The news that Li Jue and Guo Si were defeated, the emperor rewarded his ministers and moved his capital to Huaicheng spread throughout the world.
Duan Wei was appointed General Zhengxi and Governor of Liangzhou.
Yuan Xi heard that Duan Wei had stayed outside Anyi from beginning to end and only went into the city to meet the emperor when he was granted an title. On the day of his appointment, he was ordered to pursue the fleeing Guo Si.
Yuan Xi was very curious about this. He still didn't understand whether Duan Wei's betrayal was due to Lu Bu or Ju Shou's letter.
No matter what, Duan Wei is considered a breath of fresh air in the Liangzhou army. His actions show that in this era of moral decline, there are still many people who stick to their ideals.
Thinking that Yuan Shu could declare himself emperor at any time within a year, but the Black Mountain Army in the north had still not been dealt with, Yuan Xi became somewhat anxious. Spies reported that although Yuan Shang had gained the upper hand, he had not been able to deal a fatal blow to the Black Mountain Army.
Logically, the Black Mountain Army should have been out of food long ago, and there were also rumors that their people were eating each other. Their situation was extremely horrific, but for some unknown reason, the Black Mountain Army seemed to have become more ferocious, defending each hilltop and refusing to retreat, causing great trouble to Yuan Shang's army.
The line where the Black Mountain Army and the Jizhou Army were fighting was the location of the three passes in the Ming Great Wall in later generations. The terrain was extremely dangerous and both sides were fighting desperately on the same level.
Yuan Xi couldn't help but re-examine the Black Mountain Army. How did this group of people who were originally the Yellow Turban Rebellion betray their original intentions and survive to this day? What ideas do they hold now?
Are there people in the Montenegrin Army who stick to their original aspirations like Duan Wei?
In their eyes, the Yuan family is actually the evil party, right?
Yuan Xi still doesn't understand how Yang Chou, whom he killed, was able to intervene in the Huaicheng Rebellion, and on whose orders he acted?
Yuan Shu, Zhang Yan, or Cao Cao?
The soldiers of the Black Mountain Army who defected to him talked about the rumors about Cao Cao's true identity in the Black Mountain Taiping Dao, and many people believed them. Yuan Xi wondered, could it be that Cao Cao has secretly controlled the Black Mountain Army?
If that were true, everything would make sense!
Cao Cao used Yang Chou to instigate a rebellion and took the opportunity to seize Huaicheng, thereby completely controlling Sili and driving away Zhang Yang and Lu Bu. In this way, no one could compete with him in the matter of welcoming the emperor!
The more Yuan Xi thought about it, the closer he felt to the truth, but there were a few unavoidable doubts.
If the Huaicheng Rebellion was really instigated by the Black Mountain Army, then there should not be only Cao Ren and Xiahou Yuan's isolated army outside the city at that time. Instead, the soldiers at the southern pass of Black Mountain should have been mobilized to cooperate with Cao Ren's army!
Especially since there was a master like Yang at the southern pass of Heishan at that time, they should have cooperated with Yang Chou to capture the city. In this way, Qu Yi and Lu Lingqi would be blocked in the city, unable to escape, and unable to wait for Yuan Xi to arrive.
Thinking of Yang Feng, Yuan Xi couldn't help but hold the hilt of the knife at his waist. This woman was really difficult to deal with on the battlefield, forcing him to think of some unconventional tricks.
Yuan Xi had already made plans. When he met Liu Xie, he would try to persuade Liu Xie. If he could issue an edict to force Zhang Yan to hand over Yang Feng, he would not care much about the final outcome of the Black Mountain Army.
Although it is difficult, it should be much easier to cause internal divisions within the Montenegrin Army than to directly destroy it.
There are many suspicious points about Yang Feng, and he must be interrogated in person to figure out the plan of Cao Cao and Zhang Yan. However, logically speaking, if Yang Feng was behind the scenes instructing Yang Chou to launch the Huaicheng Rebellion, he should not have stayed at the southern pass of Heishan waiting for Yang Chou, so there must be some hidden story.
