Chapter 9 The Central Plains Section 55 Xu Yu was immersed in extreme grief, and at the feast, there were two or three tears like rain.

Li Hong, Zhang Yan, Jia Xu, Sima Yi and others tried their best to comfort them, but the words they said were pale and weak, which made Xu You even more sad.

Everyone could only try their best to persuade the wine, and those who came did not refuse, and poured one lord into their mouths.

"You'd better drink less." Li Hong saw his heartbroken appearance, and put down the raised wine glass again,

"You're getting drunk like this, and it's hurting your body a lot. If there's nothing going on, you should rest early. The battle on the front line is too tense, and we don't have much time to take care of you, so we plan to send someone to send you to Handan tomorrow. Handan has a lot of old friends of yours that you can go and meet. Of course, if you are willing to go to Jinyang, I can also arrange it. I believe that your old friend Zhang Miao will be overjoyed when he hears the news. Xu You raised his head as if he hadn't heard it.

"Maybe you want to stay on the battlefield in Guandu and want to help us defeat Yuan Shao to take revenge, but you have to take into account our concerns. The Great War in the Central Plains is related to the survival of the society, and we dare not have the slightest negligence, so ......" Li Hong smiled apologetically,

"After receiving the letter from Lord Koji, I discussed it with Feiyan and Master Jia, and I thought it would be better to send you away. You are very important to Yuan Shao, your defection is a very big blow to the rebels, and your arrival in Hebei is a great merit in itself, so you don't need to say anything to us, you just need to take care of your health. After the end of the Central Plains War, the imperial court will definitely reuse you. Please trust my promises. Xu You slowly lowered the wine glass, and let the spilled wine drip little by little along his slightly gray beard onto the placket of his clothes.

"I'm not going to Handan." Li Hong hesitated for a moment and asked, "Do you want to go to Jinyang?" ”

"I'm not going to Jinyang either." Li Hong was stunned for a moment, his thick eyebrows furrowed slightly, and he was thinking about how to persuade him, when Xu You spoke again.

"I'm here to carry out the counter-plan, and when the decisive battle is over, I'll leave." Xu You met everyone's stunned gaze and said with a self-deprecating wry smile,

"I'm old, I have nothing left, I'm left with this shell, let me fend for myself." The lobby was unusually silent, so silent that you couldn't even hear the sound of breathing.

A few days ago, the news of Yuan Shao and Xu You's rebellion reached the Guandu battlefield, and Li Hong, Zhang Yan and others were very surprised.

Could it be that Jia Xu's strategy of discord was so immediate? Yuan Shao actually used Xu Yu to kill his nine clans under the pretext of corruption at this time, is it crazy?

After killing Xu You, Yuan Shao not only cut off his arm, but also seriously damaged the morale of Luoyang and the coalition army, which will have an immeasurable impact on the ongoing Central Plains War.

Yuan Shao and Xu You have been friends for decades, the two fought against the ** eunuch together, and fought the world together, and there have been no rumors of contradictions between the two before, how could they suddenly turn against each other at this time?

Both Jia Xu and Sima Yi suspected that this was Yuan Shao's counter-plot. It is impossible for a small divisive strategy to cause such a big shock in Luoyang.

The news of Xu You's defection spread to the Guandu battlefield so quickly, which was not normal in itself. No one saw Xu You's family killed by Yuan Shao in Luoyang, and all they saw was the list posted all over Henan.

Secondly, Xu Yu was in a high position and had all the secrets of the coalition army, and this kind of betrayal was a great blow to the morale of the coalition army.

However, to a certain extent, it can also reduce Hebei's vigilance and easily gain Hebei's trust, which is probably one of the reasons why Yuan Shao chose Xu You to implement the counter-plot.

The two estimated that Xu You would soon escape, and they suggested that Li Hong should take advantage of Xu You's defection to find an opportunity to defeat the coalition forces.

Li Hong and Zhang Yan were very cautious about this. If this is Yuan Shao's counter-strategy, then Yuan Shao is too crazy.

Xu You's position in Luoyang is not trivial, and Xu You's betrayal is an unpredictable blow to the coalition forces.

Yuan Shao has always been extremely cautious in the use of troops, and it is impossible for him to do such a risky thing when the battlefield situation is still very good.

