The next day, Yuan Shao held a meeting with officials at the governor's office in Jizhou to discuss Jizhou affairs and reward them for their merits.
After a while, Ju Sue, Guo Jia, Xu You and other subordinates who had no mission arrived first. After waiting for a while, Xin Ping and other members of the original Jizhou team also arrived.
After everyone bowed politely, they separated themselves to the left and right, standing clearly differentiated.
Yuan Shao, escorted by Yan Liang and Yuan Fang, came to the governor's throne and just sat down.
Then I heard the respectful voices of everyone coming from below.
"We are waiting to see your lord (general) and congratulate your lord (lord) on taking control of Jizhou."
Hearing their compliments, Yuan Shao seemed very happy and said happily, "No need to be polite, please get up quickly."
"Thank you, Lord", everyone agreed and stood up to wait for the next step.
Yuan Shao said with some emotion, "When I first left Luoyang, I had nothing. I was pursued by soldiers, and my future was bleak. Later when I came to Bohai, I had to meet Zhang Liao and others, so I was able to defeat Dong Zhuo and become famous all over the world. Today, thanks to everyone, I can You have really made a lot of contributions to being able to take control of Jizhou, so you must be rewarded."
Everyone was overjoyed, but they said modestly, "This is the result of your lord's great blessing. We can only do our best. We cannot be praised like this and cannot accept rewards."
"You guys don't have to be humble. I know it well and will reward you based on your merits today."
After Yuan Shao finished speaking, he asked Yuan Fang to take out the merit book he had prepared long ago and read:
When Tian Feng first arrived in Bohai, he praised me for important things, and my contribution should be the first. Today, I have been conferred the title of governor of Jizhou. I hope you can help me manage Jizhou well.
Shen Pei and Zhen Yan later followed me and managed the Bohai Sea and provided food and grass for me. Now they are awarded the title of meritorious official and the official is assigned to the position.
Jushou has contributed greatly to his suggestions and has been specially assigned the post of special chariot to assist me in handling Jizhou affairs. Guo Jia had a strange plan and specially granted the military advisor the post of sacrificial wine and jointly participated in the strategy.
With Xun Chen as the meritorious Cao Shuzuo, Xu You as the chief recorder, and Xin Ming as the recorder, the rest of the original Jizhou team had inconvenient duties.
Gao Lan was engaged in military affairs, Zhao Yun was Sima, Zhang Liao, Zhang He, Yan Liang, and Wen Chou were generals, and Gao Gan and Yuan Fang were school captains.
After hearing that everyone was rewarded, they were very satisfied and thanked each other.
"Thank you for the reward, my lord. I will do my best and die."
Yuan Shao nodded with satisfaction and told everyone to go down and perform their duties if nothing happened. He also asked Yuan Fang to inform everyone who was absent one by one of the results of the rewards, and sent people to pick up Tian Feng and others, and sent them with the merits.
Everyone took orders to handle official business, and Yuan Fang also arranged for reliable people to go to Bohai to deliver the news.
Seeing that everyone had left except Guo Jia, Yuan Shao asked curiously.
"I wonder what else there is to do with filial piety?".
Guo Jia replied, "I have two special things to ask my lord for advice."
"I don't know what those two things are about." Yuan Shao became interested and motioned for Guo Jia to tell him.
"The first thing is about Han Fu. How is the lord going to arrange for him?" Guo Jia asked.
Yuan Shao thought for a while and said, "Han Fu asked me to give him Jizhou. I am going to let him serve as General Fenwei, give him fertile land and a beautiful house, and place him in Yecheng."
When Guo Jia heard this, he objected and said, "This is not possible. Although Han Fu is cowardly, he is the governor of Jizhou appointed by the imperial court, and his prestige is still there. My lord has just taken over Jizhou and is not popular, so he cannot stay with him, otherwise it will easily cause trouble." of".
Yuan Shao hesitated and said, "Isn't this bad? Just because Han Fu wanted Jizhou, we just crossed the river and burned the bridge. It's a bit too much."
Guo Jia insisted, "Han Fu fell to this point all because of cowardice. Learning from past mistakes, the Lord must not hesitate."
"In that case, then we should follow the words of filial piety," Yuan Shao agreed and said.
"I wonder what another thing is?".
Guo Jia said mysteriously, "I wonder if my lord wants to conquer the world, or does he just want to separate himself from one side?"
Although he didn't know what Guo Jia was asking for, Yuan Shao still said without hesitation, "The Han Dynasty lost its deer, and the whole world chased it away. I often think of the great ancestor who sang the strong wind and feasted all the officials with his glory."
After saying this, Guo Jia understood and kept nodding his head to express his understanding.
He suggested, "In this case, the lord cannot allocate Jizhou to Gongsun Zan as agreed."
Yuan Shao laughed and said, "Haha, I didn't have this plan in the first place, it was just a strategy."
Hehe, I admire such a lord.
Guo Jia expressed his optimism and asked, "Does your lord know my intention of asking Gongsun Zan to attack Jizhou together?"
Yuan Shao thought for a while and then said, "It should be that we are planning to attack both internal and external forces, leaving Han Fu at a loss, so we can take advantage of the situation."
Seeing Guo Jia shaking his head, Yuan Shao asked, "If that's not the case, then I don't know."
Guo Jia laughed and said, "It's just Jizhou that doesn't matter. The reason why I asked the lord to meet Gongsun Zan is to let the lord destroy him, or cut off part of his strength, so as to clear the way for the future unification of the north."
"If you don't want to be filial, you think so far, please elaborate." Yuan Shao became interested and motioned to Guo Jia to continue.
So Guo Jia continued, "There is no owner in the annexed state, and the lord sends one general. If Han Fu in Jizhou is incompetent, Jizhou will return to the lord in the long run. Only Youzhou has strong folk customs, and Liu Yu, the governor of Youzhou, is easy to deal with. Only Gongsun Zan, who has won the hearts of you and the knights, will become the lord's enemy in the long run. Therefore, I propose a plan to capture Jizhou together, anger him afterwards, and take advantage of the situation to destroy him in a big battle, or eliminate part of his strength, so that we can unify him in the future. It’s easy in the north.”
After hearing what Guo Jia said, Yuan Shao finally understood. As expected of a top strategist, he can see very far. While others are still immersed in a victory, they are already planning to conquer the world.
Thinking of this, Yuan Shao had to secretly rejoice that Guo Jia was his adviser, otherwise he would not have died much.
Yuan Shao also knew that Guo Jia and Ju Shou were both called the top counselors of the Three Kingdoms, and it was true.
This strategy, this scheming, this wisdom, Yuan Shao can only say one word in capital letters.
This is the first time that Yuan Shao truly knows Guo Jia's talent. In the past, he relied on historical memory, and he was half-convinced.
Now I am convinced that Jushou is good at planning the whole story from a high position. Then Guo Jia is unconstrained and plans step by step until the goal is achieved.
"After listening to Fengxiao's words, Shaodun felt enlightened and admired him," Yuan Shao praised.
Guo Jia nodded slightly, looking very calm.
Since he planned to destroy Gongsun Zan, Yuan Shao asked for advice: "I think Gongsun Zan is coming soon. With the troops I have, can I destroy him? Do I need to go back to Bohai to move troops?".
Guo Jia shook his head and said uncertainly, "It's hard to say. The more the merrier."
Yuan Shao expressed his understanding, and after discussing some matters, Guo Jia said goodbye and left. Yuan Shao called Yuan Fang back and told him some things before going to rest.
