To be fair, Yuan Tan wasn't a good-for-nothing.
On the contrary, he was quite capable in battle, otherwise Yuan Shao wouldn't have sent him to lead troops.
During the three years Yuan Xi defended the city, Yuan Tan followed Yuan Shao and participated in all battles, being groomed as a leading general.
During that time, Yuan Shao was defeated by Gongsun Zan at Juma River, then counterattacked, and the two sides confronted each other in Pingyuan County. Yuan Shao's main force faced Gongsun Zan, while Yuan Shao's ally, Zang Hong, the Inspector of Qingzhou, fought against Gongsun Zan's allies, Liu Bei and Tian Kai.
Zang Hong was no match for them, so Yuan Shao appointed Yuan Tan as the commander, leading tens of thousands of troops into Pingyuan County to attack Liu Bei and Tian Kai. The two sides had their wins and losses, occupying the east and west sides of the river respectively.
At this time, Gongsun Zan was defeated by Yuan Shao at Longcou, fled back to Youzhou, and abandoned Liu Bei and Tian Kai, which foreshadowed Liu Bei's departure from Gongsun Zan.
Incidentally, it is worth mentioning that Yuan Shao's strategist at this time was Lu Zhi, the teacher of Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei, who passed away after the Battle of Longcou.
After that, Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan accepted the Han Emperor's mediation and temporarily ceased fighting on the surface, but they continued to make small moves in private.
Gongsun Zan sent Zhao Yun with Liu Bei's private soldiers to attack Beixin City, which was a treacherous move to kill with a borrowed knife after breaking with Liu Bei.
This was what happened in the three years in You, Ji, and Qing provinces.
Therefore, Yuan Tan had also experienced major battles. In Yuan Shao's mind, even if something went wrong in Beixin City, Yuan Tan could handle it with a thousand soldiers.
When Gao Lan disappeared, Yuan Tan panicked for a while, but quickly calmed down, took Xun Chen out of the city to appease the soldiers, and took control of the thousand troops.
Compared to letting Gao Lan, who had secretly defected to Yuan Shang, lead the troops, Yuan Tan felt more at ease taking command himself!
As someone who could fight Tian Kai and Liu Bei to a standstill, Yuan Tan didn't think Yuan Xi was better at leading troops than him. After all, the only achievements Yuan Xi had to show for his three years in Beixin City were the two recent, seemingly suspicious, great victories.
Moreover, Beixin City was not the main direction of Gongsun Zan's attack. It was said that Yuan Xi was quite embarrassed in the first year, forced to huddle in the city, and almost ran out of food.
In comparison, Yuan Tan was more worried about Yuan Xi's ability to win people's hearts. After all, the scene of the whole city's residents lining the streets to see Yuan Xi off when he left was quite shocking.
Yuan Tan was not convinced, thinking that his second brother might be gone for at least a few months. Wouldn't it be better for him to win a few battles with his own ability and treat the people well?
So when he heard that there were hundreds of White Horse Cavalry harassing outside the city again, he was extremely excited and immediately ordered five hundred soldiers to go out of the city, wanting to defeat them.
However, he did not expect that he was unlucky and kicked a steel plate.
Gongsun Zan was now declining, trapped in Yi Jing and unable to get out, and the number of generals he could use was decreasing. However, at this time, an unknown general left Liu Bei and returned to Gongsun Zan's side.
Before he left, Liu Bei was extremely saddened and tearfully bid him farewell, saying, "I only regret not being able to build a great cause with you."
Tian Yu, from Yuyang County, Youzhou, first joined Gongsun Zan and had been training under Liu Bei.
Liu Bei was now going to Xuzhou to rescue Tao Qian, which was equivalent to openly breaking away from Gongsun Zan. Tian Yu hesitated for a long time, but still chose not to betray his lord and returned to Gongsun Zan, who was overjoyed.
Just as Tian Yu heard that Zhao Yun had rebelled and that their side had lost many people because of him, he volunteered to lead hundreds of White Horse Cavalry to Beixin City to take revenge.
Coincidentally, Yuan Xi had just returned to Ye City, leaving Zhao Yun in charge of the city's troops, as well as Yuan Tan's thousand soldiers.
When Zhao Yun heard that Yuan Tan was going to lead troops out to attack, he rushed to the city gate and advised Yuan Tan, "General, be cautious. The White Horse Cavalry are not so easy to deal with. You need to plan carefully."
Yuan Tan sneered in his heart, 'You are a surrendered general of Gongsun Zan, of course you have to praise the White Horse Cavalry.'
Yuan Xi could kill hundreds of White Horse Cavalry with a few hundred soldiers, how strong could they be?
What Yuan Tan didn't know was that before he came, Yuan Xi had hidden most of the armor of the hundreds of fully armored soldiers.
The difference between soldiers with and without armor was too great.
He said decisively, "General Zhao, just wait for my triumphant return!"
Then he led his troops out of the city and encountered the hundreds of White Horse Cavalry brought by Tian Yu.
As soon as they fought, Yuan Tan realized that something was wrong.
Not only were the White Horse Cavalry difficult to deal with, but the opposing general was also extremely brave and his command was well-organized. The White Horse Cavalry constantly chipped away at Yuan Tan's flanks. Yuan Tan was careless and underestimated the enemy, and immediately fell into a disadvantage. Seeing that the situation was not good, he quickly ordered the troops to fight and retreat.
