"Hahaha... Okay, feel good!" Zhou Tai stood up, with a tall and strong figure, without even looking at the gold on the ground, and said: "As expected of the eldest son of the Jiangdong Tigers, he is bold and courageous, I am old Zhou I admire you very much, but now I don’t want the money.”
"Then what do you want?" Sun Ce's heart suddenly suddenly flashed across his eyes, and he asked coldly.
"I don't want anything. Mr. Zhou said, I'm no match for you. I'm not convinced, so I want to fight you. If you can beat me without taking anything away, you can take the person away." Zhou Tai Seeing the courage of Sun Ce and Zhou Yu brothers, one was brave and the other was resourceful, he was already tempted to submit. He felt that he would be blocked, but he was still a little worried, so he simply started a fight and gambled his fate in the name of martial arts.
"Old Zhou, does our bet count?" Zhou Yu finally put down the big chicken drumstick in his hand, turned his head, and looked at Zhou Tai with a pair of amber eyes.
"It's up to you!" Zhou Tai narrowed his eyes and said meaningfully.
"Okay, brother, beat him down. This bastard imprisoned me for almost ten days. I feel so unhappy!" Zhou Yu shouted immediately, and then gave Sun Ce a hidden look.
When Sun Ce took a look, he immediately understood what Zhou Yu was up to. He began to stare at the young man in front of him. After a careful look, with his keen sense of martial arts, he could feel that this young man in civilian clothes was not low in martial arts.
This is a fierce general. If he can recover it, he will definitely help the Jiangdong Army. In an instant, he made a decision in his heart.
"In that case, a certain Wu Commandery Sun Ce, named Bo Fu, is here to learn the martial arts from Master Zhou. Please!" Sun Ce took a few steps back gently and retreated to the middle of the school ground. He raised his spear in his hand and drew a Gunhua pointed directly at Zhou Tai and said respectfully.
"Brothers, get my sword!" Zhou Tai shouted, and the three water thieves brought up a two-foot long sword. He grabbed it with his hand and held the heavy long sword like a feather in his hand. He jumped suddenly and jumped. Entering the school grounds, he pointed at the sword and said, "Remember, a certain family is Jiujiang Zhou Tai and Zhou Youping."
In the school grounds, the momentum of the two men was rising steadily, and everyone who was depressed hurriedly backed away, not daring to get closer than a hundred meters.
"Zhou Youping, take my shot first!" Sun Ce's hand was the first, and the sound and shadow flashed, like a ray of light passing by, and the silver spear passed by, from bottom to top, and raised his body backwards, like an overlord lifting a cauldron.
"Broken!" Zhou Tai jumped up and slashed directly with his sword without any hesitation, using his strength to suppress the person, and it was clean and neat.
clang!
A sharp sound wave of the clash of swords carried the strong inner energy of the two people, and the two people's eyes widened, and their expressions became a little horrified. They each took half a step back and stared at each other, somewhat surprised at the other's strength.
"This Zhou Youping's martial arts is definitely at the advanced level of Qi training. I really didn't expect that this little water thief could be such a master." Sun Ce began to look cautious.
"What a great Sun Bofu, but in his weak years, his martial arts skills are already so good. He really has the courage of a king." Zhou Tai was even more horrified, holding his hands tightly until he did not dare to underestimate this young man at all.
First round, tie.
"Come again!" Sun Ce's fighting spirit began to explode. A gleam of light flashed across his eyes, and his whole body's energy exploded. He attacked again, firing several shots in a row, like an overlord's swing.
"Cut! Cut! Cut!" The bigger Zhou Tai got, the more frightened he became. Facing Sun Ce's attack like a violent storm, he used the sword skills he created when he was practicing martial arts in the big waves. Each sword was more powerful than the other, and he did not dare to hold back at all. .
The battle between the two continued, and the energy was overflowing. During the confrontation between the two, the military training ground began to be continuously destroyed by the huge power of the two. It was convex and concave, and wind and sand were everywhere.
