Bai Xiaowen gathered the civil and military officials in Youzhou to accept Yuan Shao's general order.
Even the Taoist priest Langyazi came uninvited and stood silently in the corner. Although a group of Youzhou officials were a little surprised by the Taoist priest's appearance, seeing that Bai Xiaowen did not chase him away, no one came to question him.
The envoy from Guandu read out the general's order. In his words, he did not praise or criticize Bai Xiaowen's capture of the four counties in Liaodong. He just mentioned it in one sentence. To deal with the newly discovered yellow scarf thieves, he sent Jiao Chu and Zhang Nan to command the troops.
Five thousand set off for the expedition.
However, the letter still reprimanded Yuan Xi, saying that he should not spread the news about the Yellow Turban Army to the city. But it was just a rebuke, and there was no substantive punishment for Yuan Xi's status. After all, he was still Yuan Shao's biological son.
"Second Young Master, these are the general's orders."
The envoy sent from Guandu still respected Bai Xiaowen.
Bai Xiaowen nodded and said: "I would like to ask your envoy to report to my father. Xi will definitely obey the military orders." After that, he ordered the guards to take the envoy to drink the horses and rest. After resting, he returned to Guandu to resume his duties.
After the Guandu envoy left, Bai Xiaowen glanced around the hall.
Yan Rou was the first to come out and said: "Young master has made great contributions in capturing the four counties of Liaodong. I didn't expect that he was taken over by the general without any reward. It is really surprising."
Zhao Rong smiled bitterly and said, "On the contrary, I was scolded by my lord because I failed to keep the information about the Yellow Turban Army secret."
Other officials in Youzhou expressed their opinions one after another. They did not dare to complain about Yuan Shao's unfair rewards and punishments, but they all felt that the second young master had been wronged.
Bai Xiaowen said calmly: "The matter has come to an end, and you don't need to defend me. Generals Jiao Chu and Zhang Nan, according to the order issued by my father, I personally ordered you two. I hope you will fight bravely and win and return home as soon as possible."
The two generals Jiao Chu and Zhang Nan looked at each other, clasped their fists and saluted: "I will not disgrace the general's orders."
Bai Xiaowen then asked Zhao Rong to be responsible for the deployment of military rations, arranged some logistical matters for the army's expedition, and waved them away.
Zhao Rong and others secretly took a look at Bai Xiaowen's calm expression, showing no expression of joy or anger, and then left one after another.
Langyazi cupped his hands and said, "Young Master has extraordinary magnanimity, and I admire him. We are about to go on an expedition. If there is any encouragement, with just one word, I will follow you."
Bai Xiaowen took a deep look at Langyazi and said with a smile: "Thank you, Taoist Master. There are many civil and military officials in Youzhou who are very resistant to Taoists. Taoist Master, please don't mind."
Lang Yazi said calmly: "I am a Taoist who only wants to deal with dragons among people. As for ordinary people, they have different Tao and do not want to work with each other."
Bai Xiaowen nodded slightly, and Lang Yazi left immediately.
Shortly after the officials in the hall left, two female generals stepped into the hall.
It was Qiao Rui and Li Shuyi who came here. One of them was originally in Guandu and the other in Jizhou. They were responsible for relaying information and liaising with Tian Yu. Now that the war was about to begin, they returned to Youzhou after arranging the affairs.
Just like Qiao Rui, in the past few days, she has teamed up with the Zhen family to develop a new trade route, from Youzhou to Guandu. The intelligence on the front line can go directly to Bai Xiaowen's desk without having to turn around halfway.
After Li Shuyi handed the letter to Tian Yu and received his support, she returned secretly.
Qiao Rui and Li Shuyi were away for a few days, and Bai Xiaowen gave them an excuse to "purchase." For the governor of Youzhou, finding an excuse to sell off fake goods for his subordinates was just a trivial matter, and there was no need to mention it.
Now, there are only five members of the White Phoenix team left in the hall.
"Okay, we have been working separately for more than four days, and the team has gathered together for the first time. If there is any situation, you can report it... Let's start with Shuyi." Bai Xiaowen said.
Li Shuyi thought for a while: "I heard that in Yuan Shao's camp, there was almost a huge quarrel about you, and Yuan Shao even smashed everything on the table."
Qiao Rui said with a smile: "I know the specific process better. General Tian Yu's letter basically stated the situation at that time... Feng Ji and Guo Tu made slanderous remarks and tried to get Yuan Shao to remove the captain.
After receiving his official position, he returned to Jizhou to support his mother. Fortunately, Jushou, the supervisor, tried to persuade them and prevented the two men from succeeding. Yuan Shao got angry and smashed him because Jushou exposed his shortcomings and mentioned the Black Mountain bandit Zhang Yan."
Bai Xiaowen nodded and said: "Feng Ji and Guo Tu, these two counselors, although they are somewhat clever, are too selfish. In the novel, these two people are one who assists the third Yuan Shang and the other who assists the eldest Yuan Tan. Although they usually do not
They all have one thing in common: they don’t want me to stand out and become an enemy.”
Li Shuyi said: "Yuan Shao's ears are too soft. He feels like he is being controlled by his advisers, without any decisiveness of a leader."
"Yuan Shao originally had this kind of character," Bai Xiaowen said. "In the novel, Guan Yu first killed his general Yan Liang, and then killed Wen Chou. At this time, Liu Bei happened to be attached to him. Yuan Shao initially listened to his advisers
He said that he was very angry with Liu Bei and wanted to push him out and behead him twice, but Liu Bei calmed him down with his words. Instead, he turned around and blamed his advisers, almost making him known as a man who harmed the virtuous."
Li Shuyi said: "Then if he treats you, a meritorious minister, in this way, isn't he afraid that the soldiers will feel cold?"
Bai Xiaowen laughed: "How many embarrassing things did Yuan Shao do? Imprisoning Tian Feng, and later imprisoning Ju Shou, I won't mention these. Just one thing: after Wen Chou was beheaded, Liu Bei said that he could write to Guan Yu
,persuade
Guan Yu surrendered and helped Yuan Shao. The result? Yan Liangwen's ugly body was still cold, but Yuan Shao was overjoyed and said: 'If he can get a long essay, he will be ten times as ugly as Yan Liangwen'. Wouldn't such words and actions chill the hearts of Hebei soldiers even more?"
Qiao Rui said: "If it weren't for this, Yuan Shao wouldn't have lost to Cao Cao if he had such a family background. This man is undefeated, and God cannot tolerate it."
Li Shuyi raised a question: "Xiaowen, after you discovered the clues about the remnants of the Yellow Turban Army, you caused a stir in the city. Why is this? Yuan Shao also said that you are not suitable to be a commander. It will be more difficult to inherit the family business in the future.
Already."
Bai Xiaowen shook his head and said: "I had no intention of Yuan Shao passing the position directly to me. Does it matter if he likes or hates my son? As for making the matter bigger, it is just to make Yuan Shao decide to send troops to suppress the thieves, so that I can
Take complete control of Youzhou."
The eyes of his teammates all lit up.
"It seems that the captain already has a plan." Qiao Rui said.
"Of course, in order to ensure the success of the plan, I specially called you back... However, I did not expect that a Taoist priest who calls himself Junior Brother Zhang Jiao will appear. At present, it seems that this Taoist priest should be on our side. If I had known better,
If this is the case, there is actually no need for you to come back so hard."
Bai Xiaowen smiled and said: "Of course, you have the advantage of coming back. You can make a lot of war contributions in the battle to annihilate Zhang Jiao!"