Once this plan is discovered, he will not only compensate Xu You, but also may completely bury his hegemony.

Li Hong thought that Yuan Shao would not do this, and he would not rashly make such a crazy move if he changed to anyone else.

When a few people were speculating and discussing, Xu You really came. Li Hong immediately decided that regardless of whether Xu You's escape to Hebei was Yuan Shao's counter-plan, considering that the decisive battle was imminent, in order to avoid accidents, he would still send Xu You away.

Li Hong instructed everyone not to interrogate him, so as not to get false news and cause his side to make wrong judgments.

Don't have too much contact with him, lest you accidentally leak the secret. When we caught a relatively important captive, we sent him directly to Handan to be taken into custody.

In this way, no matter what Xu You's purpose in fleeing to Hebei is, we can use this incident to seriously damage the morale of the coalition forces and gain a little advantage for the decisive battle that is about to begin.

Li Hong's decision was approved by Zhang Yan, Jia Xu and others, however, none of them expected that Xu You would speak amazingly and openly admit that he came to Hebei to implement the anti-plot.

Everyone was at a loss for a moment and was dumbfounded.

"Do you want to hear the story of Luoyang?" Xu You reached out and picked up the long spoon in the wine bottle, filled his wine jue with wine, then looked up at Li Hong and the others, and asked softly.

Jia Xu narrowed his eyes, turned his head to look at Li Hong, and shook his head intentionally or unintentionally. He lost confidence in his judgment, but he didn't want to hear Xu You's explanation first, so as not to make a bigger mistake in his judgment.

He motioned to Li Hong to take the opportunity to withdraw from the table, and go back first to think clearly about Xu You's intentions. Li Hong didn't care,

"Listen up." Xu You slowly took a sip of wine,

"Speaking of a long story, this starts with Yuan Shao's secret instructing Feng Ji, Xin Ping, Geng Bao and others to spread the words of 'Yuan's generation of Han' and 'Five Virtues always say'." Yuan Shao has always wanted to usurp the Han Dynasty and stand on his own, but as a result, it caused a dispute over the succession of the Yuan lord in Luoyang, and all the forces in Luoyang were involved, resulting in internal strife and disputes in Luoyang, and then lost the opportunity to rebuild the imperial system.

After the start of the Central Plains War, Yuan Shao accepted my suggestion and ordered the world to form an alliance with the prefectures and counties to resist Hebei.

However, as the situation gradually favored the coalition forces, the usurper's self-reliance swelled again, and he was impatient to find every opportunity to remove from Luoyang those who hindered his achievement of the kingship.

"I have been friends with Yuan Shao for more than 30 years, and there has been no head-on conflict so far, although he wants to drive me out of Luoyang, but he is not so ruthless and kills my nine clans." Xu You looked up to the sky and sighed, tears flowed down his face,

"I should have thought a long time ago that Cao Cao is a butcher, and he will not let go of any opportunity to kill."

"Think about my friendship with Yuan Shao for more than 30 years, Yuan Shao still has to deal with me, let alone Cao Cao? I didn't like him from a young age. The reason why Yuan Shao and I got close to him back then was mainly because we wanted to use his identity to rescue the party. His grandfather Cao Teng was a famous eunuch, and his protégés were all over the world, and his father Cao Song and the ** eunuch of the dynasty were called brothers. With his relationship, it is much more convenient for us to act in Luoyang. Although he helped us a lot, we didn't like him. He is the descendant of the eunuchs, and he is inseparable from us. ”

"I shouldn't have gone to save him. I'm so confused, how can I trust him as a brute? Xu You was remorseful and beat his chest.

Li Hong, Zhang Yan, Jia Xu and others looked at him with great sympathy. Although he didn't know how this matter was related to Cao Cao again, with Cao Cao's current situation, he would never dare to take Xu You in, and would only kill Xu You and give his head to Yuan Shao.

Xu You went to vote for Cao Cao at this time, and he was indeed old and confused.

