During the funeral of Yuan Shao, Mrs. Liu killed all five women that Yuan Shao liked. She was afraid that after these people died unjustly, her ghost met Yuan Shao in the nine springs, so she pulled out their hair and turned them away.
The thorny flower on her face destroyed the body, and her vicious behavior spread among the crowd. She did not even let the women's families go, and sent people to arrest them and executed them all.
Other useful people carried out fashion, Shen Pei, Feng Ji appointed Yuan Shang as General of the Grand Sima, led Ji, Qing, You, and the governor of the four states, and then asked him to come back immediately.
Yuan Tan was on the road at this time and got the news that he knew that his father had passed away, so he discussed with Guo Tu and Xin Ping.
Guo Tu suggested: "Now that the lord has passed away and is no longer in Jizhou, Shen Pei and Feng Ji will definitely make their people the lords."
Xin Ping said: "Not only that, I think they must have had some plans. If it goes by now, there will definitely be disaster."
Yuan Tan knew about this and asked, "If this is the case, what should we do?"
Guo Tu thought for a moment and said, "You can put the troops outside the city and observe the movements inside, so that I can go to the city to investigate the situation first."
Yuan Tan adopted this suggestion and asked Guo Tu to go to Jizhou first. He himself stationed outside the city with his troops. Guo Tu saw Yuan Shang and after saluting, Yuan Shang asked, "Why didn't my brother come?"
Guo Tu replied: "Because I was not in good health when I traveled a long distance, I was infected with a disease and was recuperating in the army, so I didn't come here in person."
Yuan Shang said: "I was also given my father's will, and I made me the lord of Hebei and the brother was the general of chariots and cavalry. Now Cao's army has attacked me. I hope my brother will be the front office and I will then mobilize troops to support me."
Guo Tu said: "The marching and war requires some people to discuss countermeasures together. I hope that Shen Pei and Feng Ji can be sent as auxiliary services, so that the chance of winning is greater."
Yuan Shang said: "I have to rely on these two people to give me advice. How can I let them leave together?"
Guo Tu gave in and said, "Then please let one of them discuss the strategy, how about it?"
After all, Guo Tu made sense, and Yuan Shang had no choice but to let the two of them draw lots and send them out the people they caught.
When Feng Ji caught the lot, Yuan Shang had to let him take the seal and go to Yuan Tan's army with Guo Tu.
Feng Ji followed Guo Tu all the way to Yuan Tan's army. When he saw that Yuan Tan was not infected at all, he felt a little uneasy and was uncomfortable in his actions. After offering his seal, Yuan Tan was furious and prepared to behead Feng Ji.
Guo Tu walked to Yuan Tan's ear and whispered: "Now that Cao's army is approaching, we will leave Feng Ji alone, so that Yuan Shang can rest assured. After defeating Cao Cao, it will not be too late to fight for the power of Jizhou."
Yuan Tan followed this suggestion and immediately set off the camp. When he arrived in Liyang, he met Cao's army. He immediately sent general Wang Zhao to fight. The opponent was Xu Huang, who came out of Cao's army. The two fought for several rounds, and Xu Huang killed him with one knife.
After killing Wang Zhao, the Cao army took advantage of the situation to cover up the killing. Yuan Tan's army was defeated and could only temporarily retreat into Liyang. While resisting Cao's army's attack head-on, people were sent to Yuan Shang for help.
Yuan Shang and Shen Pei discussed and sent five thousand troops to rescue him.
Cao Cao knew that the other side would definitely have rescue troops, so he sent Le Jin and Li Dian to intercept the troops halfway, and took the method of attacking on both sides to surround him and kill him.
Yuan Tan received the news and knew that Yuan Shang had only sent 5,000 troops and was intercepted by Cao's army halfway. He was very angry and called Feng Ji to scold him. Feng Ji was afraid that Yuan Tan would be angry and killed himself, so he said: "Hope."
You can ask me to write a letter to my lord, and he will definitely come to rescue him in person.”
So Yuan Tan ordered Feng Ji to write a letter and sent someone to Jizhou to Yuan Shang. After receiving the letter, he discussed with Shen Pei and the others.
Shen Pei said: "Guo Tu has many strategies. He didn't compete for Jizhou before because Cao's army was in our territory. If he was allowed to defeat Cao's army, he would definitely lead the victorious army to continue to compete with us for Jizhou. It would be better not to send rescue troops.
Then, use the power of Cao's army to destroy our opponent."
Yuan Shang had no opinion at all, so he adopted this suggestion and did not send troops to rescue him.
The envoy reported the situation to Yuan Tan truthfully. Yuan Tan was very angry and without saying a word, he killed Feng Ji, and then attracted everyone to prepare to surrender to Cao Cao.
Yuan Tan had already been placed in some detailed works. After knowing this situation, he immediately went to Jizhou to report to Yuan Shang.
Yuan Shang discussed with Shen Pei again and said, "If we do this, if Yuan Tan surrenders to Cao Cao and attacks Jizhou together, then we will be in danger."
So Shen Pei and General Su You were left to guard Jizhou. He led the army to Liyang to rescue Yuan Tan. Yuan Shang asked who could be the front line in the army, and the brothers Lu Kuang and Lu Xiang were willing to go.
Yuan Shang sent 30,000 troops to the two of them as pioneers and went to Liyang first. Yuan Tan was very happy to learn about this situation and temporarily put the matter of surrendering to Cao Cao.
Yuan Tan was guarding the city and stationed troops, while Yuan Shang was stationed outside the city, forming a horn-shaped force. In less than a day, Yuan Xi and the troops of the high-ranking officials came outside the city, stationed in three places, and sent soldiers to attack every day.
Cao's army fought, but Cao's army was well-trained and had some generals with high martial arts skills. Basically, Yuan Shang failed every round of attacks. Cao's army won every time, one rose and the other fell. In February of the spring of the eighth year of Jian'an, Cao Cao ordered
, attack in different ways.
Yuan Tan, Yuan Xi, Yuan Shang, and the ideas of senior officials were gradually disbanded. Li Yang's situation was already very critical. When he arrived at the back, he could not defend himself, so he left the city and left.
Yuan's army retreated to Jizhou, and Cao Cao personally chased Jizhou with his troops. After Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang entered the city, they saw this crisis and began to work together. Yuan Xi and Gao Gan set up a village thirty miles away from the city, bluffing.
The Cao army was worried. Cao Cao and his soldiers could not attack Jizhou in a few days.
Guo Jia spoke to Cao Cao at this time: "Yuan Shao abolished the eldest and established the youngest, so the Yuan brothers will definitely compete for power and each established their own party friends. If there is danger, they will unite together. If there is no
They will start to compete for any threat. We might as well change our direction and go south to fight against Liu Biao, wait for their brothers to fight for the situation, and then we can take Hebei in one fell swoop."
Cao Cao thought this plan was very good and trusted Guo Jia on weekdays. He ordered Jia Xu to be the prefect and defend Liyang, and then asked Cao Hong to take his troops to guard Guandu. Cao Cao personally led his army to the direction of Jingzhou.
Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang thought Cao's army was afraid, so they retreated and began to celebrate victory in the city.