The Three Kingdoms: Zhaolie, the strategist, and the rise of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 178 The North is unified, and God Yuan is activated!

Youzhou, Yijing.

Heavy snow and strong winds.

The iron armor shines coldly, and the swords and spears are sharp.

The black mass of Hebei troops stood quietly in the distance like iron or bronze sculptures.

I saw a large flag with the word "Yuan" written on it flying high towards the north, adding a bit of vitality to the dead silent Yishui River.

The soldiers under his command were arranged in a goose shape, holding long spears and shooting at the enemy troops.

They were all wearing heavy bronze armor and looked very majestic.

The cold wind whistled mercilessly, beating at Yuan Shao's already slightly graying temples.

He frowned and tightened the fur coat wrapped around his body, his eyes still as firm and bright as when he was a teenager.

Yuan Shao stretched out his hand, placed it between his eyebrows, and glanced at the Yijing Tower in the distance.

It was more than ten feet high and surrounded by several circles.

They also dug ten trenches around the Yishui River and built camps at various locations, all of which were occupied by soldiers and horses.

Yuan Shao had heard of the famous Yijing Tower, where Gongsun Zan had invested all his life savings.

I heard that there are three million hu of grain stored in the building.

Taking into account that Youzhou is a cold and harsh place, as well as the difficulties of ancient siege warfare.

Yuan Shao did not want to be bogged down in the quagmire of war in the northeast.

After hesitating for a while, he finally took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Ju Su who was standing beside him.

Ju Su took it with both hands, stepped back quickly, and handed it to a brave cavalryman.

After whispering a few words, the brave rider whipped his horse and headed straight for Yijing Tower.

……

However, after Gongsun Zan was defeated by Yuan Shao in the Battle of Jie Bridge, he fled to Bohai and returned to Ji.

Although he won the counterattack against Liu Yu, the governor of Youzhou, and was named Marquis of Yi by the court, he was attacked by Yuan Shao and Liu Yu's former generals and was defeated repeatedly.

They had no choice but to retreat to Yi County, where they managed to support themselves by farming.

In order to prevent Yuan Shao's attack and the counterattack from Liu Yu's former subordinates.

Gongsun Zan dug dozens of trenches on the banks of the Yishui River and built high earthen mounds in the trenches.

A ten-meter-high building rose in the center of the trench.

Gongsun Zan himself hid in the building and dismissed his attendants.

He even forbade any male over the age of seven to approach him, and lived only with his wives and concubines in the fortifications he had carefully built.

However, sometimes it is just necessary to be on guard.

Gongsun Zan also carefully selected several sopranos.

If there is an order, tell them to shout outside at the top of their lungs.

And these sopranos have really high voices, and their shouts can be heard hundreds of steps away.

The reason for doing this was that Gongsun Zan had become increasingly suspicious and no longer trusted anyone.

Including his wife and children.

Gongsun Zan felt that the whole world was against him.

This was true of Yuan Shao, Liu Yu, the local Han people, and the local nobles.

Even the Wuhuan and Xianbei people in foreign areas were like this.

"……Hahaha."

Gongsun Zan laughed loudly and ordered his beautiful concubine to bring him some wine.

"I believe that all affairs in the world can be decided by command, but looking at it today, it is not decided by me."

"It would be better to stop fighting and work on the fields to store grain."

"As for this land, let them take it as they please!"

After saying this, he drank the wine in the glass.

The beautiful concubines around him did not dare to disobey him, and they all tried to please him, speaking to him in a coquettish and smiling manner.

At this time, a beautiful woman hurried forward to report.

"Reporting to Lord Yi, Guan Changshi requests to see you."

Gongsun Zan waved his hand and said:
"I am in high spirits today, why did Guan Shiqi come to disturb my mood?"

"See you, see you!"

The beautiful woman reported again:
"Chapter Clerk Guan said there was something important going on, something concerning Hebei."

"What happened in Hebei? Hahaha..."

