Chapter 355

"At the same time, My Lord, you must also go to Xinye to negotiate peace with General Su Xuan."

Yan Xiang said decisively.

"Why?"

Yuan Shu looked at Yan Xiang curiously, then said irritably: "That is a million shi of grain and three hundred thousand gold;"

"Does he, Su Xuan, really dare to open his lion's mouth? Why doesn't he just go rob someone?"

He has money, and the Yuan clan has money.

But it's not meant to be squandered like this.

Yan Xiang said speechlessly: "Where else can you get money as fast as this?"

Yuan Shu: "..."

Are you intentionally trying to frustrate me?

Yan Xiang didn't care about Yuan Shu's speechlessness and resentment, and immediately analyzed: "Judging from the fact that General Su Xuan is still willing to negotiate peace and is willing to let you ransom the surrendered troops;"

"He clearly has no intention of truly attacking you or Nanyang for the time being;"

"It is likely because he does not want to bear the stigma of colluding with Dong Zhuo and destroying the alliance."

"If we do not ransom those troops, it will be completely impossible to participate in the campaign against Dong Zhuo later and achieve sufficient results!"

"Don't look at the fact that we still have tens of thousands of troops in our hands, and given time, we can continue to recruit young men;"

"But these all require time;"

"The army also needs time to grow!"

"Furthermore, if we refuse General Su Xuan, he likely won't stop the war; he will inevitably lead his army to attack Wancheng and completely seize Nanyang, driving us out of Nanyang;"

"This does not conform to your interests, My Lord;"

"Therefore, this time we can only retreat and choose to ransom the people and negotiate peace!"

Clearly, Su Xuan did not leave them many choices.

How did it come to this step?

Yan Xiang sighed deeply in his heart.

He remembered that Ji Ling's ability to command troops was actually quite good; how could he make such a big mistake this time?

Yuan Shu was thoroughly swindled by him.

"This..."

Yuan Shu immediately hesitated.

Seeing this, Yan Xiang immediately struck while the iron was hot: "My Lord, you wouldn't want to be driven out of Nanyang because of insufficient military strength, and thus be looked down upon and despised by Yuan Shao during the warlord alliance, would you?"

Yuan Shu: "..."

This, he absolutely did not want.

Immediately, Yuan Shu's expression became solemn: "Fine! I'll listen to you, go ransom the people, go negotiate peace!"

No matter what, he could not lose to Yuan Shao, could not be despised by Yuan Shao.

The successor of the Yuan clan could only be him.

As for Yuan Kui and Yuan Ji?

Sorry, Yuan Shu felt that the probability of them escaping Dong Zhuo's grasp was slim.

He was indeed not smart enough, but he knew that what they were about to do would likely thoroughly anger Dong Zhuo.

Even if Dong Zhuo didn't dare to kill them, he would absolutely not let them have an easy time.

Fortunately, Yuan Shu didn't feel sad or upset about this at all.

Because, for the past month or so, he had already enjoyed the relief of not having his uncle and Yuan Ji over his head.

Except for those supporting Yuan Shao, the entire Yuan clan had begun to choose to fully support him and listen to him.

This would have been impossible in the past.

Admittedly, he was the second son of the main wife in the past.

But in the eyes of those old things at home, this second son was not even as promising or useful as Yuan Shao.

"However, I cannot raise so much money in such a short time! What is to be done?"

Yuan Shu said, looking at Yan Xiang, seeking a solution.

Yan Xiang pondered for a moment and said: "My Lord, we can pay a portion ourselves, and the rest can be forcibly levied from the noble clans and powerful families of Nanyang... hmm! No, it's borrowing!"

"Borrow? Do I have to pay it back?"

Yuan Shu asked blankly.

"No!"

Yan Xiang's eyes narrowed slightly: "Why should you pay back the money and grain you borrowed based on your own ability, My Lord?"

"Eh?"

Yuan Shu heard this rare, shameless remark from Yan Xiang and was somewhat surprised: "This doesn't sound like something you would say, Yan Xiang?"

"Speak, what exactly are you planning?"

"I don't believe you don't know that if we borrow and don't pay back, these noble clans and powerful families will eventually explode and cause me trouble."

He said this, but Yuan Shu admitted he was tempted.

Yan Xiang had spoken to his heart.

He even felt that Yan Xiang today sounded super pleasant, completely different from his usual self who only knew how to retort.

For a moment, he even suspected that the Yan Xiang in front of him was fake.

At the very least, he was an imposter, like Yan Xiang's twin brother.

Yan Xiang didn't know that Yuan Shu's brain had already filled in such a scenario, and immediately replied: "My Lord! Through this battle with General Su Xuan, I feel that we likely won't be able to beat Su Xuan for the time being, and we won't be able to hold onto Nanyang;"

"Regardless of whether we compromise this time, eventually, Nanyang will likely be lost;"

Yuan Shu heard this, and his brows immediately knit together, a look of displeasure appearing on his face.

Is Yan Xiang saying he is inferior to Su Xuan?

It's a pity he just thought Yan Xiang had changed and started speaking pleasantly.

Now it seems that was just an illusion, an accident.

But unfortunately, through this war, he had to admit that what Yan Xiang said was the truth.

This made it even more uncomfortable.

Yan Xiang ignored Yuan Shu's ugly expression and continued: "In that case, what difference does it make whether we offend these local Nanyang noble clans or not, whether we pay back the borrowed money or not?"

"Anyway, even if Nanyang isn't lost in the future, we will likely have to give up Nanyang under Su Xuan's constant pressure and attacks;"

"It is highly probable that for a long time in the future, we won't have any interaction with these local Nanyang noble clans!"

"Naturally, there is no need to pay back the borrowed money and grain!"

"What do you think, My Lord?"

As for reputation?

Whether it's worth money or how much it's worth depends on the time.

Anyway, not paying back the money owed to the Nanyang noble clans and powerful families won't affect Yuan Shu's reputation outside of Nanyang.

"Wonderful!"

Yuan Shu heard this, and his eyes immediately lit up: "This method is good!"

"I will immediately summon all the noble clans and powerful families of Nanyang to Wancheng in the name of the Yuan clan to discuss the matter of borrowing money and grain;"

"Besides, since we are prepared to borrow money and grain;"

"Since we plan not to pay it back later, we should naturally borrow a bit more;"

"A million shi of grain and three hundred thousand gold is not enough;"

"Let's try to borrow two million shi of grain and six hundred thousand gold, Yan Xiang, what do you think?"

Since Yan Xiang said he wouldn't be able to hold Nanyang in the future.

He himself thought so too!

Then naturally, he had to scrape a big sum before leaving.

Recover his investment costs in Nanyang as much as possible, otherwise wouldn't he be at a loss?

Of course, Yuan Shu would not directly give up Nanyang for the time being.

Even if he were to give up Nanyang in the future, he was prepared to demand a return fee from Su Xuan again.

At least earn back the money he was cheated out of this time.

Otherwise, he wouldn't do it. ===== CHAPTER 357 =====