A group of counselors had been following Yuan Shao for a long time. When they saw Yuan Shao's expression, they understood that he was already interested.
Because the timing of sending troops this time is good from all aspects!
But no one took the lead in taking a stand because the risks involved are also very high.
Xun Chen spoke up: "Master Xian Yi's proposal sounds really good. If we can take the opportunity to defeat Yuan Shu, it will weaken a lot of his strength."
"But the premise is that the information provided by Mr. Xian Yi is true, and if Jizhou sends troops now, there will still be time to catch up."
"If we send troops now and the war is over, or if Master Xian Yi gets false information and the other party's target is not Huaicheng, but our soldiers from Jizhou for reinforcements, thus setting a trap, then we will be in trouble."
When Xun Chen said these words, everyone was confused. These words seemed to be watertight, but the intention behind them was that he was against sending troops!
After hearing this, Yuan Shao said: "Then according to your opinion, shouldn't we send troops to Hanoi?"
Xun Chen hesitated for a moment, "It's not that we shouldn't, but most of the troops in Jizhou have been taken away by Master Xianfu, and some of the other troops are still besieging Dongwuyang."
"If troops and horses are recruited again at this time, Yecheng's defense will inevitably be empty. If any real forces take the opportunity to cause chaos, I am afraid that the crisis of the Yecheng Rebellion a few years ago will be repeated."
When it comes to the chaos in Yecheng, everyone has a look of fear on their faces. The most taboo thing about the front-line battle is that the base camp is captured. If Yecheng's troops are exhausted, the defense will inevitably be weak and there will indeed be a big gap.
In normal times, troops could be mobilized from elsewhere, but Yuan Xi's letter was so urgent that most of Yuan Shao's allies, or the Yuan family's forces, were too far away.
For example, Yuan Tan in Qingzhou, Liu Bei in Xuzhou, and Liu Biao in Jingzhou are willing to send troops, but it will take at least half a month to notify them immediately, and it will definitely be too late.
Calculating this way, only by sending troops from Yecheng, or directly pulling part of the army attacking Heishan, can we rush to Huaicheng in time.
Yecheng needs to retain people, so the fastest way is naturally to divide the troops from Yuan Shang's attacking Black Mountain army to go to Huaicheng.
This brings us to a question: is such a result what the enemies of the Yuan family want to see?
Because in this way, Yuan Shang's military strength will be weakened a lot, and the Montenegrin Army will get a chance to breathe. If they take the opportunity to counterattack and defeat Yuan Shang...
All the counselors thought of this possibility and were all silent in thought. None of them could guarantee that this worst case scenario would not happen.
The atmosphere fell into silence for a moment, and a thought came to everyone's mind.
It would be better if we didn’t fight Zang Hong!
Originally, after the Battle of Yijing, Jizhou was going to rest for a while, but the situation in the world suddenly changed, and the princes were all ready to make a move around the emperor's motorcade.
However, Zang Hong rebelled at the wrong time, which made Yuan Shao furious. He ordered Yuan Shang to lead an attack and requisitioned a considerable part of Jizhou's troops.
And compared to Cao Cao, who faced similar problems, he gave up the attack on Chenliu without hesitation, leaving only a small number of troops to contain it, and all the main forces rushed to Hedong.
As for Yuan Shao, who has a good reputation, he will never let go of Zang Hong who betrayed him. From this point of view alone, he is not as decisive as Cao Cao.
The circumstances of Zang Hong's betrayal were also different from Lü Bu's. Lü Bu had corrupted Jizhou's military discipline and Yuan Shao used this as an excuse to take action. However, Lü Bu himself had no intention of betraying Yuan Shao at that time.
Therefore, Yuan Shao was not so resistant to Yuan Xi and Lu Bu joining forces.
Tian Feng saw Yuan Shao's confusion and said, "I have a plan."
"How about sending a letter to Liu Bei of Xuzhou, promising him benefits and ordering him to help besiege and attack Zang Hong."
"I heard that Liu Bei has been expanding very rapidly recently. This move can also weaken some of his strength."
"Then we will transfer back the soldiers who besieged Dongwuyang, and send some of them to Montenegro to reinforce Mr. Xianfu."
"At the same time, mobilize a force of General Zhang He's troops and go directly south to Hanoi for reinforcements."
"In this way, the problem of troop mobilization can be solved."
After hearing this, the judge said: "Yuan Hao's plan is very clever!"
"If Liu Bei can capture Dongwuyang, it would be better to give him this city and let him station his generals."
"Liu Bei and Cao Cao have nothing to deal with in the first place. If he is in Dongwuyang, he can stop Cao Cao from making any changes for us!"
"In this way, he won't be able to expand, and he will be honest for a few years for the time being."
After hearing this, everyone felt that Tian Feng's plan was indeed feasible.
If there were counselors who said that Cao Cao had no different intentions before, now Cao Cao's actions have made people no longer dare to defend him.
From secretly crossing the Yellow River during the Battle of Yijing, to secretly expanding to Sili, Yuzhou without Yuan Shao's permission, to now serving the emperor, they all show that he has the intention to break away from the Yuan family!
Especially the matter of flattering the emperor has made Yuan Shao and his advisers realize that what Jizhou doesn't want to do, others may not want to do. At least from the current perspective, there are still many benefits to flattering the emperor!
In particular, many officials appointed by Emperor Liu Xie conflicted with the appointments of officials from various princes, which often turned into opportunities for mutual attacks, causing headaches for all princes.
It is meaningless to discuss whether to flatter the emperor now. Yuan Shao's counselors are not stupid. They understand that although flattering the emperor is very useless to them, if Cao Cao succeeds, it will also be a big trouble!