When Tian Yu saw this, he immediately clung to Yuan Tan, wanting to drag him to his death.
Yuan Tan struggled to support himself, watching his soldiers die and be wounded, but he could do nothing. Just as he was preparing to cut his losses, Zhao Yun rushed out with a troop of soldiers.
Tian Yu exchanged several blows with Zhao Yun, but did not linger. He called the White Horse Cavalry to retreat, and shouted, "Zhao Yun! Why did you betray General Gongsun!"
Zhao Yun stopped his horse and said loudly, "Guorang (Tian Yu), General Gongsun betrayed Lord Liu first, and even killed Changshan County officials and generals under Lord Liu!"
Tian Yu hesitated, and led the White Horse Cavalry away.
Zhao Yun escorted Yuan Tan back to the city, counted the number of people, and found that more than a hundred of the five hundred soldiers he had taken out were killed or wounded, while dozens of the opposing White Horse Cavalry had died.
Seeing Yuan Tan's gloomy face, Zhao Yun comforted him, "Tian Yu is a talented general. It is not easy for the general to preserve so much after a hasty battle."
Yuan Tan was bleeding in his heart.
What talented general, why haven't I heard of the name Tian Yu? Is this comforting me?
Moreover, I lost hundreds of soldiers in half a day, am I really not as good as my second brother?
Then what am I fighting with my third brother for!
So many aristocratic families in Ye City secretly support Yuan Shang, it's definitely not just because his mother is Madam Liu!
And what's going on with this Gongsun Zan? The two unknown generals under his command, Zhao Yun and Tian Yu, don't seem to be any worse than the great generals I've seen!
If every general under Gongsun Zan is like this, what am I fighting for?
A sense of injustice surged in his heart, he wanted to become stronger in battle, to become even stronger!
Thinking of this, Yuan Tan bowed to Zhao Yun and said, "Today, Tan was careless!"
"Please give me your advice, General, I will definitely avenge this!"
Zhao Yun responded, thinking that the Yuan family's sons were indeed not ordinary people.
Ye City.
In the city lord's mansion, there was a hall, and several people were inside. Sitting at the head was none other than Yuan Shao.
It was called the city lord's mansion because Yuan Shao's title at this time was quite awkward.
When the Shandong lords formed an alliance in Suanzao, Yuan Shao took the lead and called himself General of Chariots and Cavalry. When the other lords saw this, they followed suit.
This was called board-granted official titles, that is, granting official titles to oneself and one's subordinates privately without going through the imperial court, and then directly informing the emperor with a memorial, considering it done.
At this time, the Han Dynasty was declining, and the officials appointed to various places were mostly just for show, and were nominal, unable to take office at all.
Of course, there were exceptions, such as Liu Biao, who entered Jingzhou alone, and took office with the title of Governor of Jingzhou bestowed by the emperor.
Yuan Shao's previous official position was the Prefect of Bohai appointed by the imperial court. After calling himself General of Chariots and Cavalry, he seized Ji Province from Han Fu and appointed himself Governor of Ji Province.
Cao Cao's governorship of Yan Province came even more directly.
The "Records of the Three Kingdoms · Book of Wei 1 · Biography of Emperor Wu" records: "(Bao) Xin then went with the state official Wan Qian and others to Dong Commandery to welcome the Grand Ancestor to lead the governorship of Yan Province."
This was even more outrageous. The local aristocratic families directly supported him and helped the emperor complete the matter.
In the current situation, the succession of the governorship appointed by the imperial court has become a family inheritance from father to son and from brother to brother.
At this time, the Han Dynasty was in name only, with no deterrence. The forces in various places were like the lords of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. Who would pay attention to the Zhou Son of Heaven?
They disliked each other, and coupled with the fact that the Han court was still being held hostage by Li Jue and Guo Si, naturally there would be no good looks for Yuan Shao, who opposed Dong Zhuo, and he was always suppressed, and Yuan Shao was not given an imperial title.
Yuan Shao was handsome and dignified, and his demeanor was extremely charming, which was imitated by people at the time.
At that time, the aristocratic families valued reputation, and being good-looking was also a great bonus.
Sitting below him was a young man of seventeen or eighteen years old, but his appearance was very similar to Yuan Shao.
This was Yuan Shao's most valued third son, Yuan Shang!
Further down were several clerks and strategists.
Yuan Shao suddenly sighed, "In another two years, I will be at the age of knowing destiny."
He was born in the first year of the Benchu era (146 AD) and was forty-eight years old this year.
The strategists below said one after another, "Lord, your health is strong, you will surely live to be a hundred years old."
Yuan Shao smiled, thinking that he didn't need to live to be a hundred years old, as long as he had another twenty years, no, fifteen years, and the north could be completely pacified.
Yuan Shang cupped his hands and said, "Father is overworked and tired. Now that the eldest brother and second brother can both stand on their own and share their father's worries, it is a blessing for our Yuan family."
Yuan Shao nodded with a smile when he heard this, then shook his head slightly, "Xiansi lacks impetuosity and rashness, and Xianyi lacks integrity and rigidity, neither of which are as thoughtful as you."
Yuan Shang smiled and said, "Let's not talk about the eldest brother, the second brother is guarding Beixin City, those aristocratic families actually hoarded grain to coerce him, it is only natural for the second brother to kill them."
But he felt gloomy in his heart.
Integrity and rigidity did not seem to be a bad word.