Chapter 184 Who is the traitor?

The news that Yijing was captured and Gongsun Zan was defeated spread throughout the world in an instant.

All the princes, including Yuan Shu and Cao Cao, were shocked.

Too fast!

It took less than two months from the time the troops were dispatched to Yecheng to the capture of Yijing!

Previously, the most optimistic prediction made by the princes and advisers was that the two sides would fight until the New Year, and many people even thought that Yuan Shao would return empty-handed like last time.

The princes of the world have not yet learned the inside story, but they all speculated that either Gongsun Zan made a stupid move or there was a spy within the organization, otherwise how could he be defeated so quickly?

However, this cannot change the fact that Gongsun Zan's forces have withdrawn, and the situation in the north will undergo earth-shaking changes afterwards.

The most direct impact was the complete defeat of the Montenegrin Army.

With more than 10,000 elite soldiers, Yuan Tan struggled to hold off the main force of the Black Mountain Army of tens of thousands for more than ten days, and finally waited for reinforcements from Yuan's army camp.

On the day Yuan Shao captured Yijing, he sent 20,000 soldiers, led by Chunyu Qiong, Wen Chou and Zhang He, to quickly support Yuan Tan.

Yuan's army marched day and night and finally arrived when Yuan Tan was in danger. The two sides joined forces and defeated the main force of the Black Mountain Army in the center. They left nearly half of the prisoners and corpses and fled back to Taihang Mountains in Bingzhou.

Yuan Tan did not rest, but went straight south to intercept the Black Mountain Army from the south that was threatening Yecheng.

This Black Mountain Army was in a stalemate with Gao Lan sent by Yuan Shang. They wanted to withdraw as soon as they received the news of the defeat in the middle route, but they did not expect Yuan Tan to arrive so quickly. They were caught off guard and suffered a great defeat, so they had to flee back.

The Cao army, which had taken advantage of the siege of Ye City and crossed the Yellow River looking for an opportunity, immediately retreated to the south of the Yellow River upon receiving the news, and the crisis in Ye City was thus resolved.

Yuan Tan won two consecutive victories within ten days, and immediately became famous throughout the world and was the most powerful person at the time.

However, Yuan Xi, the real hero in the Battle of Yijing, was far inferior to Yuan Tan because he could not tell outsiders the inside story.

However, this was not important to Yuan Xi. After the capture of Yijing, the last nail between Jizhou and Youzhou was finally pulled out, and from then on, the traffic between the two states was finally unimpeded.

This means that Yuan Xi can finally start planning the entire Youzhou.

Of course, the prerequisite is that Yuan Shao is willing to let him take charge of Youzhou.

At this time, the dust had settled, and Yuan Shao's subordinates were sent out to clean up the surrounding bandits, some stayed in Yijing to organize the city defense, and some returned to Yecheng. The camp was still a busy scene.

However, Yuan Xi was still staying in the camp outside the city of Yijing, talking to Guo Jia out of boredom.

Guo Jia showed an expression of praise, "Young Master, you saved Liu He and Gongsun Zan's family on the spot, which was the finishing touch and can be regarded as the stroke of genius in this battle."

Yuan Xi smiled bitterly and said, "Mr. Fengxiao, please stop flattering me. At that time, I just felt that Liu He couldn't die, and I didn't think too much about other things."

"But afterwards, my father was quite unhappy about this and did not comment on my suggestion to treat Liu He well. Would it be bad for the Yuan family if Liu He were alive?"

Guo Jia nodded his head: "If Liu He died, it would seem that there would be less trouble in the short term, but it would be a failure in the long run."

Yuan Xi became interested: "Xi doesn't understand, please enlighten me, sir."

Guo Jia said, "Liu He has a high reputation among the Wuhuan and Xianbei because of his father Liu Yu's name."

Yuan Xi agreed very much, "I understand that Yan Rou, Xian Yu Fu and others who were pushed forward by Wuhuan Xianbei obeyed Liu He."

Guo Jia sneered: "No, you don't understand, otherwise you shouldn't have said what you just said."

"You have to understand that the people inside the pass, from the Wuhuan and Xianbei, to the Southern Xiongnu, to the Bingliang Wu people, all have the same idea."

