Yuan Tan had just returned to Pingyu (Runan County and County), and before he could even take off his armor, a small school came to report: "General, Mr. Xin Ping is here to visit."

"Mr. Xin Ping?" Yuan Tan said anxiously, "Please invite him in."

The school took the order and left, and within a short while, he took Xin Ping back. Xin Ping said anxiously: "Young Master, something big happened."

Yuan Tan said: "What's the matter?"

Xin Ping signaled with a wink. Yuan Tan knew it and hurriedly stepped back, then asked: "Zhongzhi, what happened?"

Xin Ping said sadly: "The lord has returned to heaven."

"Ah?" Yuan Tan was shocked and then fell to the north and howled, "Father, where is my father..."

"Young Master, it's not the time to be sad." Xin Ping took a breath and said in a deep voice, "Madam and Shen Pei, Feng Ji, conspired to make a prosecutor to order the third son Yuan Shang to succeed the throne. The time is on the day when Yuan Shang returns to Puyang! The young master must make a decision early, otherwise once Yuan Shang inherits the throne, the young master will die in the burial place."

"What!?" Yuan Tan said furiously, "This young master is the eldest son, and my father's grand throne should naturally be inherited by this young master. What qualifications does Yuan Shang have to succeed to the throne? It's simply outrageous!"

"Young Master." Xin commented, "Yuan Shang has his wife, Shen Pei and Feng Ji's support, and it is inevitable that he will inherit the lord's throne. Now there is no other way. You can quickly start a large army and run to Puyang, and attack Puyang before Yuan Shang succeeds to the throne, and tell the will left by the lord the world. Only in this way can the overall situation be restored."

"Okay, that's it!" Yuan Tan slapped the table and said angrily, "Come here, beat the drum and raise the tent!"

Puyang, the side hall of the General's Mansion.

Feng Ji Xiangshenpei said: "Brother Yuantu, I just learned that Xin Ping is a fraud at home because of illness."

"Ah." Shen Pei said, "Is there any fraud?"

"That's right." Feng Ji said, "Xin Ping actually left Puyang five days ago, and you and me have been kept in the dark."

"Xin Ping left Puyang? At this time?" Shen Pei pondered for a moment, and suddenly his face changed drastically, and he said in a lost voice, "Is it hard to say that this guy went to Runan?"

Feng Ji said: "I think so too."

Shen Pei said: "If Xin Ping went to Runan, he would definitely inform Yuan Tan. With Yuan Tan's personality, once he knew that his wife would depose the eldest son and establish the young man, he would definitely not be willing to do so. He would most likely send troops to attack Puyang and turn the situation around before Prince Shang succeeded to the throne. This would be awful!"

Feng Ji said: "If Yuan Tan really raises troops to rebel, don't you know if Brother Zhengnan has a good solution?"

Shen Pei's eyes were cold and said in a deep voice: "There is no other way now. She can only cut off the slaughter and strive to calm the situation in the shortest time. Otherwise, the lord's foundation may be destroyed. At that time, not only Sun Quan, but Cao Bao will send troops to attack our army, but even the butcher Ma is very likely to take the blame."

"Since this is the case, it's not time to go, and you and I will act separately." Feng Jidao, "Brother Zhengnan rushed to Chenliu and asked his son Shang to lead his troops north to Puyang. At the same time, he went to Shanyang overnight. He asked the second son to lead his army back to Puyang. He then asked the senior general to mobilize the Puyang defenders to set up a net around Puyang to wait for Yuan Tan to lead his army to attack."

"Okay." Shen Pei said, "That's it."

Hefei, Huainan.

Twenty thousand elite Wu troops gathered secretly, and at this time Hefei had become a huge barracks.

In the tent of Zhou Yu's central army, Taishi Ci, Zhu Ran, Lu Meng, Zhou Tai, Jiang Qin, Xu Sheng, Quan Cong and other Eastern Wu generals gathered together, and were discussing the Northern Expedition in a lively manner.

"The Grand Governor is here."

A loud horn sounded suddenly outside the tent, and the generals in the tent stopped discussing urgently.

Amid the calm footsteps, Zhou Yu wore military uniform and walked into the tent with a smile. The generals hurriedly clasped their fists and sang loudly: "I will meet the Grand Commander."

After Zhou Yu strode to the case, Sushou said, "All the generals are exempted from the gift."

"Thank you Governor."

The generals bowed their fists and thanked them, and then they stepped down and arranged on both sides.

Zhou Yu waved his hand and said loudly: "Map!"

A junior school general had already expanded the map and hung it on the screen. Zhou Yu strode to the screen and waved to the generals, "Come on, please come around, all the generals."

The generals surrounded the screen as they said.

Zhou Yu said: "All the generals, I just made a detailed return. Yuan Shao had already died abruptly half a month ago. Yuan Shao's counselor Shen Pei, Feng Ji and others forged an edict to support Yuan Shao's third son Yuan Shang ascended the throne. Yuan Shao's eldest son Yuan Tan raised an army to rebel and returned to attack Puyang, but was defeated by Yuan Shang, Yuan Xi and the coalition forces of the high-ranking cadres outside Puyang City. Now Yuan Tan has led the remaining troops back to Runan."

