Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1213 Civil strife
After hearing what Yang Xiu said, the Ding Yi brothers looked at each other and asked, "How to do it?"

Yang Xiu said in a deep voice: "Use the humiliation of the Cui family to arouse the rebellion of the Jizhou nobles."

"They are not stupid. Cao Cao's actions clearly show that he does not take them seriously at all. Even if the Cao family takes over the world in the future, the Jizhou nobles will be abandoned."

"Cao Cao used the Yingchuan nobles to suppress the Jizhou nobles. There was nothing wrong with this strategy, but the mistake was that Cao Cao was about to die and he did it too obviously, letting the Jizhou nobles see clearly that there would be no place for them in the future government."

"But if there were no accidents, the Jizhou nobles might have tolerated it. But Xu Chu, this idiot, did something so outrageous that openly tore off the fig leaf of all the Jizhou nobles. This is simply a godsend for us."

"Xu Chu is actually quite shrewd. This is not something he would do. But now that Cui Shi has even found the body, this must be true."

"Now the resentment of the Jizhou nobles can no longer be stopped. The only way Cao Cao can appease their anger is to give up Xu Chu."

"But Cao Cao would never do that, because Xu Chu is the most loyal to him. If even Xu Chu is killed, who will work for Cao in the future?"

"So this time Cao Cao will only choose to keep things quiet. Moreover, Jizhou is about to be lost, and the Jizhou nobles have lost their value. Cao Cao will definitely not give up Xu Chu just because of a dead woman from the Cui family, and let the Yingchuan faction split again."

"The Jizhou nobles are not stupid. Right now they just need an opportunity, an opportunity that will make them feel they can succeed. Now it's my turn to take action."

"I will personally visit the Jizhou nobles in Yecheng and agree to start an uprising from within Yecheng!"

He had the support of the Hongnong Yang clan, and many people among the gentry had been recommended by the three highest officials of the Yang clan. So as long as Yang Xiu brought out this reputation, many people from the Jizhou gentry would certainly cooperate with him for the sake of the Yang clan. So it was natural for Yang Xiu to do this at this time.

Ding Yi asked, "Is Dezu going there in person?"

"This is too dangerous!"

Yang Xiu said calmly: "It's okay. I have already put life and death aside. If I die, the three of you should be patient and wait until the Jin army is at the gates of the city and Yecheng is in chaos, then take the opportunity to escape."

He bowed to the three people and was about to go up. Handan Chun hurriedly followed and said, "I have some connections, but Dezu is not familiar with them. Let me go with you!"

Yang Xiu thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay, let's go together and be cautious!"

Ding Yi and Ding Yi watched the two men leave. Ding Yi then said to Ding Yi, "Brother, are we just going to watch?"

Ding Yi said in a muffled voice: "Otherwise, what else?"

"We two brothers are all alone, how can we have the relationship with the Yang family behind Dezu?"

"In that case, it's better not to cause trouble."

Ding Yi groaned, "I always feel that this matter is a little awkward. Although the king did treat us unfairly first, by doing this, we are also indirectly helping the fierce tiger, right?"

"My father's hatred is irreconcilable. I always feel that if we do this, is it also considered unfilial?"

"If there is chaos in the city, the Wei army is defeated, and the king dies, wouldn't we be helping the enemy who killed our father in disguise?"

Ding Yi said in a muffled voice: "You think too much. The king is not so easy to kill. We just want to protect ourselves and take the opportunity to escape from Yecheng."

He seemed to want to firm up his thoughts and repeated subconsciously, "That's all, understand?"

Ding Yi said in a hoarse voice: "Of course I understand, but have you ever thought about what will happen to the princess if the Cao family is destroyed?"

"It's true that my brother has feelings for her, but we will have no one to rely on in the future. If the Ding family falls into decline, will the princess take my brother seriously?"

"Stop talking!" Ding Yi suddenly became furious. "You mean, is it the best option for us to turn back and surrender to the King of Wei now?"

Ding Yi asked in return: "Isn't it?"

"Are we going to rely on the fierce tiger in the future?"

Ding Yi looked at Ding Yi, "Do you want us to betray Dezu?"

Ding Yi said, "Why not?"

"Dezu's purpose is actually completely different from our two brothers, right?"

"He wanted to protect the Yang family and restore the Han Dynasty at the same time, but the king would not let him achieve these two goals, so he had enough reasons to betray the king."

"What about us?"

Ding Yi was silent for a long time before he spoke: "What do you want to do?"

Ding Yi stared at Ding Yi, "Brother should know."

"No matter what my brother does, I will follow his steps."

"But I want to remind you, brother, that the princess only wants to help the fourth young master, and she may not want the Cao family to be destroyed. Her motive may be the opposite." "If the king dies because of this, the princess may hate you for the rest of your life."

Ding Yi clenched his fists and paced back and forth in the room. He hesitated for a while, but finally made up his mind and said, "Let's go up and find a way to leave here immediately."

Ding Yi was delighted, "Brother, are you going to see the King of Wei?"

Ding Yi shook his head and said, "No, I'm going to see the eldest princess."

"I want to ask her what she thinks in person."

After hearing this, Ding Yi sighed in his heart, thinking that Ding Yi must have lost his mind. Why would he risk his life to meet the princess just because of a love affair?
The princess is still in Cao's mansion, right? Aren't we walking into a trap?

However, the wishes of the Ding Yi brothers were ultimately unfulfilled.

