Chapter 358 Trash becomes treasure, all thanks to my brother's support! I want to be the savior! God bless my Great Chu!
Irresistible profit?
Yuan Shao rolled his eyes a few times and had vaguely guessed what Ju Su meant.

"The reason why the eldest and third sons have been fighting overtly and covertly, and have been killing each other for so many years, is nothing more than fighting for the throne."

"Now the Third Young Master disobeyed the King's orders and fled to Nanpi to gather troops and take charge of his own affairs. It is known to everyone that he has a rift with the King and his son."

"I think that the king can announce the abolition of the third son's title of crown prince, and then promise to make the eldest son the crown prince after defeating Liu Bei."

"In this way, the eldest son will get what he has always dreamed of. Are you still worried that he will not return to Wei and help the king to defeat Liu Bei and turn the tide?"

Ju Su told his plan.

At the same time, he no longer cared about Yuan Shao's face and directly pointed out the fact that Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang were competing for the throne.

Zhang He and other people in Hebei were secretly surprised and looked at Ju Su in disbelief.

You, Ju Su, are from the Hebei faction, and you actually suggested that Yuan Shao make Yuan Tan the crown prince?

If Yuan Shao goes west in the future and Yuan Tan becomes the King of Wei, do you think he will be grateful for what you did today?

will not.

Not only would he not be grateful, but under the instigation of people from Ruyang like Guo Tu, he would settle scores later and liquidate all those members of the Hebei faction who once supported Yuan Shang.

For the sake of the overall interests of the Wei State and the foundation of the Yuan family, can you, Ju Su, be so impartial that you would sacrifice your own future and life, and even disregard the lives of us people in Hebei?

Zhang He and the others looked at each other, all of them revealing displeasure on their faces.

Yuan Shao was suddenly enlightened and was ecstatic:

"Okay, okay, I think you can see through people's hearts and understand that kid's thoughts thoroughly."

"Then I will follow your plan. I will depose Yuan Shang from the position of Crown Prince and send people to the Chu camp to lure Yuan Tan back to Wei with the title of Crown Prince!"

Ju Su breathed a sigh of relief.

When he looked at Yuan Shao again, a hint of relief rekindled in his eyes.

In a trance, he seemed to see again Yuan Benchu, the man who had fought with Gongsun Zan for Hebei and was receptive to advice and had extraordinary magnanimity.

At this time, Yuan Shao seemed to have regained some of the spirit of a wise leader, which made him see hope for Wei's turnaround.

"Your Majesty, this plan is indeed a brilliant plan to turn defeat into victory and change the situation."

"But the eldest son was captured by Liu Bei once, and now he has surrendered to Liu Bei. Even if he returns to Wei, these two stains cannot be washed away."

"If the king really makes the eldest son the crown prince, I'm afraid it will be difficult to convince the people."

However, Zhang He started to stir up trouble again, and tried hard to emphasize the stain of Yuan Tan's "kneeling to Liu Bei twice".

After all, he is not as selfless as Ju Shou. Ju Shou can ignore his own future and destiny for the overall situation, but he can't do that.

He couldn't just watch Yuan Tan take power while he sat there waiting to die.

Being reminded by him like this, Yuan Shao's heart trembled slightly, the smile on his face gradually disappeared, and his brows furrowed again.

Although Zhang He's reminder was mostly out of selfish motives, it is an indisputable fact.

Is a man who knelt twice before Liu Bei worthy of being the crown prince and the king of Wei in the future?

If that day really comes, wouldn't it become a laughing stock to the whole world?
"The eldest son does have a stain that cannot be washed away. In fact, this plan of mine is just a temporary measure, just to induce the eldest son to defect."

"As for who will be the crown prince in the future, I think that only the second son is worthy of being the crown prince of our Great Wei!"

Ju Su suddenly spoke again and offered an unexpected proposal.

He was actually recommending Yuan Xi as the crown prince!

Zhang He and others were stunned at first, then surprise welled up in their eyes.