"Cao Cao's subordinate Xu He secretly surrendered to Yuan Shao and wanted to assassinate Cao Cao." Xu You stabilized his emotions for a moment, and then said,

"I was worried that after Cao Cao was killed, the coalition forces would be suspicious of each other and the tide of the battle would be reversed, so I deliberately ran to warn him. Who knew that Cao Cao was not only not grateful for the illustrated newspaper, but instead hung the head of the assassin above the gate and demonstrated to Yuan Shao, making it clear that he wanted to betray me and plunge Luoyang into civil strife. Xu You said the matter in general,

"Yuan Shao is so disappointing, it's hard for me to imagine that at this time, he would use this matter against me regardless of the overall situation. Even if he wanted to drive me out of Luoyang, he would have to wait until after the end of the war, how could he ignore the life and death of hundreds of thousands of allied soldiers and the survival of the Han Dynasty? ”

"In a fit of anger, I went to Cao Cao, scolded and deceived him, and forced him out of his plan to escape from the Guandu battlefield and go south to seize Xu and Yang. At this time, if Cao Cao escaped from Guandu, it was conceivable what it would mean to the coalition forces. Actually, when Cao Cao learned that Yuan Shao was using Xu to assassinate him, I knew that Cao Cao was leaving. At this moment, compared with his life, of course, his life is important, and for the descendants of a eunuch, Sheji is just a manor for exploiting wealth in his eyes. ”

"I can't let Cao Cao leave Guandu, otherwise the Central Plains War will be lost, but Yuan Shao is reluctant to fight a decisive battle, and after Xu He failed to assassinate Cao Cao, Yuan Shao's determination to kill Cao Cao is even stronger, and Cao Cao has to go if he doesn't go. In this case, the only way to keep Cao Cao is to fight a decisive battle as soon as possible. ”

"A decisive battle as soon as possible is what Hebei needs, because Hebei's financial endowment is difficult to support a protracted war of this scale. Yuan Shao was reluctant to fight a decisive battle because he could afford to drag it out, and the longer the Central Plains War dragged on, the more beneficial it would be to Yuan Shao, so that his force could be preserved to the greatest extent. After the end of the war, he could quickly control Yanzhou and occupy the entire Central Plains with these forces. Therefore, if Yuan Shao wants to change his attack strategy and quickly fight a decisive battle with the Northern Xinjiang Army, there is only one way, and that is to let him know that he has won the battle, and if he doesn't fight, he will have no chance. And to achieve this goal is very simple, that is, I used this opportunity to defect to Hebei to carry out a counter-plan. ”

"In fact, I am now desperate and have no choice but to flee to Hebei to find a way to survive. But Cao Cao, a wolf-hearted thing, actually drunk me, ran to Yuan Shao overnight to flatter, and forced Yuan Shao to order the killing of my nine clans. Xu You slammed the wine lord in his hand to the ground, and shouted hoarsely,

"I'm going to kill him, I'm going to kill him." In the lobby, Xu You's desperate and angry roar lingered for a long time.

Li Hong and others were also shocked by Xu You's story and did not speak for a long time.

"Uncle, maybe ......" Sima Yi looked at Xu You, who was panting because he was too excited, and whispered,

"Maybe this is just Yuan Shao's trick to trick us into believing you, and your family may still be alive." Xu Yu laughed sadly,

"Child, if I hadn't gone to Cao Cao and fled directly to the other side of the chasm, of course Yuan Shao wouldn't have killed him. Even if Feng Ji and the trial took Yuan Shao's warrant and pretended to pass on the order, they were afraid of the situation in Luoyang, and at most they would just kill a few of my relatives and protégés. But once I got to Cao Cao, let Cao Cao see the hope of escape, and saw the hope of a comeback, how could he let me go? Kill my nine clans to dispel your suspicions. Who doesn't understand such a simple truth? But I was so confused that I recklessly rushed into the Cao camp, buried hundreds of lives of my Xu family, and also involved many protégés and former officials. I don't have the face to see them when I'm dead. Sima Yi had a bitter face, not knowing what to say.

"You all have eyeliner in Luoyang, and in a few days, you will be able to get the news." Xu You covered his face with his hands and whimpered in pain,

"When I died, you burned me, and I really didn't have the face to see them under the Nine Springs. I promised to work hard for the Han all my life, and I was born and died, but I was retributed. Where is the heavenly reason, where is the heavenly reason? Xu Yu knelt on the seat, hugged his head and cried.

