Chapter 414: Uncertainty
Let Yuan Tan return to Yecheng?
Yuan Shao's order was completely beyond Guo Tu's expectations.
Because he and Kong Rong had different opinions, Yuan Shao's second and third sons had each taken a position on the defense front, intending to make a name for themselves. But at this moment, Yuan Shao summoned back his eldest son who had already been adopted. What was going on?
However, although Guo Tu was somewhat confused, he still replied at this moment: "In your opinion, is it really okay to hand over the power of Qingzhou to Xin Zhongzhi?"
Xin Ping is indeed very capable, at least much stronger than Guo Tu, Feng Ji and the like. Even in the past two months, he had done a lot of flaws in assisting Yuan Tan in deploying defenses. But don't forget that Xin Ping has a brother, Xin Pi, who has already defected to the enemy. If the important task of ruling a state is entrusted to him at this time, who knows whether Qingzhou will fall into the hands of the enemy without anyone noticing.
Qingzhou is slightly easier to defend because it is connected with Jizhou and has Jizhou as a northern land barrier. However, its extremely wide width and insufficient depth make it extremely easy to be broken through from the direction of Xuzhou.
Because of the loss of Yanzhou, they could also invade Qingzhou through the northeast corner of Yanzhou.
In such a situation where the party was attacked from all sides, instead of sending more troops, they allowed Yuan Tan, the commander-in-chief of Qingzhou, to return, leaving behind a suspected traitor. Wasn't that too hasty?
However, as soon as Guo Tu asked this question, he was met with an unusually cold gaze from Yuan Shao, which made Guo Tu suddenly realize that his belief that Yuan Shao had lost his fighting spirit was most likely just a wrong judgment!
It was Yuan Shao who gave the order, not him!
"There are still generals in Qingzhou. When will Xin Zhongzhi make the decision alone?" Yuan Shao said, "Recall them and give this secret letter to Xiansi as well."
In a situation where the country could be in danger of being destroyed if it was just a step late, regardless of whether Yuan Shao had almost lost his mind due to Qiao Yan's repeated provocations, his order was conveyed at an extremely fast speed.
What's more, his physical condition was not good at the moment, so it was not unreasonable for him to want his eldest son to come back and see him.
The Han Dynasty ruled the world with filial piety. Even though Liu Bian felt that this move would leave Qingzhou empty, he did not stop it.
This letter sent from Yecheng and the order to recall him were delivered to Yuan Tan at an extremely fast speed.
Although he was surprised by his father's decision, he still called Jiang Qi and Xin Ping, who were stationed here to help, and gave them a few words of instruction. Then he rode back to Jizhou at full speed.
As stated in the secret letter, even though it was midnight when he arrived in Yecheng, Yuan Tan went straight to the courtyard where Yuan Shao lived without stopping.
He and Yuan Shao had a brief but obviously meaningful conversation. Half an hour later, Yuan Tan left Yuan Shao, rested for two hours in the mansion, and hurried back to Qingzhou at dawn.
Anyone who had a brief meeting with the eldest son of the Yuan family could see that, although he looked a little tired from walking, his face showed a look of determination.
He even took away the sword that Yuan Shao carried with him before leaving Yecheng, as if Yuan Shao had given him considerable power.
This sudden entrustment of an important task seemed to have some special significance since Yuan Shao had not appeared in person for two or three months.
"Yuan Benchu's move is very smart." Qiao Yan thought after receiving the urgent letter from Yecheng.
"The situation among his sons competing for the succession was used as one of the reasons for Zhongxuan's criticism of him, but by doing this, he is actually turning waste into treasure." Cheng Yu replied.
"You should say he is judging others by his own standards."
Yuan Shao's performance in escaping from the predicament in Yanzhou fully illustrates the fact that when people are really faced with an irreversible disadvantageous situation, they can burst out enormous potential in order to escape the deadlock.
So, if he is like this, is his son like this too?
It is impossible for Yuan Shao to kill his sons, but if they were placed in a competitive environment where everyone was vying for power, it would probably allow them to display even greater abilities!
Although Yuan Tan, who held Yuan Shao's sword and secret order, was nominally Yuan Ji's son according to clan etiquette and had been adopted by Yuan Shao, he was still the eldest son of the Yuan family as he was a direct descendant of the Yuan family.
This sudden support or promise would certainly increase Yuan Tan's fighting spirit, and at the same time would make his other two sons feel a sense of crisis.
Compared to going back to Yecheng to win favor in front of their father by being "filial piety", they can only stand out by outdoing their brothers in guarding the border of Jizhou!
