The counterinsurgency, the rebellion, the people who plan to fish in troubled waters and those who want to make a comeback are all secretly ready to make a move, but no one dares to make a move, all of them are waiting for the reaction of the Xuzhou army, and then decide how to bet.

This is also the most glorious moment since the old Tao family entered Xuzhou, after two generations of more than ten years of accumulation, hard work and efforts, the Xuzhou army, which was once in danger of annihilation, has in fact become the first princely force at that time, although the strength is not enough to quickly annex the world, but it is already enough to be proud of the others, every move is enough to change the direction of the whole world, enough to do the prosperity of those who follow me, and the death of those who oppose me, so whether it is the Yuan family brothers, or Liu Biao Cao Ying, they have to think carefully before they start, I am afraid that I will stand on the opposite side of the Xuzhou army and suffer a chain reaction, which will lead to a monstrous disaster and the danger of annihilation.

Considering the consistent bad relationship between himself and Deputy Director Tao, Yuan Tan's son, who has newly inherited the Yuan family's business, is actually ready to ask Liu Biao and Cao Boss for help, and Liu Biao and Cao Boss and other princes are also preparing to make the greatest benefit for their own army, one is to support Yuan Tan and Deputy Director Tao, and the other is to support Deputy Director Tao to beat Yuan Tan, a water dog. And Yuan Shanggongzi is looking forward to his brother-in-law taking action immediately and making a heavy move, otherwise, with tens of thousands of second-line troops in his hands, and a Jizhou that has not had time to integrate and the people's hearts are not attached to it, it is impossible to be the opponent of the eldest brother - in fact, Yuan Shanggongzi has the courage to raise troops to resist the eldest brother, and the biggest reliance is on his brother-in-law Deputy Director Tao......

In anticipation, Deputy Director Tao finally made a statement, but Deputy Director Tao's attitude made everyone fall through the glasses, and he actually asked Yuan Tan to negotiate a truce with Yuan Shang's brothers, and said that if anyone dared not accept his persuasion, he would immediately beat him, and teach the unfilial son of cannibalism for his father-in-law! At the same time, Deputy Director Tao also simply overstepped his authority and set the negotiation venue in Dingtao City, which is the closest to Xuchang and Yecheng, and asked Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang to send plenipotentiary envoys to Dingtao City to negotiate, and the negotiations were presided over and notarized by the Xuzhou army.

In addition, Deputy Director Tao also spread the word to the world in the name of the Great Yuan Sangong, claiming that the dispute between Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang brothers was a family affair of the Yuan family, and Yuan Men was unfortunate, and he would come forward as Yuan's son-in-law to stop it, requiring the princes of the world to remain calm and restrained, and not to interfere in the Yuan civil war without authorization.

Hearing this news, the world was a sensation, Shilin soldiers and civilians have spread the benevolence and righteousness of Deputy Director Tao, but Cao Boss and Uncle Liu Huang and other confidants of Deputy Director Tao were dumbfounded, and almost believed for a while that dogs can get rid of eating, pigs can go up trees, and Tao Ying will also find out with a conscience! But after thinking about and analyzing it carefully, Boss Cao and Uncle Liu Huang couldn't help but scold again, "Damn little slippery head, it's cunning to this point!" Hypocrites can be regarded as making you perfect! ”

Still hearing the news, Yuan Shanggongzi, who was nervously waiting for his brother-in-law to send troops, was first dumbfounded, and then his face was like earth, almost thinking that his brother-in-law was ready to abandon him, but Yuan Shanggongzi's most loyal followers were ecstatic, and hurriedly pointed out to Yuan Shanggongzi that Deputy Director Tao's move seemed to be unhelpful, but in fact, it protected the third uncle to the extreme, Yuan Shanggongzi turned his worries into joy, and quickly agreed to accept his brother-in-law's persuasion to make peace, and agreed to send a plenipotentiary representative to Dingtao City to negotiate with Yuan Tan's representatives, and accepted the notarization of the Xuzhou army.

Hearing the news again, Yuan Tan Gongzi, who was already preparing to attack the hinterland of Jizhou, suddenly fell into a dilemma, attacking, it is tantamount to giving Deputy Director Tao a justifiable excuse to start a war, and it will also fall into the infamy of fratricidal infamy, and morally and in strength will fall into a complete disadvantage. Don't attack, miss this opportunity for a quick victory, let Yuan Shang, who first raised the rebel flag, gain a firm foothold in Jizhou, and if you want to eradicate Yuan Shang in the future, you don't know how much more time it will take to fight with the troops, money and food, and at the same time negotiate with Yuan Shang, Yuan Shang will definitely propose to divide the land, once he loses the land in Jizhou, which is the most abundant in money and grain, it will naturally be difficult for Yuan Tan Gongzi to dominate the world again.

