Listening to the words brought back by the messenger, Yuan Shao, who was going through a storm now, couldn't help but look gloomy.
The rejection in these words was extremely obvious.
And at this time, after Yuan Benchu had just risen and experienced two consecutive failures...
At this time, Yuan Shao was at his weakest and most in need of help.
However, Yuan Shao's luck was really good, and his hard work in the first half of his life finally paid off at this moment.
A large number of capable people began to take the initiative to serve by his side.
Xun Chen of the Xun family was the first to appear, re-planning for Yuan Shao, clarifying the pros and cons, and asked him to lower his sights from the throne.
It happened that at this time, General Qu Yi, under the command of Han Fu, the governor of Jizhou, rebelled, which made Han Fu anxious for a while. At this time, Xun Chen offered Yuan Shao a reverse strategy to drive away tigers and devour wolves.
He contacted Han Fu's rebel general Qu Yi as an internal agent and persuaded Gongsun Zan to attack Jizhou. Then when Han Fu was in the most danger, Xun Chen, a senior official, asked him to ask Yuan Shao to come forward to stabilize the situation.
Among them, Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou, and others also came forward one after another to cheer for Yuan Shao. The three forces used Jizhou as the battlefield and began to compete with each other.
It's just that Han Fu, the most powerful person here, seems to have no effect.
Compared with Yuan Shao, Wang Kuang was more unlucky. As the only one among the coalition forces who was beaten and doubtful about his life, Wang Kuang not only lost his own troops but also killed the envoys sent by Dong Zhuo in order to please Yuan Shao.
Among them, Zhijinwu Hu Muban was a good friend of Wang Kuang, but he died in Wang Kuang's hands. When Hu Muban's relatives and descendants learned about this incident, they immediately took note of the grudge and even continued to cause trouble for Wang Kuang. It made him miserable.
The other Cao Mengde, who was beaten to the point of losing his troops and doubting his life, was not involved in these things.
He finally escaped from Xu Rong's hands, and his troops suffered numerous losses, and each one of them was in a state of disarray. In the end, he was ridiculed by many coalition generals.
Cao Mengde was hit like this, and then saw that the alliance he had finally formed was not only occupied by Yuan Benchu, but also quickly fell apart under his command.
When Cao Mengde returned to his hometown, looking back at his years of hard work, one can imagine the helplessness in his heart.
At this time, it was Cao Hong who stood up.
This clan brother who saved Cao Mengde's life once again pulled Cao Mengde out of this decadent quagmire.
At this time, he took more than a thousand private soldiers and went straight to Yangzhou. He found his best friend, Yangzhou Governor Chen Wen, and asked him to provide food to help him recruit troops.
Even in order to recruit high-quality soldiers, Cao Hong took the Yangzhou governor and stayed in Lujiang for more than a month.
Finally, he recruited 2,000 superior soldiers from Lujiang. After that, he went east to Danyang and recruited thousands more soldiers.
Afterwards, Cao Hong came to Longkang and found Cao Mengde, who had courage again, and handed over the thousands of soldiers and horses without landing.
At this time, Cao Chun, the brother of the clan who had followed Cao Mengde early, also wrote to his eldest brother Cao Ren, asking him to come back with more than a thousand heroes under him no matter what, to work with him.
In addition to the many coalition forces fighting against Dong, Youzhou Mu Liu Yu finally got through the Wuhuan alien tribe and allowed him to serve for him.
Yizhou Mu Liu Yan completely put down the rebellion of Ma Xiang and others, killed the traitor who proclaimed himself emperor, and conquered Hanzhong at the same time. However, the generals he sent to conquer Hanzhong broke out in civil strife.
Zhang Lu killed another Sima Zhang Xiu (not Zhang Lu's biological father), and then separated Hanzhong.
Ren Qi, the governor of Jianwei County, and Jia Long, who had previously contributed to the rebellion, rebelled again, but were quickly wiped out by Liu Yan. At the same time, Liu Yan also accepted a large number of refugees from Nanyang Sanfu and other places, and formed the Dongzhou Army, which would become famous in the future. , to consolidate its position in Yizhou.
