Chapter 55: The Duel Between the Literary Youth and the Second-Generation Rich Young Master

  Just as Cao Cao was painstakingly managing this Chenliu city, many things happened in the Han Dynasty; first, Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan had a big fight at Boshui River, second, Sun Jian, known as the Tiger of Jiangdong - died!

  These two things are related to Yuan Shao's brother, Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu was the one who killed many people during the campaign against Dong Zhuo, and he lost all his previous reputation. Now, in the eyes of various lords, he is just a piece of stinky dog shit. However, Yuan Shu is not an ordinary person, but sometimes he makes mistakes!

  He returned to Nanyang, and it can be said that he was like a dragon entering the sea. People at that time evaluated him: strong and majestic, loving scholars and cultivating his reputation, guests and customers gathered around him, filling the streets and alleys, winning the hearts of people in Yuzhou. With the title of the eldest son of the four generations of three dukes of the Yuan family, he quickly gathered a large group of civil and military officials, dominating Jiangnan, even Liu Biao of Jingzhou was both respectful and fearful of him.

  In the south, there were few warhorses. After hearing that Yuan Shao had obtained Ji Province, Yuan Shu was not pleased in his heart. Others always said he was inferior to Yuan Shao; with his proud and arrogant personality, how could he tolerate it? He had never acknowledged Yuan Shao's position as the head of the Yuan family. Upon hearing that Yuan Shao had obtained Ji Province, he immediately sent a letter, which roughly meant:

  I'm telling you, Brother Initial! If it weren't for me covering for you back then, could you have achieved what you have today? You've taken over Ji Province, where the land is rich and fertile. Send a few thousand war horses to your big brother, would you?! I'm so poor I can barely afford pants, and as a member of the Yuan family, shouldn't you be sending some goods my way as the eldest son?!

  After reading this letter, Yuan Shao overturned several tables and scolded incessantly. This Yuan Highway really regarded himself as the boss! Even if you don't recognize my identity as the master of the Yuan family, I am at least the lord of a state! You actually ordered me!

  Yuan Shao ignored Yuan Shu's words and didn't take them seriously at all. Yuan Shu was furious, but the distance between them was a bit far, so he couldn't lash out. Instead, he asked Liu Biao for grain again, this time requesting 200,000 stones!

  No matter how many or few, the Liu family's Liu Biao and Liu Jing Sheng are still relatives of the Han imperial family. Even if he had some fear of Yuan Shu, he wouldn't be extorted by Yuan Shu so easily. He immediately dispatched Cai Mao to station troops at Xin Ye, closely monitoring Yuan Shu's movements. Then, in a letter, he told Yuan Shu: Wanting grain - not possible!

  Now that's settled, Yuan Shu also found out that not everyone listens to him. In his anxious mind, he did two things: he wrote two letters, one to Gongsun Zan and the other to Liu Biao, which then triggered two major events!

  One of them was the great war in Jizhou.

  But Sun Zan knew that Yuan Shao had already occupied Ji Province, and had won over the support of all the local gentry and wealthy families. He realized that the situation was hopeless, but he felt that as the villain of this play, it was his duty to intimidate Han Fu, so that Yuan Shao could successfully stage this drama.

  Then he sent his own brother Gongsun Du to have a detailed discussion with Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao was also too impatient, holding onto the territory of Ji Province like an old hen covering her nest. Before things were clear, he made his move. Yuan Shao said kindly to Gongsun Du: "That's it, I'm good friends with your brother! Let's do it this way... you go back first, and one day I'll personally talk to your brother!"

  Gongsun Du thought that Yuan Shao felt his status was not enough, and indeed, it was a conversation between two big shots, what could he do? So he took his leave. Unexpectedly - disaster struck! Less than 50 miles out of Jizhou city, a group of soldiers suddenly appeared on the side of the road, claiming: "I am a surrendered general from Dong's family!" and shot Gongsun Du to death with arrows.

  He fled back to see Gongsun Zan and reported that Yuan had died. Gongsun Zan was furious, saying: "Yuan Shao induced me to raise troops to attack Han Fu, but he secretly took the matter; now he also deceived Dong Zhuo's soldiers into shooting my brother to death, how can this injustice not be avenged!"

  In your Jizhou territory, just 50 miles away from the capital of Jizhou, where did Dong Zhuo's army come from? Are you kidding me?! You're not even trying to deceive people properly! Don't you just want to extort some hardship fees from me?! You actually got my brother killed! Gong Sun Zan's anger made every single hair on his body stand up.