When Gongsun Zan heard this, he knew she was talking about Yuan Shao.

Judging from what he said, it seems that Yuan Jun is calling again.

But Gongsun Zan had already gotten used to it and was guarding the Yijing Tower, where the city was high, food was plentiful, and weapons and armor were adequate.

He thought he was very proud and successful, so he just replied calmly:

"Nowadays, tigers are fighting each other everywhere. It is clear that no one can sit under my city and defend it for years."

"What can Yuan Benchu do to me?"

Gongsun Zan thought that no one could do anything to him in Yijing.

This is indeed the case.

Since the second year of Xingping, Gongsun Zan fled to Yidi and built Yijing Tower.

However, Yuan's army's expedition to the north never ended.

Yuan’s army attacked almost every year, but they were never able to capture Yijing.

The battle in Yijing undoubtedly became a blood drain for Jizhou.

The only gain from destroying Gongsun Zan was to get rid of an enemy who could no longer cause much trouble.

Therefore, Yuan Shao once thought about reaching a reconciliation with Gongsun Zan.

However, Gongsun Zan refused. Even if he couldn't fight his way out, he would stay in Yidi to disgust Yuan Shao.

Finally, Yuan Shao could no longer tolerate it and came to Yijing in person to attack Gongsun Zan, vowing to solve this problem once and for all.

"Guan Changshi said that Yuan Shao came in person this time."

The beautiful woman's voice came again from below.

Upon hearing that it was Yuan Shao himself who came, Gongsun Zan took him at his proper place and said:
"The bastard is coming in person? Well, ask Guan Changshi to come and see him."

"Here."

After a while, Guan Jing from Taiyuan hurried over.

"...Yi Hou, outside——"

Before he could finish his words, Gongsun Zan interrupted him and said:

"No need to say more, just tell me what you want to say."

"Yes, it was Yuan Shao who sent a letter."

hum~
Gongsun Zan was very disdainful of Yuan Shao, but still said:

"Bring it to me and see!"

After saying this, Guan Jing handed the letter to a little boy, who stepped forward and handed it to Gongsun Zan.

The book briefly says:

Your Excellency and I already have an old alliance, and we will reaffirm it with an oath to suppress the rebellion.

Ai Guoyi and Shu, shared the painting, and said that they had the same strength.

At that time, your troops were as energetic as thunder and your horses were as fast as lightning, leaving me no peace.

My army was so angry that corpses piled up like a city and skulls strewn all over the field.

In times of desolation and danger, one must be in the midst of the danger of war.

He violated the oath of alliance at home and lost the hearts of the barbarians abroad.

Wars are waged in all provinces and disasters break out within the family. It's difficult for a general to establish hegemony.
Therefore, I sincerely hope that the two families can put aside their past grievances and maintain our old friendship.

If these words are flawed, the Heaven will hear them.

……

This is a letter of reconciliation.

Yuan Shao did not even try to persuade Gongsun Zan to surrender, but only hoped to reach a reconciliation with him.

For this purpose, Yuan Shao has personally led his troops to put pressure on Gongsun Zan.

But this was definitely the last chance Yuan Shao gave to Gongsun Zan.

Otherwise his trip would be in vain.

"A bastard of the Yuan family, are you worthy of making peace with me?"

After reading Yuan Shao's letter, Gongsun Zan threw it into the stove and burned it.

"You can kill Yuan's envoy quickly. If Yuan Shao is capable, he can attack my Yijing Tower."

"If he is incapable, tell him to go back to Jizhou!"

Faced with Gongsun Zan's rage, Guan Jing dared not say much and retreated with a nod.

There was a beautiful concubine beside him, who advised softly:

"I heard that Yuan Benchu has hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Now that he is willing to make peace, why should Yihou argue with him?"

Gongsun Zan put his arm around the beautiful concubine's waist and said with a smile:

"Yuan Benchu's accession to the throne was not legitimate. The land of Hebei should have been mine."

