Double penetration: This Three Kingdoms has dragon energy

Chapter 149 Shocking: Cao Cao and Yuan Shu
Xu You sighed softly, "Ji Qiu has had the Qiankun Bag for quite some time now."

If he truly possesses the innate secret technique of instant teleportation, does my lord still remember the people who mysteriously disappeared in Luoyang and the surrounding Three Auxiliary Regions?
If Ji Qiu were to relocate all these people to the three prefectures under his jurisdiction, the number of people under Ji Qiu's rule would far exceed one million.

As early as when Yuan Shao and Dong Zhuo were fighting in Luoyang, he had already noticed that the people of Luoyang were disappearing inexplicably and rapidly.

Although he found it a bit strange at the time, he didn't think much of it.

After all, this matter has nothing to do with him.

Luoyang was destined not to fall into his hands.

At the time, he was even somewhat gloating.

They believed that Dong Zhuo's efforts were ultimately in vain, as he only gained an empty city, which was of little value.
Later, the allied forces attacked Dong Zhuo and fought him for half a year at Hulao Pass.

Many insightful members of the allied forces at the time realized that Dong Zhuo would likely use this time to plunder the people's wealth and train his troops in the Luoyang and Sanfu areas.

Everyone was worried that Dong Zhuo would use this time to train a large number of troops and then go out of the pass to defeat the coalition against Dong Zhuo.

For this reason, many of the allied lords even considered withdrawing.

But just as they were preparing to break up, Dong's army at Hulao Pass withdrew on its own.

However, the Guandong Allied Army that entered Hulao Pass found that Luoyang City and the surrounding Sanfu area had almost turned into a wasteland!
They didn't know why this was happening, and in the end they could only blame it on Dong Zhuo, believing that Dong Zhuo's tyrannical rule had led to this situation.

However, this situation is not plausible, because no matter how much Dong Zhuo levied taxes and levied taxes, it was impossible for him to have harmed all the people in Luoyang and the surrounding areas.
Especially given the pressure he faced from the Kwantung Army at the time, it was impossible for him to just focus on harming the people without conscripting soldiers.
At the same time, the villages where the people had disappeared were cleaned up very thoroughly, and did not look like they had been massacred.

It's more like a planned relocation.

However, since no other reasonable explanation could be found, the matter was ultimately dropped.

But now, after listening to Xu You's words and reflecting on the situation back then, if Ji Qiu really had the ability to transport troops regardless of distance, then he would naturally also have the ability to transport civilians regardless of distance.

He could very well take advantage of the standoff between Dong Zhuo and the anti-Dong Zhuo alliance to move all the people of Luoyang and the Sanfu region to his own territory in advance.

Dong Zhuo may have realized this, and knew that it was no longer realistic to recruit soldiers from Luoyang and the surrounding areas to fight against the anti-Dong Zhuo alliance, which is why he decisively decided to withdraw his troops.

Upon realizing this, Yuan Shao's expression turned serious, and he said in a deep voice, "So, before Ji Qiu launched his campaign against the Beihai Kingdom, the total population under his rule had already exceeded ten million?"

"Perhaps not that many. Although Ji Qiu can disregard the distance to relocate people, how can the three prefectures of Taishan, Qi, and Le'an support millions of people?"

Even if Ji Qiu were to purge the powerful clans of these three prefectures and allow the government to directly interact with the common people, it would still be impossible.

Therefore, I believe the number of people under his rule is around three million,” Xu You said.

Yuan Shao gasped and said in a deep voice, "Even if it's only three million, that's still incredible! That's equivalent to three Bohai commanderies!"

"Yes, that's why there was so much dragon energy this autumn, enabling us to quickly transfer troops and defeat Kong Rong and Hua Xin in just three days, taking over Beihai Kingdom and Pingyuan County!" Xu You sighed.

Yuan Shao said in a deep voice, "No, we can't let Ji Qiu continue to develop like this. His abilities are too terrifying, and his potential for development is too great."

If he's allowed to develop further, I'm afraid no one will be able to suppress him anymore!

"I know that we should do our best to suppress Ji Qiu, but with the current capabilities of our army, I'm afraid it will be difficult to do so," Xu You said with a wry smile.

Currently, Yuan Shao's sphere of influence covers the two commanderies of Bohai and Hejian, and in terms of population registration, it has a population of over two million.