Although Yuan Xi and Yuan Tan were born of the same mother, Yuan Xi was disliked by Yuan Shao because of his mediocrity and cowardice. He was neither favored by the Ruying faction nor supported by Hebei.

This also means that if Yuan Xi takes the throne of King of Wei in the future, he can at least guarantee that he will not carry out a post-autumn purge against the Hebei faction.

In a sense, it was more beneficial for them to have Yuan Xi as the King of Wei than for Yuan Shang to be the King of Wei.

After all, compared to Shen Pei and Wen Chou, although they were also from the Hebei faction, they chose Yuan Shao over Yuan Shang.

Even if Yuan Tan did not succeed to the throne, if Yuan Shang ascended the throne again in the future, would he not deal with them?

After weighing the pros and cons, Yuan Xi is indeed the best candidate for the crown prince of Wei.

"The Second Young Master is loyal, filial, benevolent and righteous. He is indeed capable of shouldering the heavy responsibility."

"I also think that the Second Young Master can be the Crown Prince of the Great Wei!"

Zhang He quickly weighed the pros and cons and immediately stood up to support Ju Su.

Yuan Shao calmed down completely. He stroked his beard and thought silently. The image of his second son gradually emerged in his mind.

In a trance, he actually found that he could not remember Yuan Xi's appearance very clearly.

This is no wonder, as his focus is usually on the eldest and the third oldest. Most of the time, the second oldest is like air in his eyes.

It's just that the second brother is weak in character and mediocre in ability, which is not like him at all.

He had no interest in such an ordinary son, even if he was his own flesh and blood.

But at this critical juncture when the eldest brother was afraid of death and surrendered to Liu, and the third brother was rebellious and unfilial with his own troops, Yuan Shao suddenly found that the second brother had become much more pleasing to his eyes after Ju Su and the others mentioned it.

"You are right. Now it seems that Xianyi is mature and steady, which is most like me."

"Among all the sons, he is indeed the only one who is worthy of being the crown prince of the Great Wei, and is capable of protecting the foundation that I have worked so hard to create."

Yuan Shao nodded repeatedly, his words full of appreciation and praise.

As for Yuan Xi's shortcomings of weakness and mediocrity, now in his mouth, they have become the advantages of maturity and steadiness.

Seeing that Yuan Shao had adopted his suggestion, Ju Su breathed a sigh of relief, but then he said:
"After all, the Third Young Master still has 40,000 soldiers and horses under his command, and he has many supporters standing behind him. If he knew that the King had deprived him of his title as Crown Prince, I'm afraid he would get angry and cause trouble."

"I think that the king can first send an envoy to Nanpi secretly to deceive the third prince and make him think that the king's removal of his title as the crown prince is only a temporary measure to reassure him."

Yuan Shao no longer had any temper, and could only wave his hands and sigh:

"Forget it, everything is up to you, everything is up to you..."

South of Yecheng is Wucheng.

The big flag with the word "Chu" on it has been raised over the last small town south of Yecheng.

On Wangnan Avenue, an endless stream of Chu army soldiers were coming from the south and marching north into the city.

After resting for a few days in Dangyin City, the 170,000 Chu soldiers continued to march north, heading straight for Ye City.

At nightfall, in a tent outside the city.

Yuan Tan already had Yuan Shao's handwritten letter in his hand. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly with excitement, and his eyes were filled with uncontrollable ecstasy.

Guo Tu and Cen Bi, two trusted advisers and generals, looked at Yuan Tan's ecstatic expression and made secret guesses in their hearts.

"Sir, what on earth is written in this letter that makes you so happy?"

Guo Tu couldn't help but ask.

"See for yourselves!"

Yuan Tan pretended to remain calm and lazily handed the secret letter to Guo Tu.

Guo Tu couldn't wait to take it, and after just a few glances, his face was instantly filled with joy.

That was Yuan Shao's handwritten letter.

In the letter, Yuan Shao denounced Yuan Shang's disloyalty and unfilial behavior, claiming that he finally saw his true face. He only regretted that he had favored Yuan Shang and raised an ungrateful person.

