Chapter 347

Lord Yuan Shao nodded noncommittally when he heard this, but when he heard Xu You mention Lord Yuan Shu, he instinctively frowned: "However, if this is the case, then the other warlords may not continue to crusade against Lord Yuan Shu, right?"

Although he didn't want to see Lord Yuan Shu fail so quickly.

But continuing to keep Lord Yuan Shu made him feel very unhappy in his heart.

In short, his mood was very complicated.

"No!"

Xu You shook his head firmly: "The warlords will still continue to crusade against Lord Yuan Shu. This is a great opportunity to destroy and divide Lord Yuan Shu. The excuse is too legitimate; they cannot give up this opportunity!"

"Moreover, just to weaken the influence of the Lord Yuan clan, they will choose to do so!"

"Admittedly, you and Lord Yuan Shu are at odds, my lord, but you are both behind the Lord Yuan clan. No matter what, this cannot be ignored;"

"Therefore, the warlords of the world are most wary of you;"

"Using a legitimate name to get Lord Yuan Shu out of the game in advance is undoubtedly a good way to greatly weaken the influence of the Lord Yuan clan."

Just kidding, for the sake of profit, what wouldn't the warlords do?

Just because others also declared themselves emperor, they would let Lord Yuan Shu go?

That is impossible.

"Is that so?"

Lord Yuan Shao nodded expressionlessly: "Forget it! Let's ignore him for now! Next, let's focus on dealing with Gongsun Zan and even Liu Yu!"

"Taking Youzhou early is the right path."

"By the way! How is the contact with the Heishan Army? Has Zhang Yan agreed to my alliance agreement?"

If he wants to defeat Gongsun Zan as soon as possible and eliminate him, with Lord Yuan Shao's current strength, he is still a bit powerless.

Gongsun Zan is worthy of being the White Horse General, having fought his way up.

Obviously, he is not so easy to deal with.

"Hmm!"

Before Xu You could speak, Guo Tu on the side nodded affirmatively: "We have already made contact! Zhang Yan also intends to form an alliance, but he needs us to provide him with 1 million shi of grain and 300, 00 gold. This amount is a bit large, far exceeding the limit you gave, my lord. However, Zhang Yan refuses to loosen his grip, so I can only come back to discuss it with you!"

He was also very helpless!

Although he wanted to handle this matter well, Zhang Yan was uncooperative and too greedy, so he had no choice.

"What? 1 million shi of grain? And an additional 300, 00 gold? Why doesn't he go rob someone?"

Lord Yuan Shao was furious when he heard this.

This is not a small amount.

If he had so much money and grain, wouldn't it be better to recruit troops and buy horses himself?

Guo Tu nodded with a bitter smile: "I said the same thing at the time! But Zhang Yan said, where can you get it faster than this?"

"I don't often plunder with troops on weekdays, and the income is not small, and the risk is small. If I can't get a greater return, I am not willing to take this risk."

"Tsk tsk!"

Xu You on the side couldn't help but click his tongue when he heard this: "What an arrogant Zhang Yan! But a mere bandit, how dare he be like this? Is he not afraid that the lord will settle the accounts with him in the future?"

"Also, Guo Tu, are you too weak? You can't even handle this little thing. What use are you?"

"You!"

Guo Tu glared at Xu You angrily, wishing he could kill this guy.

If you can do it, why don't you go?

Is this his problem?

It is clearly Zhang Yan's own problem.

He hated Xu You the most for bad-mouthing him in front of Lord Yuan Shao on weekdays.

Of course, he completely forgot that he also liked to bad-mouth Xu You in front of Lord Yuan Shao on weekdays.

In short, they were like enemies; if they didn't oppose each other or stab each other in the back every day, they would feel uncomfortable.

Ju Shou and the others were also very speechless watching this.

But to avoid being affected, they usually just watched the show and wouldn't speak at such times.

"Alright! Stop arguing! What does this look like?"

Lord Yuan Shao interrupted their tit-for-tat words impatiently and scanned the circle: "How do you think this matter should be handled?"

Xu You immediately said: "My lord! I think we should agree to it first!"

