I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 259 Is an unmarried woman considered a wife?

Inside the thatched hut, Zhang He and Gao Lan gained a completely new understanding of Liu Miao.

Why did Liu Miao not come to offer sacrifices at the Langya altars before, but now he's "dug them out" to benefit himself?
Is Liu Miao even human?
Yuan Xi remained silent for a moment, but could only take the initiative to back down: "I will lead my troops to withdraw from Langya now. What do you think, General Liu?"

After realizing that trying to get closer to him was useless, Yuan Xi even stopped calling him "brother-in-law"...

"No."

Liu Miao sat on a folding chair, leaning back.

"Lead the troops and withdraw from Qingzhou!"

"impossible!!"

Even though everyone was prepared for Liu Miao to make exorbitant demands, no one expected him to be this greedy!

His words encompassed the entire Qingzhou!

If Qingzhou were truly handed over to Liu Miao, it would mean that Liu Miao would be on the border with Yuan Shao, and it would also mean that Liu Miao and Gongsun Zan would be separated by only the Bohai Commandery!

The latter, in particular, was intolerable to all the generals of Yuan's army!

The purpose of trapping Gongsun Zan in the Baichi Tower in Yijing was to completely extinguish his hopes.

But if Liu Miao were to obtain Qingzhou now, who knows if Gongsun Zan would go all out and force a breakout!

It's completely impossible for Yuan Shao to give up Qingzhou!

"it is good!"

Unexpectedly, Liu Miao readily agreed, but then immediately stood up and said, "In that case, let's see who prevails on the battlefield!"

The guards around Liu Miao immediately went to take the horse, their movements so smooth that Yuan Xi and the others had no time to react!
Zhang He and Gao Lan's faces instantly turned mostly green!
Negotiations? Who negotiates like this?!
If you don't think the price is right, you can negotiate it back!

What does it mean to overturn a stall at the slightest disagreement?
Gao Lan quickly stepped forward to block Liu Miao: "What does General Liu mean by this?"

"I'm the one who needs to ask you, what exactly are Yuan Shao's intentions?"

Liu Miao snorted coldly.

"Don't forget, Qingzhou originally belonged to my father-in-law, Lü Bu!"

"All I asked was for you to withdraw your troops, yet you say 'no,' aren't you humiliating me?"

Gao Lan wanted to retort, "When did Qingzhou become Lü Bu's territory...?"

However, seeing Liu Miao's aggressive demeanor, Gao Lan dared not provoke him and could only gently advise, "Why has General Liu come to this? Since you are willing to come, it means there is still room for negotiation, isn't there?"

"No."

Liu Miao looked at Gao Lan coldly.

"I came here not to negotiate with you. I just feel that there are some things that can perhaps be won without the lives of soldiers."

"But if that's your attitude, then we might as well just fight!"

Gao Lan was forced to swallow his anger and resentment.

Unfortunately, Gao Lan had no way to refute it.

Yuan Shao's failure to personally come to Langya already cost his army the initiative.

At this point, she couldn't be defiant in front of Liu Miao and could only go along with his wishes.

Gao Lan's attitude could only be further softened: "Qingzhou is close to the heart of Hebei, and one can directly reach Yecheng by crossing the river from the plains... This is equivalent to someone demanding Huainan from Yangzhou. Would you easily give Huainan away?"

Liu Miao completely ignored Gao Lan and made a move to leave.

"Is General Gao truly ignorant, or is he pretending to be confused with me?"

"The current situation is not about demanding compensation, but about seeking reparations!"

"Want to keep Qingzhou? Fine! We'll find out after a battle, won't we?"

Liu Miao is now taking advantage of the fact that Yuan Shao, the "patriarch," is not here; he is being completely unreasonable and domineering!

"Qingzhou, I'm taking it! Yuan Shao can't hold it! I said it!" Seeing Liu Miao constantly resorting to thuggish tactics and mentioning war, Gao Lan was helpless: "General Liu! You want to stand by Yuan Shao's pillow with a sword in hand? Who in this world would allow such a thing to happen?"

"How about this, we'll use the Yi River as the boundary, and agree that nothing will happen between us?"

With Yishui as the boundary, that is to say, the southern areas of Ju County and Dongwu were given to Liu Miao, which is equivalent to handing over the southern coastline of Qingzhou to Liu Miao.

