Liu Xie listened to Lu Bu's suggestion, but he hesitated for a moment. He thought for a while and said, "How many soldiers and horses do Marquis Wen still have under his command now?"
Lu Bu calculated and said, "There are still two thousand cavalry and more than ten thousand infantry."
Liu Xie heard this and said, "I will give you three thousand soldiers from Zhang Yan's command."
Lu Bu said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, Ma Teng and Han Sui's invasion this time has at least 60,000 to 70,000 people, and Yuan Shu's side is at least 30,000 to 50,000."
"Duan Xuan only has less than 10,000 soldiers and horses, and even my soldiers are not enough to resist."
"To be honest, three thousand soldiers and horses are really a drop in the bucket."
"And I heard that the remnants of the Black Mountain Army under Zhang Yan are not the 8,000 they say they are, but at least 20,000!"
"Now that Huaicheng is in danger, what use are these soldiers if they don't go to the battlefield to fight?"
Liu Xie smiled awkwardly, "Marquis Wen knows Zhang Yan's affairs very well."
"The affairs of the Black Mountain Army are very complicated, and Zhang Yan is a person appreciated by the late emperor. Those soldiers will also be the basis for me to restore the prestige of the Han Dynasty in the future."
"But now these people are far less brave than the soldiers under Marquis Wen. They still need some time to train before they can develop combat effectiveness."
"So, can Marquis Wen find a way to overcome this current difficulty? Huaicheng has been running for such a long time, so it shouldn't be broken, right?"
Lu Bu was silent for a long time, bowed his hand to Liu Xie, turned around and strode out, and Chen Gong quickly followed.
Liu Xie looked at Lu Bu's back with a complicated expression, wanting to speak out to persuade him to stay, but in the end he did not speak.
Zhong Yao came out from behind and paid homage to Liu Xie: "Your Majesty, Lu Bu is arrogant and favored. Your Majesty allows him to go to the palace with a sword, but he is becoming more and more arrogant. He is obviously dissatisfied. I am afraid I have to guard against him."
"Looking at what he just said, it is obvious that he wants to take all the soldiers in Huaicheng into his hands. Your Majesty must not be fooled, otherwise Dong Zhuo's story will repeat itself."
"Moreover, the matter of Ma Teng and Han Sui is obviously an alarmist statement by Marquis Wen. Ma Teng and Han Sui are not rebelling against the Han Dynasty, they just want official positions. If they can be subdued, Your Majesty will be able to have an extra hundred thousand troops. By then, the princes of the world will We must not dare to act rashly, the Han Dynasty is prosperous."
"Although I am not talented, I am willing to go to the Xiliang army and persuade the two people to surrender. This way, I don't have to use weapons rashly. Isn't it a double benefit?"
Liu Xie heard this and said, "Ai Qing, this is a wonderful idea. You go back and write a memorial. I will go to court tomorrow and I will let the ministers discuss it."
Zhong Yao heard this and quickly took the order.
Liu Xie lowered his head for a long time, then raised his head, with a trace of disgust flashing in his eyes, and called the prince next to him: "Go and call Dong Cheng."
At Yecheng Mansion, Yuan Shang came back to pay homage to Mrs. Liu. When Mrs. Liu saw Yuan Shang coming, she came up to him with joy. She took Yuan Shang's hand and said, "Shang'er is back. You have suffered a lot this time."
"When it comes to fighting, we can just leave it to our subordinate generals. Why go into battle personally? You don't know, my dear, my mother couldn't even sleep well while you were out."
Yuan Shang heard this and said, "My father came here the same way. In today's world, if a lord doesn't know how to fight, he will be laughed at."
Mrs. Liu didn't take it seriously and said: "Shang'er is already the lord of Jizhou. So what if we don't fight? Who dares to be dissatisfied?"
She immediately showed an indignant look on her face, "Fortunately, Shang'er, you are back. You don't know how Yuan Xi's puppy was so tyrannical in Yecheng a few days ago!"