"There are rumors in Jiangdong that the son of a tiger has the appearance of the overlord in the past. I always thought it was just bragging, but now I see, it is not false at all!" Jiang Qin's expression began to become solemn, and towards Zhou Yu, he sighed: "I can still do it now. After a draw, if there are three or five mistakes, Youping may not be the opponent of the eldest young master."
"Brother Gongyi, isn't it good if he loses? He is just a stubborn cow and will not surrender without a fight, but you, Jiang Qin, understand better than him. You cannot be a water thief for the rest of your life!" Zhou Yuruo pointedly said: "Although you are thieves, you are proud of yourself. I have given you this step. If you can't grasp it, I won't be polite."
Jiang Qin stared at Sun Quan with vivid eyes. He had never seen such an evil young hero, and he could clearly see the little thoughts in his heart.
The fierce battle lasted for an hour, and the entire campus was reduced to rubble by the confrontation between the two. After fighting for such a long time, both Zhou Tai and Sun Ce began to feel a little exhausted, and both their strength and speed were weakening.
Zhou Tai's eyes suddenly widened. He ignored the tip of Sun Ce's sword, jumped up, and slashed sideways. With the broadsword in his hand, the cold light flashed, and the brightest sword burst out. The blade directly suppressed Sun Ce's spear.
"Zhou Tai, you are too happy too early, look at the gun." Sun Ce turned his eyes, let go of the gun, and held the end of the gun with one hand. A huge force burst out from his body, and the iron gun was bent into a half-moon shape. .
"The Overlord's Thirteen Spears, the Curved Spear!" With a cold shout, Sun Ce let go of his hand, and the gun barrel swished as it suddenly straightened with immense force.
Bang!
A huge force rotated along the gun body and hit Zhou Tai's chest. He was caught off guard and a mouthful of blood spurted out, sending him flying several feet away.
"The boss!"
"Master, what's wrong with you?"
"Damn it, you dare to hurt our boss, kill him!"
The Nine Sisters have always been united. When the water thieves saw that their leader Zhou Tai was injured, they became furious and suddenly surrounded them. They were basically all poor people who had offended wealthy families or the government. They had followed Zhou Tai through life and death over the years, and they had a deep relationship. .
Seeing a group of fierce water thieves surrounding him, Sun Ce was suddenly startled. With a move of his feet, the Overlord Spear returned to his hand, and he became cautiously on guard. Normally, he would naturally not be afraid of hundreds of water thieves, but now although he He narrowly defeated Zhou Tai with one move, but after more than an hour of fierce fighting, he was now at the end of his strength, with only 20 to 30% of his strength left.
"What are you doing? Get out of my way!" Jiang Qin suddenly stood up and stood in front of Sun Ce, snorting coldly.
"Second Master, he hurt the First Master, we want revenge." A water thief said coldly.
"Yes, we want revenge!" All the water thieves looked excited.
"What a revenge. They fought a fair duel, and there is no grudge between the winner and the loser. We are the most famous men, not men who can't afford to lose! Why don't you hurry up and see how the boss is doing!" Jiang Qin Leng said coldly.
"I'm fine!" Zhou Tai had already stood up with the support of several water thieves. His face was a little pale, and the blood boiled all over his body from Sun Ce's shot.
He looked at the water thieves with his tiger eyes, swept them past, and said in a cold voice: "Why are you all gathering around? It's embarrassing for me. If you don't get out of my way, are you rebelling?"
"I don't dare!" When the water thieves saw that Zhou Tai was fine, they immediately retreated.
"Old Zhou, now you know what a mountain is higher than a mountain!" At this time, Zhou Yu walked leisurely to Sun Ce, looked at Zhou Tai, without his usual playful smile, and asked in a serious voice: "Now the fight is over. If you lose, do you keep your word or do you want to regret it?"
"Of course I, Zhou Tai, keep my word. Although I am just a water thief, I also know what it means to be dishonest without trust!"
Zhou Tai had recovered by this time, with a tigerish face, took a deep breath, strode forward, knelt down on one knee in front of brother Sun Ce and Zhou Yu, cupped his hands and said in a loud voice: "Jiujiang Zhou Tai, I have paid homage to the eldest son, Second Young Master!"
