(I'm just a few short of being on the classification list. Please give me your votes for recommendation. Thank you, Captain)
Xu You panicked.
If you follow Yuan Shao, you are a close minister after all. You don't have to endure hardships or be burdened. You just have to talk.
Now, if I follow Yan Liang to Runan, I will risk going deep behind enemy lines, and I will have to go through bumpy roads and endure hardships.
Today is no different. Today Xu You is used to living a luxurious and leisurely life, and is no longer used to the hardship of running around.
"Lord, actually..." Xu You wanted to turn down the job on the spot.
Before the words came out of his mouth, Yuan Shao waved his hand and said: "Ziyi has thought carefully. Let Ziyuan accompany you to Runan. That's it."
Yuan Shao's favorite thing is to play with balance. The pair of Yan Liang and Xu You, one is a general from Hebei and the other is a scholar from Ruying. The checks and balances between each other make him feel at ease.
Xu You's words reached his throat, but he had to swallow them back. Yuan Shao had already made his decision, what else could he say.
Xu You's reluctance could not escape Yan Liang's eyes. He knew that although Xu You had left with him, his heart was still with Yuan Shao. If he wanted to conquer him, he would have to work hard.
"Mr. Ziyuan, for this trip to Runan, I need Mr. Nuanfeng to give you a lot of advice." Yan Liang held his hands up to him and said with a smile.
"It's easy to talk about. We are all working for the Lord, so why bother?" Xu You forced out a smile.
After receiving Yuan Shao's general order, Yan Liang was afraid of causing trouble, so he selected a thousand Qingqi to go south that day, taking Xu You with him.
Yan Liang originally asked Yuan Shao for 3,000 light cavalry, but Yuan Shao later was reluctant to part with his precious cavalry and only agreed to allocate 1,000 cavalry to Yan Liang.
Yan Liang selected a thousand elite knights from them, and most of these thousand people had no families in Hebei. In this way, when Yan Liang left Yuan Shao in the future, he would not be afraid that they would not follow because of concerns about their families.
With these thousand light cavalry, Yan Liang left Yuan Jun's camp, marched at night under the stars, and soon escaped Yuan Jun's control.
The fast horse galloped briskly across the vast wilderness of the Central Plains, and Yan Liang's mind suddenly became extremely broad.
With a thousand elite men in hand, Yan Liang believed that as long as he could successfully reach Runan, he could use them as the backbone to form a considerable number of troops.
However, Runan was only the beginning of Yan Liang's self-reliance, and Yan Liang's final destination was Jingzhou.
If you want to occupy a place in troubled times, it is not enough to rely on soldiers and horses. The most important thing is talents.
At that time, Liu Bei was defeated many times, but he was still able to recover because he had a group of loyal civil servants and generals. As long as these family members were there, he could raise an army again at any time.
With the current general trend of the world, in the Central Plains of Henan, all the talented kings and assistants such as Er Xun have returned to Cao Cao's command, and it is even less possible to recruit the civil servants and generals under Yuan Shao.
As for the Sun family in Jiangdong, it has lasted for three generations, and the group of talents under the Sun family cannot be easily recruited.
Looking at the world, only in Jingzhou there are many people who are hiding in the wilderness and have not yet returned to the Ming Lord.
There are countless peerless talents like Zhuge Kongming, Fengchu Pang Tong, Ma Liang, Jiang Wan, Huang Zhong. In the past, Liu Bei relied on these Jingzhou talents to achieve great success.
At present, Liu Biao, the herdsman of Jingzhou, has no ambition and is good at raising scholars but not good at using them. Jingzhou scholars including his confidants Kuai Yue and Cai Mao only regard Liu Biao as a temporary ruler.
With suitable strong men, these people can find new masters at any time.
Yan Liang thought that since he had stolen Liu Bei's plan, he should simply steal it cleanly. Instead of leaving this piece of fat in Jingzhou to them, why not take it for himself.
The Qingqi traveled quickly and crossed Yanzhou in a few days and entered the territory of Xuzhou.
Although Cao Cao nominally occupied Xuzhou, it was located in the easternmost part of Cao Tong District, and most of the areas were flat, making it difficult to set up passes. Then Xuzhou was newly settled, and after several massacres, the local population was sparsely populated and the people were dissatisfied. Therefore, the Battle of Guandu
At that time, Xuzhou was the place where Cao Cao's rule was weakest.
