Chapter 380 The last life-saving soldier! As long as I can survive, it doesn’t matter if I become a sinner of the Han people!
"You... What kind of trouble could happen in Youzhou?"

Yuan Shang suppressed his shock and pretended to be indifferent.

Shen Pei presented a piece of information written on silk and said in a deep voice:
"Tian Yu, Tian Chou and other members of the Tian clan in Youzhou rose up almost overnight and announced that they would surrender Youzhou to Liu Bei."

"Not only did they revolt as a clan, they also joined forces to incite powerful families from all over Youzhou to attack cities and seize land, and started a rebellion."

"Yuyang, Shanggu, Youbei and half of the counties have responded and announced that they have changed their flags and returned to Chu."

"The rest of the counties, such as Zhuo County, took a wait-and-see attitude and refused to offer food and fodder to our Yijing defense line or allocate troops."

"Sir, Youzhou is in chaos!"

Yuan Shang was terrified after hearing this. He quickly snatched the silk book from Shen Pei's hand and hurriedly unfolded it to read it.

His breathing became heavier and his face paler, and his hands, which were tightly holding the silk book, began to tremble slightly.

Jizhou and Qingzhou have been acquired by Liu Bei, and Bingzhou is owned by Yuan Xi. There is no news from Sima Yi as to whether he will send troops to help.

Now Youzhou has become the only state he can rely on.

But in this only remaining state, rebellion broke out overnight, and people betrayed Wei and surrendered to Chu everywhere?
This meant that not only would he not receive support from Youzhou in terms of manpower and food supplies, but he would also have to send part of his troops north to quell rebellions in various counties.

Then he will use his head to defend Yijing?

Without soldiers and food, can we rely on just the tens of thousands of troops we have?

"It's hateful. My father has only been dead for a few days, and rebellion has broken out in Youzhou?"

"How can we defend Yijing in this situation?"

Yuan Shang pounded the battlements with his fists, a hint of panic in his shocked and angry eyes.

"I heard that Liu Bei released Tian Feng from prison. I don't know what means he used to induce Tian Feng to surrender."

"I guess it was the traitor Tian Feng who took advantage of his friendship with the Youzhou Tian family to instigate them to rebel!"

Shen Pei speculated with gritted teeth.

Yuan Shang suddenly realized what was happening, and his face became even angrier. He cursed:
"You are such a good fellow, Tian Feng. You always pretend to be loyal and upright, but I didn't expect you to be a cowardly, disloyal and treacherous villain!"

"It would have been fine if he surrendered to the big-eared thief, but he actually helped the big-eared thief to disrupt my Youzhou. How hateful, how hateful~~"

Yuan Shang was so angry that his eyes turned bloodshot and his teeth were about to break.

Wen Chou, who was silent at the side, sighed:
"Tian Feng was indeed upright and incorruptible. The reason he defected to Liu Bei was probably because he gave the king honest advice, which angered him and led to him being imprisoned. He held a grudge and therefore surrendered to Liu Bei."

Wen Chou's expression turned serious as the conversation turned.
"No matter what, the current chaos in Youzhou is an indisputable fact."

"The only thing we can do now is to come up with a countermeasure as soon as possible. Otherwise, once Liu Bei's 200,000 troops gather in Yijing, we will have neither food nor manpower. How can we defend Yijing?"

"If Yijing is destroyed, everything will be over——"

Yuan Shang shuddered, and the anger on his face instantly turned into horror.

"What should I do? What should I do?"

"I only have 40,000 troops, which is not enough to suppress the rebellion in Youzhou, nor is it enough to defend Yijing. What should I do now?"

"Could it be that I really want to follow in the footsteps of Gongsun Zan?"

Yuan Shang's voice was trembling, he was confused, and fear was evident in his words and expression.

Wen Chou was helpless and could only shake his head and sigh.

The generals on both sides looked at each other, and all of them had bitter faces.

