Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 345: Four Wins and Four Losses, Diplomatic Contact

Zhang Yu knew how to study Yuan Shao, so how could Yuan Shao not study Zhang Yu?

In order to find out the combat effectiveness of Zhang Yu's troops, especially his elite troops and the world-famous armored cavalry, Yuan Shao sent spies to Anyi. After the spies' investigation, Yuan Shao had a deeper understanding of Zhang Yu's troops and planned to use strong crossbows to deal with the cavalry.

However, using strong crossbows to deal with cavalry is only a temporary solution in the eyes of military commanders. If you want to deal with cavalry, the best way is to vigorously develop cavalry. Now, in order to obtain elite cavalry and get a strong support to share the pressure from Youzhou, Yuan Shao contacted Wuhuan.

Yuan Shao's connection with Wuhuan existed for a long time, dating back to the time when Zhang Yu defeated Gongsun Zan.

When Zhang Yu defeated Gongsun Zan and was on his way back to inspect the border, Tadun sent an envoy to meet Zhang Yu, asking for money and food and asking for a marriage. Zhang Yu naturally disagreed and directly beheaded the envoy.

Upon hearing the news, Tadun was furious. Since Tadun knew the situation in the Central Plains very well, in order to retaliate against Zhang Yu, he sent envoys to contact Yuan Shao and frequently plundered Youzhou.

Yuan Shao saw that Tadun had contacted him, so he made friends with him and bought a lot of horses from Tadun. The two had been communicating for more than a year, and now in preparation for the battle with Zhang Yu, Yuan Shao agreed to Tadun's marriage proposal.

"On behalf of my king, I congratulate the general on his arrival in Yanzhou!"

Inside the palace hall, a Hu man dressed like Han Chinese bowed respectfully to Yuan Shao and said.

Taking advantage of the joy of receiving Cao Cao's city, Yuan Shao said with a smile: "The envoy has come from a far distance, and it must be very hard. I wonder what your Majesty's reply is?"

In order to win over Tadun and tie down the troops in Youzhou, Yuan Shao not only granted the titles of Chanyu and king to Tadun, Nanlou, Supuyan, Wuyan and others on behalf of the court, but also agreed to a marriage alliance with Tadun.

"General, my king has said that he is willing to be the son-in-law of the Yuan family and help his father-in-law fight Zhang Yu." The messenger bowed and said, "In addition, my king will send 3,000 cavalry south and hand them over to the general for command."

As he spoke, the messenger took the opportunity to take out the official document from his bosom and presented it to him, saying: "My king does not ask for compensation for sending troops, but three thousand cavalrymen are going south, and my king needs to use money and food to appease the leaders of various tribes."

Yuan Shao took the document from the attendant and looked at it carefully. Seeing that Tadun was asking for a lot of money and food, he frowned at first, but then he considered the overall situation and relaxed his brows slightly, saying, "You discuss the matter of money and food with my subordinates."

"promise!"

The messenger said, "I am traveling south this time with orders to bring the princess north. I am afraid that the general will have to prepare the ceremony."

"My king, please don't forget the agreement!" Yuan Shao reminded.

"How dare my king break the contract!" said the messenger with a smile.

"good!"

Yuan Shao had no daughter, and he considered himself a man of high rank as he was one of the three highest officials in his family. How could he be willing to marry his legitimate daughter to the barbarian Tadun? So Yuan Shao took the daughter of a clan member as a foster daughter and promised her to Tadun as his wife.

After the Wuhuan envoys left, Yuan Shao calmed down and looked at Qian Zhao, saying, "Zijing, I heard that you are familiar with the customs of the Hu people. Now you will be in charge of the Wuhuan and command 3,000 elite Wuhuan cavalry for me."

"Thank you very much for your trust!" Qian Zhao accepted the order.

Feng Ji said: "If Zhang Yu attacks Hebei, Youzhou will certainly send troops, and Gongsun Zan may not be able to stop it. Now that you have made peace with Tadun, when the time comes to use the army, you can make the Wuhuan plunder Youzhou in the south, and then Youzhou will not dare to send troops. If you can put Youzhou in danger, Zhang Yu will have to divert his attention to Youzhou, which will be beneficial to you."

Yuan Shao stroked his beard and smiled, saying: "Zhang Yu wants Liu He and Lu Bu to attack from both north and south, but I will use Tadun in the north and Gao Gan in the south. His strategy of invading the border from three directions will surely fail!"

Yuan Shao only intended to send Gao Gan to annex Xuzhou, but later Xu You reminded him that if Gao Gan could take Xuzhou, he could send troops to attack Lu Bu to relieve the pressure on Yuan Xi, who was to receive Yanzhou. Yuan Shao had an alliance with Tadun in order to fight Zhang Yu. Now Zhang Yu's envoys have arrived in Youzhou and conveyed to Liu He the request to send troops.