"What you have now is the result of stealing my work."

Jizhou was the richest province in the north. Yuan Shao took over Jizhou for free without spending a single soldier.

In the middle, he also played a trick on Gongsun Zan, causing Gongsun Zan to send troops in vain.

This matter has always bothered him and made him hold a grudge, and he can never let it go.

"The Art of War says: Don't attack a hundred towers."

"Now I have a thousand towers and turrets. Even if Yuan's army has a million men, what can they do to me?"

"I have three million bushels of grain. When I have eaten all this grain, I will know everything about the world."

After the defeat at Jie Bridge, Gongsun Zan knew that he had lost the opportunity to fight for the world.

So he chose to stay in Youzhou, control the border areas, and watch the success or failure of the south.

That's why he said that as long as he finished eating these three million hu of grain, he would know what was happening in the world.

Because by that time, the situation in the world will probably have become clear.

Soon, the news of Yuan's envoy's murder was passed back to Yuan's army.

All the generals in Yuan’s camp were furious when they heard this.

When the two armies are fighting, the envoy will not be killed.

This has been an unwritten rule since ancient times.

"How dare Gongsun do this!"

Yuan Shao was so angry that he blew his beard and glared.

Since he started his army, he has never been looked down upon like this.

The Hebei generals, led by Yan Liang, Wen Chou, Zhang He and others, were filled with righteous indignation and volunteered to go to war.

They all urged Yuan Shao to send troops immediately to completely wipe out Gongsun Zan.

Although Yuan Shao was furious, he still maintained the composure of a lord.

The deputy driver Ju Shou also came out and said:
"Gongsun Zan is certainly hateful, but he still has tens of thousands of soldiers under his command."

"Besides, there is the natural barrier of the Yi River, and there are many gullies and mountains around Yijing. It is not easy to take it, so we must not act rashly."

Many people are curious as to why it was so difficult for the powerful Yuan Shao to deal with Gongsun Zan.

Because before 196, Gongsun Zan was actually more powerful than Yuan Shao.

The turning point was the famous Battle of Jie Bridge.

The Battle of Jie Bridge was not as famous as the later Battle of Guandu and the Battle of Chibi.

But its war scale and influence are in no way inferior to the latter.

The Battle of Jie Bridge was the battle that truly determined the ownership of the North.

Before the two Yuans fought for supremacy, Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao had a showdown between the two strongest powers in the north.

In this battle, Gongsun Zan dispatched 40,000 troops, including 10,000 cavalry.

That’s right, Gongsun Zan mobilized a total of 10,000 cavalrymen, of which 3,000 were the White Horse Volunteers.

Considering the status of cavalry on ancient battlefields, you can realize how powerful Gongsun Zan was at that time.

Yuan Shao also dispatched about 30,000 to 40,000 people, although the number was roughly the same as that of Gongsun Zan.

But Yuan Shao's side was basically composed of infantry, which could not compare with Gongsun Zan.

In particular, Gongsun Zan fought against the Xianbei and Wuhuan in the northern part of Youzhou for a long time, and left these ethnic minorities with psychological trauma.

Its Youzhou Legion is so powerful that it is no exaggeration to say that it is at the top of the T0 level in terms of combat power in the late Han Dynasty.

The powerful cavalry unit established by Gongsun Zan was known as the "White Horse Volunteers".

He is also called "White Horse General".

It can be said that he was powerful beyond the Great Wall, dominated Youyan, and had unparalleled glory.

However, Yuan Shao demonstrated outstanding military command ability and courage, successfully defeating the powerful Gongsun Zan by using the weak to defeat the strong.

Successfully won the status of master of the North.

This is called the historical attribution effect.

What do you mean?
When people look at history, they always like to infer the process based on the results.

Because you are a loser, all your previous brilliant moves were wrong.

Because you are the winner, all your previous stupid behavior is justified.

Yuan Shao is a typical example of this.

In fact, since Yuan Shao started his army, he only lost the Battle of Guandu.

