My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 333: Alliance Under the City
After both sides calmed down, Yang Xiu finally had the opportunity to offer the conditions he really wanted.

Although Yuan Shang himself still found these conditions somewhat unacceptable when he saw them in person, at least he did not get furious.

"Cao Cao is allowing me not to submit a confession on behalf of my father, but I still have to plead guilty in my own name, saying that my father was bewitched by the five villains Guo Tu, Xin Ping, Xin Pi, Cui Yan, and Ying Shao before his death, which led to the subsequent consequences?
I can be a little more tactful and vague in the wording, but the direction cannot be compromised? Mr. Yuantu and Mr. Zhengnan, do you think that Cao Cao's request can be agreed to? What purpose does he want to achieve? "

When Yuan Shang was reading these conditions himself, Feng Ji had been waiting carefully beside him, with a bitter face of "the master is worried and the minister is humiliated". As soon as Yuan Shang opened his mouth, he hurriedly threw the analysis he had prepared long ago:
"My lord, please understand that Cao's previous conditions were intended to discredit Lord Benchu and make you appear unfilial and cut off from all your old friends and relatives in the Yuan family. Naturally, we cannot agree to them.

The conditions this time were concessions in two directions. On the one hand, it could blur the posthumous reputation of Benchu Gong, and on the other hand, the lord could avoid being unfilial by speaking of his father as a son, and only say that there were treacherous ministers around Benchu Gong who ruined the affairs of the court.

The ultimate goal of Cao Cao was to make those traitors who had left Yecheng fight to the death with their lord and eliminate the possibility of reconciliation. Considering that most of those traitors would go to the eldest son, Cao Cao wanted to promote a war between his lord and the eldest son.

The only difference is that this time Cao did not expect to completely shake the prestige of the lord, and most of the old friends of the Yuan family who stayed in Yecheng would not be humiliated or alienated by the lord's memorial this time."

After Feng Ji finished speaking, Shen Pei beside him snorted coldly with a sullen face: "In my opinion, maybe Cao Cao was simply asking for an exorbitant price the first time, to humiliate us first and suppress our expectations and confidence. Then he used the excuse of condolences and the deceased being the greatest to say what he really wanted. But I have to say that the conditions this time are indeed quite reasonable."

After listening to the analysis of the important ministers around him, Yuan Shang fell into deep thought again.

Although he was young, he had already realized that Cao Cao allowed flexibility in the wording of "how the Yuan family would submit a petition for peace to the court in the future."

Therefore, the problem of insulting my father can definitely be avoided. Even if some decisions were made by Yuan Shao, he can avoid the main issue by saying that "my father was seriously ill and in a coma, and the treacherous officials made false reports" and so on. Excuses are always easy to find.

As long as Cao Cao doesn't dwell on this point, there is a possibility of having a good reputation.

As for making him and his elder brother enemies, and labeling all those advisers who defected to his elder brother as traitors, Yuan Shang was not very opposed to this. Anyway, if he didn't do this, Guo Tu and the brothers Xin Ping and Xin Pi would not change their minds.

However, people like Cui Yan, who were originally sitting on the fence and left because they couldn't stand his and his mother's behavior, might be forced to go to his eldest brother or even to Liu Bei, and there would be nothing that could be done about it.

If this incident had not happened, Cui Yan and others might have chosen to retire, remain neutral, and not help either side.

Finally, although his father's posthumous reputation could be avoided from being damaged and he himself could avoid the bad reputation of being unfilial, he could not avoid the reputation of being weak.

In any case, submitting to the court would damage Yuan Shang's prestige.

"Gentlemen, how do you think I should respond to Cao Cao?"

There was silence for a moment. Seeing that Shen Pei did not speak, Feng Ji took on the responsibility and said tentatively:
"Since the Lord is not particularly opposed, it is better to let Kong Zhang write a petition on his behalf as a defense of reconciliation with the court. The wording should be as tactful as possible to clear Lord Benchu of all responsibility. After the petition is completed, the Lord will review it first. If he thinks it is okay, he can give it to Yang Xiu for review.

