Three Kingdoms: Let Yuan Shen be great again

Chapter 34 Little Yuan's Ingenious Plan to Secure the World

Moreover, at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the coming-of-age ceremony was both important and unimportant.

In an ordinary family, if the imperial court were to conscript soldiers or require them to serve, even if their child was only fifteen years old, they would tearfully wrap his hair in a cloth and consider it a coming-of-age ceremony.

As the most prestigious family in the land, the Yuan family of Runan could not afford to be casual about coming-of-age ceremonies. Not only did the elders of the clan preside over the ceremony, but a grand banquet was also held for guests as a witness.

But Yuan Yao's situation is special.

He could have been capped last year or even the year before, but at that time, Zhong was in a crisis of being abandoned by everyone, so he had no mind to prepare for the capping ceremony.

Now, the external environment has eased, but internal problems have arisen.

In the entire Huainan region, there are only two people qualified to be the elder of Yuan Yao's clan: one is Yuan Shu, who is currently in prison, and the other is Yuan Yin, whose grave is probably overgrown with weeds.

Because of this, even if others felt it was time for Yuan Yao to be crowned, they didn't dare to bring it up.

Until Yuan Shao suddenly remembered that he had a relative in Huainan, he waved his hand and made the decision for him.

Incidentally, Yuan Yao was changed to Yuan Datou.

Of course, Yuan Yao definitely didn't want to be Yuan Datou (a derogatory term for Yuan Yao).

However, this word was bestowed by Yuan Shao, which clearly meant to curry favor and win him over. Directly refusing it would be too offensive.

Yuan Yao's mind raced, and he quickly came up with a compromise.

Yuan Yao: "Thank you for bestowing this title upon me, General. However, I am of shallow talent and lack virtue, and I dare not accept it."

Yuan Xu frowned and asked, "What do you mean, my dear nephew?"

Yuan Yao: "I would like to change one character, replacing 'Kai' with 'Fu'. The glory of the Yuan family of Runan is all tied to the Great General. I dare not hope for victory, but only wish to wholeheartedly assist the Great General."

Yuan Xu was overjoyed: "Excellent! If the General knew of your intentions, he would surely be very pleased. In that case, I, your humble uncle, will take the liberty of giving you the courtesy name Shifu!"

We finally got through it.

Yuan Yao wiped his sweat. Although Yuan Shifu's calligraphy was decent, it was still usable, so he decided to make do with it.

Next, Yuan Xu, representing Yuan Shao, took out a Jinxian crown with only one beam and placed it on Yuan Yao's head, thus symbolically completing the coming-of-age ceremony.

After the ceremony, Yuan Xu finally got to the point.

Unsurprisingly, as Yuan Shao's envoy, Yuan Xu's main purpose for this trip was to unite with Yuan Yao to deal with Cao Cao, so that he could send troops from the Huainan direction to threaten Xuchang from the flank.

As for Yuan Yao facing Sun Ce's invasion, Yuan Shao claimed he could help mediate and guarantee that the Zhong clan would not be destroyed.

That's all there is to it, and the matter is quite simple, but Yuan Yao needs to carefully consider how to do it.

That evening, just as Yang Hong had predicted, the envoy from Xuchang arrived in Wancheng, hoping to coexist peacefully with Yuan Yao and guard the gates of Huainan, so that Cao Cao could concentrate on fighting Yuan Shao.

This is completely opposite to Yuan Shao's intention.

So should I help Cao Cao or Yuan Shao?

"To assist Cao Cao."

Liu Ye, who was summoned overnight, gave his choice without any hesitation.

The reason is:

Liu Ye: "Yuan Shao is a man who cares for those close to him but then distances himself from them. Your Highness wrote to him before, but received no reply. Now he thinks of sending an envoy to show goodwill, which shows that he is just putting on an act and using us."

There's nothing wrong with using each other; Cao Cao used the same tactic. The problem lies in the fact that the bargaining chips offered by both sides were completely different.

What Cao Cao could provide was pure money, grain, and supplies—hard currency; the only disagreement lay in the specific amounts.

Yuan Shao, on the other hand, seemed to be saying he would mediate with Sun Ce and directly eliminate the crisis in Huainan, but that was not the case.

Liu Ye: "Sun Ce is a fierce tiger. How can he be controlled by Yuan Shao's empty talk? That man will definitely take advantage of our predicament and force us to cede land under the pretext of peace talks. At that time, in order to deal with Cao Cao, Yuan Shao will force us to accept, allowing Sun Ce to gain a lot of benefits without losing a single soldier."

In short, if you side with Cao Cao, what he can offer is very substantial. Regardless of the long-term consequences, at least the immediate benefits are tangible.

Yuan Shao's approach was rather superficial, with his promises of official titles and bestowed courtesy names. His attempts to mediate with Sun Ce were unreliable, yielding little in the short term, let alone in the long term.

"But what if we consider long-term interests?" Yuan Yao asked, stroking his chin. "Between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, who would be more beneficial to us if they won?"

After a moment's thought, Liu Ye said, "It's still Cao Cao."

Since Yuan Shao's power was significantly greater than Cao Cao's, if Yuan Yao aspired to rule the world, he should naturally support the weaker side to achieve a mutually destructive outcome.

