Chapter 36 Seeking Skin from a Tiger
Evening, West City.

Yuan Tan grabbed the wine cup and drank silently. From the perspective of personal rationality and the previous examples of the two Yuans fighting each other, we can draw a conclusion that the internal fight between brothers will definitely not have a good end.

But he felt that he was not much weaker than Yuan Shang, and compared with Yuan Shang's bravery, his gentle personality made him more suitable to rule Hebei.

He only felt that he suffered a loss because his mother died early. He and Yuan Xi were of similar age. After giving birth to them, Yuan Shao mourned for his mother for three years.

The Party-Faction Imprisonment storm during that period was extremely cruel. After Yuan Shao's three-year mourning period ended, he continued to mourn for another three years for his adoptive father who had died early.

He was praised for observing mourning for six consecutive years, but some scholars who were persecuted in the Party and Factions movement criticized Yuan Shao for his tactfulness.

After six years of mourning, he remarried and gave birth to Yuan Shang.

The external environments in which each of us grew up are different, and the environments in which our parents raised us are also different.

Yuan Shang grew up almost in troubled times. His strong and handsome appearance and the love of his parents made him more decisive and confident than Yuan Tan.

In Yuan Tan's eyes, this kind of character is more suitable for commanding soldiers rather than being a ruler.

Yuan Tan drank a few cups of wine and smashed the glass to the ground in anger.

Who is that Sun family member?
So what if Sun Jian was good at fighting? Didn't he still have to work hard and fight as a minion under Yuan Shu?

So what about Sun Ce? Didn't he betray Yuan Shu and plot to seize the land of Jiangdong?
This young man named Sun Qian came from a humble background, had no famous teacher, and was not even considered a descendant of Yuan's former student or official.

Why do you want to interfere in the Yuan family’s affairs?
Doesn’t Yuan Huan understand this kind of thing?

Yuan Huan was a famous scholar and capable official in China, a descendant of a nobleman, a relative of the Yuan family of Runan, and the leader of the Yuan family of the State of Chen.

Such people keep their mouths shut and do not express their opinions.

What right do you, a nobody from a poor family, have to shout like that!
On the boat, Black Bear grabbed a piece of charcoal and drew a sketch on a wooden board, barely able to draw out Cai Zhenji's eyebrows and facial features.

As the footsteps approached, he turned around and saw Xuan Liang and Liu Ye approaching with food.

He threw away the charcoal and clapped his hands, then stood up and took the bowl handed to him by Xuan Liang. The three of them sat cross-legged on the ground with their bowls and ate brown sugar and yellow rice.

Liu Ye glanced at the portrait of the girl on the wooden board and smiled: "Sir, do you also have someone you miss?"

"I happened to see her when I kidnapped Yuan Huan. She is a gentle and tough lady."

Black Bear took a bite of the sweet yellow rice and smiled: "Unexpectedly, Yuan Shang is more talented than I thought. No wonder he is supported by the people of Hebei. But he still lacks the most crucial ruthlessness. I have repeatedly reminded Yuan Benchu ​​that he will not live long, but he still refuses to take the initiative."

While Yuan Shao still has some power, we can clip Yuan Tan's wings and save Yuan Tan's life at least.

After all, Yuan Shao is only 52 years old and lives a comfortable life. Perhaps for most people in the world, it is just a disease caused by accumulated resentment, and it will not be difficult to get through it.

Yuan Shao was holding on, perhaps he believed that he could hold on, and the people around him believed it too.

Liu Ye took a bite of the yellow rice. He had eaten candy before, so he was not surprised.

After eating a few bites, Liu Ye asked, "Then, sir, are you going to leave Hebei?"

"I'm going to Yecheng. If Yuan Shang can quickly cut off Yuan Tan's wings, we still have a chance to start a business. If he hesitates, then we will leave and go to Jingnan."

I was still thinking about Zhen Mi in my mind, but I didn't know what her exact style was.

If you have the chance, you can take a look from a distance.

Humans all have similar structures.

In terms of strangeness, I was the strangest one at that time.

But this woman was also unlucky. She married Yuan Xi, who was ten years older than her, at the age of sixteen. The following year, Yuan Xi went to Youzhou, and Zhen Mi stayed in Yecheng to serve her mother-in-law, Liu.

Therefore, Zhen Mi had no children.

The difficulty of kidnapping Zhen Mi is really great.

Fortunately, Yecheng is not far from Liyang and the bank of the Yellow River. As long as they succeed, they can rush all night and reach the bank of the Yellow River from Yecheng in one night.

Once on the boat, the Hebei side could no longer catch up.

It was embarrassing to bring up such a matter for discussion. Black Bear said, "Hebei and Jingzhou have an alliance. If we cut off Yuan Tan's wings and make him go to Jingzhou, it would also be a way out for the Yuan family."

