Chapter 450: Extremely Unwilling
Near mid-February, an unexpected snowstorm hit the vast land of Youzhou.

Guan Yu rode his Red Hare slowly, and the snow on the road was more than a foot thick.

There were still leaf spores on the branches of trees hanging down by the roadside, frozen in a thin layer of ice.

The sudden arrival of this spring snow forced the entire spring plowing in Youzhou to be postponed.

In Ji County, Liu Bei was also walking on the street. His civil and military officials were all in plain clothes, working together with the people in the city to clear the snow.

He didn't expect that after leaving his hometown for so long, he would encounter abnormally heavy snowfall after returning home.

However, spring ploughing has only just begun and many seeds have not yet sprouted. There is no disaster of heavy snow or freezing to death of crop seedlings.

Even after this heavy snow, it will be beneficial to increase production in Youzhou this year.

By the time Guan Yu entered Ji County, the snow on the main streets had been cleared and transported away.

Wei Yan was waiting at the gate. When he saw Guan Yu, he quickly walked over to him and said, "Sir, the lord has sent me to meet you."

"Wenchang, your brother's letter said that the Grand Marshal had returned from the expedition to Shu and the reward document had arrived. What exactly is it?"

Guan Yu took the initiative to dismount, led the horse and walked with Wei Yan. Wei Yan even reached out and touched Red Hare's long face, and replied: "I don't know the details, probably it has something to do with the county governors and Shu brocade."

"Sichuan Brocade?"

Guan Yu asked in return, the only feeling he had during this time of keeping Du by his side was that she lacked a set of nice clothes.

As for the county magistrate's seal, it was not that important. He was a Tinghou, and his status was already very high. He was stationed in Miyun, Yuyang County. Whether he was given the seal of Yuyang County magistrate or not, he could do what the county magistrate should do.

"It's Shu brocade, brought here by fast horses."

Wei Yan even gestured with his hand: "It's very bright and beautiful!"

Wei Yan then glanced around and whispered, "Sir, there is also a letter of engagement."

"letter of appointment?"

Guan Yu's eyes widened, then he felt relieved: "Why is my brother not happy?"

"I don't know what the lord thinks, but seeing him sighing, I dare not ask."

Wei Yan answered in a low voice, but there was not much disappointment on his face. As far as he was concerned, this should be an excellent marriage.

Guan Yu thought for a while and said, "I understand. Brother is not dissatisfied with the marriage, but feels that the Grand Marshal has successively conquered Liangzhou, Hanzhong and Shuzhong, which makes him feel like wasting time. In a few days, this feeling will be resolved. Wenchang does not need to worry."

"Yes, after hearing what you said, I suddenly understood."

Guan Yu chuckled after hearing this. Even a picky person like him couldn't find any fault with his elder brother, and there wouldn't be any problem with him either.

The only thing that can make people sad is probably each other's achievements and entrepreneurial speed.

If you compare carefully, it’s not worth being sad if you can’t beat the other person.

Rather, the most difficult thing to let go of is the mental pressure of being forced to do whatever he wants, which has caused many old brothers to lose their families.

It's not sadness, it's hard to let go.

It was like negating all the hard work and efforts in the first half of my life. Naturally, this blow was very heavy.

Soon, Guan Yu entered from the north gate and arrived at the office of the General Zhenbei in the state and went straight in.

Led by Wei Yan, they went straight into the backyard and saw Liu Bei, who was standing alone in a daze after sweeping the snow.

"Big brother?"

Guan Yu called out, but Liu Bei did not respond, so he took off his cloak and handed it to Wei Yan, then stepped forward and called out again: "Brother?" "It's Yunchang who is back, how about the snow in the dense clouds?"

"It also covers the mountains and fields, just like here."

Guan Yu answered and walked to the fire pit on the side. He sat down and fiddled with the charcoal fire.

Liu Bei also moved a chair over and said, "I don't know what happened to Shanggu. Yide is in Shanggu, and I'm afraid Wuhuan will ask him for help again."

Guan Yu put down the fire stick, did not respond, and remained silent.

