"Brother Xiansi, we haven't seen each other for a long time." Tao Shang saw Yuan Tan being escorted back by Huang Xu in the camp. He smiled and stepped forward to hold his hand and greet him sincerely.
After hearing what the potter said, Yuan Tan couldn't help but feel a sore nose and didn't know what to say.
After a long while, I heard him let out a long sigh and said: "This is the third time, the third time I have been captured alive by Brother Tao... Alas, Brother Tao is not too tired, but I am too embarrassed, so you still
Just kill me."
Tao Shang pulled Yuan Tan to sit down and poured him a glass of water to quench his thirst. He frowned and said, "What kind of words does Brother Xiansi say? What about being captured alive or not? Victory or defeat is a common thing for a military strategist. I don't want to understand those big principles."
Say more, but our friendship is like that of flesh and blood brothers. Based on this, I cannot harm your life! Do you think that I, the pottery merchant, am an unjust person?"
As soon as the words "blood brothers" were spoken, Yuan Tan's eyes couldn't help but turn red.
He sighed with emotion and said in a bitter tone: "Real brothers of flesh and blood are full of calculations and incompatible with each other. In order for his younger brother to succeed to the throne, his biological father also had to plot against someone... but you are the enemy.
Calling me a brother of flesh and blood, this thing in the world really makes people feel helpless and funny."
The pottery merchant patted him on the shoulder and said: "Some things are beyond human power. Again, as long as you agree, brother Xiansi, we brothers can ride together in the world!"
Yuan Tan clenched his fists, suddenly raised his head and said: "Yuan Shao and Yuan Shang are unkind to me, so don't blame me for being unjust to them...Brother Tao, oh, no! Prime Minister Tao, if Yuan helps you to pacify Hebei, you can
Are you willing to make me the Lord of Jizhou on behalf of the Emperor?"
"What do you mean, brother?"
Yuan Tan cupped his hands and said: "From now on, the Yuan family will look after the Prime Minister. I, Yuan Tan, vow to become the leader of the Yuan family, and also vow to become the lord of Jizhou, and get those things that should belong to me... I only have this
Conditions, I wonder if the Prime Minister will agree to it."
Tao Shang thought quietly for a while and said, "Brother, do you really only want the land of Jizhou?"
"Tan just wants to sit in Yecheng."
"Okay, then I promise you that after the matter is completed, I will go to the emperor and recommend you as a former general, lead the shepherd of Jizhou, and grant you the title of Marquis of Ye."
Yuan Tan nodded solemnly and thanked the pottery merchant for his kindness.
The pottery merchant looked at him doubtfully and said, "It's just that I don't understand what is going on right now that makes you so angry with your biological father and brother?"
Yuan Tan also knew that the pottery merchant would definitely ask about this, so he simply told him all the facts.
After listening, Tao Shang sighed and said, "If I were the elder brother, I'm afraid I would definitely act like this."
Yuan Tan smiled bitterly and did not answer the potter directly. He changed the subject and said, "I dare to ask the Prime Minister. Now that Yuan has surrendered to you, what should I do in the next step? I would like to ask the Prime Minister for advice."
"There is a one-step method that can immediately help my brother to avenge me and achieve my long-cherished wish to pacify Jizhou. It just requires my brother to make some personal sacrifices..."
Yuan Tan chuckled and said: "It's easy to say. I have been in the army for many years. Although I am not as sophisticated as the Prime Minister in using troops, when it comes to rough skin and thick flesh, I'm afraid the Prime Minister is not as good as me."
The pottery merchant smiled and nodded: "I can see it. One look at my brother's face and you can tell that he is a rough-skinned and thick-bodied person."
Yuan Tan blinked, feeling something was off in his heart.
It felt... how should I put it, as if I had been scolded by a potter.
Without further ado, the pottery merchant immediately finalized the details of the next step with Yuan Tan, and then Yuan Tan said goodbye to the pottery merchant and started taking action.
Not long after Yuan Tan left the camp, a man walked in from outside the tent.
The person coming was Zhuge Liang. He had prepared provisions for the pottery merchant some time ago. He had just arrived at the potter's side recently. Who would have thought that he would encounter such a thing as soon as he arrived at the front line?
Just now, he had obtained the tacit approval of the pottery merchant and had been eavesdropping outside the commander's tent.
Zhuge Liang looked at Yuan Tan's leaving figure and slowly said: "Teacher, the student feels that Yuan Tan is not trustworthy."
Tao Shang smiled and said: "Of course he can't be trusted. For a person who even gave up his own father for status and territory, who do you expect him to be sincere to? Why Yuan Shang plotted against him, Yuan Shao betrayed him, it's all his own
The reason I had set for myself to rebel was that when I spoke to him just now, it was already revealed in my words that Zhang was mine, but the firmness of his face and eyes remained unchanged, which showed that what he cared about was not Yuan Shao's trust at all.
, but the possibility that the Lord of Jizhou would be in his hands. Seeing that this position was getting further and further away from him, he finally couldn't bear it anymore and was ready to snatch it from his own father."
Zhuge Liang swung his feather fan and said softly: "If the teacher knows this, why do you want to cooperate with him? This person is really like a tiger or a wolf."
Tao Shang said with a smile: "It is a bit dangerous to cooperate with him, but at most he is a fox, and he is not particularly intelligent... As for tigers and wolves, metaphors on him are a bit spoiled by these small animals."
Zhuge Liang said calmly: "So, the teacher is very confident in subduing Yuan Tan?"
Tao Shang shook his head and said: "It's not that I have confidence in myself, but that the strength in my hands and his are not equal, and he is a person who is dissatisfied with his desires. Although he always tries to restrain himself on the surface, from time to time he
But his fangs are always exposed... I just need to find his exposed teeth, and then pull them out hard, even if I can hold him."
Zhuge Liang bowed his head and said: "Teacher has great foresight, and I deeply admire him."
When I was young, I heard Zhuge Liang ask again: "Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang have been decided. When will the other villages be reinforced?"
"Reinforcement?" The pottery merchant looked at him doubtfully and said: "Each department is clearly divided and each does its own thing. Why reinforce them? Send an order to the three armies to set up camp here for the time being... rest."
"Rest... rest?" Zhuge Liang stared at him dumbfounded, and then said after a while: "The situation is very good now. Teacher, instead of taking advantage of the victory to advance troops and help the friendly forces defeat the enemy, he just stayed put. What's the point?"
The potter blinked his big watery eyes: "Because I'm lazy."
"ah?"
Zhuge Liang looked at the pottery merchant intently, really not knowing how to answer this question.
This reason is really unreasonable.
This means he is my teacher.
If I were his teacher, I would kill him to the point where his father doesn't even recognize him.
…
Tao Shang and Zhou Tai defeated the strongholds of Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang respectively, but at the same time, a major crisis occurred in the main stronghold of the Chinese army where Yuan Shao was located.
Yuan Shao has been unconscious since he was hit by an arrow ambushed by Qu Yi's men. Occasionally he wakes up suddenly, but his consciousness is also vague and unclear.
While Yuan Shao was unconscious, Qu Yi launched several attacks on Yuan Shao's camp. Fortunately, Jiang Yiqu, Qian Zhao, Zhang Nan and other generals fought hard and were able to block Qu Yi's offensive.
But if the Lord continues like this, the situation in the camp will become dangerous.