Chapter 344 I can't sleep if I don't kill him! Cutting myself with a knife? God help me, I won't pretend anymore, let's fight!!

Yuan Shang's heart tightened.

Shen Pei's words really touched his heart.

Yuan Tan, his elder brother, has always been a thorn in his heart.

Even though he has now ascended the throne of King of Wei and nominally become the head of the Yuan family, Yuan Tan still has tens of thousands of troops stationed in Liyang and also holds the land of Qingzhou.

As the ruler of a country, how can you allow someone in your country to have his own army and secretly disobey you?

"Zhengnan is right. I can't sleep until I get rid of this big brother..."

Yuan Shang's eyes flashed with coldness, and then he asked:

"Then according to Zhengnan's plan, how can I get rid of my disobedient elder brother?"

Shen Pei was speechless.

He was in a hurry and wanted to show himself, so he couldn't wait to propose to eliminate Yuan Tan.

As for how to cut it off, he hadn't had time to come up with a foolproof plan.

"Well, your Majesty, your Majesty..."

Yuan Shang saw that Shen Pei had no idea, so he looked at his advisers:
"Do you have any good ideas to help me get rid of Yuan Tan, this internal threat?"

Ju Shou and Tian Feng looked at each other, both frowning slightly.

No matter how useless Yuan Tan was, he was still Yuan Shao's eldest son.

As they were from the Hebei faction, although they supported Yuan Shang's ascension to the throne, they did not intend to kill Yuan Tan.

What's more, at this time, they both didn't agree with brothers killing each other and causing trouble within the family.

The two of them had no choice but to remain silent.

"Zhongda, what about you? Don't you have any good ideas?"

Yuan Shang was slightly disappointed and had to seek advice from Sima Yi again.

Sima Yi's eyes rolled around, a gleam of light flashed in them, and he bowed:

"I believe that to eliminate the eldest son, we must use a two-pronged approach."

"First, we need to clip its wings first."

"The only people the eldest son relies on right now are Chunyu Qiong and Guo Tu. Guo Tu is a die-hard loyalist to the eldest son, so it's hard for us to take action against him. But Chunyu Qiong is different."

"Your Majesty, you can use Chunyu Qiong's sons and nephews to show your support for him. At the same time, you can appoint him as the governor of Qingzhou, and let him lead his troops to Qingzhou to take up the post in the name of regaining the lost land of Qingzhou."

"Chun Yuqiong sees that the throne of the king is secure, his sons and nephews are favored by the king, and he also covets the power of the governor of Qingzhou. He will most likely lead his army to Qingzhou to take up the post, and thus abandon the eldest son and side with the king."

"Once Chunyu Qiong leaves, he can take away half of the Liyang garrison troops and take Qingzhou from the eldest son, greatly weakening his power."

"Then the king can use the previous king's birthday as an excuse to invite him back to Yecheng to celebrate his birthday."

"If the eldest son comes back, the king can seize the opportunity to arrest him, thus eliminating the potential threat posed by the eldest son in one fell swoop."

"If the eldest son refuses to come back, the king will lead his army south to Liyang to attack him, claiming that he is unfilial."

"The eldest son only has 10,000 or 20,000 soldiers and horses at the moment, and without Qingzhou's backing, how can he resist the king's army?"

"In this case, the king can easily eliminate the eldest son by force."

"In this way, our Great Wei will be free of internal troubles, and Your Majesty will completely control the four states of Hebei. Our Great Wei will be able to unite as one and face the outside world with one heart!"

"It will be just around the corner to defeat the two thieves Liu and Cao, unify the world, and establish our Wei Dynasty!"

After hearing Sima Yi's advice, Yuan Shang gradually sat up straight, and a hint of ecstasy flashed in his cold eyes.

It was as if every word Sima Yi said opened the door to a new world for him, instantly widening his horizons.

"wonderful!"

"Zhongda's plan is truly ingenious!"

"Your plan is an open conspiracy. I'll see how my stupid elder brother will crack it!"

"Hahaha--"

Yuan Shang felt as if a thorn in his throat had been removed. He felt extremely refreshed both physically and mentally, and he even laughed out loud with excitement.

Shen Pei swallowed and glanced at Sima Yi with hostility.

