Chapter 171 East First, West Later
The next day, when Black Bear got up in the morning and was about to eat, a personal soldier came to report.

It was somewhat unexpected that I received Sun Qian's visiting card.

"Prepare an extra breakfast."

After instructing another personal soldier, Black Bear went out to meet Sun Qian.

Sun Qiandong's face turned slightly red outside the gate. When he saw Black Bear coming out, he hurriedly greeted him: "Greetings, General."

"Why did Mr. Gongyou come in such a hurry?"

The black bear stretched out his arms in invitation, and saw that the end of Sun Qian's cloak on his back was already wet by the cold dew.

He frowned and asked, "But Cao Cao invaded Nanyang?"

"I didn't come here for Nanyang."

Sun Qian stopped and turned sideways to the black bear and bowed again: "I came here for Yuan Sili. I came here at Yuan Sili's request, not at the master's request."

Seeing Sun Qian's embarrassment, Black Bear comforted him, "Sir, there is no need to be like this. Just tell me what you have to say. We are all allies. If Yuan Sili's situation can be salvaged, I will not force him into a desperate situation."

Sun Qian then breathed a sigh of relief and followed Black Bear into the dining room.

He had just taken off his cloak and sat on the couch when Black Bear ordered his personal soldiers to bring a charcoal brazier and place it in front of him.

Black Bear also took a chair and sat down opposite, stretched out his hand to warm himself by the fire and asked, "Sir, you came in such a hurry, but has Yuan Tan realized the danger?"

"Yes, Yuan Sili sent an envoy to Lantian with a blood letter, and I also learned that the general would hold a meeting with the envoys from Hebei. I dared not delay, so I came here overnight."

Sun Qian took out the blood book and handed it to Black Bear. Black Bear was too mobile and he couldn't see it whenever he wanted.

Black Bear was not surprised by his behavior. If he wanted to resolve Yuan Tan's issue, he shouldn't have kept it secret.

After receiving the blood letter, Black Bear couldn't help but frown.

This is indeed written in blood, the kind written by biting a finger, so the characters are slightly distorted and not very easy to recognize.

But he had read a lot of official documents during this period, and could recognize them at a glance, but his reading sense was not very good.

"This is Yuan Tan's one-sided statement."

Black Bear rolled up the blood letter and handed it back to Sun Qian, saying, "But he is not wrong. There is no place for him between Qin and Jin. Yuan Shang, out of consideration for his brotherly love, will not take the initiative to harm him, but he will not rescue him either. He will just sit back and watch me destroy Yuan Tan."

All ten tribes in Guanzhong were destroyed, not to mention Yuan Tan's tribe who had left their homeland.

In terms of the strength of his own army, Yuan Tan was only in the middle of the ten armies in Guanzhong; considering that Yuan Tan's men were unfamiliar with the area and lacked a base and supplies, they could actually be considered the bottom of the ten armies in Guanzhong.

Therefore, there is no doubt that we can wipe out Yuan Tan.

If you fight well, you can make money.

For example, Yuan Tan's more than 4,000 people, whether it is mining or road construction, more than 4,000 strong laborers are a considerable wealth.

The order in Guanzhong tends to be stable, and labor force is equal to productivity, which is money and grain.

Black Bear makes no secret of his views. If you want to have an open conversation, you have to make your words clear.

There is no one to monitor their words and deeds, and only when there is supervision by officials will they invent various encrypted languages ​​and industry jargons.

In the absence of supervision, officials can do whatever they want openly.

Sun Qian observed the change in Black Bear's expression and said, "Can we wait for my master's reply? Yuan Sili is still a good ally and an ally. If he is executed without any crime, it will inevitably cause a rift in the alliance."

"I can wait for Lord Xuande, but when I sign the alliance with Hebei, I will also make the matter of Yuan Tan clear. It is difficult to control Yuan Shang, so I will take care of him; if Yuan Tan refuses to follow my arrangements, I will have to eliminate this hidden danger to avoid being attacked from both sides in the future."

"Then how does the general plan to deal with Yuan Sili?"

"There are two ways. The first is to go through Shanjin and out of Yaoshan to attack Xiahou Dun who is stationed in Luoyang."

Black Bear's tone was not tough, and his expression was gentle. He was talking to Sun Qian, so there was no need to use a strong tone: "If we defeat Xiahou Dun, he will have a place to stay, and he can also be a barrier between me and Yuan Shang; if we lose, he can flee to Yecheng, or to Lord Xuande, Liu Zhennan, or even to the Xudu court, and I have no intention of interfering."