"Although they have lived in Han territory for a long time, they have never been fully accepted. Therefore, they must rely on the most righteous and legitimate party, not the princes or the nobles. They don't care about these."

Yuan Xi blurted out: "Son of Heaven?"

Guo Jia nodded and said, "That's right. Even if they pretend to obey but secretly disobey, they still have to rely on the emperor on the surface, even though the Han court is now just a facade."

"So they don't consider themselves as foreigners, but rather as the people of the Han Dynasty."

Yuan Xi didn't understand for a moment, "I don't understand."

"The Han Dynasty could collapse at any time. What good would it do for them to do this?"

Guo Jia sneered: "The boat in the river is about to sink. Some people can swim, some can't. They are the ones who can swim."

"They all have a way out, most of which are outside the Great Wall. If the Han court is destroyed and the world is in chaos, the worst that can happen to them is that they will retreat to the grasslands and then rely on the new dynasty."

"And the Central Plains gentry have nowhere to retreat. The survival of the Han Dynasty is closely related to their fate. If this ship really capsizes, many people will drown."

"So when the ship sinks, some people die and some don't."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi suddenly realized, "So that's it!"

Guo Jia shook his head and said, "You, you still don't understand."

"The ship sank, and not only were they able to salvage it, they were also able to claim that they were the true owners of the ship."

"By that time, everyone else will be dead, so naturally no one will oppose them. Then they can legitimately rule the Central Plains under the banner of being loyal subjects of the Han Dynasty."

"This is their real purpose, even though they suffer some losses, they still have to rely on Hanting on the surface."

When Guo Jia said this, Yuan Xi's body was shocked, and it suddenly became clear to him. He sorted out his chaotic thoughts of the past few years.

Isn't this the case with the birth of the Five Barbarians and Sixteen Kingdoms, and even Han Zhao?

In the past, Liu Bang was trapped on Mount Baideng and was forced to negotiate with the Huns and send a princess from the royal family with the surname Liu to marry them.

"Book of Jin: Biography of Liu Yuanhai" states: "Liu Yuanhai was a new Xiongnu and a descendant of Maodun. ... At first, Emperor Gaozu of Han made a princess of his clan and married her to Maodun, making them brothers. Therefore, his descendants took the surname Liu."

Regardless of whether it is true or not, this group of Huns considered themselves to be descendants of Liu Bang, so when they established their regime hundreds of years later, they had a legitimate excuse.

Yuan Xi suddenly realized that for the Xiongnu, and even the Wuhuan and Xianbei, who were foreign tribes that valued blood inheritance, they needed a strong claim, and only the Han court could give them that!

Even though Yuan Shao now has such a good relationship with the Wuhuan and Xianbei, it is very likely that they are not interested in Yuan Shao's power, but the righteousness brought by Liu Yu, the chief minister of the Han Dynasty.

Yuan Shao suddenly remembered that it was no wonder that in his previous life, when Yuan Shao attacked and destroyed Gongsun Zan, the Wuhuan and Xianbei fully supported Yuan Shao. It was probably because Yuan Shao did it under the pretext of revenge for Liu Yu.

However, in the Battle of Guandu just one year later, the Wuhuan and Xianbei forces led by Yan Rou and Xianyu Fu secretly sided with Cao Cao, catching Yuan Shao off guard.

You have to know that Yuan Shao still had the upper hand until the later stages of the Battle of Guandu. How could the Wuhuan and Xianbei have nothing better to do than to support Cao Cao?

But if we consider that Cao Cao was serving the emperor in the name of commanding the disobedient, everything can be explained!

Regardless of whether the Wuhuan and Xianbei surrendered to Cao Cao in the name of the Han court or Cao Cao secretly reached some deal with them, the final result was that a fire broke out in Youzhou's backyard.

After the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Tan also persuaded the Wuhuan to raise an army of 5,000 to fight against Cao's army.

When Cao Cao learned about this, he sent Qian Zhao as a special envoy to persuade Su Puyan, the leader of the Wuhuan tribe in Liaodong, to surrender and "respectfully accept the imperial edict." He also dismissed the envoy from Liaodong and disbanded the 5,000 soldiers who were preparing to set out to assist Yuan Tan.

According to the Records of the Three Kingdoms: Biography of Wuhuan, after Cao Cao pacified Hebei, Wuhuan Commander Yan Rou "led the Xianbei and Wuhuan to submit."