"I think he is useless now. Find an excuse to drive him away. Let him get away and never set foot in Yecheng again!"
Yuan Shang did not agree immediately, but asked: "Why did he offend my mother?"
Mrs. Liu hesitated a few words and said hesitantly: "You don't know, this person really has no conscience!"
"Not only is he disrespectful to me, but he also covets Shang'er's family, did you know that?"
Yuan Shang interrupted Liu, "Brother may collude with Cao Cao and jointly attack Yecheng."
"Ah?" Ms. Liu's face turned pale instantly, "Is there such a thing?"
"Then what do we do?"
Yuan Shang said solemnly: "Now I can only rely on Xianyi to help me block it, otherwise we will all die."
After hearing this, Mrs. Liu muttered a few words reluctantly and said: "That's a lot cheaper for the puppy."
Yuan Shang suddenly felt a little tired. His mother still hasn't seen the situation clearly. Does she have to turn everyone into enemies?
Do you really think that by virtue of your status as the heir of the Yuan family, you can make everyone willing to obey your orders?
During the time when he went out to lead troops to fight, he no longer had Mrs. Liu to listen to him, but he understood a lot of truth. A general could gain the support and service of his subordinates not by his military orders, but by what he did on a daily basis.
When others are in awe of you, they are in awe of your position and position, not the person you are. If you want to gain the loyalty of the other person, you must first repay the other person's expectations.
Yuan Shang found that it was too late for him to leave Yecheng and to understand these truths. However, he was also a little lucky. At least he understood this truth. If he stayed with Liu, he would only be led more and more sideways!
But Mrs. Liu was his mother, so he couldn't say anything, so he had to try his best to evade it. He could even guess that Mr. Liu wanted to say bad things about Mr. Hong, but now Yuan Shang has already had his own feelings after going through some things. idea.
If you must pay a price, it is a better choice to use it in exchange for favorable conditions than to offend others.
Early the next morning, Yuan Xi was awakened by the sound of soldiers getting up in the military camp. He straightened up and sat up from the straw bed. He felt pain in his lower back and couldn't help but shook his head. He was used to sleeping on the soft floor of the house these days. Now, when I come back to sleep on the hard floor, I feel a little uncomfortable.
After he left Yuan Shang yesterday, he realized that he had lost control of his emotions after leaving the house. He shouldn't have been so blunt. If he had been more tactful, maybe the result would have been better.
He walked to the city and thought for a long time before he realized that it might be Yuan Shao's experience that resonated with him.
On the one hand, maybe Yuan Xi was unwilling to accept such an aggrieved death in the future. On the other hand, maybe his feelings for Yuan Shao were far more complicated than he imagined.
As a person who has traveled to a different time and space and can never see his parents again, no matter how famous he is and what he does and is praised by the world, there will always be a trace of regret in his heart.
The regret of not being able to see his relatives again turned into empathy for his predecessor's relatives. Unknowingly, Yuan Xi felt a little bit of father-son affection for Yuan Shao, who had nurtured him in his predecessor.
Therefore, after learning the truth about Yuan Shao's poisoning, Yuan Xi felt like a fire was burning in his heart. This injustice was brewing in his chest, waiting to burst out one day.
He walked out of the barracks and saw that Gao Shun and Xu Huang's men were already reorganizing the army. Everyone had been ordered that there would be a big war in the near future, so no one dared to neglect. They got up early and came back late every day to intensify their training of troops and horses.
Taishi Ci was shooting arrows alone in the school field. After shooting a few barrels of arrows, he began to practice weapons again. Instead of his usual double halberds, he held a long halberd.
The day before yesterday, Taishi Ci was suppressed by Xu Chu. He came back and thought hard. In the end, he had no choice but to find that he could only use his strength against his strength, so Taishi Ci picked up the long weapon that he had not used for many years.
Yuan Xi saw Taishi Ci dancing the long halberd like a tiger in the wind, but there was some redness on his face. He understood that the long halberd was actually more strenuous than the short halberd, and Taishi Ci had an underlying health condition and had been dancing for a long time. , it will cause some damage to the body.
