Chapter 114 Returning Victoriously

The defeat of Liu Bei's Xuzhou troops marked the end of any effective resistance on the ground in Qingzhou.

After this battle, Yuan Tan returned to Ye City and should be granted the official position of governing Qingzhou, thus possessing his own territory.

Of course, what lay before him was a mess. Qingzhou was without Tian Kai and Kong Rong, but it still held tens, even hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turban remnants.

Among them were men, women, old, and young, all unregistered people who were half civilians and half bandits, often emerging to plunder during the chaos in Qingzhou when everyone was preoccupied with their own affairs.

Once the government troops arrived, they would hide in the mountains, concealing themselves and leaving the officials helpless.

These people, along with the roving bandits in several commanderies of Xuzhou, were collectively known as the Mount Tai bandits, led by Zang Ba, Sun Guan, Sun Kang, Chang Xi, Wu Dun, Yin Li, and others, forming a considerable force not to be underestimated.

Besides them, there were also the White Wave bandits led by Yang Feng, Han Xian, Hu Cai, and Li Le in Hedong, and the Black Mountain bandits led by Zhang Yan, Yang Feng, Yu Du, Bai Rao, Sui Gu, and Tao Sheng in Bingzhou, collectively known as the Three Great Bandits of the North.

These people were all around Jizhou and, coincidentally, had poor relations with the Yuan family. This was also one of the important reasons why Yuan Shao had been unable to expand his territory for a long time.

Yuan Xi knew that Yuan Tan would have to face the troublesome issue of dealing with the Mount Tai bandits for a long time. However, it seemed that neither side had any immediate plans to go to war.

After pacifying Qingzhou this time, the next target for the Yuan family should be Gongsun Zan.

With Qingzhou taken two years ahead of schedule, the Yuan family's progress in capturing Youzhou was also greatly accelerated, faster than Yuan Xi had anticipated.

This indicated that his three years of effort in Beixin City, learning and accumulating experience in internal affairs and military formations, had not been in vain.

Moreover, the Battle of Qingzhou allowed Yuan Xi to understand the difference between leading large armies and small units, making him much more mature.

He reckoned that although he could accurately grasp opportunities in certain aspects and use tactics effectively, he was far less skilled than Yuan Tan in commanding tens of thousands of troops from different units to coordinate in battle.

Sometimes, more soldiers were not necessarily better. For example, if a general with a command limit of three thousand men was given five thousand, he might become flustered on the battlefield, with soldiers hindering each other and failing to unleash the combat power of even three thousand men.

Han Xin was hailed as the "God of War" because he could always maximize the potential of his soldiers, no matter how many he had. His opponents, whether stronger or weaker, always lost, and they often lost in confusion, not knowing how they had been defeated.

That was why Han Xin could confidently say that Liu Bang was capable of leading a hundred thousand soldiers, but for himself, the more the better.

Anyway, Yuan Xi himself couldn't imagine how Han Xin could command hundreds of thousands of troops and still grasp the situation on both sides of the battlefield in an era when orders were mainly conveyed by shouting.

In comparison, in the several battles involving tens of thousands of people, both sides were ultimately overwhelmed, and even the victorious side had to spend half a day gathering their remaining troops.

Yuan Xi deeply felt that there was still much for him to learn.

In the following half-month, Donglai surrendered upon hearing the news. Kong Rong resisted slightly in Beihai before fleeing to Xuzhou to join Liu Bei.

Seeing that Qingzhou was almost completely pacified, and further south was the territory of the Mount Tai bandits, which was not the objective of this campaign, Yuan Tan discussed with Ju Shou and prepared to return to Jizhou.

Ju Shou was also greatly relieved, as the losses this time were far lower than he had imagined.

Moreover, the original purpose of the Yuan family's campaign against Qingzhou was to cross the Yellow River and the Ji River, capture a few cities, and establish a firm foothold in half of Qingzhou, which would be considered a great success.

In other words, in the plans of the Yuan family's strategists, Qingzhou would have to be attacked at least once or twice more before it could be taken, and this attack was originally exploratory in nature.

From the comparison of military strength between the two sides, the Jizhou troops did not have any advantage, so Tian Kai, Kong Rong, and Liu Bei dared to fight the Jizhou troops in the open field.

If Tian Kai's forces had been at a disadvantage, they would have retreated into the city to defend, making it difficult to annihilate their main force.

Unexpectedly, due to various coincidences, Yuan Tan first advanced rashly and was surrounded. Yuan Xi, who was not originally favored, stepped forward, turned the tide, and advocated a decisive battle with Tian Kai.

In one battle, Tian Kai's main force was completely destroyed. Yuan Xi then independently repelled Kong Rong, and timely rejoined Yuan Tan. Afterward, he lured Liu Bei to pursue, ultimately achieving success in one battle.

Among these events, Yuan Xi played a very important role. Without him, the outcome of the Battle of Qingzhou might have been completely different!

Ju Shou knew that after this battle, Yuan Xi would become famous in Ye City!

Whether generals or strategists, they would re-examine Yuan Xi's position!

Moreover, Jizhou had taken Qingzhou at a very small cost. Next year, it was likely that Yuan Shao would personally lead a large army to fight Gongsun Zan.

If they could defeat Gongsun Zan and occupy Youzhou, Yuan Xi would be able to follow closely behind Yuan Tan and become a major vassal governing a state.

Thinking of this, Ju Shou felt not only gratification but also worry.

Each of the Yuan family's sons establishing themselves in their own territories might not necessarily be a good thing for the Yuan family.