Even compared to Ji Qiu before he sent troops to the North Sea Kingdom, there was still a considerable gap.

Not to mention that Ji Qiu has now occupied both Beihai Kingdom and Pingyuan County.

Even if Yuan Shao were to use all his troops to suppress Ji Qiu, he probably wouldn't have much of a chance of winning.

Yuan Shao would not deploy all his troops, as his primary strategic objective was to seize Ji Province.

We can't abandon our strategic goals just to suppress Ji Qiu.

Whether Ji Qiu lives or dies is unknown, but he is definitely going to die.

Yuan Shao had no noble sentiment of paving the way for others!

However, Yuan Shao is Yuan Shao after all; he can be a god when things are going badly and a complete disaster when things are going well.

The greater the external pressure on him, the stronger he becomes!
So he only thought about it for a moment before chuckling, "It's alright. Although I can't directly suppress Ji Qiu, there are others who can do it for me."

"Hmm? Then who does my lord think should be sent to make the move?" Xu You asked quickly.

Yuan Shao said, "Tao Qian is the governor of Xuzhou!"
This man was a local hero. He had been in charge of Xuzhou for more than three years, and he not only basically eliminated the Yellow Turbans in Xuzhou, but also integrated the power of the Xuzhou aristocratic families.

He now commands 100,000 Danyang soldiers and can also mobilize more than 200,000 private soldiers from aristocratic families.

If we can get him to send troops, not only will suppressing Ji Qiu be no problem, but we could even annihilate Ji Qiu in one fell swoop!

“My lord is right, but how can we get Tao Qian to send troops to attack Ji Qiu?” Xu You asked.

Yuan Shao said, "That's simple. If I'm not mistaken, Tao Qian probably already had the idea of ​​attacking Ji Qiu a long time ago."

The reason they haven't taken action yet is simply because they lack the legal grounds.

If I and Yuan Shu jointly submit a memorial to appoint him as Left General, granting him the power to command the troops of Qing and Xu provinces.

Then he would have no more worries and could directly send troops to attack Ji Qiu!

Currently, the imperial court is in the hands of Dong Zhuo, and neither Yuan Shao's nor Yuan Shu's memorials will be approved by the court.

However, if Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu jointly submit a memorial, it would mean that they themselves approve of this matter.

Their approval means that the forces behind them will not use this as a reason to attack Tao Qian.

Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu together represent almost all the forces surrounding Tao Qian.

Tao Qian estimated that the pretext for sending troops to attack him was not out of concern for surrounding forces.

So when Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu cleared away his worries, he was naturally able to act freely.

"My lord, this is a brilliant opportunity! It not only suppresses Ji Qiu but also weakens Tao Qian's strength. It's a win-win situation!" Xu You exclaimed.

……

Yanzhou, Dongjun, Prefectural Governor's Office.

Cao Cao looked at the intelligence report in his hand and was filled with shock.

"This autumn, Ji Qiu actually took down the Beihai Kingdom and Pingyuan County in just three days?"
This is exactly the same as when he sent troops to Qingzhou and captured Qi County and Le'an County in just a few days!

However, the fact that Qi County and Le'an County were caught off guard at the time can be explained by the fact that they were caught off guard.

"We've been preparing for this for a long time, so how could Ji Qiu have taken it so quickly?" Cao Cao said in shock.

Standing to Cao Cao's left was a tall, robust, middle-aged scholar, who was his current strategist, Cheng Yu.

At this point, Cao Cao was in a rather miserable situation.

Historically, he became the governor of Dongjun two years later.

However, as soon as he became the governor of Dongjun, he had four great strategists under his command.

They are Xun Yu, Xun You, Xi Zhong, and Cheng Yu.

Of these four strategists, Xun Yu determined the overall strategy, Xun You focused on tactics, Xi Zhong devised ingenious plans, and Cheng Yu guarded the rear.

They collectively formed Cao Cao's think tank, making great contributions to his conquest of the Central Plains.

However, Xi Zhong and Xun You have already defected to Ji Qiu.

Xun Yu did not choose to directly surrender to Cao Cao because Liu Dai was still alive.

Although Xun Yu looked down on Liu Dai's abilities, Liu Dai was, after all, the governor of Yanzhou appointed by the imperial court, representing the authority of the Han dynasty.

Xun Yu had always been a loyal follower of the emperor's faction, and he would not have pledged allegiance to Cao Cao, who had no official title or status, while Liu Dai was still alive.

