Dong Zhao is feeling very conflicted now.
He naturally saw clearly that the parties in the hall were restraining each other and seemed to be in harmony, but sooner or later they would turn against each other and fight.
The reason why the war has not broken out yet is because of the external enemy Li Jue and Guo Si.
Now all parties have become smart and know that internal strife will only benefit outsiders if external enemies are not eliminated, so for the time being they are still harmonious on the surface.
This was what happened to Dong Cheng, Yang Ding, Yang Feng and Han Xian before. The Baibo Army came to support and had already repelled the Liangzhou Army, but Yang Ding had an old grudge against Duan Wei who came to support, so Yang Ding falsely accused Duan Wei of rebellion. At the same time, Dong Cheng and Yang Feng attacked each other, causing factions within the emperor's convoy, and they were defeated by the Liangzhou Army that returned.
So now, in the fight for Liu Xie, Dong Cheng and Yang Ding are one faction, General Bai Bo is one faction, Cao Cao is one faction, and Lu Bu and the Youzhou coalition are one faction. None of the four parties dares to make the first move, for fear of being taken advantage of by others.
So the four parties seemed to reach a consensus tacitly, first eliminating the external enemy Liangzhou Army, and then discussing the distribution of internal interests.
Of course, Dong Zhao was 100% sure that there would be a bloody storm afterwards, and someone would start preparing to take action even before Li Jue and Guo Si were completely eliminated!
At this moment, no matter whether it is true or false, you have to take sides, or at least make your attitude clear. Otherwise, you may lose your life!
Thinking of what Yuan Xi said, that everything should be done with the preservation of one's own life as the premise, Dong Zhao stood up and said, "Minister Zhong is right. The one who sits in the center of the army must be Lord Wen."
"But how to lure Li Jue and Guo Si to attack is also a problem. After they suffered a loss last time, they have become much more cautious. It is not easy to lure them into the trap now."
Xun You heard this and said, "That's not difficult."
"Just send someone to pretend to surrender."
"Let the Liangzhou army think that they have a spy in the city, and they will surely attack without hesitation. When the time comes, we will send out our main forces and we will surely be able to destroy them."
After hearing this, all the officials praised: "This is a great plan!"
Ju Su thought that it was originally a good plan, but now it has failed. How could he talk about such a thing as false surrender in public?
Maybe a spy will tell Li Jue and Guo Si in a short time. Of course, it is also possible that Xun You said this on purpose to play the long game and hook the big fish?
But in this case, the risk of bait is very high. Who would be willing to be a fake surrenderer?
As expected, Xun You said, "The person who pretends to surrender must have a past relationship with Li Jue and Guo Si in order to lure him into the trap."
Ju Su was startled and looked at Lu Bu involuntarily. Zhang Liao was standing behind him.
Those who have old ties with the Liangzhou army are probably only Lu Bu and Zhang Liao, who are generals from Bingzhou?
After all this time, is this an attempt to weaken Lu Bu?
He knew he had to speak up, so he said, "Although feigning surrender is a good strategy, we must also be careful that the other party will take advantage of our strategy and use it against us."
"Attracting the other party is just a means. The ultimate goal is to fight a decisive battle with the other party."
"In this case, if the emperor's carriage leaves, the enemy will surely be anxious and chase after him. Only by pretending to surrender at this time can it have a miraculous effect."
After hearing this, Yang Biao said, "Your plan is brilliant."
"Attacking the Liangzhou army does not necessarily guarantee victory. If we lose again, the emperor will still be trapped in the city."
"On the contrary, if the emperor's convoy sets off early and leaves the main force behind to set up an ambush and block the enemy, they will have a greater chance of winning."
"Even if we are defeated, we will still have enough energy to escort the emperor's carriage and escape."
"If we can escape to the territory of the anti-Dong Guandong coalition, the Liangzhou army will not dare to go deep into the hinterland after a long expedition, and will have to retreat, thus relieving the siege of the emperor's carriage."
After hearing this, all the officials thought that this idea was more perfect and reliable than the previous idea of false surrender, and they could not help but praise it.
Cao Cao, however, had a gloomy face. He had originally planned to temporarily unite the four parties, take control of the power of mobilization, and wait for an opportunity to weaken the power of others, and then launch an attack suddenly to wipe them out in one fell swoop.
