My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 306: The day Yuan Shao died, the time to support Yuan Tan

After returning to Yecheng after losing the battles of Dong'e and Cangting, Yuan Shao fell ill soon after, and his condition became increasingly serious. The cause of his illness was simple: he was too depressed and angry to the point of having a stroke.

Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases such as stroke were common among wealthy families in ancient times.

After all, the poor people in the Han Dynasty had no chance of suffering from high blood pressure and high blood lipids, and therefore no chance of suffering from burst blood vessels or plaque embolism.

Strokes are more likely to occur and worsen in winter and summer.

Yuan Shao's disastrous defeat at Cangting occurred in the fifth month of the lunar calendar, which was summer. After returning to Yecheng, he soon encountered the hottest season of the year and collapsed.

After examining the patient, the doctors shook their heads: If the patient is unlucky, he will not survive this summer. Even if the patient is lucky and survives the summer, he will definitely not survive this winter.

It's time to prepare for the funeral.

Yuan Shao was so furious that he wanted to kill Tian Feng who had advised him to advance to vent his anger.

He lay on the sickbed, feeling unwilling:

At the Battle of Guandu, he did not listen to Tian Feng and did not take action when Cao Cao was at a disadvantage. Instead, he waited for the righteousness of the Yidaizhao, and ended up losing.

This time he listened to Tian Feng, who also said with certainty that Cao Cao's northern line was empty at the moment. As a result, he fell into a trap again and hit a wall.

Why would I lose whether I listen to Tian Feng or not? Is there any justice in this world?
However, just before Yuan Shao made the decision to kill Tian Feng, Shen Pei risked his life to meet the emperor and appealed to Yuan Shao in an indirect way.

He was simply relaying in a euphemistic way what he had heard: "The eldest son had the potential to discover Cao's army's trick before the battle, but he neglected to verify it and missed the opportunity to see through it."

After hearing this, Yuan Shao's emotions became more and more intense at first, but then he calmed down a little.

In this life, his dislike for Yuan Tan was far less than in the same period in history.

After all, Zhuge Liang's mission three or four years ago helped Yuan Tan reform and made some contributions to him. In addition, Yuan Xi was eliminated early, so Yuan Shao still cherished his two remaining sons.

Facing Shen Pei's appeal, Yuan Shao did not believe that Yuan Tan would deliberately harm him. At most, he was incompetent and made some mistakes.

But Yuan Shao's arrogant temper destined him to find someone to vent his anger over the defeat.

He finally decided to summon Xin Pi, who had previously helped Yuan Tan report the news, again, and let Xin Pi and Shen Pei confront each other face to face.

Looking at the series of defeats at Dong'a and Cangting, the main reason was either Tian Feng's reckless advice or Yuan Tan's delayed intelligence work.

Xin Pi and Shen Pei had never gotten along. Historically, Xin Pi was ordered by Yuan Tan to ask Cao Cao for help and directly surrendered to Cao. Later, when Cao Cao attacked Yecheng, he asked Xin Pi to come back to persuade Cao to surrender. Shen Pei also killed the entire family of Xin Pi's brother Xin Ping.

Although all this has not happened yet, it is an established fact that Xin Ping and Xin Pi are members of the Yuan Tan and Guo Tu faction.

So the two of them had a fierce confrontation in front of Yuan Shao, blaming each other and sarcastic and mocking each other.

Yuan Shao was annoyed by the constant nagging and breathlessly rebuked Shen Pei and Xin Pi, forbidding them to come to the court again.

However, this dispute came to nothing, and Shen Pei at least managed to temporarily save Tian Feng's life.

Cao Cao took advantage of the time when Yuan Shao was seriously ill and the internal strife continued to expand his victory in Jizhou, and soon advanced to Hejian County.

A large area of fertile farmland in the hinterland of Jizhou without a strong city was temporarily occupied by Cao's army. The amount of food and population obtained by Cao's army was extremely huge, and the number of newly captured people alone reached more than one million.

……

After the verbal battle between Shen Pei and Xin Pi, Xin Pi was driven back to Qingzhou by Yuan Shao.

After traveling for more than ten days, Xin Pi returned to Linzi and immediately met with Yuan Tan to explain what had happened in Yecheng and the internal strife initiated by Yuan Shang and Shen Pei.

When Yuan Tan heard this, he was so angry that he threw things on the spot.

"What? That bastard Shen Pei actually used the defeat in Dong'e to accuse me? I sent my teacher to warn my father immediately. Isn't that enough?

He also blamed me for not realizing that Sun Quan came with Han Dang? I am so busy that I don't have time to summon Han Dang on the same day, let alone to separate and interrogate Han Dang's troops one by one! Isn't this asking too much?

