Shu Han Confucian General of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 237 Guo Jia's Swan Song ([-])
"What did you say?" Yuan Tan's voice was like a duck being strangled, its hoarse voice was beyond human.

"Cao Zhang and Xiahouba led an army to raid Liaodong the day before yesterday, and now they are encircling Xiangping. The second son sent me to ask the eldest son for help!" The man knelt on the ground and whispered, taking out a letter from his pocket as he spoke. Pass it to Yuan Tan.The latter opened it blankly, and almost didn't pop out his eyes.In the letter, Yuan Xi told him that Xia Houba and Cao Zhang had suddenly entered Liaodong with their troops. He hastily fought the battle and lost several battles in a row. Now he is forced to retreat to Xiangping with only a few thousand soldiers.

"We're guarding Yuyang and Liaoxi, how did Cao Zhang and Xiahouba get there?" Juhu asked in amazement.Not to mention him, even Jushou and Tian Feng didn't expect that Xiahouba and Cao Zhang were people pretending to be Liu Bei. They sailed from Zhangwu to Liaodong by sea, and then cheated to open the city gate to open the empty hinterland of Liaodong. Make a mess.Although Cao Cao has no navy, it is still possible to recruit ships to barely cross the sea.Cao Zhang and Xiahouba went to sea from Zhangwu, but they arrived in Liaodong in two days. Yuan Tan's army was restrained by Xiahoudun in Yuyang. , This was beaten into a mess.

"No matter how he passed now, the second brother is now trapped in Xiangping. If I don't rescue him, he will be in danger. He needs to return to the army quickly!" just go back.Ju Shou frowned slightly, and finally sighed: "My lord, if I go back to the army, I'm afraid I'll just fall into Xiahou Dun's arms!"

"Yes, my lord, if I go back to the army now, I'm afraid it's not the best policy!" Tian Feng also remonstrated.In fact, it was far from the best policy. When returning to the army at this moment, in all likelihood, Xiahou Dun would be waiting for a two-sided attack, marching into Liaodong and killing Yuan Tan in one go.Yuan Tan gave a wry smile when he heard the words, and then said shyly, "You two gentlemen, do you think I don't know? Returning to the army now is a near-miss!" Yuan Tan took a deep breath, as if he had made some major determination, Then he said: "But now my second brother is trapped in Xiangping, if we don't return to the army, the last piece of foundation in Liaodong will definitely be lost. At that time, I will be trapped in Yuyang, won't I be waiting to die?"

"That's true!" Guo Tu, who had been silent all this time, also sighed at this moment.But I heard Yuan Tan continue to say at this time: "Mr. Gongyu, Mr. Gongze, and Mr. Yuan Hao. The three are all great talents in the world. I, Yuan Tan, have failed to keep my father's foundation. Even Liaodong is afraid that it will not be guaranteed. So far, I only have one thing to ask the three of you."

"My lord, you are serious!" The three of them stood up quickly and said.Everyone knew in their hearts that Yuan Tan knew that bad things were going to happen, so he had to prepare for the funeral.Yuan Tan sighed, and finally said shyly: "My Yuan family has more than ten children, all in Fangdai. After returning to the army, the three gentlemen don't have to go to Xiangping with me, but go directly to Fangdai. If I am lucky Defeat Cao Zhang and keep Liaodong; if you can’t, please go to Xuzhou by sea and join Uncle Liu Huang, so as to save the last bit of blood for my Yuan family! If you can agree, Yuan Tan will be very grateful!"

"Eldest son, don't worry, as long as Guo Tu is alive, he will definitely send the young master to Xuzhou!" Guo Tu burst into tears upon hearing this.He is Yuan Tan's best friend and confidant, even after Yuan Tan succeeds to the throne, he often still calls Yuan Tan the eldest son as always.Yuan Tan was quite moved when he heard the words, and when Jushou and Tian Feng also nodded in agreement, Yuan Tan immediately ordered the whole army to retreat to Liaodong.

