Yuan Xi left Zhen's house and went to Yecheng's arsenal to mobilize troops, where he met Zhang He.
When Zhang He saw Yuan Xi, he came over quickly and whispered: "These days, He heard that the young master is busy dealing with the locust plague, so he didn't dare to come and disturb him."
He lowered his voice and said, "Last time there were two carts of goods, but He didn't expect them to be so valuable. Only half of the cart was used for the compensation and settlement of the casualties and the rewards for the entire army.
"Let's see when the young master is free and can He send the rest back to the house?"
After hearing this, Yuan Xi smiled and said: "Brother Junyi, you're too polite. Wealth is only an external possession, nothing more important than human life."
"Brother Junyi helped me a lot last time. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have been able to repel the Xuzhou army. I'll just keep this small fortune."
Seeing that Yuan Xi refused to accept the offer, Zhang He couldn't refuse, so he had to thank him.
He thought of what happened in Feixian County, shook his head and said: "More than a year ago, when Liu Bei, the governor of Yuzhou, was still Prime Minister of Pingyuan, I was present when Tian Kai fought with the eldest son in Pingyuan Kingdom, but I did not go into battle at that time."
"The eldest son was beaten back into the formation that day. At that time, He didn't know what was going on with the opponent. However, it wasn't until the fight a few days ago that he discovered that there were some problems, which were very different from before."
Yuan Xi became interested and said, "What's the difference?"
Zhang He said: "In the battle on the plains, what were the two horse archers behind Liu Bei called?"
"Guan Yu and Zhang Fei."
"Oh, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, the young master knows the enemy well. In He's opinion, those two people, from their riding postures to their tactics, all seem quite unfamiliar and full of loopholes. Obviously, they have not experienced many battles. Riding I’m not very skilled at it either.”
"At that time, He Zi thought that he would go into battle personally. If he fought alone, he would be defeated in less than fifty rounds."
"At that time, we used more and fewer to push Liu Bei's army back to the east bank of the Yellow River. I never had a chance, so I didn't pay much attention to the other side."
When Zhang He said this, a look of disbelief appeared on his face, "But outside Fei County, my idea completely changed."
"As soon as we fought, I felt something was wrong."
"Compared with a year or two ago, Guan and Zhang are no longer what they used to be!"
"Whether it's in terms of moves or momentum, he's completely different from before."
"A year ago, I thought I could defeat it, but outside Feixian County, I could only resist it!"
After hearing this, Yuan Xi finally understood, "You mean, they have made rapid progress in more than a year?"
Zhang He's face was solemn, "Exactly, it didn't seem like they were hiding their clumsiness before, they just lacked strength, but now they seem to have been reborn, and their strength has increased dramatically!"
"There was at least a few years of battle gap between me and them, but they surpassed me in just one year. I'm really ashamed."
Yuan Xi thought to himself, so it turns out that Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are still potential players. No wonder they were not famous following Liu Bei in the early days, but became more powerful as they progressed.
If you encounter it again in the future, you must be more careful!
He said to Zhang He: "Isn't the general's strength always increasing?"
Zhang He looked a little disappointed: "When a person's martial arts reaches a certain level, his progress will be slower. This is limited by his personal talent."
"But shutting down the two of them is obviously much higher than my upper limit."
Yuan Xi nodded slightly, that's true. Sometimes the talent gap between people is really unreasonable.
However, considering that Liu, Guan, and Zhang are all masters, practicing every day and promoting each other, this condition is indeed unique.
He consoled him: "General, there is no need to be discouraged. Battles are not purely a competition of force, but a comprehensive reflection of strategy, morale and logistics. Marquis Wen, who is extremely powerful in force, has also been defeated several times?"
Zhang He praised: "Young Master is right, Marquis Wen is really powerful. When he attacked the Black Mountain Army, he led dozens of cavalry into the formation and made gains for ten consecutive days. Only then did he completely defeat the morale of the Black Mountain Army, which He could not reach."
