As the poisoner Jia Xu speculated, Liu He, who was far away in Youzhou, didn't care about the life and death of Yuan Shao or Li Dao, especially when they were dog-eat-dog. As far as Liu He is concerned, what he would most like to see is a close scuffle, rather than a one-sided slaughter, because only the more fierce the battle between the warlords and Yuan Shao is, the greater their attrition, and the easier it will be when Liu He comes to clean up the situation.

Li Wei obviously knew that Liu He was sitting on the mountain watching the tiger fight, but he couldn't solve this situation at all, because he and Yuan Shao had no possibility of reconciliation at present, and Yuan Shao couldn't accept Li Dao's surrender even if he wanted to appease Guo Yan and Zhang Ji. Just imagine, Guo Yan and Zhang Ji's biggest heart problem is Li Dao, if Yuan Shao and Li Ji get together, Guo Yan and Zhang Ji don't have to worry about Li Dao retaliating against them every day in the future, they will turn against Yuan Shao for their own safety and switch to other forces.

For the sake of the lives of hundreds of members of the Li family, Li Wei finally adopted Jia Xu's suggestion and prepared to withdraw to the east of Tongguan with the remaining more than 10,000 soldiers and horses, and use the gateway of Tongguan to block Yuan Shao's attack.

Before retreating, Li Dao planned to execute a group of prisoners, including Gao Shun, the commander of the trapped camp who was wounded and captured after staying in Chang'an, Qin Yi, a logistics officer of Lü Bu, who was captured because he had no time to evacuate, and Lü Bu's adviser Xu Yan.

Jia Xu felt that it was inappropriate to kill prisoners at this time, and dissuaded Li Wei and said: "These prisoners are indeed a burden to the general, but if they are all killed, it will be wasted." I heard that Liu He likes to recruit generals, and a general like Gao Shun who is good at training troops, he will definitely like it, if the general sends people to send these people to Luoyang, maybe he can exchange some grain and grass and support from Liu He. ”

Li Dao was now short of food and grass, and when he heard that the lives of Gao Shun and others could be exchanged for some benefits, he hurriedly sent a small team of men and horses to escort Gao Shun and other captives to Shaanxi County to contact Liu He's men.

Why didn't Jia Xu suggest that Li Wei send someone to Hedong to contact Lu Bu? Because Jia Xu knew that Lu Bu was a merciless person, although he attached great importance to his women and children. But he doesn't really care about the life or death of his generals, and now that Lu Bu is still unable to protect himself, how can he come up with enough benefits to exchange with Li Dao?

Since Zhao Yun led the main force of the Shenxi army to cross the river to the north, he has been paying close attention to the situation in Guanzhong and Hedong, on the one hand, to prevent Yuan Shao's troops from taking a boat from Dayang on the other side of the river to attack Hanoi and Luoyang downstream, and on the other hand, to prevent the soldiers and horses in Guanzhong from passing through Shaanxi County to attack Hangu Pass.

Although Jia Kui does not control the overall situation of Luoyang like Zhao Yun, he is very clear about Zhao Yun's purpose of placing him in Shaanxi County. Therefore, when Lü Bu and Huangfu Jianshou escorted the Son of Heaven to Hongnong County, which was only fifty miles away from Shaanxi County, Jia Kui only ordered the troops to prepare for defense, but did not take the initiative to send troops to cause trouble, let alone put on a sincere and fearful appearance, and sent some grain and grass to Lü Bu and Huangfu Jianshou to please the Son of Heaven.

Originally, Jia Kui was ready to refuse Lu Bu and Huangfu Jianshou to continue eastward, but what he didn't expect was that after Lu Bu and Huangfu Jianshou's troops arrived in Hongnong County, they stopped, and a few days later, they actually ferried from Hongnong to Hedong. As for why Lu Bu and Huangfu Jianshou chose to enter Hedong, Jia Kui guessed probly. He still only ordered the soldiers to prepare to defend Shaanxi County, and as long as no one came to cause trouble, then he resolutely did not make any moves.

Just as Lü Bu and Huangfu Jianshou's troops crossed the Yellow River north, a strange thing happened. Two ferries suddenly broke away from the team and quickly drifted along the course of the Yellow River to Shaanxi County downstream. The soldier in charge of observing on the shore hurriedly ran to report the situation to Jia Kui, who took out the clairvoyant mirror specially assigned to him by Zhao Yun and climbed on the bucket more than ten zhang high. Look closely at the boats in the river that are approaching downstream.

"Seeing that there are people of all ages on these two ferries, everyone has a panicked look on their faces, and they must have deliberately separated from the fleet. Since they pose no threat to our army. Then letting them go will not affect the overall situation. Jia Kui muttered to himself, and then ordered: "Tell the soldiers by the river that when the two ferries pass by, do not fire bed crossbows and bows and arrows, and let them pass." ”

The soldiers defending the river bank, after receiving Jia Kui's order, did not start, and let the boats drift upstream.

Not long after the two ferries passed, more than 300 horsemen suddenly rushed towards the Shaanxi County Pass, and only stopped when they were about to approach the city wall of Shaanxi County.

"Whoever comes, quickly report the name and surname!" The soldiers defending the city spotted the cavalry from afar, and when they approached, they shouted to stop.

