The Three Kingdoms: Hindsight is 20/20, and the Three Revivals of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 132 He's on the table! Liu Bei ignites the flames of internal strife within the Yuan clan (3rd update)
Should we use Yuan Shang to eliminate Xu You first?

Liu Bei's plan immediately terrified Yuan Xi.

Who was Xu You?

That was Yuan Shao's trusted friend and a close confidant who could help each other wholeheartedly. Apart from Xu You, it was as if Xu You was tearing out Yuan Shao's heart.

Yuan Xi thought he had misheard and carefully observed Liu Bei's expression.

After confirming that Liu Bei was not faking it, Yuan Xi suppressed his shock and asked in a low voice, "General Zuo, you may not know this, but Xu You has known the General for many years and can be entrusted with life and death. Even if Yuan Shang is deeply trusted by the General, he may not be able to succeed."

Liu Bei raised his wine cup and swirled it slightly: "How to get rid of Xu You is not something Governor Yuan needs to worry about. Governor Yuan only needs to tell Yuan Shang the truth about Xu You's advice to the General to establish Yuan Tan as his heir, and then falsely claim that Ju Shou came to Zhuo County to win over Governor Yuan on behalf of Yuan Tan. Yuan Shang has many resourceful men under his command, and he has his own good plan to get rid of Xu You. As for the rest, Governor Yuan can just wait and see."

After Liu Bei's prompting, Yuan Xi finally understood Liu Bei's intention, and his inner shock turned into joy: "If this can really be done, Yuan Shang will only think that I am loyally serving him. This is using someone else's strength against them, General Zuo's brilliant plan!"

Yuan Xi was not as cunning as Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang. At this moment, he only thought about the benefits of using their strength against them, without considering how much shock Xu You would cause to the 100,000 Yuan troops at Guandu at this critical moment in the Battle of Guandu.

Or perhaps, Yuan Xi never even considered the possibility that Yuan Shao might be defeated!

You can't say that without Xu You, Yuan Shao would have been defeated at Guandu, can you?
Seeing Yuan Xi's delight, Liu Bei took out the list of promotions from his pocket and said, "In this campaign against the six commanderies, many civil and military officials have made meritorious contributions. Although I am the Left General, the appointments of the civil and military officials of Youzhou still need to be reviewed by Governor Yuan."

Yuan Xi was overjoyed.

Given Liu Bei's current prestige and power in Youzhou, even if he didn't take Yuan Xi seriously, Yuan Xi could only grit his teeth and endure it.

Now, Liu Bei is not only willing to share credit with Yuan Xi, but also to advise Yuan Xi on how to compete with Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang for the heirship. At this moment, he has even shown Yuan Xi the appointments of all the civil and military officials in Youzhou.

They gave us both face and substance!

After glancing at the list of promotions, Yuan Xi agreed to Liu Bei's draft: "The six commanderies have just been pacified, and the people's hearts have just been won over. We need General Zuo's help to stabilize the people. With the fierce generals under General Zuo's command stationed in the six commanderies, I have nothing to worry about!"

Yuan Xi's willingness to agree so readily actually stemmed from his disdain for the six prefectures.

Although the six prefectures appear to be vast, they are actually sparsely populated. The number of Han Chinese registered households combined is less than that of Zhuojun. Furthermore, a large number of Wuhuan tribes occupy the fertile lands with abundant water and grass, making the governance of the six prefectures a thankless and arduous task.

After receiving Liu Bei's promise, Yuan Xi focused his attention on competing with Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang for the succession. As long as he succeeded, he didn't care who wanted to stay in Youzhou; Yuan Xi himself didn't want to stay.

What Yuan Xi wanted was Ji Province, the Central Plains, and the opportunity to inherit the glory of the Yuan family's four generations of three dukes and to rejoin the ranks of the three dukes!

Immediately.

Yuan Xi then found paper and pen and, following Liu Bei's plan, wrote a secret letter to Yuan Shang in Ye City.

At the same time, Yuan Xi wrote a memorial and sent it to the Guandu camp. In the memorial, Yuan Xi added a sentence according to Liu Bei's wishes: "There is a solar eclipse, which is a warning that disaster may occur. It would be better to temporarily cease hostilities with Cao Cao and then offer sacrifices at the Yellow River. This will both appease Heaven and pacify the people."

When asked for the reason, Liu Bei's answer was also straightforward: "It is better to be prepared than to be caught off guard. If no disaster occurs, the General will be in a good mood and will not take it seriously; if a disaster does occur, the General will be disheartened and will definitely rely on Governor Yuan."

