Three Kingdoms: Let Yuan Shen be great again

With Liu Bei's support, the Battle of Yuzhang came to a complete end.

As for whether Yuan Yao won or lost?

Yuan Yao: "We made a profit."

They really made a lot of money.

He amassed a fortune by fighting local tyrants and landlords in Haihun and Shangliao alone; according to subsequent statistics, the total value was at least eight figures.

Besides the financial and logistical gains, there was also a significant increase in population. Liu Bei's timely support allowed Yuan Yao to protect tens of thousands of civilians to the greatest extent possible.

Moreover, Hua Xin was completely defeated after this battle, with only Chaisang remaining to barely survive. He had no choice but to rely on Yuan Yao's protection and became a semi-vassal force.

So compared to before the war, Yuan Yao not only gained money and people, but also got Chaisang for free, so he definitely made a profit.

And that doesn't even include the two unexpected surprises.

One of them was named Lu Yi. After going through a lot of twists and turns, he ended up becoming Yuan Yao's brother-in-law.

The other one is named Gan Ning.

When Huang Zu fled, he left Gan Ning's troops, whom he disliked the most, behind to cover the retreat, resulting in Gan Ning suffering heavy losses and almost not being able to get out.

Fortunately, Yuan Yao was slow in protecting civilians and managed to save Gan Ning, who was then hesitating about whether to surrender to Sun Ce and settle scores with Huang Zu in the future.

Now that Yuan Yao has saved me, and he values ​​me highly, personally treating my wounds with medicine, what more can I say?

Gan Ning has always been a straightforward person; he immediately cut ties with Huang Zu and switched allegiance to Yuan Yao.

Then, naturally, it was the standard procedure of "I have achieved Xingba, like a fish in water".

Yuan Yao was overjoyed. With Lu Yi and Gan Ning, one a scholar and the other a warrior, his trip to Yuzhang was definitely a huge success. He made money whether he went forward or retreated, and he was so rich he was practically scrambling to make a fortune.

Unfortunately, it wasn't all profit.

The one who suffered the most was naturally Guan Yu, whose departure was caused by Liu Bei's return.

Although he knew it was impossible to keep Guan Yu, Yuan Yao was still very reluctant to let him go.

What a great help he was, and now he's gone...

Incidentally, after meeting Liu Bei, Yuan Yao also gave an update on the battle situation in Hebei.

According to Liu Bei, in April, Yuan Shao sent his generals Yan Liang and Wen Chou to fight Cao Cao several times at Baima and Yanjin, with each side winning and losing.

Yuan Yao's heart skipped a beat. He thought that since Cao Cao no longer had Guan Yu in this timeline, the ending should be different, right?

"What was the final result?"

"Zhang Liao, a general under Cao Cao, risked his life to kill Yan Liang at the cost of serious injury, while Cao Cao himself ambushed and killed Wen Chou."

"..."

Liu Bei sighed, "I know Zhang Wenyuan, but I don't know why he was so brave that day and managed to kill Yan Liang."

Yuan Yao pondered to himself, could it be that during the battle to support Xiapi, Zhang Liao's attack was unsuccessful and he was driven away by Cao Xing, ultimately letting Guan Yu go, which caused him to have a lingering resentment and thus perform beyond his usual level?

Or is this a powerful force for historical revision?

Oh, right.

Yuan Yao suddenly remembered something: he had once written a letter to Yuan Shao, and he wondered if the other party had adopted his three pieces of advice.

When this was brought up, Liu Bei said confidently, "Don't worry, Master Shi, I specifically advised Lord Yuan, and he took your advice very seriously."

Yuan Yao was overjoyed: "Really?"

"Of course." Liu Bei then recounted the whole story.

"..."

Liu Bei noticed that Yuan Yao's expression was off: "Is there a problem?"

Yuan Yao was already numb: "Never mind, it's nothing."

Now that things have come to this, what's the point of saying all this?

