With the sound of opening the door with a "creak", the sound of squirming footsteps came into Yuan Shao's ears, and he didn't turn around but knew who was coming.

The one who pushed the door in by himself was Yuan Shao's eldest son, Yuan Tan.

There is a saying: the emperor loves the eldest son, and the people love the youngster. Since Zhou Tianzi established the primogeniture inheritance system, this inheritance system has taken root in the land of Yanhuang and flourished rapidly, inherited for thousands of years, and has been inherited for thousands of years, and has been followed to this day.

For the children of eunuchs, the identity of the eldest son undoubtedly occupies a unique advantage, and many resources enjoy priority, from the moment of birth, it means that he will have a lofty identity and status. However, for ordinary people, the children of the poor are in charge of the family early, and the eldest son not only does not get much benefit, but has to shoulder the burden of the family early; On the other hand, the child does not have so much pressure and can get more love and care from her parents.

Yuan Tan is the eldest son of Yuan Shao, and was born in the Yuan family of the fourth and third princes, so his position in the Yuan family is transcendent and unique. Although Yuan Shao did not like him for a while, he still had an age advantage that several younger brothers did not have, so he was recognized and supported by many civil and military officials under his father Yuan Shao, and his wings gradually increased.

Since Yuan Shao occupied Jizhou and became independent, Yuan Tan rose with the tide, as if he was the son of the world. Since then, a group of people have taken the initiative to move closer to him, and as the power of his father Yuan Shao grows day by day, his son should also become more and more nourished, and a little use of means will attract a large number of civil and military generals.

When Yuan Shao captured Qingzhou, Yuan Tan naturally became the best candidate to lead Qingzhou. Although Yuan Shao was very optimistic about him. Helplessly, the subordinate ministers and military generals said a word, so Yuan Tan served as the pastor of Qingzhou and took charge alone. If nothing else. After a hundred years of Yuan Shao, Yuan Tan naturally inherited the power left by Yuan Shao and became a hereditary prince.

However, with the sudden death of Emperor Liu Xie of the Han Dynasty and the establishment of the Yuan Alliance, this originally logical Qiē instantly came to naught. Yuan Tan's Qingzhou pastoral throne had not yet been warmed up, and before he had time to rejoice, he was attacked by Yanzhou Cao Cao. Subsequently. Cities were lost, counties fell one after another, and Yuan Tan hurriedly organized troops and horses to counterattack. But the result was counterproductive and unsatisfactory. At the end of last year, Qingzhou was completely captured by Cao Cao of Yanzhou, and Yuan Tan took the remnants of the defeated army to return to Yecheng in a panic. Then he was disciplined and honest for a winter. lest Yuan Shao would blame him for this, and even be disheartened and give up on him completely.

However, Yuan Tan's expected reproaches and reprimands all failed. After the defeat of Qingzhou, Yuan Shao did not blame him, not even a word of heavy words or reprimand, but expressed extreme calmness, as if Qingzhou was irrelevant. If you lose it, you lose it, it's not a big deal. For this. Yuan Tan was nervous for a while, lest this be the calm of the coming rainstorm, once Yuan Shao really blames it, it will be a raging storm, even if he doesn't die, he will have to shed his skin, and he will never be good.

But the whole winter has passed, and Yuan Shao still hasn't reprimanded him, and even occasionally cares, shushing the cold and asking for warmth, which makes Yuan Tan's heart beat and he can't stop worrying. This is because since he can remember, his father Yuan Shao has not liked him, but he has been extremely fond and caring for his third brother Yuan Shang. Therefore, he always thought that his father was partial and favored one over the other, so he kept an eye on it early and deliberately tried to win over the civil and military officials under his father's account, trying to take them for his own use, so that one day he could help him ascend his father's throne and inherit his father's title and power.

Winter went to spring, and Yuan Tan, who had been frightened for a winter, gradually adapted to the care of his father Yuan Shao, and completely put down the defeat of Qingzhou. Then, under the reminder of Shi Guotu, the head of the Prime Minister's Mansion, he often followed Yuan Shao's side, and called him "following his father to learn how to govern the country", which was actually pretending to deliberately please Yuan Shao and win Yuan Shao's favor.

In early summer, Yuan Tan was accustomed to following his father Yuan Shao, and lived next to Yuan Shao's dormitory, listening to the teachings in the morning and evening, and coming to say hello from time to time. The same is true tonight. However, where Yuan Tan appeared, there must be a person behind him, and this person is Shi Guotu Guo Gongze, the head of the Prime Minister's Mansion. Nowadays, the relationship between Guo Tu and Yuan Tan is very good, almost talking about everything, as good as a person; And Yuan Tan obeyed his words and consulted him for advice, almost without exception.

??????“ When the child saw that the light in his father's bedroom was still on, he came in by himself and did not disturb his father's rest, right? Walking to Yuan Shao's side, Yuan Tan said cautiously.