As it was approaching the twelfth month of the lunar year, most of the Jizhou troops, except for the generals and soldiers stationed in various cities, had already returned to Jizhou.

When Yuan Tan, Yuan Xi, Ju Shou, and others settled the soldiers and returned to Ye City, almost all the gentry of Ye City came out to welcome them.

Their dependence on the Yuan family's occupation of Qingzhou indicated that the Yuan family was one step closer to dominating the world!

Of course, one person might be an exception.

Yuan Shang stood in front of the crowd and respectfully greeted Yuan Xi and Yuan Tan: "Elder brother, second brother, you have worked hard on this trip. I have come to welcome you."

Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi exchanged a glance, dismounted, helped Yuan Shang up, and the three brothers began to exchange hypocritical pleasantries.

Watching his two elder brothers' undisguised smugness, Yuan Shang secretly vowed, "Let's see how long you can be smug!"

However, he had deeply felt the crisis, especially his second brother, Yuan Xi, who now posed an increasingly great threat to him. He had obviously sided with his eldest brother, Yuan Tan. Now, he had to kick him out of the game first!

The three brothers entered the city together. Along the way, many common people lined the streets to welcome them. Although most of these people came out spontaneously, they did not really know what the Yuan family had done.

They only knew that the Yuan family had returned victorious, and Ye City would be safer. Then, the people living in Ye City could continue to live a good life.

As for how many soldiers died in this battle, and what would happen to the families of those soldiers, it was all beyond their consideration.

Of course, there were also women with children standing in the cold wind, silently watching whether their family members were among the soldiers entering the city.

Some people saw familiar faces and were extremely excited, waving their arms and shouting the names of their husbands and fathers, hoping that the other party could hear them.

When their eyes met, both sides showed happy smiles on their faces at the same time.

Until the last soldier passed by, the faces of the remaining people changed, showing disappointment and worry, because they had not found their family members.

Some people worried whether their relatives had died in battle and cried on the spot. Some people comforted themselves that they might not have accompanied the army into the city this time, murmuring to themselves. Some people tried to go to the military camp to inquire. In the end, they all had to return home in disappointment with unspeakable feelings.

Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night for many people.

For many of them, this was a huge sorrow that could crush a family, but in the eyes of some others, it was just a few cold numbers.

In the near future, similar things would continue to happen, these numbers would continue to increase, and what was even more cruel was that in the long river of history, these numbers were just a small ripple.

"The families of the fallen soldiers should receive corresponding compensation before the New Year," Yuan Xi said.

Yuan Tan said, "We have to ask Father about this. If it concerns the dispatch of troops after the New Year, this compensation is not a small amount, and I'm afraid it will be difficult to come up with."

Yuan Shang smiled and said, "They are just soldiers. Once the soldiers die, the remaining orphans and widows are useless. It is already our Yuan family's benevolence to keep them in Ye City."

"Moreover, I am in charge of Jizhou's money and grain. You don't know the cost of firewood and rice until you are in charge of a household. This money really affects the Yuan family's next major plan."

Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi exchanged a glance and said nothing more.

The three entered the Yuan mansion, took off their armor, changed into slippers, and went into the house to pay respects to Yuan Shao.

At that time, Yuan Shao and his strategists and generals were almost all present in the house.

Yuan Shao saw Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi enter, with a look of satisfaction on his face: "You have done very well, sit down."

The three sons sat down separately.

Yuan Shao first turned to Yuan Tan: "Although you have Gongyu (Ju Shou) to assist you, you are already able to stand on your own. You will also participate in the northern attack next year."

Yuan Tan believed that this meant they were going to attack Gongsun Zan's Yijing, and he quickly bowed and said: "Thank you for your praise, Father."

He paused, then said: "Actually, I also made many mistakes this time. Thanks to my second brother's decisiveness and outstanding strategy, we were able to defeat the enemy coalition."

"This battle of Qingzhou is entirely due to my second brother's merits."

Yuan Xi listened and quickly bowed and said: "Elder brother is too modest, I just did what I could."

This time, Yuan Shao did not immediately reply.

Seeing this, the two did not dare to raise their heads.

After a long while, Yuan Shao said: "Xianyi has indeed done a good job."

Yuan Shao's current state of mind was actually quite conflicted.

He had already learned the details of the Battle of Qingzhou.

Yuan Tan's performance had many highlights, after all, he had been following Yuan Shao in battles.

However, Yuan Tan also had shortcomings, falling into the enemy's ambush, almost leading to a complete failure.

But what Yuan Shao could not understand the most was Yuan Xi's performance.

The real situation, coupled with the purposeful boasting of Yuan Tan's subordinates, in Yuan Shao's eyes, Yuan Xi had already become the key figure in turning the tide of the Battle of Qingzhou.

His strategies and decisions in each battle had far exceeded those of ordinary people, and were completely different from his previous performance.

Yuan Shao did not believe that Yuan Xi could do this alone. He determined that there must be a group of strategists supporting him behind Yuan Xi!

But Yuan Shao did not understand why anyone would be willing to rely on Yuan Xi?

Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang were fighting, vying for the position of the next head of the family. Yuan Shao knew this, but he thought he could control the situation, so he didn't care much.

Now that Yuan Xi had joined in, Yuan Shao was a little confused. According to the Han law of inheritance, Yuan Xi could never be ranked before Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang.

Now, Yuan Xi had unexpectedly shown his potential, revealing a momentum to compete for the heir. What exactly did he want to do?