Yuan Fang spent the entire autumn in Zhen Mi's gentle countryside.
Since starting the army, this is a rare moment of rest and relaxation for him, and he enjoys the comfort of this newlywed.
Taking advantage of this free period, Yuan Fang was also resting and reorganizing his soldiers, organizing and training the new army, gathering food and grass, and making full preparations for the next move south to Xuzhou.
With the soldiers captured in several battles and the soldiers recruited from Qingzhou, Yuan Fang's troops have expanded from the 30,000 before the war to 40,000.
Forty thousand soldiers and horses are not many, but if used well, they are also a considerable force.
The first few battles made Yuan Fang realize how important the cavalry's superior mobility and impact are.
Therefore, Yuan Fang placed the expansion of cavalry on his top priority agenda.
It¡¯s just that in Yuan Fang¡¯s territory, there was Gongsun Zan in the north, which blocked him from buying horses from Youzhou, and Yuan Shao in the west, which blocked him from buying horses from Bingzhou.
So, on Tai Shici's suggestion, Yuan Fang used the merchant ships of the Mi family to try to cross the sea to buy horses from the Gongsun family of Liaodong.
Although Qingzhou has no land border with Liaodong, starting from Donglai County and crossing the Bohai Strait to Liaodong is only a few hundred miles in a straight line, which is even more convenient than taking the land route.
In order to purchase war horses, expand the cavalry, expand maritime trade and increase income, Yuan Fang then ordered the construction of several seaports in Mouping in Donglai County to facilitate trade with Liaodong.
In addition, in view of the huge benefits gained from farming, after the autumn harvest, Yuan Fang officially appointed Guoyuan as the captain of Diannong, who was fully responsible for the farming affairs in Qingzhou and reduced the original scale of farming. Double the size.
In order to attract refugees, Yuan Fang also issued a pardon order. Recruiting and surrendering the Yellow Turban bandits who fled into the mountains and organizing them into farming communities would not only relieve the bandits, but also provide Yuan Fang with more labor force.
While running the prefecture's agricultural, mulberry, fishery and salt business and preparing for war, Yuan Fang also relied on the Mi family's intelligence network to pay close attention to the situation in the world.
The north side is just as Yuan Fang estimated. Gongsun Zan, who had annexed Youzhou, couldn't wait to raise his troops and went south, trying to take advantage of Yuan Shaoxin's defeat to seize Jizhou in one go.
Although Yuan Shao was defeated, his foundation still existed, relying on the strength of Hebei to merge the two states, he regrouped. Go north to resist Gongsun Zan's invasion.
Yuan Fangzheng was happy that Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao were fighting each other like dogs, and they were inextricably killed, so that Yuan Fang could free up his hands to go south and use troops against Xuzhou.
As for Xuzhou, Cao Cao's troops were still sharp, overwhelming Tao Qian, and the situation was similar to what he expected.
It¡¯s the day. In the lobby of the state capital, the newly married Yuan Fang found some time to come out of Rourou Village to discuss military matters with the civil and military officials.
While discussing the war in Xuzhou. Yuan Gui hurried in and said excitedly: "Lord, good news, something big happened in Yanzhou."
Yanzhou? Isn't Yanzhou Cao Cao's territory? What could happen?
"Could it be that it's ahead of schedule" Yuan Fang's heart suddenly moved, and he suddenly guessed something.
General Yuan Gui put the information in his hands on the case and said excitedly: "After carefully reviewing the information just sent to me, Chen Gong, Zhang Miao and others have welcomed Lu Bu as the shepherd of Yanzhou and rebelled against Cao Cao!"
As soon as these words came out, there was an uproar in the lobby.
The surprised people all looked at Yuan Fang, each of them unable to suppress their surprise.
"My lord had predicted before that Cao Cao would definitely retreat. It turned out that he expected that Lu Bu would take over Yanzhou and Chen Gong and others would rebel. My lord's foresight is so amazing!" Hao Zhao said in surprise.
The other generals were all amazed and deeply impressed by Yuan Fang's foresight.