Yuan Yao thought for a moment, then pressed on, "What if Cao Cao could achieve a complete victory and utterly crush Yuan Shao?"

Liu Ye hesitated: "That's probably unlikely."

Given the disparity in strength on paper, even if Liu Ye was quite optimistic about Cao Cao, he couldn't make such a judgment rashly.

Yuan Yao nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

He probably understood what he needed to do.

Liu Ye believed that Yuan Shao was stronger than Cao Cao, so he had to do everything he could to help Cao Cao to prevent the situation from turning in one direction.

But Yuan Yao knew that the outcome would not be so, so he wanted to tip the scales back a little.

"I've made up my mind; I'll help both Cao Cao and Yuan Shao!"

This isn't about fighting with both hands simultaneously; it's about truly being able to balance both.

It is an undeniable objective fact that Yuan Yao helped Cao Cao. As long as Yuan Yao did not want Sun Ce to take Huainan away, he was essentially guarding the gate of Huainan for Cao Cao. Moreover, unless Zhong Shi launched the Blood Burning Technique to exhaust the army, he posed little threat to Cao Cao.

But Yuan Yao wasn't going to let Cao Cao get away with it so easily. He had Yang Hong reveal the news of Yuan Shao contacting him to Cao Cao's envoy, forcing the other side to make serious concessions and bleed even more.

Yuan Yao set a target for Yang Hong: 100,000 shi of grain, 10,000 taels of gold and silver, 1,000 bolts of colored silk, and 500 horses. He was to receive more for his hard work, depending entirely on his abilities.

As for Yuan Shao, Yuan Yao certainly couldn't do as the other party demanded, abandoning Sun Ce and focusing all his efforts on fighting Cao Cao, but he could help the other party in his own way.

Yuan Yao wrote his reply through the night, and the next day, with dark circles under his eyes, he asked Yuan Xu to deliver it to Yuan Shao.

About half a month later, while Yuan Yao was locked in a fierce battle with Sun Ce, Yuan Shao in Hebei personally led the Ji Province army to Liyang, officially preparing to cross the river to attack Cao Cao. He also met Yuan Xu, who had returned after many twists and turns, and the long letter written by Yuan Yao.

When Liu Bei, who had fled to Hebei after his defeat, entered his tent, he happened to hear Yuan Shao snort coldly.

Liu Bei asked, "Why are you angry, my lord?"

"It's Xuande," Yuan Shao said. "Look at the letter my good nephew wrote to me."

In his letter, Yuan Yao made numerous excuses, claiming that the situation in Huainan was too dire. He wanted to help Yuan Shao fight the traitor Cao Cao, but he lacked the strength and had to reduce his forces to protect himself.

Yuan Shao was very dissatisfied that he failed to achieve his goal.

Ironically, he was happy for a minute when he heard that Yuan Yao had cleverly changed his courtesy name to Shifu.

What made him even more dissatisfied was that Yuan Yao actually turned around and taught him how to do things, claiming that he had three pieces of advice that, if Yuan Shao could adopt them, he could at least remain invincible, if not defeat Cao Cao.

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei quickly advised, "My lord, you may not know, but I have dealt with your nephew before. This young man may seem to speak absurdly, but in reality, he has exceptional insight and is incredibly perceptive. You might as well listen to his advice."

"Oh, is that so?" Since Liu Bei said so, Yuan Shao changed his mind and also called his military advisor Guo Tu: "Gongze, come and take a look too."

The three of them read on from Yuan Yao's letter, and saw that Yuan Yao's first piece of advice was: "In a large-scale battle, food supplies are of paramount importance. In the future, a reliable person should be selected to guard the grain storage area."

Guo Tu thought for a moment and said, "This matter is easy. I recommend a person, the veteran general Chunyu Qiong. He is a seasoned general in the army, with rich experience, and guarding the provisions will not be a problem."

Yuan Shao nodded: "Very well, let's do as Gongze says."

Continuing on, the second piece of advice reads: "Xu You is an old friend of Cao Cao and is familiar with the military situation in Hebei. We must be careful that he does not defect."

Yuan Shao's face darkened. How could he speak of his own subject like that?

Guo Tu's eyes lit up: "Your official duties are troublesome, but I have a solution that satisfies both sides. Xu You's family is all in Ye City. Why not have Shen Pei, who is in charge of Ye City, keep a close watch on them? As long as Xu You's family is under control, he will naturally not dare to have any evil thoughts."

Yuan Shao was sullen, but he still agreed.

The final piece of advice was: "Zhang He and Gao Lan are great generals of Hebei; you must not push them too far, lest they betray you on the battlefield!"

Before Yuan Shao could even get angry, Guo Tu retorted angrily, "This is utterly absurd! These two generals are the backbone of our army; how could they possibly defect to the enemy? Rest assured, my lord, I have the responsibility to assist in military affairs and will certainly make these two submit to the enemy!"

All three pieces of advice were handled properly. Guo Tu was very satisfied with his plan, Yuan Shao was also very satisfied that Guo Tu could share his burdens, and Liu Bei, who was standing nearby, was equally satisfied, thinking that this time he had finally listened to Yuan Yao's words.

The three of them said in unison, "Good!"