Yuan Shao was truly enraged. He had always wanted to deal with Yang Rui, but in comparison, taking over Ji Province was much easier than taking over Qing Province. Moreover, whether it was in terms of population or wealth, Ji Province was much better than Qing Province. $..
In Yuan Shao's opinion, as long as he took over Ji Province, a remote place like Qing Province would naturally not be able to compete with him. When that time came, he would be able to deal with Yang Rui however he wanted to. Not only that, taking over Ji Province would also become the foundation for him to compete for hegemony. Therefore, Yuan Shao could not wait to take over Ji Province.
As for Pingyuan County, it was just an extra for Yuan Shao. After all, Pingyuan was located north of Ji River and Yellow River. It was geographically separated from the other counties in Qing Province. On the other hand, Pingyuan County was one with Ji Province, and Yuan Shao also saw it as something that was already in his bag. Moreover, Yuan Shao believed that most of Yang Rui's military strength was restricted to Henan Province, and that Qing Province's military strength was not enough to fight against him!
However, Yuan Shao did not expect that not only did Yang Rui interfere with his ally Liu Dai's actions in Yan Province, but he also had the guts to disturb his strategy in Ji Province, causing him a lot of losses. In particular, Yang Rui's short reply was a form of contempt towards Yuan Shao, and it also thoroughly angered Yuan Shao.
Yuan Shao decided to teach Yang Rui a lesson. First, he would take over Yang Rui's Pingyuan County. If Yang Rui still did not repent, then he would not hesitate to take over the entire Qing Province. However, in Yuan Shao's opinion, Qing Province was not an ideal territory. Compared to Ji Province, there was a huge difference …
First, Yuan Shao mobilized the two generals, Yan Liang and Wen Chou. Not only were the two of them extremely skilled in martial arts, but they also had 20000 cavalrymen under their command. These cavalrymen were all Level 6 special forces – the Hebei Cavalry. It was a very rare high-grade special troop class. Their ranks were even higher than the Flying Bear Soldiers under Dong Zhuo's command. This showed how determined Yuan Shao was to defeat Yang Rui.
Yang Rui had only seen Dong Zhuo's Fifth Grade cavalry – the Flying Bear Troopers. They numbered in the tens of thousands, but he didn't know that Dong Zhuo had three thousand Sixth Grade Flying Bear Troopers. Even so, Dong Zhuo's Sixth Grade special forces were still significantly inferior to Yuan Shao's. They were not even one-tenth of Yuan Shao's Hebei Cavalry!
Dong Zhuo was reluctant to let these Hebei Iron Cavalry show themselves to the world. Instead, he hid them, along with Yan Liang and Wen Chou, in order to deal with Han Fu of Ji Province. He was looking for an opportunity to use these military forces to take over Ji Province. However, as Han Fu had left some backup plans in Ji Province, Yuan Shao had yet to put Yan Liang, Wen Chou, and these Hebei Iron Cavalry into actual use.
Now, in his anger, Yuan Shao had brought out Yan Liang, Wen Chou, and 40000 Hebei Iron Cavalry. Moreover, these were only the vanguard forces he had put in. After Yan Liang and Wen Chou set off, Yuan Shao personally organized a hundred thousand elite soldiers and prepared to set off for Green Province. This included 20000 of Yuan Shao's Fifth Grade special forces – the Golden-Armored Soldiers!
Yuan Shao's invasion of Pingyuan County could be said to be very aggressive. However, both Yan Liang and Wen Chou's cavalrymen and Yuan Shao's infantry had been stationed in Bohai County, Nanpi County. It would take at least three to four days for them to reach Pingyuan County. Yang Rui wasn't aware of Yuan Shao's current situation.
Around the time Yuan Shao sent out his troops, Gao Shun and Zhang Liao had also arrived at Pingyuan City with their cavalry. At the same time, Ji Provincial Governor Han Fu's reply had also arrived at Pingyuan City. Yang Rui had just returned to Pingyuan City in the afternoon after a quick investigation. Cheng Yu and the others were about to send someone to discuss with Yang Rui.
Han Fu's reply intentionally avoided Yang Rui's previous request. She didn't mention Tian Feng and Ju Shou at all. Instead, she proposed another condition to Yang Rui – a marriage alliance!
As it turned out, Han Fu had a daughter named Han Dai. She was of marriageable age and had yet to be betrothed. No one knew which of Han Fu's strategists had come up with this marriage alliance. In any case, the messenger praised Han Dai like a flower and tried his best to convince Yang Rui to accept this marriage alliance. He even stayed in Pingyuan City to wait for Yang Rui's reply.
"Does Your Excellency intend to accept this marriage alliance?" Cheng Yu asked after Yang Rui had arranged for the messenger to stay in Pingyuan City's Three Prefectures Inner City.
Yang Rui was stunned by Cheng Yu's question. Ever since he entered the game, Yang Rui had been very busy. He didn't even have much time to interact with his sister and his subordinates, let alone talk about marriage with an NPC. He didn't even consider the matter of marrying an NPC.
Moreover, from another perspective, Han Fu's position as Ji Province's Provincial Governor wouldn't last for long. There weren't many practical benefits to be gained from a marriage alliance with her. Just like the current situation, Han Fu would most likely need Yang Rui's help more in the future. On the other hand, Han Fu wouldn't be able to provide any support for Yang Rui.