If I were in command of the central army, I would only need to let the Youzhou Army and the Baibo bandits fight the Liangzhou Army head-on, and then find a way to get rid of Zhang Liao, Lu Bu's subordinate. Then Lu Bu would be left alone. How could he resist me?
But unexpectedly, the strategy proposed by Xun You was easily resolved by Ju Su. The other party directly suggested that the emperor leave in his carriage and let the main force cover the rear. Was he thinking of himself as the scapegoat?
By that time, I will block Li Jue and Guo Si, and Zhao Yun will directly kidnap Liu Xie and escape. Wouldn't it be a waste of my efforts?
What's hateful is that Yang Biao also joined in. Could it be that he has already colluded with the Youzhou army in private?
Thinking of this, Cao Cao looked at Dong Cheng and winked. Dong Cheng understood and stepped forward and said, "I am responsible for escorting the emperor's carriage, but I don't know where to go?"
After hearing this, everyone started arguing about several destinations, and things returned to the starting point.
When Cao Cao saw this, he sneered in his heart. No matter where Dong Cheng went, he would lead the emperor's carriage towards Xuchang!
Because Dong Cheng had surrendered to him, although Dong Cheng was fickle, the two sides still needed to join forces before he could completely eliminate the Baibo Army, so Cao Cao was not too worried about it.
He looked at the officials arguing in the hall and sneered in his heart, "Let you jump around for a few more days. As long as Li Jue and Guo Si are defeated, his plan of several years will begin to show its strength!"
Once the remaining forces are defeated and the emperor is brought to Xuchang, it will be time for him to reshuffle the court.
When the time comes, using the emperor to command all the princes in the world will be the first step to seize the world!
Each party had their own ulterior motives, and as a day passed, there was no progress in the court. In the end, they reached a consensus to fight first and then discuss retreat if the war was not going well.
A storm is about to come in Anyi City. Those who can see the danger have already felt the huge sense of oppression. However, in Huaicheng, hundreds of miles away, the scene is completely different.
Yuan Xizheng and Zhang Yang were having a very pleasant conversation. They were not talking about military affairs, but about farming.
Zhang Yang was a warrior from Bingzhou. Although he had once been a military general, this did not seem to suit his personality, so after arriving in Henei, he started farming.
When Yuan Xi and Zhang Yang met, he had no idea that the other party actually regarded farming as a hobby. He originally thought that since he had turned Huaicheng into this state, Zhang Yang would inevitably be suspicious of him, but he did not expect that the other party did not care and just said that he had misjudged Yang Chou.
Later, Yuan Xi learned that Yang Chou had a very bad relationship with another subordinate of Zhang Yang, Sui Gu. Yang Chou's killing was exactly what Sui Gu wanted, so he said a lot of bad things about Yang Chou, saying that he brought it upon himself.
Zhang Yang was a soft-hearted person. He could tolerate his subordinates' rebellion in the past, so he didn't care much about Yuan Xi killing his subordinates.
When the two met, they were just exchanging pleasantries. Zhang Yang happened to ask why the grains sent from Youzhou a few days ago had bigger grains than those grown in Hanoi.
After hearing this, Yuan Xi answered a few words casually, because this newly harvested batch of grain was indeed better than the previous ones.
The farming methods they used were based on the theories of farming in the classics collected by Chen Deng and the agricultural books compiled by Cai Zhaoji. They made improvements in everything from sowing depth to time, from irrigation intervals to local soil conditions.
As soon as Yuan Xi opened his mouth, Zhang Yang understood that this ferocious tiger actually knew a lot about farming!
He was busy farming in Hanoi, but since there were not many nobles under his command who knew about farming, he had to rely entirely on the weather for his livelihood. When he first heard Yuan Xi's theory, he suddenly felt enlightened and kept asking Yuan Xi questions.
Yuan Xi didn't expect that Zhang Yang had such a hobby. He was still thinking about how to get closer to the other party, but he didn't expect that the breakthrough would be found from farming!
He told Zhang Yang about the possibility of developing water conservancy and intercropping rice and wheat, which shocked Zhang Yang greatly. When he was about to ask more questions, Yuan Xi changed the subject and told Zhang Yang about his own charity school in Youzhou.
