Three Kingdoms: Let Yuan Shen be great again

As the saying goes, those who associate with insects become like beasts, and those who associate with worms become like trash.

Yuan Yao was not a good person to begin with, and after spending so much time with the corrupt officials of the Zhong clan, he could be said to have been thoroughly corrupted.

Therefore, he would never do a losing business, let alone become a philanthropist. Otherwise, how could he live up to the teachings of Yang Hong, the most despicable person in the world?

He had deliberately kept his conditions hidden to lure Guan Yu and the others onto his path. Now that the die was cast, it was too late for them to back out, and they could only let Yuan Yao make exorbitant demands.

Yuan Yao casually laid out his conditions: "As you, Mr. Zizhong, surely know, Sun Ce of Jiangdong is eyeing Huainan covetously and is about to launch a large-scale invasion. General Guan is a renowned general capable of defeating ten thousand men; could you help me defend against Sun Ce then?"

Guan Yu nodded without hesitation.

This is a very reasonable request. Yuan Yao did indeed do Liu Bei's army a favor this time. Given Guan Yu's personality, even if the other party didn't mention it, he would find a way to repay this favor.

The condition of helping in the war was exactly what Guan Yu wanted, so there was no need for hesitation.

But Yuan Yao's conditions weren't limited to just this one.

Yuan Yao: "Secondly, our army has suffered defeats year after year and has lost a lot of money. We are in the process of rebuilding. In view of our future cooperation in resisting Cao Cao, I would like to ask Yun Chang to help us with the training of troops."

After a moment's thought, Guan Yu agreed.

The main thing is that this matter is quite easy to handle. During his temporary stay in Huainan, he didn't have much else to do, so he probably just trained the eight hundred swordsmen he brought from Xuzhou, and also gave the Zhong family some training. It's nothing much.

In the matter of resisting Cao Cao, we are all allies, so there is no problem in contributing more.

Yuan Yao continued, "Third..."

Guan Yu frowned. "Why is this never going to end?"

Mi Zhu replied in the same way: "Young Master Yuan, we will never forget your great kindness today. Please tell us your conditions. I will repay you with my life."

"This is the last one," Yuan Yao said with a smile. "Thirdly, as you may have heard, there was an internal strife in Wancheng some time ago, and it has not yet been quelled. If any more disturbances occur, I would like to ask Brother Yun Chang to lend a hand in quelling the unrest."

Guan Yu and Mi Zhu exchanged a glance but remained silent for the time being.

This matter is quite sensitive, as it involves the internal affairs of the Zhong family.

Furthermore, Guan Yu had previously agreed with Yuan Yao that going to Huainan was only for his own survival, not to surrender. However, the conditions proposed by Yuan Yao included fighting, training troops, and being responsible for quelling rebellions.

If the price really drops, it seems like there are only a few things to do, right?

Seeing the two hesitate, Yuan Yao added, "To be honest, I have only been in charge of the military and political affairs of Huainan for half a year, and there are many people within the organization who are dissatisfied with me. As you know, Mr. Zizhong, many important officials advised against this support of Xuzhou. If I were to take you in now, the cost of feeding the people and horses would be considerable, and Huainan is not wealthy, so the people would be even more resentful."

In other words, if someone were to rebel one day, and it were partly due to the fact that you, the remnants of the Xuzhou army, were being supported, then shouldn't you bear some responsibility?

Guan Yu was speechless. Even though he knew the other party was exaggerating, he was ultimately the one who needed their help.

"Alright, I'll comply with these three requests."

"Thank you, Yun Chang."

The two sides finally reached an agreement.

Considering the extreme danger in Xuzhou at this time, and that Cao Cao's main force from the north might catch up at any moment, Yuan Yao dared not delay any longer and fled overnight with his buckets.

What if Xiahou Dun's army, which is closest to them, pursues them?

no need to worry.

Firstly, the enemy had just suffered a defeat and needed time to regroup; secondly, Yuan Yao had come up with a good way to delay them.

He had dozens of scarecrows made, dressed in armor and armed with weapons, and fixed to the city wall of Xiapi. He also caught several sheep, tied their hind legs and hung them in the air, with a war drum placed under their front hooves.

