A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

After learning of Liu Bei and the others' choices, Han Fu entrusted all his remaining wealth to Liu Bei, so that Liu Bei could lead his troops south without facing too much hardship.

After seeing Liu Bei and the others out of the city, Han Fu took Pan Feng to Yuan Shao to surrender.

Yuan Shao ultimately seized Han Fu's territory while Han Fu was still one of his own, which greatly damaged his reputation. Now that Han Fu has surrendered, he is willing to accept it, as it can salvage some of his reputation.

Moreover, Tian Feng, Ju Shou, Zhang He, and Pan Feng under Han Fu's command, as well as Liu Bei and his subordinates Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Wei Shu, and others, were all highly talented. He urgently needed the addition of this fresh force to better deal with Cao Cao.

But when Han Fu presented the bronze seal, books, and other materials, Yuan Shao was dumbfounded.

He has so many talents!

Why is Pan Feng, who has a grudge against him, the only one left?

Where are all those talented people in his family?

Where are his Tian Feng, his Ju Shou, his Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, and especially the most important Wei Shu?!

"Han Fu, where is she?"

Yuan Shao roared at Han Fu.

"Who is it?"

Han Fu was a little confused; weren't they all here?

"Where are Tian Feng, Ju Shou, Zhang He, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, and Wei Shu?"

Where did everyone go?

"They were unwilling to surrender and had already gone south to join Yuan Shu."

Han Fu then realized who Yuan Shao was asking and answered.

"When did you do it? Which route did you take? Tell me now!"

"They have been traveling for half a month, and should have already left Ji Province by now."

Han Fu calculated that Liu Bei and his men had probably already reached Yuan Shu's territory.

Yuan Shao's face darkened instantly. In his eyes, Changshan County was far less important than those talented people.

Every time he personally led troops to attack Changshan, his goal was to capture this group of talented individuals. The good news is that Han Fu has surrendered directly, but the bad news is that all the talented people have already fled.

"You, the governor of Ji Province, can't even retain your own men?!"

Han Fu's face flushed red. Seeing his lord being humiliated, Pan Feng picked up his great axe and was about to kill Yuan Shao, but was blocked by Yan Liang and Wen Chou.

Of that group of talented people, only Pan Feng remains. Yuan Shao took this opportunity to see Pan Feng's abilities.

At his signal, Wen Chou took charge of protecting him, while Yan Liang rushed forward to fight Pan Feng.

The two sides exchanged blows for dozens of rounds, with neither gaining the upper hand.

Yuan Shao finally breathed a sigh of relief; at least he still had Pan Feng, so it wasn't a complete loss.

But then he thought of Pan Feng, and the group that had fled included many generals even more capable than Pan Feng, such as Zhang He, who knew how to command a large army, and strategists praised by Wei Wuxian. He felt his heart was bleeding.

This is a huge loss!

……

After Liu Bei led a group of people south, he successfully met Yuan Shu under the pretext of stopping Yuan Shao from recovering Ji Province.

When Yuan Shu saw that someone dared to follow him in opposing Yuan Shao and slow down Yuan Shao's unification of Ji Province, he immediately held a banquet to entertain Liu Bei and others.

"Xuande, you've fought that illegitimate son before. How do you think I compare to that brat?"

Liu Bei smiled憨厚ly, "Brother Gonglu, what makes you say that?"

"Comparing Yuan Shao to Brother Gong Lu is like comparing a nag to a unicorn, or a pheasant to a phoenix."

"Yuan Shao was afraid to risk his life for great things, yet he forgot righteousness for petty gains. As the leader of the coalition, he actually plundered the territory of his allies out of love. How can such a morally corrupt person be compared with Brother Gong Lu?"

"After the Yellow Turban Rebellion was quelled, I had the honor of going to Chang'an. I heard the people of Chang'an praise the general on many occasions, saying that the general was most considerate of his subordinates, extremely righteous, and a man of his word."

"Compared to Yuan Benchu's behavior, his superiority is immediately apparent. He is indeed a direct descendant of a family that has produced four generations of high-ranking officials. He is truly admirable."

Every word Liu Bei said hit Yuan Shu where it hurt. He despised Yuan Shao the most, especially valuing his lineage and taking pride in being a direct descendant of the Yuan family, which had produced four generations of high-ranking officials.

Moreover, Yuan Shu had a chivalrous spirit, which, to put it bluntly, made him seem like a rogue. But in Yuan Shu's own eyes, that was chivalry, so he was well-regarded among the outlaws. He would often give away money and help people with their affairs, and he was indeed loyal to his friends.

Feeling so comfortable being flattered by Liu Bei, they willingly acknowledged him as their elder brother.

Yuan Shao's 40-strong army had already reached the border, yet Liu Bei refused to surrender and instead headed south to seek refuge with Yuan Shu. If he didn't reward him handsomely, what would the world think of him?!

To express his eagerness for talent and to show his difference from Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu waved his hand and let Liu Bei choose a prefecture himself.

"General Lu is indeed as righteous and chivalrous as the rumors say. Looking through the annals of history, it is hard to find many court officials as loyal and righteous as General Lu."

Seeing Yuan Shu's generosity, Liu Bei also lavished praise upon him.

Yuan Shu took a sip of the honey water and felt that the honey water, which he used to find so sweet, was not as sweet now.

Liu Bei's words were definitely sweeter.

"Hahahaha, hurry up and choose a place. You can pick any place except Shouchun."

Yuan Shu ignored the advice of his advisors, and his chivalrous spirit once again prevailed.

"Then I won't stand on ceremony."

Liu Bei was overjoyed and immediately pointed to Nanyang.

"The ideal place for the staff is Nanyang. It can also serve as a buffer zone between the staff and the Chang'an court, protecting the staff from the pressure from the Chang'an court."

Nanyang!

Yuan Shu felt a pang of heartache, as that was the wealthiest prefecture under his control besides Shouchun.

He wanted to back out, but Liu Bei had praised him so highly that he would lose face if he did.

At this point, he began to turn his attention to his strategist Yan Xiang, hoping that Yan Xiang would refuse Liu Bei.

But then he noticed that Yan Xiang seemed to be deep in thought. What Liu Bei said was indeed reasonable. The pressure from Dong Zhuo was too great, and Liu Bei's strength was indeed needed to resist this pressure.

Although Liu Bei lost to Yuan Shao, this does not mean that Liu Bei was weak. The fact that he was able to hold out under Yuan Shao for so long is enough to demonstrate Liu Bei's ability.

Having him as a buffer between Yuan Shu and Dong Zhuo was indeed a good option for Yuan Shu's forces.

However, Yuan Shu's current territory is not large enough. If he were to directly draw up Nanyang, it would severely damage his strength.

"It's not impossible for Lord Xuande to want Nanyang, but the forces in Nanyang account for a full third of the Lord's forces."

"If Lord Xuande wants Nanyang, he needs to assist my lord in conquering the two prefectures of Jiujiang and Danyang first."

"What are your thoughts, Lord Xuande?"