Chapter 244

Since the Shu lands, Hanzhong, and Chang'an were now completely under Dong Zhuo's rule,

the previous problem of poor transportation between the three places naturally needed to be resolved urgently.

As the saying goes,

if you want to be rich, build roads first.

The Shu lands had Shu brocade, and Hanzhong was a major grain producer; these two rear areas could provide immense help to Dong Zhuo's faction.

Combined with the warhorses and fierce soldiers of Liangzhou,

Dong Zhuo's faction had firmly established its position as the hegemon of the world!

At the same time,

the Guandong warlords were all shocked to learn the news that Gu Yi had successively pacified Hanzhong and the Shu lands!

The previous Dong Zhuo faction had already made them fearful.

And now...

Damn it, the various warlords thought more and more that they were doomed sooner or later.

And the most panicked people were none other than Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu.

Last year, at Jieqiao, Yuan Shao relied on Qu Yi and the "First to Ascend" dead soldiers to crush General General Gongsun Zan, and all three thousand of his most elite White Horse Followers were crippled!

Afterward, Yuan Shao launched a counterattack against General General Gongsun Zan.

More than half of Youzhou's land fell into Yuan Shao's hands.

If not for the Black Mountain bandit Zhang Yan helping General General Gongsun Zan contain Yuan Shao,

I'm afraid... Yuan Shao's results could have been even better.

And just recently,

General General Gongsun Zan started fighting with his old superior Liu Yu again.

General General Gongsun Zan blamed Liu Yu for restricting military spending and colluding with Yuan Shao in secret, causing him to lose battles.

And Liu Yu had long harbored resentment toward General General Gongsun Zan's militarism.

The two sides started fighting.

But how could Liu Yu be General General Gongsun Zan's opponent?

Occupying superior military strength, he was soon beaten by General General Gongsun Zan until he was howling.

His base in Jixian was also subsequently surrounded by General General Gongsun Zan's troops.

In the end, Liu Yu was forced to commit suicide by fire in Jixian, and General General Gongsun Zan annexed Liu Yu's territory.

But what General General Gongsun Zan did not expect was that

because Liu Yu was kind to people in his daily life, most of his subordinates were full of gratitude toward him.

They harbored resentment toward General General Gongsun Zan, and one after another, they were unwilling to join General General Gongsun Zan, instead turning to Yuan Shao's embrace.

With this, General General Gongsun Zan's reputation was greatly diminished.

Yuan Shao's faction, however, was further strengthened.

The situation for Yuan Shao could be described as excellent.

However, just when he was in high spirits,

the news of Gu Yi pacifying Hanzhong and Yizhou spread like a violent storm.

Yuan Shao immediately convened an emergency meeting.

Yecheng.

In the council hall.

Compared to the time when the coalition of lords was campaigning against Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao's strength had grown significantly.

Especially among the civil officials.

Xu You, Tian Feng, Ju Shou, Guo Tu, Feng Ji, Xin Ping, Xun Chen, Shen Pei, and others were all under Yuan Shao's command.

But looking at the military generals, it was a bit awkward.

Wen Chou had died during the Battle of Hulao Pass while covering Yuan Shao's retreat.

Zhang He had already been lured away by Gu Yi when he was under Han Fu's command, becoming Gu Yi's little brother.

Han Meng and Jiang Qi also joined Dong Zhuo's camp because they were captured. (See Chapter 19 for details.)

Added to the few third-rate Yuan generals who died under Zhao Yun's spear,

the number of generals in the Yuan camp now was far less than in history.

Of the original Four Pillars of Hebei, only Yan Liang and Gao Lan remained.

And this indirectly led to Qu Yi being even more arrogant than in history!

In original history, Yuan Shao had at least many usable generals.

But now, Yan Liang and Gao Lan had martial strength but lacked strategy.

Under such circumstances,

Qu Yi had already self-proclaimed himself the number one general of the Yuan camp!

He even publicly demanded rewards from Yuan Shao.

He said such arrogant words in public: "With the merits of several battles, I deserve this reward!"

Although Yuan Shao was very angry,

he indeed needed to rely on Qu Yi.

If not for Qu Yi,

I'm afraid he would have already been defeated by General General Gongsun Zan at the Battle of Jieqiao.

Besides this,

Qu Yi and the "First to Ascend" dead soldiers could be called the "cavalry killers" of the age!

If Yuan Shao were to go to war with Dong Zhuo in the future, he would definitely need Qu Yi's help even more.

Therefore, Yuan Shao had to constantly reward Qu Yi, hoping to firmly win his heart.

And in today's emergency meeting,

Qu Yi ignored the angry glares of Yan Liang, Gao Lan, Chunyu Qiong, and others.

He sat down at the head of the Yuan camp's generals on his own!

Yuan Shao was also very unhappy about this.

But at this stage, it was impossible for him to dispose of Qu Yi and destroy his own Great Wall.

Seeing that everyone had taken their seats,

Yuan Shao cleared his throat and said:

"Gentlemen, I will not say much nonsense."

"With Gu Yi's help, this Dong Zhuo has completely unified the western part of the Great Han!"

"Yizhou, Liangzhou, Guanzhong, Hanzhong, plus Luoyang."

"With these five major domains connected together, there is no doubt that Dong Zhuo's strength will be even more powerful than before!"

"The troops he can mobilize are probably already over four hundred thousand!"

"With such terrifying strength, even if I unify the four provinces of Hebei, it will be difficult to contend with him for a time."

Speaking of this, Yuan Shao's heart was filled with loneliness.

Dong Zhuo, who had not yet unified the entire western border of the Han territory, was already so difficult to deal with.

Now, Dong Zhuo had evolved into a complete form.

And the Guandong warlords? What were they doing?

They were still in a civil war!

The strongest, Yuan Shao, now only occupied one province of Hebei, half of Bingzhou, and half of Youzhou.

Yuan Shu and Sun Ce were fighting to the death in Yuzhou.

Cao Cao was preparing to launch an attack on Xuzhou because of the death of his father, Cao Song.

The battle with Tao Tao Tao Qian would probably start soon.

The remaining ones like Kong Zhou, Wang Kuang, Bao Xin, Liu Dai, Da Da Qiao Mao, and others had all died.

Looking at the world, who else could block Dong Zhuo's military edge?

A pessimistic mood instantly permeated the council hall.

If Yuan Shao were not standing in the identity of the spokesperson for the Guandong aristocratic group,

at this moment, ===== CHAPTER 245 =====