What made Yuan Tan Gongzi even more embarrassed was that Yuan Xi and Gao Gan also directly expressed their hopes that Yuan Tan would accept the persuasion of the Xuzhou army and send envoys to negotiate with Yuan Shang to peacefully resolve the dispute over the throne and avoid the tragedy of fratricide as much as possible. Among them, Yuan Xi is a little better, but Gao Gan is a powerful faction with a strong army, and he still has a huge influence in Yuan Tan Gongzi's current largest rear and state, and if he says it, no matter how arrogant Yuan Tan Gongzi is, he has to weigh the weight.

Guo Tu, Xin Ping, Su You and other strategists were as hesitant as Yuan Tan Gongzi, and they wanted to refuse to negotiate, and then unite Liu Biao, Cao Laoda and Deputy Director Tao to fight a decisive battle, but they were afraid that they would fall into the infamy of provoking fratricide, and they were even more afraid that they were not the opponents of the Xuzhou army and the Yuan Shang Alliance. Only Cui Yan opened his mouth to agree with the negotiations, and also pointed out that after the negotiations were launched, the result may not necessarily be unfavorable to Yuan Tan, and there may be a possibility of peacefully recovering Jizhou, and even if the negotiations fail, the self-army can regain the moral upper hand and dissipate the popular will that was not stable enough under Yuan Shang's rule.

After hesitating for a long time, Yuan Tan Gongzi, who also needed some time to integrate the internal, hesitated again and again, and finally decided to accept Deputy Director Tao's persuasion, and sent Xin Ping as the plenipotentiary to Dingtao to negotiate with Yuan Shang's representative, and at the same time, Yuan Tan Gongzi also wrote an enthusiastic letter to Deputy Director Tao, explaining his previous misunderstandings with Deputy Director Tao, and preparing a large number of valuable gifts to try to ease the bad relationship with Deputy Director Tao. In addition, Yuan Tan Gongzi also secretly ordered Xin Ping to start secret negotiations with the Xuzhou army, preparing to cede a part of the land in exchange for the Xuzhou army's feelings about his eradication of Yuan Shang.

By the way, Yuan Shanggongzi also did the same, in order to make his brother-in-law support him with an iron heart, Yuan Shanggongzi also prepared more generous and valuable gifts, and also ordered himself to negotiate secretly with the Xuzhou army on behalf of Feng Ji, promising to give the Xuzhou army a large area of land and cities in exchange for his brother-in-law to help him kill the eldest brother. As a result, it is natural that someone will be cheaper.

Originally, Yang Changshi didn't have much interest in this matter at first, although he was fully responsible for the external affairs of the Xuzhou army, but he felt that there must not be much oil and water to make such a drudgery as presiding over the peace talks, so Yang Changshi was ready to push this matter to others, but after inadvertently talking about it when he spent the night in his concubine Guo Yu's room, Guo Huan happened to come back to visit his sister the next day, and Guo Yu also inadvertently mentioned this matter to Guo Huan, so on the morning of the third day, Yang Changshi couldn't wait to run to Deputy Director Tao and take the initiative to ask for help, volunteered to preside over this negotiation.

Considering that Yang Changshi is still very good at fighting for the interests of the army, Deputy Director Tao also agreed to Yang Changshi's request, and naturally gave Yang Changshi the opportunity to eat the next house after eating, and on the night of arriving at Dingtao, Yang Changshi vacated two adjacent rooms in his line to hold the gifts sent by Xin Ping and Feng Ji respectively. However, what is even more infuriating is that Yang Changshi also deliberately asked Xin Ping and Feng Ji's entourage to send gifts into the room at the same time, so that they could compare the value and richness of the gifts with each other while noticing the demonic spirit next door.

After a series of intensive light and dark preparations and private negotiations, on the eighth day of the third month of the sixth year of Jian'an, the peace negotiations between Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang brothers finally officially started in the lobby of Jiyin Taishou Mansion, Yang Changshi sat in the middle facing south, Xin Ping and Feng Ji sat down left and right, and the negotiation was full of gunpowder at the beginning, Xin Ping said straight to the point: "Mr. Zhongming, Tao Yuanjun came forward to mediate and persuade peace, and our army was very happy to accept it, but the old lord's will was to pass the throne to my lord Yuan Tan, Therefore, in this negotiation, I asked your army to first recognize my lord Yuan Tan as the lord of Jizhou. ”

