Yang Rui led his troops and the captives back to Yan Province. As soon as he entered his territory, he made a series of arrangements to threaten Yuan Shao.
First, he stationed 200,000 troops in Suanzao County under the command of Gao Shun and Zhang Liao to attack Ji Province.
At the same time, Yang Rui also left around 50,000 Yuan Shu's captives in the Suanjujube region. His purpose was to squeeze out their surplus labor to upgrade the Suanjujube County and Yanjin Ferry in preparation for the third large-scale system storyline that was about to take place.
Captives could also participate in construction. After they were captured, their construction ability was equivalent to normal NPCs. They also had an advantage when it came to the construction of military facilities.
Next, Yang Rui ordered Zhao Yun to lead 200,000 soldiers to the White Horse County. Similarly, he made a gesture of sending troops to Ji Province to threaten Yuan Shao's territory.
At the same time, Zhao Yun also allocated around 50,000 Yuan Shu's captives to the White Horse County and the White Horse Ferry for the construction and upgrade of the White Horse County and the White Horse Ferry.
The remaining 20,000 to 30,000 were mainly Cao Cao captives. They were sent by Taishi Ci's navy to Puyang County to be used for the city's construction and upgrade.
With so many captives, Yang Rui still didn't know how to deal with them. He couldn't just let them be idle, so it was natural for them to contribute some labor.
As for the 6 captives Ji Ling, Man Chong, Cao Ang, Zhang Xun, Chen Ji, and Lei Bao, Yang Rui brought them to Chen Liu County with Guo Jia and the Imperial Patrol.
All 6 captives had been fed a small black pill from Zhang Rang. Without taking the antidote, they couldn't use any of their strength and were no different from normal NPCs.
Yang Rui only left 20000 of the Imperial Patrol's special troop class, the Ethereal Ninjas, in the Si Li Province. While they were scouting for information, they were also farming monsters to level up.
The remaining 30000 Ethereal Ninjas were called back by Yang Rui. The seven or eight game days he had spent with the captives was actually Yang Rui's way of gathering these Ethereal Ninjas.
Before the 30000 Ethereal Ninjas entered Chen Liu County, Yang Rui sent them to Ji Province with a large transport ship. They were responsible for investigating and collecting information on Yuan Shao.
When recruiting the Ethereal Ninjas, Yang Rui had ordered the Imperial Guards to prioritize recruiting those who had reached Level 50. Approximately one thousand of them had reached Level 50 and had been promoted to Fifth Grade Ethereal Ninjas by the Imperial Guards.
Yang Rui sent half of them to Si Li Province and the other half to Ji Province to strengthen the surveillance of Yuan Shao.
The specialty of the Ethereal Ninjas was their ability to hide and escape. As such, their survivability was relatively high. Surviving in hostile territory wasn't a problem for them.
According to Yang Rui's arrangements, Suanjujube, White Horse, and Puyang were all ready to attack. Additionally, a large number of troops were gathered in the plains, ready to attack Ji Province at a moment's notice. Taishi Ci's Navy and Fang Lan's Navy also strengthened their patrols and harassment.
Yang Rui had made preparations to mobilize troops in many directions. At the same time, Yang Rui also sent messengers to Yuan Shao of Ji Province, stating that Yuan Shao of Serenity was their ally. If Yuan Shao insisted on attacking Yuan Shao of Serenity, he would face attacks from Green Province and Yan Province.
With such a multi-pronged approach, Yang Rui received news that Yuan Shao of Ji Province had retreated from Serenity two days after arriving at Chen Liu City. This was somewhat out of Yang Rui's expectations. After all, Yang Rui's messengers might not even be able to meet with Yuan Shao in such a short amount of time.
For Gongsun Zan, Yuan Shao was already at the end of his rope under the pressure of his army. However, for Yuan Shao, the reason he moved his troops north was to test Yang Rui's attitude.
Yuan Shao was very clear about Yang Rui's confrontation with Liu Bei in Xu Province. He was also very clear about Yang Rui's involvement in the dispute in Sili Province. Firstly, Yuan Shao believed that Yang Rui would not have the spare energy to manage Serenity.
On the other hand, Yuan Shao's attitude towards Yuan Shu's proclamation was very complicated. However, he still subconsciously chose to fight for Yuan Shu's survival. This was something that Yuan Shao himself was not willing to admit.
Yuan Shao only believed that he was using Yuan Shu's disruption to obtain more benefits for himself and settle the situation in Hebei as soon as possible.
Originally, Yuan Shao had also sent out troops to observe Yang Rui. During this time, he had been paying close attention to Yang Rui's movements. After learning that Yang Rui had returned from Sili Province, Yuan Shao immediately gave the order to withdraw his troops. During this time, he did not even meet with Yang Rui's messenger.
After Yuan Shao withdrew his troops, Yang Rui immediately returned to being idle. It was not that he had nothing to do. The key was that some things needed time to slowly grind away.
For example, the matter of Liu Bei in Xu Province. At this time, Gan Ning had completely blocked it. At the same time, Yang Rui had also sent a messenger to inform Liu Bei of the imperial edict. He explained that the Han Dynasty had changed the Shepherd of Xu Province and advised Liu Bei to leave Xu Province as soon as possible.
Although such a preaching exchange would not be effective, it was still an essential step. From a legal point of view, it was an ultimatum to Liu Bei.
Another example was Yuan Shu. After Yang Rui returned to Chen Liu, he began to talk with Yuan Shu's messenger. The main topic was the return of captives. However, Yang Rui had clearly stated that if they wanted to talk about the exchange of captives, they would first have to give up Xu Province. This condition was only a prerequisite for the discussion.
In truth, Yang Rui had already talked with Yuan Shu about using the six counties under Yuan Shu's control as a bargaining chip in exchange for Yang Rui and the merchant alliance's full supply of goods. Yuan Shu had already planned to withdraw from Xu Province.
However, after he proclaimed himself as an emperor, he lived a relatively comfortable life. On the surface, everything seemed to be going smoothly. He even fought all the way to the imperial city of Luoyang of the Han Dynasty. Because of this, Yuan Shu became somewhat arrogant and didn't want to easily hand over Xu Province.
Most importantly, Yang Rui was not able to eliminate Liu Bei's influence in Xu Province. This gave Yuan Shu a wishful thinking. He believed that Yang Rui would not have the strength to ask for the rest of Xu Province.
It was not until the recent defeat of Yuan Shu's troops at Yan County that Yuan Shu woke up. He was distressed that Yang Rui had captured a large number of his troops and generals. This was why he pestered Yang Rui to negotiate.
However, Yang Rui had stated the premise of handing over Xu Province. For a short period of time, Yuan Shu would have to struggle mentally.
On the surface, there were not many things that Yang Rui could do. However, the undercurrents were surging. Many things were brewing and fermenting. This was especially true with the third large-scale system storyline not far away. The internal affairs and adjustments required a lot of Yang Rui's energy.
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