When Yuan Xi saw the guest from Xuzhou in the guest room, he saw that he looked tired and it was obvious that he had not had a good rest during this period.
Chen Deng.
He took the teapot, filled Chen Deng's cup, and said, "I never expected that Mr. Yuanlong would come to Yecheng in person."
Chen Deng's face was full of bitterness. "I won't hide it from you, sir. Right now, Envoy Liu is in a critical situation. It's a matter of life and death."
"I am really at my wit's end right now, so I have no choice but to come and ask for your help, sir."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi said, "Mr. Yuanlong is loyal to Lord Xuande, so how can you be so shameless?"
"Besides, I was originally the guarantor of the Yuan-Liu alliance, so it is reasonable for you to come to me."
Chen Deng sighed, "Although the young master is the guarantor, at this moment, we should be looking for the governor of Yuanzhou and Young Master Xianfu."
"But I have been here for several days and have not been able to get in. It is obvious that Yuan is planning to give up Xuzhou."
"I have no other choice but to try my luck here, young master."
Yuan Xi thought for a moment and said, "Please tell me the current situation in Xuzhou, Mr. Yuanlong, so that I can make plans."
After hearing this, Chen Deng immediately told him the current situation in Xuzhou.
After hearing this, Yuan Xi remained silent and thought for a long time. He did not expect that instead of the vicious dragon Lu Bu, Xuzhou would have the fierce tiger Sun Ce.
Sun Ce was also a fierce general of the time, and now was the time when his momentum was at its peak. Not to mention Cao Cao's army. Yuan Xi estimated that with the same number of troops, he could not defeat Cao's army now.
These two families are fighting for Xuzhou, how can I have the strength to get involved?
Chen Deng saw Yuan Xi in a dilemma and sighed, "On the one hand, I am here to lobby for my lord, and on the other hand, Xia Pi is the ancestral home of the Chen family. Seeing Sun Ce and Cao's army fighting here, there will surely be countless casualties. I really can't bear it."
Yuan Xi asked, "When Mr. Yuanlong left, it was Sun Ce and Zhang Xun guarding Xia Pi, and it was Zhou Yu and Qiao Rui guarding Guangling?"
Chen Deng nodded and said, "That should be the case at the moment. Sun Ce is indeed fierce, but Zhou Yu is also very smart and can even use tricks to stop General Guan. He is truly a young man to be feared."
Yuan Xi thought to himself that this was really troublesome, because that was Zhou Yu.
There is Xia Pi and Guangling, it's difficult to fight either one!
He asked, "Is Lord Xuande in Haixi now?"
Chen Deng nodded and said, "The lord has suffered a series of defeats and is recruiting soldiers in Haixi. Before I left, Zi Zhong (Mi Zhu) wanted to marry his sister to the lord."
Yuan Xi was shocked when he heard this, "Lord Xuande's wife passed away?"
Chen Deng looked unhappy, "When General Zhang Fei lost Xia Pi, he also captured the wife of our lord and the whole family of Wen Jugong in the city."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi thought to himself that this was truly tragic. He wondered what would happen to them if they fell into Sun Ce's hands.
However, if they fall into the hands of Cao's army, I'm afraid they will end up like Huan's mother and daughter.
He thought that whether to rescue Xuzhou or not was no longer a simple moral issue.
As a local lord, he must calmly consider the gains and losses. If he does not care about the sacrifices and lets his subordinates go to a place like Xuzhou where they will be minced, that would be truly irresponsible.
But if this continues, Xuzhou might be divided between Cao Cao and Yuan Shu, and Chen Deng might also go to Cao Cao for help. If such a man of both civil and military talents were to go to Cao Cao's side, it would be a big trouble.
He raised his head by chance and saw Chen Deng's face, and suddenly realized: "Mr. Yuanlong seems to be in better shape than last time?"
After hearing this, Chen Deng hurriedly stood up and thanked him, saying, "I was so busy talking about Xuzhou that I didn't have time to thank you, sir."
