The news that Yijing was captured and Gongsun Zan was defeated spread throughout the world in an instant.
All the princes, including Yuan Shu and Cao Cao, were shocked.
Too fast!
It took less than two months from the time the troops marched to Yecheng to the time Yijing was captured!
The most optimistic predictions made by the princes' counselors before were that the two sides would fight until the Chinese New Year. Many people even felt that Yuan Shao would return without success like last time.
The princes of the world have not yet learned the inside story, but they all speculate that either Gongsun Zan made a mistake or there was a spy inside. Otherwise, how could he have been defeated so quickly?
However, this can no longer change the fact that Gongsun Zan's power has withdrawn. After that, the situation in the North will undergo earth-shaking changes.
Its most direct impact was the complete defeat of the Montenegrin Army.
Yuan Tan used more than 10,000 elite troops to block the main force of tens of thousands of people in the middle of the Black Mountain Army for more than ten days. Finally, reinforcements from Yuan's army camp arrived.
On the day Yuan Shao captured Yijing, he sent 20,000 soldiers, led by Chunyu Qiong, Wen Chou and Zhang He, to quickly support Yuan Tan.
Yuan's army marched day and night, and finally arrived when Yuan Tan was in danger. The two sides joined forces and defeated the main force of the Black Mountain Army in the middle, leaving nearly half of the prisoners and corpses behind, and fled back to the Taihang Mountains of Bingzhou.
Yuan Tan did not repair, but went directly south, intercepting the Black Mountain Army on the south road threatening Yecheng on the lower road.
This Montenegrin army was in a stalemate with Gao Lan sent by Yuan Shang. They had just received the news of the defeat in the middle and wanted to withdraw their troops. However, they did not expect Yuan Tan to arrive so quickly. They were caught off guard and suffered a huge defeat, so they had to flee back.
While Yecheng was besieged, Cao Jun crossed the Yellow River to look for opportunities. After receiving the news, he immediately retreated to the south of the Yellow River, and the crisis in Yecheng was resolved.
Yuan Tan won two battles within ten days and became famous all over the world.
However, Yuan Xi, who really contributed the most to the Battle of Yijing, was far inferior to Yuan Tan because his inside story could not be revealed to outsiders.
However, this was not important to Yuan Xi. After Yi Jing was captured, the last nail between Jizhou and Youzhou was finally pulled out, and the communication between the two states was finally unobstructed.
This means that Yuan Xi can finally start to lay out the entire Youzhou.
Of course, the premise is that Yuan Shao is willing to let him take charge of Youzhou.
At this time, the dust has settled, and Yuan Shao's various subordinates. Some were sent out to clean up the surrounding bandits, some stayed in Yijing to organize the city defense, and some returned to Yecheng. There was still a busy scene in the camp.
But Yuan Xi was still staying in the camp outside Yijing City, talking boredly to Guo Jia.
Guo Jia's face showed approval, "The young master saved Liu He and Gongsun Zan's family on the spot, which is really the finishing touch. It can be called the stroke of the God of War."
Yuan Xi smiled bitterly and said: "Mr. Fengxiao, please don't flatter me. At that time, I just thought that Liu He could not die. I didn't think much about anything else."
"However, my father was quite unhappy about this afterwards and refused to comment on my proposal to treat Liu He well. Would it be that if Liu He were alive, it would be detrimental to the Yuan family?"
Guo Jia looked away: "If Liu He dies, it will seem like there will be less trouble in the short term, but it will be a failure in the long run."
Yuan Xi became interested: "Xi doesn't understand, please give me some advice."
Guo Jia said: "Liu He, through the name of his father Liu Yu, has a high prestige among Wuhuan and Xianbei."
Yuan Xi agreed very much, "I understand that Yan Rouxian Yufu and others introduced by Wuhuan Xianbei obey Liu He."
Guo Jia sneered: "No, you don't understand, otherwise you shouldn't have said what you just said."
"You have to understand that within the Pass, from the Wuhuan Xianbei, to the Southern Xiongnu, to the Bingliangwu people, they all have the same idea."
