When Yuan Shu received the military report, he read it once and couldn't believe it. Then he read it twice, three times, and five times in a row. Yuan Shu's body was shaky.
It's like a blue wind blowing out of thin air, causing dizziness and ringing in the ears for a moment. All the five senses and six senses seem to be entangled in one place, making it difficult to see things.
When he woke up again, it was already a quarter of an hour later. Yuan Gongli found himself leaning on the case, still holding the military newspaper in his hand.
The children gathered around them, their eyes full of anxiety and sadness.
Yuan Shu coughed,
He waved them to leave. Then he threw the military newspaper in his hand onto the case.
Calling the messenger over, he asked: "How many troops have the imperial court sent? Is there no movement in the east?"
The messenger reported truthfully: "There are fewer people on Zhongli's side, and more on Yicheng's side. Although both are less than 10,000, they are not much different. General Ji said that all Pengcheng and Zhang Xian should have gone south." He said this.
, paused for a moment, showed an embarrassed look, and continued to talk about Bai Bo's actions, "There is no movement in the east, it's just the relocation of people like last month, it's just..."
But I can’t talk any more.
When Yuan Shu continued to ask, the envoy hesitated and said: "It's just that the people at Yicheng said that the imperial court sent troops to conquer because they heard that the envoy secretly kept the national seal. General Ji thought that this was the news released from the east.
."
Hear the words,
Yuan Shu was furious at first,
Cursed: "Bai Bo Shuzi! How could he survive without me?! I swear to eat his flesh!"
But not long after he became angry, he then thought: How can he fight against Bai Bo when he is a weak country with few soldiers? He is forced by the Han army in front of him, and it is hard to predict how many days he can survive. It is no wonder that Yang Feng regards him as a worn-out shoe.
.In troubled times, faith is unpredictable. Didn't he also hope that Bai Bo would stop the Han army? It's just that Yang Feng was walking in front.
These thoughts made Yuan Shu discouraged, and he asked resignedly: "Does General Ji have anything to say? How many days can the two cities be defended?"
The envoy bowed his head and replied: "The general said that Zhongli might be able to defend for another twenty days, but Yicheng is on the north bank of the Huai River and I'm afraid he won't be able to defend it. The general suggested that you make plans early."
Yuan Shu laughed at himself twice and waved the messenger to retreat. He knew in his heart that Ji Ling's so-called early plan was actually an explicit advice to let everyone live in peace with their destiny.
Fleeing across the rivers and seas. But in this situation, where can I escape to?
So the remaining officials in Jiujiang gathered in the palace hall.
Discuss the matter with him. Speaking of Yuan Shu's current Houjunfu, the talents in the mansion are no longer as good as before. The year before last, Yuan Shu had both young talents and high-profile county officials under his command. However, after the Ruying battle, most of them were dismissed.
The Han army captured and killed many of them, including veteran ministers like Shi Yiguan and Yan Xiang, and most of the rest defected to Sun Ce. Now there are only a few people like Shu Shao and Liang Gang left in the mansion. I heard that the Han army was coming to attack.
After hearing the news, everyone looked at each other and smiled bitterly.
Yuan Shu asked Liang Gang: "If we leave now, how many people can we take with us?" Liang Gang sighed and said: "Reporting to Duke Ming, there are about three thousand people inside and outside the city." Everyone couldn't help but be silent. There were more than three thousand people in the city.
In today's world, what can be done? If the city is lost again, the dignified generals from all over the world will probably be no different from the grass bandits.
But he still had the imperial seal. Yuan Shu thought that as long as he had these thousands of people accompanying him and found a way to go north, and he dedicated the imperial seal, he could always leave a way out for his children.
Therefore, Yuan Shu thought about countermeasures and felt that he should let Bai Bo contain the Han army. However, the route to the Huai River was cut off, and the land route to Guangling would not be accepted, so he had to find another way.
Yuan Shu suddenly had an idea, and he could go to Chaohu first. There were many water thieves in Chaohu, and he usually had many contacts. At this time, he could use his old friendship to buy some with a lot of money. With the navy, he could escort him south to the river, and then float on the boat.
Go to Fuhaizhou at the end of the river. Fuhaizhou is located in the center of the river (today's Rudong County) and is surrounded by the East China Sea. The Han army will not be able to attack, so he can wait for a good opportunity here. Once Bai Boyou confronts the Han army
If there are signs of fighting, he can follow his original plan and take the opportunity to go north.