Ever since he rebuked Dong Zhuo in person and said, "My sword has never been sharp," Yuan Shao has hardly ever lost a battle.

Including the Battle of Guandu, if we speak strictly speaking.

Cao Cao merely repelled Yuan Shao, not defeated him.

The reason why Cao Cao was able to win was because Yuan Shao died early, which led to the brothers looking at each other from the wall.

The historical attribution effect can actually be applied to everyone in the Three Kingdoms.

People say that if you can't feel the heroic spirit when reading "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", it's just a waste of time.

Everything is afraid of comparison. Some people in the Three Kingdoms look like clowns compared to others.

But if you really pick him out alone, you will find that he also has many highlights.

Like Yuan Shu, he was the first person in history to come up with the strategy of driving a tiger to devour a wolf.

He could make the Huns and the Yellow Turbans work for him, and was extremely good at sowing discord and assassinations.

"I have made up my mind, no need to say more."

Yuan Shao's eyes gradually became firm and he regained his former spirit.

At this moment, he seemed to have returned to the battle of the Boundary Bridge, where he was in a desperate situation and shouted loudly -

"A real man is willing to die in battle, not climb over a wall and hope to live!"

Yuan's army officially marched north and set up camp along a ten-mile road on the south bank of the Yishui River.

The first problem Yuan’s army faced was how to cross the river.

The Yishui River is not wide, but if you force a crossing, there is also the risk of being attacked by Gongsun's army halfway across the river.

In particular, Gongsun Zan had many cavalry under his command, and their mobility was extremely strong.

"If we can't force our way across the river, we can only wait until winter comes and the Yishui River freezes over before we can cross it."

Ju Su analyzed.

Although there is still heavy snow in the sky now, it is just the beginning of spring.

Yuan Shao shook his head and said:
"Time waits for no one, Liyang's spy reports back."

"Cao Cao and Liu Bei built fortresses on the south bank of the Yellow River and stationed soldiers there."

"The alliance between the two families is unbreakable. If they join forces to attack us, it will be difficult to defeat them."

"We should quickly resolve the war in Youzhou and then move south. We should not give Henan more time to prepare."

"If that is accomplished, it will be difficult to conquer Henan." The people of Hebei could not possibly fail to notice the defensive fortifications jointly built by Cao Cao and Liu Bei.

After Yuan Shao learned about this, he became even more determined to quickly resolve the war in Youzhou.

Otherwise, it would give Cao and Liu time to build fortifications, and it would be difficult for Yuan's army to move south again.

Especially since Yuan Shao was almost fifty years old.

In ancient times, fifty was the age of knowing the destiny, which meant it was time to be buried.

Yuan Shao knew that he didn't have much time left and he could not wait any longer.

In order to paralyze Henan, Yuan Shao also released false news, informing Cao and Liu that he had reached a reconciliation with Gongsun Zan.

Before this, the information Cao Cao had obtained was exactly the false information released by Yuan Shao.

There was also an intelligence and spy system in ancient times.

Yuan Shao's spy system was extremely powerful.

In history, Yuan Shao even directly instigated Cao Cao's trusted guards to rebel.

You know, what a suspicious and cautious person Cao Cao was.
As a result, his own trusted guard was actually instigated to rebel by Yuan Shao.

In the end, if it weren’t for Xu Chu’s supernatural power, the traitor Xu Ta would have been killed.

The outcome of the war between Yuan and Cao might really be rewritten.

Finally, Yuan Shao ordered the army to force a crossing of the river.

All the generals asked, what should we do if Gongsun Zan attacks us when the enemy is halfway across the river?

Yuan Shao said loudly:
"Gongsun Zan is trapped in Yijing and will not dare to leave. He will obey my orders."

"Cross the river quickly!"

Yuan Shao, with a gambler's mentality, bet that Gongsun Zan would not take the initiative to attack.

Just like the last Battle of Jie Bridge, Yuan Shao was also betting that Gongsun Zan would not send infantry to fight with him.