"Although they have lived in the Han Dynasty for a long time, they have never been fully accepted. Therefore, the party they want to rely on must be the most righteous and just party, not the princes or the nobles. These are not in their eyes."
Yuan Xi blurted out: "Emperor?"
Guo Jia nodded and said: "That's right, even if they are obedient to the emperor, they will still adhere to the emperor on the surface, even if the Han court is now only a mere shelf."
"So they don't consider themselves foreigners, but consider themselves Han people."
Yuan Xi didn't understand for a moment, "I don't understand."
"The Han Dynasty may overthrow at any time. What's the benefit of them doing this?"
Guo Jia sneered and said: "The boat in the river is about to sink. Some people know how to swim, and some don't. They know how to swim."
"They all have a way out, most of which are border crossings outside the fortress. If the Han Dynasty is destroyed and the world is in chaos, the worst they can do is retreat to the grasslands and then attach themselves to the new dynasty."
"The Central Plains gentry have no way to retreat, and are closely related to the survival of the Han Dynasty. This boat is really going to capsize, but many people will drown."
"So if the ship sinks, some people will die and some people won't."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi suddenly realized: "That's it!"
Guo Jia shook his head and said, "You don't understand yet."
"If the ship sinks, not only can they fish it out again, but they can also claim that they are the real owners of the ship."
"When everyone else is dead, naturally no one will oppose them. Then under the banner of being loyal ministers of the Han Dynasty, they can take over the Central Plains openly and honestly."
"This is the real purpose of their superficial attachment to the Han court even though they suffer some losses."
When Guo Jia said this, Yuan Xi's body trembled, and he suddenly became enlightened and sorted out the chaotic thoughts of the past few years.
Isn't this the case for the Five Hus and Sixteen Kingdoms, and even the birth of Han and Zhao?
In the past, Liu Bang was trapped in Baishan Mountain and was forced to negotiate with the Xiongnu and sent a clan daughter named Liu to marry him.
"Book of Jin·Liu Yuanhai Records": "Liu Yuanhai was a new Huns, after Maodun... In the early days, the emperor of the Han Dynasty regarded his eldest daughter as a princess, and his wife Maodun as a brother, so his descendants assumed the surname of Liu.
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Regardless of whether it is true or not, these Huns considered themselves descendants of Liu Bang, so when they established their political power hundreds of years later, they had a clear and righteous excuse.
Yuan Xi suddenly realized that for the Xiongnu and even Wuhuan Xianbei, foreign tribes that valued bloodline inheritance, they needed a strong claim, which only the Han court could give them!
Even though Yuan Shao has such a good relationship with Wuhuan Xianbei now, it is very likely that what people value is not Yuan Shao's power, but the great righteousness brought by Liu Yu, the patriarch of the Han Dynasty.
Yuan Shao suddenly remembered that no wonder in his previous life, when Yuan Shao attacked Gongsun Zan, Wuhuan Xianbei fully supported Yuan Shao. It was probably Yuan Shao in the name of avenging Liu Yu.
But only a year later in the Battle of Guandu, the strength of Wuhuan Xianbei led by Yan Rouxian Yufu secretly turned to Cao Cao, catching Yuan Shao off guard.
You must know that Yuan Shao still had the advantage until the later stages of the Battle of Guandu. Wuhuan and Xianbei were so full that they ran to support Cao Cao?
But if you consider that Cao Cao was the emperor's official name at that time, everything will be explained!
Whether Wuhuan Xianbei defected to Cao Cao in the name of the Han court, or Cao Cao secretly made some deal with him, the final result was a fire in Youzhou's backyard.
After the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Tan also persuaded Wuhuan to raise five thousand troops to fight against Cao's army.
After Cao Cao learned of this, he sent Qianzhao as a special envoy to persuade Su Puyan, the leader of Wuhuan in Liaodong, to surrender and "respect the imperial edict". He also resigned as the envoy to Liaodong and dismissed the five thousand soldiers who were about to set out to assist Yuan Tan.
"Three Kingdoms Wuwan Biography" records that after Cao Cao pacified Hebei, Yan Rou, the captain of Wuhuan, "commanded Xianbei and Wuhuan surrendered."
