Thick clouds accumulated in the sky, and the icy cold wind had stopped howling, but there was an unspeakable oppression, and all the sounds between heaven and earth seemed to disappear at this moment.

The weather was like this when Guo Tu left Wuyi. A heavy snowfall was about to fall. Originally, such weather was not suitable for traveling, but now for him or Yuan Tan, time is very important. He has been running around here and there these days.

Go away, or recruit some people overtly or covertly. Xu You's best policy was too risky. In Guo Tu's view, the so-called worst policy was the real best policy, but it needed to be modified, especially Xu You's sudden disappearance, which made Guo Tu

Tu felt a faint sense of uneasiness in his heart.

There is no need to pay attention to Yuan Xi. As long as the situation in Jizhou is stable, Yuan Xi cannot make any trouble. However, Xu You's words are not entirely wrong. This battle must be fought quickly. If it is delayed for too long, Cao Cao and Chen Mo will inevitably take advantage of it.

Jizhou’s foundation is not guaranteed.

Nowadays, Chen Mo is in a state of chaos due to the chaos in the Three Classics Schools. If Cao Cao sends troops, they will unite with Chen Mo to contain Cao Cao. At that time, Dai County and the Shanggu area will be ceded to Chen Mo. Although the land will be lost, the foundation of Jizhou can be preserved.

As long as Jizhou is captured, the eldest son will work hard for a few years and watch the two tigers of the Central Plains fight, and he may not be able to regain the lost territory one day.

Feeling a cold touch on his cheek, Guo Tu looked up and saw that snowflakes had begun to fall in the sky.

"It's snowing!" Guo Tu seemed to have thought of something, his eyes suddenly brightened, and he immediately returned to the carriage and urged the driver to drive away.

The carriage slowly disappeared into the veil of snow that gradually filled the sky and the earth.

The atmosphere in Jizhou, like the weather, became depressing with Xu You's departure.

Yecheng, Xiangfu.

"Lord, we have found out that Xu Ziyuan sent his family to cross the Yellow River ten days ago and is missing." Feng Ji looked at Yuan Shang, who had a somewhat gloomy expression, sighed in his heart, and bowed.

"What a great tutor!" Yuan Shang snorted angrily. He was quite angry at Xu You's willful departure. Even if he had done nothing wrong in the first place, the Xu family had become more and more aggressive in the past year. He punished Xu You's son,

He also acted in accordance with the law, but Xu You just turned his back and left, which made Yuan Shang feel very unhappy.

Feng Ji was also a little embarrassed. He didn't expect Xu You to leave so simply. It didn't matter how important Xu You was, but he was the key figure in maintaining the balance between Yingchuan and Jizhou officials. With him here, he could still convince the Yingchuan scholars.

Don't mess around, but without Xu You, the eldest son has been secretly deploying troops recently, which has plunged the situation in Jizhou into chaos again.

Guo Tu has been lobbying everywhere recently. They are not blind, how could they not know? Although Yuan Tan agreed to surrender, he did not remove the military power, which led to today's disaster.

What a disaster!

Both Feng Ji and Shen Pei now regretted that they had gone too far with Xu You. Even if they dealt with his son, their attitude should have been gentler. In the end, Xu You walked away like a traitor, which made them a little passive now.

.

Feng Ji looked at Xun Chen, and Xu You left. The only person on his side who could establish a relationship with the Yingchuan scholars was Xun Chen. He couldn't help but say: "Youruo, I don't know what's going on now."

What should the situation be?”

On Yuan Shang's side, it is basically the Jizhou scholars who make the final decision. As a Yingchuan scholar, although Yuan Shang is quite respectful to Xun Chen, the Jizhou scholars still intentionally or unintentionally exclude him from the circle, and Xun Chen usually also

Very few words were spoken, and now it was a bit embarrassing to ask.

Xun Chen was speechless when he heard this. You forced me to leave. Now you ask me what should I do? What should I do?