Being able to think quickly and intelligently is indeed a characteristic of Yuan family members, but Yuan Shao only realized how to turn waste into treasure at this time. It was too late to use the competition among his sons to stabilize the border defense!
As long as he cannot launch a sufficiently effective counterattack, the resource supply within Jizhou cannot compare with the conditions for Qiao Yan to mobilize the power of eleven states to fight against him!
so--
"He must have another instruction for Yuan Xiansi." Qiao Yan and Cheng Yu made this judgment almost at the same time.
But who is in Xuzhou?
Zhou Yu, the governor of Xuzhou, is both civil and military, and Jia Xu, the governor of Qingzhou who was appointed in advance by Qiao Yan, is a typical old fox.
Others did not know that his experience under Dong Zhuo was due to an undercover mission, but Qiao Yan, the instigator, knew it well.
She also knew that when she wrote to Jia Xu several months ago to ask him to take action, he replied, "Your Majesty, since you intend to pacify the world in one battle, why not respond to ever-changing circumstances by remaining unchanged?"
When Jia Xu and Zhou Yu, together with Lu Su, Pang Tong and others who were present here, had already planned this place into an ironclad entity, striking back would not make them lose the initiative.
The impact of the war caused by the confrontation between the north and the south in Xuzhou has long been eliminated from this land, especially the remaining influence of Buddhism after the defeat of Zuo Rong, which no longer exists today.
The only ones left were probably the people in northern Xuzhou who were impressed by Liu Bei's personal charm and his ability to revive the people's livelihood at that time, and they were one of the few unstable factors in Xuzhou.
But this is definitely not something that could be exploited by Yuan Shao!
Although they still had some gratitude towards Liu Bei, since he was convicted of assassinating the Grand Marshal and was sentenced to death, there was no room for them to plead for him.
Because Qiao Yan ascended the throne and became emperor, they could only keep their protection of the Han Dynasty and Liu Bei in their hearts.
Needless to say, it has been more than a year since Zhou Yu took office as the governor of Xuzhou, and his various initiatives in Xuzhou have gradually taken root.
And for those Xuzhou people who are really busy making a living, they have no time to pay attention to anything else this year!
What they should be most concerned about is to cultivate their fields properly in order to have a good harvest this year.
This order to Yuan Tan could only be given in the marching plan.
This is quite interesting.
Qiao Yan said, "Let's see how far Yuan Shao's desperate counterattack can go."
Yuan Shao's sudden decision not to act according to plan made it possible for her to fail in both her arrangements in Henei County and on the border between You and Ji.
But this did not disappoint Qiao Yan.
In this encirclement that was closing in step by step, every step Yuan Shao took forward or backward could lead to a trap. Who knew whether that would be a truly viable way to survive.
The Yecheng court did not choose to surrender under the bombardment of the punitive manifesto, but instead still inspired the entire front to resist stubbornly at this time, which was undoubtedly a good thing for Qiao Yan.
Fight, of course we have to fight!
She needed a war that would fully demonstrate the military strength to highlight the power of Dayong.
A real battle is needed to give subordinates a chance to make achievements as subjects of Dayong.
Also need...
A victory that demonstrates the unification of the world!
"Convey my will."
"Order the commander of the Wuhuan Guard to go from Liaodong to Zhuojun to join forces with General Huya. Order the Wumeng officer of Youzhou to station troops in Quanzhou."
"Order the General of the Eastern Expedition to fill up the important roads of Fukouxing and Jingxing."
"Order... Luoyang's elephant soldiers to march north to Hanoi!"
No matter what arrangements Yuan Shao had made for Qingzhou, she had already taken three more steps forward. How should Yuan Shao respond?
These three instructions were issued at an extremely fast speed.
In June, people from all over the country were still looking at the seedlings growing vigorously in the fields, looking forward to the autumn harvest in two or three months, when they saw the soldiers of Dayong in their area taking action.
Although Lü Lingju, the captain of the Wuhuan Guard, was young, he had the record of killing the Wuhuan leader Tadun. He also helped the Emperor of Dayong escape from the assassination attempt in the Chang'an Palace, which was equivalent to the merit of following the emperor!
Her army, along with her military advisor Lu Yi, met with her father Lu Bu ahead of the original August plan, as if they were eyeing Jizhou covetously.
The waters to the north of Bohai State in Jizhou were originally commanded by Gan Ning, the captain of the tower ship, and now another general was added from the direction of Quanzhou.
When these mobilizations had not yet been completed, the border between Jizhou and Youzhou was already tense and ready to explode.
Fortunately, because Ju Shou, Gao Shun and others had fought with the north several times, they were able to suppress the panic among the soldiers.