Guo Tu followed behind Yuan Tan, stood by the window frame, and looked in the direction of Yuan Shao's view, but saw that it was dark in front of him and there was nothing. Immediately, he stood quietly aside, looking at his nose and his nose, his nose and his heart, and he kept his mouth shut, as if there was no zài.

Hearing Yuan Tan's tone of voice was slightly uneasy, Yuan Shao's calm face showed a little disappointment, but it disappeared in a flash, and quickly recovered as usual. After a moment of silence, he said softly: "My son's filial piety is commendable, and I am deeply gratified for my father. From now on, you can come to see the Father at any time, you don't have to ask for instructions, you can just come in. After speaking, Yuan Shao turned his head and looked at Yuan Tan with a kind face, and reached out to tuck his collar, as if he was worried that he would freeze, and his love for his son was overflowing.

At this moment, father and son stood face to face. Looking at Yuan Tan, who had already entered the age of establishment, Yuan Shao was slightly distracted, and his eyes were quite complicated: surprise, shame, self-blame and remorse and other emotions were presented in his pupils. Speaking of which, except for when Yuan Tan was just born, Yuan Shao had almost never seen the appearance of his eldest son Yuan Tan so closely and so carefully, until this moment he suddenly found that Yuan Tan was exactly the same as when he was young, looking at Yuan Tan in front of him, it was like seeing himself when he was young. And these have not been discovered by him before, or he has almost never looked at Yuan Tan with his eyes.

And this qiē is because Yuan Tan was born to him when he was young and his personal maid concubine, although the maid was accepted as a concubine after she became pregnant, but Yuan Tan was not the main concubine, so Yuan Shao has always been suspicious of his eldest son Yuan Tan, and he has never been able to cross this threshold. This is because Yuan Shao himself was also born to a concubine, although he was named the son of the Yuan family. But he has always been unjustifiable, and he has been fighting secretly with Yuan Shuming, who was born in the main room, for a lifetime, and when he is old, he still has a disagreement with his face and heart. No one is convinced of anyone. For this reason, Yuan Shao hated it, and every time he thought of his experience, he couldn't help but be upset and irritable, and lost his temper, and then he couldn't help but think of his eldest son Yuan Tan, and invisibly transferred the injustice and resentment in his heart to Yuan Tan, so he was very displeased with Yuan Tan.

It is precisely because of being blinded by resentment in the heart. Only then did Yuan Shao deliberately ignore the existence of his eldest son Yuan Tan, ignoring him and ignoring him. Even out of sight. But at this moment, Yuan Shao suddenly found that Yuan Tan's appearance was so similar to himself, almost the same, and his background and experience were even more ordinary; The only difference is. Yuan Tan is in the prime of life. And he is already old, approaching the age of sixtieth.

Seeing Yuan Shao's expression in a trance, Yuan Tan called softly: "Father, father, what are you?????? Could it be that my father has something on his mind? If the father does not think the child is dull, the child is willing to share the father's worries. ”

"Huh?" Yuan Shao came back to his senses when he heard this, and groaned in surprise, and then saw Guo Tu standing behind Yuan Tan, and was immediately relieved. I changed it before. Yuan Shao didn't pay attention to it at all, and it was impossible for him to tell Yuan Tan what he was thinking. But his mood at this moment was completely different from before. It's like two people. What's more, the years are unforgiving, he has delayed a lot of time before, and he has no idea of cultivating a successor at all, but now he has to think about it, and he has to hurry up to let Yuan Tan grow up, so as not to have no successor.

"It's fine." Thinking of this, Yuan Shao bowed his head lightly, and said in a gentle tone: "Carefully explore, just last winter, Xiliang Li Thief came to Youzhou in person, easily entered Yijing City, and then subdued Gongsun Zan without blood, and then quietly occupied Youzhou, with more than 100,000 soldiers and horses in Youzhou. This incident was roughly similar to the time of Xiansi's (Yuan Tan) Qingzhou defeat, and it was almost at the same time. However, our army only found out about the change of ownership in Youzhou and the news of Li Li's appearance in Youzhou a month ago.

For more than four months, we were all kept in the dark, unnoticed, and unaware. And Li Thief took advantage of this time to reorganize the Youzhou Army, and sent a large number of civil and military generals into Youzhou, firmly controlling the counties and counties of Youzhou. After the detailed work found out the shape of Youzhou, it was too late, and Youzhou had completely fallen into the hands of Li Thief. After a pause, Yuan Shao's face was full of chagrin and fear, and he sighed with extreme remorse.

Seeing Yuan Shao's love so excited, Yuan Tan's brows jumped, he couldn't stop blinking, his eyes were a little flustered, and he couldn't help lowering his head and was silent. Obviously, he had known about the change of ownership in Youzhou for a long time, even earlier than his father Yuan Shao knew, but he did not report it to Yuan Shao as soon as possible, but concealed it without authorization. Therefore, he was in a panic at the moment, and he was very frightened, fearing that if his father found out about this, he would be angry with him. And the reason why he concealed it and didn't report it was instructed by Guo Tu. Guo Tu said: The lord has been depressed and depressed recently, and once he knows the news of Youzhou's change of ownership, he will be furious, and he will inevitably be angry with him. Therefore, for the sake of prudence, it is better to hide it for the time being, and report the good news but not the bad news, so as not to be affected and the gains outweigh the losses. In this way, Yuan Tan deliberately concealed this matter for more than two months, otherwise Yuan Shao would have known that Youzhou had been occupied by Li Li three months ago.