But Liu Miao was clearly not satisfied!

However, Liu Miao finally gave his conditions—

"I will entrust Qingzhou to Lü Bu afterward, and I will not send troops here myself."

"Therefore, I must have this land of Qingzhou!"

Qingzhou is a place that Liu Miao needs now!
Without the mountains and rivers of Qingzhou to rely on, they would likely face a bitter battle if they were to confront Yuan Shao's Hebei cavalry in the future.

Therefore, no matter what is said, Liu Miao will not waver.

However, Liu Miao was also aware of how uneasy Yuan Shao would be if he were to actually station troops in Qingzhou, so he made a compromise—

He demanded the return of Qingzhou, but instead of sending soldiers to garrison it, he allowed Lü Bu to continue governing Qing and Xu provinces as a buffer between himself and Yuan Shao.

Gao Lan was slightly taken aback when he heard this suggestion.

If it were anyone else, Gao Lan probably wouldn't have believed it, thinking it was just a temporary measure by Liu Miao.

But if it's Lü Bu... well, that's not necessarily true!
Who in the world doesn't know that Lü Bu is unruly and difficult to tame?
Although Lü Bu also hated Yuan Shao, in terms of danger, Lü Bu was undoubtedly countless times less dangerous than Liu Miao was at present.

Therefore, if Liu Miao really handed Qingzhou over to Lü Bu and did not interfere in the matter, Yuan Shao's concerns would undoubtedly be much less.

Even so, the appetite of the entire Qingzhou is still too big!
"Since General Liu has placed Lü Bu under the jurisdiction of Qingzhou, I will also concede a step."

"With the Ji River as the boundary, the plains to the north belong to Lord Yuan, while the kingdoms of Jinan and Le'an to the south belong to General Liu. What do you say?"

Although the Ji River is not as wide as the Yellow River, it is one of the four major rivers. It overflows to form the Ying River, flows eastward to the north of Taoqiu, then eastward to He, then northeastward to join the Wen River, then northeastward to flow into the sea. Its military value and significance should not be underestimated.

The Pingyuan Commandery north of the Ji River is connected to the Bohai Sea and the Qinghe River, making it extremely important for the defense of the eastern side of Ye City. Therefore, Liu Miao guessed that this was basically the limit of Yuan Shao's power, and thus nodded in satisfaction.

"That's not entirely impossible!"

Hearing Liu Miao's words, even though it was Yuan Shao's side that had suffered a loss, they inexplicably felt a sense of relief.

They were genuinely afraid that Liu Miao would start a war at the slightest provocation.

Because of Liu Miao's previous performance, the question of "daring" has been completely eliminated; the only remaining question is whether Liu Miao "wants" it.

While it's certainly painful for everyone to see Liu Miao take away Qingzhou south of the Ji River, it's all worth it as long as it buys Yuan Shao time to destroy Gongsun Zan!

Liu Miao was quite satisfied with the result.

Taking Qingzhou would mean pushing the battle line far north, and even threatening Yuan Shao's heartland in Hebei.

This change meant that if Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were to actually fight in the future, Yuan Shao would certainly not dare to devote all his troops to dealing with Cao Cao, so it indirectly helped Cao Cao share a large part of the burden.

And most importantly...

Taking control of Qingzhou would provide a springboard for contacting Gongsun Zan of Youzhou and Gongsun Du of Liaodong.

Once we get in touch with these two and form an anti-Yuan Shao alliance, even Yuan Shao will probably have to spend a lot of time to break free.
Having resolved the core dispute, Liu Miao finally returned to the thatched hut with a smile.

Having gained a province for free, Liu Miao even began to find his brother-in-law, Yuan Xi, more agreeable.

"How is Xianyi's wife now?"

What was meant to be a casual greeting has put everyone on alert!
Liu Miao... actually wants Yuan Xi's wife?!
You, Liu Miao, are Yuan Xi's brother-in-law!
Yuan Xi was initially also feeling a bit uneasy, but he quickly realized what was going on and looked at Liu Miao with a puzzled expression: "Has General Liu made a mistake? I am not yet married."

"But not long ago, Father arranged a marriage between his daughter and the Zhen family of Wuji..."

Yuan Xi instantly became alert!

Is an unmarried woman also considered a wife?

Could it be that Liu Miao really intends to steal her away?

(End of this chapter)