But compared to the appropriate response in the north, Yuan Shang in the south was much more panicked.
He originally thought that with his father's favor and support, his path to success would be much smoother than that of his two brothers.
However, first the Han court in the west was replaced by the Yong Dynasty, and the Han was no longer the only ruler of the world in name. Then the court in Yecheng suffered losses of land and people one after another. Then, his father fell ill due to the stimulation of the manifesto, and it was difficult for him to take on all the responsibilities of the court at this time.
Fortunately, Guo Tu and others supported him and chose him over Yuan Xi, and selected a place for him to stay in Yecheng so that he could return to it at any time.
According to Yuan Shang's thoughts after he arrived in Liyang, Yanzhou had just been settled, and the soldiers had suffered heavy losses due to the previous internal strife. If an attack to the north was launched at this time, it would not benefit anyone. Cao Cao in Henei had also suffered "loss of troops and generals" under the exploitation of Qiao Yan. Who knows if he was secretly wary of him and perhaps would not give him such an opportunity to make achievements.
His position is the safest, and he is most likely to find an opportunity to retake Yanzhou!
If he can really accomplish this, who else can be his father's successor?
But Yuan Shang never expected that Yuan Tan, whom he thought had been abandoned by his father, would be urgently summoned back to the court at such a critical moment and entrusted with an important task.
Even if his subordinates told him that his father's likes and dislikes would not change so drastically in a short period of time, as long as he behaved properly, he would still be the son his father relied on the most, and his worries did not diminish at all at this time.
Just at this moment, Yuan Shang received two such enemy battle reports.
He paced back and forth in the tent, trying to calm his anxiety at the moment, but he couldn't help but say in front of his subordinates: "Among the eight passes in Taihang, the most suitable ones for attacking Jizhou are Jingxing and Fukouxing. Now these two passes are blocked, it's good that Bingzhou can't get in, but my Jizhou will never attack Bingzhou through these two routes again, in order to find a way out. For them, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages."
"But in this way, the General of the Eastern Expedition can reduce the number of soldiers stationed in Bingzhou and transfer them to Hanoi!"
Qiao Yan’s third instruction was an even more frightening signal to Yuan Shang.
Of course, Liu Biao had suffered a great loss at the hands of the elephant soldiers under the Jiaozhou governor Zhang Jin. Normally, people who knew about the existence of this thing would take precautions against it. However, knowing that you should defend and knowing how to defend are two completely different things!
When one of the generals in Hanoi was Wei Yan, who had once assisted Liu Biao in defeating the elephant soldiers, the deterrent effect of this mobilization of soldiers on Yuan Shang increased a bit!
Combining the second and third instructions together seems to say -
The previous tests in the northern part of Jizhou and the build-up of strength in the mountains to the west were nothing more than illusions they had created before.
Since the emperor is in Sili, it seems that the best solution for them is to send reinforcements from Sili to Henei, and at the same time send reinforcements from Bingzhou to Henei, and attack Jizhou in one fell swoop!
The initial settlement of Yanzhou had no influence on the decision they made at this moment, because Luoyang, which was backed by Hanoi, and Chang'an, west of Luoyang, were fans of Qiao Yan to the point where they could even push her onto the throne of the emperor!
The moment Yuan Shang came to this conclusion, he even resented his father's favoritism.
Otherwise, why would he acquiesce to Guo Tu's arrangement of him to guard the southern part of Jizhou, and why would he favor his elder brother at this time.
"I have to do something to save the situation...I can't just sit there and wait to die!" Yuan Shang walked around the military tent like an ant on a hot pan, suddenly stopped, and made a decision after his face changed drastically.
"Yes, we can't wait until all the Hanoi troops arrive and passively take the fight!"
At that time, would he have two more heads and four more arms than the one who had been defeated by Qiao Yan? Would he be able to stop him?
So he had to make a quick move first to disrupt his opponent's arrangements!
But what Yuan Shang still didn't expect was that because he was somewhat afraid of Qiao Yan, he hesitated for a moment. In the confrontation between the forces of Jizhou, Qingzhou and their neighboring territories, it was actually the Qingzhou direction that took action first.
It was not that Yuan Tan chose to attack Xuzhou, a flat land, first under Yuan Shao's instruction, to increase the defense depth of Qingzhou, but——
Since Zang Ba was dispatched to Yangzhou to quell the Shanyue Rebellion, Sun Guan, who still led a small group of Taishan bandits, together with his current boss Jiang Qin, invaded Qingzhou Beihai Kingdom from Langya County!
This is...Xuzhou took the first step?
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