Fortunately, Yuan Shao was excited at this time, and he didn't notice Yuan Tan's abnormal look at all, otherwise the matter would have been exposed. In addition to being angry, Yuan Shao took a deep breath and tried his best to calm down, so he said in a low tone: "After Youzhou is occupied by Li Thief, the situation of my Jizhou will become more and more dangerous, the north is more than 200,000 troops of Li Thief, the east is more than 100,000 soldiers and horses of the thief Cao Agui, and there are tens of thousands of iron cavalry led by Zhou Yu, the general under the command of Li Thief, in the south. ”

Looking up and seeing his father's worried appearance, Yuan Tan inexplicably felt a burst of sadness and distress. Until this time, he found that his father's sideburns had become as white as snow at some point, and many wrinkles had been added to his forehead, and he was quietly drooping and decaying. This discovery shocked Yuan Tan, who vaguely remembered that when the Han Emperor and the hundred officials entered Yecheng, his father Yuan Shao was radiant and radiant, and he looked like he was in the prime of his fifties. After two years, my father seems to be dozens of years older, but he is not yet sixty years old this year!

In an instant, a flash of inspiration flashed in Yuan Tan's mind, and the previous puzzles suddenly became clear, and all of them understood. The reason why his father Yuan Shao changed his previous indifference was because he knew that his body was not as good as day by day, and he could not wait any longer. At this time, Yuan was not yet crowned, and Yuan Xi died in the Sili War, so that only he Yuan Tan could inherit the great cause of Jizhou. Other than that, there is no alternative.

"It turns out that this is the case!" Secretly thinking about it, Yuan Tan secretly thought, the depression in his heart disappeared, and the whole person seemed to be much more relaxed all of a sudden, and his mental outlook was invigorated. Immediately, he deliberately suppressed the excitement in his heart, and said softly: "As far as the child knows, right now, the Wuhuan leader Bun Dun is leading more than 100,000 barbarian iron horsemen to fight the Li thief in front of the Lulongsai Pass. If the barbarian army wins, the siege in the north of Jizhou can be solved, and I can protect myself for the time being. ”

Yuan Shao bowed his head when he heard this, a pleased smile appeared on his face, and he said approvingly: "What my son said is extremely true. If the barbarian army wins, the Li thief will suffer a heavy setback, and he will not be able to attack my Jizhou for the time being. But the strength of the Li thief is strong, and if the barbarian army wants to take advantage of him, it may not be easy. In addition, my son must remember one thing: those who are not of my race will have different hearts. We can take the barbarians for our own use, but we cannot trust them, much less rely on them; On the contrary, we should always be on guard against them, restrain their development and growth, and once the time is ripe, we can send troops to exterminate them and bring them under the control of our Great Han Dynasty. After speaking, Yuan Shao's slightly rickety body seemed to become much taller in an instant, righteous and awe-inspiring, and full of righteousness.

And Yuan Tan and Guo Tu were surprised, especially Guo Tu, he never expected that Yuan Shao, who had always advocated the implementation of a gentle pacification strategy against the barbarian tribes, would also have such a strong and tough side. For a moment, he felt that Yuan Shao had reached the height that made him look up, completely breaking the indecisive image in his mind. However, after he calmed down, he knew that Yuan Shao's words would never come true.

In the past year or so, Yuan Shao has indeed changed. From the moment he learned that the Han Emperor Liu Xie had died violently, Yuan Shao was greatly stimulated and fainted on the spot, and after waking up, he changed, changed his previous scheming and became wise and decisive. It was also from then on, in just half a year, Yuan Shao's sideburns were all white, there were many more gray hairs on his head, his face was full of wrinkles, and he seemed to be dozens of years old after half a year. For the great changes after Yuan Shao's painful experience, the subordinates in Jizhou were greatly excited, only Guo Tu was gloomy in his heart, because he knew that it was too late, it was too late. Only when the sun is waning do you know that what is the use of cherishing time?

Just as Yuan Shao and Yuan Tan's father and son were talking, the wind rose outside the window. The sound of the "whirring" wind made the lattice windows creak, and the starry sky that had just been full of stars was quietly covered by dark clouds??????

??????

———————— To be Continued —————————————— (To be Continued......

PS: [Hu Ben sincerely thanks: book friends dall002, wq007_007, [3016] Wei, Lantian book friends for their monthly ticket support, thank you! ] 】

On the last day of the month, Xiaoqi shouted again: "Ask for a monthly ticket!" Before going to work (school) on Monday and changing clothes, look at the wood in your pocket, don't delay, look at it with tiger eyes, ask for a monthly pass! ”

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