Dong'e was defeated because Tian Yuanhao was negligent in offering advice and encouraging my father to advance! Why did it become the mission of our Qingzhou Army to scout Cao's army? Tian Feng and Shen Pei, these Hebei bastards, have no shame! They framed me for the trouble they caused themselves in order to get away with it! "

Yuan Tan roared angrily, thinking that this was outrageous. Didn't this mean "if you do nothing, you won't make any mistakes; if you do more, you will make more mistakes"?
It is an obligation that everyone should shoulder, and if you are more proactive, your leader will blame you for seeing it too late, while those who didn't see it from the beginning to the end are not at fault?
After Yuan Tan had vented his anger by smashing things, his anger subsided a little. Then he thought of asking his father how he would react. He thought that he would not be bewitched by Shen Pei, right?

But Xin Pi said sadly: The lord did not order the deprivation of any power of the eldest son, but at the same time severely criticized the eldest son and Tian Feng, thinking that both parties did not do a good job.

Yuan Tan was held accountable by his father, and found it increasingly difficult to understand:

Is this still my biological father? Why is he so harsh on me?

Even Uncle Liu next door treats him better than his own father!
Yuan Tan's mouth twitched, and he called Wang Xiu and Xin Ping to consult with Xin Pi, and then made a proposal in front of the three of them:
"Shen Pei and Tian Feng have bewitched my father, and he is seriously ill. I want to go to Yecheng in person, eliminate the treacherous officials, and personally tend to my father. What do you think?"

The three of them were all shocked, wondering if the eldest son wanted to directly take over the central government and seize the throne?

But if I go now, it seems there is no chance.

Among these three counselors, the Xin brothers were from Yuzhou, and Wang Xiu was a native of Qingzhou.

They all knew that the power structure distribution within Yuan Shao's camp had led to the local Jizhou faction, both civil and military, betting on the Third Prince for many years. As a result, the non-Jizhou faction united around the eldest prince. The more non-Jizhou people around the eldest prince, the more hostile the Jizhou faction was to him, and the more they felt that "once the eldest prince came to power, the outsiders would take full power and completely overwhelm the Hebei faction."

The issue of benefit distribution cannot be solved by justice and courtesy. Even if the eldest son becomes more capable and more popular, the people of Hebei will not support him.

There are only so many resources. If we reuse outsiders, there won't be enough for the locals. This contradiction cannot be reconciled.

Therefore, Xin Pi and Wang Xiu could not help but persuade Yuan Tan to calm down: "Young Master, don't be reckless! How many people in Yecheng are wary of us? If you don't lead your troops to Yecheng, won't you be standing on the edge of a dangerous wall?

If I lead the troops to Yecheng, the lord is seriously ill now, and it will be easy for people to criticize me. If the lord gets angry and gets worse, even if it is not caused by the eldest son, outsiders will use this as a reason to slander the eldest son!"

Yuan Tan: "So am I just going to watch my third brother and his followers do whatever they want?!"

Xin Pi thought about it again and again, and tactfully advised: "My Lord, I have something to say. The Lord is a general, not just the governor of Jizhou. This Yecheng is only the temporary residence of the Lord's shogunate, not the capital of the Han Dynasty. If the Lord has an accident in the future, why can't the successor move away?
If you are really worried about the situation in Yecheng and the situation of the lord during his serious illness, I am willing to go there again and contact Guo Tu for you. In this way, if the lord has any instructions, Guo Tu can argue for you in Yecheng, and you don't have to take risks yourself.

Although there are many Hebei-born civil and military officials in Yecheng, Tian Feng has been alienated by the lord again because of his wrong advice in the battle of Dong'e. Shen Pei's unreasonable behavior only helped Tian Feng save his life. Although Shen Pei himself was deeply trusted by the lord before, he also slightly angered the lord by running around for Tian Feng. As a result, Guo Tu is the only one who has the most say around the lord.

If the Lord can finally hand over the power to the eldest son, we only need to ask Guo Tu to bring out the final secret order, and then the eldest son will directly rebuild the general's shogunate in Linzi! If it fails, the Lord really chooses the third son. The eldest son can also fight Cao alone in Qing and You. Just say that a general is not subject to the orders of the king when he is away, and he cannot hand over power at will during the war and put the foundation of his ancestors in danger. "

After hearing Xin Pi's words, Yuan Tan suddenly understood.

Indeed, it is too dangerous for him to go to Yecheng in person at this critical juncture, as he may be attacked by the Hebei faction.

Yecheng is not the capital! The general's shogunate can be relocated! Let Guo Tu help me do those dangerous things, and I will stay behind the scenes. In this way, I can get all my father's inheritance, and if it doesn't work, I can also keep Qingyou and other two states.

"What a great plan! Please go back to Yecheng and discuss our latest plan with Mr. Guo to see what countermeasures he has. By the way, please bring some valuable gifts with you. First, prepare 50 kilograms of gold for Mr. Guo, and try to collect other pearls, jades, gems and other precious items! I must let Mr. Guo know my sincerity!" Yuan Tan finally decided.

Xin Pi accepted the order and did not dare to refuse, and started the round-trip run again.

In particular, Cao Cao had already reached Hejian County at this time, cutting off the central and southern regions of Jizhou.

