Cao Xian was copying a bamboo slip, but he kept looking out the window. At this time, the window of Yuan Xi's bedroom was lowered, and then the lights inside went out.
She groaned, bit the pen, and muttered, "Why are you so early today?"
Seeing her absent-minded look, Cai Zhaoji, who was pacing around the room, took a bamboo slip and hit Cao Xian on the shoulder with a snap, and teased: "It's okay to be distracted, but don't make the wrong words."
Cao Xian looked down and saw that the last two characters were written incorrectly. She took the linen cloth soaked in clean water and carefully wiped off the ink. She turned around and smiled, "Sister, you have good eyesight. You can see my mistakes from such a distance."
Cai Zhaoji smiled and said, "I'm just used to it. My mother died early, and I compiled and copied many of my father's books. I have written a lot since I was a child."
Cao Xian wiped the bamboo slips dry, and carefully added the words. He said enviously, "We have fewer classics than my sister. My handwriting is also very average. I'm afraid I will never be able to write as well as my sister."
Cai Zhaoji said: "You are so young, you have a bright future ahead of you. The young master who compiled this book attaches great importance to it, and he gave it to you because he trusts you the most."
After hearing this, Cao Xian sighed and said, "Why do I feel that the Master appreciates this more than other female virtues such as my appearance?"
Cai Zhaoji heard this and smiled, "What's wrong with that?"
"Aren't these your strengths?"
Cao Xian approached Cai Yan and pointed to the dark bedroom of Yuan Xi outside the window. A voice could be heard faintly from inside, "Madam is really beautiful. Is the young master bullying her like he bullied his sister?"
Cai Zhaoji was stunned, "Why are you bullying me?"
Cao Xian said mysteriously, "I heard my sister crying in the young master's room several times at night. Isn't that right?"
Cai Zhaoji's face turned red after hearing this. She lightly hit Cao Xian and said angrily, "You are so young, but what a mess is in your mind."
Cao Xian didn't understand what was going on, and thought to himself that he was still trying to cover it up. Wait until I catch him in the act one day and show him how the young master bullies you.
The changes that occurred in Xuzhou have spread to all states.
Chen Deng got up from the posthouse early in the morning, thinking that there had been no progress in Yecheng for more than half a month, and there was no point in staying any longer.
Yuan Shi ignored him, but he was mentally prepared. After all, at the beginning, Yuan Shi only verbally supported Liu Bei's acquisition of Xuzhou. In terms of real relationship, Cao Cao was much closer than Liu Bei.
Chen Deng has noticed these days that many people in Yecheng are more inclined to support Cao Cao. Now Cao Cao's army is approaching Xia Pi and Tancheng under the banner of rescuing Xuzhou. Chen Deng understands that this must be ill-intentioned.
If Cao Cao occupied Xuzhou, he would definitely not give up this piece of fat meat, but for local gentry like Chen Deng, this was almost the worst case scenario.
Cao Cao's two massacres in Xuzhou had already created a feud with the Xuzhou gentry. It can be said that no matter who occupies Xuzhou, the resistance will not be as great as that of Cao Cao.
However, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao are on good terms, so Jizhou cannot be relied upon. Chen Deng's only hope now is Yuan Xi. If he can capture Yuyang, go south from Qingzhou to Xuzhou, and join forces with Liu Bei, he might be able to keep half of Xuzhou.
But it's only half.
Chen Deng felt that once the six counties of Xuzhou, Guangling and Xia Pi fell into Sun Ce's hands, they would never be taken back.
He sighed. Liu Bei was a good lord, but unfortunately none of his officials were submissive to each other. In particular, there was no one who could suppress Guan Yu and Zhang Fei and make the final decision, which led to so many problems.
He ate quickly and began to pack his bags for the return journey.
What Chen Deng didn't expect was that at this time a batch of urgent letters arrived at the post station, one of which was for him.
Chen Deng couldn't help but widen his eyes after receiving the letter. This letter was written to him by Yuan Xi, but the mark on the place of sending showed that it was sent from Xuzhou!