  At this time, Gongsun Zan was not the only overlord of the land of Yan and Zhao. There was another Liu Yu. Because of Liu Yu's existence, he did not dare to go too far, fearing that Liu Yu would attack his old nest. His relationship with Liu Yu was more a cultural opposition than a political difference.

  Liu Yu advocated for the Confucian policy of gentle persuasion in dealing with foreign tribes, while Gongsun Zan advocated for using military force to intimidate them. The contradictions between the two men deepened and almost led to a violent confrontation.

  Fortunately, both sides exercised restraint and did not resort to violence. During the campaign against Dong Zhuo, they had already held secret discussions. As a member of the Han imperial clan, Liu Yu should have personally gone to rescue the emperor and support the Han dynasty. However, he was intimidated by Dong Zhuo's powerful army and lacked confidence. Therefore, he pinned his hopes on Gongsun Zan, who was skilled in battle, and had him guard the borders while Gongsun Zan went to form an alliance to overthrow the usurper.

  This is also the result of the two not counting their past grievances, but now that the opponent has changed to Yuan Shao with a high reputation, it's different. Liu Yu also had good feelings towards Yuan Shao, which made Gongsun Zan even more cautious.

  Just as Gong Sun Zan was deep in thought, a letter from Yuan Shu arrived! The letter said that he, Yuan Shu, would join forces with Tao Qian of Xuzhou to attack the southern part of Jizhou, and that you, Gong Sun Zan, would attack from the north. After the victory, they would divide the spoils equally.

  In addition, they had also made contact with several major leaders of the Black Mountain Army, and their leader Zhang Yan had also agreed to send troops to assist. Feeling that the time was ripe, Gongsun Zan raised an army of 50,000 men and marched straight towards Ji Province.

  Although he felt that his previous actions were somewhat inappropriate, Yuan Shao still led his army to meet them with a hard head.

  It was a foregone conclusion that this would be a showdown between the literary youth and the stupid youth. Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan led their respective mobs to gather at Ping River, engaging in a fierce battle. As everyone knows, whether it's deploying troops or debating, the stupid youth will never be a match for the literary youth, so soon the stupid youth lost the first round.

  Sun Quan launched the first battle of Yuan Shao's siege. Gongsun Zan led 50,000 cavalry and infantry troops to attack Ji Province from the south of Jie Bridge, while Yuan Shao stationed his army at Guangchuan to face the powerful Gongsun Zan army. Yuan Shao took Ju Shou's advice and adopted a strategy of luring the enemy in deep and launching a defensive counterattack.

  Gongsun Zan mistakenly believed that Yuan Shao's army was small, and wanted to quickly decide the battle. He used his cavalry unit to launch a swift attack. But this clearly fell into Yuan Shao's trap.

  Before, the Xianbei tribe, who were familiar with cavalry warfare, knew that Gongsun Zan would definitely use light cavalry to launch a swift attack. This way, the cavalry unit that had broken away from the main force lacked cover and entered the ambush circle. They were attacked by Xianbei's ambush troops and thrown into great disorder. The vanguard was in chaos, and the rear army naturally couldn't go anywhere else.

  But Gongsun Zan quickly adjusted his strategy and chose to retreat. The central army, Yuan Shao, took advantage of the ambush's success and responded to Ji Yi's pursuit of Gongsun Zan's army. Ji Yi broke through Gongsun Zan's main camp without encountering much resistance, as if Gongsun Zan's forces had collapsed.

  But don't forget that Gongsun Zan is a veteran of many battles, and although the vanguard troops were defeated, it wasn't a complete rout. Now it's Yuan Shao's turn to become complacent, having captured Gongsun Zan's main camp, Yuan Shao thought he had already won. Yuan Shao left only a small number of soldiers stationed in Gongsun Zan's camp.

  Gongsun Zan led over 2,000 cavalrymen to launch a surprise attack on Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao showed extraordinary bravery and managed to hold off Gongsun Zan's sudden attack until reinforcements arrived. Seeing that Yuan Shao's reinforcements were approaching, Gongsun Zan retreated to the River Shi. However, the dispute over control of Ji Province was far from over.

  Although this battle ended with Gong Sunzhan's defeat, the quality of both sides was thoroughly demonstrated.

  Gongsun Zan, although defeated, did not become disordered and was able to quickly organize a counterattack, showing that he is truly an old general of the sandy battlefield. Yuan Shao almost turned victory into defeat, but his personal bravery barely avoided him losing his head.

  After the first battle, Gong Sun Zan's army was defeated and Yuan Shao entered a strategic counterattack phase.