He told everyone about this idea. Although everyone was a little worried, there was no other way, so they all decided to do it. That night, the whole city of Shouchun held up torches and pretended to be frightened by the Han army. In fact, they were carrying belongings in the city.
Luggage. Although there were only three thousand sergeants left in the city, there were a lot of things that were busy carrying. Donkeys and horses were brought out in groups, occasionally mixed with the cries of women, making it a mess. In the end, a team of three thousand people made a mess.
The crowd of six to seven thousand people woke up the whole city. They did not light the lamps and listened silently in the darkness to Yuan Shu's team arguing at the city gate until the end. Yuan Shu's pretense failed to deceive even one person.
At this time, Yuan Shu was standing at the south gate, supervising the team to carry the baggage. This trip had to go to Fuhaizhou, and he didn't know how long it would take, so the grain and rice baggage were the most important. Shu Shao led the people to load and unload about two hundred cars.
, the night became thinner in the blink of an eye. Just as they were finishing the shipment, Liang Gang came over with a few soldiers, with a troubled look on his face.
Yuan Shu knew that it was his family affairs that caused him trouble, so he asked: "Who is still making trouble?" Liang Gang hesitated to explain, so he went up and down the city to look. It turned out that it was his wife Feng Shizheng and several concubines.
The concubines were quarreling, grabbing the carriage and horse to carry their own silk and satin. Yuan Shu came downstairs and shouted at several people: "What time is it? What are you arguing about? If you don't want to leave, just stay here, I will
There are still fewer mouths to open to eat!"
This sentence made several women blush and wanted to quarrel with him, but they held back. Although Yuan Gongli was harsh on his subordinates, he was always gentle towards his family. The women quarreled here, and they were not relying on his favor.
The meaning of arrogance, but now the attitude suddenly changed, which confused them. The women were a little scared, and they just muttered a few words, and then they were helped by the domestic slaves to get on their horses and leave the city.
It was already dawn. Yuan Shu put on his military uniform and watched the team slowly move forward. Then he looked back at Shouchun City gradually disappearing in the sky. He couldn't tell how he felt in his heart. He knew that he would probably never come back here again.
, but it’s impossible to say where we can go in the future.
Because he had a lot of money and few soldiers, Yuan Shu walked very slowly. He could only cover forty miles in a day. After walking for four days in a row, they walked from Shouchun to Hefei, and they were already exhausted.
.Yuan Shu asked the team to rest in Hefei, and then sent people to Chao Lake to contact the water thieves.
There were originally a lot of water thieves in Chaohu Lake. At its peak, there were more than 10,000 people. They took Chaohu Lake as their base and occupied Shaopei. Based on the complex water network between the two lakes, some people surrounded and suppressed them from the river, so they fled north to the Huaihe River.
Someone was encircling and suppressing them on the Huai River, so they fled south to the river. Therefore, no one could control them for many years, and they became the dominant force in Yangzhou. Whether it was Yuan Shu, Tao Qian or Bai Bo's army, they could only choose to recruit troops.
But this time Yuan Shu sent people to contact him, but there seemed to be no news. Not to mention the heavy bribes, there was not even a reply. After waiting for five days in Hefei, Yuan Shu finally couldn't bear it anymore and personally led more than a thousand people.
When he arrived at Chao Lake, he raised a flag and wanted to interview the water thieves. The water thieves came forward, but they were facing Yuan Shu from a distance on the water and shouting from a distance.
The leader of the coming water thieves said loudly: "General Hou, please come back! Zhu Niao has entered the southern sky, and his surname is no longer Yuan!" After saying that, the coming water thieves all displayed the banner of General Polu and the crimson flag.
Standing between the cockroaches, it formed a red light with the reflection on the lake, which made Yuan Shu stunned and didn't know what to say.
Then a young man walked out of the leading boat. He was half-clad in armor, wrapped in a cloak, wearing a silk scarf on top, and embroidered shoes on bottom. He was holding a green feather fan, half-covering his chin, only revealing a pair of lying silkworm eyebrows and a pair of auspicious phoenixes.
Eyes, even if I haven't uttered a word, a romantic look is already overflowing.