"That's not right." Feng Ji immediately opened his mouth and said: "The will in Yuan Tan's hand is fake, the old lord has made a will in advance before the Cangting War, in order to prevent any accidents, and passed the throne to my lord Yuan Shang, so Mr. Zhong Ming, your army must first admit that my lord Yuan Shang is the lord of Jizhou!" ”

Saying-for-tat, Feng Ji and Xin Ping glanced at Yang Changshi with the corners of their eyes, and said together: "Mr. Zhongming, when I gave you gold, silver, jewelry, and beauties, you promised to admit that my lord is the lord of Jizhou for Tao Envoy, and you have to count what you have said!" ”

"Admit it, admit it." Yang Changshi nodded quickly, and said with a heartfelt voice: "Yuan Tan Gongzi has the will of the first duke, and Yuan Shang Gongzi also has the will of the first duke, now I don't know if the will is true and the will is fake, and I don't know if the original duke has made two wills, so I now announce on behalf of the Xuzhou Thorn History Mansion that I recognize Yuan Tan Gongzi as the lord of Jizhou, and also recognize Yuan Shanggongzi as the lord of Jizhou!" ”

With two bangs, Feng Ji and Xin Ping fell to the ground one after another, and then roared angrily at the same time: "Mr. Zhongming, you recognize my lord as the lord of Jizhou, how can you also recognize Yuan Tan (Yuan Shao) as the lord of Jizhou?" There are no two heavens, there are no two lords in the country, how can there be two lords in the five states of Jiyou and Qingyan? ! ”

"Two gentlemen, please calm your anger, Li Lang and Wang Wu, you two quickly pick up Mr. Feng and Mr. Xin." Yang Changshi ordered Li Lang and Wang Wu to mix up Xin Ping and Feng Ji, and said with a pleasant face: "Two gentlemen, don't be impatient, our army recognizes that your lords are the lords of Jizhou, just to persuade peace, let you sit down and discuss who will give way and who will take the throne, two gentlemen, please think about it, if our army only recognizes one lord of Jizhou first, will the other representative still be willing to sit down and negotiate?" So let's not care about such inconsequential issues now, let's negotiate first. ”

To put it mildly, Yang Changshi finally persuaded Feng Ji and Xin Ping to sit down, and then said: "That's it, let's listen to each other's conditions first, Mr. Xin Ping, you say it first, Mr. Feng Ji, please don't interject." Rest assured, gentlemen, I, Yang Zhongming, have been fair and upright, and have been entrusted by the Lord to preside over this negotiation on behalf of the Lord with full powers, and I will definitely uphold justice for you and be impartial. ”

"I hope Mr. Zhongming will do what he says." Xin Ping snorted coldly, and then said: "The conditions of our army are also very simple, as long as Yuan Shang is appointed as the head of my family, Yuan Tan, handed over the military power of Jizhou, and took up his post in the Xuchang Dynasty with the trial match, our army will guarantee that it will not harm Yuan Shang, the trial and all their henchmen, and will not investigate Yuan Shang and the trial and others for the crime of forging wills and rebellion, and can also guarantee that Yuan Tan and the trial and others will be given high-ranking officials. ”

"The eldest prince is really benevolent, he has a belly, and he admires him!" Yang Changshi applauded, then turned to Feng Ji and said, "Mr. Yuantu, it's your turn, but I want to remind you, I think the conditions of the eldest prince are quite good, and your army may as well consider agreeing." ”

"Thank you Mr. Zhongming for the reminder, but it's impossible!" Feng Ji also said coldly, and then said: "The conditions of our army are also very simple, Yuan Tan admits that his will is forged, and appoints my lord Yuan Shang as the master, and hands over the military power of Xuchang, so that our army can guarantee that it will not harm Yuan Tan and his henchmen, and promise to give Yuan Tan and his henchmen high-ranking officials!" ”

"Are the conditions similar?" Yang Changshi exclaimed: "After a long time, you have gathered more than 100,000 or 200,000 soldiers and horses, just to fight for who will be the lord!" ”

Xin Ping and Feng Ji both rolled their eyes, and they couldn't understand whether Yang Changshi's words were really stupid or pretending to be stupid? And Yang Changshi scratched his head again, and said with an embarrassed face: "But this is also difficult to do, the eldest prince wants to be the lord, and the third prince also wants to be the lord, but there is no other heaven and no two lords, there are no two lords in the country, and two people can't be the lords, right?" ”

Xin Ping and Feng Ji felt that Yang Changshi had finally said a word, but Yang Changshi suddenly said: "However, if the eldest prince and the third prince both want to be the lord, it is not impossible, my lord Tao Yuanjun will think of a way for you, so that the eldest prince and the third prince can be the lord." ”