Liu Bei was silent for a moment before he said, "I often wonder what it would have been like if you and I had led our troops through the Wuguan Pass to enter Guanzhong before he came to Jingzhou. In fact, during several banquets with Liu Jingsheng, he also made such a proposal, willing to provide me with troops, money and food so that I could cut off Cao Mengde's arm."

"At that time, Yuan Benchu ​​was still alive, and I also wanted to compete with Cao Mengde for Xudu. So I hid in Nanyang and missed the opportunity in vain. Now when I think about it, I feel a lot of emotion."

Liu Bei sighed again after he finished speaking: "It was still in Shuzhong. Liu Jingsheng and Liu Jiyu were at odds and wanted to drive me to Shuzhong, but I refused. Who could have thought that in such a huge Shuzhong base, the officials and people of Shuzhong and the soldiers of Dongzhou would be so incompatible that they even had to compete to welcome foreign enemies for help. This allowed the Grand Marshal to seize a million households in Yizhou without any effort."

Even Sun Quan of Jiangdong back then, looking back now, was just an empty figure with nothing in sight, who was easily sold out by his own officers.

From Liu Bei's perspective, when he retreated into Jingzhou, he could encounter a surprise and open a big gift box by just touching any direction, including the northwest, southwest, or southeast.

Unexpectedly, he upheld morality and was determined to fight Cao Cao to the death, which allowed the Black Bear, who came from behind, to open the big gift boxes in the northwest and southwest.

Now he was sandwiched between Yuan Shang, Gongsun Du, the Liaodong Xianbei, and the three-county Wuhuan in a narrow strip of land covering the six counties of Youzhou.

It would be better if there were no soldiers, and everyone could just keep their heads down and live their lives.

If you want to achieve something, you will immediately feel the feeling of being surrounded and beaten.

After hearing this, Guan Yu also felt that his side had missed many good opportunities.

Perhaps taking over Xuzhou was not a good idea back then. Tian Yu was against this matter, so he left the team and returned to Youzhou on the grounds of filial piety to his mother.

Chen Qun also tried to dissuade them from doing so, but he could not resist the enthusiasm of Mi Zhu, Chen Deng and their gang.

As a result, the old brothers suffered heavy losses in the fierce battle with Yuan Shu.

If we had not been caught up in the mess of Xuzhou, with Gongsun Zan's perverse and suicidal behavior in his later years, we would definitely have been able to gain the support of the heroes of Youzhou and become the actual successor and owner of Gongsun Zan's foundation, and would have had the confidence and qualifications to compete with Yuan Shao for Hebei.

After going around in circles, we are now back to Youzhou.

Look at Gongsun Du next door. He took advantage of the long distance and the lack of the king's orders to take office alone. He relied on the power of the Han Dynasty and killed powerful families in Liaodong County like killing chickens. There was no restriction from the court. He used both pacification and suppression against the surrounding Hu and Dongyi people, and established a rich foundation from scratch. He has become a regional tyrant.

Could it be that our foundation is not as good as Gongsun Du's?

I can only say that going to Xuzhou was a huge mistake.

The Battle of Guandu severely damaged the vitality of Hebei Province, more than 100,000 young and strong men died outside, the treasury was empty, and the officials and people were exhausted.

So even if he relied on the six counties of Youzhou to regain his power and successfully annex Hebei...what would be the use?

The best opportunity has been missed. Now Youzhou and Jizhou are riddled with holes, with only their skeletons left, and beneath the skin are the maggot-like Hu people.

These various Hu and miscellaneous Hu tribes repeatedly extracted all the resources they could, and coupled with foreign enemies, Hebei had no chance to recuperate at all!
Guanzhong is a small country that can resist a large one, so it must stop and strengthen its foundation before continuing to wage war against external forces.

What about your own side?
Although it originated from Youzhou, the times then were different from today.

Even Tian Yu was no longer the honest little brother who served at one's beck and call, but a regional leader who could directly and indirectly influence three to five thousand armed forces.

So Guan Yu really didn't know how to persuade Liu Bei, so he simply kept silent and let Liu Bei adapt on his own.

(End of this chapter)