Li Hong motioned to Sima Yi to stay and take care of Xu You, and he and Zhang Yan and Jia Xu left quietly. The three of them returned to the study, each bowing their heads and pondering, trying to find a flaw in Xu You's words, but in the end they couldn't find any clues.

Could it be that Xu Yu's words are true?

"From Xu Yu's words just now, we got two useful news, one is that Cao Cao has no intention of fighting a decisive battle, and plans to go south to Xu and Yang to try to make a comeback, and the other is that Cao Cao and Liu Bei's armies have been divided into three by Yuan Shao." Jia Xu pointed to the map on the desk and said,

"The decisive battle is what we urgently need, after the decisive battle, the coalition army was defeated and fled, and we have no power to chase it, so we can only stick to Yanzhou, wait for the next spring to get money and food supplements, and then tackle key problems, Luo, and take the Central Plains. But the trouble is that we want to take the opportunity to inflict heavy losses on Cao Cao and Liu Bei, and then quickly seize the two states of Xu and Yang, I am afraid that we will have to give up. ”

"Yuan Shao divided the armies of Cao Cao and Liu Bei into three, with the intention of weakening Cao Cao and Liu Bei, and taking advantage of the victory after this decisive battle to quickly seize the two states of Xu and Yang, which is exactly the same as our thoughts. But in this way, if we win this battle, Cao Cao and Liu Bei will be a blessing in disguise and can keep most of the army. Zhang Yan shook her head and smiled bitterly,

"Cao Cao and Liu Bei have enough troops to quickly retreat and prevent us from attacking Xu and Yang."

"That's a good thing." Li Hong said,

"After the war, if we want to take the opportunity to go south to seize Xu and Yangzhou, there is a very important premise, that is, we must severely damage Cao Cao and Liu Bei in the Central Plains battlefield, and the meaning of this heavy blow is almost equivalent to total annihilation, which is very difficult. Now that we already know that part of Cao Cao and Liu Bei's troops will no longer go north to the Guandu battlefield, then we will abandon this strategy and let Yan Rou and Gao Shun move to the Guandu battlefield instead, so as to attract as many rebels as possible to the north. ”

"It's fine." Jia Xu said,

"Whether Xuzhou is in the hands of Liu Bei or Cao Cao, it is not a big threat to us for the time being. Tell Zang Ba to preserve his strength as much as possible, and if he really can't stand it, return to Qingzhou. Zhang Yan suddenly thought of something, pointed at Li Hong and Jia Xu and said: "We said before, don't have too much contact with Xu You, don't believe what he said about the deployment of rebel troops, and don't modify our established attack strategy because of this. Why did you two forget it in a blink of an eye? Li Hong and Jia Xu looked at each other and smiled, shaking their heads again and again.

"If Xu Yu's tears are fake, you two will have to pay for it." Zhang Yan said with a smile,

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

"If Cao Cao goes south to seize Xu and Yangzhou, he will inevitably have a fierce conflict with Liu Bei, Yan Xiang, Sun Ce, Zhou Yu and others, so that he can help us contain a large part of the troops, and we can take advantage of this rare opportunity to concentrate our forces to attack the key points and Luo, quickly seize the Central Plains, and lay an absolute advantage in pacifying the world." Jia Xu was still unsatisfied, and after thinking about it for a while, it was still difficult to restrain himself, and he said a few more words.

"Lord Jia is out of control." Li Hong pointed at him and smiled,

"It seems that Master Jia already believes in Xu You's tears." While the three of them were talking and laughing, Sima Yi walked in.

"Lord Xu is resting?"

"He was drunk, crying and scolding, and threw up all over the ground." Sima Yi sat down beside Li Hong and said sadly,

"It seems that he has been completely destroyed, and it will be difficult to get rid of this torture of self-blame and guilt in a short period of time."

"Do you think what he said is true?" Zhang Yan asked.