Originally, the proposal to eliminate Yuan Tan was clearly proposed by himself, but Sima Yi took advantage of it and offered a specific plan to eliminate him.

Isn't this just snatching food from a dog's mouth and stealing your own credit?

"Zhengnan, what do you think of Zhongda's plan?"

However, Yuan Shang did not take Shen Pei's mood into consideration and continued to stab him with another blow.

Shen Pei was unhappy, but he couldn't show it, so he could only say:
"Zhongda's plan is indeed... indeed a good strategy to eliminate Yuan Tan, and it is... not impossible to do so."

Yuan Shang had no more worries, so he slammed the table and was about to put it into practice.

"Your Majesty, I think Sima Yi's plan is a mistake for the country!"

A stern voice, obviously containing a hint of anger, interrupted Yuan Shang.

Tian Feng couldn't bear it any longer and finally spoke.

Sima Yi frowned secretly, and his eyes instantly became like an eagle's, secretly shooting at Tian Feng.

Yuan Shang's face darkened slightly, and he asked unhappily:
"Yuan Hao, Zhongda's plan was clearly to help me maintain domestic stability, but how come you say it's a plan that will harm the country?"

Tian Feng staggered to his feet, walked to the front of the hall with his cane, and pointed to the south:
"Although the eldest son may be suspected of being arrogant, he is, after all, the king's brother!"

"Your Majesty has just ascended the throne and needs to stabilize people's hearts, but instead you kill your own brother. How will the people of Wei view Your Majesty?"

Yuan Shang was shocked and was speechless when faced with Tian Feng's questioning.

Yuan Shang had no answer and could only glance at Sima Yi.

Sima Yi wanted to refute Tian Feng, but he was afraid of his prestige in the Wei State and did not dare to confront him openly.

"Yuan Hao, you are short-sighted."

"As the saying goes, before you can resist foreign aggression, you must first stabilize the country. Your Majesty eliminated Yuan Tan in order to stabilize people's hearts."

"Otherwise, if Yuan Tan is blinded by greed and colludes with Liu Bei to fight for the throne, and invites the enemy into the house, wouldn't our Yellow River defense line be useless and easily broken by Liu Bei?"

"No matter how strong Liyang City is, what use is it?" Sima Yi did not dare to confront Tian Feng, but Shen Pei had always been at odds with Tian Feng, so he seized the opportunity to attack him.

Tian Feng was speechless and his face turned red, but he could not find any flaws in Shen Pei's words.

"Although the eldest son may be suspected of being arrogant, the troops he leads are after all the troops of our Great Wei, guarding the gateway of our Great Wei, the important city of Liyang."

"If, as Sima Yi said, Chunyu Qiong and half of the Liyang garrison troops were transferred away, there would be less than 15,000 soldiers left in Liyang."

"Such an important town, but with only so few troops. If Liu Bei takes advantage of the situation and launches a large-scale attack, how can you resist, young master?"

"Or, if your Majesty leads his army to attack the eldest son, and Liu Bei takes advantage of the situation to return and attack our Great Wei while your Majesty's brothers are at war, what should we do?"

"Have you ever thought about these consequences, Your Majesty?"

Ju Shou finally lost his patience and stood up to respond to Tian Feng and also raised an objection.

Shen Pei, however, smiled disapprovingly and said sarcastically:
"Gong Yu, you are worrying too much."

"Liu Bei has already mobilized all his troops to attack the Qin State in the west, and Cao Cao has also mobilized all his troops to defend Tongguan. The two thieves are about to face a life-and-death battle."

"This war will be a protracted one. The outcome will not be determined unless it lasts for a year or two."

"Even if Liu Bei's national strength is stronger than that of Wei, how dare he risk fighting on two fronts and divide his troops to attack Liyang at this time?"

"Besides, isn't this enough time for Your Majesty to eliminate Yuan Tan and send more troops to Liyang?"

Ju Su was speechless.

Not only Tian Feng, but also he was retorted by Shen Pei and had no way to refute for a while.

Sima Yi's mouth corners slightly raised.

Originally, he should have refuted Tian Feng and Ju Shou with these words, but Shen Pei snatched the script from him.