If Yang Xiu could make the final decision on behalf of Cao Cao, then this point could be settled. The remaining issue was the land exchange and the specific delivery method.

Cao Cao's previous offer was to withdraw our troops from the four central counties of Jizhou in exchange for our withdrawal from the entire Hedong and Henei regions. In my opinion, we can still bargain a little more on this territory.

Moreover, Cao Cao has now made it clear that he wants to sow discord between our army and the eldest son, so there is no need for us to hide anything. We can openly state the losses we expect to suffer and ask Yang Xiu to make further concessions.

Didn't Cao Cao want to show his sincerity by withdrawing from Hejian County and letting us take over regardless of whether the negotiations were successful? Then Hejian County should not be included in the content of the negotiations. If Cao Cao only takes the remaining three counties to exchange with us, it would be too much to ask for the entire Hedong and Henei.

In my opinion, it is okay to give the entire Hedong County to Cao Cao. Hedong is now in a precarious situation, isolated in a corner, and geographically isolated from other counties, making it a redundant part of our army.

Henei County, from a geographical point of view, is actually divided into two parts. The first part is the Qinshui River Basin in the southwest, close to the Yellow River, facing Luoyang on the opposite bank. Cao Cao was eager to take it back, in order to give Mengjin and other places some depth, to ensure the safety of the surrounding areas of Yiluo, and maybe he would rebuild Luoyang in the future.

The northeastern half of Henei County has penetrated deep into the Hebei Plain, located to the east of the Taihang Mountains and the Black Mountains. If this part is also given up, it will pose a great threat to Wei County and Yecheng, which means that there is still a gap in our army's Yellow River-Taihang defense line.

Therefore, we should reply to Yang Xiu and only cede the eight counties of Henei between He and Qin, which accounts for half of the entire Henei County. The seven counties in the Heishan Mountain area and east of Heishan must not be given. "

When Feng Ji said this, Yuan Shang was still a little confused, so he immediately ordered his servant to bring a map for him to check.

Henei County was a large county in Sili, with a total of fifteen counties.

There are three counties on the opposite side of Luoyang and on the north bank of the Yellow River, namely Heyang, Wen County (Lü Bu's original fief), and Pinggao.

Further north, there are four counties along the Qinshui River, a tributary of the Yellow River: Qinshui, Yewang, Huaixian, and Wude.

These seven, plus Chen County, a county seat at a mountain pass bordering Hanoi and Hedong (the county where Chenguan Pass, one of the eight passes of Taihang Mountain, is located), make a total of eight. These are the parts that Feng Ji felt could be used to exchange territory with Cao Cao.

There were seven remaining: Shanyang and Xiuwu counties in the Heishan Mountain area, and Linlu, Chaoge, Gongxian, Jixian, and Huojia counties on the Hebei Plain east of Heishan. Yuan Shang had to defend these seven counties.

After completing this transaction, Yuan Shang could restore the Yellow River defense line in the central part of Jizhou, while the western and southern sections would have to rely on the dangers of Taihang Mountains and Heishan Mountains.

Of course, he gave up only the part west of the Black Mountain and north of the Yellow River in the Sili region. Further north was Bingzhou, which Yuan Shang controlled through his cousin Gao Gan.

From the perspective of geographical integrity, reconciliation and land exchange with Cao Cao would definitely alleviate the imminent military threat facing Yuan Shang.

At least he no longer had to worry about Yecheng being besieged. The Yellow River and Taihang geographical defense lines around Yecheng could be restored to their original state. This was actually more important than simple land and population calculations.

No one wants his or her foundation to be exposed to the threat of other people's military force every day.

After Yuan Shang had sorted out these reasons, he asked Shen Pei who was standing beside him: "Does Mr. Zhengnan have any objections?"

Shen Pei shook his head and felt that if the conditions were like this, then they would be acceptable. He might as well let Chen Lin write the petition first and show it to Yang Xiu together with the conditions to test Yang Xiu's reaction.