Yuan Shao made it clear in the letter that only Yuan Tan could inherit the Yuan Wei foundation.

As long as you, Yuan Tan, can return to his side and help him defeat Liu Bei's army with internal and external forces, he will definitely make you the crown prince after the success.

Yuan Shao even declared bluntly that his time was running out and that after you, Yuan Tan, were made the crown prince, it wouldn't take long for you to inherit the throne!
Besides.

Yuan Shao also made it clear in the letter that those ministers who surrendered to Liu, such as Guo Tu, would not be held accountable.

If they could assist Yuan Tan and defeat the Chu army with internal and external support, they would all be regarded as meritorious ministers, and would all be given official titles and entrusted with important tasks for the country.

"Master, this... this... this is Master Tianyou!"

Guo Tu was so ecstatic that he was almost incoherent with excitement.

Yuan Tan suppressed his ecstasy and sighed:
"I didn't expect that my father would wake up at the critical moment. He finally saw through Yuan Shang's true face of viciousness and hypocrisy, and finally realized that I was the only son he could trust."

"What a pity, my father woke up too late. If he had realized it earlier, our Great Wei would not have fallen into such a predicament today."

Yuan Tan had some negative comments about Yuan Shao in his words.

"Sir, now that the king has come to his senses, it is not too late to mend the situation."

"Liu Bei has too much trust in you, and has no suspicion at all. If you raise an army and start a rebellion, you will surely succeed."

"Then we will cooperate with the king and attack from both inside and outside. We will surely defeat the Chu army in one fell swoop and drive Liu Bei out of Hebei."

"At that time, you will be the savior who saves the Wei Dynasty from danger, and all the previous stains will be washed away!"

"Your Majesty, your time is running out. It won't take long for you to inherit the throne and rule over Wei."

"Then you can turn around and deal with the Third Young Master. With your power, reputation and strategy, it will be easy for you to destroy the Third Young Master and the rebels like Shen Pei!"

Guo Tu was so excited that he outlined a beautiful blueprint for Yuan Tan with spit.

"boom!"

Yuan Tan slammed his fist on the table, jumped up, and laughed wildly:
"I never thought that I, Yuan Tan, would have a chance to turn bad times into good times!"

"Just as you said, report back to my father immediately. I am willing to be his heir, raise an army and help my father defeat Liu Bei and turn the tide!"

"I want to be the savior of Wei!"

...

Inside the Wucheng Mansion.

The same piece of information on silk was also placed on Liu Bei's desk.

Yuan Shao regained power, but Yuan Shang refused to hand over the power and fled to Nanpi with 40,000 soldiers. Yuan Shao was left with less than 50,000 soldiers...

"Jinglue, just as you expected, Yuan Shao and his son really turned against each other!"

"There are less than 50,000 soldiers and horses left in Yecheng now!"

Liu Bei looked delighted and amazed. He held up the intelligence in his hand and showed it to his ministers.

The hall was immediately in an uproar.

"That old villain Yuan Shao and his son-in-law have turned against each other. God bless our Great Chu!"

"My king, what are we waiting for? Let's destroy Yecheng immediately and capture Yuan Shao alive!"

Zhang Fei was the first to jump up and shouted excitedly.

All the generals were filled with fighting spirit and stood up to challenge each other.

Liu Bei was filled with passion and turned to Xiao Fang, wanting to ask for his opinion.

But at this moment, Xiao Fang had a calm expression. He was flipping through another inconspicuous piece of information in his hand, but there was a hint of doubt in his eyes.

"Jinglue, is there anything unusual?"

Liu Bei noticed something and immediately calmed down.

"The Yuan family's father and son turned against each other, which was expected, but..."

Xiao Fang raised the silk book in his hand and changed the subject:
"But our spies have reported that Yuan Shao went to Guo Tu's house in person two days ago to comfort his family."

"Don't you think this matter is extremely suspicious?"

(End of this chapter)