C168

When the sky was bright, Yuan Shao stood on the city walls dressed in his military uniform, his hand on the sword hilt as he looked at the camp of the Youzhou Army, the black cape behind him dancing in the morning wind. He had always emphasized appearance. Even in such a difficult time, his clothes did not have a single wrinkle. His hair was even more meticulously combed. However, his unfocused eyes still revealed the exhaustion and stress in his heart.

After four consecutive days of fierce attacks on the city, the Youzhou Army had lost no less than 20,000 people, which could be said to be extremely tragic. Therefore, there were more than twenty thousand casualties, which made him feel extremely pained. At the same time, he also felt a sense of dread in his heart, knowing that the strength of the Youzhou Army was superior, if Gongsun Zan were to continue attacking, regardless of whether he was dead or alive, how long would the Qing He City be able to hold on? One month? Three months? Yuan Shao did not have any confidence at all!

Gao Gan also raised his head to look at the sky in the east, then shifted his gaze to the distant river channel that had been dug up, and said solemnly: "Reporting to uncle, Old Bastard Gongsun has already launched an attack yesterday. Even until today, there were no movements. But there is another possibility, and that is that the Old Bastard Gongsun is waiting for the moat to be filled up, and when the time comes, he will most likely attack from all sides, and I hope that Uncle will prepare! "

Yuan Shao nodded his head, he understood Gao Qian's words, the most powerful barrier of the Qinghe County was the wide and deep moat, once the moat was filled, Gongsun Zan would attack from all sides simultaneously, causing the pressure to increase! However, Yuan Shao was powerless. He could only look on helplessly as Gongsun Zan had his men cut off the river, not daring to have the thought of going out of the city to fight them. Qu Yi and Yan Liangwenchou had learned from their mistakes just now, and Yuan Shao did not think that there was anyone under his command that could compare to those three.

Yuan Shao felt extreme heartache just thinking about Yan Liangwenchou, and couldn't help but sigh: "Sigh, if only this old man hadn't let Yan Liangwenchou go and save Gao Yi. With them here, this old man is absolutely confident that he would have been able to defend the city! Now, I hope that Cao Mengde can come and rescue us as soon as possible. With the many generals under his command, he can compete with Thief Gongsun and the others for power! "

Due to the city being tightly surrounded, Yuan Shao did not know about the matter of Gongsun Xu splitting up and going to Henei County, and had even thought about how soon Cao Cao could lead his troops to rescue them. Yuan Shao still had a lot of soldiers, but he did not have any capable generals, just the opposite for Cao Cao Cao. Although he had many generals, his strength was not even a fraction of Yuan Shao's.

"Sigh." Yuan Shao sighed once again, "If I had known this would happen, I would have long ago invited Cao Mengde to come and fight against the Old Bastard Gongsun!"

Gao Gan sighed in his heart, but he still advised: "Uncle, please be at ease. Envoy Cao and uncle have a deep friendship, he will definitely come to reinforce you!"

"NO!" It is not because I have a deep relationship with Cao Mengde that I went to seek help. " Yuan Shao shook his head and explained: "This old man and Meng De have been friends for many years, and I know very well the nature of their relationship. The reason why he came to help us is not because of the old man's relationship, but because of the cold lips and teeth, and the fact that he came to help this old man obtain a great reputation! If it was the Cao Mengde from ten years ago, it was possible for him to stab his friend in both the ribs. Hehe, isn't this old man the same? Last year, Meng De was forced by Lv Bu to the point that he had no other choice but to come here to seek help. Yuan Cai, you must remember, when you control the fate of many people, you must not be sentimental! "

"Thank you for your teachings, uncle!" Gao Qian quickly bowed and expressed his thanks, but he couldn't help but secretly criticize in his heart. If his uncle-in-law's actions are as described, then he should confirm Yuan Tan's position as the successor, and not wholeheartedly ask Yuan Shang to inherit the family property!

Gao Qian and Yuan Tan were the same age, they had played and learned from each other since childhood, and their brotherly relationship was extremely deep. Yuan Shang was a lot younger than the three of them, and was also brought up by the Liu Family, which was the second son of Yuan Shao. Since Mrs Liu was also a mean person, Gao Qian also hated her a lot, and her relationship with Yuan Shang was also very cold, so she naturally hoped for Yuan Shao to hand over the position of the crown prince to Yuan Tan as soon as possible.

Yuan Shao patted Gao Gan's shoulder to show his encouragement, and raised his head to look at the western sky, and muttered: "I wonder where Meng De is?"

"It should be soon," Gao Qian said carelessly. Suddenly, he pointed to the front and cried out in alarm, "Uncle, quickly look! The enemy is making a move!"

Yuan Shao quickly looked towards the direction pointed by Gao Gan, only to see a large group of riders appearing outside the city. They were waving Gongsun Zan's banner, surrounding a horse carriage that had its carriage removed, and on the horse carriage, something seemed to be lying on it, but unfortunately, it was too far away to see it clearly. One of them was dressed in black armor and was riding a white stallion. It was Marquis Jin Gongsun Zan.

Yuan Shao frowned, puzzled: "What the hell is Old Bastard Gongsun trying to do now?" He stared at the horse carriage and suddenly felt a strong sense of crisis in his heart. It was impossible for Gongsun Zan to do something so meaningless, so he brought a horse carriage over with great fanfare.

