Chapter 223: Four Directions and Six Roads
In the western suburbs of Yecheng, Yuan Shang rode his horse to hunt.

A dozen riders spread out from both wings, howling in strange voices and waving their lances with long triangular flags hanging on them, scaring the deer.

Yuan Shang united with his horse, drawing his bow and shooting arrows from time to time.

When all the arrows were shot, Yuan Shang reined in his horse and looked back to see two deer that were badly injured and could hardly move, while two deer were still running with arrows stuck in them.

Feeling very refreshed, he raised his hand and threw the bow to the chief clerk Li Fu. Li Fu caught the bow and pulled the reins hard, controlling his horse and following Yuan Shang towards the curtain.

There are three layers of curtains here, using yellow curtains.

In front of the curtain, Shen Pei and Feng Ji came forward to greet him. Yuan Shang jumped off his horse and turned back to ask, "Bring some hot soup."

After hearing this, Li Fu immediately went to pass on the order, and Yuan Shang stepped into the curtain.

This was the first hunt after the mourning period ended, and Yuan Shang was in a very good mood. Seeing Feng Ji smiling, he asked, "Why are you so happy, sir?"

Feng Ji handed over a wooden casket and said, "My lord, Cao Cao has reduced the siege of Liyang."

Yuan Shang picked it up and examined it, and saw that Zhang Liao and Xu Huang's troops were retreating back to the south bank.

He couldn't help but frowned: "He reacted quickly. I was thinking of joining forces with Black Bear to persuade the two generals to surrender."

Now, only Le Jin, Zhang Xiu, Li Dian and Cheng Yu were left in Liyang. Yuan Shang asked, "Is it possible to persuade Zhang Xiu to surrender?"

"If Hei Zhenbei comes forward and sends Zhang Xiu's Liangzhou folks to lobby, there may be some possibility."

Feng Ji, who was in charge of intelligence, followed Yuan Shang and said as he walked, "Zhang Xiu has never had any contact with Hebei, so it is difficult to trust him."

"Since we have no friendship, we cannot make enemies. I have repeatedly stated that I hope Black Bear can persuade Zhang Liao and Xu Huang to surrender. I don't know if the retreat of these two generals has aroused Cao Cao's suspicion."

Yuan Shang nodded and couldn't help laughing while speaking: "No matter whether we can persuade them to surrender or not, in the end, if Cao Cao withdraws the two generals, Hebei will benefit."

As they were talking, they walked into the center of the curtain. After Yuan Shang sat down, Shen Pei handed over a stack of silk books: "My lord, this is Liu Xuande's three-pronged strategy to attack Cao Cao."

The silk book was spread out on Yuan Shang's desk, and Yuan Shang was reading with lowered brows.

Liu Bei planned to instigate Chang Xi in Xuzhou to rise up in arms, and then send troops from Hebei and Nanyang to harass Cao Cao and divide his forces, making it difficult for Cao Cao to concentrate his forces to attack Chang Xi.

As long as Chang Xi can stand firm, Zang Ba, who is neutral and watching, may rise up at any time.

After reading it, Yuan Shang laughed and said, "This is not a three-sided attack, it should be four-sided and six-pronged."

Shen Pei nodded and said, "Yes, given Hei Zhenbei's character, he will definitely send a small army to invade Luoyang in the spring. If there is an opportunity, he will definitely lead his elite troops to reinforce. I think that 30,000 Cao troops can be divided along this route."

"Thirty thousand Cao troops, neither too much nor too little, just right."

Yuan Shang also agreed with this inference. At this time, Feng Ji brought a roll of cowhide map and spread it on the table.

Yuan Shang raised his hand and pointed at Luoyang: "30,000. If Cao's army has more, it is very likely to attract black bears."

He could already imagine Cao Cao's predicament. The number of troops sent was large, and Black Bear would most likely lead the troops himself.

These 30,000 troops could barely fill the Luoyang front, and that was after abandoning the remaining defense lines behind the western passes such as Dagu Pass and Xiaopingjin Pass and the barriers.

Luoyang City is so big that without 20,000 troops, you can't even fill the city walls.

The city of Luoyang alone requires 20,000 defenders; troops must be stationed in Luoyang City, Hulao Pass in the east, and Yique Pass in the south.

The county towns between Guancheng and Luoyang City can be lost, but a few Guancheng and Luoyang City must be defended to the death.

Otherwise, with Black Bear's way of deploying troops, he would have left Gan Ning to besiege Luoyang, while he would have personally led the main force to plunder the Central Plains.