Tao Qian, the governor of Xuzhou, did not participate in Suanzao's crusade against Dong, but at Zhu Jun's call, he sent out three thousand elite troops to support the crusade against Dong Zhuo. He also petitioned Zhu Jun to serve as acting cavalry general.
Zhu Jun and Tao Qian were busy in Zhongmou, as if they were going to fight against Dong three times.
It's just that the two of them are just like Yuan Shao at the beginning. They make noisy gongs and drums every day, but they can't move their buttocks and keep making noises in Zhongmou.
Many things have broken out in just over a year, and the world has once again become turbulent. People everywhere are also panic-stricken because of this turbulent situation.
Even many Yellow Turbans who had retired to the mountains and forests began to come out of the mountains again to cause trouble.
At this time, Guo Tu finally came to Liu Biao.
As the current lord of Jingzhou, Liu Biao is not a state pastor, but he is not something ordinary people can see. It is indeed not easy for Guo Tu to see him.
However, Guo Tu was Guo Tu after all. After entering Xiangyang, he did not go directly to the governor's house to call, but directly made full use of his connections.
Yuzhou and Jingzhou are connected. Although Yingchuan is far away from Xiangyang, it does not mean that the two sides have no intersection. Not to mention that Pang Tong of the Pang family has an excellent relationship with Sima Hui and others of Yuzhou.
Let's just say that several other aristocratic families are not unrelated to their families in Yingchuan.
Guo Tu revealed his identity and found connections to enter the governor's mansion. Although it was laborious, it was not impossible.
Now Guo Tu saw Liu Biao, but he did not immediately say how powerful he was, but represented Gongsun Zhu, the prefect of Jincheng County.
Of course...it also expresses congratulations to Liu Biao for getting the position of governor of Jingzhou...no, the real master of Jingzhou.
Liu Biao seemed to really not know why he was here. He was very happy with Guo Tu, a somewhat famous junior in Yingchuan, and even treated him with extra favors and hosted a banquet for him.
It had already taken a full day to rush from the border of Yuzhou to Xiangyang, and it would also take more than a day to return. Guo Tu had promised Gongsun Zhu in three days, and it was still less than one day.
Now that he finally saw Liu Biao, he went to the banquet safely and looked like he was just traveling. Ma Chao suddenly became anxious.
But just as he was about to speak, he saw Guo Tu glare at him.
This guy who usually had a sinister smile on his face became very bright this time, but it made Ma Chao shudder.
"If you don't want your second brother to die outside, just stay there and don't move." Seeing that Ma Chao didn't act immediately, Guo Tu also turned his body to his side and said softly.
"Remember what a certain family told you before!"
Guo Tu's words made Ma Chao frown, but he could only look at Guo Tu coldly, and sat back with a silly smile.
He is just reckless and shameless, he is not stupid. Now that they have something to ask for, they naturally cannot make everyone look too embarrassed.
Guo Tuzhi's son and nephew kept drinking with Liu Biao, and Liu Biao seemed to be in great interest. He kept asking his servants to bring more wine, as if he wanted to get drunk with his nephew.
In the end, the two guys who were unable to walk were holding each other's arms and were inseparable.
"My nephew, I would like to sleep with my uncle today, and you and I will discuss the world again!"
Liu Biao looked like a madman with his drunken eyes. At this moment, he held Guo Tu's arm and refused to let go, asking Guo Tu to go back to his room with him for another drink.
After Guo Tu repeatedly refused, he seemed to be moved by Liu Biao.
"Since my uncle is so interested, my nephew can't sway his mind."
The bold Guo Tu was pulled into the room by Liu Biao, but the servant who followed him in and wanted to serve him was stopped by Liu Biao.
"I am having a drink with my nephew. Why are you disturbing me in my pleasure? Go quickly."
At the same time, Guo Tu pulled Ma Chao in front of him with an impatient expression, "You guys are guarding the door. If anyone dares to disturb my uncle and I, you will beat him out. Do you hear me?" "
Ma Chao, who was being pulled by Guo Tula, resisted the thought of beating this guy out first, and in the end he could only grin.
