Three Kingdoms: I, Yuan Shu, Loyal Officials of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 185 Gongsun Zan: Is this the extravagance of a family that has held high office for four generations?
"General Gongsun, can you really rest easy if you don't kill such a cunning schemer quickly?"

Gongsun Zan remained silent for a long time as Cheng Yu pressed him relentlessly, then summoned Yan Tong and said:

"Go and bring Mr. Fengxiao up."

"only."

Before long, Guo Jia was brought closer. When he saw Cheng Yu, who was squinting and smiling slightly beside Gongsun Zan, he knew in his heart that he was in trouble.

When they saw truckloads of supplies filing in below the city gate, they knew exactly what had happened.
If we don't handle this calamity well, we might die on the spot, and then we won't have to wait for the ransom from Yuan's camp anymore.

In fact, according to Guo Jia's calculations, if Yuan Shu wanted to provide financial assistance, it would be impossible to transport such a large amount of military supplies by land; the only way to get them here was by sea.

If they were to travel by sea, with no obstacles from other warlords along the way, even though the journey would be long, it should still be faster than Cao Cao's camp trying to find a detour overland to reach Youzhou.

But now that Cao Cao's supplies have all arrived, there's still no news from Yuan Shao.

What caused this delay? Or did they encounter a storm at sea?

At this moment, Guo Jia never expected that Yuan Gong's ships would not encounter any obstruction from the feudal lords.

However, as they traveled, they went out to plunder the feudal lords, distributed grain to the local people along the way, and spread the fame of Lord Yuan and Huang Tian, ​​which naturally delayed their journey and slowed them down.

Although he didn't know the details, he had no other choice at the moment. Guo Jia sighed inwardly, hoping that Yuan Gong was not a short-sighted person who would abandon his "confidant and strategist" for a little bit of supplies and money.

Without waiting for the escorts to urge him, he went to Gongsun Zan's side, gave him a deep bow, and hurriedly said:

"General!
Jia reiterated his previous statement: no matter how much Cao Cao's camp gives, my lord will give at least two times, or even three times, the amount.

You know my lord's wealth; the supplies and military provisions arriving will be plentiful, if not abundant. However, Huainan is a long way from here, and they are probably still en route. Please, General, do not be impatient and grant me some more time.”

However, Gongsun Zan's gloomy eyes were fixed on him coldly.

"Mr. Fengxiao was truly loyal to Mr. Yuan, and he accomplished great things in private."

Guo Jia was startled, but forced a smile. "What are you saying, General? I am but a prisoner, a bound man whose life and death are in your hands. What great things could I possibly do?"

"Mr. Fengxiao, do you really think we are still in the dark about your plot to seize Zhao Yun from my command on behalf of Lord Yuan?"

Zhao Yun is now the fifth adopted son of Yuan Shao, and he has fought bravely for him, killing enemy generals and carrying flags. He has made great achievements in Huainan.

Let alone the supplies sent by Lord Yuan to redeem you, even Zhao Yun would probably be reluctant to give up the riches of Huainan and never return.

Sir, you are truly a master strategist. Knowing full well that you have no chance of escaping once you fall into my hands, you are willing to risk your life to find another valiant general for Lord Yuan.

Such loyalty truly impressed Zan.

Gongsun Zan spoke with admiration, but his voice was cold and his eyes were filled with murderous intent. Of course, he would not believe Cheng Yu's words without listening to his side of the story. That is why he summoned Guo Jia to test him and see what else he had to say.

Guo Jia? Right now, he was cursing Yuan Gong to death! Fine, fine, Yuan Gonglu, you short-sighted, narrow-minded wretch.

The rumors in the world are indeed false. I thought you could trick Guo Jia to this extent, and that you were a hero and a wise ruler. I never thought that you would trick him to death!

Didn't the letter make it very clear to you? Send supplies to protect me, so that I can have some say in Gongsun Zan's eyes, just like Cheng Yu?

Let me plan for you slowly. In the end, Zhao Yun will be yours, and Gongsun Zan's legacy will also be yours. Why are you in such a hurry?

Zhao Yun was sent to you to see, not to be adopted as your godson directly, right?
Now that supplies and Zhao Yun are nowhere to be found, how can he possibly deal with Cheng Yu in front of Gongsun Zan?

Sure enough, before he could even react, Cheng Yu sneered.

"When Mr. Fengxiao did this, he must have already thought of today."

Now that the matter has come to light, Yu thinks there's nothing more to say. Mr. Fengxiao has achieved his goal of benevolence and died a worthy death.

Rest assured, your lord is in the south. We will ensure you die facing south, so that history will remember your loyalty and integrity.

Guo Jia: "."

My Lord is in the south of that ghost?

Is it too late for me to say now that I was not Yuan Shu's strategist at all and had nothing to do with him?
Although flustered, Guo Jia knew he must not show weakness at this moment. He simply faced the situation calmly and said:

"You're spouting nonsense and making baseless accusations, Cheng Zhongmou. You'll say anything to get rid of Guo."

