The Nameless of the Common Clans

Thick clouds accumulated in the sky, and the icy cold wind had stopped whistling, but there was an unspeakable oppression. All the sounds between heaven and earth seemed to disappear at this moment.

The weather was like this when Guo Tu left Wuyi. A heavy snowfall was about to fall. Originally, such weather was not suitable for traveling, but now for him or Yuan Tan, time is very important. He is running around here and there these days. Go, and recruited some people overtly or covertly. Xu You's best policy was too risky. In Guo Tu's view, the so-called worst policy was the real best policy, but it needed to be modified, especially Xu You's sudden disappearance. Tu felt a hint of uneasiness in his heart.

There is no need to pay attention to Yuan Xi. As long as the situation in Jizhou is stable, Yuan Xi cannot make any trouble. However, Xu You's words are not entirely wrong. This battle must be resolved quickly. If it is delayed for too long, it will inevitably be taken advantage of by Cao Cao and Chen Mo. Jizhou's foundation is not guaranteed.

Nowadays, Chen Mo is in a state of chaos due to the chaos in the Three Classics Schools. If Cao Cao sends troops, they will unite with Chen Mo to contain Cao Cao. At that time, the Daijun and Shanggu areas will be ceded to Chen Mo. Although the land will be lost, the foundation of Jizhou can be preserved.

As long as Jizhou is captured, the eldest son will work hard for a few years and watch the two tigers of the Central Plains fight, and he may not be able to regain the lost territory in the future.

Feeling a cold touch on his cheek, Guo Tu looked up and saw snowflakes starting to fall in the sky.

"It's snowing!" Guo Tu seemed to have thought of something, his eyes suddenly brightened, and he immediately returned to the carriage and urged the driver to drive away.

The carriage slowly disappeared into the veil of snow that gradually filled the sky and the earth.

The atmosphere in Jizhou, like the weather, became depressing with Xu You's departure.

Yecheng, Prime Minister's Mansion.

"Lord, we have found out that Xu Ziyuan sent his family to cross the Yellow River ten days ago and is missing." Feng Ji looked at Yuan Shang, who had a gloomy expression, sighed in his heart, and bowed.

"What a great tutor!" Yuan Shang snorted angrily. He was quite angry at Xu You's willful departure. Even if he had done nothing wrong in the first place, the Xu family had become more and more aggressive in the past year. He punished Xu You's son, He also acted in accordance with the law, but Xu You just turned his back and left, which made Yuan Shang feel very unhappy.

Feng Ji was also a little embarrassed. He didn't expect Xu You to leave so simply. It didn't matter how important Xu You was, but he was the key figure in maintaining the balance between Yingchuan and Jizhou officials. With him here, he could still convince the Yingchuan scholars. Don't mess around, but without Xu You, the eldest son has been secretly deploying troops recently, which has plunged the situation in Jizhou into chaos again.

Guo Tu has been lobbying everywhere recently. They are not blind, how could they not know? Although Yuan Tan agreed to surrender, he did not remove his military power, which led to today's disaster.

What a disaster!

Both Feng Ji and Shen Pei now regretted that they had been too harsh on Xu You. Even if they dealt with his son, their attitude should have been gentler. In the end, Xu You walked away like a traitor, which made them a little passive now. .

Feng Ji looked at Xun Chen, and Xu You left. The only person on his side who could establish a relationship with the Yingchuan scholars was Xun Chen. He couldn't help but say, "Youruo, I don't know what's going on now." What should the situation be?"

On Yuan Shang's side, it is basically the Jizhou scholars who make the decision. As a Yingchuan scholar, although Yuan Shang is quite respectful to Xun Chen, the Jizhou scholars still intentionally or unintentionally exclude him from the circle, and Xun Chen usually also Very few words were spoken, and now it was a bit embarrassing to ask.

Xun Chen was speechless when he heard this. You forced me to leave. Now you ask me what should I do? What to do.

Yuan Shang also looked over expectantly. Naturally, Xun Chen couldn't really say that. After pondering for a moment, he looked at Yuan Shang and said: "Prime Minister, now is not the time to investigate the past. Zi Yuan persuaded the eldest son, but now Zi Yuan has left. , the eldest son’s intention to mobilize troops is already clear, don’t say anything at this time Even if Ziyuan comes back, I may not be able to convince the ministers. At this time, the only way to do it is to use thunderous means to quickly eliminate the eldest son's troubles. The longer this goes on, the more likely it is that Chen Mo and Cao Cao will We will definitely raise troops to invade Jizhou, and then the situation will be out of control. "

Yuan Tan Yonglie and Yuan Shang are steady. If these two brothers can join forces, it will be difficult for Chen Mo and Cao Cao to get involved in Jizhou. But now that the two brothers are fighting, the result...

Losing both sides may be a luxury.

Of course, if Yuan Shang can completely destroy Yuan Tan in a short period of time, the Yuan family still hopes to continue to control Jizhou. As for how short this short time is, it depends on how fast Chen Mo and Cao Cao react, Xun Chen It is certain that although these two people seem to be busy with their own affairs, in fact, they are staring at Jizhou like two hungry wolves, leaving Yuan Shang with not much time.

It is not an exaggeration to say that Xu You is the culprit of the decline of the Yuan family. Once he left, the previous management situation completely collapsed. But if we trace the root cause, it is still the problem of the second son of the Yuan family and even Yuan Shao. Since the throne is to be passed to Yuan Shang, Yuan Tan shouldn't have so much power and have so many people gathered around him.

Guo Tu, Xin Ping, Xin Pi, none of these Yingchuan scholars are easy to look at or easy to talk to.

Yuan Shang nodded, this seemed to be the only way at the moment.

