Chapter 346 Yuan Shang of Jizhou
It is said that Chen Gong concealed his shame and left both the lord and Bai Butterfly in Puyang. Deep in his heart, Chen Gong already felt his betrayal, and then made it clear that he had seen through Long Zhu as Chen Long's person, leaving his general Hu Che'er behind to witness Chen Liu's Yellow River waterway being handed over to the Black Mountain Army.
Chen Gong finally boarded the boat and left, leaving behind the protagonist Lu Bu who had been unconscious all day. Bai Butterfly knows very well that Chen Gong will not give him face in Chenliu, and Zhang Liao, Zang Ba and others are not under her control, and of course they will not really follow Chen Gong back to Chenliu alone. Although Bai Butterfly was ready to give up taking charge of the Central Plains through Lu Bu's army, she still needed the status of Lu Bu's concubine in order to continue to be legitimate and legitimate in the Central Plains, so she stayed with Lu Bu for the time being. All the ninjas disappeared and everything was concealed.
Since Man Chong and Xu Huang traveled through the mountains and ridges to the vicinity of Yecheng, they suffered from hunger all the way. Ten stops of the White Tiger Army escaped with their lives, leaving less than five stops left. Finally reaching the border of Yecheng, Man Chong and Xu Huang pretended to surrender to Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao was not that easy to deceive, so he reluctantly sent some food and grass over, and asked Man Chong and Xu Huang to report to Yuan Shang alone.
The White Tiger Army was half hungry and half full. Naturally, Man Chong and Xu Huang would not leave the army easily. The counselors around Yuan Shao had already whispered in Yuan Shao's ears that Man Chong could not be trusted. Yuan Shao issued an angry military order and ordered Yuan Shang to come with his troops, forcing Man Chong and Xu Huang to set up camp, lead the troops as vanguard, and rush to attack the party.
The battle for Shangdang suddenly began. Chen Long was based in Puyang and the Yellow River waterway was smooth. The news that Yuan Shao sent troops to join the party naturally spread to Puyang quickly. Chen Long was unable to defeat Cao Cao from the north and was considering how to attack Yuan Shao, but had no excuse to send troops. Suddenly, he heard that Yuan Shao had asked his third son Yuan Shu to lead troops out of Huguan to attack Zhang Yan's lair. Instead of being surprised, he was overjoyed and immediately sent an order to the three armies. All three armies immediately mobilized and attacked Ye City, leaving Zhang Yan alone to defend the city. The rest of the generals, including Guo Jia, Zhou Buyi, Guan Yu, Taishi Ci, Wu Anguo, Gao Shun, Fu Tong, Zhang Niujiao, and Hu Cheer, all went to the front line. The total number of troops included many surrendered troops who had just been reorganized. Including the soldiers, the number was still 200,000. It could be described as a mighty force and the lineup was at its peak. The battle in southern Hebei suddenly began.
Yuan Shu led his troops out of Hukou Pass, crossed the border of Maocheng, and drove back the 50,000 Heishan Army who had falsely attacked Huguan back to Shangdang. At the same time, troops were divided to cut off the communication between Shangdang and Guandu Ferry and Mengjin Ferry. Man Chong and Xu Huang acted as vanguards and set up camp thirty miles away from Shangdang.
Yuan Shao's third son, Yuan Shang, was tall and handsome. He was favored by Yuan Shao more than his two brothers. Yuan Shao has three sons, Yuan Tan is the eldest, Yuan Xi is the middle one, and Yuan Shang is the youngest. The younger son looked more like Yuan Shao and was personable. Yuan Shao's wife Liu also liked Yuan Shang, so Yuan Shao wanted to make Yuan Shang his successor.
According to the official history, after the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao became ill with worry and anger. He fell seriously ill when he was in his forties or fifties. Shen Pei, Feng Ji, Xin Ping, Guo Tu and others began to fight openly and secretly to seize the throne. The first two are from Yuan Shang's group, and the latter two are from Yuan Tan's group. Everyone held a meeting, and most of them agreed that "it is necessary to establish the elders rather than the young." Shen Pei muttered in his heart: I am from Yuan Shang's group. If I raise the eldest son Yuan Tan, people like Xin Ping and Guo Tu will definitely not let me go in the future. Give me little shoes to wear. So Shen Pei said that Yuan Shao liked his younger son when he was alive, so he wanted to establish Yuan Shang. They carried out the dead and crushed the living, and finally made Yuan Shang the lord of Jizhou.
Yuan Shao's wife Liu was jealous. Before Yuan Shao's body was cold, she killed five of Yuan Shao's concubines, gouged out their eyes, cut their faces and disfigured them. Yuan Shang was not idle either and killed all the family members of these concubines.