Yuan Xi said: "Youzhou's grain harvest is good this year. One reason is the construction of water conservancy projects, and the other is the sufficient labor force. And one more important point is that Youzhou's charity schools have trained many officials and common people who are well-versed in agricultural books and specialize in farming."
"Under their leadership, Youzhou has made great progress in everything from farm tool manufacturing to seed breeding."
"If the governor is interested, I can send some people over to teach you the relevant knowledge."
Zhang Yang was overjoyed when he heard this and said, "Young Master, you really are a timely help!"
"If you can really send someone over here, I will definitely give them a satisfactory position!"
He then sighed, "There are many nobles in Hanoi, and many of them understand farming, but unfortunately they all look down on my background, and there are few people who are truly willing to serve me, so my current situation is quite difficult."
Yuan Xi thought that this was the benefit brought by his background. As a descendant of a prominent family, scholars naturally admired the strong families with higher backgrounds than their own, so it was relatively easy to get their support.
People like Lu Bu and Zhang Yang who came from grassroots backgrounds were despised by the scholars. Even if they surrendered, they were reluctant and their loyalty was greatly reduced.
He smiled and said, "The governor is wholeheartedly serving the people, he is much better than those hypocritical scholars, why bother with this."
The two of them were chatting happily, but Sui Gu, who was sitting next to Zhang Yang, was not in a good mood.
It is true that he has a bad relationship with Yang Chou, but this is also an internal problem of Heishan. But the fierce tiger of the Yuan family in front of him wants to destroy Heishan!
Thinking of this, he snorted coldly, "Pretending to be hypocritical!"
After hearing this, Zhang Yang quickly said to Yuan Xi: "My subordinates are honest and upright, please don't blame me, sir."
Yuan Xi looked at Sui Gu in confusion, wondering who this big black man who was like an iron tower was?
Why are they so hostile to me?
After Zhang Yang's explanation, Yuan Xi finally understood that this was Sui Gu, the former leader of Black Mountain. He, together with Yu Du and Bai Rao, were known as the Three Generals of Black Mountain. As a result, Yu Du was killed by Yuan Shao's troops, and Bai Rao was killed by Zhao Yun during a surprise attack on Beixin City. No wonder he hated him.
Yuan Xi said to Sui Gu, "I heard that the general is from Jicheng?"
Sui Gu snorted coldly, "So what?"
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Jicheng is now the seat of my Youzhou. General, is there anyone else you want me to take care of?"
Sui Gu muttered, "No need. Who knows what you are up to? They must be having a miserable time over there now!"
Yuan Xi laughed, "I don't agree with what you said, General."
"At least over there, although I can't guarantee that everyone will have enough to eat every meal, the bottom line is that they won't starve to death. Two meals a day and 70% to 80% full can still be achieved."
"Looking at the world today, I'm afraid there aren't many places that can do this, right?"
Sui Gu said disdainfully: "How is that possible? There is no evidence, anyone can brag."
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Then I will make a bet with the general."
"General, you can go and see for yourself. If what I said is false, how about I give you a city?"
Seeing Yuan Xi speak so confidently, Sui Gu did not dare to respond and only said, "You are living so well over there, why did you go to fight in Heishan?"
Yuan Xi laughed and said, "But the people who escaped from Heishan can have enough food to eat in Youzhou."
"Excuse me, but the general is just using the people of Montenegro as tools for war, right?"
"Bullshit!" Sui Gu couldn't hold it in any longer and jumped up, "I'm different from them!"
Yuan Xi nodded, "I know, otherwise the general would not have left the Black Mountain Army and followed the governor to Hanoi to farm."
Sui Gu choked and asked sullenly, "How did you know?"
A large number of Black Mountain civilians and soldiers fled to Youzhou. Yuan Xi incorporated the elite among them into the Youzhou army, from which he obtained a lot of intelligence about the Black Mountain army. Naturally, he knew the Black Mountain generals well, including Sui Gu. This man was not that bad and could still be used in the future.
The only miscalculation in the intelligence Yuan Xi collected about the Black Mountain Army was the rather mysterious Yang Feng.
Yuan Xi was very puzzled by his hatred for him and his inexplicably high martial arts skills.
Yang Feng and the leader of the Black Mountain Army have completely different styles of doing things, and it seems like they are not the same kind of people at all!