At this time, Cao Cao's main forces were concentrated in the Central Plains to confront Yuan Shao. The local defense forces in Xuzhou were weak. Yan Liang relied on the speed of his cavalry to easily cross Xuzhou and enter Runan County, which belongs to Yuzhou.
That morning, the team was about to enter a valley.
"General Yan, there is an ambush ahead, and we have ordered our troops to stop advancing." Xu You, who had been silent all the way, suddenly spoke.
Yan Liang looked far into the distance and saw a mountain lying beside the road in front of him. There was no dust in the forest road passing through the mountain. At a glance, except for the birds hovering in the forest, there was no sign of a person or flag.
"Mr. Ziyuan, how do you judge that there is an ambush ahead?" Yan Liang asked suspiciously.
Xu You stroked his sparse beard and said calmly: "Look at the birds circling over the mountain forest, but they refuse to drop down from the branches for a long time. Unless there is an ambush in the forest, how could they be so frightened that they dare not drop down?
.”
The corners of Xu You's mouth rose, showing confidence.
Yan Liang raised his head and observed carefully, the situation on the other side of the mountain forest was indeed as Xu You said.
"What a sharp observation. This Xu You looks listless on the surface, but he is so alert underneath. It seems that I did the right thing by abducting him..."
Yan Liangliang admired him, but he did not show it for the time being. He just ordered his troops to stay put and sent a team of scouts to investigate.
Not long after, the scouts reported that there were indeed a lot of people ambushed in the woods on both sides of the road. Moreover, many of the ambush soldiers were wrapped in yellow turbans, and they looked like remnants of the Yellow Turbans.
Yan Liang also asked people to find local villagers and inquire about the origin of this Yellow Turban Army.
The villagers called the mountain in front of it Woniu Mountain. It was occupied by two Yellow Turban thieves named Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao a few years ago. In a few years, they gathered thousands of Yellow Turban soldiers and horses, and no one in the vicinity could defeat them.
Zhou Cang!
When Yan Liang heard this name, his heart really moved.
"The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" said that this man was picked up by Guan Yu when he was riding a thousand miles alone. Guan Yu was going to Runan to look for Liu Bei, and now he is taking Liu Bei's route south, so it is not surprising to meet this man.
Although this Zhou Cang was not very good at commanding troops, he was quite skilled in martial arts. In the novel, when Guan Yu flooded the Seventh Army, he was the one who captured Pang De alive.
What's more valuable is that Zhou Cang was so loyal that after Guan Yu was defeated and killed, he would rather die than fall in Jianmai City, and finally committed suicide.
Yan Liang thought that he was short of talents at the moment. Although Zhou Cang was not very talented, he was fortunately loyal and highly skilled in martial arts. If he could recruit him as his personal bodyguard, it would be a bonus.
Thinking of this, Yan Liang rolled his eyes and had an idea.
"Pass my general's order and the whole army will set up camp on the spot. They will spend the night at the foot of Woniu Mountain tonight."
Xu You, who originally looked proud, was stroking his beard, waiting for Yan Liang to ask him for advice on how to defeat the enemy. Unexpectedly, Yan Liang ignored him and suddenly ordered to set up camp.
Xu You was confused and couldn't help but said: "They are just a group of grass bandits. They can be dealt with with a little trick. Why did General Yan stop moving forward?"
What he meant by this was probably a hint that Yan Liang asked him for advice, but he didn't know that Yan Liang had other ideas.
"I am here to recruit the Yellow Turban Army, not to annihilate them. Mr. Ziyuan must be tired after traveling all day. Why don't we just sit down, have a glass of wine, and watch Yan use his tricks."
Yan Liang smiled slightly.
It is true that he intends to conquer Xu You, but before that, he must show Xu You his extraordinary qualities and make Xu You realize that he is a wise master who can serve him.
A trace of suspicion flashed in Xu You's eyebrows. From the Battle of White Horse to now, the originally brave and foolhardy Yan Liang became more and more unpredictable to him.
"This Yan Ziyi behaves calmly and calmly. He is not as impatient as before. What is he thinking in his heart..." Xu You looked at Yan Liang's majestic back with curiosity on his face.
