Since Xun Chen had carelessly fallen ill in Beixin City, he had recuperated for almost half a year, finally recovering his health as before.
Seeing Yuan Shao holding the silk book and nodding to him, he took it and began to read.
The opening section was an analysis of the current situation in the world, which was detailed and clear. After hearing it, Yuan Tan's strategists praised, "To think that Young Master Xianyi, sitting in Youzhou, could have such a comprehensive understanding of world affairs is truly rare."
Several strategists under Yuan Shang thought to themselves, 'Isn't it just you guys who are secretly informing him and building momentum for him? What are you pretending for?'
Xun Chen's expression changed when he saw the next paragraph, but he still read it out.
What followed was Yuan Xi's personal view, which differed greatly from those of many strategists.
Yuan Xi believed that the Yuan family had reached a critical juncture of life and death. If they could not capture Yijing in the short term, Jizhou would be in danger of collapse!
When the strategists heard this sentence, they shook their heads one after another, thinking that it was too exaggerated.
Then, Yuan Xi described the worst-case scenario that could happen to everyone.
Cao Cao, Lu Bu, and Yuan Shu were secretly colluding.
If Lu Bu advanced west into Sili Henan, who was already on good terms with Zhang Yang, the governor of Henan, and occupied Henan, plotting to seize Bingzhou, and joined forces with the White Wave Bandits and the Black Mountain Army, the western part of Jizhou would become an undefended sieve.
The western part of Youzhou would be threatened by the Southern Xiongnu and the Black Mountain Army's passage to the east.
If Cao Cao advanced east and defeated Liu Bei of Xuzhou, he would block the road south from Qingzhou, making it impossible to touch Xuzhou at all.
If Yuan Shu were to instigate support, the Yuan family's forces in Jizhou and Qingzhou would be completely blocked north of the Yellow River.
The only chance now was to capture Yijing as soon as possible, wipe out all of Gongsun Zan's forces, and open up the passage north to Youzhou.
If Gongsun Zan were destroyed, the Yuan family could enter Youzhou in a big way, integrate the forces against Gongsun Zan, and use the power of the Xianbei and Wuhuan tribes.
In this way, even if Jizhou were to be attacked from both sides in the future, these forces could be used to counterattack.
However, when attacking Yijing, it would also be the most dangerous time for Yecheng. Cao Cao was likely to cross the Yellow River to carry out a sneak attack, so precautions must be taken.
After Xun Chen finished reading, Pang Ji kept shaking his head, "Young Master Xianyi's speculation is too outrageous. He is completely relying on hearsay and treating Cao Mengde as an enemy."
Shen Pei also wondered, "Indeed, in recent years, Cao Mengde has only been obsessed with Xuzhou. When has he ever done anything to offend the Yuan family?"
"Young Master Xianyi's ideas are not supported by any evidence."
Xu You said coldly, "Young Master Xianyi is probably prejudiced against Lord Mengde. The fact that he took Lord Mengde's concubines into his mansion the other day shows that his ideas are quite extreme."
"Bullshit!" Tian Feng slammed the table, "What Cao Cao's concubines? That's the widow of Wen Li (Bian Rang). The Second Young Master is clearly saving her from a pit of fire!"
"Ziyuan, don't think I don't know that you and Cao Cao grew up wearing the same pants. What is your intention in saying this to sow discord between father and son?"
Xu You's face turned red, "Yuanhao, you're slandering me!"
"When I was young, I was indeed on good terms with Mengde, but at the same time, I was also on good terms with the Lord. The three of us often talked and drank at night. Are you trying to say that the Lord also favors Lord Mengde?"
Tian Feng was about to scold again when he heard Yuan Shao shout, "Enough!"
When everyone saw this, they stopped talking.
Yuan Shao sighed, "Since I raised my army, my original close friends have either left or died. Now, there are only a few left, like Mengde and Ziyuan."
Hearing this, Xu You was moved to tears and said, "I will never forget the Lord's trust!"
Tian Feng sighed in his heart. He actually had similar ideas to Yuan Xi. Cao Cao would never be content to be subordinate to others.
Tian Feng understood very well that this was a common problem for people from the bottom of the gentry class who had turned over. When they were looked down upon in their youth, they would take back their psychological compensation many times over once they gained power.