"All the lords?" Feng Ji and Xin Ping were first together, and then Feng Ji's face quickly showed joy, Xin Ping had a bad premonition, and asked in a deep voice: "Listening to Mr. Zhong Ming's meaning, doesn't Tao Envoy Jun want to persuade us to divide the inheritance left by the old lord into two?" Our army will never agree to this. ”

"No, no." Yang Changshi hurriedly shook his head and said with a smile: "It's not divided into two, it's local autonomy, one country, two systems." My lord Tao Envoy proposed that the eldest prince of Yuan Tan might as well play the pastoral of the third prince of Yuan Shang and Jiyouzhou, and allow the third prince to govern the two states of Jiyou by himself, and call himself the lord of the land of the two states of Ji and You, and externally establish the eldest prince as the lord and recognize the eldest prince as the new head of the Yuan family. ”

"What do you mean?" Xin Ping and Feng Ji were confused by Yang Changshi's mouth full of new terms.

"To put it simply, it means that Yuan Shanggongzi recognizes Yuan Tan's eldest prince as the main prince, but Yuan Shanggongzi claims to be the lord in the territory of the two states of Jiyou and governs the two states by himself, and Yuan Tan Gongzi is not allowed to meddle in the military and political affairs of Jiyou, this is one country, two systems, and local autonomy." Yang Changshi explained.

"Okay, our army can agree to this." Feng Ji, who urgently needed time to stabilize the internal reorganization of the armed forces, agreed, and said: "One country, two systems, local autonomy, our army can accept this condition." ”

"No way!" Xin Ping jumped up and said angrily: "What one country, two systems, what kind of local autonomy, isn't this a change of way to divide the foundation left by the old lord into two?" Our army absolutely cannot agree to this! ”

"Mr. Xinping, don't be impatient, I haven't finished yet." Yang Changshi said with a smile: "My lord also proposed that in order to show his sincerity in recognizing his brother, the third prince of Yuan Shang must also pay a tribute of 200,000 yuan of rice to the eldest prince every year after the rice is ripe, in order to show his surrender, this condition is very good, right?" ”

"Impossible!" Xin Ping was even more furious, and said: "Just 200,000 hu rice, I want to get Jizhou and Youzhou, dream!" ”

"Mr. Xin Ping can disagree." Yang Changshi put away his hippie smile, replaced it with the fierce face he usually had in front of his subordinates, and said with a sneer: "But I want to remind Mr. of two points, one is that my lord is indeed a good intention, and he can't bear to see the two sons fratricidal and separated, and he doesn't want the foundation that Ben Chu Gong has worked so hard to build is ruined in the hands of Yuan Tan Gongzi, if your army insists on fighting to the death with Yuan Shang Gongzi, what will Ben Chu Gong's sworn enemy Cao Thief do?" What will Jingzhou Liu Biao, Xinye Liu Bei and Xiliang Ma Teng do? ”

"Two." Yang Changshi said slowly: "My lord has already spread the word to the world, there is a word in advance, if the two sons refuse to accept his mediation and persuasion, and insist on killing each other, then our army will immediately send troops to teach the unfilial son a lesson for Benchugong!" So now, if Mr. Xin Ping refuses to persuade peace on behalf of the eldest prince, then General Chen Zhi's 30,000 troops stationed in Dingtao will immediately launch an attack on Puyang or Guandu! My 300,000 troops in Xuzhou will also march to Xuchang endlessly! ”

Mr. Feng Ji smiled happily and hurriedly said: "Mr. Zhongming, although my lord has not said that he will pay tribute to the eldest prince, but in order to show the sincerity of our army to accept Tao Envoy Jun's reconciliation, I can now dare to be the master of the lord and agree to the condition proposed by Tao Envoy Jun, self-governing Jizhou and Youzhou, and paying tribute to the eldest prince every year, and also pay tribute of 200,000 hu rice to the eldest prince every year. ”

Mr. Xin Ping's face turned iron blue, and he walked away several times, but he didn't dare to bear the responsibility of refusing Deputy Director Tao's persuasion, so after hesitating for a long time, Xin Ping could only say with a straight face: "The matter is big, I must ask the lord." ”

"It's okay, go and report to the eldest prince, we can wait." Yang Changshi said with a smile: "Mr. can go back to Xuchang to report by himself, or he can send someone back to Xuchang to report, and stay in Dingtao City to avoid the journey." Sir, rest assured, Hong will definitely let the pavilion good students entertain Mr. ”

"Thank you, Lord Changshi." Xin Ping arched his hand, and then strode out of the negotiation hall with a black face, leaving Yang Changshi and Feng Ji looking at each other in the lobby and smiling.