Yuan Shang also looked over expectantly. Naturally, Xun Chen couldn't really say that. After pondering for a moment, he looked at Yuan Shang and said: "Prime Minister, now is not the time to investigate the past. Zi Yuan persuaded the eldest son, but now Zi Yuan has left.

, the eldest son’s intention to launch an army is already clear. Not to mention my subordinates, even if Ziyuan comes back, he may not be able to convince the ministers. At this time, the only way to do this is to use thunderous means to quickly eliminate the eldest son’s troubles.

This is the best strategy. The longer it goes on, Chen Mo and Cao Cao will definitely send troops to invade Jizhou, and the situation will be out of control by then."

Yuan Tan Yonglie and Yuan Shang are stable. If these two brothers can join forces, it will be difficult for Chen Mo and Cao Cao to get involved in Jizhou. But now that the two brothers are fighting, the result...

Losing both sides may be a luxury.

Of course, if Yuan Shang can completely destroy Yuan Tan in a short period of time, the Yuan family still hopes to continue to control Jizhou. As for how short this short time is, it depends on how fast Chen Mo and Cao Cao react. Xun Chen

It is certain that although these two people seem to be busy with their own affairs, in fact, they are staring at Jizhou like two hungry wolves, leaving Yuan Shang with not much time.

It is not an exaggeration to say that Xu You is the culprit of the decline of the Yuan family. Once he left, the previous management situation completely collapsed. But if we trace the root cause, it is still the problem of the second son of the Yuan family and even Yuan Shao. Since the throne is to be passed to Yuan Shang, Yuan

Tan shouldn't have so much power and have so many people gathered around him.

Guo Tu, Xin Ping, Xin Pi, none of these Yingchuan scholars are easy to look at or easy to talk to.

Yuan Shang nodded, this seemed to be the only way at present.

Tian Feng frowned and said, "Youruo, why don't you try to imitate Xu You and persuade the eldest son? Nowadays, Jizhou cannot withstand civil strife."

Xun Chen shook his head and said nothing. What were you doing? There was something wrong with Xu You, but as soon as the situation improved, the Jizhou gentry united and began to exclude them. Tian Feng and Jushou were also considered assistant ministers, but at that time they did not

Talk, now that Xu You is gone and the situation is in chaos, let me follow Xu You's example and lobby again? Yuan Tan's arrow is on the string, what should I say?

"Now we can only fight." Jushou sighed, breaking the somewhat awkward atmosphere. This matter was not considered carefully, and he did not expect that as Yuan Shaoding's assistant minister, he would give up his job so easily.

Yuan Shang was a little helpless. Seeing that Tian Feng stopped talking, he nodded and said, "Then I will order Zhang He, General Gao Lan, to lead his army to capture Yuan Tan with thunderous force. What do you think?"

Tian Feng thought for a while and said: "I can order Gao Lan to lead Lu Kuang and Lu Xiang to wipe out Yuan Tan. As for Zhang He, he should guard Muye while Chen Mo takes advantage of the opportunity and at the same time mobilizes Han Meng to go south.

After assisting Gao Lan, after the success, he took advantage of the situation and went south to defend the border areas. Since Xu You has surrendered to Cao Cao, Cao Cao's army must have an understanding of our military deployment and must guard against it."

The biggest problem now is not Yuan Tan, but Chen Mo and Cao Cao. Xu You defected to Cao Cao, so many things in Jizhou are no longer secrets to Cao Cao. It is a little late to redeploy now, but some changes are still necessary.

"I'll just follow what you said." Yuan Shang nodded and immediately ordered someone to go and deliver the order.

Although Yuan Tan's mobilization of troops and horses was secretive, it could not be concealed after all. Similarly, Yuan Shang's mobilization of troops and horses could not be hidden from Yuan Tan. As soon as Guo Tu came back, he received news that Yuan Shang had paid a visit to Lu Kuang and Lu Xiang.