Zhang Liao looked at the soldiers who were waiting for the battle at the head of Shaanxi County, and a feeling of weakness appeared in his heart. When crossing the river today, according to the prior arrangement, Zhang Liao led 300 cavalry to break off, and everything went very smoothly at first, but when Zhang Liao found that there were two medium-sized ferries in the middle of the river that suddenly broke away from the fleet and quickly headed downstream, he felt that something was wrong. Sure enough, it didn't take long for Lu Bu to come from the other side of the river, telling him to hurry up the river to pursue the two ferries, and find a way to intercept them no matter what. Zhang Liaoming knew that if there was no downstream interception, no matter how fast the cavalry was, it would be impossible to block the ferry boat going downstream, but he couldn't disobey Lu Bu's order, so he had to chase the cavalry all the way down the riverbank.

Zhang Liao had already roughly guessed who might be on the two ships, but he didn't intend to let the garrison guarding Shaanxi County know, so he didn't say a word, turned around and left with the team.

Zhang Liao's thoughts were a bit complicated, and he couldn't explain them to anyone, including Lu Bu. Anyway, he had already pursued according to Lu Bu's orders, but now he was blocked by the defenders of Shaanxi County, and everyone knew that only 300 cavalry could not break through the barrier of tens of thousands of soldiers in Shaanxi County, so Zhang Liao could return to Lu Bu without responsibility. As for the two boatloads of people who have gone down the river, who knows where the ship of fate will take them?

Zhang Liao's strange behavior was quickly reported to Jia Kui by the defenders of the city, and the more Jia Kui thought about it, the more strange he felt, so he immediately ordered the soldiers guarding the river to stop the boats or sink them with thunderbolts and bed crossbows if they found any more boats coming from upstream, and in short, no more ships could be allowed to pass.

Not long after Jia Kui's order was delivered, seven or eight boats loaded with soldiers drifted upstream.

"Warning shot, prepare!"

"Put!"

The lieutenant who was guarding the bank of the river calmly ordered, and suddenly more than a dozen boulders were thrown into the river by the stone throwing cart, forming a splash from near to far, and stopped in front of the boats in the river far away.

"Report to Captain Zheng, the incoming ship did not slow down, intending to force through!"

"Hmph, I really don't know whether to live or die! Bed crossbow and catapult are prepared together, and I will sink the two ships in front! Zheng Duwei, who was in charge of guarding the river, gave an order, only to see hundreds of boulders and hundreds of long crossbows roaring towards the two boats walking in the front of the river, and the next moment I saw that the soldiers on the boats were in a panic, some were hit by boulders, some were shot through the chest by bed crossbows, and some fell into the water because of the violent shaking of the boats......

As the two ships in front capsized, the other six followed, apparently frightened by the ferocity of the riverside defenders, several rowing desperately in the direction of the north bank, and two more staggering towards the south bank.

Not long after, the two boats on the wharf by the river on the south bank were completely controlled by the soldiers on the shore, and Jia Kui personally came to inquire that these soldiers who were pursuing by boat were sent by Lu Bu to pursue after discovering that the emperor had been dropped, and since they had become prisoners at this time, they had no obligation to keep secrets for Lu Bu, so they truthfully confessed to Jia Kui.

When Jia Kui learned that the two boats he ordered to let him go were carrying today's son, he was so angry that he just wanted to scold his mother.

"A bunch of bastards! Bastard! How can it be such a child's play! If I hadn't personally ordered the release, the Son of Heaven might have been buried in the Yellow River at this time, this group of heavenly killers! ”

Jia Kui scolded in his heart, and hurriedly arranged for a fast horse to go to Luoyang to report this important information to Li Yan, who was sitting in the Taifu Mansion.

The messenger sent by Jia Kui had not yet returned, and the person sent by Li Dao to contact him arrived in Shaanxi County.

When Jia Kui learned that Li Dao was preparing to withdraw to Tongguan and hoped to exchange Gao Shun and several other generals under Lu Bu for some grain, grass and armor, he was surprised again.

"Li Dao was defeated so quickly, it seems that Guanzhong is about to completely fall into the hands of Yuan Shao, this matter is also very important, and it must be reported to Luoyang immediately!"

After a little thought, Jia Kui had an idea, and he wrote a letter to Li Yan, truthfully reporting the matter of Li Dao's withdrawal to Tongguan and the hope of receiving support from Luoyang, and then attached his own suggestions. Jia Kui's suggestion was not only to agree to Li Wei's conditions, but also to quickly send people to Hedong to contact Lü Bu and Huangfu Jianshou, and strive to win over these defeated forces, and definitely not to cheapen Yuan Shao. As for the treatment of Gao Shun and a few other captives, Jia Kui felt that it would not be a loss to exchange some grain and grass with Li Dao, because as long as he mastered these people, it would be easier to deal with Lu Bu in the future.

Jia Kui didn't wait for Li Yan's reply, first took all the several important prisoners sent by Li Wei, and then took out some grain, grass, armor and arrows from the warehouse, and sent people to Tongguan. In Jia Kui's opinion, Li Yan would definitely not do these things to himself, because instead of letting Tongguan fall into Yuan Shao's hands, it was better to let Li Dao guard it.

After the team carrying grain and grass left Shaanxi County, Jia Kui personally came forward to meet Gao Shun, Qin Yi, Xu Yan and others. Gao Shun was seriously injured and did not receive good medical treatment when he was in Chang'an, and he can still leave a life until now, all because of his physical strength. Qin Yi and Xu Yan are fine, except for losing some weight, there are basically no other problems.

Jia Kui asked the doctors in the army to do their best to treat Gao Shun, promising not to leave Gao Shun with any disease in the future, and he also held a banquet for Qin Yi and Xu Yan to catch the wind, which made the two guys who had suffered a lot very moved. (To be continued......)