The Three Kingdoms: I, Yuan Tan, intercepted Guo Jia's...

Chapter 17 Success in Obtaining Grain

A marriage alliance?

Zhen Yao never expected that Yuan Tan would be so direct.

A few days ago, Xin Pi came here asking for grain, but I sent him away. I didn’t expect that Yuan Tan would come to propose marriage again today.

Couldn't he see the Zhen family's growing distance from him?

Zhen Yao was shocked, and cold sweat instantly broke out on his back.

Marrying off a daughter, especially a legitimate daughter, means completely binding the fate of the entire clan to Yuan Tan's dilapidated ship!

Although Yuan Tan was the eldest son, his situation was delicate, surrounded by powerful enemies, and investing in him was extremely risky!

Almost without thinking, he stood up and cupped his hands in greeting:

"The Zhen family is deeply grateful for your kindness, young master! However, my daughter is young and dull-witted, and we dare not presume to be worthy of your noble birth!"

This matter concerns my daughter's future and the reputation of our family; it is absolutely unacceptable! I implore you, sir, to reconsider your decision!

The swift and decisive refusal clearly reveals the depth of their apprehension.

The atmosphere instantly plummeted to freezing point.

That old scoundrel is definitely not so easy to fool!

Yuan Tan sighed inwardly, seemingly having anticipated Zhen Yao's reaction. His face showed no anger; instead, he chuckled and revealed his true purpose for coming.

"Sir, you are too modest. Marriage is a matter of mutual consent. Since you believe your daughter is too young, I cannot force her."

He changed the subject, his tone still calm.

"However, Tan is about to take up his post in Qingzhou, and the army cannot go a day without food. I have heard that the Zhen family is known as the 'Granary of the North' and has abundant storage. Tan wishes to borrow some grain from you, sir, to bolster his journey and boost morale."

Once things stabilize in Qingzhou, we will certainly return it. Surely Mr. Zhen won't refuse such a small matter again?"

First, make a request that is very likely to be rejected.

Then make a relatively reasonable request.

In this case, the second request is more likely to be accepted than if a second request were made directly.

From a psychological perspective, this is called the "saving face effect."

Zhen Yao's face turned extremely ugly.

Although Yuan Tan is currently being restrained at every turn, he is still the governor of Qingzhou.

In today's terms, that would have been far more powerful than that of a provincial official.

A high-ranking local official comes to your house to negotiate with you, and you, a mere merchant, are repeatedly humiliated by him.

Is this something a normal person could do?

Yuan Tan didn't give Zhen Yao much time to think and continued to apply pressure:

"Sir, do you know that Tan has come to Qingzhou intending to reopen the maritime trade and resume sea routes? If the Zhen family provides timely assistance this time, the taxes levied on all Zhen family merchant caravans passing through Qingzhou in the future will be reduced by half."

The Zhen family will have priority in the salt and iron monopoly and port construction! This is an exclusive and prestigious offer. Whether to remain a bystander or participate in this grand undertaking is entirely up to you, sir.

Yuan Tan's words were both a promise and a warning to Zhen Yao.

If the grain donation is refused again, the promise he just made will likely turn into a countermeasure against the Zhen family.

However, sending out the supplies would also incur the hatred of Yuan Shang's faction.

This is also something he cannot accept.

Zhen Yao was torn between his inner thoughts and his own conscience, repeatedly weighing the pros and cons.

Finally, he nodded in agreement:

"Young Master has grand ambitions, and the Zhen family is willing to offer our humble assistance! The Zhen family is willing to contribute three thousand bushels of grain every month as a congratulatory gift for Young Master's appointment to Qingzhou! It should arrive in Qingzhou by sea within seven days!"

Sea transport allows one to evade government surveillance, and although it carries risks, it is relatively more convenient.

More importantly, this move would not easily be discovered by Yuan Shang's faction, thus avoiding offending them.

Yuan Tan nodded in satisfaction, his goal achieved, and stood up without lingering, saying:

"I will forever remember your noble character, sir. See you again in Qingzhou!"

……

The suburbs of Langye.

In Lü Bu's army camp.

At this moment, Lü Bu felt a rare sense of ease.

