Chapter 506 Unable to Decide

A light rain suddenly fell from the sky outside Haixi City. The farmers rushed out of their huts, raised their heads in surprise, and laughed at the sky.

Spring rain is as precious as oil. There has been no rain in the fields since the winter. It is almost time for spring plowing and the weather is already quite dry.

Now that the long drought has ended, the dry land has regained its vitality and people are flocking to the fields to sow seeds.

The warm spring day turned a little chilly. A cool breeze swept across the fields, blew into Haixi City, came to the window of the small building, and went in, but it still could not blow away the warmth inside the building.

Yuan Xi faced the cool breeze with a few raindrops on his face and looked up at the sky which was still covered with dark clouds. He thought about how many people in this vast world were like him. How many of them were familiar to him when they looked up at the sky?

History has taken an irreversible turn. From the beginning to the end of the Battle of Xuzhou, it was no longer something that Yuan Xi could predict and control alone. Even his life was once on the verge of life and death.

This made him a little depressed, but at the same time he was also happy that his subordinates reacted very quickly almost at the same time, and everyone worked together to turn the tide and save the situation.

After all, as the lord, there is still a big gap between him and Cao Cao, so he can only rely on them to move forward.

The biggest gain from this battle is that Yuan Xi finally used his own safety to win an excuse for Jizhou. How should they decide?

In Yecheng, Yuan Shang knelt in front of Yuan Shao, while Yuan Shao looked at the secret letter sent by Yuan Xi from Xuzhou for a long time but did not speak.

The counselors below him also had solemn expressions as they carefully considered their words.

There was no other reason, because the conflict in Xuzhou far exceeded the limits that the Yuan family could accept and was close to civil strife.

Liu Bei had already defected to the Yuan family, although Jizhou did not support him much and Liu Bei often pretended to obey Jizhou's orders but actually disobeyed them.

For example, when Jizhou asked him to send troops to Dongwuyang to besiege Zang Hong some time ago, Liu Bei kept finding various excuses to shirk his responsibility. Finally, Liu Bei did not send troops until Yuan Xi came forward and persuaded Zang Hong to surrender, and the matter came to an end.

Although the counselors in Jizhou knew that what they were doing was not fair, Zang Hong had a good reputation in the world and anyone who participated in the siege of him would end up with an unjust reputation, so it was natural for Liu Bei to protect his influence and delay sending troops.

However, it is an indisputable fact that Liu Bei's prevarication and evasion of Yuan's orders showed that he was in a difficult situation. Some advisers also suggested finding ways to restrict Liu Bei to prevent him from becoming the second Cao Cao.

Yuan's advisers have always been at odds with each other. When some want to suppress Liu Bei, there will inevitably be others who come out to oppose it, saying that if they take action against Liu Bei, it will greatly damage the reputation of the Yuan family for benevolence and righteousness, and the loss will outweigh the gain.

In the end, the two sides argued for a long time but could not reach a conclusion, so they had to put the matter on hold for the time being.

Unexpectedly, while Jizhou's response to various unstable factors was still limited to verbal arguments, Cao Cao had already taken actions that no one could predict!

This not only violated taboos, but also touched the bottom line of the Yuan family. No matter how dishonest Liu Bei was, he was still dependent on the Yuan family. If anyone wanted to take action, it would be the Yuan family who would do it. How could it be the turn of Cao Cao, who was regarded as Yuan's lackey?

Moreover, the situation got out of control later on. Not only did Cao's army completely defeat Liu Bei, they also brazenly attacked the Youzhou army stationed in Xuzhou!

After the First World War, both sides suffered heavy casualties, but the statements made afterwards were extremely vague.

Cao Cao sent an urgent letter to Yuan Shao, saying that he only had a personal grudge against Liu Bei, and that he was now capturing Pengcheng and Xia Pi only to avenge the arrow that shot him in the face.

As for the several battles that broke out in Xuzhou, Cao Cao explained that he thought they were Liu Bei's soldiers and he knew nothing about the others. It was not until the end that he discovered there was a misunderstanding and he immediately withdrew his troops.

Everyone knew this obvious lie, and Yuan Shao sneered in his heart, because the letter sent by Yuan Xi almost at the same time made it very clear that Cao Cao's troops this time were targeting Yuan Xi's Guangling, or even Yuan Xi himself!

Moreover, Yuan Xi also said in the letter that Cao's army in Donghai County disguised themselves as Taishan bandits to fish in troubled waters with the intention of framing Yuan Tan and alienating the relationships among Yuan's children. It was obvious that Cao Cao had already declared open war on the Yuan family!

The letter also said that after the battle with Yuan Xi, Cao Cao was seriously injured and the number of available soldiers was greatly reduced. It was a good time to eliminate him!

Therefore, Yuan Xi suggested that Yuan Shao immediately mobilize the strength of the four states, send troops south to Yanzhou, and attack and destroy Cao Cao!