"I followed your advice and found Mr. Hua Tuo. After taking a few doses of medicine, I vomited out several pots of worms."
"Mr. Hua Tuo also said that there are still many worms hidden in my internal organs, which are difficult to eradicate."
He was still frightened, "Sir, you really didn't lie to me. I really can't eat those fish slices anymore."
"After I told you what you said, Mr. Hua Tuo was quite curious and said that he wanted to meet you if he had the chance."
Yuan Xi's mind was moved, "Mr. Hua Tuo is also in Haixi?"
Chen Deng nodded: "That's right, the officials who escaped from Guangling Xiapi are all staying in Haixi temporarily, but now they are also in a panic."
"Whether Sun Ce or Cao Cao wins, they will both march into Haixi, and it will be difficult for you to resist then."
Yuan Xi pondered. Later, after Liu Bei married Mi Zhen, he raised an army again with the help of thousands of slaves sent by Mi Zhu and held on for a while, but in the end he failed to retake Xuzhou from Lu Bu.
However, although Lu Bu stabbed Liu Bei in the back, he showed mercy to Liu Bei's family and returned all of his wives.
Yuan Xi remembered that she should be Liu Bei's legal wife. So when Liu Bei married Mi Zhen, did he use the ceremony for marrying a wife or taking a concubine?
If he was marrying, then after Liu Bei's wife went back, wouldn't Mi Zhen be forced to change from a wife to a concubine?
Or did something else happen?
He shook his head. He didn't have the energy to take care of Liu Bei's family affairs right now, because in order to resolve the siege of Xuzhou, he had to capture several key cities.
But attacking the city requires a large number of soldiers and equipment, and he simply doesn't have such strong power at hand now!
He told Chen Deng about his difficulties, and finally said: "Mr. Yuanlong also knows that I just fought Gongsun Zan and my vitality was greatly damaged."
"The troops that can be mobilized now are several hundred cavalry and three thousand infantry. Do you think this can change the situation in Xuzhou?"
After listening to this, Chen Deng lowered his head and thought for a while, then his face showed bitterness and he slowly shook his head.
Yuan Xi said, "I will try my best to persuade Envoy Yuan and Master Xianfu. Right now, only Jizhou can help Master Xuande."
Chen Deng said in a hoarse voice: "Young Master, there is no need to hide it from me. Young Master Xianfu will not send troops for some reason."
"And even if you can convince them, it won't be possible to mobilize troops and equipment to rush to Xuzhou in a short period of time."
Yuan Xi said: "I understand what Mr. Yuanlong means."
"Even if Jizhou sends out a large army now, it will have to pass through Qingzhou and go south through Mount Tai before it can reach Langya County."
"The mountains over there are rugged and crisscrossed, and there are hundreds of thousands of Taishan bandits. I'm afraid it will be difficult to get through, right?"
After hearing this, Chen Deng remained silent.
Seeing this, Yuan Xi said, "If Envoy Liu loses Xuzhou, where will Mr. Yuanlong go?"
When Chen Deng heard that Yuan Xi wanted to recruit him, he sighed and said, "I appreciate your kindness, sir. Your Excellency has treated me very well, and the plan to seize Xuzhou was my own doing. If I betray you now, I will be laughed at by the world."
Upon hearing this, Yuan Xi thought that Chen Deng had a bottom line, so he asked, "What do you plan to do, sir?"
Chen Deng gritted his teeth and said, "The envoy once said that whoever can lift the siege of Xuzhou will share Xuzhou with him."
"I also told Master Xianfu about this, but he was clearly not interested."
Yuan Xi thought the same thing. Yuan Shang would not starve to death as long as he had Jizhou. Why bother to get involved in Xuzhou, a place of trouble? Who knows how much money, food and soldiers he would have to invest in it to make his investment back.
He let out a sigh and said, "I still need to discuss this matter with my adviser. How about giving Mr. Yuanlong a reply tomorrow?"