Since he was able to defeat Gongsun Zan with "infantry and cavalry", this time will be no exception.

In particular, the offense and defense have been reversed at this time.

Even if Yuan Shao lost the bet, he still had plenty of money to gamble.

Soon, Yuan's army began to cross the river in a mighty force.

As expected by Yuan Shao, when someone reported the news of Yuan's army crossing the river to Gongsun Zan.

Gongsun Zan did not choose to take the initiative to attack, he firmly believed that his Yijing Tower was invincible.

Since he was able to use this building to block the offensive of Yuan’s army for several years, this time will be no exception!

Soon, all of Yuan’s troops broke into the high-rise building in Yijing.

In order to deal with the several high-rise buildings built by Gongsun Zan, Yuan Shao specially prepared dozens of catapults.

They bombarded the city walls of Yijing in turns.

For a moment, stone bullets rained down like raindrops.

The parapet collapsed and the city wall collapsed.

There were loud howlings, and in the blink of an eye, all the cities in Yijing were submerged in the raging dust.

"attack--"

Yuan Shao drew his sword and ordered his army to attack.

Yan Liang and Wen Chou were the vanguards, leading their elite troops and advancing forward with great force.

Each vanguard soldier carried a bag of earth to fill the deep trench in front of the city.

If someone was shot dead by the defenders on the upper floor, he would fall in the trench and use his body as a path.

Soon, countless ladders were erected, and countless Yuan troops rushed to the top of the city.

Because in these years, Gongsun Zan did not practice moral governance and did not reward his soldiers.

The officers and soldiers were disunited and unwilling to fight to the death.

He soon surrendered to Yuan's army.

It stands to reason,
Those who refuse to surrender during the siege will be killed without mercy after the city is captured.

But Yuan Shao was indeed a kind-hearted person and he took the initiative to pardon the surrendered soldiers.

Although "generous on the outside but cautious on the inside" was an insult to Yuan Shao, the preceding phrase "generous on the outside but cautious on the inside" also explains Yuan Shao's strengths.

Thanks to Yuan Shao's generous treatment, the defenders of many towers in Yijing voluntarily surrendered to Yuan Shao.

Yuan's army advanced at a rapid speed, with soldiers coming in and out continuously.

Someone reported the military situation on the front line to Gongsun Zan, advising him to quickly send troops from the main tower to rescue the tower in front.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to hold out for more than two days, as everyone surrendered.

Gongsun Zan, however, turned a deaf ear and continued drinking wine and eating mutton.

One bottle after another...

"If you save one person, those who come after you will only hope to be saved and will not fight to the death."

Gongsun Zan formally gave his reply.

"Send a message to the soldiers on the front line, tell them to defend with peace of mind, we have enough food in Yijing."

"Yuan's army cannot hold out for long. After a while, they will retreat."

When Gongsun Zan's order was passed back to the front line, the soldiers who were still resisting stubbornly on the front line all felt despair.

He then surrendered to Yuan's army and stopped resisting.

Yuan's army continued to advance and fought all the way to the main building of Yijing.

Only then did Gongsun Zan wake up from his dream and realize that the Yijing City he believed in was not unbreakable.

then,

Gongsun Zan, who had been hiding in the building for several years, finally gathered his ministers for the first time to discuss how to defeat Yuan.

"Yuan Shao is now attacking rapidly, and some of his men are either surrendering or fleeing."

"I'm afraid it will be difficult for Yi Jingcheng to defend it."

“Only by seeking external assistance can we defend ourselves.”

Gongsun Zan's son Gongsun Xu gave advice to his father.

"Who can we rely on for support?" Gongsun Zan asked.

"The leader of the Black Mountain Army, Zhang Yan, has an old feud with Yuan Shao. He is in the western part of Jizhou, the closest."

"It should be able to save me in my emergency."

Gongsun Xu replied.