……

Over the next five or six days, until just before Yuan Shao's funeral, the two sides engaged in brief exchanges of bargaining.

Yang Xiu personally read the defense petition written by Chen Lin and accepted the responsibility.

As for the other party's request to give less than half a county of Henei land, Yang Xiu pretended to send another "six hundred miles express" to Xudu to ask Cao Cao whether he would agree to the latest conditions.

In fact, all of this was within the scope of Yang Xiu's authorization and did not exceed the bottom line set by Cao Cao. In the end, Yang Xiu also pretended to be reluctant to agree, and only slightly bargained to adjust one county - Yang Xiu argued with the topographic map, saying that Feng Ji listed Shanyang and Xiuwu counties as the "remnant of the Black Mountain area" and asked the Yuan family to retain them, which was unfounded.

Because Shanyang County is to the west of the Black Mountain, and Xiuwu County is to the east of the Black Mountain. Therefore, for the sake of geographical security of both sides, Shanyang County should also be returned to the direct jurisdiction of the court, and the Yuan family of Xiuwu County can stay, strictly implementing the geographical division of "the two sides are separated by the Black Mountain".

Although they lost one more county, Yang Xiu's serious and solemn bargaining made the Yuan family feel that Cao Cao was still quite sincere. If Cao Cao had no intention of executing the contract, why did he negotiate so seriously?
Moreover, strictly drawing boundaries according to geographical dividing lines is indeed the most suitable for the separatist rule of the princes.

When the Han Dynasty originally drew the boundary, the reason why Henei County of Sili was extended by six or seven counties into the Hebei Plain was to prevent the emergence of feudal separatism in Jizhou. Now Cao Cao's side took the initiative to break this request, which was equivalent to tacitly suggesting that they would acquiesce to long-term separatism, and the Yuan family accepted it.

……

Time quickly came to April 18th, which was the day when Yuan Shao's body was laid to rest for seven days.

Yuan Shang did not stop the various envoys of condolence, including Yang Xiu. Not only did Yang Xiu pay his respects, but Yuan Tan also sent people from Qingzhou to mourn, and Liu Bei also sent people.

It’s a pity that Yuan Tan himself knew that he could not come in person, otherwise he would definitely be harmed by Shen Pei and Feng Ji, so he was unable to attend his father’s funeral in person.

It is said that Yuan Tan cried so hard that he fainted for several days in Linzi City. He scolded Shen Pei and other thieves for severing the relationship between father and son, and then claimed to be ill and ignored state affairs. The civil and military officials in Qingzhou all praised the eldest prince for his benevolence and filial piety.

Let’s put these hypocritical links aside for now. As Yang Xiu successfully completed his condolences, the deal between Yuan Shang and Cao Cao was almost officially concluded.

Of course, at this last moment, some marginal strategists who got the news came over to offer advice and obstruct the plan. That person was Tian Feng.

Tian Feng is not very good at dealing with people, but his words are very insightful.

He had already figured out that a considerable part of the reason why Yuan Shang accepted it was because he felt that "if he didn't accept it, his elder brother might accept it."

So when he heard that Yuan Shang was going to accept it, he rushed over and explained it to Yuan Shang:

"My lord, don't worry that the eldest son will accept Cao Cao's conditions! The eldest son has been deeply involved with Liu Bei. If he reconciles with Cao Cao, his capricious backlash will certainly be several times heavier than that of the lord! The accusations of the world's unfilial and unrighteousness against the eldest son will also be several times heavier than the accusations against the lord!
Cao Cao can't afford such expensive conditions! I am not trying to stop you from negotiating with Cao Cao. I just think we can get more relaxed conditions so that Cao Cao can ask for less!"

However, when Tian Feng came to meet the emperor, Feng Ji and Shen Pei were also there. They had been deeply involved in this matter for a long time and knew Cao Cao's determination.

Yuan Shang hesitated for a moment, then turned to Feng Ji and Shen Pei and asked them to debate with Tian Feng.