Xiahou Dun, who was in Guangyang, immediately led his army eastward to pursue Yuan Tan's retreat as soon as he learned of Yuan Tan's retreat.In the end, Yuan Tan's army was flanked by two sides under the city of Xiangping. After a melee, Yuan Tan and Guo Tu, who was unwilling to leave him, died in the rebellion. Yuan Xi, who stayed behind in Xiangping, committed suicide by taking poison in despair.Jushou and Tian Feng went to Fangdai to pick up Yuan Tan's family and went to sea from the land of Sanhan. After wandering for half a month, they landed in Donglai.So far, the Yuan family that once dominated Hebei has been completely wiped out, and it has become a thing of the past.

When Liu Bei learned of all this, nearly another month had passed, and it was the end of September in the lunar calendar.After learning that Yuan Tan's brothers were all dead, Liu Bei was also a little disappointed, and immediately ordered Yuan Tan's widow and young son to be resettled, and Jushou Hetian Feng was appointed to make the best of his talents.

"The two gentlemen are outstanding people in the world. I sincerely invite you. Please help me to calm down this troubled world as soon as possible, so that the common people can live in peace!" Jushou and Tian Feng who rushed over, plus Chen Zhen who hadn't been back before, and Gao Lan, Xun Chen and others who had defected in the early years, Liu Bei recycled a lot of Yuan Shao's resources.

"The emperor's words are serious. I am a minister of the defeated army. The emperor is very grateful for taking me in. Now the emperor does not think that we are ignorant and knowledgeable. I will do my best to repay the emperor's kindness!" Ju Shou sighed.This is Liu Bei, who can still treat them with courtesy when they meet them.If it's someone else, I'm afraid that just arranging an errand will be considered worthy of you.

"Since that's the case," Liu Bei pondered for a while, and then said, "When Bo Tao captured the Yongliang counties, Bo Tao once said that he was short of manpower. I don't know if the two gentlemen are willing to go to Guanzhong to help Bo Tao fight against Xiahouyuan?"

"I should serve the emperor's uncle!" Ju Shou and Tian Feng said hastily.At that moment, Liu Bei wrote a letter in his own hand, and asked the two to take it with them, and went to Xichuan to find Zhao Feng.The letter stated that both of them are great talents in the present age, Zhao Feng should use them more, and don't look down on them just because they are old ministers of the Yuan family.Of course, what Liu Bei absolutely didn't know was that even without this letter of recommendation, Zhao Feng would entrust them with a heavy responsibility as soon as he saw them.

After confirming their identities, Zhao Feng couldn't wait to appoint Tian Feng as An Ding prefect and Ju Shou as Tianshui prefect. He asked them to take up the post as soon as possible, which caught them by surprise.

"General, I haven't been here in Chengdu for less than a day, and the general entrusted me with the affairs of a county. Jushou is really flattered by such love!" Jushou said half-jokingly as he looked at the letter of appointment with wet ink in his hand.

"The two gentlemen are serious. In fact, with the talents of the two gentlemen, it is a bit inferior for a county guard. However, Tianshui is adjacent to Wudu, and Anding is connected to Qianghu. I also ask the two gentlemen to rectify the place while resisting foreign enemies. Minsheng!" Zhao Feng laughed.These two counties are somewhat chaotic places, especially Anding, which not only borders on the Qianghu Grassland, but also faces Xiahouyuan across the Jing River.If you don't send capable people to serve as county guards, you really can't control the situation.Only then did the two realize that their responsibilities were not light, and they hurriedly went to take up their posts without mentioning it.

"With these two, the situation in Longxi should be a little bit better!" Zhao Feng said to himself, he didn't have any other business this day, so Zhao Feng simply closed his eyes and lay down on the recliner he had plagiarized and started to shake. Shaking, closing eyes and meditating.

"The general is so leisurely!" A somewhat dissatisfied voice woke up Zhao Feng who was in a daze, and when he opened his eyes, it was Zhuge Liang who came in with a feather fan. "Kong Ming, are you going to work hard again?" Zhao Feng looked at Zhuge Liang whose eyes were still bloodshot. This guy was really just like what was said in history, he wanted to catch every detail.Fortunately, there are so many talents now that he doesn't need to work too hard, otherwise, sooner or later, he will be exhausted like in history.Zhao Feng even suspected that this guy, who was the prime minister of Shu Han in history, had never taken a concubine all his life, probably because he didn't have the energy anymore.