Tian Feng frowned and said, "Youruo, why don't you try to imitate Xu You and persuade the eldest son? Jizhou cannot withstand civil strife now."

Xun Chen shook his head and said nothing. What were you doing? There was something wrong with Xu You, but as soon as the situation improved, the Jizhou gentry united and began to exclude them. Tian Feng and Jushu, two ministers who were also auxiliary ministers, did not say anything at the time. Now that Xu You is gone, the situation is chaotic. Let me Follow Xu You's lead and lobby again? Yuan Tan's arrow is on the string, what should I say?

"Now we can only fight." Ju Su sighed, breaking the somewhat awkward atmosphere. This matter was not well thought out. He did not expect that as an assistant appointed by Yuan Shao, he would give up so easily.

Yuan Shang was somewhat helpless. Seeing that Tian Feng stopped talking, he nodded and said, "Then order Zhang He and Gao Lan to lead the army to capture Yuan Tan with thunder and lightning. What do you think?"

Tian Feng thought for a while and said, "You can order Gao Lan to be the general and lead Lu Kuang and Lu Xiang to wipe out Yuan Tan. As for Zhang He, he should guard Muye carefully, while Chen Mo takes advantage of the opportunity to enter. At the same time, transfer Han Meng to the south to assist Gao Lan. After the success, go south and deploy defenses in the border areas. Since Xu You has surrendered to Cao Cao, Cao's army must have an understanding of our military deployment, so we must be on guard."

The biggest problem now is not Yuan Tan, but Chen Mo and Cao Cao. Xu You surrendered to Cao Cao, so many things in Jizhou are no longer confidential to Cao Cao. It is a bit late to redeploy now, but some changes are still necessary.

"Just follow your words, sir." Yuan Shang nodded and ordered someone to pass on the order.

Although Yuan Tan's troop movements were secretive, they could not be concealed. Similarly, Yuan Shang's troop movements could not be concealed from Yuan Tan. Guo Tu had just returned when he received news that Yuan Shang had dispatched Gao Lan to lead Generals Lu Kuang and Lu Xiang to gather troops to attack. Yuan Shang's troop movements were not as cautious as Yuan Tan's, so they were also faster.

"Sir, what should we do now?" Yuan Tan asked hurriedly when he saw Guo Tu coming back.

"Fight!" Guo Tu said in a deep voice: "At this point, there is no other way. The lord should gather troops and fight against them as soon as possible. There is no need to hide it anymore."

Guo Tu could guess Yuan Shang's thoughts to some extent. Since the other party was no longer prepared to stay calm, they had no other choice but to fight.

At that moment, Yuan Tan stopped Guo Tu's suggestion, gathered soldiers and generals, and went straight to Yecheng. Gao Lan led his troops to intercept them. The two sides met in Weixian and Yangping, set up camps, and attacked each other. Gao Lan was known as one of the four pillars of Hebei. Since Yan Liang and Wen Chou died in Henei, Zhang He and Gao Lan's status in the army has risen, and their own abilities are not bad. Although Yuan Tan has a large number of soldiers and horses, he is no match for Gao Lan. After three consecutive battles, he was beaten by Gao Lan and had to retreat to Yangping. "Sir, what should I do?" Yuan Tan was a little angry. The fierce generals left by his father all chose to support Yuan Shang, which made him very uncomfortable. "My lord, don't panic!" Guo Tu was a little panicked because of the unfavorable first battle. After all, Yuan Tan was far superior to Gao Lan in terms of military strength. Even so, he was still suppressed by Gao Lan, which made Guo Tu very puzzled. After all, military tactics were not his forte. After walking back and forth for a few steps, Guo Tu's eyes flashed with a gleam of light, and he looked at Yuan Tan and said: "Since Gao Lan is invincible, why not recruit him for your own use?"

"Ah?" Yuan Tan looked at Guo Tu and frowned: "It would be best if Gao Lan could help, but Gao Lan is my third brother's favorite general, how could he betray me?"

Guo Tu smiled and said: "Yuan Shang is suspicious, the lord can temporarily stop the war and contact Gao Lan by letter."

"A few letters can make Gao Lan surrender?" Yuan Tan said puzzled.

"Of course not, but the third master will definitely be suspicious. The lord can write more unimportant things, recount the old feelings, or express admiration. In short, don't talk about the war, and don't mention anything about recruiting." Guo Tu smiled.

"Why is this?" Yuan Tan was even more confused.

"Let the Third Young Master think about it." Guo Tu smiled and said, "The Third Young Master will help us think of it, but there is one thing. No matter how Gao Lan challenges you, you only need to stay in the city. Gao Lan has few soldiers and will not dare to attack."

Yuan Tan nodded, a little confused, but he believed in Guo Tu. He immediately ordered people to guard the city gate and stop fighting the enemy. At the same time, under the guidance of Guo Tu, he began to write a letter to Gao Lan.

On the other side, in Gao Lan's camp, looking at the letter written by Yuan Tan, Gao Lan was a little confused. He had such a deep friendship with the eldest young master? Why didn't he know it.

"What does the eldest young master mean by this letter?" Gao Lan handed the letter to Lu Kuang and Lu Xiang and asked with a frown.

Lü Kuang and Lü Xiang were even more unaware, so Gao Lan simply ignored them. The next morning, he went to challenge Yuan Tan again, but Yuan Tan ignored him and stayed indoors. After Gao Lan withdrew his troops, he sent people to deliver letters. Sometimes, there were even three letters a day, and they were all about reminiscing about the past or expressing admiration. Gao Lan didn't understand what was going on, so he simply ignored them and threw the letters aside. He discussed the siege with Lü Kuang and Lü Xiang.