So when Cao Cao's army sent scouts to investigate, they saw that the city walls were full of armored soldiers and that war drums were beating from time to time, so they assumed that the main force of the enemy army was still in the city.

Using this feint, the Zhong army successfully gained a night and half a day, and smoothly embarked on their return journey.

After that, only a few small groups of Cao Cao's troops stood in their way. Guan Yu didn't even need to lift a finger; Ji Ling alone could easily deal with them.

Several days later, three thousand Zhongshi soldiers, more than one thousand Liu Bei soldiers and their families, plus several hundred Xuzhou civilians who had followed him voluntarily, fearing being slaughtered by Cao Cao, totaling more than five thousand people, successfully reached the Huai River and joined up with the reinforcements sent by Chen Ji, the governor of Jiujiang.

The trip to Xuzhou was finally completed, and Yuan Yao breathed a sigh of relief.

Although Liu Bei's expedition failed to achieve his initial goal of protecting Xuzhou due to his swift defeat, the fact that he gained Guan Yu made the trip worthwhile.

Yuan Yao was secretly planning how to make good use of Guan Yu.

Speaking of which, although everyone has the same Guan Yu trial card, Yuan Yao is different from Cao Cao.

Cao Cao genuinely admired Guan Yu and wanted to win him over, so he tried every means to treat him well, sending him delicious food and clothes, and even carefully cherishing his beard, for fear of doing anything wrong and displeasing him.

In the end, the simp got nothing but empty-handedness, and could only hold Guan Yu's fragments and shed tears silently twenty years later.

What about Yuan Yao?

He never fantasized that Guan Yu would defect to him; the relationship between the two was purely transactional.

So... we should learn from Cao Cao's generous treatment of Guan Yu?

Bullshit! Just stand up and kick!

Yuan Yao was determined to use Guan Yu as a scalpel to perform surgery on Zhong's army.

Currently, the Zhong clan's army, led by Zhang Xun, has formed a complex and intricate network of interests. Yuan Yao can use infiltration tactics to sideline Zhang Xun, but he is powerless to deal with this deeply entrenched system.

As an outsider, Guan Yu had no vested interests, possessed extremely strong martial arts, and was a righteous man who could not tolerate any wrongdoing. He was simply the perfect tool.

In this way, no matter who Yuan Yao wanted to attack, he could incite Guan Yu to become the enemy. Guan Yu, on the other hand, had the righteous cause of helping Yuan Yao to set things right, so a conflict between the two sides was inevitable.

This was very easy. Yuan Yao was very confident in the average moral level of the Zhong clan's officials, and he could find a whole basketful of evidence of their illegal and disorderly conduct. He only needed to present it truthfully to Guan Yu to make him lose face.

The end result is that Yuan Yao can use Guan Yu to purge the old forces in the army and replace them with new forces loyal to him, while most of the resentment will be directed at Guan Yu.

Wonderful~

Perhaps feeling guilty for using Guan Yu in this way, or more likely deliberately flattering him to better utilize him, Yuan Yao made a point of befriending Guan Yu throughout the journey back to Wancheng, taking meticulous care of him.

Even while camping and resting by the Feishui River, Yuan Yao could still get into the mood for acting and put on a show.

"This is a freshly caught bass, incredibly delicious! Quickly send it to Yun Chang, lest it get cold on the way!"

This extraordinary treatment naturally aroused dissatisfaction among others.

Ji Ling approached Yuan Yao and complained with slight displeasure, "The Grand Commander seems to place too much importance on that Guan Yu."

You should know that even he, the number one warrior of the Zhong clan, had never been valued by Yuan Yao like this before, and Guan Yu was a newcomer who had not yet made any contributions. What makes him so special?

"Is there a problem?" Yuan Yao retorted matter-of-factly, "May I ask, General Ji, how do you compare yourself to Guan Yu?"

"I'd say I'm evenly matched with Guan Yu," Ji Ling said, sticking out his neck. "We used to fight each other often, but his third brother always came to his aid."