"
He immediately sighed: "It's a pity that Marquis Wen was too arrogant and used troops to plunder the people. This did great damage to the Yuan family's reputation, so he was expelled."
Yuan Xi understood that in order to gain a reputation for benevolence and righteousness, Yuan Shao's military discipline was considered good compared to the princes of the late Han Dynasty, especially in terms of restraining the looting of the people, and he did a pretty good job.
He said aloud: "The fact that Marquis Wen was able to escape despite being surrounded by numerous ambushes and assassins that day was really impressive."
Zhang He looked around and whispered: "Master, don't you know?"
"Marquis Wen's ability to escape is said to be related to Gao Shun."
Yuan Xi and Zhang He chatted for a long time, just waiting for this sentence.
Regarding Gao Shun, Yuan Xi also asked Yuan Tan Gao Lan, but they were unable to provide any details.
He looked puzzled: "I haven't been in Yecheng for three years and I don't have good information. Please ask the general to clarify my doubts."
Zhang He hesitated for a moment, but after taking Yuan Xi's belongings, he couldn't refuse at this moment, so he could only whisper: "I don't know much about the inside story, but I have worked with Gao Shun before, so I know some information."
"But what is certain is that Gao Shun is from the Chenliu Gao family and belongs to the same clan as Gao Gan Gao Lan."
"Gao Shun's military strength is acceptable, but compared to our Four Court Pillars, we can't say he has an advantage. But what makes him great is his military training."
"You also know that people like him can't stand out if they can't win military exploits. In the Gao clan of Jizhou, they are not as good as high officials and high rankings."
"Later, Marquis Wen fled from Jizhou, and Gao Shun disappeared with him. The pursuers could not catch him. Many counselors suspected that Gao Shun had provided information to Marquis Wen, and they left together."
Yuan Xi thought to himself, that's it, then things will be right.
Just like Cao Cao believed in the Xiahou family, Yuan Shao vigorously promoted and appointed his wife's family, the Gao family, so much so that the subsequent Bingzhou was handed over to Gao Gan.
It’s no wonder that Gao Shun’s superior status under Lu Bu was met with suspicion.
The generals under Lu Bu were mainly from Bingliang warriors, and most of them were cavalry. However, the appearance of a pure infantryman like Gao Shun looked extremely unusual.
Moreover, the soldiers and armors in the trapped camp were all in order, which was even more unusual. Since Lu Bu was defeated by Li Jue and Guo Si and escaped with his hundred cavalry, he had spent most of his time living under the influence of others. How could he have the money and food to buy so many strong soldiers and armors?
There are not many princes in the world who specialize in training infantry. Even if they have armor, they are reluctant to use it for infantry. Cao Cao's Qingzhou soldiers, who mostly wear commoners, are considered very powerful.
Only Yuan Shao, who was probably the most powerful in Jizhou, which was located in the richest and most prosperous state, and had Qu Yi's Xianden dead soldiers as a basis, could he afford such an army.
It's even possible that there are people who died first in the trapped camp!
Yuan Xi felt that things were gradually coming together.
No wonder the Yuan family kept this matter secret. When Gao Shun followed Lu Bu, he took away an elite infantryman who was still in training from the Yuan family, causing Yuan Shao to suffer heavy losses.
This can also explain why Gao Shun later suffered suspicion under Lu Bu, and was once deprived of his military power. In the end, Cao Cao killed him without asking. It was probably because of his background.
It seems that if Lu Bu is to be poached, Gao Shun may not be able to do so.
How could Yuan Xi help Lu Bu without any reason?
Although Lu Bu was defeated many times, his team was always strong. One of the eight capable generals under his command, Zhang Liao, made Yuan Xi envious.
And Gao Shun, who is above the eight strong generals, has a transcendent status and is extremely famous in the Seven Hundred Traps camp. He is also a trump card.
Instead of having all the power taken over by Cao Cao after Lu Bu's death, it's better to find a way to get some of it yourself, since Cao Cao can't be taken advantage of anyway!