When Cao Cao, Sun Quan, and Liu Bei besieged Shouchun, Lü Bu was also ordered to go to Shouchun to fight back, but he did not send many troops.

At this moment, all of his main forces were used to deal with Zang Ba, the bandit leader from Mount Tai who was entrenched in Langya.

In his view, the Taishan bandits were nothing more than a minor ailment, and as long as he spared no effort to deal with them, he could surely defeat them in a single battle.

But who could have imagined that bad news would come one after another?

"Report! Zang Ba is holding firm and resisting stubbornly. Our army has been unable to break through his defenses for a long time and has suffered more than a thousand casualties..."

Report! Our siege equipment was destroyed by the Taishan bandits last night!

"Report..."

Lu Bu sat in the main seat, still fully armed.

Upon hearing the string of bad news, he angrily stood up and slammed his fist on the table:

"Outrageous! You scoundrel Zang Ba, how dare you bully me like this!"

He surveyed his generals and said angrily:

"Langya has been under siege for a long time without success, and our supplies are running out! Cao Cao and Liu Bei are currently entangled with that scoundrel Yuan Shu in Huaibei. This is a golden opportunity! If we cannot quickly take Langya and secure the strategic passes of Yi and Shu, we will be trapped in Xiapi and eventually starve to death! Gentlemen, what good strategies do you have? Speak quickly!"

The generals under his command looked at each other, speechless for a moment.

In the silence, General Hao Meng stepped forward, clasped his hands in greeting, and said:

"Lord Wen! Zang Ba is holding the city tenaciously, and it's difficult to take it in the short term. To alleviate this urgent crisis, it would be better to send an army north to the counties of Beihai and Donglai to obtain supplies locally! Those counties are poorly defended, and we can surely get supplies quickly!"

The so-called "taking food locally" was something everyone present knew perfectly well; it meant letting the soldiers plunder.

Upon hearing this proposal, some generals' eyes flashed with interest.

"No!"

Advisor Chen Gong immediately stepped forward and loudly objected:

"General Hao's suggestion is truly like drinking poison to quench thirst! Dividing troops to plunder supplies is a cardinal sin in military strategy! Our army is already at a disadvantage; if we further divide our forces in four directions, we will be easily defeated one by one. That's the first point!"

He turned to Lü Bu and continued:

"Secondly, by allowing our troops to plunder, we may appear to have gained provisions, but in reality, we are cutting ourselves off from the people! The people of Qingzhou will regard our army as an enemy, and all counties will surely adopt a scorched-earth policy. Our army will become a tree without roots, unable to move an inch! If Lord Wen wishes to pacify Qingzhou, how can he first lose the hearts of the people?"

Chen Gong's analysis was insightful, but if Lü Bu could heed his advice, he wouldn't be Lü Bu.

As expected, upon hearing this, Lü Bu not only did not accept it, but instead let out a disdainful sneer.

He abruptly stood up, pointing heavily at the Hebei direction on the map:

"Gongtai, you are overthinking it! How could Yuan Shao have time to look eastward at this moment?"

He spoke with absolute confidence, as if everything was under his control:

"Although Gongsun Zan has been defeated, Youzhou is not yet stable; Zhang Yan of Heishan has fled to Taihang; moreover, internally, Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang are vying for power, and Shen Pei and Guo Tu are fighting amongst themselves! Hebei is struggling to protect itself, how can it have the spare strength to manage the affairs of Qingzhou?"

The more he talked, the more confident he felt his judgment was accurate:

"At this moment, Qingzhou is essentially unclaimed territory! Yuan Tan is no threat! We should seize this opportunity to sustain ourselves through war and feed on the enemy—that is the best strategy! Once Yuan Shao has consolidated his internal affairs, we will have already established a firm foothold. At that time, what will we have to fear from him!"

"My mind is made up!"

Lu Bu waved his hand without hesitation, directly adopting Hao Meng's suggestion, and began to appoint his generals:

"Song Xian, Hao Meng! I order you two to each lead an army north to Beihai and Donglai, gather supplies locally, and return quickly!"

"Cao Xing! Lead a light cavalry scouts to guard against Cao Cao and Liu Bei!"

"Gao Shun! Continue the siege of Langya, without fail!"