During the funeral of Yuan Shao, Mrs. Liu killed all five women that Yuan Shao had previously liked. She was afraid that their ghosts would meet Yuan Shao under the Nine Springs after they died unjustly, so she pulled out their hair and killed them. She tattooed her face and destroyed her body, and her vicious behavior spread among the people. She didn't even spare the family members of those women, and sent people to arrest them and execute them all.
Other useful people carried out the customs, reviewed the matches, and met the discipline according to the requirements. They appointed Yuan Shang as the Grand Sima General, leading Ji, Qing, You, and the four prefectures as pastoralists, and then asked him to come back immediately.
Yuan Tan was on the road at this time and received the news that his father had passed away, so he discussed it with Guo Tu and Xin Ping.
Guo Tu suggested: "Now that the lord has passed away and is no longer in Jizhou, Shen Pei and Feng Ji will definitely make their man the lord."
Xin commented: "Not only that, I think the two of them must have some conspiracy. If we go now, there will be disaster."
Yuan Tan knew this situation and asked, "If this is really the case, what should we do?"
Guo Tu thought for a moment and said, "We can station the troops and horses outside the city and observe what's going on inside. Let me go to the city to investigate the situation first."
Yuan Tan accepted this suggestion and asked Guo Tu to go to Jizhou first, while he himself stationed his troops and horses outside the city. Guo Tu saw Yuan Shang. After saluting, Yuan Shang asked, "Why didn't my brother come?"
Guo Tu replied: "Because I traveled a long distance and was not in good health. I contracted an illness and was recuperating in the army, so I didn't come in person."
Yuan Shangdao: "I also received my father's will, which made me the lord of Hebei and made my brother the general of chariots and cavalry. Now that Cao's army has attacked, I hope my brother will be the front guard. I will then mobilize troops and horses to respond."
Guo Tudao said: "The march and fighting require some people to discuss countermeasures together. I hope we can send Shen Pei and Feng Ji as assistants, so that we have a greater chance of winning."
Yuan Shang said: "I still rely on these two people to advise me. How can I let them leave together?"
Guo Tu took a step back and said, "How about we ask one of them to discuss strategies?"
After all, Guo Tu's words made sense, and Yuan Shang had no choice but to let the two draw lots and send out the ones they caught.
When he caught the lot, Yuan Shang had no choice but to let him take the seal and ribbon and go to Yuan Tan's army with Guo Tu.
Feng Ji followed Guo Tu all the way to Yuan Tan's army. When he saw that Yuan Tan was not sick at all, he felt a little uneasy and uncomfortable in his movements. After offering the seal and ribbon, Yuan Tan was furious and prepared to behead Feng Ji.
Guo Tu walked to Yuan Tan's ear and whispered: "Now that Cao Cao's army is approaching, we leave Feng Ji alone to reassure Yuan Shang. After Cao Cao is defeated, it will not be too late to fight for the power of Jizhou."
Yuan Tan followed this suggestion and immediately set off for the camp. When he arrived at Liyang, he met Cao Jun. He immediately sent General Wang Zhao to fight. His opponent was Xu Huang who came out of Cao Jun. The two fought for several rounds, and Xu Huang was killed with one blow. After Wang Zhao was killed and his momentum was greatly defeated, Cao's army took advantage of the situation to cover up the killing. Yuan Tan's army was defeated and could only temporarily retreat to Liyang. While resisting Cao Jun's attack head-on, he sent people to Yuan Shang for help.
Yuan Shang discussed with Shen Pei and only sent 5,000 troops to rescue.
Cao Cao knew that the other side would definitely have rescue troops, so he sent Le Jin and Li Dian with their troops to intercept them halfway, using a flanking approach to surround and kill them.
Yuan Tan got the news and knew that Yuan Shang only sent 5,000 troops and was intercepted by Cao Jun on the way. He was very angry and called Feng Ji to scold him. Feng Ji was afraid of Yuan Tan's anger and killed him, saying: "I hope You can let me write a letter to the Lord, and he will definitely come to the rescue personally."
So Yuan Tan ordered him to write a letter in accordance with the regulations, and then sent someone to Jizhou to give it to Yuan Shang. After receiving the letter, he discussed it with Shen Pei.
Shen Pei said: "Guo Tu has many strategies. He did not fight for Jizhou before because Cao's army was in our territory. If he defeated Cao's army, he would definitely lead the victorious troops and continue to fight for Jizhou with us. It would be better not to send reinforcements. Now, let’s use the power of Cao’s army to destroy our opponent.”
Yuan Shang had no idea at all, so he accepted this suggestion and did not send troops to rescue.
The envoy truthfully reported the situation to Yuan Tan. Yuan Tan was very angry and killed Feng Ji without saying a word, and then summoned everyone to prepare to surrender to Cao Cao.
Yuan Tan had been assigned some special agents for a long time. After learning about this situation, he immediately went to Jizhou to report to Yuan Shang.
Yuan Shang discussed with Shen Pei again and said: "If we do this, if Yuan Tan surrenders to Cao Cao and attacks Jizhou together, then we will be in great danger."
So Shen Pei and General Su You were left to guard Jizhou, and he led the army to Liyang to rescue Yuan Tan. Yuan Shang asked who among the army could serve as the front line, and Generals Lu Kuang and Lu Xiang brothers were willing to go.
Yuan Shang sent 30,000 soldiers and horses to the two of them. As a vanguard, they went to Liyang first. Yuan Tan was very happy to know the situation and put the matter of surrender to Cao Cao on hold for the time being.
Yuan Tan garrisoned troops in the city, and Yuan Shang stationed outside the city, forming a horn-like situation. Within a day, Yuan Xi and Gao Gan's troops came outside the city and stationed themselves in three places. They sent soldiers to attack every day, and Cao's army fought, but after all, Cao's army was well-trained and had some generals with high martial arts skills. Basically, every time Yuan Shang attacked, he failed. Cao's army won every time, one after another. In February of the eighth year of Jian'an, Cao Cao ordered , separate ways to attack.
The ideas of Yuan Tan, Yuan Xi, Yuan Shang, and senior officials were gradually broken up. The situation in Liyang was already very critical. When they reached the back, they could no longer hold on, so they abandoned the city and left.
Yuan Jun retreated to Jizhou, and Cao Cao personally pursued Jizhou with his troops. After Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang entered the city, they saw the crisis situation and began to unite and cooperate. Yuan Xi and Gao Gan set up camp thirty miles away from the city, bluffing, Let Cao Jun have some scruples. Cao Cao and his soldiers could not attack Jizhou in a few days.
At this time, Guo Jia advised Cao Cao: "Yuan Shao abolished the elder and established the younger. Then the brothers of the Yuan family will definitely compete for power and each establish their own party members. If there is danger, they will unite together. If there is no If there is any threat, they will start to fight for it. We might as well change our direction and go south to conquer Liu Biao, wait for their brother's fight to cause trouble, and then we can take Hebei in one fell swoop."
Cao Cao thought this strategy was good and trusted Guo Jia on weekdays. He ordered Jia Xu to be the governor and guard Liyang, and then asked Cao Hong to lead troops and horses to guard Guandu. Cao Cao personally led the army towards Jingzhou.
Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang thought Cao Jun was afraid, so they retreated, and they all began to celebrate the victory in the city.