"It's true." Sima Yi nodded and said,

"I thought about it for a long time, if Xu You wanted to make his counter-plot successful, the only way to do it was to tell the truth. Only when we tell the truth can we believe him, and he can let his emotions be cathartic, otherwise he will collapse. He was in too much pain. ”

"For Xu You, he has only one purpose in carrying out the counter-strategy, which is to force Yuan Shao to change his strategy and gather all his forces to fight us a decisive battle before the rebels have yet to fight, and this is exactly what we need. Therefore, as long as Xu You comes to us and tells the truth, this counter-plot will be done, and Yuan Shao does not need to kill Xu You's Nine Clans in exchange for our trust in him. Sima Yi shook his head very regretfully,

Now it seems that Yuan Shao fell for Cao Cao's plan, he must have been dizzy by Cao Cao's words, thinking that killing Xu Youjiu could greatly increase the chances of winning the counter-plot. In fact, the killing of the Xu Yu Nine Clans would only plunge Luoyang into panic and more brutal infighting. Whether Yuan Shao wins or loses this battle, Luoyang will enter an eventful season. Yuan Shao was trapped in Luoyang and naturally could not take care of anything else, but this would buy Cao Cao valuable time to go south to seize Xu and Yang. ”

"Yuan Shao fell for Cao Cao's plan, and we also fell for Xu Yu's plan." Zhang Yan shook her head,

"This Xu Yu is amazing. We can't even think of it. ”

"Telling the truth has the benefit of telling the truth, you can't believe it." Sima Yi said,

"He speaks the truth, but the purpose is to use us, and we also treat others in the way of others, and we also speak the truth and use him for our purposes."

"I have a concern." Zhang Yan looked at the three of them, frowned and said,

"Xu Yu suffered by himself, the nine clans were punished, and his body and mind were hit, will he use a plan on both sides ......" Zhang Yan made a gesture,

"On the one hand, he used our power to kill Cao Cao and inflict heavy damage on Yuan Shao, and on the other hand, he used the power of the rebels to attack us. You know, for so many years, Xu You has always been our opponent, although he is indeed desperate and has to go to Hebei, but he is disheartened at the moment, life is worse than death, and it is very likely that he will die with the psychology of dying together. There was silence in the study.

After a while, Li Hong waved his hand and said, "Let's start a decisive battle according to the established policy, don't be affected by Xu Yu's matter, how to do it or how to do it." ”

"Don't do anything about Xu You, and temporarily imprison him in the palace." Jia Xu said,

"After the news from Luoyang confirms that Xu You's family has been killed, we will try to contact him as much as possible, so that he can feel our trust and sincerity in him, and let him help us start a decisive battle within the scheduled time as much as possible."

"You can do it." Li Hong waved at Sima Yi,

"Be bold a little bit, as long as we lure the rebels out, we will win this battle."

"To lure the rebels out, you must first make the rebels feel that they have an absolute chance of victory." Sima Yi said in embarrassment,

"We may have to pay a price."

"How do you think the rebels can be sure that they can defeat us?" Zhang Yan asked,

"After Xu Yu escaped, the deployment of the rebels' forces had to be adjusted, and the attack strategy would also be adjusted, so where would their breakthrough be?"

"I think that in addition to taking advantage of the superiority in troops, the rebels are using the news sent back by Xu You to attack our vital points, so that our advantages will be lost, and then a full-scale counterattack will drive us back to Jizhou." Sima Yi waved his hand disdainfully,

"Although we are at a disadvantage in terms of troops, we have iron cavalry, and I believe that Yuan Shao and Cao Cao are not blindly confident enough to annihilate us all."

"So what's at stake?" Zhang Yan smiled and asked again.

"Grain and grass." Sima Yi said without thinking,

"After Her Royal Highness the eldest princess leads the Hu clan iron cavalry south to Jizhou, we can tell Xu You where our key point is." Zhang Yan set his eyes on Li Hong and Jia Xu,

"Do you want to be prepared, just in case? Prevention is always necessary. Li Hong said,

"Master Jia and I will return to Handan immediately. I'll leave the matter to you, and you'll have full control over it. ”

"The general wants to go back to Handan?" Sima Yi asked in surprise.

"Hu Qi is about to go south, I have to go back to Jizhou to make arrangements as soon as possible." Li Hong smiled and reached out to pat him on the shoulder,

"You can ask Xu You to send the news back, just say that I am sick and go back for treatment."

"But you're fine, don't you look sick?"