So even if Liu Bei did not inform Black Bear in advance of the siege plan organized this time, Black Bear was not prepared to send troops... But you, Cao Cao, dare to take the risk?

Even without doing anything, the black bear can still tie down 30,000 Cao troops.

And now, how much can Cao's army mobilize to its full potential in defense?
Cao's army will definitely not defend its defense lines like eggshells. Luoyang must be defended, so the 30,000 Cao's troops here must also be nailed down.

Unlike Cao’s army on other defense lines, it can fight in a mobile manner.

If Black Bear can hold back 30,000 troops, then Nanyang can at least hold back 30,000 troops; if Chang Xi raises his army, he can at least hold back 10,000 troops, and also allow Zang Ba and others to remain neutral and watch.

These are the three routes, with 70,000 to 80,000 Cao troops, including the neutral Zang Ba, a little over 100,000 Cao troops are stuck in these defense lines.

How many defenders and mobile forces are left on Cao Cao’s last line of defense along the Yellow River?

Yuan Shang estimated that the total number of defenders and mobile forces was no more than 50,000, of which only 30,000 were mobile forces, which were also the only fire brigade in the entire system.

Feng Ji pulled Hu Chuang over and sat on the side to observe the map. He also understood what the four directions and six routes meant.

The four sides refer to one's own side, Guanzhong, Nanyang and Xuzhou, and the six routes are the six directions in which troops are deployed.

Xuzhou, Wankou and Luoyang are three routes, and the other three routes will be launched from Hebei.

The battle was centered around the Liyang battlefield. The eastern front was naturally about recovering Qingzhou County on the south bank of the Yellow River and competing with Cao Cao for the independent forces in Qingzhou. The western front was even simpler, taking back half of Henei County that Cao Cao had occupied.

As long as Black Bear sends troops to Luoyang, Cao's army will be unable to defend Henei.

Taihang Mountains is the skull of Yecheng, and Henei County is part of the skull.

After losing half of Henei, Cao's army could attack Liyang by both land and sea.

If we retake Hanoi, it will be more difficult for Cao's army to attack Liyang in the future.

Yuan Shang thought about the scale of the troops to be deployed in all directions, and then looked at Shen Pei who was silent and said, "Mr. Zhengnan, when Liu Xuande raises his army next year, should our army withdraw while we are ahead?"

"Yes, Hebei cannot afford a defeat." Shen Pei glanced at the map and said to Yuan Shang, "I am only concerned about Liu Xuande taking over the Central Plains in one battle."

Even if the Black Bear was unintentional or unwilling, the situation could still pin down Cao's 30,000 troops in Luoyang.

This is not only an opportunity for Hebei, but also an opportunity for Liu Bei.

Liu Bei attacked Xu Du and rescued the emperor and the court. As for the Central Plains armies killing the surrendered troops in Hebei, the generals in the Central Plains had no better choice. They could only continue to serve as generals of the Xu Du court and continue to obey Liu Bei's orders.

Xu Du was located in Yingchuan County, and Liu Bei, the governor of Yuzhou, was similar to the Inspector of the Imperial Guards.

There was no legal obstacle for Liu Bei's soldiers to attack Xu Du and punish the treacherous officials, so there was no reputation or legal issue for the officials in the city to cooperate.

Seeing Yuan Shang remained silent, Shen Pei asked, "My lord, who is the stronger enemy, Cao Cao or Liu Xuande?"

Feng Ji beside him also reacted and said to Yuan Shang: "Black Bear killed Wang Yun's three clans and cut himself off from the world. The people of Hebei, Yan and Zhao hate him and are even more afraid. Liu Xuande's reputation for benevolence and righteousness spreads throughout the world. He is from Youzhou and has always been known for his courage to fight and not fear violence."

Seeing that Yuan Shang did not refute, Feng Ji continued, "I am afraid that the scholars of the world will be frightened of the black bear and want to use Liu Xuande to fight against the black bear."

Yuan Shang nodded slowly, his expression solemn: "I understand."

Shen Pei then said, "Si Li Xiao Wei has defected to Liu Xuande, which makes Cao Cao uneasy. I think Cao Cao will try to separate Si Li Xiao Wei and Liu Xuande. If so, Liu Xuande will not have enough stamina, and even if he instigates Chang Xi to rebel, it will be difficult for Zang Ba and his ilk to turn against him."

Feng Ji nodded in agreement after hearing this. It was not that they could not cooperate with Liu Bei at a deeper level, but that they had to weaken Liu Bei's potential and explosive power.

