Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1001 The situation worsens
As soon as Mrs. Mi came in, Da Qiao noticed that something was wrong in her expression and said, "I'll go out first."

As soon as Da Qiao went out, Mrs. Mi knelt down. Yuan Xi stopped her and said, "What are you doing?"

Mrs. Mi lowered her head and said, "My brother made a big mistake, and I am also guilty."

Yuan Xi pulled her to sit down and said, "You are overthinking it. He is him and you are you. What does it have to do with it?"

Then he wondered: "What surprises me is how quickly you learned the news. I also learned about Ba Qiu not long ago, how could you know about it?"

"If my prosecutor's office delivers urgent news at the same speed as the Mijia Trading Road receives the news, wouldn't my prosecutor's office look like a joke?"

Mrs. Mi didn't expect that Yuan Xi was focused on this point, so she quickly explained: "There is a coincidental aspect to this matter, and there is also a man-made aspect."

"It's a coincidence that the Mi family merchant ship was used to deliver the news this time."

"and
Someone reported privately to my concubine that the second brother had defected to the enemy and was arrested, but the letter was not signed. "

Yuan Xi smiled and said: "I see, I can understand it. I'm afraid someone thinks your second brother is in trouble and wants to help, so they came to you."

"Although Second Brother You is confused, he has formed some friendships, otherwise there wouldn't be someone who would have taken the risk to rescue him at this time."

"I don't understand. If you do something like this, the Mi family will be ridiculed by the world!"

"But Mrs. Mi's second brother is really not very particular about what he did. It was just a matter of changing the master, and he also had to offer land and city. Guan Yunchang did not cut him off on the spot, it was really for my sake."

Mi Zhen felt depressed and felt bitter, "Who knew that brother was so obsessed with thinking about it and didn't know what he was planning on!"

After Mi Zhen left, Da Qiao walked in and continued to sharpen Yuan Xi's ink. Yuan Xi saw her look and said with a smile: "It's so hard to hold it in, so just say what you want."

Yuan Xi comforted him a few words and said: "The spies I placed under him are now escorting him back to Shouchun. Before that, I will think carefully about how to deal with him properly."

"You have heard about Marquis Wen, right?"

Yuan Xi nodded, "You, like Mrs. Mi, take this matter too seriously. In fact, it's really not a big deal."

"Since I found someone to save him from Guan Yu, of course I didn't bring him to Shouchun for questioning."

"In this era, few people criticize someone who changes his family after his death. But if someone betrays or kills his leader while he is still alive, it will be difficult for him to hold his head up for the rest of his life."

Yuan Xi said: "So you think too much."

Mrs. Mi lowered her head and remained silent for a long time before saying, "I know that my second brother's crime is unforgivable, so I am willing to pay for it with my body in exchange for my brother's life."

"It's just that what he did was really outrageous. I'm afraid there will be no place for him in the Central Plains in the future, and your eldest brother is under Liu Yuzhou's command, so I'm afraid it won't be easy for him."

"Today, all parties are competing for the world, and it is actually very common for people to change their affiliations. There are also many people who secretly collude with other forces. I have seen them a lot in these years."

Mi Zhen lowered her head and said: "I can't help my husband with anything, I will only cause trouble."

Yuan Xi comforted him: "War is a man's business. Don't think too much. If you want to go back and have a good rest, I have my own ideas about your second brother."

Mi Zhen knew that there was no point in saying more at this time, so she bowed her head and said, "I'll go out first."

Da Qiao's face turned red, "I didn't eavesdrop on purpose. I believe my husband is aware of this kind of thing, and it's not easy for me to say anything."

"Before this, the Jiangdong Navy in Wankou was a big trouble."

"That is because my subordinate officials are relatively fixed, so if something like this happens, you will feel as if the sky is falling."

"But it is not peaceful along the way now. If they go east from Lukou, they will easily encounter the Jiangdong navy. They may have to abandon the boat and land on shore. Whether they can reach Shouchun safely is not yet known."

Da Qiao whispered: "I have heard that when Mrs. Lu was chatting with my sisters, she was obviously ashamed to talk about this matter, and there were many taboos in her words."

Yuan Xi sighed: "Yes, although Marquis Wen did have some unknown secrets in killing the emperor twice, he just did it, but this stigma will not disappear completely just because he died. That's why The reason why Mrs. Lu stays in Jiuyuan to guard the border is to wash away the shame of the Lu family. "

"In contrast, although Yuan Shu acted rebelliously, Duke Qiao did not betray him in the end and died with a bad reputation. At the same time, he protected you very well. From this point of view, he is undoubtedly very competent as a father."

Da Qiao couldn't help but get red eyes when he thought about Qiao Rui's words and deeds during his lifetime, and heard Yuan Xi say: "So I will not let you down. After these few battles are fought and Jianghuai is pacified, I will definitely hold a beautiful ceremony to marry you." Pass the door."

Da Qiao lowered his head shyly, and heard Yuan Xi continue: "By then, your status should not be concubines, but wives. This should be considered worthy of Mr. Qiao." Da Qiao was shocked, Yuan Xi said this The words are very clear, because since ancient times, only the side wives of emperors and princes can be called wives. This is considered to have an official position, and the status of the main wife of a minister is the same as that of a minister.

Da Qiao knew that Yuan Xi had just rejected the imperial edict from the Han Dynasty to become a duke. What did he mean by this, was he planning to become king?
This is a big taboo, aren't you afraid of being criticized by everyone in the world?