"Yuan Shao is dead? It's great!" said the general Taishi Ci, "Now the butcher Ma is far away in Xichuan, and Yuan Shao dies from illness again. Who else can stop our army's northern expedition? When will we not take the Central Plains at this time?"

"Haha, General Taishi, don't be impatient." Zhou Yu smiled, "There is still a lack of opportunity to launch a northern expedition!"

"An opportunity?" Taishici said, "What does it mean?"

"In other words, it is not the time yet." Zhou Yu said, "Sending troops to the Northern Expedition at this time will likely force Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang to temporarily stop the troops and resist our army! If our army waits for a while and sends troops when Yuan Tan is desperate to ask our army for help, it will not only be able to divide the Hebei army, but also use the old subordinates of the Yuan family to kill each other. Our army can achieve the Central Plains without any soldiers or bloodshed, so why not do it?"

"Yuan Tan is asking for help?" Taishi Ci said in confusion, "In the past two years, Yuan Tan led his army to station in Runan and has been fighting with our army. How could he ask our army for help? Even if he asks for help, he should ask for help from the Liang army?"

Zhou Yu said: "Ma Butcher Jia, Dushi Jia, is far away in Xichuan, and it is difficult to get news in a hurry. Ma Chao led his army to expedition to the Western Regions. At present, no one in Luoyang City is in charge of the overall situation. If Ma Butcher Ma, who dares to send troops to rescue Yuan Tan? If Yuan Tan wants to survive, he can only wave his tail to our army and beg for mercy."

Taishici said: "So that's it."

Zhou Yu reached out and slapped the map on the screen and said loudly: "Since the butcher Ma is far away in Xichuan, the Liang army cannot react in time, and it is not difficult to capture the Central Plains. The problem now is how to defeat Yuan Shang in the shortest time, and then head eastward to attack Xuzhou on both sides. Our army must seize Xuzhou before the butcher Ma returns to Luoyang and the Liang army reacts."

Lu Meng said: "Yuan Shao has been in danger for half a month. If the Liang army quickly sent the news to Xichuan with 800 miles, the horse butcher knew the news within these days. Then wait for the horse butcher to return to Luoyang and mobilize the army to allocate food and grass. Finally, it will take at least two months before the Liang army can dispatch more than 20,000 troops."

"No, it will take at least three months!" Zhou Yu said decisively, "Since Ma Butcher occupied Xichuan without bloodshed, he could not have allowed more than 100,000 Sichuan troops to stay in Xichuan. But he had to transfer these more than 100,000 troops out of Xichuan and then mobilize troops from outside Sichuan to settle in various counties in Xichuan. All work takes complicated time and cannot be completed without half a year!"

Lu Meng said: "And, before the situation in Xichuan is completely stable, Ma Butcher would never dare to leave Xichuan rashly."

Taishici said: "Why is this?"

Lu Meng said: "Because Cao Cao is in Jingzhou, the butcher Ma may take advantage of the situation if he is negligent!"

"It's worthy of being Ziming." Zhou Yu nodded happily and looked around the generals and said, "In other words, our army has three months to force the Xuzhou army to surrender!"

Runan, Yuan Tan’s mansion.

Xin Ping hurried into the hall and said to Yuan Tan: "Lord, Yuan Shang, Yuan Xi, the rebels of the high-ranking cavalry came from the west, north and east directions, less than a hundred miles away from Pingyu City!"

"Ah?" Yuan Tan was shocked when he heard this, "You are catching up with me so soon?"

Xin Ping said in a deep voice: "It seems that Yuan Shang is deliberately trying to kill him."

"Yuan Shang, this guy!" Yuan Tan gritted his teeth for a moment, but he had no choice but to ask Xin Jing, "Our army was defeated, and the morale was frustrated, and the rebels were in full swing. If they fought hard for a long time, there would be no chance of winning. If they had not had much food and grass in Pingyu City, what should we do now?"

Xin Ping said: "At this point, I can only ask others for help."

"Seeking for help?" Yuan Tan suddenly realized, "Yes, Gu almost forgot to ask Liang Gong for help! Liang Gong and his father were allies and should support Gu in inheriting the throne. As long as Gu wrote a letter to explain Yuan Shang's conspiracy to usurp the throne clearly, Liang Gong will definitely send troops to uphold justice. Humph, with the support of Liang army, Gu is still afraid of Yuan Shang's son!"

"Lord." Xin commented, "Duke Liang is far away in Xichuan, so it's too late to ask for help from him."

Yuan Tan said: "Why do you need to ask Liang Gong for help? Luoyang, no, are there thousands of Xiliang Iron Cavalry stationed at Hulao Pass and Sishui Pass?"

Xin Ping smiled bitterly and said, "Lord, if Liang Duke's permission is not allowed, how dare the Xiliang Iron Cavalry who stayed in Luoyang, Hulao, and Sishui Pass dare to send troops without authorization? If Liang Duke knows the news and sends troops from Luoyang to rescue him, it will be at least a few months later. Our army will be difficult for him to last until that time."

Yuan Tan said panickedly: "What should I do?"
Chapter completed!