However, according to Liu Bei, although Yuan Shao lost the initiative in this battle between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, he still had the advantage. At this time, he realized that Cao Cao was not easy to defeat, so he specially sent Liu Bei to Runan to cause trouble and harass Cao Cao's rear.

As it turned out, Mi Zhu had already had people keeping an eye on Runan. As soon as he received news from Liu Bei, he lured the enemy to Huainan, and then, entrusted by Liu Ye, went to Yuzhang to support Yuan Yao.

In short, the Battle of Guandu is still ongoing, and Yuan Yao still has the opportunity to make a huge difference in history.

For example, helping Liu Bei complete his campaign to conquer Runan.

Before Yuan Yao could speak, Liu Bei took the initiative to ask for his advice: "Master Yuan, I have always known that you are a man of brilliant strategy and uncanny foresight. The events in Xuzhou were proof of this, and I deeply regret them. I hope you will set aside past grievances and offer me guidance on this trip to Runan."

"Rest assured, Lord Xuande, I will naturally help you out of consideration for resisting Cao Cao." Yuan Yao smiled, then looked worried: "However, I also have something I would like to ask for your help with."

"Please speak freely, Shifu."

Yuan Yao looked around and, seeing that Guan Yu was not nearby, whispered, "When General Yunchang was with me before, I often troubled him. For this, I promised him that when Lord Xuande arrived, I would give him a sum of money and provisions as a reward. Now that I have seen you, my lord, I should immediately offer it to you. However, Huainan has suffered from poor harvests for years. Could this matter be forgiven for a few years?"

Liu Bei was taken aback for a moment, then became very displeased: "Yun Chang was wrong. Since Shi Fu helped take in our families, it is only right that he repays us. How could he take advantage of the situation and threaten us with money and provisions? This matter is settled on my terms, and this debt is wiped clean!"

Yuan Yao looked troubled: "This is not appropriate. I've already discussed it with Yun Chang."

Liu Bei waved his hand dismissively: "There's nothing wrong with it. I'll go talk to Yun Chang."

Yuan Yao was relieved: "That's good."

Okay, that saves us a lot of money.

Hopefully, when Liu Bei finds out in the future that this sum of money is over two million, he won't be too heartbroken.

Let's get back to the present.

Although Yuan Yao made a fortune in the Battle of Yuzhang, if we only consider the outcome, the real winner was clearly Sun Ce.

The higher the tone of the anti-Sun alliance was back then, the greater Sun Ce's prestige has increased now.

To ordinary people, they couldn't understand that the coalition was composed of a bunch of incompetent chess players, a mob whose symbolic significance outweighed its practical value. All they saw was Sun Ce sweeping through like a whirlwind, crushing all his opponents underfoot.

Thus, Sun Ce confidently declared a great victory, thus regaining his position as the ruler of Jiangdong.

In contrast, the only question for the anti-Sun coalition is how much they will lose.

Hua Xin suffered the most crushing defeat. Even if he had surrendered directly, he could have become a wealthy man under Sun Ce, and transferring to Xuchang in the future would have been another way out. But now, this fight not only completely offended Sun Ce, but he was also trapped in Chaisang, becoming a governor without any troops, caught in a dilemma.

Huang Zu was in a similar situation. Because of Sun Jian, he had always maintained a huge psychological advantage over the Sun family. This time, he suffered a crushing defeat on the front line, and his Dao heart was completely shattered. It is said that after returning to Jiangxia, he fell ill and never recovered, as if he had aged several years.

The others fared relatively better, but still suffered some losses.

Even Yuan Yao, whose earnings were mostly from Yuzhang, actually lost out in the battle against the Jiangdong army.

In light of this situation, Yuan Yao decided—

"A great victory!"

"Tell everyone that we have once again thwarted the Jiangdong devils' plot and defeated the wicked Sun Ce!"

Everyone who had participated in the Battle of Yuzhang was dumbfounded. How could someone lie through their teeth about something as trivial as fighting a war?

Yuan Yao shook his head, indicating that they were still too young.

"Who won is not important, what's important is that I think I won."