Chapter 689

Without reaching the final decisive battle, who can clearly say whether it is he or Xu You who will prevail?

At the very least, he already holds some leverage over Xu You in his hands right now!

In ordinary times, this leverage might not be enough to break Xu You's bones or even cost him his life and force him out completely.

But if revealed at the right moment, it could absolutely claim Xu You's life.

When that time comes, he will be the one who laughs last.

Xu You?

Just an arrogant and conceited fool.

People! Only by staying alive can there be hope and a future.

Once dead, everything is gone.

"Haha! Good! Then it is settled!"

Seeing this, Yuan Shao laughed heartily and immediately waved his hand, saying: "Guo Tu! This matter is handed over to you to handle!"

Upon hearing this, Guo Tu looked at Xu You triumphantly, as if to say, look, even if it was your idea, the person the Lord ultimately chose to execute it is still me.

However, what he received in return was a look of disdain from Xu You.

"Such a thankless task, I wouldn't even want to do it if given to me! What kind of profit is there to be made?"

"The key is, if one were to personally go and find the Xiongnu and Xianbei, there is no small amount of danger; it is completely not worth it!"

He still prefers matters regarding logistics and procurement; the profit to be made there is massive.

If one doesn't seize the opportunity to rake in wealth at a time like this, when else would one wait for?

Guo Tu was initially surprised by Xu You's attitude, but upon seeing the flash of greed in Xu You's eyes, he immediately understood Xu You's thoughts.

Guo Tu sneered in his heart: "You are truly courting death! At a time like this, you are still thinking about raking in money?"

"You must know, if the war goes poorly and I throw this matter out, you will absolutely die without a burial place!"

"This is you seeking your own death, so don't blame me! Hehe!"

At this moment, in Guo Tu's eyes, Xu You was already a dead man.

It is not that he insists on competing with Xu You or targeting him.

It is truly that their relationship is as incompatible as fire and water, difficult to reconcile.

As long as Xu You is here, he will block his path to advancing further and gaining more benefits.

Therefore, Xu You must die.

He also knows that Xu You likely harbors similar thoughts.

They both want to kill each other.

It just depends on who achieves final victory first.

Presently, Yuan Shao's side began to take action.

The mission to the Xiongnu and Xianbei also went very smoothly.

After all, the benefits involved were too great for the Xiongnu and Xianbei to give up.

Of course, it was also because in recent years, the northern weather has become increasingly frigid; when winter arrives, many cattle, sheep, and even people freeze to death.

Lacking food, the Xiongnu and Xianbei naturally have no choice but to raid the Han people to the south.

Additionally, they had another consideration: taking advantage of the Great Han being in a state of chaotic division, if they do not act now to occupy some Han territory as a foundation for survival, there will be no such good opportunity once the world is unified again.

Perhaps, by then, these Han people might even turn their direction and attack them with full force.

This is not their imagination, but a truth they have learned from past historical lessons.

Therefore, they must tear a few more pieces of meat from the Han people now and suck more of their blood to strengthen themselves.

Only then can they cope with future attacks from the Han.

Even, if they can grow strong enough, turning the tables to completely occupy the Han people's territory, eliminating their resistance, and keeping them like cattle and sheep is not impossible.

Xiangyang City, Prince Qian's Mansion.

"Hehe!"

Su Xuan put down the intelligence in his hand and sneered: "Yuan Shao really cannot change his nature; he has actually gone to collude with the Xiongnu and Xianbei again?"

"The key is that this time he has even intensified his actions, secretly promising Bingzhou to these Hu Ren; he is simply damnable!"

"Jia San! Since our Great Alliance Leader Yuan wants to make a name for himself, let us help him well!"

"Have the Dark Guards across the country secretly begin to publicize that Yuan Shao is colluding with the Xiongnu and Xianbei, promising to cede Bingzhou to them in exchange for them launching an attack on Bingzhou!"

"I want most people in the world to know about this within half a month."

He was truly angered.