Fearing that Sun Qian might misunderstand him, Black Bear looked him in the eye and said sincerely, "I am prepared to share the lands of Hedong and Hongnong with Yuan Shang. We will not conscript officials or grain from these two counties. I will appoint county magistrates and he will appoint governors of the two counties."

Sun Qian frowned immediately, then slowly relaxed: "If this is really possible, I think my master and Liu Zhennan will also be happy."

Some concessions among the allies will benefit the entire anti-Cao alliance.

The two counties of Hedong and Hongnong have a registered population of 60,000 households, which is a considerable human resource.

If Hei Xiong and Yuan Shang could really give up the control of these 60,000 households together, the officials and soldiers on both sides would be encouraged.

It is extremely important to find a reliable ally in troubled times.

Look at Jizhou, Youzhou and Bingzhou now. In name, they are all led by Yuan Shang, but in reality, Jizhou is still fighting alone.

Yuan Xi was implicated by Xianyu Fu, and the Bingzhou soldiers on the western front followed Qian Zhao to attack Guanzhong.

Therefore, a sincere covenant can be understood as a temporary partnership.

Once this alliance is reached, all the forces from Bohai westward to Guanzhong, and then along the Wuguan Road to Nanyang and Jingzhou will be all allies against Cao.

This would have a great deterrent effect on all parties in the Central Plains and suppress the morale of Cao Cao's side.

Sun Qian also calmly pondered the influence of this sincere alliance. At least after Guanzhong and Hebei signed it, Jingzhou would feel much more at ease.

Even if Yuan Shang watched Black Bear attack and destroy Yuan Tan, it would not affect the views of Jingzhou.

After all, Yuan Tan is dead, and a dead ally is meaningless.

As long as Black Bear or Hebei does not achieve a leapfrog increase in strength, all parties are stable allies.

For the sake of overall stability, the destruction of Yuan Tan is actually a trivial matter.

Yuan Tan sought Liu Bei to rescue him because he was aware of the crisis.

As long as Black Bear and Yuan Shang do their superficial work well, no one will care about Yuan Tan's demise.

If Yuan Tan is pushed into a corner, he may surrender to Cao Cao, so don't expect Liu Bei to stand up for Yuan Tan. Sun Qian immediately asked, "What is the second arrangement, General?"

"I will give Lord Xuande some face."

Black Bear blinked his eyes. "One month is the deadline. If Lord Xuande is willing and Yuan Tan agrees, I will allow him to go to Nanyang via Guanzhong. If he doesn't leave after one month, I will lead my troops across the river and join forces with Qian Zhao to attack Yuan Tan from both sides."

Why would Black Bear’s Guanzhong soldiers need to cross the river?
If Qian Zhao and Cui Yan joined forces to cut off Yuan Tan's supplies and allowed the Southern Xiongnu to plunder, these people would be able to chop off Yuan Tan's head.

But if that happened, Yuan Shang would lose face.

The only thing we can do is to leave the finishing blow to the soldiers in Guanzhong.

Therefore, Yuan Tan's defeat is already inevitable, and now it depends on whether Liu Bei is willing to accept Yuan Tan.

If Yuan Tan doesn't want to die, he should agree.

Sun Qian thought for a moment and said, "I will send an envoy to Pingyang to ask Yuan Sili about his feelings. My master's reply will arrive in Guanzhong in half a month at the latest."

"Well, sir, get started on this as soon as possible."

When Black Bear saw his personal soldiers bringing breakfast, he said to Sun Qian, "I haven't seen you for a long time. Come with me for a simple meal today."

"That's annoying."

Sun Qian rolled up his sleeves and went outside to wash his hands first, mainly to take off his black brocade robe.

Clothes, especially outer robes, are a person's face. No one would want to wear outer robes when eating if they can wear casual clothes.

Washing clothes is a hassle. No matter how beautiful and luxurious the silk fabric is, it cannot withstand washing.

After Sun Qian changed his clothes and washed his hands, he came back to find two low tables put together and the dishes already on the table.

He first warmed his hands by the brazier before coming to his desk, where he saw a small dish of millet cake, six slices of jerky, a very small dish of sauce, a bowl of bone soup with finely chopped ginger particles floating in it, and a bowl of rice.

Out of instinct when eating, Sun Qian went to see the black bear and saw that both of them had the same configuration.