Although it was only in the game, there would be many restrictions after a marriage alliance. If Han Fu was in trouble and Yang Rui didn't help her, it might affect Yang Rui's image as the Provincial Governor. Therefore, Yang Rui was inclined to reject the other party's proposal.
However, Cheng Yu might have a deeper consideration for asking such a question. Therefore, Yang Rui voiced his thoughts first.
"According to my own opinion, it is not advisable to have a marriage alliance with Ji Zhou. Not to mention that I have not considered marriage recently, just the prospect of Ji Zhou's Han Fu is worrisome. If we choose to have a marriage alliance with them, it is likely that it will not be beneficial to Qing Zhou."
After expressing his thoughts, Yang Rui noticed that Cheng Yu, Chen Lin, and the others nodded slightly in agreement. Only Zhang Ning and Gao Shun didn't express anything.
"Zhang Ning, Gao Shun, what do you think?" Yang Rui asked immediately.
Suddenly asked by Yang Rui, Zhang Ning didn't know how to react. She, who had always been calm, blushed unknowingly. It wasn't until now that Yang Rui realized that a marriage alliance could be considered a matter between a man and a woman. Asking for Zhang Ning's opinion did seem a bit awkward.
"Gao Shun thinks that my lord's words are reasonable. A marriage alliance might not be beneficial to Qingzhou. I ask my lord to make a decision." In the end, it was Gao Shun who spoke up and helped Zhang Ning out of her predicament.
"Lord Governor's words are reasonable. Cheng Yu thinks that the matter of Ji Province is indeed within my lord's consideration. In the end, Han Fu might not be able to escape the situation of being swallowed up by Yuan Shao.
However, this matter can be used. There's no need to rush to reject or accept it. You can tactfully convey to Han Fu that a marriage alliance isn't impossible. However, we must first solve the current predicament of both sides before discussing it. Then, we can use this as an excuse to borrow manpower from her. Perhaps things will be simpler. "
Cheng Yu did have something to say. When the others expressed their attitudes and Yang Rui finally glanced over, Cheng Yu spoke.
"What Mr. Cheng means is … to borrow?"
"Exactly. Since we think that Han Fu can't hold Ji Province firmly, if we can think of a way to win over some of her capable subordinates, wouldn't we not have to return them in the end? However, the difficult part is how to win them over. Although borrowing is still difficult, it's still easier to accept than directly asking for them. "
Cheng Yu's words also reminded Yang Rui. Other than borrowing, Yang Rui immediately had another idea in his mind. However, he didn't know if it would work. He would just have to put it into practice when the time was right …
The next morning, Yang Rui summoned Han Fu's messenger and vaguely expressed his willingness to consider a marriage alliance. However, due to the current tense situation of war and the lack of strategists and generals, he hoped to borrow the help of some of Han Fu's famous and famous generals. Once the situation stabilized, he would consider a marriage alliance or even a permanent alliance.
Of course, Yang Rui's eloquence was limited. At the same time, Yang Rui still had Chen Lin write a letter for Han Fu to bring back. Perhaps because the last secret letter didn't manage to convince Han Fu, Chen Lin's letter this time was revised and revised again. It took her most of the night to finally finalize the letter. Then, she passed it to Yang Rui overnight. The letter was naturally more persuasive.
After sending off Han Fu's messenger, Yang Rui, Zhang Ning, Gao Shun, Zhang Liao, and Wu An Guo led all 15000 cavalrymen to the northern border of Pingyuan County. They were prepared to break through Pingchang, Bo County, Leling, and Peng County to further harass Yuan Shao's neighboring counties in Bohai County.
With this plan in mind, Yang Rui once again entered Bohai County with Zhang Ning to investigate the situation. This investigation wasn't a big deal. After Yang Rui captured a messenger, he accidentally learned that Yuan Shao was leading an army to attack Pingyuan County. He also learned that the vanguard was Yan Liang, Wen Chou, and 40000 cavalrymen. Behind them, there were more than 100,000 cavalrymen!
This situation was slightly out of Yang Rui's expectations. He didn't expect that Yang Rui's words would actually provoke Yuan Shao! After some consideration, Yang Rui returned to Pingchang, Banxian, Leling, and Xingxian at the northern border of Pingchang, Banxian, Leling, and Xingxian. He quickly pulled out the 20000 soldiers he had just transferred from each city and ordered them to return to Pingchang City.
Based on Yuan Shao's actions, Yang Rui couldn't possibly defend every county. After all, the number of soldiers and generals he had was limited. Even if Cheng Yu was adept at defending cities, his forces were too spread out. With no other choice, Yang Rui could only gather the soldiers back to Pingyuan City.
Fortunately, Yang Rui didn't receive the news too late. Yan Liang and Wen Chou's vanguard still needed two to three days to reach Pingyuan City. This was enough time for Yang Rui's soldiers to return to Pingyuan City.
As for the 15000 cavalrymen that he had led out, Yang Rui didn't order them to return to Pingyuan City. He only sent Gao Shun, Zhang Liao, and Wu Anguo back to help defend the city. Yang Rui and Zhang Ning continued to lead the cavalry to Peng County. They were prepared to follow Han Fu's sphere of influence to the rear of Bohai County before and after Yuan Shao's army arrived. They would attack Yuan Shao from the rear!
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