This idea was so radical that among Yuan Shao's advisers, except Tian Feng, everyone else had more or less objections.

The apparent reason was that he had no legitimate reason to do so, after all, Cao Cao was still an ally of Yuan Shao.

Although Yuan Xi said in the letter that what Cao Cao did was tantamount to rebellion, this was only one-sided. If he wanted to openly attack Cao Cao, he would need a more plausible reason.

Moreover, even if troops were to be dispatched, they could not be mobilized within months. Jizhou had been recuperating since the Battle of Yijing where it defeated Gongsun Zan. The Battle of Black Mountain was fought just after it had recovered.

Although Heishan was captured due to Yuan Shang's disregard for human lives, the Jizhou army also suffered heavy losses. According to the estimates of the advisers, it would take two or three years for Jizhou to recover to the level before the Battle of Yijing.

Although the Jizhou army seems strong now, in fact, it has suffered a lot of losses in both food and armaments. After all, in the several battles in Black Mountain, too many military rations and soldiers were wasted. Although there is a guise on the outside, people who know the inside story know that Jizhou cannot immediately launch a major war.

Therefore, most of the advisers believed that Yuan Xi's request for a full-scale attack on Cao Cao was a blind and reckless act. In the absence of sufficient troops and food, crossing the Yellow River to attack Cao Cao's heartland was not a safe strategy.

Yuan Shang considered it for a moment, told everyone's concerns, and finally said: "Spring plowing is imminent, it is really not a good time. Xianyi was too impulsive this time. This battle can be completely avoided."

Everyone thought that this was just polite talk. Given Xionghu's temper, they had been beaten back to his base camp. Did they really expect him to swallow his anger?

Xun Chen stroked his beard and said, "The best strategy is to attack the enemy's strategy. Although Cao Cao made a mistake at first, he is now in Xiapi and can resist Yuan Shu. Why not use him to fight against Yuan Shu, and after both sides are defeated, force him to withdraw from Xiapi?"

As soon as this was said, the counselors agreed with him. Shen Pei also said, "Master Xianyi's idea is indeed too risky. It is extremely difficult to guarantee the food supply if we cross the Yellow River to attack Yanzhou. If we fail, it will be difficult to retreat unscathed. If the main force is seriously damaged, the offensive and defensive situation will be different."

"Your Excellency now occupies four states, while Cao Cao only has two states. Time is on our side. The most urgent task is to restore our strength as soon as possible. There is absolutely no need to give up our advantage and take risks."

"If we send out troops without adequate preparation, we will ruin the good situation."

Tian Feng sneered and said sarcastically: "Jizhou is not ready, does that mean Cao Cao is ready?"

"Cao Cao is stationed in Xia Pi now, and his rear is weak and empty. If Jizhou goes straight to Taishan County and then to Pengcheng, we can cut off his retreat!"

"If we wait until they gain a firm foothold in Xiapi and open up the passages to Yuzhou and Yanzhou, we will be able to recruit soldiers from the two states and quickly recover. If we fight them again at that time, it will cost several times more."

"I want to ask everyone here, will it really be more cost-effective to go to war then than now?"

Everyone was silent, because they all knew that unlike the policy adopted by the Yuan family in Jizhou, when Cao Cao recruited soldiers, he simply took them away without considering the issue of subsequent development.

If they win the battle, they will have more territory, food and population. If they lose, they will have nothing. Of course, the conscripted soldiers will also die, so naturally there is nothing to worry about.

Although many people died under this style of fighting, the expansion was also fast. In just a few years, Cao Cao had occupied most of Yanzhou and Sili, as well as part of Yuzhou and Xuzhou. His power expanded too fast, far exceeding the expectations of Jizhou's advisers at the time!

So when Tian Feng brought up this matter, no one could refute it for a moment.

Tian Feng took the opportunity to say: "Now that Cao Cao has welcomed the emperor, he has begun to control the emperor's court. All the decrees he issued were planned by him. But now Jizhou can't intervene. It's like he is using the emperor's name to suppress us. In the long run, we will only become more passive!"

Xu You, who had already returned, rolled his eyes and said, "Yuan Hao is wrong."

"Cao Cao is now dealing with Yuan Gonglu, who is the real enemy of Jizhou."

"If we turn against each other now, I'm afraid the world will blame the Yuan family for being unjust."

Tian Feng was furious and said angrily, "Why? Yuan Gonglu is also a member of the Yuan family. The two Yuans are fighting over family affairs. Now, in order to settle the family affairs, are we going to let the willful outsiders cause chaos?"

"Is it more important to eliminate external threats or to quell the internal disputes of the Yuan family?"

After hearing this, Xu You was secretly delighted. Tian Feng was a man who could not stand provocation, and he really fell into the trap.

Needless to say, of course, it is more important to stabilize the country first. After all, brothers have to divide the family property!

As expected, Yuan Shao coughed and said, "My son is sick and I am not in the mood. I will make a decision after I go back to think about it. Let's do this today."