……………… When Xin Ping brought the negotiation situation back to Xuchang, Yuan Tan Gongzi, who was not much better than Yuan Sangong, of course flipped the table, yelled and ordered to assemble the army, and personally led the army to fight to the death with Deputy Director Tao, first breaking the Tao thief and then breaking the Shang thief! But fortunately, such a chaotic life, even Yuan Tan's sworn friend Guo Tu didn't dare to listen, and hurriedly took Yuan Tan to death with Cui Yan and others, and even said that the lord was angry, and the lord was angry.

"Anger? The pottery thief and Yuan Shangxiao'er are going to divide my land in two, how can I calm my anger?! Yuan Tan Gongzi roared angrily: "I can't agree!" Absolutely no promise! Since we want to fight, instead of waiting for the pottery thief to come to the door, it is better for us to hit the pottery thief door first! ”

"The lord is angry." Guo Tu persuaded: "Your Majesty doesn't want to ask the lord to agree to the harsh conditions proposed by the pottery thief, but just want to ask the lord to think carefully and then decide whether to go to war." ”

"Yes, the lord can't fight now." Cui Yan also persuaded: "Now our army is a real enemy surrounded by enemies, with Yuan Shangdong and Tao Ying in the north, Cao thief in the south and Liu Biao in the west. Please think about it carefully, what if our army starts a war against Tao Ying, and Yuan Shang, Cao Thief and Liu Biao kill at the same time? What to do?! ”

Yuan Tan was stunned for a moment, then roared, smashed Cui Yan and Guo Tu together, kicked the overturned case table a few feet away, and roared: "Tao thief, I won't kill you!" Swear not to be a man! ”

"Lord, it's really hateful for the pottery thief to secretly help Yuan Shang, but now is not the time to go to war." Cui Yan said quickly: "The most important thing for our army at the moment should be to eradicate the remnants of the Cao thief first, form an alliance with Liu Biao to resist Tao, and stabilize the rear of the southern front first, and then consider eradicating Yuan Shang's rebellion, and start a war with Tao Ying, otherwise, at this time, if we recklessly start a war against the Tao thief, our army will only bring about its own destruction." ”

Yuan Tan Gongzi gritted his teeth and calculated, and soon shouted: "Immediately send an envoy to Jingzhou, ask Liu Biao for an alliance, and immediately gather troops and horses to crusade against the Cao thieves in Runan!" ”

"Yes, let's not say that we will refuse the pottery thief's persuasion of peace, but first win allies and clear the remnants of the enemy, and then consider crusading against Yuan Shang and the pottery thief." Guo Tu nodded hurriedly, and then hesitated and said: "But my lord, it is not an overnight achievement to ask Liu Biao for an alliance and defeat Cao Thief, although we can delay time at the negotiation table, but instead of wasting time by delaying like this, and wasting troops to guard against Tao Thief and Yuan Shang, it is better to make some compromises with Tao Thief and Yuan Shang first, free up troops to destroy Cao, and you can also get some grain and grass for military use." ”

Yuan Tan Gongzi froze again, and after sitting back on the mat and trying to calm himself down, Yuan Tan pondered for a long time, and then said weakly: "Then in your opinion, how to compromise a little?" ”

"Your Majesty said that if you make a mistake, the lord must not blame him." Guo Tu said in fear: "Your Majesty thinks that since Jizhou has in fact been controlled by Yuan Shang, it is better to agree to the persuasion of the Tao thief, allow Yuan Shang to govern Jizhou, and then ask Yuan Shang to pay a tribute of 500,000 grains to our army - although Xuchang produces grain, but the war has been continuous in the past six months, the winter wheat will definitely be seriously underharvested, and the grain production in the state is not abundant, if you don't get a batch of grain and grass quickly, in the winter of this year, our army's grain and grass will be dangerous." ”

"But the pottery thief still wants to give Youzhou to Yuan Shang, what should I do?" Yuan Tan gritted his teeth and asked.

"It's just a bargain." Guo Tu lowered his head and said: "The situation is not as good as people, so we can only bargain at the negotiation table as much as possible, and if we can keep some more places, we will strive to keep more places." ”

Cui Yan also lowered his head, as the so-called one force will drop ten, in the case of strength far inferior to others, Cui Yan is resourceful and completely helpless. And after Yuan Tan's expression was fierce and he thought about it for a long time, he still lowered his head weakly, and said weakly: "Then let Xin Ping bargain, keep as much land as possible, and strive to get more grain from Yuan Shangpiff." ”

(To be continued)