"Jiujiang Jiang Qin, I pay homage to Mr. Sun and Mr. Zhou!" Jiang Qin looked slightly happy when he saw the choice Zhou Tai had made, and hurriedly knelt down on one knee.
"We have paid homage to Mr. Sun and Mr. Zhou!" Seeing that their two bosses had surrendered, the hundreds of water thieves on the school grounds naturally did not remain in a stalemate.
"You two, no need to be polite, please get up quickly!"
Sun Ce and Zhou Yu suddenly looked overjoyed and helped Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin up at the same time. The two rare tiger generals became part of the Jiangdong Army from then on.
Han Dynasty, December of the fourth year of Chuping (193). On this day, Yuan Shaozheng summoned Guo Tu, Xu You, Ju Shou and others to discuss our army's future strategy and plan the army's march route, because after pacifying Qingzhou, he would face the task of unifying Hebei later. You have to plan ahead and take precautions!
Xu You was in high spirits during happy events. He changed his normal attitude and took the lead to stand up and suggested to Yuan Shao: After the Second Young Master and the others regained Qingzhou, the general should repair it for a period of time to digest the land occupied here. After that, the army went north in three groups. One group led the Qingzhou Army from Nanpi to Youzhou; the other group led the Ju Yi army as the vanguard and went straight into Gongsun Zan's lair. Finally, the lord personally led the army and set off from Jizhou to Zhengzhou. The so-called decisive battle between soldiers and Gongsun Zan. Then the three-way encirclement made it easy to capture Youzhou. Now Hebei can be determined!
Xu You is indeed good at planning, although he is a bit greedy. Xu You's idea is generally feasible. It may be a wise idea, and it is often the same. Seeing that Yuan Shao also asked for his advice, Jushou did not take advantage of others, but continued to add something to remind Yuan Shao to pay attention to.
The first one is that large armies are fighting one after another. They must pay attention to their preparations and not use weapons rashly. Moreover, there is not enough food and grass to support the protracted war that Xu You said, and it needs to be accumulated. And the occupied land needs to be digested, otherwise it will be gained in vain.
The second is that while passing through Hebei, the rear must be stable. To the south of Jizhou is Cao Cao. Although he is currently an ally, he must be on guard and must send heavy troops to protect him. Otherwise, if we start the battle to unify the north on the front foot, Cao Cao will pull our legs from behind, and we will be attacked from both sides. This is a taboo for military strategists!
The third is that now, we have become truly the number one prince in the world. Although we are powerful, we must be more careful to avoid becoming the target of public criticism. We should pay attention to the division and disintegration and sow discord between the princes, especially the three princes of Xuzhou, Yanzhou and Guanzhong. On the one hand, prepare for the army to regain this place. On the other hand, to prevent them from joining together and forming an alliance, things would be a bit troublesome.
Yuan Shao was very satisfied with Xu You's suggestions and Jushou's additions, and he kept nodding his head to express his complete agreement. Yuan Shao fully agreed with Xu You's three-pronged strategy of advancing through the Central Plains. In fact, he himself also considered adding one, but he did not say it out of confidentiality.
Yuan Shao was very concerned about Ju Shou's reminder. Some of them I thought of, and some of them I didn't think of. Thanks to Jushou's reminder, otherwise I would have missed something important. Now that Jushou had thought of this, Yuan Shao naturally entrusted these matters to Jushou so that he could do it easily. Yuan Shao was still capable, and his subordinates were quite good at balancing, as were all previous emperors.
After these discussions were completed, Yuan Shao, Jushu and the others began to pay attention to the war in Qingzhou. They wondered what the situation was like there, whether it was going smoothly, and whether the recovery had been completed!
While they were talking, they suddenly saw Guo Tu trotting in from outside. His face was filled with joy. Seeing that his lord and his closest ministers were all there, he shouted happily.
"My lord is very happy, Qingzhou has been recovered. This is a report drafted by Yuan Hao himself. Please read it, my lord!"