After hearing this, Chen Deng suppressed his anxiety and nodded in agreement.
Yuan Xi asked someone to take Chen Deng to the guest room to rest, and he started to make plans in his mind.
Half of Xuzhou, or two counties, may seem like a lot, but Xuzhou is a place where there is no rest at all. It has to face the harassment from Yuan Shu and Cao Cao all the time, and it needs a large number of soldiers to deal with the wars that may come at any time, so it is very likely to be a losing business.
Is there no way to have the best of both worlds?
He went out and quickly called Guo Jia, Zhao Yun, and Taishi Ci to come over, and told them about the situation in Xuzhou. Finally, he said, "Is it worth it for us to rescue Xuzhou now?"
Guo Jia said aloud: "It's not worth it."
"Even if we take it down, you don't have the strength to defend Xuzhou now."
"Moreover, several large cities such as Tancheng and Guangling are fortified cities. Unless there is an internal riot, it is impossible to take them down without several times the number of troops."
"So if you want to win, you must use extraordinary strategies, but if you make a mistake, you will end up in a dead end and your entire army will be wiped out."
"Let's not talk about anything else. How do you transport troops from Youzhou to Jizhou?"
When Taishi Ci saw Yuan Xi looking over, he said, "I just thought of one thing. Xuzhou is all flat, which is suitable for cavalry raids."
"But the enemy also knows this and will definitely guard the key roads."
Zhao Yun heard this and said, "I am not as good as Mr. Fengxiao in marching and fighting."
"I just want to know whether you made any promises when you negotiated peace with Envoy Liu on behalf of the Yuan family."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi sighed and said, "If I must say, it is true."
Guo Jia said, "No one in this world can keep their promises completely, especially when fighting for world domination."
"And at that time, the young master represented Envoy Yuan. Now that he has been adopted, Envoy Yuan should be responsible for the affairs of Yuan and Liu."
Everyone thought that this was indeed true, but if you look at it from Liu Bei's perspective, it seems a little hard to accept.
Yuan Xi said, "We are leaving next month. Where are we going to fight?"
Zhao Yun said, "Originally we were going to capture the three cities of Yongnu, Quanzhou, and Piaoyu in the south of Yuyang County (the three cities are located in what is now Tianjin). Now Qu Yi and Tian Yu have mobilized 3,000 troops from Rongcheng to Yijing and then to Qiongheyi. The nearest Piaoyuyi is only 200 miles away."
"Piaoyu is a small town. It was originally occupied by the remnants of Gongsun Zan. There are only a few thousand people. I think it should not be difficult to capture it."
According to the original plan, Yuan Xi would leave Yecheng within three days and take Guo Jia and others directly north to the south of Piaoyuyi to personally take charge of the battle.
The reason for attacking here was, first, that it was the border between Jizhou and Youzhou, so there was no need to worry; second, there were iron mines and salt mines between Quanzhou and Piaoyu, which were very important to Yuan Xi.
Yuan Xi asked, "How is the food supply?"
Taishi Ci said: "The food and grass are ready, and there is also the Zhen family fleet transporting them at sea. Piaoyu is on the east side of the sea, so there will be no problem with food and grass within a month."
Zhen Mi's dowry was everything the Zhen family had, plus the hundreds of carts of wealth and goods looted by Yuan Xi, which were used to build a fleet of dozens of large and small merchant ships.
This is Yuan Xi's real family background.
Yuan Xi muttered, and suddenly raised his head, "Piaoyuyi is by the sea?"
Everyone was stunned, then came to their senses.
Guo Jia smiled bitterly and said, "It's too risky."
Yuan Xi's eyes sparkled, "But I want to give it a try. After all, I have a promise to Envoy Liu."
"I'll have to trouble you to plan this time."
Seeing that Yuan Xi was determined, Guo Jia had no choice but to agree: "Jia will do his best."
Taishi Ci and Zhao Yun looked at each other and said in unison: "We are willing to lead the way for you, sir!"