After he read the contents of the letter carefully, he was even more shocked. Yuan Xi openly attacked Yuyang, but secretly passed through the Youzhou sea route, went straight down to Xuzhou, and went directly from the Yangtze River to the city of Guangling, Sun Ce's rear base, and launched a surprise attack to capture Guangling!
Now Sun Ce has returned to rescue, and Guangling has been attacked several times without success, and the two sides are in a stalemate.
Yuan Xi sent a letter by water to tell Chen Deng that he had to conceal the purpose before in order to prevent the secret from being leaked, and that the surprise attack would not be effective.
Now he is fulfilling his promise and helping Liu Bei retake Xuzhou.
After seeing this, Chen Deng stood up excitedly. Yuan Xi was indeed a trustworthy person and did not let him down!
He continued reading and his expression became serious.
The letter also said that Sun Ce and Yuan Xi were at odds and had been attacking Guangling for days. Although there was no problem defending the city for the time being, Yuan Xi was worried that Cao Cao would take advantage of the situation and capture Xia Pi and Tan City.
However, it was inconvenient for Yuan Xi to mobilize troops, so he could only barely stop Sun Ce and could not take care of Xia Pi.
If Liu Bei still wanted to recapture Xia Pi, he could only seek reinforcements elsewhere.
So in the letter, Yuan Xi told Chen Deng that if he wanted to help Liu Bei turn the tables, there was only one person in Yecheng who could help Liu Bei.
Yuan Tan just returned from Qingzhou.
But if you want to seek his help, you will have to pay the corresponding price.
Chen Deng pondered the words in Yuan Xi's letter, and suddenly realized that Liu Bei really had what Yuan Tan needed!
He quickly asked his servant to stop, took out all the gifts in his bag that had not been given away, wrote a business card, and took it to visit Yuan Tan.
Yuan Tan was in his mansion, talking with Guo Tu, Xin Ping and several other advisers. It was nearly the New Year, so after he finished arranging the affairs of Qingzhou, he returned to meet Yuan Shao.
But he was a little annoyed at the moment. Among the several major advisers who were close to him, Xun Chen appeared less and less frequently. Only Guo Tu and the brothers Xin Ping and Xin Pi still supported him.
Although the advisers of Yuan Shang's faction were also somewhat restricted, their situation was much better than that of Yuan Tan.
At present, Yuan Shang is becoming more and more powerful. Most of the nobles in Yecheng have defected to Yuan Shang. After all, everyone sees the general trend and Yuan Shang will definitely be the future lord of Jizhou.
As a result, Yuan Tan felt very uncomfortable. Although Yuan Xi helped him to prevent the adoption, his disadvantages became greater and greater, and he could not think of a solution.
This time he returned to Jizhou, he was telling Yuan Shao about the difficult situation of the Taishan bandits.
He had occupied Qingzhou for nearly two years, but he was helpless against the hundreds of thousands of Taishan bandits living deep in the mountains at the junction of Qingzhou and Xuzhou, which made Yuan Shao very unhappy.
Yuan Tan understood that if he could not do anything about the Taishan bandits, his position in Yuan Shao's heart would plummet.
However, hundreds of thousands of Taishan bandits were difficult to deal with. Yuan Tan wanted to seek help from Yuan Shao, but the money, food, and troops in Jizhou were all under the control of Yuan Shang. Now Yuan Shang was waiting to see Yuan Tan make a fool of himself, so how could he be willing to send troops?
While Yuan Tan was worrying, a guard at the gate came with a message saying that Chen Deng, the envoy from Xuzhou and the Minister of Agriculture, wanted to see him.
As soon as Yuan Tan heard Chen Deng's name, he knew what the other party was up to, and said unhappily: "Yuan Liu Alliance, if they want to save Xuzhou, it must be my third brother. I can't take care of myself, how can I have the energy to help him?"
"Let him go back."