Gongsun Zan was despised because his mother was of low status. Later, after occupying the northern region, he slighted the gentry and plundered the people, venting the anger he had once suffered on others.
Yuan Shao was born as a son of a concubine and behaved chivalrously and absurdly. He only restrained himself after being adopted, but he did not care about the Yuan family's main branch and did not consider their situation in Luoyang when he raised his army, which led to Dong Zhuo's massacre.
Cao Cao had a similar experience to Yuan Shao and was also short in stature. Therefore, after gaining power, he took in many concubines and did not like others criticizing him, often finding an excuse to easily kill scholars.
Therefore, in Tian Feng's view, Cao Cao, a person who had turned over from being a nobody, was far more dangerous than Yuan Shu and Kong Rong, who had been pampered since childhood!
This was also why he opposed Yuan Shang's faction suppressing Yuan Xi. The more miserably a person was suppressed, the more fierce the revenge that would follow when he turned over!
However, what made Tian Feng feel helpless was that Yuan Shang was now completely in power. Not to mention Yuan Xi, even the eldest son, Yuan Tan, was squeezed out and could not return to Yecheng.
What could he, alone, do to change the internal affairs of the Yuan family?
Thinking of this, Tian Feng felt a little disheartened.
Although everyone had their own plans regarding the debate about Cao Cao, they had to admit that if the things Yuan Xi said in the letter were to happen, Yecheng would be extremely passive!
Although Jizhou was rich, the years of war with Gongsun Zan, the Black Mountain Army, and even the Southern Xiongnu had never stopped. If they continued to consume resources, they would be dragged down sooner or later.
In later generations, when Yuan Shao finished fighting Gongsun Zan and was preparing to fight Cao Cao, the reason why Tian Feng and Ju Shou opposed was that Jizhou had been fighting for years, consuming too much resources, and the soldiers and horses were exhausted. They should first garrison troops and appease the people, and then gradually plan for it, but Yuan Shao did not listen.
In the end, the facts did prove that although Yuan Shao had many soldiers, his combat power was not as good as Cao Cao's elite soldiers, and he only wasted several times the money and food, but he could not establish a winning position.
Yuan Xi's letter was indeed correct. Cao Cao now seemed to be in a difficult situation, but he occupied most of Yanzhou and Yuzhou. If he were to conquer Xuzhou again and connect with Sili, he would become a force that could compete with Yuan Shao!
Meanwhile, Lü Bu, who had been driven away by Yuan Shao, regained power and coveted Sili Henan, plotting to move north to Bing Province, catching everyone off guard.
When Lü Bu and Cao Cao fought earlier in the year, Yuan Shao's strategists were gloating, happy to see them fight each other and reap the benefits. They never expected Lü Bu and Cao Cao to make peace while fighting!
Now, it was Jizhou's turn to face pressure from three sides.
As for Liu Bei in Xu Province, everyone automatically ignored him. Liu Bei had been defeated several times in a row. How could they expect him to help?
Seeing everyone's thoughts, Yuan Shang thought that his second brother was still too naive. Did he think he could change everyone's opinion with a single letter?
Just as he thought the situation was settled, Xun Chen flipped through the letter and found a few more sentences at the end.
Xun Chen's expression changed as he scanned the words.
Yuan Xi went on to say that he had obtained confessions from spies within the Black Mountain bandits.
These people were remnants of the Yellow Turban Army and confessed that the Taiping Dao followers within the Black Mountain bandits, the Mount Tai bandits, and the Qingzhou Army all regarded Cao Cao as a true man related to the Central Yellow Great One God!
Although this position was slightly lower than Zhang Jiao's, it was not far off.
Cao Cao controlled these Yellow Turban remnants through Taoism and infiltrated them into the major cities of various counties, including Ye City!
Yuan Xi's words were not without basis.
During the Wei and Jin dynasties, the "Zhen Gao" in the "Orthodox Taoist Canon Taixuan Department" believed that Cao Cao held the role of Ji Fa, King Wu of Zhou's teacher.
The "True Spirit Ranking Chart" ranked him in the middle of the seventh class, which didn't seem too high, but the first class was Yuanshi Tianzun, and Taishang Laojun was only ranked in the fourth class. The main god of the seventh class was the Fengdu Beiyin Emperor, and Cao Cao's ranking in this class meant that he was regarded as a god to be worshiped.