When Yuan Tan received the news of Yuan Shao's death, he rushed back to attend the funeral. Of course, the purpose was to compete for Jizhou. However, in the end he was not appointed, and he was unwilling to accept it. He called himself General Chariot and Cavalry, and began to have a bad relationship with Yuan Shang.
Cao Cao keenly saw the opportunity and led his army to attack Yuan Tan in the north. Yuan Tan stationed his army in Liyang and sent people to ask Yuan Shang for reinforcements. Yuan Shang asked Feng Ji to lead a small army to support Yuan Tan. Yuan Tan saw that there were few troops and asked his brother for help. Yuan Shang was afraid that his brother would be a threat to him after he defeated Cao Cao and became stronger, so he did not send troops. Yuan Tan was very angry and beheaded Feng Ji.
Cao Cao's army arrived at Liyang and attacked Yuan Tan. Yuan Tan couldn't resist the enemy, so he asked Yuan Shang for help. Yuan Shang was also afraid that his lips would die and his teeth would be cold. Yuan Tan was really doomed and his life would not be easy, so he arranged for Shen Pei to guard Yecheng and he personally led troops to support Yuan Tan. However, Cao Cao's strength was too strong. The two brothers could not defeat Cao Cao as a team, and they retreated all the way to Yecheng. Cao Cao then caught up and captured Yin'an, and then withdrew his troops because he decided to conquer Liu Biao southward.
As soon as Cao Cao's army withdrew, brothers Tan and Shang breathed a sigh of relief. After the situation eased, they began to rebel and fight with each other. Yuan Tan was defeated and fled to the plains. Yuan Shang pursued him closely and besieged Pingyuan, intending to kill his brother. Yuan Tan had no idea and sent Xin Pi to ask Cao Cao for help.
In October 203 AD, Cao Cao's army turned north to rescue Yuan Tan. Of course, rescuing Yuan Tan was just a temporary measure. Cao Cao's purpose was to eat Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang and seize Jizhou. Yuan Tan also has his own little plan. He wants to use Cao Cao's power to kill Yuan Shang first, and then deal with Cao Cao calmly.
When Yuan Shang learned that Cao Cao had sent troops to rescue Yuan Tan, he immediately withdrew his soldiers from the plains and returned to the city of Ye. Seeing that the situation was not good, the generals Lu Kuang and brothers Lu Xiang betrayed Yuan Shang and surrendered to Cao Cao. Yuan Tan secretly carved two general seals and gave them to the two Lu brothers to win their hearts and prepare for attacking Cao Cao in the future. After Cao Cao found out, he felt it was not time to openly fall out with Yuan Tan, so he married Yuan Tan to reassure him.
Afterwards, Cao Cao withdrew his troops again. As soon as Cao Cao's army left, Yuan Shang became impatient and arranged for Shen Pei and Su You to guard Yecheng and attack Yuan Tan in Pingyuan again. Cao Cao's army returned, approaching Yecheng and reaching Huanshui, which was fifty miles away from Yecheng. Su You wanted to surrender to Cao Cao, so he sent people to tell Cao Cao to attack the city, and Su You acted as an internal response. However, the premeditated plan was leaked and was discovered by the trial police. After a fierce battle in Ye City, Shen Pei won, and Su You was defeated and fled to Cao Cao's camp. Cao Cao then led his army to besiege Yecheng.
Cao Cao sent people to dig tunnels to attack the city. Shenpei dug deep ditches in the city and was able to avert the danger; Shenpei's subordinate Feng Li rebelled and opened the gate to lead 300 Cao soldiers into the city. He was discovered by Shenpei and Shenpei came from the city. Throwing big stones down, the gate was blocked, and no one of the three hundred people survived; Cao Cao attacked the city, and the judges ordered people to fire arrows. The arrows were like locusts, and Cao Cao could not attack for a long time; Cao Cao also wanted to divert water from the Zhang River to flood the city. After digging a trench for forty miles, Shenpei saw it on the city. The trench was shallow and narrow. Shenpei laughed: In order to irrigate the city, the trench must be deep and wide, so Shenpei didn't take it seriously. This is actually Cao Cao's treacherous plan and persecution. That night, Cao Cao sent more men, and overnight, the ditch was deep and the water was tight. When Shenpei woke up the next day, he regretted it. There was water everywhere in the city. Three or four months later, there was a flood in the city, and more than half of the people died of starvation.
Yuan Shang learned that Yecheng was in danger and hurriedly led more than 10,000 people to rescue him. The army rushed to Yangping Pavilion, which was seventeen miles away from Yecheng, and raised fire as a signal. When Shen Pei knew that reinforcements had arrived, he also set fire to the city.