Gongsun Zan has always been in contact with the Black Mountain Army. Now that he is at the end of his rope, he can only count on them.

He heard that his younger brother Liu Bei was doing very well in Xuzhou, but he definitely couldn't count on him.

Let’s not talk about whether or not to ask for Liu Bei’s support, even if he did.

It takes a long time to travel back and forth to Henan.

So Gongsun Zan ordered Gongsun Xu to lead 5,000 cavalry to break out and go to Heishan to seek support from Zhang Yan.

After thinking for a while, he decided to personally lead the three thousand white horse volunteers out of the city and rush to the West Mountain.

Then he joined forces with the Black Mountain Army to counterattack Jizhou in order to cut off Yuan Shao's retreat.

This was Gongsun Zan's last attempt.

It worked, Yuan Shao was defeated, and Gongsun Zan was able to take back everything that originally belonged to him.

No...

Gongsun Zan never thought about what would happen after failure, but he didn't want to see failure, he would rather believe that he would succeed.

After the discussion was over, Gongsun Zan prepared to lead his troops out of the city.

However, the Chief Clerk Guan Jing advised:
"Now, all the princes and generals are ready to disintegrate. The only reason they can still stay together is that they are attached to their own place, the old and the young, and they rely on you as their leader."

"If we hold on for a long time, we may be able to force Shao to retreat."

"If we abandon it and leave, there will be no one to guard the capital, and the danger to Yijing will be imminent."

Guan Jing believes that the defenders of Yijing are still willing to hold on only because they care about their entire family.

If Gongsun Zan did not stay to take charge of the situation, how would the soldiers defend themselves?

It would be better to stick to the original plan and wait for help.

Guan Jing was a cruel official who was only good at flattery and had no great plans.

But Gongsun Zan loved and trusted him very much.

In the end, they decided to adopt Guan Jing's suggestion and not to take the initiative to attack, but to hold on and wait for help.

Another month has passed.

Gongsun Xu finally contacted Zhang Yan, the leader of the Black Mountain Army.

He told Zhang Yan about the siege of Yijing and requested him to send troops to rescue it.

Zhang Yan secretly thought that since he had formed an alliance with Henan, it would be best to inform Xuzhou first in case of any military mobilization.

So he told Gongsun Xu about his difficulties and asked him to wait for some time.

Gongsun Xu was shocked and said:

"My trip back and forth would delay my schedule for several months."

"If we send an envoy to Xuzhou, it will take time to go back and forth."

"If General Zhang sends more troops, how can he save Yijing from siege?"

"I beg General Zhang to send troops immediately to rescue my father for the sake of our old alliance."

"I can't thank you enough, I can't thank you enough!"

Zhang Yan simply refused, saying that he dared not advance rashly without Xuzhou's permission.

Or he could let Gongsun Zan take the initiative to send troops, and then he would send troops to cooperate with him from inside and outside.

Perhaps it can save Yijing from danger.

Gongsun Xu had no choice but to comply.

The trip back and forth delayed a lot of the schedule.

At this time, Yuan Shao had already adopted Ju Su's suggestion of "hole attack".

Although the Yijing city tower is solid, its bottom is supported by wooden pillars.

So he sent soldiers to besiege the city while digging tunnels, until half of the city tower was hollowed out.

Then they set fire to the wooden pillars and the tower collapsed immediately.

Yuan Shao adopted this method and marched to Zhongjing where Gongsun Zan lived.

After hearing this, Gongsun Zan hurriedly asked the people around him:
"Xu'er went to Black Mountain to seek help, but hasn't returned yet?"

Everyone answered that they didn't know.

After all, Yuan’s army surrounded them tightly, and they had no idea what the situation was outside.

At this time, Gongsun Zan finally realized that he might have to withdraw from the stage of history.

"……Ugh."

Gongsun Zan fell to the ground and shouted at his attendants to leave.

Then he called his relatives, including his sisters, wives, and children.

The wives and daughters were trapped in the building, and had no idea what was happening outside, let alone why Gongsun Zan gathered them together.

