(Asking for votes early in the morning, there are still three updates today)
Kong Rong at the top of the city was frightened by Yuan Fang's threat, and his body trembled subconsciously.
In his mind, the fate of Shan Jing and Tian Kai emerged involuntarily.
"These two people who once looked down on and forced Yuan Fang have all been beaten to death by Yuan Fang. The scene was extremely tragic.
"If Duchang City falls now, I'm afraid Kong Rong will really follow in the footsteps of those two men.
A chill hit his heart, and Kong Rong felt deep fear.
But he pretended to be calm and snorted coldly, showing disapproval and contempt, as if he didn't take Yuan Fang's threat seriously at all.
The two thousand Beihai soldiers were not as calm as him. They were all horrified and shocked, gasping and watching Yuan Fang leave in confusion.
Then, there was a sigh of relief along the city line. All the Beihai soldiers had lingering fears and recovered from the huge shock.
Taishi Ci looked at Kong Rong, who was pretending to be calm, and sighed: "A hero doesn't care about his origin. It's just that the Prime Minister doesn't want to go out of the city to meet with him. Why bother to insult him with words and insult his dignity? Forgive Ci's blunt words, but this is true. He has lost his dignity as a prime minister.¡±
Kong Rong was shaken, turned around, and stared at Tai Shici with an annoyed look.
He really didn¡¯t expect that Tai Shici, a subordinate, would dare to talk to him like this. Where is the decency, where is the dignity!
Angry, Kong Rong said in a deep voice: "Taishi Ziyi, you actually committed the following crime and taught me a lesson. How brave you are."
Kong Rong showed his style of climbing to the top.
Taishi Ci was not afraid, and just said calmly: "I, Taishi Ci, am such a straightforward person. I only discuss matters. In addition, the Prime Minister should not forget that I, Taishi Ci, am not a subordinate of the Prime Minister. I am only following the orders of my mother." , I just came to help the Prime Minister.¡±
Kong Rong was choked and his face was gray. He was very angry in his heart. The complaints almost rushed to his lips, but he swallowed them down.
He suddenly remembered that he still had to rely on Taishi Ci to defend Changcheng for him, but he couldn't afford to offend the man in front of him who dared to teach him a lesson.
Thinking of this, Kong Rong could only swallow the fire in his stomach.
"Ci wants to inspect the city defenses, so he won't accompany the Prime Minister. I'll take my leave." Taishi Ci cupped his hands and turned around to leave.
Looking at Taishi Ci¡¯s retreating back, Kong Rong frowned deeply and took a deep breath.
Outside the city, Yuan Fang has returned to camp with his horses.
As soon as he entered the tent, Yan Liang shouted angrily: "That bitter Confucian Kong Rong is so damn hateful. He cowers in the city and dares not go out to fight. He will talk nonsense and humiliate the young master. It is really hateful. I will ask the young master to come now." Order to attack the city, I, Yan Liangfei, will cut off that fellow¡¯s head to relieve the young master¡¯s anger.¡±
Not only Yan Liang, Zhu Ling and Guo Huai were also furious and called for war.
Yuan Fang didn't want to kill Kong Rong, but as a general, he kept a calmer mind than his subordinates.
He raised his hand, suppressed the indignation of the generals, and said calmly: "Kong Rong is a turtle in a urn and cannot escape, but he has a good general like Tai Shici under him. Now is not the time to attack the city with all his strength."
Although the generals' fighting spirit was suppressed, they were still wondering why their young master valued that unknown person named Tai Shi Ci so much.
Yuan Fang is well aware of Tai Shi Ci's strength. At this time, his reputation is not obvious, but he has not had a chance yet.
"This Tai Shi Ci is a general. It would be a waste to follow a mediocre leader like Kong Rong. It would be great if he could be used by me"
Yuan Fang's thoughts were racing, pondering various memory clues about Tai Shi Ci. Suddenly, his eyes lit up and he had an idea.
"Yuan Gui, quickly pick a team of capable people, rush into Donglai for me, and invite someone to come." Yuan Fang ordered.
Invite someone?
