Chapter 458: East and West Echo
Ganquan East Township, Baie Valley.

It was drizzling outside the building in the early morning. Black Bear lay on his side with his eyes squinting. He could hear the noise of the rushing torrent of the mountain stream a hundred and twenty steps away from the building.

When you come to the river, it's okay to pitch a tent, have a meal and take a nap.

Over a longer period of time, the noise of the rushing river will become very irritating.

Zhen Mi curled up in his left arm, her cheek resting on her elbow, still sleeping soundly.

Soon the sound of a rooster crowing was heard, and he gently pulled out his arm and placed a soft, fluffy velvet pillow under Zhen Mi's cheek.

He turned and walked down from the warm kang, waving at his robe on the hanger.

The robe that Bai Fali had washed disappeared and immediately appeared in his hand. He put it on his shoulders and walked out of the dormitory, gently closing the wooden door.

In the study, he picked up Liu Bei's letter and read it again.

The good things Cao Cao did in Qingzhou scared too many people, even Liu Bei was shocked and angry.

Therefore, Liu Bei proposed to immediately form an allied force with Hebei to attack Cao Cao. If Yuan Shang did not agree, he would attack Hebei.

We cannot allow Hebei to suffer such a tragedy.

At the end of the Han Dynasty, Liangzhou and Bingzhou were already devastated, and Guanzhong was also in a state of decline.

To this day, Xuzhou, which had experienced the turmoil of millions of Yellow Turbans in Qingxu and two massacres by Cao Cao, is more vibrant than the two states of Yan and Yu in the Central Plains.

It is conceivable how much damage the two states of Yan and Yu suffered in the twenty years since the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

Now Qingzhou, the most powerful of all Yanyu, Qingzhou and Xuzhou, is being harmed by Cao Cao. In the end, Xuzhou and Jizhou will not be able to escape either.

Cao's army has already adapted to this method of extermination and invasion from the root. In future foreign wars, Cao's army will be unable to correct this trend.

Therefore, there is a high probability that the Yuan family can be forced to surrender, thus achieving unification in the northern situation.

Under this situation, Cao Cao will be forced to stop the current crazy killing.

Liu Bei's goal was to save people and prevent Cao Cao from committing greater evil.

But Black Bear felt more and more that Cao Cao and he had a tacit understanding, and even wanted to send a reliable person to Qingzhou to bring some snacks to Cao Cao.

After this round of destruction by Cao Cao, Qingzhou must have been very smooth and silky.

I suddenly thought of a word: Run.

Any slightly larger particles in Qingzhou were crushed by Cao Cao and absorbed as nutrients for his own body.

Qingzhou is as viscous and silky as motor oil. After taking it over, can't we manage it however we want?

If Cao Cao could fight with Hebei, severely damage, defeat, and wipe out most of the big families and powerful people in Hebei... it would be really wonderful.

He didn't need to do anything dirty. He just needed to send out an army of justice to repel the ferocious Cao army as the people of Hebei eagerly expected... As long as he thought of this, he wanted to give Cao Cao a medal.

After thinking about it, he picked up Liu Bei's letter and read it again.

I always feel that this is Liu Bei's attitude, and also the attitude of the local tyrants and people in Youzhou and some of Jizhou.

But what would Yuan Shang think?
Black Bear raised his eyebrows and looked towards Yecheng in the east. Perhaps Yuan Shang had already made a decision and the envoy was on the way.

Liu Bei wants to form an alliance to attack Cao Cao, so does Yuan Shang want to join?
Anyway, as far as the current situation is concerned, we are still allies with Yuan Shang.

When Liu Bei entered Youzhou, due to various factors, Yuan Xi refrained from attacking and recognized Liu Bei's superficial control over the six counties of Youzhou.

Since Yuan Xi did not start a war, there is no talk of a broken alliance.

It’s just that there are currently major differences in interests, and the envoys of the two sides are visiting each other less frequently.

Therefore, there were no conflicts between the border counties of both sides. They were all relaxed on the outside and tight on the inside, and they were on guard and cautious against each other. At this moment, Yuan Shang, who had not slept all night, was playing with war chess. These were small figurines made of pottery, including chariots, various types of infantry, tower ships, and other model figurines.