Because after they told the spy who was hiding them, the spy said he would go and ask his superiors for instructions and then left.

As a result, Ding Yi and his brothers waited until the next day, but there was still no news from the spies. However, the city had already begun to fall into chaos.

Within just half a day, several groups of people appeared in various places, and the only thing they did was arson.

That night, seven or eight places caught fire in Yecheng, most of which were very important locations, either granaries or residences of officials of the Yingchuan faction.

Arson is actually very troublesome. Not only does it require something to start the fire, it also requires a lot of firewood. Moreover, even if it starts burning, it is difficult to guarantee that the fire will stay lit.

But these groups used kerosene, which was extremely difficult to extinguish. Moreover, the fire locations were carefully selected, with things that could be ignited, and the fire points were quite close to the city gates. The defenders of Yecheng were in chaos because they simply did not have enough manpower to deal with such a situation!

As the fire grew, more people came to take advantage of the fire with their own ulterior motives, and the fire was gradually spreading towards the city gate. If the city gate caught fire, not only would the people in Ye City be in chaos, but if the Jin army found out, they would not let go of this good opportunity!
As a result, the gatekeepers of each city gate sent people to call for help. After Zhong Yao learned the news, he met with Xiahou Dun urgently. In order to stabilize the situation, both sides mobilized personnel to search for and suppress the arsonists.

Xiahou Dun sent soldiers, while Zhong Yao even sent out the school affairs office to cooperate with Xiahou Dun in searching for the arsonist.

Nearly a thousand spies went out together and searched the entire Ye City. They finally found the trace of a group of arsonists and immediately surrounded and killed them. The arsonists turned out to be spies from the Jin army's Procuratorate. As soon as the two sides met, a brutal fight broke out.

The spies of the Wei Kingdom's School Affairs Office all used the same ring-handled swords, but with some improvements, they were shortened by one and a half feet to make them suitable for fighting in narrow spaces.

As for the Jin Army Procuratorate, in order to hide their identities, they had a variety of weapons in their hands, but they were lurking in the city with the determination to die, and when they saw that they could not hide their tracks and escape, they simply fought for their lives with the spies from the School Affairs Office.

The spies from the school office didn't expect the other side to be so desperate, and several of them were chopped down by surprise. The leader saw that the situation was not good, and hurriedly blew the whistle, and the shrill sound immediately resounded throughout the long street.

When the nearby Wei army sentries heard it, they immediately sent out a signal, and the Cao army's guard troops immediately surrounded the scene of the accident.

Seeing this, the spies from the Procuratorate were about to retreat, but the spies from the School Affairs Office naturally held them tightly. The leader of the Procuratorate heard the cavalry of the Wei army approaching, and couldn't help cursing: "What a dirty trick! If you can't defeat them, call for reinforcements!"

He knew that his side had no armor and had no chance of winning against Cao's soldiers, so he had to issue orders and let his men flee in all directions.

The spies from the Procuratorate were all looking for escape routes. Some of them simply climbed over the courtyard wall, some ran into the alleys, and some simply jumped into the river.

However, many people were still surrounded by the surging Cao soldiers. Under the siege of spears and arrows, the spies of the Procuratorate were either killed or forced to flee into various houses.

Cao's army surrounded the house with three layers outside and three layers outside, and then broke in through the doors and windows at the same time. However, the next moment there was a loud bang, and the whole house was filled with the blast. The trapped spies and Cao's soldiers died together.

This scene happened simultaneously in various places in the city, and the spies lurking in Yecheng suffered considerable losses.

This situation was also expected by the spies of the Procuratorate. After all, it was impossible to do such a thing without sacrifice. Moreover, their goal had been achieved. The Cao soldiers in the city began to hunt down the spies of the Procuratorate, and inevitably searched the homes of the nobles in the city.

This kind of action further stimulated the Jizhou gentry who wanted to start a rebellion or were hesitating. After all, they had corrupt officials as well. If something was discovered, wouldn't they be killed as an example to others?
Under this pressure, they knew that there were many Cao soldiers in the city and the possibility of success was not high, but they still started a rebellion with all their might and began to gather servants to attack the city gates.

The first few companies that took action at the beginning may not have had any prior connection, but their advance actions seemed to have pushed down dominoes, causing a chain reaction in the city.

Yang Xiu was also secretly pushing all of this. After all, this was the effect he wanted. As for the life and death of the Jizhou gentry, it was not within Yang Xiu's calculations.

In addition to him, with the help of some people who helped intentionally or unintentionally, the four gates in the city were all on fire at the same time. The servants of the nobles swarmed in with weapons and began to attack the city gates, making the defenders in the city overwhelmed.

Cao Cao was sleeping at the time. When he was awakened by the urgent report, he had a splitting headache. His vision was still blurry. He forced himself to listen to the end, and then shouted to the anxious Xiahou Dun: "These are trivial matters, what are you afraid of?"

"It's not like the Jin army is attacking the city. We just block the city gates and kill people!"

At this time, Zhong Yao rushed in and said, "My king, this is bad. Tens of thousands of Jin troops are marching in the middle of the night and have quickly broken through our defenses. They are now outside the city!"

As if in response to Zhong Yao's words, dozens of rockets rose up around Yecheng, exploded in the sky, and covered the sky of Yecheng.

Along with the fireworks, there were trumpets and shouts of killing that resounded throughout the sky, flew over the walls of Yecheng, and reached the high platform where Cao Cao was.

(End of this chapter)