"The Heishan Army is a powerful reinforcement. If we have their help, it will be much easier for us to defeat Gongsun Zan;"

"Even taking Liu Yu in the future will be much easier;"

"Dirty work can actually be left to Zhang Yan to do!"

"After you take the whole of Jizhou and Youzhou and your strength increases greatly, my lord, we will come to clean up Zhang Yan, destroy him, and get back what we lost many times over!"

"For now, what does it matter if we treat this money and grain as being temporarily deposited with Zhang Yan?"

"If we don't agree, I'm afraid this person will be won over by Gongsun Zan."

He didn't believe that Gongsun Zan wouldn't try to win over Zhang Yan as an arm.

"Well said!"

Lord Yuan Shao's eyes lit up when he heard this.

That's right! This is just an expedient measure!

He didn't need to care too much about the gains and losses. It wouldn't be too late to settle the accounts after he succeeded.

"My lord! I don't think so!"

At this time, Guo Tu hurriedly opposed: "Zhang Yan and these Heishan bandits have millions of people behind them, and the money and grain consumed every day is not a small amount;"

"Heaven knows how long it will take us to defeat Gongsun Zan?"

"If it drags on for a few months, I'm afraid this money and grain will have already entered the stomachs of the Heishan Army! By then, how can we get it back? Let alone many times over. Xu You, your idea is too wishful."

Although he was opposing for the sake of opposing Xu You, Lord Yuan Shao felt that what Guo Tu said made sense!

1 million shi of grain looks like a lot, but for the Heishan Army with a population of one million.

Divided equally among everyone, it's only one shi of grain per person, about 120 jin.

It can't support them for a few months.

"A joke!"

Xu You sneered when he heard this: "The Heishan Army has plundered a lot in the past, and they themselves have the money and grain that Zhang Jiao plundered from Jizhou and other places back then. They have savings themselves;"

"Otherwise, they couldn't have supported themselves for so long and lived so well!"

"Could it be that they wouldn't have to live if we didn't give it to them?"

"So, what you said is completely nonsense!"

"Furthermore, let alone grain, as for gold and silver, the Heishan Army stays in the deep mountains and old forests and has no way to spend it. At least in terms of gold and silver, not only do we not have to worry about them consuming it, I'm afraid we can obtain the large amount of gold and silver wealth they have accumulated from plundering over the years!"

"No matter how you calculate it, we won't lose!"

"Moreover, if we are reluctant to spend the capital to win over Zhang Yan, it is equivalent to handing Zhang Yan, this arm, to Gongsun Zan;"

"Guo Tu, you were the envoy to Zhang Yan before, why are you not thinking about reaching an alliance at this time, but blindly opposing it?"

"You wouldn't be deliberately not wanting the lord to form an alliance with Zhang Yan and gain this arm, right?"

As soon as this was said, Lord Yuan Shao's eyes changed when he looked at Guo Tu.

Xu You smiled complacently in his heart: "See? I won this time! Hmph hmph! Fighting with me, you Guo Tu are still 10, 00 years too early!"

"You...."

Guo Tu heard this and saw Lord Yuan Shao's slightly changed eyes. He immediately knew that he had lost his composure and lost this round. He hurriedly explained to Lord Yuan Shao: "My lord, don't misunderstand, it's not like that!"

"I have indeed tried my best to facilitate the alliance!"

"You know me, no matter how much I fight with Xu You, I wouldn't ignore your interests;"

"Xu You is completely slandering me without reason;"

"Furthermore, who said that the gold and silver in the mountains can't be spent?"

"Do you know that I saw people from the Su Chamber of Commerce in the Heishan Army? They seem to have been trading with the Heishan Army for a long time;"

"Otherwise, do you think the Heishan Army can live so comfortably and support so many people just by plundering? It's ridiculous!"

"What?"

As soon as Guo Tu said this, both Lord Yuan Shao and Xu You were shocked.

"There is actually such a thing? Why didn't you say so before?"

Lord Yuan Shao glared at Guo Tu and scolded.

— Author's Notes —

Seeking flowers