After hearing what Guo Tu said, Yuan Shao and Xu You were overjoyed. Knowing that Yuan Xi and the others would not be disappointed, this son had been giving him constant surprises. Yuan Shao took the letter from Guo Tu and read it carefully. Sure enough, Qingzhou was recovered and Liu Bei, the lost dog, was driven away. It was really gratifying and congratulatory!
"Congratulations, lord, congratulations, lord. We have recovered Qingzhou, and we are dominating the Hebei and Qingzhous. The day when we can unify Hebei is just around the corner!" Xu You and Guo Tu stood up together to congratulate.
"Hahaha!", which made Yuan Shao laugh out loud, and told several people, "I'm so happy, my son really did not disappoint me, the Youzhou strategy must be put on the agenda."
Seeing the two of them taking orders, they went down to get ready. Yuan Shao asked his attendants to take care of him with pen and ink, and planned to write an order to Yuan Xi, Tian Feng and others in person, explaining the defense of Qingzhou, and asking Yuan Xi to come back with a large army in a while to participate in the strategy of Youzhou.
After these arrangements were made, Yuan Shao was in Yecheng, quietly waiting for Yuan Xi to arrange Qingzhou affairs as soon as possible and return to Yecheng to reunite with his family. As for the reward, he had already prepared it!
It has been more than a month since Yuan Xijun took control of Linzi. During this period, two thousand Qingzhou soldiers were stationed in Zhuxu, Anqiu, Anchang, and Pingchang, which bordered Beihai and Xuzhou.
Within a month, a total of 50,000 households of Qingzhou military family members were resettled in various counties in Beihai. These "military households" are organized according to military departments and are not subject to local governance. Under the lobbying of the Jiang family and Zheng Xuan, many officials in Beihai counties surrendered to Yuan Xi. In this way, the only place Kong Rong could govern was near Beihai. Yuan Xi took away Kong Rong's rule over Beihai.
Dongnae County has been basically in a state of population depression and fragmentation in recent years. Under the lobbying of Zheng Xuan, Jiang family and other noble families, they all surrendered. Tian Feng sent some county officials down and resettled the last 40,000 families of the Qingzhou soldiers.
Donglai County belongs to the rear. Yuan Xi, Guo Jia and Tian Feng discussed and sent only two thousand soldiers to garrison in Donglai County and two thousand soldiers to garrison in Jieting, which is adjacent to Xuzhou.
Because Zhao Yun had some friendship with Taishi Ci, Yuan Xi sent Zhao Yun to follow him to Donglai. Taishi Ci was currently being borrowed to lead the army in Donglai County to maintain local security.
Yecheng, Jizhou.
In the Prefecture Mufu, Yuan Shao was reviewing documents from various places in the main room.
Mrs. Liu asked her maid to add charcoal fire to the furnace and spices. She handed a small hand-warming stove to Yuan Shao.
Yuan Shao raised his head and took the heater, then held Madam Liu's hand and handed it back, "I'm not cold, madam, you can use it yourself."
Mrs. Liu's eyes turned red, "You are not cold anymore. Xianyi is freezing in Qingzhou for some reason."
Yuan Shao shook his head and held Mrs. Liu's back, "Madam, you are worrying too much. Xianyi has so many people taking care of him, how could he be cold?"
"The twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month and the first day of the lunar month are coming soon. My son has never left home to celebrate the festival. Those people you mentioned are either civil servants or warriors. How can they take care of my son's daily life."
Yuan Shao was not willing to let his beloved son suffer, but he knew from the exchange of documents and letters that there were many things to deal with in Qingzhou, and Yuan Xi could not get away from them at all.
"Next year when Qingzhou is settled, let Xianyi come back and live for a while." Yuan Shao said.
Mrs. Liu's face darkened, "Do you really want Xianyi to live in Qingzhou for a long time?"
"Madam, you don't understand. When Hebei is conquered, I will let Xiansi, Xianyi, and Xianfu each lead a state. If you defend Jizhou like this, great things can be accomplished."
Mrs. Liu was unwilling, but when it came to military and political affairs, she could not interfere too much. "Xianyi wrote a letter saying that Qingzhou is short of food and clothing, and many people cannot eat even two meals a day."