This shows that from the beginning to the end, Yuan Shao's Wuhuan and Xianbei allies were not on Yuan Shao's side, but on the side of the Han court.

Therefore, for this reason, Guo Jia in later generations was always extremely wary of the Wuhuan and Xianbei, believing that they would sooner or later hinder Cao Cao's plans.

Therefore, he strongly advocated conquering the Wuhuan, for the reason that he was afraid that Yuan Shang would "take advantage of the Wuhuan's resources to recruit their mortal subjects, and once the Hu people made a move, both the people and the barbarians would respond, thus giving rise to Tadun's ambition and realizing his coveted plan." He also believed that they should take advantage of the fact that the Wuhuan in the three counties were completely unprepared for war and "attack them suddenly."

To put it bluntly, it was a sneak attack.

Cao Cao adopted this suggestion, and the army marched out of Lulong Pass, "cutting mountains and filling valleys for more than 500 miles, passing Baidan, Pinggang, crossing Xianbei Court, and heading east to Liucheng."

It was not until he was 200 miles away from Liucheng that Tadun realized something was wrong and hastily raised his troops, but it was too late.

When Yuan Xi thought of this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly. After all this time, at this point in time, the Wuhuan and Xianbei were the loyal ministers of the Han Dynasty, and Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were both big traitors!

The clown is actually me!

Yuan Xi finally understood that Liu He was really indispensable at the moment.

If Liu He died, the Yuan family would be involved, which would push the Wuhuan and Xianbei in Youzhou completely to the opposite side, making it difficult for Yuan Xi to expand in Youzhou.

Thinking of this, he bowed deeply and said to Guo Jia respectfully: "Sir, your words have awakened me from my dream."

"But what I don't understand is that although Liu He is important, what use are Gongsun Zan's family members?"

Guo Jia looked around and opened his mouth. Yuan Xi recognized the word "adoption".

Guo Jia said: "The complexity of the forces in Youzhou is rare among the Thirteen Provinces. Before you gain a firm foothold, you can only think of ways to form alliances."

"Liu He is one force, Wuhuan and Xianbei are another, and Gongsun Du is another."

"And the last group consists of those who still sympathize with Gongsun Zan, or those who want to take advantage of his reputation. These people cannot be killed."

"If you can save his widow and children, and spread your reputation of benevolence and righteousness throughout the world, you can slowly turn these forces to your own benefit."

"At the very least, it will prevent them from acting rashly."

Yuan Xi nodded repeatedly after hearing this, and then asked, "Will my father consider the descendants of Gongsun Zan to be a threat and want to eradicate them completely?"

Guo Jia laughed and said, "Even a child of a few years old is afraid. With such little courage, you still want to seize the world?"

"I think it's better to go home and farm as soon as possible."

Yuan Xi, the Great Khan: "Sir, your teaching is correct."

Guo Jia finally said: "It's good that you show some compassion now, at least it will make Envoy Yuan feel more at ease."

"After all, no one wants to see brothers quarreling with each other."

Yuan Xi understood that Guo Jia was talking about the adoption matter, and thought to himself that it was just an unintentional act on his part, so why were there so many twists and turns?

In fact, Yuan Xi wanted to give an explanation to Zhao Yun and Tian Yu at that time, and he didn't think as deeply as Guo Jia!

He stood up and said, "In this case, I will go talk to my father and save the families of Liu He and Gongsun Zan."

"If my father is so upset that he kills them all, it will be troublesome for me."

Guo Jia nodded, "Yes, it doesn't matter if you suffer a little loss. If you suffer a small loss now, you will definitely get a bigger reward in the future."

Yuan Xi understood what he meant and said, "I understand."

Yuan Shao did not rush back to Yecheng these days, but stayed in the camp, indeed thinking about how to deal with Liu He and others.

The counselors below were also arguing endlessly, but Liu He's identity was too sensitive, and no one dared to suggest killing him, but many suggested placing him under house arrest in Yecheng.

The advisers all held different opinions, and Yuan Shao's old habit of hesitating before going to war came back again, and he still hadn't made up his mind.

At this time, the guard entered the tent and reported: "Second Master Yuan wants to see you."