Putting aside whether Yuan Gong's adoption of Zhao Yun as his adopted son was something you made up to deceive General Gongsun, even if it were true, what does it have to do with whether my lord will send supplies to ransom him?

Perhaps my lord is fond of adopting sons, and upon seeing Zilong's youthful talent, he might suddenly have the idea of ​​adopting him.

But Zilong has followed General Gongsun for many years; his loyalty, righteousness, and willingness to follow him to the death are not something you can sow discord with.”

Guo Jia angrily rebuked Cheng Yu, then bowed respectfully to Gongsun Zan.

"General, you are wise. Perhaps Zilong is already on his way with ten times the supplies of Cao Cao's camp."

If you kill me today, wouldn't you be falling into Cheng Yu's treacherous trap, playing into Cao Cao's hands, turning against my lord, causing pain to your loved ones and joy to your enemies?

"joke!"

Cheng Yu, rebuked and mocked, could not bear such humiliation. He scoffed!
"Zhao Yun was the fifth adopted son of Yuan Shao. He charged into and out of Meng County seven times, slaying generals and raising flags, a feat known throughout the land."

This was told to me personally by Qu Bei, the Right Wise King of the Xiongnu who came to deliver supplies on this trip.

It's just that the journey is long and the news is slow, so it hasn't reached Youzhou yet.

"I, Cheng, am not so incompetent as to resort to such laughable tricks and deceptions that can be easily verified."

Unexpectedly, Guo Jia's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he hurriedly said to Gongsun Zan:

"General, look! This matter is currently only known to people in Cao Cao's camp in Youzhou. How can we distinguish between the truth and the falsehood?"

If the general finds out that the matter is false, Jia has already been beheaded, and the general has been tied to Cao Cao's chariot.

At that moment, Cheng Zhongmou exclaimed: "I was just joking around!"
Jia asked the general, "How should we deal with this?"

Gongsun Zan was startled by what he heard, but the more he thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed.

If Cheng Yu is really so shameless as to deceive people with lies, he probably won't even need to find out the truth. As soon as Guo Jia dies, he will admit that everything he said was a lie.

By then, everyone else had been killed and bound to the war chariot, so what could they do to Cheng Yu?

With Heaven as our witness and the white horse as our guide, we will follow each other to the death for the sake of righteousness!

He recalled the oath of the White Horse Cavalry, and how Zhao Yun was one of the few remaining veterans who had followed him to the Jieqiao battlefield. Could he really betray him, becoming someone else's adopted son simply after meeting Yuan Shu once in Huainan?

Once the seed of doubt was planted, Gongsun Zan's gaze toward Cheng Yu became increasingly dangerous and strange.

“Military Advisor Cheng, in my opinion, what Mr. Fengxiao said makes sense. If you are really confident, why not wait for my spies to find out the information from the south and see if this is true before discussing anything else?”
"Isn't it premature to kill Mr. Fengxiao now?"

Cheng Yu: "."

Zhao Yun was Yuan Shu's fifth adopted son, a fact known throughout the south. Logically, he shouldn't have been afraid of being investigated.

But he really didn't want to let Guo Jia twist the truth and let him escape another disaster.

After all, whether or not to kill Guo Jia now is no longer just a simple matter of eliminating Yuan Shu's strategist.

Now that things have escalated to this point, whether or not to kill Guo Jia has become a matter of Gongsun Zan's faction's stance.

If you kill him, he'll be completely under Cao Cao's control; if you send him back to Huainan, he'll be completely under Yuan Shu's control; if you neither kill nor send him, he'll be caught in the middle, a snake and a rat.

For Cao Cao's sake, he naturally hoped that Gongsun Zan would make a decision as soon as possible and completely side with Cao Cao's camp.

Because delays can lead to unforeseen changes!

The distance between Huainan and Youzhou is unknown, spanning thousands of miles and crossing several feudal lords.

The only way for Yuan Shu to transport supplies to Youzhou to ransom people was by sea, a fact that many of Cao Cao's strategists had guessed.

However, these northerners had only heard rumors about the huge ships that were tens of feet tall and could cross the sea as easily as flat land; they had never seen them in person, so they were unsure of their capabilities.

However, just in case, we should still have Gongsun Zan eliminate Guo Jia as soon as possible.

However, before he could speak again, a messenger rushed in to report!
"Report!

Reporting to the general, Marquis Zhao has returned!
Accompanying us were more than a dozen large ships, each several tens of feet high, arranged in five decks. I had never seen such large ships in my life.

The large ship is currently docked at the coast of Linyu County in Liaoxi Prefecture to unload its cargo. The goods on board are piled up like mountains, and there's no way to move them all.

According to Zhao Junhou, Yuan Gonggaoyi has also sent eight hundred elite knights, all of whom are warriors capable of fighting ten men each!
However, transporting horses by boat is inconvenient, so I urgently ordered my servant to request eight hundred horses from the general, in order to launch a surprise attack on Yuan Shao's army.