With three of the four great strategists gone, Cao Cao was left with only Cheng Yu as his advisor.

However, Cheng Yu's reputation in history is not very good.

The main reason is that this person is ruthless and has no bottom line in his actions.

It is said that when Cao Cao was short of food, he slaughtered refugees and used human flesh to feed his army.

This behavior is absolutely unacceptable to Ji Qiu, who comes from a modern background.

Therefore, even though he knew that Cheng Yu came from a poor family, he never thought of trying to win Cheng Yu over.

However, if we set aside personal morality and only talk about ability, then Cheng Yu is undoubtedly a top-notch strategist.

He made great contributions to Cao Cao in the early stages of his career!

Cheng Yu advised, "My lord, this further confirms my initial speculation that Ji Qiu's strength is far more complex than it appears."

Although his subordinates do not yet know how he accomplished this, he must possess the ability to transport troops regardless of distance!

Only in this way could he have conquered cities and territories so quickly on two separate occasions!
If my lord becomes enemies with this person in the future, he must be very careful to prevent this from happening!

“Indeed, Zhongde is right. Such ability is truly terrifying. If we were to become enemies with him, we must take strict precautions!”

Cao Cao nodded in agreement, but then changed the subject and said...

"However, this matter does not seem to concern me much at the moment. Our army's attention should still be focused on Yanzhou."

His main adversaries were Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou, and the Yellow Turban rebels of Yanzhou!

"Zhongde, who do you think we should target first?" Cao Cao changed the subject and asked.

"Liu Dai was, after all, the governor of Yanzhou. Although he did not have much fame, he held a certain degree of righteousness, and there were still many powerful families in Yanzhou who were willing to support him."

However, since our lord has just arrived in Yanzhou and has not yet established his authority, if he rashly engages in battle with Liu Dai, it would be fine if he wins, but if the battle goes against him, it may trigger a series of chain reactions, leading to instability in Dongjun.

In my opinion, the most important task for our lord right now is to eliminate the Yellow Turbans in Yanzhou.

This move would not only win the hearts of the people of Yanzhou for the lord, but also allow him to recruit young and strong men from the Yellow Turbans, thus bolstering his own strength.

Once our lord has absorbed the strength of the Yellow Turbans in Yanzhou, he will surpass Liu Dai in both strength and popular support.

"Then, when our lord launches another campaign against Liu Dai, we can defeat him in one battle!" Cheng Yu said.

Cao Cao immediately laughed loudly: "Good, good, good! Zhongde is indeed a wise man of the world. What you said is exactly what I thought!"
"Then it's settled. Quickly muster the troops and head to suppress the Yellow Turban Rebellion in Yanzhou!"

After he finished speaking, he looked out the window toward the east.

He thought to himself, "Ji Qiu, Ji Qiu, once I've taken Yanzhou, I'll come back and test you again, and see who truly is the hero of the land!"

...Nanyang Prefecture.

This is the hometown of emperors. Emperor Guangwu of Han, Liu Xiu, started his career here and embarked on the road to revitalizing the Han Dynasty.

Therefore, after the Later Han Dynasty established its state, it treated this place with great favor.

At the same time, its geographical location is excellent, serving as a connecting point between Guanzhong and the area outside Guanzhong.

Therefore, this place has a thriving commerce and a large population, making it the most populous and wealthiest prefecture in the Han Dynasty.

This county alone has a population of 2.5 million, and its commercial index is comparable to that of the entire Qingzhou!
However, recently, the business situation in Nanyang County has become quite sluggish.

The living standards of ordinary people have also declined significantly.

This is because they have a good governor, Yuan Shu!
Yuan Shu was exceptionally gifted in levying exorbitant taxes and oppressing the people.

Historically, as a regional lord, he only took a few years to turn the once most prosperous Huainan region into a place where the people suffered greatly.

This is even more powerful than Dong Zhuo!

However, in terms of Yuan Shu's strength at this time, he was truly one of the best among the warlords of the land.

Even Yuan Shao could not match him.

Although he currently only has two counties under his control.

However, both of these counties were extremely powerful and large counties.

One of them, Nanyang County, as mentioned earlier, is the number one county in the world, with a population and wealth comparable to a medium-sized province!

The other commandery controlled by Yuan Shu was not much worse than Nanyang Commandery, and might even be better.

That is Runan County.