Yuan Shao didn't take it seriously. He allocated some food to Yuan Xi several times, and Jizhou also sent a lot of food collected, but it was still a little less than enough to feed a million people. "When the war is going on, it would be great if those people could not starve to death."
At this time, a servant came to report that a group of civil servants had arrived in response to Yuan Shao's call. Mrs. Liu had no choice but to retreat.
After a while, Xun Chen, Guo Tu, Xin Ping, Xin Pi, Ju Shou, Feng Ji, Shen Pei and Xu You all arrived at Yuan Shao's main room.
Yuan Shao saw that everyone had arrived and took out the documents sent by Yuan Xi and Tian Feng, "Haha, Xianyi and the others have won another victory one after another. Now all the counties in Qingzhou have surrendered."
"My lord is very happy. Next year our army will be able to deal with Gongsun Zan and the Black Mountain Bandits in the north with all our strength." Xu You said with a smile. The others also congratulated.
Yuan Shao stroked his beard and smiled, "In the past year, you have also tried your best to assist me in governing Jizhou. Counting your merits, you will definitely be rewarded."
"Lord, how should the second young master handle the purchase of winter clothes?" Shen Pei reminded.
Yuan Shao frowned, even though he couldn't satisfy Yuan Xi's needs even though he tried his best to make and buy them.
"Zhengnan, our army does not have enough winter clothes. We have distributed more than 60,000 winter clothes to Qingzhou. Do we, Jizhou soldiers, need to take off their cold clothes and send them away?" Guo Tu said sarcastically.
"You can take money from the treasury and buy it from the private sector." Jushou suggested.
Guo Tu and Xin Ping immediately objected, "The money and silk in the treasury are used for military supplies for the coming year. How can we purchase ordnance for the coming year?"
Several people quarreled and argued, but finally it came to nothing.
In the end, Yuan Shao left Jushou behind.
"My lord, the twelfth lunar month is coming. Yuan Hao is far away in Qingzhou. Please send someone to bring his parents to Qingzhou for reunion." Yuan Shao said.
It turns out that the December Festival in late December of the Han Dynasty was one of the festivals that people at that time attached great importance to, and it had the meaning of sacrifice and reunion. It is a custom for those who are officials in other places to bring their elders to the official residence to spend the twelfth lunar month.
Jushou agreed that sometimes Yuan Shao did a good job in being a corporal and being considerate of his subordinates, even if it was superficial. Yuan Shu, who had a high self-esteem but had the arrogant mentality of a great aristocrat, was the first to fail.
In a courtyard on the west side of Yecheng City.
Diao Xiuer was in the room and happily asked her maid to tidy up her clothes. She held a piece of paper letter in her hand, and the joy in her eyes could not be suppressed.
There was a knock on the door, and Cai Yan, who was as elegant as orchid, entered the room.
Diao Xiuer quickly stepped forward and held her catkins in her hands, "Sister, have you finished cleaning up?"
Cai Yan gently took out his hand and said, "The twelfth lunar month is a day to reunite with family members. Sister, it's okay for you to go, but I am not a member of the second master's family. It is not in line with etiquette to go."
Diao Xiuer understood what she was thinking, "In Xianyi's view, my sister has long been a family member, so there is no need for politeness."
Seeing Cai Yan's hesitant expression, Diao Xiuer said: "Xianyi specifically told me in the letter to ask my sister to go to Qingzhou so that she can seek advice from Master Zheng and others who are famous Confucians in the world."
Cai Yan hummed, thinking that he went to Qingzhou in order to fulfill his father's last wish and seek advice from the great Confucian scholar. Yes, it was not for that Second Young Master Yuan.
In the front hall, Gao Ping, the elder of the Cai family, was also instructing the servants to carry the ceremony. Zhao Yun, dressed in a white robe and looking very energetic, knelt down and sat aside meticulously.
■■■
Recently, Yuan Xi has also been overwhelmed by government affairs. The resettlement of the six counties of Qingzhou, including the family members of millions of Qingzhou soldiers, has made him exhausted to cope with it.