But Yuan Xi would not dissuade Tai Shici. Everyone had their own path. In order to win on the battlefield, everyone put their wealth and life on the line. This was the consciousness of being a player in the game and did not need others to comment.
The generals and soldiers under his command were recharged and well prepared. What had to wait next was Yuan Shang's decision.
If Yuan Shang chooses to conserve his strength and not let his generals and soldiers go into battle, but uses it to deal with Yuan Tan, then Yecheng's counterattack against Cao's army will be difficult to carry out, and Yuan Xi will not go out of the city to fight alone.
If Yuan Shang is such a short-sighted person, Yuan Xi will not associate with him. He will leave directly and let Yuan Shang fend for himself.
However, if Yuan Shang can figure it out, he will definitely use this counterattack against Cao Jun to build his own reputation and power, paving the way for him to inherit the Yuan family.
However, there is another hidden danger, which is Yuan Shao's condition.
If Yuan Shao cannot survive this level, the hearts of the people in the city will inevitably be unstable, and the morale of the soldiers will also be affected.
Yuan Xi stayed in the military camp until the afternoon. Someone from the Yuan Mansion came to deliver a message saying that Yuan Shao was awake and asked Yuan Xi to come over.
When Yuan Xi, who had been waiting for the news, heard the news, he immediately got on his horse and rushed to Yuan's mansion. He rushed into Yuan Shao's room and saw Yuan Shang already kneeling in front of the bed. Yuan Shao opened his mouth slightly, as if he was saying something.
Yuan Xi stopped at the door. Yuan Shao saw it from the corner of his eye, opened his mouth and made a weak voice, "Is it Xian Yi? Come here."
Yuan Xi walked to the couch in a few steps, checked it out, and said softly: "I'm here."
Yuan Shao raised his hand slightly and said to the two of them: "I'm afraid I won't be able to hold on for long."
Yuan Shang was in mourning and started crying immediately, but Yuan Xi's expression remained unchanged and he lowered his head slightly.
Yuan Shang gasped a few times, "It's a pity that Xian Si is not here."
"I know how dissatisfied he is, but I don't think my decision was wrong."
"Establishing elders and establishing virtuous people has always been a problem faced by the family, but if the family wants to survive or even reach a higher level, it is not enough to just establish elders."
"Xianfu's thoughts and actions are too extreme, and he is not as tolerant as Xianfu, but Xianfu also has shortcomings, that is, he is good at maintaining success, but short of making progress."
He reached out and grabbed Yuan Xi's arm tightly, "Xianyi, for my sake, help Xianfu."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi took a deep breath and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Abenchu, I will do my best."
Yuan Shao gasped a few times, "I know this is not fair to you."
He turned to Yuan Shang, "You must remember Xian Yi's kindness, don't be ungrateful, and don't be alienated and deceived by others."
Yuan Shang quickly bowed and said, "Remember my father's teachings."
The two of them saw that Yuan Shao was getting worse and worse, so they quickly called Hua Tuo who was waiting outside to come in. Yuan Shao reluctantly opened his eyes and suddenly asked: "Where is Cao's army?"
Yuan Xi said in a deep voice: "We have arrived seventy or eighty miles away from Yecheng."
Yuan Shao's body shook, "Cao Mengde bullied me."
"Leave it to you two."
The two men quickly accepted the order and saw Yuan Shao closing his eyes and no longer speaking. Hua Tuo rushed in to perform the acupuncture. The two looked at each other and retreated together.
Seeing the slaves coming and going in a hurry, the two of them walked around and sat on the corridor in the corner of the house, looking at the fallen leaves and dead grass everywhere in the courtyard.
The coolness of late autumn could not be dispelled even by the high sun in the sky. Yuan Shang said: "I heard that all the generals of Cao's army will come out this time. I really don't have confidence."
(End of chapter)
