How could she willingly stay in Hebei? What she has to do now is to go back to Xuzhou with the pottery merchant, and then work with Zhen Mi to find a way to squeeze into the Tao family's door.
Why is she staying here?
"Prime Minister, I don't want to stay here. My home is in Xuzhou."
The pottery merchant smiled and said, "Why has Xuzhou become your home again?"
Yuan Wan pouted and whispered: "Why isn't Xuzhou my home? My home in Huainan is dilapidated and gone. My father and brother have gone. Now Aunt Feng and I are the only ones who depend on each other. We just had a family."
Why did you suddenly ask me to stay in Hebei?"
Seeing Yuan Wan's aggrieved look, Tao Shang couldn't help but feel a little distressed.
He sighed and said: "Having said that, your surname is Yuan after all. Now there is no member of the Yuan family in Hebei, but your uncle's private property, land deeds, and houses are still there, and the name of the Yuan family is still written on the deeds.
...I also want to leave a root for the Yuan family to avoid being reviled by the world, but no matter what, I cannot leave Yuan Xi here. These Yuan family properties must be inherited by someone, right?"
The pottery merchant smiled and said: "I have thought about it over and over, but you are the only one who can make me trust you."
After saying these words, for some reason, Yuan Wan's heart suddenly felt warm.
In particular, the potter said that he was the person he trusted the most.
"Then I will handle Yuan's important business here. Once the important business is over, I will go back to Xuzhou immediately." Yuan Wan said to Tao Shang as if she was acting coquettishly.
The potter laughed when he heard this.
"Okay, everything is fine."
Over there, Zhen Mi also said hurriedly: "Then after I return to Zhongshan Kingdom and finish taking care of my family affairs, I will also go to Xuzhou."
The potter's eyes suddenly widened.
People go to Xuzhou because there is an aunt there...but which living ancestor are you looking for?
…
In the fifth year of Jiankang, after the Taoshang conquered Hebei except the Three Rivers and weakened the Liaodong, Xianbei, Xiongnu and other forces, they struggled to accept the surrender of the generals and soldiers, and returned to Pengcheng Kingdom in Xuzhou.
After this battle, Tao's prestige and power increased greatly. Under his rule, he ranked first in terms of population, taxation, military strength, land, and technology, becoming the new generation overlord that replaced Yuan Shao.
Although all forces were well prepared, when the news reached them, it still caused a panic among all the ministries.
Among them, the Sanliu Group in Jingzhou and Yizhou is the most important.
It's easier to say about other forces, but the Sanliu Group in Jingzhou supported Liu Qiong, the second son of the late emperor Liu Xie, while Tao Shang supported Liu Xie's eldest son Liu Xi as prime minister.
There are no two days in the sky, and there are no two emperors in the world.
In the past, when there were only Xuzhou and Yangzhou pottery merchants, the Sanliu Group was still able to rely on its many years of experience and strength to become evenly matched with the pottery merchants, and they had frequent contacts.
But now all four states in Hebei belong to pottery merchants, and more than half of the world's territory has become the territory of pottery merchants.
And he occupies key locations.
Bingzhou has strong soldiers, Jinling City has great wealth, Youzhou produces war horses in large quantities, Jizhou is the world's granary, Qingzhou is a major salt-producing province of the Han Dynasty...
As for population, let alone that.
With such strength and foundation, coupled with the eldest son who supports Liu Xie, Tao Shang has completely become the most feared existence in the hearts of the Sanliu Group.
Of course, it is also the existence that they hate the most.
After Liu Bei put down Zhang Xian's rebellion in Changsha, he immediately led his troops back to Jiangling City.
Liu Biao has also rushed back from Xiangyang to discuss the matter with Liu Bei, Jingzhou generals and others.
"Everyone." Liu Biao looked serious, with deep worry on his expression: "Tao Shang defeated Yuan Shao and his power increased greatly. Now he has sent all three armies back to Xuzhou. This man has achieved such hegemony at such a young age. He must be motivated.
Absolutely, our Jingzhou family supports the emperor, and the pottery family is fighting to the death. His next step will definitely be to plot against us, but he doesn’t know what we should do now?"
Everyone looked at me and I looked at you, and they all saw each other's panic in their eyes.
When I was young, I heard Cai Mao say: "Brother-in-law...Ming Gong, Tao Shang has pacified Hebei. His power has greatly increased and his strength is at its peak. I believe that after a period of rest, he will definitely send troops to attack us! We still need to make some preparations."
“What’s so great about virtue?”
Cai Mao said: "In my opinion, it is better to send an envoy to Yizhou quickly and ask Liu Zhang to send troops out of Sichuan to assist in the defense. As the saying goes, if our Jingzhou falls, Yizhou will not be able to escape the loss of its territory."
Liu Biao did not speak, but turned to look at Liu Bei and said, "What do you mean by Xuande?"
Seeing that his opinion was not approved by Liu Biao, Cai Mao went to ask Liu Bei instead, feeling somewhat dissatisfied.
Brother-in-law, doesn’t he think highly of himself?
Liu Bei still knew how to behave as before. He first affirmed Cai Mao's strategy.
"De's words are in line with the current situation. Our army is weak and the other's army is strong. If we don't look for foreign aid, we will be in danger in the long run. However, Liu Jiyu is not naturally strong-willed. Even if he sends troops to support him, he will not send them if he thinks about it.
How many troops there are, and the Sichuan army is not as powerful as the Jinling army, and it is difficult to get out of Sichuan. If we only ask them to support us, I am afraid it may not be effective."
Liu Biao heard Liu Bei's words and said, "According to Xuande's wishes, who should we recruit for reinforcements?"
Liu Bei hurriedly said: "Cao Cao of Yanzhou is currently using Luoyang as the base to govern Guanzhong. I heard that most of the princes in Guanzhong have formed an alliance with Cao Cao through Zhong Yao. If we can get Cao Cao's help, if we join forces, we will have an alliance with the pottery merchants."
The cost of a war!"
Liu Biao listened to Liu Bei's words and lowered his head thoughtfully.
Cai Mao put forward a different opinion: "Although Xuande's words are reasonable, Cao Cao is no worse than Yuan Shao. When we first established the emperor, we also sent people to send him an imperial edict and confer him the title of emperor."
, but at that time the two Han Dynasties stood together, but Cao Cao stood in the middle and watched, ignoring both sides. Mao and Cao Cao had known each other since they were young, and they knew that this man was not an ordinary person, and he was definitely not willing to be inferior to others."
Liu Bei smiled slightly and said: "De and Cao Cao are old acquaintances. Do you know that this man is resourceful and good at judging forms?"
Cai Hao frowned: "What do you mean?"
"When Cao Cao refused to pay attention to us, it was just because he couldn't see the direction of the wind. Now that the pottery merchant has achieved dominance, his first target must be the Central Plains! Then Cao Cao will definitely bear the brunt of facing Tao
Now that we are under pressure from Shang to unite with him, we are not asking him, but he is asking us."
Cai Mao stared at Liu Bei blankly and was speechless by what he said.
At this moment, Liu Biao stood up and said, "According to Xuande's words, send people to Luoyang to form an alliance with Cao Cao!"