Spring, the first year of Jian'an.
Gushi County, Runan County, the front line of Yuan and Cao's armies.
How confident Yuan Shu was before the war, he was so embarrassed now.
One hundred thousand Yuan's army faced off against thirty thousand Cao's army, but they were defeated in the first battle, with over ten thousand casualties!
I wanted to show my face in front of Liu Pi, Huang Shao and other Runan Yellow Turban Army, but my butt leaked out!
This defeat also reminded Yuan Shu of his fear of being dominated by Cao Cao in the Battle of Kuangting two years ago.
In that battle, Yuan Shu, together with the Black Mountain Army and the Southern Xiongnu reinforcements, were also defeated by Cao Cao with superior force. Cao Cao even pursued Yuan Shu all the way. In half a year, from Kuangting to Fengqiu, then to Xiangyi and Ningling, wherever Yuan Shu fled, he was chased and chopped down by Cao Cao, forcing Yuan Shu to flee from Yanzhou to Yuzhou, and finally fled to Yangzhou before he could survive. Chance.
Two brothers who were childhood playmates have unlocked the achievement "If they are brothers, come and kill me".
In the Battle of Kuangting, Yuan Shu was simply beaten by Cao Cao and was unable to fight back. This also planted a deep shadow in Yuan Shu's heart.
Yuan Shu originally thought that he had occupied Huainan for the past two years to recuperate his energy, and he could avenge his shame. Unexpectedly, he was hit in the face by Cao Cao when they met!
This moment brought out Yuan Shu's psychological shadow.
Therefore, when Yuan Shu still had an absolute advantage in military strength, he directly chose the strategy of passive defense, holding on to the wall and trying to exhaust Cao's army's food and grass.
Seeing that Yuan Shu was just being beaten passively, Liu Pi, Huang Shao and others, who had originally planned to cling to Yuan Shu's thigh, also wavered.
The war was going on, but Yuan Shu didn't care. He only enjoyed himself with his concubine in his tent every day.
"My lord, Shouchun has received a letter!"
Yang Hong, the chief historian, walked into Yuan Shu's tent with a silk letter.
Yuan Shu glanced at Yang Hong impatiently and said angrily: "What happened to Shouchun? I asked Lu Mian to chase my son, has he come back?"
Yang Hong cupped his hands and smiled: "General Lu's letter talks about exactly this!"
"The prince has left and returned within two days of his birth. General Lu please rest assured, lord, he must have taken good care of the prince this time."
Yuan Shu frowned: "He came back by himself? Why is this?"
Yang Hong said proudly: "The specific reason is still unknown, but General Lu said in his letter that the prince has now married General Qiao's eldest daughter after returning to Shouchun!"
Yuan Shu was stunned for a moment, then his brows widened, and he half-smiled and half-swore: "This is an unworthy man!"
"You don't listen to me, the father, and sit in charge of Shouchun, but you run out and come back again for a woman. What an unworthy man!"
"That's good. He has a new woman, so he can stay in Shouchun for a little longer... Well, with his new interest in women, in about half a month, Cao Cao's food and grass should be exhausted..."
Yuan Shu thought about it for himself, and the worries in his heart were slightly relieved.
You must know that in the last battle of Kuangting, Yuan Shu was almost driven out and killed by Cao Cao. At that time, Cao Cao pursued him all the way. Yuan Shu originally planned to escape to Shouchun and hold on, but unexpectedly, Chen Yu, the governor of Yangzhou whom he appointed as governor, refused to accept him. Fortunately, Cao Cao did not continue to cross the river to pursue him due to lack of food and boats, otherwise he would have been in a desperate situation.
Because of this, Yuan Shu has since paid great attention to the candidates who stayed behind, and has also reduced the number of expeditions he led his army to, instead sending generals such as Ji Ling and Zhang Xun to lead the army in combat.
This time to face Cao Cao, Yuan Shu came to avenge his humiliation. Yuan Shu had also considered repeatedly who should take charge of Shouchun for him.
In the end, it was decided that Yuan Yao would take on the important role, with Lu Mian as the general who defended the city, and Yan Xiang as the chief adviser.
But a few days ago I received a letter from Lu Mian, and the unscrupulous man actually ran away!
But fortunately it's back now.
"Yang Hong, you should take credit for this!"
Yuan Shu pointed at Yang Hong and praised: "If you hadn't persuaded me to let the prince marry Qiao Rui's eldest daughter, Yao'er wouldn't be in Shouchun now, and I wouldn't be so determined now!"
"Lord, I have some bad news here."
Seeing Yuan Shu turning from anger to joy, Yang Hong said "I don't have a long eye".
"What's the matter?"
Yang Hong raised his hand and said, "According to what General Lu said, the prince not only married General Qiao's eldest daughter, he also married General Qiao's youngest daughter that night."
"Oh~ Is that the case?" Yuan Shu breathed a sigh of relief, "I thought Cao Jun had done something else."
"What kind of bad news is this? If you get married, get married. Just write a letter to Qiao Rui and say so."