Another reason is that Yuan Xi did not hesitate to take risks himself to do this kind of thing, which speaks volumes about his attitude and predictions.
In the past few years, Yuan Xi's influence within the Yuan family has been far greater than he imagined, because he participated in the decision-making, which finally proved that Yuan Xi's ideas were correct.
In addition, Yuan Xi has been writing letters to Yuan Shao in the past two years, influencing Yuan Shao's thoughts in a subtle way, and finally made Yuan Shao understand that it is extremely important for Hanoi to welcome the emperor.
The last and most important reason is that the location of Hanoi County is extremely critical, which involves the Yuan family's route to unify the world.
Nowadays, the struggle for hegemony among the princes in the world is actually mainly between two Yuan Dynasties. If Yuan Shao wants to defeat Yuan Shu, he must find the best route to cross the Yellow River and go south.
Hanoi County is located on the north bank of the Yellow River, and there are several ferries going south. If Hanoi is controlled, it will be difficult to go north from the south bank of the Yellow River. On the other hand, Yuan Shao can cross the river south at any time.
The next suitable place to cross the river can only be a few hundred miles east of Hanoi, from Yecheng south to Liyang, across the river to Baima on the south bank of the Yellow River, then more than a hundred miles south to Wuchao, then to Guandu, and then south to Xudu.
Only then can we enter Yuzhou from Yanzhou and attack Yuan Shu's base camp.
This passage is now controlled by Cao Cao, and Yecheng cannot easily send troops.
Then the next suitable place to go south is Xuzhou, because it is blocked by rivers and swamps, and it is not so easy to mobilize troops.
And if Yuan Shao now controls Hanoi County, he can go south to enter Sili, open the road to Jingzhou, and enter the western part of Yuzhou. This route is the safest and most feasible of the southbound routes.
Therefore, when Yuan Xi and Lu Bu joined forces, Yuan Shao not only lost his temper, but found an opportunity to attack Yuan Shu.
Although Yuan Shao sometimes saves face, he is not someone who puts aside his interests for this reason. Yuan Xi has now shown him a new possibility. Although it is risky, it is worth a try!
After Yuan Shao finished explaining his idea, the counselors and subordinates present all agreed, and they could not think of any reason to object.
Shen Pei smiled and said, "I don't know if it's a coincidence or not. Now, of the three routes we use to attack Yuan Highway, except for the Guandu route, which is in the hands of Cao Mengde, the other two are both in the hands of Mr. Xian Yi."
After everyone heard this, they realized that this was indeed the case!
Not to mention Huaicheng, which is currently occupied by Yuan Xi, Guandu, which is occupied by Cao Cao, and Xuzhou, the route from Guangling to Yangzhou, or from Xiapi to Jiujiang County, is jointly controlled by Yuan Xi and Liu Bei.
Everyone pondered, was this a coincidence or was it premeditated?
If it's the latter, Mr. Xian Yi, or the counselors behind him, are too scary!
This is because the closer you are to Yuan Shu, the more benefits you can get from defeating Yuan Shu in the future.
Several counselors couldn't help but have this idea in their minds. It would be great if Yuan Xi was the eldest son!
Yuan Shao saw that everyone had no objections, but he thought it was rare. Usually, there would be an argument between the two sides, but why did it go so smoothly this time?
He suddenly realized that only three of the eight counselors had come, and the remaining subordinates were not qualified to interrupt.
With fewer people, there will naturally be fewer disputes. Even if there are different opinions, it is easy to see the position clearly. After several discussions, it will be clear.
Yuan Shao was a little depressed. There were fewer people to do things, but he could do things more efficiently than when there were more people. So what was the point of finding so many advisers?
After the plan was decided, Yuan Shao ordered people to send letters to Liu Bei and Yuan Shang, and everyone dispersed.
Xun Chen followed him out and walked alone on the road, looking at the sky and sighing.
As the mastermind, because Cao Cao gradually revealed his ambitions, he became less and less popular within the Yuan family, so he was always cautious in his words and actions. Just like what happened today, he said a lot less out of concern.
Because the descendants of the Xun family, Xun You and Xun Yu were all highly valued by Cao Cao, Xun Chen was also jealous.
Of course, there were also people with malicious intentions who were eyeing his position as mastermind, but Xun Chen couldn't prove this to himself.
He is very embarrassed now. He has his own problems and has secretly sought refuge with Yuan Tan. However, there is no airtight wall in the world. I am afraid that Yuan Shao has already known about this, so he is suspicious of Xun and Chen. Naturally, his trust is much less.
Therefore, Xun Chen could not see his own prospects at a glance. As a schemer who was not reused, even if the Yuan family achieved great success in the future, he would only be able to hold an idle position.
This is already the best situation. You can't go to Cao Cao. Even if the other party can defeat the Yuan family in the end, can your position surpass Xun Yu and Xun You?
Xun Chen felt a little disappointed. Although he was following the Yuan family, he had no worries about food and clothing, but as a counselor, who wouldn't want his plan to be adopted by his lord and change the general trend of the world by himself?
Thinking of this, he felt extremely puzzled that Yuan Xi had not shown any intention of soliciting him that day.
I heard that Guo Jia, who he later took care of, had a poor family background, so why was he alone favored by him?
Xun Chen's guess was correct. In Yuan Xi's little notebook, his name was not at the top.
The people in the front row were looking helpless and said to Yuan Xi, who was stubbornly refusing to leave: "The envoy has been visiting for several days in a row. Shun also knows what the envoy meant."
"I have no intention of changing the court, so please go back."
Yuan Xi smiled and said: "Brother Gao, there are no absolutes in this world."