Shen Pei gathered troops in the city, hoping to join forces with Yuan Shangli to attack Cao Cao and break out of the siege. Cao Cao divided his troops into two groups and drove Shen Pei back to the city, defeating Yuan Shang along the way. Yuan Shang fled to Quzhang and set up camp. Cao Cao wanted to surround Quzhang, but before he could, someone outside the camp asked to see him. When he was called in, he saw that it was Yuan Shang's subordinates Yin Kui and Chen Lin who had come to beg for surrender. Cao Cao is not allowed. The two men went back in disgrace. Yuan Shang had no choice but to flee again, and fled to Haikou. Cao Cao besieged Haikou, and the military situation was very urgent. On the occasion of the confrontation, Yuan Shang's general Ma Yan and others surrendered to Cao Cao in Chen. The army was leaderless and Yuan's army was defeated. Yuan Shang was caught off guard and continued to flee. The seals, ribbons, military symbols, baggage, and clothing were all high-grade goods. They were all left behind and belonged to Cao Cao. Cao Cao ordered people to show these things everywhere, and Yuan Jiabing's confidence collapsed.
Shen Pei's nephew Shen Rong was on duty at the east city gate. He opened the city gate that night and let Cao Cao's army in. Shen Pei hurriedly led his army to fight in the streets with Cao Cao. In the end, due to lack of strength, the city was broken and captured.
Brothers Xin Ping and Xin Pi were subordinates of Yuan Tan. Xin Ping and his family were all in Yecheng. Xinpi was in Cao Cao's army at that time. When he heard that the city had been destroyed, he hurried into the city to rescue his brother Xin Ping and his family. However, Shenpei was angry that the two brothers led Cao Cao's troops to attack Yecheng. Xin Ping's entire family was beheaded. Later, Shen Pei was captured and was escorted to Cao Cao's stronghold. He was met by Xin Pi. Xinpi whipped the judge's head with a riding crop, and while beating him, he scolded: "You dog slave, you are here today, your death has come." Shenpei also scolded: "You dog, you are the one who led Cao Cao to attack Jizhou. I wish I could kill him." I'll tear you into pieces alone." On the way, I met Zhang Ziqian again. He was from Jizhou and had a bad relationship with Shen Pei. He had surrendered to Cao Cao before. When Zhang Ziqian saw Shen Pei tied up, he was very proud and said: "Shen Pei, are you inferior to me now?" Shen Pei said sternly: "You are a surrender, and I am a loyal minister. Even if I die, I will still be better than you." Much stronger.”
Shen Pei was taken before Cao Cao and refused to surrender until he died. Cao Cao had no choice but to kill Shen Pei.
Before the execution, Shen Pei said to the executioner: "Let me die facing north, because my master Yuan is in the north." Shen Pei's voice was majestic and undaunted before leaving, and all the onlookers sighed for it.
The current situation in Jizhou: Yuan Tan surrendered to Cao, Yuan Shang was defeated and fled, Yecheng was captured, and Shen Pei died.
Gao Gan, Yuan Shao's nephew, who was previously granted the title of Bingzhou by Yuan Shao, could no longer sit still and raised the whole state to surrender to Cao Cao. Cao Cao said: "Okay, then I will make you the governor of Bingzhou and serve me."
When Cao Cao besieged Yecheng, Yuan Tan was not idle. He also led an army to attack Yuan Shang. Yuan Shang was fighting on two fronts at this time and was unable to resist Yuan Tan. He was defeated and fled to his second brother Yuan Xi in Gu'an, and his All soldiers were recruited by Yuan Tan.
Yuan Tan's army was stationed in Longcuo. After Yuan Tan became stronger, he began to disobey Cao Cao. After Cao Cao captured Yecheng, he led his troops to Longcuo and asked Yuan Tan to open the door, but Yuan Tan refused. Cao Cao felt that the time had come, so he fell out. Marriage and other matters were all in vain. He ordered the siege of Yuan Tan. Yuan Tan was no match for Cao Cao. He was defeated and fled to Qinghe. Cao Cao besieged Qinghe. Yuan Tan and Guo Tu were defeated and both were beheaded. This happened in 205 AD.
Now, Yuan Tan is resisting Gongsun Zan in the north, and Yuan Shang is attacking the Shangdang Black Mountain Army in the west. Apart from Yuan Shao, only his second son Yuan Xi is left in Yecheng. Suddenly hearing the movement of the Black Mountain Army in Puyang, Yuan Shao ordered Yuan Xi to rush to the front line immediately. The war in Jizhou is about to break out.
If you want to know what happens next, listen to the explanation next time.