Yuan Xi saw the worried look in Da Qiao's eyes and said, "Don't worry, there are people who are more anxious than me."

"As for how the situation changes, it depends on what Cao Cao and Sun Quan do next."

Things turned out as he expected. Not long after, the news came that Cao Cao mobilized all his troops to cross the Han River to attack Xiangyang. On the other hand, he gathered a huge fleet and attacked all the way along the Han River to Lukou. go.

Facing the fierce offensive of Cao Jun, Liu Bei's army in Nanjun could not withstand it. Cao Cao's navy would cross the Han River at any time and occupy the towns of Liu Bei's army that harassed the south bank. Guan Yu, who had mobilized troops in the Baqiu Jiangling area, was forced to rush to the mainland. Mouth direction rescue.

This immediately exposed Liu Bei's shortcomings. Compared with Cao Cao's large number of counselors and generals, although Liu Beijun made up for the shortcomings of counselors, there was still a big gap in generals. So far, he still relies on Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to support his appearance.

This was also Liu Bei's helplessness. In later generations, he only started to open up the situation in Jingzhou and recruited a large number of talents in Jingzhou and Yizhou before he was able to establish the Shu Han. Before, except for Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, there was really no one who could take charge of the overall situation. .

At this point in time, there are only two of the Five Tigers, and the extremely important Wei Yan has not appeared. Liu Bei can rely on these teams to resist Cao Cao for two years, which is already considered a superb performance.

Yuan Xi also understood this, so he had to take action, especially because Cao Cao was obviously coming for him. If Cao Cao's navy and Jiangdong navy were to join up and advance both by water and land, it would be difficult for him to do so with his strength in the Jianghuai River. Resistant.

So Yuan Xi sent a letter to Zhou Yu's army in Wankou, asking him to withdraw his troops immediately.

Zhou Yu naturally pretended to be dumbfounded, and Yuan Xi did not expect a letter to ask Jiangdong to withdraw his troops. His death delayed time, and he was preparing to assemble the Chaohu navy to fight Jiangdong first.

But in Yuzhou, which is separated by the Huaihe River from Shouchun, Cao Cao's army finally began to take action.

Cao Hong and Le Jin assembled almost the entire force of Yuzhou and crossed the Huai River at various points, hoping to take the opportunity to invade the south bank of the Huai River and attack the area around Shouchun.

Because Yuzhou mobilized a large number of people this time, mixed with a large number of migrant workers, and cooperated with Cao Cao's small navy in Huai River, they launched attacks at more than a dozen places in Huai River at the same time, so Lu Xun, who was guarding Huai River, could not judge the reality. .

In this case, the number of people could only be filled in. Although Yuan Xi had already taken precautions and sent Jianghuai soldiers from both counties to the coast for defense, he could only hold on.

But this is not the most troublesome, because the key battlefield is obviously the Yangtze River.

Afterwards, Cao's army went down the Han River and broke through Lukou with Jiangdong's army. Guan Yu was forced to lead his army to retreat to the Baqiu area.

Cao Jun and Jiangdong Army did not take advantage of the situation to attack. Instead, Cao Jun sent an infantry force to garrison Lukou. The remaining fleet headed west to block Guan Yu's navy, and nearly half of the fleet was sent to join Jiangdong Navy and go to Anhui. Come by mouth.

At this moment, everyone knew that Cao Cao and Sun Quan were going to join forces to attack Yuan Xi, and they would take the route north of Chaohu with the navy!
However, this seemingly united alliance seems to have cracks.

Currently, Gan Ning and Taishi Ci are guarding the waters of Chaohu Lake. Today, Yuan Xi received a secret message from Taishi Ci, saying that someone from Jiangdong secretly sent him a private letter asking for surrender, and sent the letter together.

Yuan Xi almost laughed out loud after seeing the letter.

Because the content of this letter was very familiar to him. It was written by Huang Gai, the number one actor in Jiangdong.

Speaking of why Huang Gai wrote the letter at this time, it can be traced back to Taishi Ci's encounter when he went to Wankou as an envoy. At that time, Jiangdong's army had not yet attacked Lukou. After Taishi Ci arrived, the two sides were having fun and acted on their own.

Although Taishi Ci is a military general, he is one of the few military generals who can be careful. When he was a small official in Beihai, he was able to use tricks to deceive his opponents, so it is also appropriate for him to play this role now. Like a fish in water.

A few days later, one night when he and Zhou Yu were changing cups, they heard someone outside the tent shouting: "The fierce tiger killed my Jiangdong soldiers and detained Lu Zijing. He is actually an enemy of Jiangdong. Now he is facing the enemy." It’s not shameful to sit and drink wine!”

Zhou Yu, who was drinking, was furious when he heard this and shouted: "Whoever is talking nonsense here should be tied up quickly!"

After hearing this, the guards around him hurried out and came back with a troubled expression after a while, but the shouting and cursing outside never stopped.

The guard whispered something in Zhou Yu's ear, and Zhou Yu became even more angry. He threw the cup on the ground and said angrily: "How can he disobey the superior and disobey military orders because he is senior?"

"Tie him up quickly!"

The guards heard this and rushed out. Zhou Yu turned to Tai Shici and smiled: "Now I, Jiangdong, am sincerely negotiating peace with Yuan Shijun, but someone wants to deliberately sabotage it. I will definitely give an explanation to the general!"

After a while, the guards came in pushing a man tied up with five flowers. Taishi Ci took a closer look and thought, "Isn't this Jiangdong general Huang Gai?"

(End of this chapter)