Before entering Xiangyang, Guo Tu had already told Ma Chao that from the moment he entered Xiangyang, Ma Chao was not allowed to speak and only had to smile honestly.
Seeing such "honest" Ma Chao, Liu Biao also laughed.
"You follower are so interesting and interesting."
"He is just an idiot. His mind is stuck and he doesn't know how to adapt. If it weren't for his considerable strength, my nephew would not take him with him."
"Hey, in this troubled world, uncle can feel relieved to have such a guard!"
The two people greeted each other and walked into the room, where bursts of laughter broke out from time to time. However, the servants outside and Kuai Liang who came to inquire were at a loss when they saw the honest and honest Ma Chao at the door.
Someone tried to deliver some dishes before, but Ma Chao threw them to the ground mercilessly, and they didn't recover for a long time.
Looking at this guy again, he has a silly smile on his face, but if anyone comes forward, he will hug him and throw him down. He can't understand what he says, leaving everyone helpless.
And this was outside Liu Biao's room, and they didn't dare to be too presumptuous. If something happened, Liu Biao would blame him for being a fool. Of course he was not afraid of anything. They didn't want to suffer unreasonable disasters.
Finally, Kuai Liang looked at this scene and directly reprimanded him.
"Liu Jingzhou is entertaining his nephew, what are you waiting for? Why don't you go back to your own place, you are a bunch of nosy people."
Everyone saw that Kuai Liang did not reprimand the idiot, but instead reprimanded himself and others. Many servants could only look at each other and then dispersed.
Watching their leaving figures, Kuai Liang also snorted coldly.
"It's really getting too much."
However, after saying these words in a deep voice, Kuai Liang did not do much else. Instead, he smiled at Ma Chao and left the governor's mansion.
When Liu Biao and Guo Tu heard that it was completely silent outside, their expressions suddenly became solemn.
The laughter and laughter before seemed like an illusion.
"Young man from the Guo family... I'm afraid you're here not just for congratulations." Liu Biao still had no elder demeanor at this moment. Liu Biao's eyes at this moment even made Guo Tu feel stinging.
"Everything is fine here in Liu Jingzhou, but it seems that something is missing." Guo Tu looked Liu Biao in the eyes at this time, with a smile on his lips, without any intention of flinching.
"I am short of something?" Liu Biao suddenly sneered, "I rode into Yicheng alone and fought in Jingzhou alone. Now I can sit in Xiangyang in a few days..."
"This will allow many aristocratic families in Jingzhou to take another step forward and completely control Jingzhou." Guo Tu chuckled and interrupted Liu Biao's words, "I have a question that I don't understand. I hope my uncle can help me clear it up."
"what is the problem?"
"I have heard for a long time that there were many sect thieves in Jingzhou. In Yicheng alone, fifty-five heads were chopped off at a meeting. But I don't know what kind of thief this sect thief is. Mountain thieves, horse thieves and boys have all heard of this sect thief. Well.....",
Liu Biao did not answer immediately.
Clan thieves are large and small forces composed of clans and neighbors. Because they often rob the surrounding areas, they are called thieves.
This is the so-called clan thief.
But this thing is also very similar to another word.
Father and son are inherited from each other, and the relationship between uncles and uncles is like branches. They live together in the same area, with the main business of collecting land and family houses, and they have a good number of private soldiers to protect them.
These two explanations are actually basically the same, except that one is openly plundering the surrounding areas, and the other is covertly converging on the Tianlong family homes of local people.
The former is a clan thief, and the latter is a clan, or family.
The Kuai family, the Cai family, as well as the Pang family and the Huang family, their inheritance is longer and their power is even greater.
But it is undeniable that in the early days of their rise, they were just a group of clans. It was only the diligence of several generations that made them a famous family.
Guo Tu, who was born in a noble family, understood very well that riding into Yicheng alone was simply because the Kuai family, Cai family and others found a suitable candidate and asked him to give him a suitable reason to clean up. This power in Jingzhou.
