Chapter 661

Watching Ju Shou's departing figure,

a trace of loneliness flashed in Yuan Shao's eyes.

Actually, at times, he envied Cao Cao.

Don't look at how Cao Cao's family background couldn't compare to the Yuan family.

But the people Cao Cao could trust were far more numerous than those Yuan Shao could.

Xia Hou Dun, Xia Houyuan, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Cao Chun—these clan generals of the Cao and Xia Hou families had a loyalty to Cao Cao that no one could shake.

But what about Yuan Shao's side?

Even those few veterans were ultimately not clan relatives.

Never underestimate the importance of relatives in the late Han period.

Although in later generations, the various connections between relatives have diminished significantly,

in most cases, they only visit during holidays or when they have something to ask for.

But in the late Han period, the power of relatives largely determined the upper limit of a person's development.

There are simply too many examples.

For instance, the "Celestial Dragon" Ju Shou is a classic example.

Without the support of his family,

how the hell could he have become the second-in-command of a province at the age of twenty?

And Yuan Shao's awkwardness lay in the fact that,

although he came from the Runan Yuan family,

there were no trustworthy clan brothers within the family willing to invest in him.

So the question arises:

Where did those people of the Yuan family go?

Of course, they ran to my "Honey Water Brother" 【Yuan Shu】!

Starting with Yuzhou, Honey Water Brother demonstrated what is called a "perfect opening," only to play a good hand into a complete mess.

Most of the talented relatives of the Yuan family were actually serving under Honey Water Brother.

It's just that the *Romance* didn't record too much of it.

And later, Honey Water Brother's rash act of declaring himself Emperor left everyone in the Yuan family stunned.

The fate of those Yuan relatives who supported Honey Water Brother's ascension was largely the same as his.

Those who did not support Honey Water Brother's ascension wanted to head north to join Yuan Shao.

A portion of them were intercepted by Cao Cao and arranged into idle positions in Xu Chang.

Another portion came to Jizhou but could not gain Yuan Shao's trust.

These guys didn't firmly choose Yuan Shao at the beginning, so naturally, they wouldn't be entrusted with heavy responsibilities by him.

This is human nature.

As a monarch, no one likes a fence-sitter.

Especially those trashy fence-sitters who aren't very capable but have high pretensions.

So, how should Yuan Shao, who had no relatives to trust, maintain his rule?

Without the help of relatives of the same generation or elders, then trust your own sons and use them to maintain rule!

Yuan Shao in the original history thought exactly this and put it into practice.

Before eliminating Gongsun Zan, Yuan Shao had already dispatched his eldest son, Yuan Tan, to Qingzhou to serve as the Inspector of Qingzhou.

At the same time, he sent his nephew, Gao Gan, to Bingzhou to serve as the Inspector of Bingzhou.

After unifying the four provinces of Hebei, his second son, Yuan Xi, was sent by Yuan Shao to Youzhou to serve as the Inspector of Youzhou.

The system of enfeoffing sons was thus formally formed.

It was not that Yuan Shao was turning back the clock of history,

but that the enfeoffment system was a necessary means for him to suppress the aristocratic families and maintain his rule.

He did not have the powerful control that Ying Zheng 【Qin Shi Huang】 had.

He could only take it one step at a time, gradually making his rule stable.

And the person most unhappy with the system of enfeoffing sons was none other than Ju Shou.

Enfeoffing sons meant that Yuan Tan, Yuan Xi, Gao Gan, and others would no longer be under the control of the Jizhou aristocratic families.

How could this be allowed?!

The world belongs to the aristocratic families.

Your two sons and one nephew, Yuan Shao, are now not under the control of our Jizhou aristocratic families; what are you trying to do?

Thus,

Ju Shou began to use his set of concepts to forcibly kidnap Yuan Shao.

In any case, the goal was one:

to make Yuan Shao stop enfeoffing his sons and let the Jizhou aristocratic families take the positions of provincial inspectors.

The abacus beads behind this were clicking all the way to the heavens!

Yuan Shao naturally could not cooperate.

The conflict between the two sides intensified further.

Furthermore,

Yuan Shao only enfeoffed three inspectors.

The most critical Inspector of Jizhou was delayed, and he was unwilling to give it to the third son, Yuan Shang, supported by the Jizhou aristocratic families!

Are you, Yuan Shao, dangling the appetite of our Jizhou aristocratic families here?

Or have you forgotten who you relied on to defeat Gongsun Zan and unify the four provinces of Hebei?

If an uncle can endure it, an aunt cannot!

Thus, during the Battle of Guandu,

Ju Shou and the Jizhou aristocratic families naturally had to let Yuan Shao properly experience some "pain"!

Commonly known as: How many floors does a bag of rice need to be carried up?

A bag of rice needs to be carried up two floors!

You can't carry it above the second floor.

Every grain has mud.

Of course, the scope of this pain ultimately exceeded the expectations of the Jizhou aristocratic families.

Because besides them,

Guo Tu, Xin Ping, Xun Chen, and other Yuzhou aristocratic families in the Yuan camp were not just for show.

The two major factions harmed each other, and both suffered losses.

The veteran faction—Yan Liang, Wen Chou, Xu You, and Chunyu Qiong—were all wiped out.

Ju Shou himself also overplayed his hand.

He hadn't expected that he would actually be captured by the Cao army.

This is the truth of the Battle of Guandu.

It was far more intense than the fighting on the battlefield.

It is the same old saying:

War is often in the service of politics. ===== CHAPTER 662 =====