Yuan Shu recognized that it was Zhou Yu, and was frightened for a moment. He only heard Zhou Gongjin say loudly on the boat: "Mr. Yuan, from the east and west of Shaopi, to the north and south of Chaohu, all the naval forces among them have surrendered for me. Why does Mr. Yuan need to file a case again?"
"Why don't you just go back and take care of yourself for a few more days? Bo Fu will come south to meet you."
After Zhou Yu said this, Yuan Shu couldn't help being extremely discouraged when he learned that he would get nothing from this trip. He also thought of Sun Ce and Zhou Yu's betrayal during the battle with Ruying. He couldn't help but feel timid, and became angry. He yelled back: "Treacherous! I'll wait for you."
If we are blood relatives, is this how you will be rewarded?!"
Zhou Yu heard this and sneered: "Everyone will punish those who deceive the emperor and usurp the emperor! Mr. Yuan, where does your national seal come from? I don't need to say more!"
As soon as these words came out, Yuan Shu suddenly felt that he was wrong, and the soldiers around him were also in a commotion. Seeing this, Zhou Yu was not ready to start a war. He wanted to leave Sun Ce a chance to take revenge, so he led his troops to retreat. Yuan Shu could only follow suit.
Return to Hefei.
It was already February, the ice and snow were melting, the spring breeze was picking up, and green buds were gradually growing on the dead branches of willows. However, when it fell into Yuan Shu's eyes, it made him feel sad. He thought silently: Spring has arrived, and everything is recovering, but this
Between heaven and earth, is there no place for Yuan Benzhu?
After several days in Hefei like this, suddenly one night, he said to his wife, concubines and children: "I sent people to find a large ship in Liyang, which can accommodate a hundred people. We can't stay here anymore, so we'd better leave quickly!" After that,
Not allowing his wife and children to object, he abandoned his troops and the city, wrapped only the national seal in his chest, and fled south on horseback with Shu Shao and other old friends.
With horse hooves flying like rain, Yuan Shu hurried for seventy miles overnight until before Liyang. When the soldiers who bought the boat for him saw him, they did not dare to delay at all, and immediately led a group of people to the dense forest by the river. Looking from a distance
When I went there, I saw a four-foot-tall ship on a shoal. Yuan Shu was overjoyed and said to the soldier: "When I get to Hebei, I will definitely take credit for you!"
But as soon as he finished speaking, the soldier cut off Yuan Shu's left arm with a backhand knife and captured him to the ground. Suddenly, shouts of death came from the surrounding dense forest, and hundreds of people surrounded Yuan Shao and his party.
Live. It turns out that Yuan Shu's plan to buy a ship and separate from the crowd had been predicted by Sun Ce, and the soldiers he sent also rebelled for Sun Ce.
Yuan Shu was in severe pain and had no idea what was going on. When he regained his consciousness a little, he realized that a person was standing in front of him. Yuan Shu raised his head and was at a loss. It took him a long time to realize that the person in front of him was Sun Ce, the general who broke the captives.
Sun Ce saw Yuan Shu's downfall and thought of how much he had promoted and promoted him in the past few years, and thought of his father's unjust death. He didn't know how to feel in his heart. Seeing Yuan Shu's pleading look, he slowly said: "I
I will not implicate Mr. Yuan’s family. I will hand over the imperial seal to Mr. Yuan, and I can let Mr. Yuan settle it on his own.”
Yuan Shu smiled bitterly, used his remaining hand to untie the jade seal soaked in blood from his chest, held it up in front of Sun Ce, and then said in a hoarse voice: "Since he is a rebellious minister and traitor, I am afraid he will be whipped if he leaves his body behind."
My corpse will not suffer such a crime, so let me throw him into the river." Sun Ce nodded slightly, and after taking the jade seal, he personally lifted Yuan Shu up with both hands, strode to the shore, and put him into the water. p>
Yuan Shu is like a leaf, drifting slightly in the river until it is dozens of feet away, and then slowly sinks into the water.
Shu Shao, an old friend who was accompanying him, burst into tears when he saw it, and couldn't help but said: "It's so hard to have gold and jade, so I abandon myself like dust." Then they all threw themselves into the river.
In February of the fifth year of Yanxing's reign, Sun Ce took in all the members of Yuan Shu's family, and then led his troops to the north, successfully taking over the entire Jiujiang county. He then ordered a tomb to be built at the place where Yuan Shu poured water, finally showing some of his former feelings as a monarch.