After all, Jingzhou is so big, and they can't move their families. As other families grow bigger and have more people, the benefits they occupy will naturally become smaller.
It's just that they were all officials of one party before. They can't stand it. They raise the banner and I want to challenge Dong. You can do whatever you want with the rest. Of course, if Dong Zhuo raises troops to retaliate afterwards, or if the imperial edict is issued and others surround you, you will also have to then.
So when Wang Rui was here before, no one said anything or made any move.
Now the opportunity has come, Liu Biao wants to be the real governor, and they have no intention of separatism, so it is better to cooperate with both parties.
Although Guo Tu was not involved in this matter, he was not surprised at all. He could even guess what the terms of both parties were.
Jingzhou clan thieves were trapped and killed, Liu Biao wanted the political power of Jingzhou, and many aristocratic families controlled various counties. After all, many places were given up once they died.
Liu Biao will not suffer a loss. The few families around him can still control Jingbei, but when Jingnan is conquered, they will be seriously short of manpower.
At that time, if Jingnan is used as the foundation and Jingbei is swallowed up, Liu Biao will definitely become the true lord of Jingzhou in less than ten years.
But there is a premise for all this, that he can withstand what comes next.
Whether it is the Kuai family or the Cai family, they can cooperate with Liu Biao to trap and kill clan thieves for the sake of the family, but for Liu Biao and Yuan Shu, the legitimate son of the Yuan family, to fight to death, isn't this nonsense?
Otherwise, if Liu Biao had the power to win a great victory but stopped in Jingbei, if it weren't for those two families not taking action, could it be that Liu Biao had figured it out on his own?
Peacefully coexist with Changsha Zhang Xian?
Guo Tu had also heard about this stubborn donkey-like character. He looked down on Liu Biao. Even if you told the King of Heaven, he would not be able to coexist peacefully with Liu Biao.
Guo Tu did not continue to test, and Liu Biao did not continue to pretend to be stupid.
"Liu Jingzhou needs someone to block the pressure from the Yuan family. Maybe the Jingzhou family is unwilling to fight to the death with Yuan Shu, but they have no intention of surrendering to Yuan Shu. This is the best news.
My general is the ruler of the Han Dynasty who is stationed in the northwest. Now he is fighting against national traitors for the Han Dynasty... Taking advantage of the opportunity to deal with some refugees, it is only natural to share the worries of the Han Dynasty.
If Liu Jingzhou is willing to temporarily lend Nanyang County to let our general recuperate, then we will naturally solve Yuan Shu's matter for Liu Jingzhou.
At that time, Liu Jingzhou can safely put down the rebellion in Jingnan. "
Liu Biao looked at Guo Tu in front of him. This guy just mentioned his purpose at this moment, and he had to say that he had a huge appetite.
"You only want to stay in Nanyang County temporarily?"
"My general is just traveling, and he will eventually return to Jincheng County. When he sees these countless people in trouble, he helps them.
There is no reason to abandon one's own foundation for the sake of these people. Liu Jingzhou can rest assured about this.
The land of Nanyang is just a temporary loan.
Of course, Nanyang County is currently in chaos, which is not conducive to my general's repairs. If possible, it would be great for us to take a rest in Fancheng first. "
When Guo Tu walked out of Liu Biao's room the next day, he looked refreshed. On the other hand, Ma Chao, who had been laughing all night, looked stiff at this time.
Fortunately, Guo Tu got what he wanted, but he didn't stay here any longer.
Liu Biao had agreed to give up Fancheng to Gongsun Zhu for temporary accommodation and provide some food and supplies. Liu Biao, who had just wiped out the Jingzhou clan bandits, was now very wealthy.
The collections of so many sect thieves over the years were all collected by him. This was the time when he was rich.
With Liu Biao's funding, at least Gongsun Zhu no longer has to worry about running out of food.
At the same time, Liu Biao will come forward to persuade many aristocratic families to turn a blind eye to Gongsun Zhu's appearance.