Feng Ji thought for a moment, sighed, and said to Tian Feng: "Brother Yuan Hao, do you know how Kong Zhang wrote the Fubian for the Lord?"

Tian Feng was at a loss. He really didn't know this. He had been marginalized. Apart from using him in military decisions, Yuan Shang had never discussed other diplomatic matters with him.

Feng Ji told Chen Lin all the euphemisms and then asked, "In Kong Zhang's defense, he almost resolved all the accusations against Benchu Gong, and Cao Cao accepted it. If Cao Cao could accept such a defense, then when he wanted to accept the defense of the eldest son, to what extent could he accept it?
If the eldest son also wrote a defense that did not mention the faults of Lord Benchu at all, but only put all the blame on you and me, would Cao Cao go along with it? And I remember that half a year before the Battle of Guandu, before the Yidai Edict even happened, Brother Yuanhao advised the Lord to launch a full-scale attack on Cao Cao without any reason, right?

If the eldest son put all the blame for starting the war, including the Battle of Guandu and the previous Battle of Henei, on you, would Cao Cao not accept it? If the eldest son could get these lands without having to bear the name of being unfilial, would he still care about the alliance with Liu Bei?

What Cao Cao wants is for us brothers to fight each other. This has been exposed. Cao Cao has no intention of hiding it, but he has also made a gesture. In order to facilitate this, he can actually give up everything else. "

Tian Feng was also left speechless by these words.

Indeed, before the Battle of Guandu, he was the first one to urge Yuan Shao not to care about the greater good. As soon as Gongsun Zan was defeated and the army returned from the north to the south and took a short rest, he immediately took action against Cao Cao.

There is no doubt that Tian Feng is the number one "warmonger" in Hebei.

It would be very easy for Cao Cao to find a way to make Yuan Tan surrender. It just depends on whether Cao Cao wants to and is willing to do so.

But now it seems that Cao Cao has expressed his attitude through Yang Xiu: he has a very flexible moral bottom line and reputation bottom line.

Such a negotiating opponent with a flexible bottom line is really scary.

Yuan Shang should stop looking for a better job while still having to work.

Tian Feng thought about it over and over again, but didn't know how to refute, so he could only sigh and retreat.

It's not that the counselors in Hebei are unwilling to fight, it's just that the situation has come to this point and a skilled cook cannot cook without rice.

Finally, more than ten days after Yuan Shao was buried, Chen Lin, the envoy sent by Yuan Shang to submit a memorial, also followed Yang Xiu back to Xu Du and signed a humiliating treaty with Cao Cao.

Cao's army withdrew from the four counties in the middle of Jizhou to ensure that all these lands were handed over to Yuan Shang instead of Yuan Tan. Cao Cao first handed over Hejian County as a "deposit" to show the sincerity of the court.

Then both sides gradually withdrew their troops. Cao Cao exchanged the four counties of Jizhou for the entire Hedong County and the western half of the Qinshui River Basin in Henei County.

Considering that Hedong and Henei are both relatively large, one and a half counties is at least as large as two and a half counties in Jizhou.

So Cao Cao actually used the population difference of one and a half counties in order to damage Yuan Shang's reputation, make Yuan Shang nominally submit to the court, and force Yuan Shang to take sides and break off with his brother.

As for the issue of Yuan Shao's posthumous reputation, it was eventually raised high and then gently put down, and was covered up by Chen Lin's Spring and Autumn style of writing.

This is just a negotiation tactic of Cao Cao's side. It is put on display for demonstration and threat, not real execution.

Yuan Tan of Linzi, of course, eventually rejected Cao Cao's persuasion to surrender, and instead acted tough in this life - historically, Yuan Tan chose to temporarily surrender to Cao and submit to the court.

It can only be said that the changes in the situation in this life forced Yuan Tan to choose to always stand with Uncle Liu and continue to hold high the banner of the Yidaizhao.

　A map of land exchange negotiations will be displayed soon.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)