by surprise!

(To be continued)