Yuan Fang smiled and said nothing, but in his heart, he was actually a little surprised.
He expected that Cao Cao would be forced to withdraw his troops and come to compete with Lu Bu for his home base because Lu Bu captured Yanzhou. At that time, he could take the opportunity to seize Xuzhou south.
But Yuan Fang knew from history that Cao Cao would have to fight Tao Qian for at least one or two years, and by this time next year, Lu Bu would seize his territory.
The fact before him is that Chen Gong's rebellion and Lu Bu's seizure of Yan actually happened a year in advance, which somewhat surprised Yuan Fang.
"History has changed because of my appearance. It's not impossible to explain why Lu Bu captured Yanzhou in advance" Yuan Fang thought to himself.
"I didn't expect that Lu Bu would come out halfway. What a surprise. Lord, how did you think of it?" Guo Jia also asked in surprise.
Yuan Fang came back from his thoughts, coughed slightly and said: "The people of Yanzhou welcomed Cao Cao as the state shepherd, and they just wanted to use his military talents to protect Yanzhou. But they didn't expect that Cao Cao was so strong that he would fight Yuan Shu in the south and Yuan Shu in the east. Fighting with Tao Qian, he almost fought with me last time. Cao Cao repeatedly?Waging a war with foreign countries will harm the interests of Yanzhou scholars, and they will of course be dissatisfied. "
Standing with his hands behind his hands, Yuan Fang continued: "Let's talk about Chen Gong. This person was the first person to welcome Cao Cao to Yanzhou. However, Cao Cao established Yanzhou as the shepherd but did not put him to good use. He must also have a grudge. So, with his influence in Yanzhou, it is not surprising that he persuaded the Yanzhou scholars to welcome Lu Bu and betray Cao Cao while Cao Cao was away at war."
Yuan Fang's eloquent words explained the reasons for the drastic changes in Yanzhou with reasonable evidence, and everyone was convinced.
"My lord, what you said makes sense." Guo Jia nodded and said, "If Yanzhou rebels and there is a fire in the backyard, Cao Cao will withdraw his troops to save Yanzhou and compete with Lu Bu for Yanzhou. This will be a great opportunity for us to take Xuzhou south."
Yuan Fang nodded heavily, with murderous intent in his eyes, and shouted happily: "Send the order and order all the armies to prepare secretly. The Japanese troops will be sent to Xuzhou. It's time to settle old scores with that old thief Tao Qian."
The emotions of the generals were suddenly aroused. They were all excited and eager to rush to Xuzhou immediately.
Tao Qian, an old thief, invaded Qingzhou twice. When they fought Yuan Shao last time, Tao Qian wanted to take advantage of the opportunity. If Cao Cao hadn't raised troops to take revenge, Tao Qian would have invaded Xuzhou three times.
Yuan Fang has always had a clear distinction between grievances and grudges. Tao Qian invaded for no reason three times. Although he did not take advantage of him, Yuan Fang firmly remembered this hatred of taking advantage of others' danger.
"It is not a gentleman to refuse to retaliate against someone. Now, it is time to deal with Tao Qian."
After the order was passed, the soldiers of the three armies quickly mobilized secretly. As soon as Yuan Fang gave the order, they rushed to Xuzhou.
As for Yuan Fang, he discussed the specific use of troops with Guo Jia, Tian Feng and other advisers day and night.
Three days later, the general guarding the city suddenly came to report that it was Wei Xu, Lu Bu's envoy, who had arrived outside the city and requested to be released to see him.
"L¨¹ Bu's envoy came really quickly." Yuan Fang smiled, as if he had expected it.
Tian Feng stroked his beard and said, "Cao Cao and Yuan Shao are allies. When Lu Bu steals Yanzhou, he will face threats from both Yuan Shao and Cao Cao. He is afraid that he will be unable to do it alone, so he wants to win over his lord as a helping hand."
Yuan Fang nodded, but said: "L¨¹ Bu is not that smart. This should be Chen Gong's strategy for him."