Yuan Xi and Zhang He talked for a while, and finally said: "The trip to the plains depends on the general."
This time Yuan Xi's two thousand troops were still commanded by Zhang He, while Yuan Tan's twenty thousand troops were commanded by Yan Liang, Gao Lan and others, each of whom could have four to five thousand troops.
It seemed that Zhang He was at a disadvantage. After all, he had more troops and achieved greater military exploits.
However, since Zhang He dared to accept it, on the one hand, it was because of the cart of goods sent by Yuan Xi, and on the other hand, Zhang He also guessed that Yuan Xi would also transfer elite soldiers from Beixin City this time.
Zhang He felt something was wrong when he saw the thirty cavalry last time. Their average quality and strength far exceeded that of the Jizhou cavalry, so Zhang He guessed that following Yuan Xi this time, he could achieve more military exploits!
Zhang He asked: "How many troops will the young master mobilize from Beixin City this time?"
Yuan Xi did the math, "There are about a hundred cavalry and three hundred infantry. This should be my limit."
Zhang He was slightly disappointed: "The two cavalrymen from last time?"
"They won't come."
Zhang He was even more disappointed.
Yuan Xi said: "But I will send another capable general over, who is only higher than the previous two."
Zhang He was now somewhat satisfied, but five hundred troops and horses were still a bit small.
Forget it, let's see when the time comes. Zhang He always felt that he didn't fully understand Yuan Xi.
The weather turned cold and entered late autumn. Yecheng was covered with fallen leaves and looked extremely peaceful. Jizhou was also peaceful.
But the surrounding states were in chaos.
Lu Bu and Cao Cao fought several battles around Juancheng.
Lu Bu had stored grain before and was more confident than Cao Cao's army, but with such an advantage, he still couldn't defeat Cao Cao's army.
However, Cao's army's food supply was about to run out.
At this time, Yuan Shao sent a messenger to Cao Cao, saying that as long as Cao Cao was willing to attach himself to Yuan Shao and send his family to Yecheng, he would immediately send troops and food.
Cao Cao was undecided in Juancheng Mansion, and his advisers were arguing endlessly. But this time, even Xun Yu and Xi Zhicai were at their wits' end.
At this time, someone suddenly stood up and said, "I'm going to collect food."
When Cao Cao saw this, his expression softened and he said, "Zhongde, what can you do?"
The counselor who got up was none other than Cheng Yu. He said, "I'll go back to Dong'a to find a solution."
Cao Hong snorted coldly: "Where can there be food in Dong'a? Does Zhongde want to run away?"
Now that there is a shortage of food in the city, everyone is in panic, and deserters are increasing day by day, so Cao Hong can no longer bear his temper.
Cao Cao shouted: "Shut up!" Cao Hong immediately shut up.
Cao Cao turned to Cheng Yu: "Zhongde, I can trust you, but Dong'a has no food."
Cheng Yu's expression remained unchanged: "There is a living person."
Everyone's expressions changed drastically, and Yu Jin felt sick to his stomach.
Cheng Yu cupped his hands and said: "Now we are at the end of our rope. This is the only way we can support you. I hope Duke Ming will make a decision."
He looked around: "Or do you think there are other ways?"
Everyone lowered their heads.
Xun Yu said slowly: "Zhongde, that's your hometown."
Cheng Yu said coldly: "What will happen if we lose?"
Everyone was even more speechless.
Cao Cao sighed: "It all depends on Zhongde."
The day after Cheng Yu left, news came that Jizhou had raised 30,000 troops to attack Qingzhou!
As soon as the news came out, everyone was caught off guard.
Cao Cao felt like he had eaten a fly. Previously, they did not accept Yuan Shao's conditions. As a result, Yuan simply went to Qingzhou and ignored Yanzhou, which was beaten to a pulp.
The one who suffered more than Cao Cao was Liu Bei in Xuzhou.