If Nanyang Commandery was the number one commandery in the Han Dynasty, then Runan Commandery was the number two commandery.

The total population of Runan Commandery reached 210 million, second only to Nanyang Commandery, but nearly a million fewer than the third largest commandery!
More importantly, Runan Commandery was the stronghold of the Yuan family.

The Yuan family was able to become a top-tier aristocratic family by taking control of Yu Province, based on Runan Commandery!
Therefore, Yuan Shu's control over Runan Commandery was far greater than that over Nanyang Commandery.

Because, although the population of Runan Commandery was slightly lower than that of Nanyang Commandery.

However, the force that Yuan Shu could truly mobilize here was indeed greater than that of Nanyang Commandery!

Therefore, Yuan Shu only seemed to control two counties at this time, but in reality, he did possess the strength of two medium-sized provinces in the interior of the Han Dynasty, similar to Qingzhou!

However, at present, Yuan Shu has not yet fully controlled Yu Province.

This is because some members of the Yuan clan still supported Yuan Shao.

The Yuan family's power can be roughly divided into two parts.

One of them is the Yuan clan.

It mainly refers to Yuzhou.

The second group consisted of Yuan's students.

It is mainly concentrated in the Hebei region.

Because of his status as the eldest son of Yuan Shu, he gained the support of most members of the Yuan clan.

Therefore, after the alliance against Dong Zhuo disbanded, he returned to Nanyang County and accepted the Yuan clan.

Yuan Shao, on the other hand, had the advantage of having the vast majority of his supporters as his protégés, and his territory was also Bohai Commandery.

So after the alliance against Dong Zhuo disbanded, he went to Bohai County in Ji Province.

However, this only refers to the majority; within the Yuan clan, there were only supporters of Yuan Shao.

Among Yuan Shu's disciples, there were also supporters, but they were not the mainstream.

Even if they weren't the mainstream, it would still take Yuan Shao or Yuan Shu some time to get rid of them.

This has been their main work during this period.

The Prefectural Governor's Residence of Nanyang.

It highlights a life of extravagance and debauchery.

The vermilion screen wall reflects the gilded taotie pattern, and the glazed tiles reflect a dazzling light under the blazing sun.

The entire Nanyang Prefectural Government Building covers an area of ​​100 acres. Between the carved beams and painted rafters hangs a purple silk curtain presented as tribute from Persia. The thirty-six dragon-carved pillars under the corridor are all carved from a single piece of white marble. The gold foil dragon patterns wrapped around the pillars tremble slightly in the wind, as if they were alive.

In the central courtyard lotus pond, twelve fair-skinned dancers, draped in silk gauze, stood barefoot on floating jade lotus platforms.

The golden bells on their wrists jingled as their sleeves fluttered, and the clinking of their pendants mingled with the sounds of string and wind instruments, creating a wave of music.

The bottom of the pool was covered with a whole piece of Lantian jade, and the inlaid luminous pearls flickered in the blue waves, dyeing the reflections of the dancers into an eerie bluish-white color.

Inside the rear hall, a nine-tiered incense burner made of Phoebe zhennan wood exhaled camphor incense, and wisps of smoke curled around the ivory couch where Yuan Shu leaned lazily.

Dozens of maids knelt on the Persian carpet, some holding peacock feather fans to cool him down, others holding luminous cups from the Western Regions filled with fine wine.

Yuan Shu caressed the South China Sea pearl hanging from the beauty's chest with his fingertips, then fed her a peeled lychee. The juice dripped down the corner of the beauty's lips, leaving dark red stains on the brocade.

A wonderful aroma wafted from the kitchen as seventy-two skilled cooks prepared a feast of a hundred beasts.

Bear paws tumbled in a jade pot, while orangutan lips and elephant trunks glistened in an agate cup, and mermaid tears, fresh from the South China Sea, were also present.

That is a creamy substance made from ground pearls; it takes a hundred pearls to make just one cup.

Suddenly, the copper bells on the eaves jingled. Yuan Shu, his eyes blurry with drunkenness, caught sight of the steward carrying a sandalwood box filled with gold ingots. He burst into laughter, which startled the white doves perched on the beams, their fluttering wings scattering a few pieces of gold foil.

Yan Xiang, Yuan Shu's chief strategist and chief clerk, hurriedly entered the governor's mansion, waved for the dancers, cooks, and servants to leave, and then said, "My lord, I have just received a letter from Young Master Shao!"