Yuan Gui was startled and came closer. Yuan Fang then whispered a few instructions. Yuan Gui suddenly understood and hurriedly followed the order.
Putting aside the matter of Taishi Ci for the time being, Yuan Fang's attention has shifted to Xuzhou in the south.
Now that the three Liu Bei brothers have fled to Xuzhou, Yuan Fang believes that Tao Qian will definitely send troops to rescue Kong Rong in order to prevent his lips from dying and his teeth to be cold.
However, Tao Qian is also the best at protecting himself. Even if he sends troops, he will not use a large army. What Yuan Fang has to do now is to block the reinforcements from Xuzhou in the south, hold on until the food supply of Duchang City collapses, and then break the city in one fell swoop.
The generals¡¯ attention was soon drawn to Xuzhou by Yuan Fang, and they began to plan how to resist the Xuzhou army¡¯s attack.
At this time, Guo Huai said worriedly: "Yecheng has drastically reduced our military pay recently. This month's military pay has been reduced by seven percent.?, once the military pay is owed, the morale of the soldiers will inevitably drop sharply. When the time comes to face the enemy of Xuzhou, the situation will be very unfavorable. "
Yuan Fang¡¯s eyebrows narrowed slightly, no need to ask, this must be a good thing done by Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi.
Seeing that they were so popular and almost unstoppable, these two men wanted to disrupt his military morale by cutting military pay, so that his military morale would be shaken and he would be defeated by the enemy.
Snapped!
After hitting the case with his fist, Yuan Fang said bitterly: "These two bastards Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi, I will settle the accounts with them sooner or later!"
After Yuan Fang scolded him, he quickly calmed down and thought about how to solve the problem of insufficient military pay.
Guo Huai proposed to increase taxes on the Qingzhou counties and counties he occupied in Pingyuan and Qi for military purposes.
Yuan Fang rejected Guo Huai's proposal outright.
Qingzhou was ravaged by the Yellow Turban thieves, the household registration was reduced by half, and the people's livelihood was in ruins.
In addition to the Yellow Turban thieves, there are also Tian Kai, Shan Jing, Kong Rong and other factions. In order to expand their strength, all of them are expropriating and extorting money.
Just like Kong Rong, after taking office as the Prime Minister of Beihai, in order to deal with the Yellow Turban thieves, he imposed crazy taxes and almost robbed the people of Beihai.
Under such heavy oppression and extortion, the people of Qingzhou are already extremely poor. If Yuan Fangli continues to forcefully tax them, he will simply drive them to death.
What¡¯s more, excessive levies and expropriations are all about squandering the land. Yuan Fang wants to build Qingzhou into a base for his great achievements. How could he do such a short-sighted move?
Seeing that Yuan Fang was determined to object, Guo Huai sighed: "My lord, of course it is good for the people. However, if we do not increase taxes, it will be difficult for us to collect the taxes. When the military morale is shaken, I am afraid that we will miss important events."
Yuan Fang fell into deep thought, his thoughts rolling around, thinking about how to deal with it.
Suddenly, he thought of something and asked casually: "By the way, I captured that man alive outside the city. Have you ever interrogated him who he is?"
Guo Zhun was startled and said hurriedly: "My subordinates have already checked. The man is not a subordinate of Kong Rong and Liu Bei, but Mi Zhu of Xuzhou. He claims to have come to Qingzhou to do business and was trapped by our army by mistake."
Mi Zhu!
Hearing this familiar name, Yuan Fang's heart was shocked, and a glimmer of light flashed in his eyes.
This Mi Zhu is one of the three richest men in the world, possessing wealth that is unparalleled in the country. Historically, Liu Bei relied on Mi Zhu's financial support to make a comeback repeatedly.
The wealth of one family can support a group of princes to strive for hegemony in the world. This is evident from the wealth of the Mi family.
¡°I was worried about military pay, but I didn¡¯t expect a big benefactor to come to my door. It¡¯s really God who helped me¡±
Yuan Fang raised a smile at the corner of his mouth and shouted happily: "Come here, bring me that Mi Zhu."