"Oh, Liang is a scholar, he really can't compare with the general!" Zhuge Liang sighed.Zhao Feng couldn't help curling his lips when he heard the words, the scene of this guy beating Kuai Yue was still vivid in his memory, why is he pretending to be so weak now.After a few gossips, Zhao Feng told Zhuge Liang that he had appointed Ju Shou and Tian Feng.

"These two are quite talented and knowledgeable enough to be competent." Zhuge nodded his head.He seldom expresses objection to this kind of personnel appointment made by Zhao Feng.Zhuge Liang knew that in terms of understanding people, Zhao Feng was still above him.

"Originally, I wanted Duke Wei to go, but now it's really difficult for him to be alone!" Zhao Feng sighed.Just like in history, Yang Yi is not very broad-minded, and she is not very capable of being alone.If it's okay to be in the rear, the sheriff in Longxi, a place where the Fourth World War was fought, is not what he is capable of.

"The general is well-intentioned, and Liang is very grateful for the Jingxiang faction's use to me!" Zhuge Liang said with some humor.

"Kong Ming, I didn't expect Yuan Tan to end like this. Now that Hebei has no worries, he will go all out to save Cao Cao in the south. In your opinion, can we trap Cao Cao to death in Xuchang this time?" Zhao Feng finished laughing. After that, he also began to discuss the current situation with Zhuge Liang.To be honest, Zhao Feng never expected Cao Cao to be so trapped in Xuchang.Right now, the Jingxiang Navy has almost completely blocked the lower reaches of the Yellow River, and basically all aid from Hebei has been cut off.It would be great if Cao Cao could be trapped to death.

"It's hard to say, the outcome is still about five or five." Zhuge Liang said cautiously after a little thought.

"Why, don't you, Kong Ming, have no confidence in Gan Xingba's navy?" Zhao Feng asked strangely.

"That's not the case, it's just that the Yellow River is thousands of miles away, no matter how sharp the Jingxiang Navy is, it's hard to cover everything!" Zhuge Liang sighed.Glancing at Zhao Feng, Zhuge Liang said again: "Besides, after the Yellow River freezes in winter, the Jingxiang Navy will be useless!"

"That's true!" Zhao Feng nodded.Now it depends on Cao Cao's character. If his character is not good, if he can't support Xuchang in winter, Liu Bei will break it, and everything will be fine.As long as Cao Cao dies, with Liu Bei's ability, it is still easy to clean up Cao Pi and Cao Zhi.

After all, character is not easy to talk about. Neither Liu Bei nor Cao Cao will pin their hopes on character.The former is now besieging Xuchang, even if there is a slight possibility, they have to try to see if they can take Xuchang down.At the same time, Xun You in Hebei was also racking his brains on how to rescue Cao Cao.But far away in Zhuo County, Youzhou, Guo Jia's life is almost at the end.

Looking at Xiahoudun and others guarding his bed, Guo Jia took a few breaths, then slowly took out an envelope from his bosom, slowly handed it to Xiahoudun and said, "I've been getting sick and drowsy recently, I'm afraid I'm already Time is running out. If I die and go back to Yecheng, I would like to ask General Xiahou to deliver this letter to Gongda. If we can act according to this plan, there is still a glimmer of hope for the battle in the Central Plains!"

"Sir!" Xiahou Dun was shocked when he heard the words, and hurried forward to accept the letter with great care.Guo Jia panted for a long time, and suddenly coughed violently again. Xiahou Dun hurriedly asked someone to beat his chest.

"General Yuan Rang!" Guo Jia suddenly grabbed Xia Houyuan's arm and said with the last of his strength, "Tell my lord, don't fight Liu Bei again in the Central Plains, but advance to Jingxiang, remember!"

"Don't worry sir, I've written it all down!" Xiahou Dun forced himself to hold back his tears and said.This tossing seemed to exhaust Guo Jia's last strength. After getting Xiahou Dun's affirmative answer, Guo Jia also let out a sigh of relief, and then fell down slowly.

"Feng Xiao!" Cao Cao, who was dozing off, suddenly woke up, and it took him a long time to realize that he was still in Xuchang at the moment, and just dozed off on the table.Sighing lightly, Cao Cao muttered to himself, "It turned out to be a dream!" His tone was not very relaxed.

Outside the window, a meteor streaked across the sky.

(End of this chapter)