Although he had anticipated it, he still despised Yuan Shao's lack of a bottom line.

"Yes!"

Feeling the Lord's anger, Jia San immediately accepted the order.

"Additionally,"

At this moment, Su Xuan continued: "I will write letters to Jia Shijiu and Zhang Yan later; you send them out as quickly as possible so they are clear on Yuan Shao's intentions!"

"Furthermore, communicate with Su Yu's side; next, provide another batch of money, grain, and military equipment to Zhang Yang and Jia Shijiu to help them repel the upcoming attack from the Xiongnu and Xianbei!"

"When we take the north in the future, I will definitely plow through their courts and sweep their dens, completely annihilating these Hu Ren, leaving no future trouble, hmph!"

He has had enough of such repetitive tug-of-war; he is determined not to allow the tragedy of the Five Hu Uprising from his past life to occur.

"Yes!"

Hearing this, Jia San accepted the order again: "I will go later!"

"Hmm!"

Su Xuan nodded, immediately wrote two letters quickly, handed them to Jia San, and dismissed him.

Then, after thinking for a moment, he had someone notify the main generals and strategists to come to Prince Qian's Mansion tomorrow to discuss matters.

In the blink of an eye, the next day arrived.

Except for Huang Zhong, Gan Ning, and others who were still suppressing indigenous people in the Annan region, the other generals in Su Xuan's army had basically arrived.

Once everyone was present, Su Xuan looked around and said: "Cao Cao and Yuan Shao are currently making intensive preparations for war;"

"In order not to put too much pressure on Cao Cao, allowing him to focus on the decisive battle with Yuan Shao, I plan to launch an attack on Jiangdong within half a month;"

"Fengxian, Zhongye, Su Zhan, you are all prepared, right?"

The preparation he spoke of was naturally the matter of Sun Ce's challenge.

Although Sun Ce had not yet spoken, Liu Biao had already been chased to a dead end by Sun Ce, and yesterday he was even captured alive!

The timing was also ripe.

He believed that if Sun Ce truly had this intention, when he deployed troops to Jiangdong, Sun Ce would naturally send an envoy to explain the challenge.

"Reporting to the Lord, we are ready!"

The three, including Wen Pin, spoke in unison.

"Very good! Then wait for the news!"

Next, Su Xuan looked at the others and said: "This campaign against Jiangdong is unlikely to involve major battles, but the Jiangdong region is riddled with banditry, Shanyue, and entrenched gentry forces; even though Sun Ce has carried out a major purge of the gentry forces over the past few months, many gentry members still remain!"

"Therefore, for this deployment to Jiangdong, we cannot have too few troops!"

"It is my intention that, except for leaving a certain number of troops to garrison Nanyang, Lujiang, Jiujiang, and Nanjun, all other troops are to be deployed;"

"We must take the entire Jiangdong in the shortest possible time, and then assist the officials in purging the remaining gentry, banditry, and Shanyue in each commandery and county of Jiangdong!"

"Maintain order in Jiangdong, implement the new policies as quickly as possible, and only then can we free up our hands to eliminate Cao Cao, understand?"

Su Xuan did not mention Yuan Shao; it was clear he did not favor Yuan Shao's chances of winning against Cao Cao.

"Yes!"

Upon hearing this, the generals were overjoyed.

Although more people were going, meaning the merit would be spread thinner, at least each of them could gain some merit, right?

They couldn't help but be happy.

Only Taishi Ci, who had to remain in Nanyang, Huang Xu in Lujiang, and Zhang Liao in Jiujiang felt some regret.

However, considering that the Lord would definitely deploy troops to the Central Plains later.

And their garrisons all bordered the provinces of the Central Plains, by then, they would certainly be the vanguard army to crusade against Cao Cao.

The disappointment in their hearts was immediately swept away.

Compared to fighting for merit in a corner of Jiangdong, it was better to wait and gain merit from conquering the Central Plains and even the North!

That was the real prize.

Soon, Su Xuan's side also began to take action.