The atmosphere of despair spread rapidly and silently.

"Wuhuan!"

Amidst the despair, an excited voice suddenly rang out.

The person who spoke was Shen Pei.

At this moment, the gloom on the face of Yuan Shang's first counselor was swept away, and his eyes were shining, as if he had suddenly been enlightened.

"Wu... Wuhuan? What Wuhuan?"

Yuan Shang's eyes were blank, and he hadn't yet understood the hidden meaning behind Shen Pei's words.

Shen Pei had no time to explain. He hurriedly ordered his guards to bring the map, and hurriedly spread it out in front of Yuan Shang.

"Master, please look!"

"There are more than 300,000 Wuhuan people living in the Liaoxi area of ​​Youzhou. Their Chanyu Tadun is brave and good at fighting, and he has tens of thousands of elite cavalry under his command."

"When the previous king was alive, Zeng Ce appointed Tadun as Chanyu, gave him a seal and a ribbon, and married him a daughter of the royal family to him as a marriage, showing his kindness to him."

"It can even be said that the Yuan family and the Wuhuan Chanyu are related by marriage."

"Now that the Yuan family is in trouble and the Wei Dynasty is in danger, why don't you summon Tadun to lead the elite Wuhuan cavalry south to Yijing to help fight against Liu Bei?"

Shen Pei was spitting, becoming more and more excited as he spoke, and he told everyone his plan to turn the tide.

Yuan Shang seemed to have discovered a new continent. His spirits suddenly lifted. He rushed to the map with his eyes darting around.

"Wuhuan, Wuhuan, why didn't I think of this group of troops available..."

Yuan Shang tapped the map with his fingertips on the location of Liaoxi, and hope ignited in his eyes. The Wuhuan were originally a tribe of the Donghu, and were slaves of the Xiongnu.

After Emperor Wu of Han declared war on the Xiongnu and drove them out of the south of the desert, the Wuhuan people broke away from the Xiongnu's slavery and moved inland to the south of the Great Wall, settling in Youbeiping, Liaoxi, Yuyang and other places in the northern part of Youzhou.

During the reigns of Emperors Huan and Ling, the Han Dynasty declined and the Wuhuan people began to grow in power. They gradually became independent from the control of the Han court and frequently sent troops to plunder counties and prefectures on the border of Youzhou in order to increase their own strength.

Later, Gongsun Zan appeared in Youzhou. Gongsun Zan on White Horse swept across all the Hu tribes. The Xianbei and Wuhuan were all beaten into submission.

Unfortunately, in order to deal with Gongsun Zan, Yuan Shao tried to win over the Wuhuan people, even going so far as to form an alliance with them and marry their daughter to him.

The Wuhuan people took the opportunity to regain their strength, continuously expanded their territory, plundered the population, and continued to wreak havoc in Youzhou.

After Yuan Shao seized Youzhou, he was eager to go south to compete for the Central Plains and unify the world, so he continued to reward Tadun to win him over.

They also turned a blind eye to the looting activities of the Wuhuan people in Youzhou.

"If Tadun is willing to lead the Wuhuan army to come to Yijing to help, our hope of defending Yijing and repelling the Chu army will greatly increase!"

Wen Chou also nodded in agreement, but then he became concerned:

"It is just that the reason why Tadun was able to submit to our Great Wei was, firstly, because the previous king rewarded him, and secondly, because our Great Wei was strong, which made him fearful."

"Now that the former king has been killed by Liu Bei, Jizhou and Qingzhou have all fallen, and rebellion has broken out in Youzhou, the national strength of the Great Wei has plummeted."

"Under this circumstance, will Tadun still obey the Master's orders and come to Yijing to help?"

The hope in Yuan Shang's eyes suddenly dimmed because of Wen Chou's words.

Tadun is indeed not stupid. When your father was alive, he couldn't persuade her and had to rely on money and marriage to coax her. What about you?
"This moment, that moment."