This was a gift given to him after being fired in Guanzhong and painted with colored clay.

Yuan Shang was quite fond of this unique and practical little gift, so he kept it with him for daily use.

The situation for Hebei is now deteriorating too quickly. Cao Cao's ruthless and brutal fighting style that leaves no room for retreat is really too extreme.

As long as Cao Cao gains a foothold in Qingzhou, Hebei will no longer be able to contend with him.

Given the current delicate relationship between Hebei and Guanzhong, don't expect any timely reinforcements.

Probably only when Yecheng was about to fall and Hebei's elite troops were completely killed, reinforcements from Guanzhong and Youzhou would appear near Yecheng.

Strategically speaking, Hebei is already lagging behind Guanzhong, Cao Cao and the southeastern court in terms of system.

Guanzhong and Cao Cao both annexed and eliminated the internal powerful people. There were no hidden dangers of constraints and all resources could be mobilized.

Although the scholars in Hebei were united, this unity had its limits. It was impossible for them to transform their families into their country and their country into their families like Guanzhong and Cao Cao did.

As long as these two forces go to war with other countries, it will be a total war among the pre-Qin countries.

There is also the Southeastern Court, which enjoys a special sense of justice. Although all of its subordinates are officers, small warlords, and powerful families, under the special call of the Han court, the Southeastern Court can instead drive these officers, officers, and powerful people to fight to the death.

As for Hebei, it must always consider the interests of the powerful.

Because the powerful people occupy different geographical locations, they cannot fight together once a full-scale war breaks out.

It is impossible to mobilize all internal resources. Even if it is to resist the brutal Cao army, the different regional interests of the powerful and wealthy families will lead to deviations and interference in resource mobilization.

Even if they are willing to fight to the death with Cao's army, if family assets are involved, it will affect the execution ability of the Hebei army.

It is precisely because of this huge internal gap that the motivation of low-level powerful people to engage in multi-faceted speculation will be increased, and these people may wait for opportunities to cause trouble.

In short, Hebei has the manpower and material resources to resist Cao's army; but the resources are not concentrated, and the positions of the civil and military officials within the province are different, which may lead to a repeat of the Battle of Guandu.

Therefore, we must not wait for Cao's army to invade actively, we must launch an attack in advance.

As long as we fight outward, the power of the powerful can be mobilized together without being disturbed by assets.

But it is not difficult to raise an army to attack Cao Cao. This is a just act that conforms to internal and external calls.

But when your front line is at a stalemate, will Guanzhong or Liu Bei take the opportunity to blackmail and attack Hebei?
Yuan Shang would rather lose everything than accept blackmail.

Just when Yuan Shang was in trouble, the chief clerk Li Fu came quickly with a letter: "Mingsir, the reply from Zhenbei has arrived."

Yuan Shang immediately reached out to take it. He picked up the secret letter without caring about anything else and just knocked it hard on the corner of the table several times. After breaking the mud seal, Yuan Shang picked up the folded silk book inside.

Holding the book in his hands, he read it, and his eyes suddenly lit up: "Lord Xuande really hates evil. If we can join forces with Lord Xuande to attack Cao Cao, the Grand Marshal will not make things difficult for our army."

Yuan Shang handed Li Fu a silk book with more than 200 words and asked, "Who is suitable to be sent as an envoy to Guanzhong?"

Li Fu spread out the silk book with both hands and read it, then he answered carefully: "Ju Hu has a good relationship with the Grand Marshal, so Ju Hu can still be the chief envoy."

"You go and talk to Ju Hu, and I'll go to pay a visit to Lord Zhengnan."

After Yuan Shang finished speaking, he reached out to grab his sword from the wooden cabinet and sword rack. Without giving Li Fu a chance to speak, he left in a hurry, hanging up the sword as he walked.

As for the consequences of Liu Bei forming an alliance with himself to attack the enemy without authorization?

What does this have to do with Yuan Shang?

(End of this chapter)