Of course, this could not be taken as conclusive evidence, after all, Taoism would include any emperor, but what Yuan Xi wanted was to arouse the fear of the people in Ye City.
After all, the Yellow Turban Army had caused the greatest and deepest harm to the aristocratic families in the past decade!
The ten years of the Yellow Turban Rebellion not only caused great harm to the world but also to the aristocratic families. Many large families were wiped out because of it, so when the people of Ye City heard about the Yellow Turban remnants, they immediately became vigilant.
Moreover, everyone knew that the Cao family had believed in Huang-Lao Taoism for generations. Now, upon hearing that Cao Cao controlled the extremely popular Taiping Dao, who knew if the people around them were spies?
Thinking of the rumors that had repeatedly broken out in Ye City recently, the shadow of the Ye City Rebellion rose again in everyone's hearts.
Yuan Xi's words were a lucky hit. These few rumors in Ye City were indeed related to Cao Cao, and the purpose was to delay Yuan's attack on Yijing, but he naturally did not know the inside story, and his original intention was to put the blame on Cao Cao.
Yuan Xi's last sentence made everyone even more uneasy.
According to rumors within the Taiping Dao, Cao Cao was the one who should fulfill the prophecy of "Dang Tu Gao"!
According to the rumors Yuan Xi obtained, Cao Cao would fulfill the prophecy and inevitably obtain Ye City.
Because Ye City was the location of Wei Commandery.
"Zuo Zhuan" says: "Wei is a great name."
"Huainanzi · Chu Zhenxun" says: "Therefore, although the body is above the rivers and seas, the spirit travels below the Wei Que," and Gao You of the Eastern Han Dynasty commented on "Wei Que": "Towering and tall, so it is called Wei Que."
The rumor created by Yuan Xi was a typical case of reversing cause and effect, using the results of later generations to infer the motives of this world.
Ordinary reasons could not convince the aristocratic strategists of Ye City at all, so to make them feel threatened, they had to use strong medicine.
In the end, it turned back to the prophecies that were most superstitious in this era.
However, what Yuan Xi did not expect was that Yuan Shang and his strategists had actually studied the deduction of the word Wei in Ye City in private, and they were convinced of it!
Therefore, before Yuan Shao could express his position, Yuan Shang became anxious.
The reason why he stubbornly occupied Jizhou and drove his two brothers out was because he firmly believed in the Wei Que rumors of Ye City!
Thinking of this, he blurted out: "Second brother's words are not entirely unreasonable."
"If someone covets Ye City when the Yuan clan attacks Yijing, Shang is willing to stay and fight to the death, and will never allow anyone to take advantage of the situation!"
The strategists looked at each other, but since Yuan Shang had already expressed his position, Shen Pei, Feng Ji, and others who supported him could only echo him.
The strategists of Yuan Tan's group also reacted. Since Yuan Shang was willing to stay and defend Ye City, attacking Yijing was a great opportunity for Yuan Tan. If he could make great contributions, he might be able to turn the tables!
When Yuan Xi wrote this letter, which was half true and half false, he and Guo Jia spent a lot of effort, using everyone's psychology and lack of information to create some rumors.
For example, Lü Bu's true thoughts, Cao Cao's position in Taoism, the rumors in Ye City, and Cao Cao's prophecies.
But he did not expect that the first to express his position was Yuan Shang, and what convinced Yuan Shang was the prophecy rumor that Yuan Xi made up, which he had originally given up hope for.
This can be said to be quite ironic.
Therefore, no matter how outrageous a rumor is, it does not matter, what matters is that there are people willing to believe it.
Yuan Xi received the news that Jizhou had begun to mobilize troops and supplies to attack Yijing half a month after sending the letter.
He calculated the time it took for the post station to travel back and forth and thought to himself, could it be that his letter really worked?
He smiled and said to Guo Jia in front of him: "Mr. Fengxiao is indeed a brilliant strategist."
"Stop it," Guo Jia rolled his eyes, "Most of the things in this letter are your ideas, don't put these sneaky things on my head."
Yuan Xi smiled: "Anyway, it is also Mr.'s touch of gold, speaking of which, we should have prepared earlier."
"But recently, some Black Mountain bandits have come to join us one after another. What are your thoughts on how to settle them, sir?"