The second general gathered troops and horses to attack, and Yuan Shang mobilized his troops, but he was not as careful as Yuan Tan, so he moved more quickly.

"Sir, what should we do now?" Yuan Tan asked quickly when he saw Guo Tu coming back.

"Fight!" Guo Tu said in a deep voice: "At this point, there is no other way. My lord should gather troops and horses to fight with him as soon as possible. There is no need to hide it anymore."

Guo Tu could more or less guess what Yuan Shang was thinking. Since the other party was no longer prepared to settle down, they had no other option but to engage in battle.

At that moment, Yuan Tan stopped Guo Tu's suggestion, gathered his troops and marched directly to Yecheng. Gao Lan led his troops to intercept. The two sides met in Wei County and Yangping area, set up camps and attacked each other.

Gao Lan is known as one of the Four Court Pillars of Hebei. After Yan Liang and Wen Chou were killed in Hanoi, Zhang He's status in the army has been rising rapidly, and his own ability is not bad. Although Yuan Tan has many soldiers and horses, he is no match for Gao Lan.

After three consecutive battles, Gao Lan defeated his troops and lost his generals, so he had to retreat to Yangping.

"Sir, what should we do?" Yuan Tan was a little angry. The powerful generals left behind by his father all chose to support Yuan Shang, which made him quite uncomfortable.

"My lord, don't panic!" The first battle was unfavorable, and Guo Tu was also a little panicked. After all, Yuan Tan was far superior to Gao Lan in terms of military strength. However, Gao Lan still suppressed him and beat him. This made Guo Tu very puzzled. After all, Yuan Tan was beaten by Gao Lan.

The art of war is not his specialty.

After wandering back and forth for a few steps, a glint flashed in Guo Tu's eyes, and he looked at Yuan Tan and said, "Since Gao Lan is invincible, why not take him for your own use?"

"Ah?" Yuan Tan looked at Guo Tu and frowned: "It would be best if Gao Lan can help me, but Gao Lan is the third brother's favorite general, how could he betray him?"

Guo Tu smiled and said: "Yuan Shang is suspicious. My lord, you can make a truce for the time being and contact Gao Lan via a letter."

"How many letters can make Gao Lan surrender?" Yuan Tan asked puzzledly.

"Of course you can't, but the Third Young Master will definitely be suspicious. My Lord, you can write more insignificant things, describe old friendships, and also talk about admiration. In short, don't talk about the war, and don't mention anything about recruitment." Guo Tu said with a smile.

"Why is this?" Yuan Tan was even more confused.

"Let the Third Young Master think about it." Guo Tu said with a smile: "The Third Young Master will help us think of it, but there is one thing. No matter how Gao Lan calls the formation in the future, the Young Master only needs to defend the city and not leave. Gao Lan has few troops.

You will not dare to attack by force."

Yuan Tan nodded, a little confused, but he believed in Guo Tu. He immediately ordered people to guard the city gate and stop fighting with the enemy. At the same time, under Guo Tu's guidance, he began to write a letter to Gao Lan.

On the other side, Gao Lan's camp, looking at the letter written by Yuan Tan, Gao Lan was a little confused. He had such a deep friendship with the eldest son? Why didn't he know it?

"What is the meaning of this letter, eldest son?" Gao Lan handed the letter to Lu Kuang. Lu Xiang read it and asked with a frown.

Lu Kuang and Lu Xiang were even more unaware. Gao Lan simply ignored them and went to call for formation early the next morning. However, Yuan Tan ignored him at all and just stayed behind closed doors. After Gao Lan withdrew his troops, he sent someone to deliver a letter.

, many times, even three letters a day, and they were all about reminiscing about the past or expressing admiration, which made Gao Lan confused and simply ignored them. He just threw the letters aside and discussed the attack with Lu Kuang and Lu Xiang.
Chapter completed!