After the messenger left, Liu He pondered for a moment, looked at Tian Chou, and asked: "Mr. Tian, the general wants to attack Yuan Shao, what do you think?"

Tian Chou stroked his beard and chanted, saying: "In the past, Lord Liu was killed by Gongsun, and Marquis Zhang traveled thousands of miles to attack him and assisted you in succeeding him. Now the north is in disarray, and Marquis Zhang wants to attack Yuan Shao. If you don't help him, it may hurt people's hearts. Moreover, Yuan Shao has sent Gongsun to repeatedly invade our military counties. You should have fought against Yuan Shao long ago."

Hearing this, Liu He sighed slightly and said, "It's not that I don't want to help Marquis Zhang, but I'm really worried that if Yuan Shao is defeated, Marquis Zhang will unify Hebei and dominate the Central Plains in the south. Wouldn't the Han Dynasty be in danger?"

Although Liu He was not as capable as Liu Yu, their attitudes towards the Han Dynasty were similar, and both were loyal to the Han Dynasty. However, the world was in chaos, the Han Dynasty was declining, and Liu He was powerless, which made him deeply anxious.

Especially now that Zhang Yu and Yuan Shao are about to fight, no matter whether he helps Zhang Yu or not, or which side wins, will the unified north still respect the Han Dynasty?
"Your Majesty, was kidnapped by Yuan Shu and taken to Wancheng. Now the north is without a ruler, and the Han Dynasty is in decline."

Tian Chou hesitated for a moment and said, "In my opinion, since the general trend is difficult to change, why not choose the best and follow it. In the past, Zhang Hou respected the emperor and welcomed him to the old capital; but Yuan Shao secretly planned to establish a new emperor, causing the world to be divided and governed. Comparing the two, we should help Zhang to control Yuan."

"Moreover, since you took over, the Wuhuan have frequently invaded and plundered, and the people of Youzhou have suffered terribly. Now that we can pacify the Wuhuan, no one else can take on this important task except Marquis Zhang!"

In fact, what Tian Chou said was more to give Liu He a way out. After all, judging from the current situation, Liu He and Yuan Shao were actually in a hostile relationship. If Yuan Shao defeated Zhang Yu, he would be the next one to be dealt with.

"What if we help Marquis Zhang to conquer Hebei, and then we will be the only one left in Youzhou, what should we do?" Liu He asked worriedly.

Tian Chou was silent for a while, then said, "Please forgive me for speaking frankly. The world is in turmoil. In the past, Zhou was destroyed and annexed to Qin, and Qin was destroyed and annexed to Han. Fortunately, Han had Emperor Guangwu to revive it. Now the Han Dynasty is declining, and the only powerful rulers in the world are Zhang Yu and the two Yuans."

"From the aspects of the two, although Yuan Shao was born into a famous family, Zhang Yu was better in terms of youth and strategy; although Yuan Shao had more soldiers and generals, Zhang Yu was better in terms of bravery; although Yuan Shao controlled four states, Zhang Yu had the advantage of geographical location. In terms of military power, Zhang Yu defeated the majority with a small number of soldiers, and was a master of military tactics, and the people of Hebei feared him; Yuan Shao made more plans but made fewer decisions, and was not good at military strategy, so he could not be compared with Zhang Yu."

"So if you have any consideration, you might as well marry Zhang Yu's eldest son. Zhang Yu will consider the relationship of marriage, and you are interested in the matter of Dou Rong, so your family will be prominent. And Zhang Yu will treat the Han Dynasty well because of you."

Compared with Yuan Shao's unification of Hebei, Tian Chou was more optimistic that Zhang Yu would defeat Yuan Shao and unify Hebei. The reasons were as he mentioned for the four reasons.

As for why Tian Chou was optimistic about Zhang Yu, besides the good impression he had from his previous expedition against Gongsun, there were two other reasons. First, the Wuhuan people had repeatedly invaded the border, and Zhang Yu could help Youzhou deal with the Wuhuan; second, he hated Yuan Shao and was unwilling to work for him.

Liu He was silent. Even if he wanted to be loyal to the Han Dynasty, the current situation did not give him the opportunity. Whichever side won would annex Youzhou. So as Tian Chou said, it was better to choose Zhang Yu than Yuan Shao.

Liu He asked, "My daughter is seven years old, and her son is a little younger. I wonder if Zhang Yu would agree?"

"Zhang Yu has ambitions for the world, so how could he not agree to your request!" Tian Chou said.

Liu He nodded and said, "In that case, I will send someone to reply to Zhang Yu and test whether Zhang Yu is interested in marriage."

"Your Excellency is wise!"

Tian Chou said: "I have heard from the Wuhuan that Yuan Shao and Tadun will form an alliance. If the two form an alliance, the Wuhuan will definitely invade Youzhou in the south, and I don't know whether Gongsun will go north."

"good!"

(End of this chapter)