Bai Xiaowen gathered the civil and military officials of Youzhou to receive Yuan Shao's order.
Even the Taoist priest Langyazi came uninvited and stood silently in the corner. Although the Youzhou officials were curious about the Taoist priest's appearance, no one came forward to question him since Bai Xiaowen did not chase him away.
The messenger from Guandu read the general's order. He did not praise or criticize Bai Xiaowen for seizing the four commanderies of Liaodong. He sent Jiao Tan and Zhang Nan to deal with the newly discovered Yellow Turban bandits with five thousand soldiers.
However, he still reprimanded Yuan Xi in the letter for spreading the news of the Yellow Turban Army all over the city. But it was only a reprimand and no substantial punishment. After all, Yuan Xi was still Yuan Shao's son.
"Second Young Master, this is all the general's order."
The messenger from Guandu was very respectful to Bai Xiaowen.
Bai Xiaowen nodded and said, "Please report to father, Xi will definitely follow the military orders." After saying that, he ordered the guards to bring the messenger to drink and rest. After resting, he returned to Guandu to report.
After the messenger left, Bai Xiaowen glanced around the hall.
Yan Rou stepped forward and said, "Young Master has made a great contribution in seizing the four commanderies of Liaodong. I didn't expect the general to not reward you. It's really surprising."
Zhao Rong smiled bitterly and said, "Instead, I was reprimanded by my lord for not keeping the news of the Yellow Turban Army a secret."
The other Youzhou officials also expressed their opinions. They did not dare to complain about Yuan Shao's unfair rewards and punishments, but they all felt that the second young master was wronged.
Bai Xiaowen said calmly, "Since it has come to this, there is no need for you to fight for me. General Jiao Tan and General Zhang Nan, father has personally appointed you two. I hope you will fight bravely and return victorious as soon as possible. "
Jiao Tan and Zhang Nan looked at each other and saluted together, "We will not disgrace the general's order."
Bai Xiaowen then asked Zhao Rong to be in charge of the allocation of the army's rations. After arranging some logistical matters for the army's expedition, he waved his hand and dismissed them.
Zhao Rong and the others stole a glance at Bai Xiaowen's calm and expressionless face before they all took their leave.
Langyazi cupped his hands and said, "Young Master's bearing is extraordinary, this humble Daoist is impressed. Today, we are about to set off for battle. If you have any instructions, just say the word and I will obey. "
Bai Xiaowen took a deep look at Langyazi and said with a smile, "Thank you, Taoist priest. The civil and military officials of Youzhou have many conflicts with cultivators. Please don't take it to heart. "
Langyazi said indifferently, "I'm a cultivator, and I'm only willing to deal with dragons among men. As for those ordinary people, they walk different paths and cannot work together. "
Bai Xiaowen nodded slightly. Langyazi then took his leave.
Not long after the officials left, two female generals stepped into the hall.
They were Qiao Rui and Li Shuyi. One of them was originally in Guandu, while the other was in Jizhou. They were in charge of relaying information and contacting Tian Yu. Now that the war was imminent, they returned to Youzhou after arranging their affairs.
For example, Qiao Rui had worked with the Zhen Family to develop a new trade route from Youzhou to Guandu. There was no need to transfer information from the frontlines midway. They could reach Bai Xiaowen's desk directly.
After Li Shuyi gave the letter to Tian Yu and obtained his support, she secretly returned.
Qiao Rui and Li Shuyi had been away for several days. Bai Xiaowen had given them the excuse of "purchasing". For the Youzhou provincial governor, finding an excuse to cancel a subordinate's leave was a trivial matter. There was no need to mention it.
Now, only the five members of the White Phoenix squad were left in the hall.
"Alright, we've split up for more than four days. This is the first time the squad has gathered. If there's any situation, you can report it … starting with Shuyi, "Bai Xiaowen said.
Li Shuyi thought for a moment. "I heard that in Yuan Shao's camp, there was an uproar because of you. Yuan Shao even smashed everything on the table."
Qiao Rui smiled. "I know more about the specifics. General Tian Yu's letter basically described the situation … Feng Ji and Guo Tu slandered Yuan Shao, trying to remove him from his position as captain and return to Jizhou to take care of his mother. Fortunately, the military supervisor, Ju Shou, tried his best to dissuade them, so they didn't succeed. Yuan Shao smashed things in anger because Ju Shou exposed his shortcomings and mentioned Black Mountain Bandit Zhang Yan. "
Bai Xiaowen nodded. "Feng Ji and Guo Tu, these two strategists, although they have some wisdom, they are too selfish. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, one of them assisted the third brother, Yuan Shang, while the other assisted the eldest brother, Yuan Tan. Although they don't usually get along, they have one thing in common: they don't want me to be in the limelight and have another enemy. "
Li Shuyi said, "Yuan Shao is too gullible. It feels like he's being controlled by his strategists. He doesn't have the decisiveness of a leader."
"Yuan Shao has always had this kind of personality," Bai Xiaowen said. "In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Guan Yu first killed his general, Yan Liang, and then killed Wen Chou. At this time, Liu Bei just happened to be attached to him. At first, when Yuan Shao heard what his strategists said, he was very angry with Liu Bei. Twice, he wanted to push him out to be beheaded. However, Liu Bei's words prevented him from doing so. Instead, he turned around and blamed his strategists, almost making Yuan Shao bear the name of harming a virtuous person. "
Li Shuyi said, "Then isn't he afraid that his soldiers will be disappointed by how he treats you, a meritorious official?"
Bai Xiaowen laughed. "How many disheartening things has Yuan Shao done? He imprisoned Tian Feng and then Ju Shou. Let's not talk about these. Let's talk about one thing. After Wen Chou was killed, Liu Bei said that he could write a letter to Guan Yu and persuade Guan Yu to surrender and help Yuan Shao. What happened? Before Yan Liang and Wen Chou's corpses were cold, Yuan Shao was overjoyed and said, 'If I can get Wen Chang, I'll be ten times better than Yan Liang and Wen Chou.' Wouldn't such words and actions make the soldiers of Hebei even more disappointed? "
Qiao Rui said, "If not for this, Yuan Shao wouldn't have lost to Cao Cao with his family background. If he doesn't lose, the heavens won't tolerate it. "
Li Shuyi asked, "Xiaowen, after you found clues about the remnants of the Yellow Turban Army, you caused a commotion in the city. Why did you do this? Because of this, Yuan Shao even said that you're not suitable to be a commander. It'll be harder for you to inherit the family business in the future. "
Bai Xiaowen shook his head and said, "I never intended for Yuan Shao to directly pass the position to me. Whether he likes or dislikes me as his son, it doesn't matter. As for the commotion, it's to make Yuan Shao decide to send troops to suppress the bandits so that I can completely control Youzhou. "
His teammates' eyes lit up.
"It seems like the captain already has a plan." Qiao Rui said.
"Of course, to ensure the success of the plan, I purposely called all of you back. However, I didn't expect that a Daoist who calls himself Zhang Jiao's junior would appear. From the looks of it, this Daoist should be on our side. If I had known this earlier, I wouldn't have asked all of you to come back. "
Bai Xiaowen laughed. "Of course, there are also benefits for all of you to come back. You can earn a lot of war contributions in the battle to eliminate Zhang Jiao!"
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