Xuan Liang felt a little inferior around Liu Ye. He just lowered his head to eat and didn't speak easily.

While eating, Liu Ye was also thinking that even if Yuan Tan's wings were not clipped, he would move to Jingzhou with his followers and might even replace Liu Biao in the future.

That day, Yuan Shang sent Yuan Huan to the dock, and Yuan Huan took a light boat out of Liyang and headed straight for Baimajin on the opposite bank.

Unfortunately, Yuan Tan stayed in the city and refused to leave, being very tolerant.

Seeing this, not only Black Bear was disappointed, but even Yuan Shang and Ju Hu were disappointed.

Yuan Shang returned directly to Yecheng, leaving Ju Hu in charge of settling Sun Qian and his followers.

The three transport ships went upstream again, sailed into Qingshuikou, and went downstream along the old course of the Yellow River, which is now the Qingshui River, and arrived at Huangze.

Huangze, as the name suggests, is a large area of ​​low-lying lakes and wetlands along the old course of the Yellow River.

This place is close to the upper reaches of Qingshui and can be replenished by the Yellow River, so the water storage capacity of Huangze is very considerable.

The transport ship sailed into Huangze, and Neihuang County had already transported a batch of tools such as sickles and axes.

"Hebei may face a severe drought this year."

Liu Ye looked out at the Huangze Lake, which seemed to have no end in sight. However, near and far, he could see men and women making reed rafts to catch fish. They were generally ragged and thin.

The Battle of Guandu broke out in the first month of the year before last, and preparations had been made for more than half a year before that. The war lasted for more than ten months, and Hebei's manpower was devoted to the war, and agricultural production declined significantly.

Last year, there was the defeat at Cangting, and Hebei’s production has not recovered much.

There is drought again this year... I guess if it doesn't rain for a long time, Yuan Shao will be so angry that he will die.

Black Bear was also speechless. The drought in Hebei was beyond his expectations. The drought in Hebei was serious, and the situation in the Central Plains was not much better.

However, the military and civilian settlements under Cao Cao's rule were stationed along the water conservancy facilities, and rice was the main crop grown. Considering the current sparse population in the Central Plains, river irrigation was enough to survive this drought year.

The Suiyang Canal was also opened, so even if there was a severe drought next year, Cao's army would still have enough food to sustain military operations.

If the drought in Hebei continues next year, it will be difficult even if Yuan Shang perfectly annexes Yuan Tan.

The transport ship sank the anchor, and several leaders organized men and women to cut reeds and tie them into reed rafts on the shore, or to use reeds to tie up thatched huts.

Ju Hu only coordinated a number of necessary tools for life, but he could not even think about food. Hei Xiong was not restricted and was even encouraged to recruit the disaster victims and refugees from Huang Ze's fishing as his troops. By turning these disaster victims into troops, they would naturally become a presentable army when the weapons were delivered.

After the two disastrous defeats at Guandu and Cangting, Hebei no longer had any middle and high-level officers with rich combat experience... and there was a lack of veteran soldiers.

The group of soldiers and sailors brought by Black Bear are less than a hundred people, but they are also a rare team of veterans in Hebei!

The spirit of the commander-in-chief will influence the veteran team, and the veteran backbone will directly influence the atmosphere of the army.

The team of armored soldiers consists of the remaining veterans of Lu Bu, Liu Bei, and Chen Deng, and they are old sailors who followed Sun Ce in his conquest of Jiangdong.

So from the very beginning, this mixed team of veterans had the resilience and tenacity of a strong army.

Yuan Shang was interested in training him and presented him with the official seal of "Captain of Henghai", which Black Bear did not refuse.

The population that Huangze Fishing can feed is limited, and there are people dying of weakness and illness all the time.

Organizing these people and improving fishing efficiency can save many lives.

The efficiency of recruitment and reorganization was not low by using accompanying soldiers and veteran sailors as team officers and squad leaders.

More than 2,000 households were reorganized in seven or eight days. Among them, only a few people were really willing to follow the fleet to live and fight in remote areas. These people accepted the reorganization just to survive better in Huangze.

If he does not take action himself, the prefect of Wei County will also take steps to reorganize and manage the system.

After more than half a month, we finally got on track.

Liu Xuanliang and Zhang Ding were in charge of fishing and hunting and assigning work, while Hei Xiong and Liu Ye set out on the journey to Yecheng.

The gold and luxurious Jiangdong silk fabrics in the cabin were loaded onto the truck, ready to be exchanged for daily necessities in Yecheng.

Such a long time has passed, Yuan Tan has not launched a revenge, and Yuan Shang has not received any accurate news. The situation has turned out to be beyond expectations.

We must go to Yecheng to observe the wind direction and evacuate Hebei if the situation is not right.

Beiye City was the area where the families of Hebei dignitaries, county governors, and their hostages lived, but the city clearly lacked vitality due to insufficient food circulation.