Although Tian Feng and Guoyuan were in charge of various government affairs, some matters, such as appeasing the people and winning over powerful people from all over Qingzhou, had to be handled by him as the coach.
Taking advantage of the Han Dynasty's custom of the December Festival, Yuan Xi sent Zhao Yun and his troops to escort Gao Yue, Diao Xiuer, and Cai Yan to Linzi, Qingzhou, and Princess Hongnong Tang Ji was also secretly sent to Qingzhou.
Before Gao Yue and others arrived, Yuan Xi welcomed a guest from Hebei.
In the renovated governor's mansion, Yuan Xi came to the gate in person.
Zhen Yao, the third son of the Zhen family in his early twenties, followed Hao Zhao and Guo Huai to escort money and grain to Linzi, Qingzhou.
Zhen Yao was wearing a gorgeous long coat. He looked elegant and didn't want to be a businessman at all. "Second Young Master, you are polite."
Yuan Xi returned the greeting with a smile, "It's windy outside. Third brother, let's go inside and talk."
After sitting down, Hao Zhao and Guo Huai returned their orders to Yuan Xi.
Hao Zhao looked tired and tired, "Major General, all the money, food and materials for this year have been escorted. Fortunately, Bo Jicheng and I have lived up to our mission."
"I will reward you two after we discuss your merits at the beginning of the year."
Hao Zhao and Guo Huai quickly thanked them, and then reported some situations in Jizhou and briefly reported the money and food sent to the Zhen family.
Finally, Hao Zhao and Guo Huai retreated, leaving only Yuan Xi and Zhen Yao.
"I didn't expect that the young master would occupy the entire Qingzhou in just a few months. It's really unexpected." Zhen Yao sighed.
"I would also like to thank the Zhen family for their support in terms of money and food. Third brother went back and thanked his mother-in-law on his behalf."
Zhen Yao took out a piece of silk book and said, "Now that we are a family, we will fully support the second master's great cause. This is the record of the money and food allocated to the master by the Zhen family. Please check it with the master."
Yuan Xi read it over and said, "In the beginning of spring, we need to borrow some money and food to survive the spring famine."
Zhen Yao also felt that the treasure this time was too great, "Young master, don't worry, the Zhen family will send as much grain as possible in the warehouse in the spring. But the master promised to provide convenience for the Zhen family to do business in Qingzhou?"
Yuan Xi smiled and gave him a reassuring answer, "You came to Qingzhou this time to manage the trade route to Qingzhou, right? I will arrange manpower to facilitate you, and the money and food will be paid back to you within three years. .”
At the moment, Yuan Xi and Zhen Yao drank together and agreed that no matter whether Yuan Xi was in Yecheng or in the army in the future, as long as Zhen Yao obtained important information, he would convey the secret to his teacher Zhang Hong as quickly as possible. guard.
On the surface, Zhen Yao continued to do his business, and Yecheng became the base camp of Zhang Hong's espionage activities. Now Zhang Hong's secret guards include Zhu Ao, Hua Xu, and Zhen Yao.
Zhen Yao smiled with satisfaction, and finally Yuan Xi sent someone to settle him down.
After seeing Zhen Yao off, Yuan Xi came to the study.
Yuan Xi felt uncomfortable when he thought of Cao Cao, who was living a prosperous life in Yanzhou, south of Qingzhou. In his opinion, Cao Cao is the enemy who will conquer the world in the future. Now Yuan Shu, Tao Qian and Gongsun Zan are colluding to deal with Yuan Shao.
Needless to say, Gongsun Zan's threat in the north, Tao Qian's army has been very ambiguous since its defeat at Yanzhou Fagan. Yuan Shu has been preparing for war, waiting for an opportunity to invade Yanzhou, and then attack Yuan Shao from a flank.
Therefore, in order to deal with the common enemy, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao are now allies. Cao Cao even obeyed the orders of Yuan Shao, the leader of the alliance, to a certain extent.
Therefore, regardless of whether Yuan Xi has the strength to fight Cao Cao, the relationship between the two families alone is destined to be unable to fight Cao Cao.
