Chapter 23: Giving Yizhou and Nanyang Commandery to Old Dong

Inside Hulao Pass,

looking at Xu You who appeared before him, Gu Yi felt quite emotional for a moment.

Sure enough, this fellow Yuan Big-Head has a very bad heart!

As the alliance leader, he secretly sent his own strategist to the enemy camp behind the backs of other warlords.

This nature is almost no different from colluding with the enemy.

However, in the mouth of Xu You, this matter was beautified into a flower.

Only hearing Xu You say:

"Mr. Gu, my lord sent me here because there is an important matter he wants to discuss with the Chancellor."

Note the wording: Xu You addressed Dong Zhuo as Chancellor.

If this were in the past, it would be rebellious!

After all,

Yuan Shao and others were under the banner of not recognizing Dong Zhuo's status as Chancellor.

And now, Xu You used such a title to describe Dong Zhuo, which made Gu Yi feel quite magical.

"Xu Ziyuan, is it?"

"My lord said that the task of negotiating with you is entirely handed over to me."

"If you have anything to say, just say it directly."

Regarding the purpose of Xu You's arrival, Gu Yi already had some guesses in his heart.

The Guandong coalition had been attacking Hulao Pass for a long time without success and had suffered countless losses.

Continuing to fight would only be harmful and not beneficial to Yuan Shao.

It seemed he didn't expect Gu Yi to have such a great say under Dong Zhuo, so Xu You was lost in thought for a moment.

After relaxing a little, he said:

"My lord has actually always held the Chancellor in high regard."

"Joining this Guandong coalition was also just being bewitched by people with ulterior motives."

"Now, my lord has awakened and does not wish to continue to be an enemy of the Chancellor."

Listening to this nonsense from Xu You, Gu Yi almost got goosebumps all over his body.

Only seeing him smile coldly:

"According to what Mr. Ziyuan said, Yuan Benchu was bewitched by others?" ===== CHAPTER 48 =====

"Then shouldn't the person who bewitched him be handed over to my lord to deal with?"

Xu You didn't expect Gu Yi to retort.

But now that the arrow was on the string, it had to be fired.

He rolled his eyes quickly and replied:

"Mr. Gu is right."

"The people who bewitched my lord were precisely Gongsun Zan, Han Fu, Wang Kuang, Zhang Yang, Kong Rong, and others!"

"These guys are people with ulterior motives!"

"My lord hopes to join hands with the Chancellor to eradicate them!"

As he spoke, Xu You's face even showed a righteous look.

It was as if he was proving that he, Xu Ziyuan, was the incarnation of the messenger of human justice!

It must be said,

the abacus beads of Yuan Shao and Xu You were ringing too loudly!

Even Gu Yi, who was inside Hulao Pass, could hear it clearly.

Good guy!

Gongsun Zan, Han Fu, Zhang Yang, Wang Kuang, Kong Rong.

Aren't these five warlords the five forces occupying the four provinces of Hebei?

Although Zhang Yang and Wang Kuang among them were just Administrators,

and Kong Rong's rank was only slightly higher than an Administrator.

But Gongsun Zan and Han Fu were worthy of being called great warlords.

Han Fu occupied the most fertile Jizhou and was nominally even Yuan Shao's direct superior.

Gongsun Zan was only the Administrator of Beiping, but his say in Youzhou was extremely high.

Most of the military in Youzhou was actually controlled by Gongsun Zan.

In other words,

if these five warlords all died,

Yuan Shao's road to unifying the four provinces of Hebei would become incredibly wide!

But what benefit would this have for the Dong Zhuo army?

The answer is, absolutely no benefit!

A divided four provinces of Hebei, or a unified four provinces of Hebei,

which one poses a greater threat to the Dong Zhuo army is self-evident.

Thus, Gu Yi directly retorted:

"Mr. Ziyuan, you really know how to indulge in fantasy!"

"Let my army clear out those five warlords for your lord for free, and then help him control the four provinces of Hebei, and then unify the world?"

"You wouldn't have burned your brain, would you?"

"Otherwise, how could you have such a naive idea?"

Being retorted by Gu Yi, Xu You didn't get angry.

After all, as long as it was a normal person, I'm afraid no one would accept the nonsense Xu You just proposed.

Xu You also understood that if he wanted to move the Dong Zhuo army, he must come up with corresponding bargaining chips.

Otherwise, why would people help you, Yuan Shao, work for free and solve your problems?

Thus, Xu You smiled:

"Mr. Gu, Nanyang Commandery and Yizhou have been fertile lands since ancient times."

"Now, they are controlled by that child Yuan Shu."

"Isn't that a waste of heaven's gifts?"

"If the Chancellor is willing to join hands with my lord, Yizhou and Nanyang Commandery will be his in the future!"

"Heh..."

If it were someone else, they might really be moved by this big pie from Xu You.

But... Gu Yi saw the trap in it immediately.

Yizhou and Nanyang Commandery could be called the ultimate base of the Han aristocratic families!

For example, that series of aristocratic families from Yingchuan.

They are all from Yizhou!

In the era of Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu, as many as eleven of the twenty-eight generals of Yuntai came from Nanyang.

With Old Dong's reputation in the Guandong aristocratic circle...

How could the aristocratic talents of Yizhou and Nanyang Commandery possibly pay attention to Old Dong?

I'm afraid that as soon as the Dong Zhuo army occupied Yizhou and Nanyang, rebellions would break out one after another!

Therefore, the Yizhou and Nanyang Commandery promised to Old Dong by Yuan Shao and Xu You

were just a blank check with no benefits and all harms!

By then, when Yuan Shao unified the four provinces of Hebei,

and carried the surging military edge south,

Yizhou and Nanyang Commandery would definitely instantly defect to Yuan Shao's side.

Looking at Xu You's smug eyes,

Gu Yi decided to pretend to agree for the time being, but in fact, he would make Yuan Shao bleed heavily!

... ===== CHAPTER 49 =====