Guo Jia smiled and said: "No matter what, the enemy of the enemy is a friend. Lu Bu can still join forces with him. It is just right to use him to disrupt Yanzhou and contain Cao Cao. It would be even better if we can force Yuan Shao to divide his troops to assist Cao Cao."
Yuan Fang comprehensively digested the advice of the two counselors in his mind, and made a decision in his mind, so he asked Wei Xu to come in.
At this time, Guo Jia suddenly thought of something and said hurriedly: "Wei Xu came here. In addition to asking for help, he must also want to ask for Lu Bu's family. My lord also needs to think of a reason to detain Lu Bu's family. Use Come and act as a hostage to restrain Lu Bu in the future."
"I have my own sense of proportion." Yuan Fang had other ideas in mind.
Not long after, Wei Xu walked into the lobby and greeted him respectfully, and Yuan Fang also treated him with courtesy.
After a few polite words of "You have admired me for a long time" and "I have heard of you for a long time", Wei Xu turned to the main topic, expressing Lu Bu's hope for reinforcements and hoping to join forces with Yuan Fang to fight against Cao Cao and Yuan Shao.
As expected, Yuan Fang readily agreed to Lu Bu's request and expressed his willingness to help him.
Wei Xu was overjoyed and immediately complimented Yuan Fang again. Then, Wei Xu tactfully asked if Yuan Fang could provide them with some help.
"Since Marquis Wen and I are allies, we should lend a helping hand. Let's do this. I will support Marquis Wen with 300,000 hu of grain and grass. What do you think?" Yuan Fang said generously.
Yuan Fang now has enough food and grass, and 300,000 hu of dendrobium is not a problem. If he can help Lu Bu hold off Cao Cao and buy him enough time to take Xuzhou, a mere 300,000 hu of dendrobium will be worth it.
Wei Xu was extremely pleasantly surprised. He looked overjoyed. He seemed to have never expected that Yuan Fang would be so generous and cheerful, agreeing to fund so much food and grass without even thinking about it.
Surprised, Wei Xu thanked him continuously.
"However, I also have a small request for Marquis Wen. Marquis Wen also knows that Gao Boping is currently living in Qingzhou. I really appreciate General Gao's ability in training troops, so I want to borrow it from Marquis Wen temporarily. I don't know Marquis Wen. Are you willing?"
There will be no pie in the sky. Yuan Fang has paid for the food and grass, so he will naturally gain something.
Gao Shun, a guest general, is extremely useful to Yuan Fang. Of course, Yuan Fang wants to keep him at his disposal, and he also knows that Gao Shun is very loyal. If Lu Bu calls him, he will rush to Yanzhou to help in the battle.
Yuan Fang respects Gao Shun and is unwilling to force him to stay, so the only way to keep him is to let Lu Bu give orders and order Gao Shun to obey his orders.
When Wei Xu heard this, he hurriedly said:For such a trivial matter, Marquis Wen would definitely agree and leave Gao Boping to serve as the governor. "
"Then thank Marquis Wen for me." Yuan Fang smiled, very satisfied.
"By the way, I heard that in addition to Gao Boping, my two wives and the young lady are also here in Zhoumu." Wei Xu finally mentioned the young Lu Bu family.
Guo Jia hurriedly hinted to Yuan Fang.
Yuan Fang said, "Yes, the two ladies and Miss Lu are both in Pingyuan. If General Wei wants to pick them up, he can pick them up at any time."
As soon as these words came out, Guo Jia was greatly surprised. He even signaled to Yuan Fang, but Yuan Fang pretended not to see him.
Guo Jia didn't understand Yuan Fang's intention and shook his head secretly, thinking that if the hostages he obtained were given away like this, it would be difficult to contain Lu Bu in the future.
At this time, Wei Xu smiled and said: "Zhou Mu misunderstood, Xu just wanted to ask if the ladies and ladies are okay. My Marquis Wen said that he and Cao Cao will be in a life-or-death contest, with the ladies and ladies here If Zhou Mu is willing, Marquis Wen would like to send the two ladies and young ladies to Zhou Mu for the time being. "