Gongsun Zan had a layer of frost on his face and said to everyone:

"Yuan's troops are coming fast. If your city is breached, you and I will both be prisoners."

"Yuan Shao hates me deeply and will not tolerate me. You will also be humiliated by Yuan's soldiers."

"Since this is the case, it would be better to commit suicide now to avoid being humiliated."

When the women heard this, they were all shocked and knelt down crying and begging Gongsun Zan for mercy.

Gongsun Zan did not say anything and strangled his sisters to death on the spot.

Seeing this, the other wives, concubines and children all wanted to escape.

However, the door was locked and no one could get out.

Gongsun Zan then drew his sword and hacked them to death one by one.

Including his eight-year-old son, who was also hacked to death.

After killing his wife and children, Gongsun Zan seemed to have aged ten years.

After a long sigh, he set fire to all the food stored in Yi Jing.

These were all the money and sweat of the people that he had extorted, but now his defeat is near.

Gongsun Zan would rather burn it all down than leave a grain of rice for Yuan's army.

Afterwards, Gongsun Zan walked into the sea of fire alone without looking back.

……

The fire in the rear alarmed the soldiers who were still resisting at the front line.

When they saw the fire, they guessed what had happened behind them.

While everyone was crying bitterly, many of them ran to surrender to Yuan Shao.

At this time, Guan Jing, who was still supervising the battle at the front line, still refused to surrender.

Someone advised him that General Gongsun had brought disaster upon himself.

Sir, you have a huge fortune. You might as well use it as capital to surrender to Yuan Shao.

Given Yuan Shao's benevolent character, he will definitely not make things difficult for you, sir.

Guan Jing, who was always flattering, sighed and said:
"If the general had not taken the initiative, things might not have been so bad."

"I have heard that a gentleman, when in danger, must share the hardship. How can he live alone?"

So he rode his horse and rushed into Yuan's army with a spear in hand.

He was chopped into pieces by Yuan's army.

Human nature is so complex.

Guan Jing relied on flattery to rise to power and amassed over 100 million yuan in wealth.

In the end, when Gongsun Zan was deserted by his friends and relatives, he did not leave Gongsun Zan, and finally chose to die on the battlefield to repay the kindness of his benefactor.

Soon, Yuan's army broke into Yijing Tower.

Yuan Shao ordered people to comfort the surrendered soldiers and their families.

He also ordered people to put out the fire and see if they could rescue some property.

However, the fire was so fierce that not only was there no money or property left for Yuan Shao, not even a grain of rice was left.

This means that Yuan Shao's military expedition this time cost a lot of money and food, but did not get any return at all.

He had to feed the captured soldiers of Gongsun Zan himself.

Otherwise, why would Yuan Shao find Gongsun Zan a difficult problem?

It's worthless to kill him, but it's annoying to leave him there.

But fortunately, now that Gongsun Zan has finally been destroyed, Yuan Shao can finally turn his attention to the south.

"Congratulations, General! You have unified Hebei!"

"Congratulations, General! You have unified Hebei!"

Civil and military officers, led by Ju Su and Yan Liang, congratulated Yuan Shao one after another.

The demise of Gongsun Zan announced that Yuan Shao had completely unified Hebei.

Yuan Shao was also very excited. He stood beside the burnt ruins, his eyes looking towards the south.

"...Cao Cao, Liu Bei, I will go south."

……hehe.

The corners of Yuan Shao's mouth curled up slightly.

He doesn't have much time left. He only needs one last step to unify the world and leave his name for eternity.

……

The news of Gongsun Zan's demise soon reached the ears of Gongsun Xu who had returned halfway.

When Gongsun Xu heard that his father was dead, he burst into tears.

So he planned to lead his army to fight Yuan's army to the death.

Everyone tried to persuade him to stop, saying:

"Rather than die in vain, it is better to stay alive and find a chance for revenge."

……

(End of this chapter)