According to the Black Mountain Army soldiers who surrendered, Yang Feng had an extraordinary status and seemed to be a very high-ranking figure in the Yellow Turban Army at that time. She had her own private soldiers, and even Zhang Yan could not give her direct orders.
Yuan Xi felt that Yang Feng must have some secrets. His unusual hatred for him and his martial arts that could instantly increase his speed and strength made Yuan Xi want to know what Yang Feng did in the Yellow Turban Army before?
He thought to himself that after meeting the emperor, regardless of whether he could resolve the issue of the Black Mountain Army or not, he had to go back to Yecheng to meet Yuan Shao. Otherwise, if someone spread rumors and made Yuan Shao suspect that he had ulterior motives towards the Yuan family, that would be troublesome.
Although Yuan Shao has not fully understood the benefits of pleasing the emperor, he has come to his senses to some extent. Regardless of whether he has the intention to be independent, he will witness what happened to Yuan Shu in the next two years and will understand how great the obstacles will be in his attempt to be independent.
The Yuan family certainly had ambitions, but only after a long period of hard work in the court and the country could they emulate Wang Mang's deeds. Otherwise, Yuan Shu's fate would be a shocking warning to all those who were ready to make moves.
What Yuan Xi wanted to do was to try his best to communicate the relationship between Yuan Shao and Liu Xie, so that when a war broke out between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, at least the situation would not get out of control due to some seemingly accidental factors.
Just like in the Battle of Guandu in later generations, although Xu You offered advice first, it was Zhang He and Gao Lan's defection to the enemy that dealt the final blow to Yuan Shao. The reason was that Guo Tu slandered them, and Zhang He and Gao Lan were afraid of being held accountable, so they had no other choice but to defect to Cao Cao.
No one knows what will happen in this world, so Yuan Xi tried his best to leave a way out for Zhang He and Gao Lan in advance, so that at least when they rebelled against Yuan Shao, their first choice would not be Cao Cao.
As for whether the Battle of Guandu would break out and whether there would be other changes after it broke out, Yuan Xi could not guess.
Moreover, even if the Battle of Guandu had not broken out, there might have been the Battle of Yecheng and the Battle of Xuchang. Both the Yuan and Cao families wanted to dominate the world, and they would become enemies sooner or later. Before that, Yuan Xi had to try his best to strengthen his own strength, which was the most reliable way.
A few days later, the emperor's carriage arrived in Huaicheng. Zhang Yang, the governor of Henei, and Lu Bu's generals, including Chen Gong and Gao Shun, all went out of the city to welcome him.
Only Yuan Xi didn't.
If he behaved too respectfully towards Liu Xie and Yuan Shao heard about it, it would easily arouse suspicion. Moreover, Liu Xie had a strange temper. If he flattered him servilely, he would easily look down on him and think that Yuan Xi was an opportunistic villain.
So he stayed in the mansion, waiting to be summoned by Liu Xie.
To be fair, Liu Xie's reward to Yuan Xi this time was not low, because Yuan Xi, the General who Conquers the East obtained from Li Le, not only enjoyed the treatment of one of the Three Dukes, but more importantly, he had the right to establish a government office!
The so-called opening of a government refers to setting up a shogunate with independent military, financial and personnel powers. It can be said that it is a formal vassal recognized by the court.
Of course Yuan Xi knew that this reward contained a poison pill mixed with poison, especially the fact that he was also appointed as the governor of Xuzhou, but he had to accept it for the time being. After all, with this title, he would be able to send troops from Xuzhou to deal with Yuan Shu in the future.
The city was in a state of chaos with busy traffic everywhere. Many houses were vacated to accommodate ministers. Due to the rush of things, most of the owners of the houses did not receive proper compensation. They complained bitterly when they saw their luggage being thrown out, but facing the ferocious soldiers, they could only bury their complaints in their hearts.
Even the small courtyards of Yuan Xi's houses were kicked open by the soldiers. Only after they figured out his identity did the soldiers leave in panic.
Yuan Xi could not help but shake his head, thinking that Lu Bu's internal affairs were too messy. Originally, there was Chen Gong to support it, but after Chen Gong started to mess up, Huaicheng became more and more messed up.