During the meal, Sun Qian asked, "I heard that Wang Zhongxuan will be digging up Mr. Cai's collection of books soon?"

"Yes, this is a great event in Guanlong. Lord Yuan Chang and I have sent a letter of invitation to the governor of Liangzhou. We will also wait for the heroes of Liangzhou to arrive before we start excavating together."

Black Bear looked at Sun Qian and said, "Sir, do you want to participate?"

Among the three major new schools of thought at the end of the Han Dynasty, the one that is about to be excavated is Cai Yong's Cai School. Sun Qian is a disciple of Zheng Xuan and the successor of Zheng School.

Lu Zhi's Lu School. Because Lu Zhi was in charge of the early campaign against the Yellow Turban Army in Jizhou, he recruited many disciples when he served as the General of the North.

After the war, most of these Lu scholars were settled in Jizhou, where they were strictly controlled by the military under the command of Huangfu Song, during which time the influence of the Taiping Dao was completely eliminated.

But then these scholars who were granted official positions for their military merits were purged by Emperor Ling, resulting in the rebellion of Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun.

Later, when the country was in chaos, Yuan Shao invited Lu Zhi to be his military advisor. A few years later, Lu Zhi died of illness, and his two adult sons also died in confusion.

It cannot be said that Lu's school of thought has died out, it can only be said that it has lost its leader.

Sun Qian nodded: "This is a great event in the world. I am close to Chang'an, how can I miss it? And the general is powerful in the Western Province, and all the powerful people in Lantian follow him. Whether I am there or not is irrelevant to the overall situation."

Even if the powerful people in Lantian were given ten times the courage, who would dare to jump out and cause trouble?
Then Sun Qian lowered his voice and asked, "General, may I ask if Lord Cai's suicide note is intact?"

"Well, Wang Zhongxuan has confirmed that the outer mound is intact and there is no sign of damage. That is why I sent a letter to Liangzhou, inviting Wei Duan to join us in the event."

Black Bear responded seriously that this matter was very important.

There is no need to use force for issues that can be resolved through culture and diplomacy.

Even everything went smoothly during this period, and the people in Guanzhong cooperated a little too proactively and eagerly.

It seems that they also tend to use diplomatic means to gain jurisdiction over Liangzhou. After all, Wei Duan is from Duling.

Black Bear also understood the thoughts of people like Zhong Yao, Wei Ji, and Liu Ye. Apart from military means, everything else was something they were familiar with and good at.

Avoiding taking Longyou by military means seems to be the bottom line for these people.

Black Bear is not in a hurry, as there will definitely be various flaws in what is achieved through negotiation.

There was no need to rush to expand the territory now. He was willing to share the nearby Hedong and Hongnong with Yuan Shang, not to mention the distant Liangzhou.

Once you take control of a place, you must protect the people there.

Therefore, there is no need to rush to expand the territory. Establishing a foothold and managing the three auxiliary areas is the most important thing.

Especially in Hedong and Hongnong, during the period of sharing between the two sides, the personnel power at the county level was in Guanzhong. If there was a fallout in the future, all they had to do was expel the county magistrate from Hebei.

The reason for letting the other party take away the management rights of the two counties was to appease Yuan Shang.

The fighting power displayed by the Tiger Fang Army is too strong, so it is normal for the allies to have concerns.

Since you want to create a buffer, make it clean and bright.

During the period of sharing the two counties, it was a good opportunity to come into contact with the Black Mountain Army.

Zhang Yan's Black Mountain Army had already fallen apart, but the influence of the Taiping Dao remained.

There is also Zhang Sheng who retreated from Hanoi to the eastern part of Hongnong. He now calls himself Zhang Baiqi. His approach is similar to that of the various leaders of the Black Mountain Army. It is possible that after establishing contact with them, he can be recruited as a peripheral subordinate.

First, manage the two counties of Hongnong and Hedong, and win over various generals such as Zhang Yan and Zhang Sheng as peripheral subordinates; the next step is to strengthen the border defenses of Xihe County, Shang County, Beidi County, and Anding County, attack the various Hu people, and hone elite cavalry.

Only after eliminating the hidden dangers on top of your head and on top of your skull can you turn around and manage Liangzhou.

Otherwise, if we try to take over Liangzhou now, the four Hexi counties alone will be a huge trouble.

Even if Wei Duan brought scholars from Liangzhou to Chang'an to discuss the merger of Guanlong, Black Bear would still oppose it.

Merging now will only further dilute the military's mobility.

(End of this chapter)