Yuan Tan arrived in Nanyang with 4,000 infantry and cavalry, and with a single wave of his hand he was able to throw most of Runan County into chaos.

It cannot be said that Yuan Tan was a match for ten thousand men, but Yuan Tan was indeed able to mobilize and bring together an army of more than ten thousand powerful men.

As long as Yuan Tan stayed in Nanyang, Runan would be immediately devastated when Liu Bei's troops left Wankou, and the southern defense line of Wankou would be shattered before the battle even began.

This chaos would fuel Liu Bei's public opinion offensive and increase the probability that Zang Ba's group would remain neutral or turn against the government.

There is even a chance that he can lobby and instigate the rebellion of Liu Fu, the governor of Yangzhou. If Liu Fu raises an army to attack Cao Cao, the people of Huainan will definitely support him.

The system of alternating labor service did not apply to the people of Huainan, so they had little concerns when they rose up in rebellion.

Because they were worried that the system of wrongful labor service would one day fall on them, the people of Huainan always had a desire to rebel and escape.

If Yuan Tan instigated a rebellion in Runan, and then instigated Liu Fu in Huainan, who was adjacent to Runan, to rebel, Zang Ba would naturally change his banner and lead his troops to encircle and suppress Cao Cao.

What I can see clearly here is related to the life and death of Cao's army. I believe that the court in Xudu has already begun to contact Yuan Tan.

Yuan Shang thought about and analyzed Yuan Tan's choice tendency, but he was still a little unsure.

The whole world was stirred up by the black bear. Seven thousand of them settled in Guanzhong and three thousand entered Hedong, and nearly 100,000 Huns and other miscellaneous Hu were killed.

This expansion speed and combat efficiency... In fact, everyone is familiar with it. This was the speed of war at the end of the Qin Dynasty.

Everyone has a sense of urgency, fearing that they will become the next target of war.

In order to contain and eliminate the black bear, just as Shen Pei worried, it is very likely that they would compromise with each other, complete a major merger, and choose someone like Liu Bei to fight the black bear to the death.

So it is really impossible to estimate Yuan Tan’s current emotional inclination.

Yuan Shang raised his hand and touched his chin: "Mr. Zhengnan's concerns are reasonable. If we let Black Bear go, once his base is established, he will definitely attack Hebei first."

"Yes, if he gets Hebei, he can cut off the horses from the Central Plains and Jiangdong, and enjoy the advantages of the cavalry alone, so he can easily defeat the enemy."

Shen Pei said, cupping his hands, "My Lord, we can no longer tolerate this."

"Okay, then marry him."

Yuan Shang made a decision and looked at Shen Pei solemnly: "Leave the specific matters to Mr. Zhengnan. There cannot be another Dong Zhuo or Gongsun Zan in this world. Give more women as dowry. I want him to be obsessed with women and unable to extricate himself."

The male-female population ratio in Hebei is different from that in other places, with slightly more females.

The women who marry as dowries naturally cannot be chosen from the common people. It is difficult for common girls to be stunningly beautiful, and they are difficult to control.

Commoner girls soared to the top, but they didn't care about their families who were taken hostage; they had to be chosen from scholar families, no matter if they were beautiful or intelligent, or more importantly, they had family cohesion and ambition and would not easily compromise with their new life.

Yuan Shang thought of the scholars imprisoned in prison. When his mourning period was over, he packed up and dealt with all the concubines and wives of Yuan Shao who had competed for favor with his mother Liu.

His mother had already executed her former rivals, and Yuan Shang was worried that these women's families would become resentful and join forces with Cao Cao.

So all three clans were arrested, which not only helped the mother vent her anger and eliminate the hidden dangers, but also solved Hebei’s current difficult financial problems.

As for killing scholars and confiscating their property, Yuan Shao did a lot of such things in his past.

But what level are Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, and Yuan Shang? What level is Black Bear?
There is no shortage of young ladies of marriageable age in the prisons of Yecheng now.

Select a group of people from them to fill the dowry team, and focus on training a few of them so that they can play a key role when they are put to use.

When you can't win on the battlefield or in the court, there are plenty of ways to make you fall into your trap.

Shen Pei had always had plans in this regard, but he couldn't bear it before, so he cultivated a few small seeds.

But seeing the ferocity displayed by the black bear now, it is no longer something that a few small seeds can handle. They must expand the scale and send three to five hundred dowry girls over.

Even if you don't have the chance to do it, you can still delay the other party's business.

Even if they didn't accomplish anything in the end, as long as they gave birth to some children who were related to the Hebei scholars by blood, they would have made a contribution.

(End of this chapter)