The men and women, civilians, and slaves walking on the streets were not walking fast, probably because they had seen too many pale-looking people. Even the official ox carts gave Black Bear a feeling of weakness and sluggishness.

The current governor of Jizhou is Yuan Shang. After Hei Xiong and Liu Ye submitted their visiting cards, they walked around the city and inquired about prices and goods.

If you want to buy a large number of tools, coarse silk, coarse cloth and grain, the best trading partner is Shen Pei.

The Shen Pei clan had tens of thousands of households, various manors scattered throughout Wei County, and a fortune of tens of thousands of gold.

In terms of wealth, Shen Pei seems to be even richer than Cao Hong.

But just as he left with the invitation, the visiting card was passed to Ju Hu.

Upon hearing the news, Ju Hu came out of the office to look for him and met him in a nearby tavern.

The wine house only provided sour wine brewed from wild fruits, and Ju Hu could not finish more than half a bowl.

He felt bitter in his heart and wanted to drink to relieve his sorrow, but he really couldn't drink the sour wine.

With a distressed look on his face, he said to Black Bear: "The general is aware of your words, and Yuan Tan has also sworn an oath repeatedly, so you can only swear to make peace with him. The general is depressed and sick, and he only has this in mind. We can't bear to force him."

"It seems that Hebei is not a place for me to stay. If I stay for too long, I will be killed."

Black Bear pursed his lips, determined to leave, and curiously asked: "What do you think, young master?"

"Since we have made an alliance with Yuan Tan, we must abide by our oath. A man cannot stand without trust, how can we change our mind overnight?"

Ju Hu sighed, "Young Master is a filial son. Otherwise, we would have taken action long ago based on our old grudges with Guo Tu and Xin Ping."

Black Bear turned his head to look at the silent Liu Ye beside him. Liu Ye understood and said resolutely: "Since the general cannot make the decision, we are grateful for your kindness in taking us in, and we will repay you before we leave."

This was also one of the plans that Black Bear and Liu Ye discussed in their spare time. Liu Ye said, "Two or three hundred people in Huangze are willing to follow my son to leave Hebei. Please do two things for me, and my son will eliminate Guo Tu and Xin Ping brothers."

"Why... specifically?"

"The first is to arrange boats in Liyang to transport 700 people, equip 500 people with weapons and armor, and a month's worth of food and fodder; in addition, more than ten horses are needed."

"The second is to invite Yuan Jizhou to hold a banquet, preferably outside the city, and then we will take action."

"It's not appropriate to hold a banquet."

Ju Hu shook his head and said, "Because of the drought in the summer, the general intends to pray for rain at the Ximen Temple. Men and women from the clan, as well as officials and subordinates are all in the procession. I just hope that Yuan Tan will not be harmed, as this will damage the reputation of my son."

There is no shortage of people in Hebei who can take action, but they have many concerns and there is also the risk of leakage.

Black Bear's gang has already proven their ability to act, whether it was kidnapping Liang Guoxiang or breaking out from the gate of Cao Cao's camp, it all proved the courage and fighting power of this group of desperadoes.

After that, Ju Hu asked back: "It's not that I question it, but this matter is of great importance. How can Master Sun ensure success?"

"I have a warrior under my command, who is as brave as Marquis Lü Wen."

Black Bear lowered his voice and said, "All we need is a fine horse and a suitable weapon. If you don't believe me, you can arrange for brave warriors to duel with him."

"What kind of weapons do you need?"

"It would be best if there was a good craftsman. He wants to participate in the forging himself. This is a strange weapon, similar to a halberd, with double blades. It is not something that ordinary people can use."

Seeing that Black Bear had made a clear request, Ju Hu said, "Well, I will go to see Lord Shen right away. There are many strong men, skilled craftsmen and fine horses in Lord Shen's manor. If you need anything, just let me know and take it. As long as you can defeat the strong men in the manor, Lord Shen will do his best to help you."

Hei Xiong and Liu Ye looked at each other. It seemed that Yuan Shao's wishful and naive behavior had completely angered the Hebei scholars.

Perhaps before this, the scholars in Hebei still had hope, thinking that Yuan Shao's heart illness would recover and heal one day.

The potential danger of Yuan Tan fighting for the throne and splitting Hebei can still be tolerated. After all, as long as Yuan Shao is alive, the potential danger will always be a hidden danger.

However, he brought the news that Cao Cao controlled the miracle doctor in the Central Plains, which almost put an end to the hopes of the Hebei scholars, and they had to face the worst situation.

Seeing that the two had no further requests, Ju Hu said, "My son was not aware of this matter. It was because Sun was worried about Yuan Tan's revenge that he started the incident to protect himself."

"exactly."

Black Bear had a smile on his face, but he secretly clenched his fists.

If I don't take the initiative, I'm afraid Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan will attack me together.

(End of this chapter)