Seeing that Liu Bei had considered everything carefully, Yuan Xi was even more delighted: "How fortunate I am to have the Left General's assistance!"

To avoid any unforeseen complications, Liu Bei urged Yuan Xi to send a message by fast horse, indicating the urgency of the situation.

Yuan Xi understood this principle well, so he dispatched two fast horses to deliver the message, one to Ye City and the other to Guandu. The secret message sent to Ye City arrived first.

Upon learning that it was sent by Yuan Xi via express courier, the people of Ye City dared not delay and hurriedly delivered the secret letter to Yuan Shang.

"How dare Xu You'an do this!"

Yuan Shang slammed his fist on the table and stood up, glaring angrily as he cursed.

If it were only Yuan Xi's letter, Yuan Shang would not have been so angry. However, before that, Shen Pei, who had always had a good relationship with Yuan Shang, was suddenly transferred back to Ye City by Yuan Shao.

Upon returning to Ye City, Shen Pei claimed to be ill and appeared to be giving up.

Yuan Shang went to inquire and learned that Xu You, together with Guo Tu, Feng Ji, and Xun Chen, had framed Shen Pei for overstepping his bounds of power, which had aroused Yuan Shao's dissatisfaction. As a result, Yuan Shao transferred Shen Pei back to Ye City.

Yuan Shang had always been at odds with Xu You, Guo Tu and others. First, Shen Pei was framed by Xu You and transferred back to Ye City. Then, Yuan Xi sent a secret letter saying that Xu You advised Yuan Shao to make Yuan Tan his heir. In addition, Ju Shou's transfer to Zhuo County was indeed related to Xu You. Moreover, Ju Shou always believed that the division of the sons was a way to bring disaster and that Yuan Tan should be made the heir directly.

Due to a combination of factors, Yuan Shang's hatred for Xu You reached its peak.

"Quickly summon the judge!"

Yuan Shang took a deep breath and took out the document that had been reviewed and delivered a few days ago.

The gist of the memorial was that the investigation revealed that Xu You's family members had committed crimes, and requested Yuan Shang's permission to detain Xu You's wife and children.

Yuan Shang hesitated for several days because of the close relationship between Xu You and Yuan Shao.

And today.

Yuan Shang couldn't hold back any longer!

He originally intended to use this as leverage to coerce Xu You into abandoning his support for Yuan Tan, but unexpectedly, Xu You actually started working for Yuan Tan. How could he tolerate this?
If we don't act soon, Yuan Tan will devour us completely.

When Shen Pei arrived, Yuan Shang stated bluntly, "Hebei has its own laws, which cannot be defiled. Xu You's family has broken the law and should be punished. Immediately arrest and interrogate them, and then submit a memorial to General Wen impeaching Xu You for condoning illegal acts!"

Shen Pei was taken aback and asked in confusion, "Why did you suddenly change your mind, young master?"

Yuan Shang snorted coldly and handed Yuan Xi's secret letter to Shen Pei: "That scoundrel Xu You not only advised the General to establish Yuan Tan as his heir, but also instigated the General to transfer Ju Shou to Zhuo County, ostensibly to monitor Liu Bei, but in reality to win over Yuan Xi. If Yuan Xi hadn't been reasonable and respected me, the General would probably have been coerced by Xu You, Ju Shou and others into establishing Yuan Tan as his heir!"

Shen Pei was startled. He carefully examined the contents of the secret letter and found that its logic was clear and did not seem fabricated. Shen Pei couldn't help but feel angry:
"No wonder Xu You was so eager to frame me. He wanted to take advantage of the great victory at Guandu to coerce the General into making Yuan Tan his heir. If Xu You succeeds, my son and I will have nowhere to go in the future."

Thinking of Xu You's smug face, and the arrogant and domineering attitude of Xu You's family members who had broken the law, Shen Pei was filled with malice. Since Xu You was so unrighteous, why should I, Shen Pei, be righteous?

Now that the evidence was conclusive and Yuan Shang had his support, Shen Pei had no more doubts. On the same day, he arrested Xu You's family and confiscated Xu You's property. He then listed all the crimes committed by Xu You's family in a memorial and sent it to Guandu by fast horse.

Shen Pei is a ruthless person. He doesn't make a move unless he's absolutely sure of it, but when he does, he's determined to destroy Xu You!
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(End of this chapter)