Yang Hong: "General Keqiao's daughter was originally promised to Zhou Shang's nephew Zhou Yu. The prince not only took advantage of her, but also imprisoned Zhou Yu."
"Right now, there are rumors in Shouchun that the prince is taking things by force and deliberately humiliating the Lujiang Zhou family!"
"Nonsense! This unscrupulous man is simply making nonsense!"
Yuan Shu cursed, but after thinking about it, he laughed again: "Marrying two sisters at the same time? This is an unworthy man, but he is quite good at playing."
"He actually did a trick that I had never done before."
"It doesn't matter. The Qiao family's youngest daughter just promised him the Zhou family, and she didn't marry her. The six rites have not been completed, and there are no more things to do. If my son is married, he will marry her!"
"Marrying one is a happy event, marrying two is a double blessing. Let him marry. It doesn't matter how many he marries. As long as he stays in Shouchun obediently, I will feel at ease!"
"Besides, who knows whether the Zhou family is telling the truth? Who knows whether Qiao Rui promised his young daughter to the Zhou family?"
Yuan Shu glanced at Yang Hong, grabbed a fruit and bit into his mouth.
Yang Hong smiled and bowed slightly: "I understand. I will write a letter and send it to General Qiao."
"Lujiang Zhou family?" Yuan Shu sneered twice and spit out a fruit core with contempt.
"But Zhou Yu, I have heard people say that he is a very talented boy."
"Give him an official position of 600 dan, and let the world see how much I, the Yuan family, take care of their Lujiang Zhou family."
Yang Hong nodded and complimented: "Zhou Yu is just a concubine of the Zhou family in Lujiang, but my lord can cherish his talents so much!"
"If people in the world know what my lord has done, they will definitely be impressed by my lord's love for talents!"
"Hahaha!"
"..."
"Report! Shouchun urgent message!"
A shout outside the tent interrupted the conversation between Yuan Shu and Yang Hong.
Yang Hong frowned, walked out of the tent, and took a silk letter from the letter rider.
When he opened it, he almost laughed out loud at the contents.
"Nephew, nephew, uncle just wiped your butt, why did you poop again!"
Taking a deep breath, Yang Hong walked into the tent again.
"Yang Qing, is there a letter from my son?"
Yang Hong smiled and flattered: "My lord, you are really good at predicting things!"
"It's the news about the crown prince."
"Um."
"Um?"
Yuan Shu felt something was wrong.
Yang Hong could only tell the truth: "Your Majesty, he ran away again!"
"Um?"
Yuan Shu increased his tone.
Yang Hong: "The prince crossed the river and went south to Danyang County. He said he was going to pacify the thieves such as Tai Shici, Lingyang Zulang and others in Jing County..."
"A group of remnant soldiers and defeated bandits are worthy of him to suppress?"
Yuan Shu slammed the table and said angrily: "What do Lu Mian think of him? Didn't I give him a death order a few days ago to keep an eye on the unscrupulous man?"
Yang Hong looked at the silk book and said helplessly: "The prince is very clever. He held a banquet on the occasion of marrying the two daughters of the Qiao family, got General Lu drunk, and left Shouchun that night after receiving the city defense token... "
Yuan Shu was stunned when he heard this: "This guy is quite witty..."
"No, stop saying nice things to him. This unscrupulous man will make me angry to death!"
"..."
After a long journey, Yuan Yao finally arrived in Danyang County.
As soon as he crossed the Yangtze River, Yuan Yao felt that the climate was much warmer. That is, instead of riding in a closed carriage, ride on horseback.
At this time, the person guarding Niuzhutan Ferry was Xu Qian, the deputy general of Zheng Bao, the captain of Mengchong under Yuan Yao.
A few days ago, when Zheng Bao led the Yuzhang navy to transport the troops, horses and food provided by Sun Ce, he followed Yuan Yao's order and left Xu Gan and a thousand soldiers behind to take over the defense of the north and south crossings of Liyang and Niuzhu.
Thirty miles east from Niuzhu is Shicheng County, and thirty miles further east is Danyang County, the temporary county of Danyang County.
Before Yuan Yao and a group of his troops could reach Shicheng, they encountered an envoy sent by Yuan Yin, the governor of Danyang, on the road.
"Are you subordinates of Governor Yuan?"
When the envoy saw Yuan Yao and his entourage, he ran up crying as if he were his relatives.
Xu Chu stopped in front of the envoy and said in a loud voice: "Who are you? Are you an assassin?"
The messenger seemed to know Yuan Yao, and shouted loudly towards Yuan Yao on the horse: "Your Majesty! Your Majesty! It's me! It's me!"
The shout caught Yuan Yao's attention. Based on his previous memories, Yuan Yao immediately recognized the messenger as a retainer of his uncle Yuan Yin.
"Let him come over."
Yuan Yao ordered Xu Chu.
"Oh~"
The retainer messenger ran over, knelt down on the spot and cried bitterly: "Your Majesty, I have been waiting for you to come!"
"If you don't come, your uncle will be killed by those rebels!"