This was exactly what he wanted, as he didn't have to offend Tian Feng and Ju Su.

"Okay, Zhengnan is absolutely right!"

Yuan Shang's expression turned from gloomy to bright, and he waved his hand in an extremely domineering manner:

"To fight against foreign aggression, we must first stabilize the country. Yuan Tan must be eliminated."

"The big-eared thief has mobilized the whole country to attack Qin. This is a godsend opportunity for me, An Nei. How can I miss it?"

"It's settled. Follow Zhongda and Zhengnan's plan!"

Yuan Shang had made his decision. Tian Feng and Ju Su looked at each other, sighed secretly, and decided not to raise any more objections.

Beneath Sima Yi's calm expression, there flashed a barely perceptible hint of arrogance.

Shen Pei held his head high with an arrogant look, as if he was proud of the fact that he had outlasted Ju Shu and Tian Feng and had stolen the limelight in this meeting.

...

Hongnong County.

Between Guanzhong and Luoyang is a narrow strip of land, with the Yellow River to the north and the remnants of the Qinling Mountains to the south, named Hongnong County.

Shan County, Maojin Ferry.

Liu Bei and Xiao Fang stood side by side on the pier.

The setting sun was as red as blood, dyeing the rolling Yellow River a layer of vermilion.

Downstream, hundreds of warships were coming up the river, and the shouts of trackers could be heard from both sides of the river from time to time.

A fighting ship was the first to enter Jindu and approach the pier.

"I see you, Your Majesty."

"I have received the king's order and led my Qingxu navy into the Yellow River, up the river and westward to report to the king!"

Taishi Ci jumped off the boat and paid homage to Lao Liu.

Liu Bei hurriedly helped Taishi Ci up and asked with a smile:
"Ziyi, was your journey through the Pseudo-Wei smooth?"

The section of the Yellow River in Qingzhou is still under the control of the Wei State. Taishi Ci's navy will inevitably pass through the territory of the Wei State when it comes to Hongnong.

Taishi Ci smiled and said sarcastically:
"The Pseudo-Wei has no navy, how can it do anything to me?"

"Besides, they are afraid of our Great Chu, and they are eager to send us across the border like a plague god. How dare they use force against us?"

Old Liu and all the generals laughed.

"Very good, Ziyi, you have worked hard on this journey. Let the navy soldiers have a good rest for two days."

Liu Bei patted Taishi Ci's shoulder and comforted him.

Taishi Ci was filled with fighting spirit and said:
"Your Majesty, neither I nor the navy officers and soldiers are tired and do not need to rest."

"Your Majesty, please give us the order on how we want our navy to attack Qin. I and the navy will start the battle immediately!"

Liu Bei and Xiao Fang looked at each other and smiled knowingly.

Apparently Taishi Ci was stationed in Qingxu and was unaware of their overall strategy. He thought that they were transferring him and the navy to attack Qin.

Liu Bei was just about to tell him the truth.

Pang Tong came over excitedly, holding up the silk book in his hand and said:
"My king, what a pleasant surprise."

"Yuan Shang issued an edict to appoint Chunyu Qiong as the governor of Qingzhou in the pseudo-Wei Dynasty. Chunyu Qiong took half of the Liyang garrison troops and went to Qingzhou to take up the post."

"At present, Yuan Tan only has 15,000 soldiers and horses left in Liyang City."

"Your Majesty, this is God's help to Your Majesty!"

Liu Bei was overjoyed and quickly took the silk book and read it.

"Jinglue, it seems that Yuan Shang really fell for your strategy of making a feint to the east and attacking in the west!"

"Not only did he think we were really going to attack Qin, he also helped us by reducing Yuan Tan's troops!"

Liu Bei laughed out loud, his surprise was beyond words.

"Yuan Shang thinks we are going to fight Cao Cao to death, and wants to take the opportunity to eliminate Yuan Tan. In order to deal with foreign aggression, we must first stabilize the internal situation."

Xiao Fang sneered and exposed Yuan Shang's thoughts, then raised his feather fan towards Taishi Ci:
"Ziyi, since your navy doesn't need to rest, let them dock immediately and take our army eastward tonight to attack Liyang!"

Taishi Ci was confused.

(End of this chapter)