"Then you accidentally leaked a message to him, saying that Xianbei's Kirby Bear defeated General Xian Yufu, and the general went to the desert." Jia Xu said with a smile on the side,

"So he believes that the general has indeed gone back to heal." Sima Yi understood. In the second part of July, Youzhou Dai County, Gaoliu City, Eldest Princess Camp.

Yan Wuxing, Lei Zi, and Tie Yue rushed into the camp with their own personal guards. The eldest princess was dressed in military uniform, heroic and sassy, and personally greeted her outside the big tent.

Yan Wuxing and the three of them bowed and bowed, and the eldest princess helped them up one by one and invited them to enter the account.

"The ministers and others were ordered to recruit the iron cavalry of the Hu tribe in the desert, and now the Xianbei kings Tuoba Tao, Budugen, Ink Shooting, Fu Luo Han, Karasuma kings Loulu, Lu Pofeng, Ran Ran, etc., are sending iron horses, and they are coming to the meeting quickly." Yan fearlessly bowed and played,

"Xianbei Xiaowang Arc Ding, Qi Shen, Mu Tao, Mu Li, Tuoba Raccoon, Karasuma Xiao Wang Shooting Yingtong, Shooting Tiger, Lu Huanyang, and Du Lianmu have led their troops to the outside of Gaoliu City, begging to meet His Highness." The eldest princess smiled and nodded,

"Then tomorrow. Shooting Yingtong, Shooting Tiger, Lu Huanyang, Arc Ding, Qi Shen and others are all fierce generals who have followed the general for more than ten years, and they have made great contributions to the northern frontier of our Han Dynasty. If it weren't for the fact that they had to defend the desert, it is estimated that they would be the same as you now, and they would all be the generals of my Han Dynasty. ”

"Your Highness, it's better for them to be a little king in the desert." Yan Wuxing smiled,

"Let them be generals, that's to hurt them." The eldest princess smiled but said nothing. Yan Wudaunt continued,

"Your Highness, think about it, they can't understand our words, they stare at the court every day, their eyes are black, and they will definitely be drowsy after a long time. and those who sleep in the court, but they are to be punished, and they are to be beaten. After a few beatings, where could they stand it, they had already fled with their heads in their hands. Yan Wuxing faced the peerless beauty, his expression was excited, and he danced with his hands, his eyebrows fluttered, and he was full of energy.

The eldest princess had met him several times in Jinyang, and knew that he was a brother who came out of Lu Longsai with the general, and she valued him quite a lot, and at this time, she saw that he was funny, and she was also smiling.

"Lord Yan......" Feng Xue suddenly opened the curtain and walked in.

"Madam...... Yan Wuxing's eyes flickered, and he hurriedly stood up,

"Madame is also ......" Lei Zi and Tie Yue also turned over and stood up, bowed and saluted,

"Madame......"

"Excuse me, excuse me ......" Feng Xue shook his hand again and again, and said with a red face,

"It's been a long time since I've seen a few adults. When the general is at home, he often talks about you. It's so nice to see you guys. Probably because of the excitement, Feng Xue said all the humble words.

"We also miss the general and his wife." Lei Zi said respectfully.

"Are both kids tall? Is there anyone with blond hair like a lady? Tie Yue asked with a smile.

"Didn't I tell you last time, you don't have blonde hair." Yan Wuxing pushed him, leaned over to Fengxue's side and said,

"This time, Arc Ding, Qi Shen, and Xiaohu are all here, and when we get to the Central Plains, our group of people will be able to gather. From the Battle of Sunset to the present, we haven't gathered for a full decade. ”

"No, who says humble words." The eldest princess didn't understand a word after listening to it for a long time, and immediately became anxious, and slapped it on the desk.

"Yanshan Bird, say Xianbei words again, beware of me plucking your feathers."

"Ah......" Yan Wuxing hated others calling him Yanshan Little Bird the most, especially now that he was older, he couldn't listen to it, his eyes suddenly widened, and suddenly he reacted, the opposite side was the eldest princess, and his face immediately became extremely embarrassed.

"Lord Yan, what's wrong with your eyes? What are you staring at so big? The eldest princess asked with a grin.

At this time, Xiao Lan walked in with a scroll of documents in her arms.

"Your Highness, the minister can't stand it, the minister is going back to wash his eyes, and there are stars in front of the minister...... The starlight is too bright. "Jump to