"A letter from Yuan Shao? Why would he send me a letter?" Yuan Shu asked sleepily.

The relationship between Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu was never good; they were not only rivals but also disliked each other intensely.

It was only when Yuan Shao returned to Luoyang that the two of them, despite their discomfort, joined forces to deal with Yuan Po.

However, with the deaths of Yuan Po and Yuan Ji at Dong Zhuo's hands, all the Yuan clan members in Luoyang perished.

Their collaboration ended quickly.

Now they are the only two remaining heirs of the Yuan family, and each of them wants to inherit the entire Yuan family estate. Naturally, they wish the other would die immediately!

Therefore, the relationship is worse than ever before!

Under such circumstances, how could Yuan Shao possibly send him a letter?
Yan Xiang shook his head and said, "I don't know either. This is a letter from Young Master Shao to our lord. I dare not open it without our lord's permission."

However, given the current relationship between Young Master Shao and our lord, the fact that Young Master Shao was willing to send a letter to our lord suggests that he must have genuinely encountered some difficulty.

"Hmm? That makes sense! Bring it here quickly, I want to see what it is that would make that proud concubine's son put aside his pride and send me a message!"

Yuan Shu's eyes lit up, and he even became more lucid. He spoke with great interest.

Yan Xiang quickly handed the letter in his hand to Yuan Shu.

Yuan Shu tore open the envelope, read it, but instead of letting out the hearty laugh that Yan Xiang had expected, his expression gradually became serious.

"My lord, what did Young Master Shao say?" Yan Xiang, sensing something amiss, quickly asked.

Yuan Shu simply handed the letter back to Yan Xiang and said, "You can read it yourself."

Yan Xiang took the letter, glanced at it quickly, and immediately exclaimed in surprise: "How could Ji Qiu's military force be so sharp? He took over Beihai Kingdom and Pingyuan County in just three days?"

Conquering a prefecture is by no means an easy task.

Both Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu had the support of their former subordinates, officials, and clansmen. Their attacks on the territories of Ji and Yu provinces could not be called attacks, but rather acceptances.

Even so, after such a long time, they had only managed to acquire a new prefecture each.

But Ji Qiu was able to take over a country and a prefecture that had nothing to do with him in just three days.

Given this disparity, it's no wonder that Yuan Shu and Yan Xiang were shocked.

Of course, both Yuan Shu and Yan Xiang knew that they had made thorough preparations before attacking Beihai and Pingyuan counties in the fall.

Even so, it is still an extremely remarkable thing.

"No wonder even that concubine's son had to put aside his pride and come to me for help."

It seems that Ji Qiu is putting a lot of pressure on him!

That makes sense, since Ji Qiu took over Pingyuan County, which is adjacent to him.

"If we don't cause Ji Qiu some trouble and distract him, he probably won't be able to sleep peacefully!" Yuan Shu chuckled.

Yan Xiang said solemnly, "What my lord says makes sense, but now is not the time to be angry with Young Master Shao."

Given the potential shown by Ji Qiu this season, if left unchecked, he may soon occupy the entire territory of Qingzhou.

However, if he were to occupy the entire territory of Qingzhou, it would be extremely disadvantageous for the initiative.

After all, he also had Taishan County under his jurisdiction, which connected the four prefectures of Yan, Yu, Qing and Xu.

He might very well send troops to Yuzhou at that time!

Therefore, our lord should lend a helping hand to Young Master Shao and jointly submit a memorial recommending Tao Qian as Left General, in charge of the military affairs of Qing and Xu provinces.

This is a scheme of two tigers fighting for food. Not only can Tao Qian be used to suppress Ji Qiu, but Ji Qiu can also be used to weaken Tao Qian's strength.

For our lord, this is a win-win situation!

"Hmm, that makes sense. But this would give Tao Qian, who is already powerful, a reason to conquer all sides. Wouldn't that lead to Tao Qian becoming too powerful?"

"If he were to actually defeat Ji Qiu and occupy the entire territory of Qing and Xu provinces, that would be a major threat!" Yuan Shu said worriedly.

Yan Xiang chuckled and said, "I believe this is absolutely impossible."

Given the strength Ji Qiu had previously demonstrated, he would not be easily defeated by Tao Qian.

Even if that day truly comes, the one most anxious won't be our lord, but Young Master Shao!

(End of this chapter)