When the news arrived, Guo Jia remained calm as always, but inwardly he breathed a huge sigh of relief. Thank goodness, Lord Yuan hadn't given up on him; he had survived.

Cheng Yu's face was gloomy, and he gritted his teeth. "I don't know if what this person said is true or false. Yuan Gonglu is not the same as before. Under someone's tutelage, he has become cunning and unpredictable."

Even if supplies are indeed delivered, their intentions may be malicious. General Gongsun, please don't fall for someone's scheme again.

When mentioning a certain person, Cheng Yu's gaze would occasionally drift to the composed Guo Jia beside him, the meaning of which was self-evident.

Guo Jia: "."

I'm training Lord Yuan?
You might not believe it, but in your eyes, I am hidden behind Lord Yuan, possessing wisdom and unpredictability, assisting Lord Yuan in fighting against all the feudal lords under heaven, and winning every battle.

In reality, I was captured in Gongsun Zan's camp and escaped death several times, almost being tricked to death by Yuan Shao.

However, Gongsun Zan was no longer concerned with the infighting between the two strategists, and his face was full of undisguised joy.

When it comes to conquering the world and being a hero, one has to look to me, Gongsun Bogui!

Gongsun Zan used a scheme to coerce Cao Cao and Yuan Shao into supporting him. The two great warlords of the time were fighting openly and secretly for Gongsun Zan, and Gongsun Zan did not hesitate to send large amounts of grain and military supplies.

With these supplies and the secret assistance of the two major warlords, how could he not defeat Yuan Shao and avenge the defeat at Jieqiao and Baima?

Overjoyed, he heard that Lord Yuan also had eight hundred elite soldiers to give as a gift. Although the number of soldiers was small, the sentiment was profound.

Zhao Yun, who had made such a great contribution and brought back so many supplies, only asked that the eight hundred men be provided with horses.

Gongsun Zan truly lacked everything except horses.

He had so many horses that he could even pick and choose, specifically selecting white horses to form his White Horse Cavalry. At this moment, a mere eight hundred horses were naturally not worth his attention.

He immediately ordered someone to allocate horses to Zhao Yun nearby, so that he could first settle the righteous men from Yuan's camp who had come to aid Huainan.

He then looked at Cheng Yu, whose face was pale, and chuckled as he said:
"Military Advisor Cheng, you previously claimed that Zhao Yun would not return and ordered me to kill Mr. Fengxiao quickly. Now that Zhao Yun has not only returned but also brought back so many supplies, what do you have to say for yourself?"

After briefly reprimanding Cheng Yu for using the supplies sent by Cao Cao's camp to pressure him into killing Guo Jia, he still tried to appease him, considering that the supplies from Cao Cao's camp were arriving in a steady stream.

"However, what strategist Cheng said makes sense. As the saying goes, seeing is believing. It just so happens that Zan has never seen that legendary ship that is tens of feet tall, and he wanted to broaden his horizons."

"As for the details of this report, you two might as well accompany Zan to Linyu and find out for yourselves!"

So Yan Tong was left to manage the affairs of Youbeiping County, while Gongsun Zan led his men out of the city and rode quickly towards Linyu.

Meanwhile, in Youzhou, Liaoxi Commandery, and Linyu County.

Located on the eastern coast of Youzhou, near the Bohai Sea, this place is an excellent location for ships to dock and unload their cargo.

At this moment, along the coast of Linyu, a dozen or so large ships were rising and falling with the waves, their massive size astonishing all who witnessed them.

Countless supplies and military provisions were continuously unloaded from it, quickly piling up like mountains, making the small Linyu warehouse unable to hold them all.

Of course, Jiang Qin led his men all the way here, plundering the treasuries and powerful families of more than ten counties along the coast, and looting countless supplies.

There was so much that it couldn't all be loaded onto the ship, so it had to be distributed to the local people to make Yuan Gong famous. How could Linyu County possibly hold such a large quantity?

Looking at Jiang Qin and Zhao Yun now, they had long since removed the yellow turbans from their faces, and there was no trace of the former demeanor of General Hai Gong and General Long Gong.

Even his soldiers, when facing Gongsun Jun who came to receive the supplies, presented themselves as a benevolent grain transport team.

Who would have known that not long ago, they covered their faces with yellow turbans and shouted, "The Blue Heaven is dead, the Yellow Heaven shall rise!" and the coastal counties were terrified at the mere mention of their name?

On that day, when Gongsun Zan brought his men over and witnessed the mountains of supplies and grain piled up in Linyu County, how could he not tightly grasp Jiang Qin's hand and express his admiration for Yuan Gong?

To be honest, Gongsun Zan had always known about Yuan Shu, but he never imagined that Yuan Shu was so rich!

It turns out that Guo Jia's boast that he would provide double or triple the amount of Cao Cao's forces was not just empty talk.

This is not just three times the amount; it's several times more than the supplies sent by Cao Cao's camp!
Is this what they mean by "four generations of high-ranking officials"?

Did Yuan Gong's family not need money for food and supplies?

That landlord's family is incredibly wealthy!

(End of this chapter)