"Tadun is quite knowledgeable. How could he not understand the principle of the loss of lips and teeth?"

"When the previous king was alive, he allowed the Wuhuan to occupy Youzhou and wreak havoc on the border areas. If our Great Wei is destroyed by Liu Bei and Youzhou is taken by Liu Bei, will the Wuhuan still have a good life?"

Shen Pei stroked his beard and sneered, then he bowed to Yuan Shang:

"Please send a lobbyist as soon as possible to explain to Tadun the principle of the loss of lips and teeth, and let him know the consequences of our Great Wei being destroyed by Liu Bei."

"At the same time, you can promise Tadun that if he is willing to send troops to help us defend Yijing and repel Liu Bei, he will be a meritorious service to the country and should be rewarded handsomely."

"At that time, the Great Wei will give the two counties of Liaoxi and Youbeiping as rewards to the Wuhuan people, allowing them to legitimately obtain a fiefdom south of the Great Wall."

"With such huge benefits, I don't believe that Tadun can remain unmoved and lead his army to help in the battle."

Yuan Shang's heart trembled.

My goodness, to put it bluntly, Shen Pei’s strategy is to make him cede land to the Wuhuan people!
The territory he controls now is only a corner of Youzhou. If he cedes two more counties to the Wuhuan people, wouldn’t his territory shrink further?
Furthermore, since ancient times, the Han people have always oppressed the Hu people. How can we cede land to the Hu people?

If he did this, wouldn't he become a sinner of the Han people and be despised by people all over the world?

"Zhengnan, your plan is not appropriate."

Yuan Shang couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

"Liaoxi and Youbeiping counties have already been mostly occupied by the Wuhuan people. Now that we give them to them, it won't be a big loss for us."

"As for the slander of the world, it has reached such a level that it is no longer something we can consider."

"We must survive first, and to survive, we must defend the Yijing defense line!"

"If we want to hold the Yijing defense line, we must get the help of the Wuhuan people."

"Sir, you are a true hero if you can endure humiliation and bend and stretch. "

Shen Pei gave a long and earnest speech on high-sounding principles, paving the way for Yuan Shang.

Wen Chou hesitated for a moment before hesitating and said,

"Sir, although Shen Zhengnan had no choice but to do this, it still concerns the reputation of you and the Yuan family for generations to come."

"I can only say that you should be extremely cautious, young master."

Yuan Shang pondered in silence, struggling to weigh the pros and cons.

If he ceded land in exchange for the Wuhuan people's help in the war, he might be despised by the people of the world and regarded as a sinner of the Han people.

But if he doesn't do this, Yijing will not be able to be defended, and he will sooner or later fall into Liu Bei's hands and follow in the footsteps of his father Yuan Shao.

If you die and your country is destroyed, what meaning do those empty titles have?
The hesitation in Yuan Shang's eyes disappeared and gradually turned into a gloomy determination.

After taking a deep breath, Yuan Shang waved his hand and said in a deep voice:
"Zhengnan is right. Our top priority right now is to stay alive."

"As long as I can defend Yijing and survive, I, Yuan Shang, will not care about the slanders of the scoundrels in the world!"

Shen Pei secretly breathed a sigh of relief and immediately began to flatter and praise Yuan Shang for his heroic character.

Yuan Shang immediately wrote a letter and sent an envoy north to Liaoxi to seek help from Wuhuan Chanyu Tadun.

At the same time, troops were dispatched to the counties north of Yijing to plunder and forcibly requisition as much food and fodder from the people as possible to use for military purposes.

The Wei army, with 40,000 panic-stricken troops under the urging of Yuan Shang, worked day and night to rebuild and reinforce the Yijing fortress.

Within three days, the 200,000 Chu troops all reached the south bank of the Yishui River, set up camps for ten miles, and formed a standoff with the 40,000 Wei troops across the Yishui River.

(End of this chapter)