Xin Pi had to go around a big circle to the north for his two recent trips, passing through Yijing/Yishui which was close to Youzhou. His speed was greatly slowed down, so it took more than half a month for each trip.

The first time he returned to Qingzhou to report was at the end of May. When he came back again on the orders of Yuan Tan to contact Guo Tu, it was already early July.

The situation of Yuan Shao's army on the battlefield was getting worse and worse, and Yuan Shao's illness was getting worse and worse.

The advice Xin Pi brought back to Yuan Tan from Guo Tu was as follows:

"My Lord, Mr. Guo thanked you for your generous gift and said that he would argue for you in front of the Lord. He also suggested to the Lord that Cao's army is becoming more and more rampant and Jizhou is about to be divided into two parts, east and west, so please help the Lord to take charge of the defense of Bohai County in Jizhou and assign the garrison of Nanpi City to the Lord to manage, in order to prevent Cao's army from expanding its victory to the east.

Mr. Guo made such a suggestion with the eldest son's best interests at heart. He believed that the eldest son was now authorized by the lord to be in charge of the defense of Qing and You states, but the two states were not adjacent to each other by land and could only rely on sea vessels for support and to exchange what they had.

If we give Bohai County in Jizhou to the eldest son, the coast of Bohai Sea will be connected, and it may be able to resist the attack of Cao's army."

Yuan Tan immediately asked someone to bring a map. After taking a closer look, he felt that Guo Tu and Xin Pi's idea made sense.

Anyone who has played the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" series of games knows that the only strongholds in Jizhou that can be called strategic and fortified are Yecheng in the west and Nanpi in the east. The large Hebei Plain in the middle is defenseless.

Cao Cao's breakthrough in the center and his advance to the north were equivalent to splitting Jizhou into two parts, east and west. Yuan Shao was in the west of Jizhou and it was impossible for him to quickly control the east.

Bohai County was the home of Yuan Shao. When Yuan Shao had a falling out with Dong Zhuo and fled Luoyang, the first official position he was granted was the governor of Bohai County. Bohai County was also the most populous county in Jizhou, and Yuan Shao's emphasis on Bohai County was obvious.

Under such circumstances, Guo Tu advised Yuan Shao not to worry about the original power structure of the state boundaries and to allocate the coastal areas in the east that were cut off by Cao Cao to his eldest son for temporary jurisdiction. It was natural for Yuan Shao to accept this.

After all, they are his own sons, and giving it to his sons is much better than giving it to Cao Cao.

However, after being hit by this small pie in the sky, Yuan Tan felt a little unconfident.

It would be good to be able to inherit his father's inheritance, but this territory had just been taken away by Cao Cao. What if Cao Cao, after breaking through Jizhou, turned eastward along the Yishui River?
Yuan Tan couldn't help stroking his beard and said, "Mr. Guo has good intentions, but in Bohai County, only Nanpi is considered solid, and the rest are coastal plains. Cao's army is at its peak, and it's probably hard to resist. Do we have to defend the city to the death? Mr. Guo, do you have any strategy to teach me how to resist Cao Cao?"

Xin Pi was a little speechless after hearing this question. If Guo Tu knew how to defeat Cao Cao, would he still act like this?

Asking an expert in internal fighting how to fight an external war is like asking a blind man for advice.

However, Xin Pi also knew that the situation was urgent and Yuan Tan could not confront Guo Tu face to face, so Xin Pi said cryptically: "I have also mentioned this concern to Gong Ze. At that time, we both felt that... maybe the eldest son should make a decision in an emergency and ask Liu Bei for help and promise Liu Bei some benefits. The situation is urgent, and it is impossible to ask the lord for instructions on such matters."

Yuan Tan nodded, thinking that there was really no other way to go, so he readily agreed: "Then I'll trouble you to go again. You are good at diplomatic missions. You will go to Xuzhou again and ask Guan Yu for help first.

If Guan Yu can't handle the situation, you have to go to Danyang to find Zhuge Jin. If all else fails, you can only go to Wuchang. You must hurry as soon as possible, otherwise I'm afraid I won't be able to protect Bohai."

"I obey my orders!"

After receiving the order, Xin Pi started the round-trip run again and set off from Linzi that day.

He did not dare to take a boat directly around the Shandong Peninsula, fearing that the long journey would waste time. Instead, he rode a fast horse from north to south across the Shandong Peninsula, then went out to sea from various counties, and took a short sea route to bypass the Yimeng Mountains.

They quickly went ashore when they arrived at Qu County (Lianyungang), Donghai County, Xuzhou, and then rode fast all the way across the northern Jiangsu plain.

Guan Yu was the first to be contacted. As expected, Guan Yu did not care about the matter and said that he only followed the orders of the General of Chariots and Cavalry. Liu Bei did not allow him to send troops, and he could not rescue even friendly troops.

Xin Pi then went south again, crossed the Yangtze River and the Huai River, and headed straight for Moling in Danyang to beg Zhuge Jin.

(End of this chapter)