This shows that from beginning to end, Yuan Shao and these Wuhuan and Xianbei allies were not on Yuan Shao's side, but on the Han court's side.
Therefore, for this reason, later generations of Guo Jia were always extremely wary of Wuhuan and Xianbei, believing that sooner or later they would hinder Cao Cao's grand plan.
Therefore, he advocated the conquest of Wuhuan because he was afraid that Yuan Shang would "recruit his life-and-death ministers because of Wuwan's wealth. If the barbarians move, both the people and the barbarians will respond, so as to create a covetous plan." He also believed that Yuan Shang should
Taking advantage of the fact that Wuhuan from the three counties was unprepared for war, he "attacked him suddenly".
To put it bluntly, it was a sneak attack.
Cao Cao adopted this opinion and marched out of Lulong fortress "for more than five hundred miles through the mountains and valleys, passing through Baitan, Li Pinggang, crossing Beiting of Xian, and pointing to Liucheng in the east."
It was not until he was two hundred miles away from Liucheng that Taodun realized something was wrong and hurriedly raised his troops, but it was too late.
When Yuan Xi thought of this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly. After working for a long time, at this point in time, Wuhuan Xianbei was the loyal minister of the Han Dynasty, and Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were both great traitors!
The clown is myself!
Yuan Xi has now figured out that Liu He is really indispensable at the moment.
If Liu He dies, the Yuan family will be unable to escape the relationship, which will completely push Wuhuan Xianbei in Youzhou into the opposite direction, making it difficult for Yuan Xi to expand in Youzhou.
Thinking of this, he bowed deeply and said to Guo Jia in admiration: "Sir, just a few words will wake up the dreamer."
"But what I don't understand is that although Liu He is important, what use are Gongsun Zan's family members?"
Guo Jia looked around and opened his mouth. Yuan Xi recognized the word adoptive.
Guo Jia said: "The complexity of the forces in Youzhou is rare among the thirteen states. Before the young master has a firm foothold, he can only think of ways to unite vertically and horizontally."
"Liu He is a force, Wuhuan and Xianbei are a force, and Gongsun Du is a force."
"And the last group is those who still sympathize with Gongsun Zan, or those who want to take advantage of his posthumous reputation. These people cannot be killed."
"If the young master can save his widow and children and spread his name of benevolence and righteousness throughout the world, he can slowly turn these forces into his own use."
"No matter how bad it is, it will make them afraid to act rashly."
Yuan Xi nodded repeatedly when he heard this, and then said loudly: "Will my father think that Gongsun Zan's descendants are a threat and eradicate it?"
Guo Jia laughed and said: "How many years old are you afraid of? How dare you still want to conquer the world?"
"I think it's better to go home and farm as soon as possible."
Yuan Xi sweated profusely: "That's what you taught me, sir."
Guo Jia finally said: "Young Master, if you show some kindness as a woman now, at least it will make Yuan Shijun feel more at ease."
"After all, no one wants to see brothers fighting each other."
Yuan Xi understood that what Guo Jia was talking about was adoption, and thought to himself that it was an unintentional move, and there were so many twists and turns?
Yuan Xi actually wanted to give an explanation to Zhao Yun and Tian Yu at that time, but he really didn't think as deeply as Guo Jia!
He stood up and said: "In that case, I will go and talk to my father again and save Liu He and Gongsun Zan's family members."
"If my father kills them all out of his mind, it will be troublesome for me."
Guo Jia nodded, "But it doesn't matter if you suffer a little loss, young master. If you suffer a little loss now, you will definitely get greater rewards in the future."
Yuan Xi understood the idea and said: "I understand."
Yuan Shao was not in a hurry to return to Yecheng in the past few days. He stayed in the camp and was really thinking about how to deal with Liu He and others.
The counselors below were also arguing, but Liu He's identity was too sensitive, and no one dared to suggest that he be killed, but many suggested that he be placed under house arrest in Yecheng.
The counselors all insisted on their own opinions. Yuan Shao's old habit of hesitating when he was not fighting relapsed, and he has not yet made up his mind.
At this time, the guard came into the tent and reported: "Second Young Master Yuan wants to see you."