The guard went out and came back soon, saying, "Chen Deng said that Master Yuan Xi asked him to come."
When Yuan Tan heard this, he fell silent. What did Yuan Xi want Chen Deng to do?
Yuan Xi was a man of foresight, and he would never send someone to attack him for no reason. Thinking of this, Yuan Tan said, "Let him in."
After a while, Chen Deng walked in slowly and said, "Chen Deng from Xuzhou, I'm here to meet you, Your Excellency."
At that time, all the governors and provincial governors were called "Shijun", and there were four people from the Yuan family who could be called "Shijun" in the world.
Yuan Shao, Governor of Jizhou, Yuan Shu, Governor of Yangzhou, Yuan Tan, Governor of Qingzhou, and Yuan Xi, Governor of Youzhou.
Yuan Shu, who occupied parts of Jingzhou, Yuzhou and Yangzhou, was not a governor or provincial governor at the beginning, but a military official. He had served as the Yin of Henan, the General of the Tiger Guards, and the General of the Front. Later, after he joined forces with Sun Jian, he recommended Sun Jian as the governor of Yuzhou and proclaimed himself the governor of Yangzhou.
Of the thirteen states in the country, the Yuan family occupied nearly half and was unrivaled in power. The posts of governors of these four states were self-appointed, but strictly speaking, there were great differences between them.
The official positions of Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu were more legitimate than those of Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi. This involved a restriction in the Han system that Yuan Shao intentionally or unintentionally imposed on Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi.
Yuan Tan saw Chen Deng coming in and nodded, "Mr. Wenlong, please take a seat. What brings you here today?"
Chen Deng spoke of Liu Bei's difficulties and finally said, "If you can help Liu Yuzhou solve the problem of Xuzhou, Xuzhou will do its best to help in the future when there are bandits in Mount Tai."
Guo Tu heard this and said, "Mr. Wenlong understands what you need, but Liu Yuzhou is in trouble, Xuzhou has been lost, and the soldiers are scattered. How can we talk about the future?"
Chen Deng heard this and said, "Let the young master know that Young Master Xianyi has already taken action and occupied Guangling City."
Several counselors were shocked when they heard this. Xin Ping said in a lost voice: "How is it possible? Isn't Master Xianyi attacking Yuyang?"
Chen Deng told him about Yuan Xi's letter, "Deng came here this time because Master Xian Yi gave him advice, saying that now is a great opportunity."
"Once Xuzhou is pacified, you can transport troops by sea and attack the Taishan bandits from the north and south without being blocked by them."
After hearing this, Yuan Tan fell into deep thought.
The reason why Taishan bandits have become a stubborn problem is that there are large stretches of deep mountains in Qingzhou, which are difficult for both horses and infantry to enter. The Taishan bandits hide in them and are difficult to wipe out, just like Zhang Yan's Black Mountain bandits.
Xin Pi stroked his beard and sighed, "Master Xianyi is truly a master at using troops. He openly attacked Yuyang and secretly took Guangling. This brilliant move revitalized the situation in Xuzhou."
"In this way, Master Xiansi can indeed mobilize troops in Qingzhou, go directly to Haixi by sea, merge with Liu Yuzhou, and attack Xiapi."
"But mobilizing troops and horses, money and food, costs a lot. If Xuzhou doesn't say anything, I'm afraid Master Xiansi will have a hard time explaining himself."
After hearing this, Yuan Tan nodded in agreement.
Chen Deng thought to himself that this was the difference between Yuan Xi and Yuan Tan's vision. Although they both knew that Xuzhou would inevitably pay a price, Yuan Xi fought first and talked first, while Yuan Tan talked first and then fought. The difference was obvious.
Chen Deng pondered for a while and said, "The matter of territory still needs Liu Yuzhou to decide personally."
"9 there is another thing. Deng can make a promise for Liu Yuzhou in advance."
"Select Young Master Xiansi as a talented person."ou9oo
As soon as this happened, Yuan Tan was immediately interested.o