The nominal person in charge, Zhang Yang, is even worse. He is not lenient to others, but he does not care about anything at all.
After Yang Chou's death, the only confidant left around Zhang Yang was Sui Gu who came from the Black Mountain Army. Sui Gu was good at nothing except glaring at Yuan Xi from time to time. Yuan Xi would not want such a person even if he was given to him.
Yuan Xi privately described the combination of Zhang, Yang and Sui Gu as brainless and unhappy. With these two talents in charge of the city affairs, it was no surprise that so many problems arose in welcoming the emperor's carriage.
The noise continued until the afternoon, and a large number of homeless people appeared on the streets. Later, it seemed that Liu Xie issued an edict, and the soldiers began to take people away and resettle them, and the streets gradually became quiet.
However, throughout the whole day, Lu Lingqi, who came to see Yuan Xi every day, never showed up. She must have been left in the mansion by Lu Bu. This made Yuan Xi, who was used to Lu Lingqi's coming, feel a little bored.
After all, a beautiful girl like Lu Lingqi who has a carefree personality and a pleasing figure is still very pleasant.
As night fell, Yuan Xi welcomed his first visitor. Yuan Xi did not expect that this person would visit him first.
He welcomed Zhang He in and said with a smile, "Marquis Donglai, you have worked hard on this trip."
Zhang He was ashamed and said, "I did almost nothing this time, but I was granted the title of marquis thanks to you, young master. I am really ashamed."
"My Lord, I will never forget your kindness."
Zhang He was so grateful because Yuan Xi transferred Zhang He directly from Heishan to Anyi through Yuan Shao to welcome the emperor.
When Zhang He left, Yuan Shang was certainly dissatisfied, and Zhang He was also full of grievances. This was a clear offense to Yuan Shang, and the other party must have thought that he had secretly defected to Yuan Xi!
But at this point, Zhang He had no choice but to lead his troops to Anyi in a hurry. Then, according to the arrangement, he cooperated with Zhang Liao to thwart Cao Ren and Xiahou Yuan's intention to abduct Liu Xie, and rescued Dong Cheng by the way.
With Dong Cheng's strong support, Liu Xie conferred the title of Tinghou on Zhang He. Being conferred the title of marquis was the ideal of a military man, so Zhang He, who understood the situation, was extremely grateful to Yuan Xi.
If Yuan Xi hadn't given him this opportunity, he wouldn't know how many years he would have to wait. And if it was someone else like Gao Lan who came, how could he have a chance to be the marquis?
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "I'm very happy that Brother Junyi doesn't blame me."
"This matter requires careful action. After much thought, Junyi is the most suitable person."
"It belongs to me, and no one else can take it away."
Zhang He thanked him repeatedly, and Yuan Xi saw the opportunity and said, "Of course I know that this matter has caused Junyi a lot of trouble."
"I now have the right to open a mansion. If you ever feel unhappy, you can come and see me."
After hearing this, Zhang He stood up and said solemnly, "I will keep your words in mind."
Yuan Xi nodded slightly. Now in terms of the righteousness of the Han court, he was superior to Yuan Shang.
But the reason why Zhang He did not take a clear stand was because Yuan Xi was still a member of the Yuan family. In the final analysis, even though he had a status, his strength was not enough for Zhang He to betray Yuan Shang.
But this is enough. Zhang He is a very shrewd and cautious person. Everyone has different personalities, so just prescribe the right medicine for the right condition.
After seeing Zhang He off, Yuan Xi wondered what had happened to Lu Lingqi. He had already told Lu Lingqi everything he wanted to say to Lu Bu. With her intelligence, she would definitely make it clear to Lu Bu.
Inside the Lu Mansion, Lu Bu stared at Lu Lingqi with a bad look on his face, "Did that kid say that?"
"I heard that you go to see him every day. Is that true?"
"What are you doing together?"
Lu Lingqi didn't care and said, "I did everything!"
"Ah?" Lu Bu was struck by lightning and grabbed the Fang Tian Huaji at hand.
"I'm going to stab him to death!"