After all, as Guo Tu said, no one of these aristocratic families in Jingzhou wants to offend Yuan Shu now, and of course they can't afford to offend him.
Now that there are people willing to stand in front of them, they don't care about Fancheng or Nanyang, because the place itself is not theirs.
At this time, Yuan Shu was plundering Nanyang and asking Liu Biao to provide them with food and supplies from time to time. He really didn't treat Liu Biao as an outsider.
However, Liu Biao was very dissatisfied with this kind of thing. However, he was not as powerful as others, so Liu Biao could only bow his head and admit his mistake.
When Guo Tu saw Gongsun Zhu again, he didn't say much nonsense. He directly threw the secret letter written by Liu Biao himself and the ribbon seal belonging to Fan Chengling to Gongsun Zhu, and then returned to his tent and fell asleep.
Looking at the secret letter in his hand, it told Gongsun Zhu in detail that he had picked up the ribbon seal of the Order of Fancheng, and that he had found the grain piles in Fancheng by chance and had nothing to do with Jingzhou.
Of course, there is another thing mentioned here, that is, in addition to having Gongsun Zhu stationed in Fancheng, Huang Zu, the prefect of Jiangxia, will also move his troops to Deng County to assist in defense.
Huang Zu, who was born in the Huang family of Jiangxia, was incompatible with the members of the Huang family. The rather arrogant Huang Zu was more like a gambler from Jingzhou.
He dared to stand in front not because of his loyalty to Liu Biao, but because he wanted to become the real master of Jiangxia and he needed prestige.
Of course, before he gained enough prestige, he did not mind cooperating with Liu Biao and obeying orders.
As for the matter in Nanyang, if Gongsun Zhu could drive away Yuan Shu, Liu Biao would not mind lending Nanyang to Gongsun Zhu for temporary residence. It just so happened that this northern barrier of Jingzhou could also help Liu Biao block many problems.
Everything was more satisfactory to him than the plan Guo Tu told him originally, but Gongsun Zhu felt awkward looking at the word "borrow".
"It doesn't matter whether you want to borrow it or not. To put it in such a crude way, isn't this all the Han's city and land?"
Gongsun Zhu muttered something and then waved his hand. Finally, the soldiers no longer had to persist and continued to lead the refugees towards Fancheng.
Gongsun Zhu, who should have entered Fancheng quickly, was slowed down by the people because the people held him back. He could only go about thirty miles without hurting their lives.
There were too many people, including too many old, weak, women and children, and their traveling speed had reached its extreme.
In desperation, he could only let Guo Tu leave again and Ma Chao take people to Fancheng to allocate some food and baggage to meet them.
Huang Zu, who was supposed to be stationed in Deng County, knew the marching speed of Gongsun Zhu and others and marched into Fancheng unceremoniously, telling Guo Tu to wait until they arrived before talking about the matter.
If it weren't for Guo Tu, Ma Chao would have rushed over and fought with Huang Zu.
However, although Huang Zu seized Fancheng, he did not complete the matter. He sent a lot of food and supplies, but most of the food and grass was still kept by him.
Liu Biao seemed to be indifferent to this matter, as if he didn't know anything.
Guo Tumachao returned to Gongsun Zhu's army and told Gongsun Zhu and Guan Yu about these things.
Compared to Guan Yu's immediate outburst of anger after hearing the news, the army leader Gongsun Zhu was actually very calm.
With that person's temper, he could really do it, but it didn't matter, Huang Zu couldn't take Fancheng, but it was a pity that Liu Biao would be a little frightened.
"Don't panic. Starting today, the speed will be reduced by another three points. Don't burden the people."
At this time, Gongsun Zhu couldn't help but snorted coldly when he saw the current situation, and in the following time, he directly reduced the army's marching speed by another three points.
He made it look like he wasn't nervous at all.
His purpose was simply to stabilize the situation, to watch Jingzhou become chaotic, and then see what kind of attitude Jingzhou had towards him.
But if he comes like this, he will really have traveled more than twenty miles in one day.
At the same time, Gongsun Zhu was not polite. He began to make full use of all the power in his hands.
