Mythical Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1032: Chapter 988: The Shattered Think Tank

”Sometimes it’s not just because it’s the best plan that one would agree, Gongtai.” Although Hu Zhao belonged to the Enlightenment Sect, it didn’t mean he couldn’t see the treachery in people’s hearts!

Chen Gong rolled his eyes. He knew this even better than Hu Zhao, but he couldn’t understand why Sheni Pei and Xun Shen hadn’t stopped it. After all, those people were genuinely renowned ministers of the world, and surely couldn’t be so oblivious.

As Chen Gong had guessed, it wasn’t due to the treachery of people’s hearts, but rather a choice Yuan Tan had to make to maintain the stability of the Yuan Family.

In history, Yuan Tan assisted Yuan Shao in taking Qingzhou, so he was appointed as the Governor of Qingzhou. However, in this lifetime, Qingzhou fell into Liu Bei’s hands, and Yuan Tan assisted Yuan Shao in taking Youzhou, thus becoming the Inspector of Youzhou.

At that time, Yuan Shao considered himself exceptionally heroic, and his eldest son Yuan Tan indeed had some abilities. His nephew Gao Gan was also decent, and with Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang being quite young, Yuan Shao appointed Gao Gan as the Governor of Bingzhou. After all, he trusted those close to him, not requiring them to show much performance, only needing kinship and loyalty.

Yuan Shao did not lack talented people, but those who could truly make him open his heart and trust completely were very few. Therefore, it was only natural that Gao Gan and Yuan Tan each controlled a region.

After acquiring Youzhou, Yuan Tan naturally worked hard to expand, using Youzhou as a base to prepare for inheriting the family business in the future. Yet now the situation had become this way. After stabilizing, the best strategy for Yuan Tan was actually to abandon Youzhou, retract the defense line, consolidate Bingzhou and Jizhou, and defend with full force, increasing the depth of the defense line.

Although doing so under a great disparity in strength would be merely to prolong survival, it was still better than perishing.

Unfortunately, Youzhou was basically Yuan Tan’s base camp. To abandon the base camp to choose the best strategy, making Bingzhou his future foundation, or to fight to gather forces, consolidate Youzhou, abandon most of Bingzhou, and use powerful forces to make Liu Bei unable to invade Youzhou, Yuan Tan almost without much thought chose the second option.

The first approach — Bingzhou was Gao Gan’s territory — Yuan Tan really couldn’t be sure if this cousin would fully support him. After all, once Youzhou was lost, Yuan Tan’s foundation would be shaky. Although there was full support from Sheni Pei, Xuu You, Chunyu Qiong, Jiangh Yiqu, and others, Yuan Tan couldn’t guarantee that Gao Gan wouldn’t develop ulterior motives.

The second approach, though seemingly extremely risky, from Yuan Tan’s perspective, sacrificing parts of Bingzhou to Cao Cao not only established an offensive and defensive alliance but also weakened Gao Gan’s strength and solidified his own position. With one addition and one subtraction, he had basically succeeded in grasping the core strength of the Yuan Family.

It could be said that Yuan Tan’s method wasn’t too wrong; he just didn’t understand Liu Bei’s true strength, thinking Liu Bei’s lack of progress was due to internal inefficiency.

As for Sheni Pei and others, although they also felt Yuan Tan’s approach wasn’t the best, it was quite decent. Moreover, it was Yuan Tan’s first order, so Sheni Pei, Xuu You, and others hesitated for a moment and accepted it.

Although they lost the battle between Yuan and Liu, they felt it was an unfair loss. Whether it was Yuan Shao’s Army or Liu Bei’s Army, in their eyes, they were evenly matched. Liu Bei was strong, but it was just six of one and half a dozen of the other; as for strategy and intelligence, they did not lose the battle between Yuan and Liu due to lack of wisdom!

Of course, this was merely Sheni Pei, Xuu You, and others’ judgment. They were already somewhat blinded by their position, unable to see the situation clearly. However, to speak truthfully, Li Youu uprooted all of Yuan Shao’s spies and then enforced an intelligence blockade, leaving Yuan Tan’s side without any useful information, naturally forcing them to judge based on the battlefield’s situation.

In reality, all of this was trivial. Now, Yuan Tan’s side’s greatest loss was Zhang He and Gao Lan. The other two of the Four Courts of Hebei, upon returning, not only did not receive comfort, but were also left idle, with Yuan Tan even planning to send Zhang He and Gao Lan to the northern part of Bingzhou to defend against the Xianbei after the handover of Bingzhou was complete.

This naturally wasn’t because Yuan Tan valued the Xianbei people; in reality, it was entirely due to dissatisfaction with Zhang He and Gao Lan.

Wen Chou perished in loyalty, while Zhang He and Gao Lan retreated alone without regard for their lord, resulting in Yuan Shao’s death. This, in Yuan Tan’s eyes, was utterly unbearable; having commanded tens of thousands of troops, they abandoned Ye City, fled, and even left behind the treasured Xuanyuan Heaven Cauldron. This made Yuan Tan loathe them even more!

Though Xuu You, Sheni Pei, Xun Shen, and others knew there were too many hidden complexities in the matter, they could only choose silence when Yuan Tan ascended to power. In their view, leaving Zhang He and Gao Lan idle for a while to let Yuan Tan settle down was satisfactory.

As for the future, it was merely a matter of time before these renowned generals of Hebei returned to the battlefield, so they unanimously chose to make Zhang He and Gao Lan suffer an injustice.

Frankly, this was the drawback of lacking Tian Feng and Ju Shou. Although Sheni Pei, Xun Shen, Xuu You, and others were also people of strategy, they lacked the boldness to openly admonish that Tian Feng and Ju Shou possessed.

If Tian Feng and Ju Shou were still present, they would certainly overrule Yuan Tan’s actions. Protecting Zhang He and Gao Lan wholeheartedly would be the most appropriate course now, but in the hesitant deliberation of Sheni Pei and others, Yuan Tan’s command was ultimately passed.

Without those two leading, these people didn’t dare to confront Yuan Tan boldly. In the past, with Tian Feng around, these people would make their point if they found it reasonable, knowing there was always someone to take the heat. By speaking mildly, even if the proposal was not passed, Tian Feng would continue to push until it was accomplished...

As for now, Xun Shen and others could only glance at each other, unwilling to take responsibility. They were all clever, unwilling to be marked, so none spoke up, and thus, with the established facts, they were left with only one choice: to accept it silently.

These matters were unknown to Chen Gong. To be precise, Chen Gong had never had deep contact with Tian Feng and Ju Shou, nor was there any necessity to unlock Spiritual Talent over trivial matters, so he couldn’t comprehend the current stance of Sheni Pei and others.

”But this matter has little to do with us. Whom Bingzhou is handed over to, we just need to do our own part,” Chen Gong said casually. ”Although I don’t care much for Cao Cao, I won’t go out of my way to smear him in this matter. Within his capabilities, he’ll perform better than Yuan Benchu.”

”It doesn’t require them to send troops, nor worry about the northern populace; just providing provisions will suffice. There’s no compromising on Cao Cao’s part here,” Zang Hong commented dismissively. Though he disdained Cao Cao, he acknowledged Chen Gong’s words.

”I agree as well,” Hu Zhao nodded. He once had a good impression of Cao Cao, but after the campaign against Xuzhou, Hu Zhao lost any favor, though he admitted within Cao Cao’s capabilities, he’d do a better job. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)