His eyesight was much better than Yuan Shao's. When the carriage was three or four hundred steps away, he could already see what was on the carriage, and couldn't help but to let out a surprised cry.

Yuan Shao rubbed his eyes, he could still not see what was on the carriage clearly, and asked anxiously: "Yuan Cai, what's on the carriage?"

Gao Gan felt his mouth go dry, swallowed a mouthful of saliva and mumbled, "Uncle, there seems to be a Bronze Cauldron in the carriage!"

Bronze Cauldron originated from Western Zhou and was regarded as an incomparably noble treasure from the day they appeared. Not long after, they became symbols of the imperial power and were sought after by the royal family and the various marquises. As time passed, the number of Bronze Cauldron became fewer and fewer, their value becoming more and more precious. By the time the current dynasty's Bronze Cauldron was already considered a myth, and the few times the Bronze Cauldron was unearthed, they were all regarded as' auspicious signs'. In the year of the current dynasty's Martial Emperor, Fenshui had once unearthed a Western Zhou Bronze Cauldron. The highest level Bronze Cauldron was none other than the legendary Nine Tripod Commerce that symbolized the nine cauldrons made by Da Yu the Great. The status of these nine cauldrons were definitely not inferior to the nine cauldrons forged by Emperor Qin, but it was a pity that the nine cauldrons only existed in ancient books and no one had personally seen them.

"Bronze Cauldron?!" Yuan Shao turned pale with fright. He suddenly leaned his body forward and grabbed the arrowhead on the wall and shouted in shock and anger, "Where did the Bronze Cauldron come from? This cauldron just so happened to appear here. Could it be that this cauldron was intentionally obtained as a fake? "

Gao Qian shook his head and did not answer. It was already impressive that he could see that it was a Bronze Cauldron from such a distance, but how could he tell if it was real or fake? Even if he was standing in front of her, he did not have the ability to tell!

Yuan Shao clenched the city walls until his knuckles turned white, and roared softly: "Damn the Old Bastard Gongsun, to use such a despicable and shameless method to disrupt the morale of my people!" He didn't believe that the Bronze Cauldron that Gongsun Zan had brought along was just unearthed. He concluded that this was what Gongsun Zan had done next, that he had tried to use a mouthful of Bronze Cauldron to attack him.

Gao Qian hurriedly asked, "Uncle, what should we do?" "The soldiers and citizens don't know that it's fake!"

Yuan Shao gritted his teeth: "Go and invite Ju Shou, Guo Tu and the others over! This old man will let them expose the lies of Old Bastard Gongsun! "

Gao Qian nodded his head and quickly ran down from the city wall.

At this time, the carriage was already two hundred steps away, and Yuan Shao had already seen everything clearly. On the carriage, there was indeed an incomparably large Bronze Cauldron. Yuan Shao could not help but widen his eyes. He came from the fourth generation and third master's house, his house also had bronze artifacts, and due to his interest and interests, he had learned some bronze artifacts from his guests. When he looked at the ancient patterns and mottled copper rust on the Bronze Cauldron, he knew that there was a high chance that the cauldron was real! Even if Ju Shou and Guo Tu came, unless they spoke without their conscience, they would not be able to deny the truth.

Yuan Shao looked up to the sky, and roared: "Oh my god, you are so unfair! Why did he let the Old Bastard Gongsun obtain this kind of Divine Equipment!? If this cauldron were to land in my hands, this old one will definitely be able to reproduce the grand occasion that the eighteen dukes from back then had once done for Dong Zhuo.

Just then, Gongsun Zan laughed out loud, pointed at the Bronze Cauldron, raised his Spirit Qi and shouted: "Yuan Benchu, do you recognize what this is?"

Yuan Shao groaned. He felt extremely downcast all of a sudden, as if he had suddenly been abandoned by the heavens.

The soldiers on the city wall had long noticed Gongsun Zan and the carriage. At this point, hearing Gongsun Zan's question, they all cast their curious gazes at the carriage. Some people had already recognized that it was a Bronze Cauldron and immediately exclaimed, attracting a few curious questions from the people around. Very quickly, even more people started to shout from the top of the city walls.

Yuan Shao suddenly came to his senses, but it was too late for him to stop shouting, he could only glare at the direction of the loudest noise.

Gongsun Zan had already heard the clamor from the top of the city walls, and shouted complacently: "Yuan Benchu, since you do not recognize this item, I will tell you! Listen up, this is one of the divine artifacts of the nation, the Jizhou Cauldron! It was this old man who unearthed it by the river yesterday! "

Yuan Shao was dumbstruck, and muttered: "What? The Jizhou Cauldron, one of the Nine Prefectures' cauldrons! How was this possible? The Da Yu Nine Furnace only existed in legends, how could it suddenly be unearthed? Could it be that Gongsun Zan is really fated? "

Just then, a man behind Yuan Shao shouted: "Gongsun Zan, you better not lie to us. That cauldron is only a fake made by you, in order to disturb our morale, that's all! "You are a dignified Marquis Jin, a general that has tens of thousands of troops. To actually use such underhanded methods, you are definitely despised by the world!"

This man was Ju Shou, and upon hearing from Gao Gan, he knew that the matter was serious and rushed over quickly. He did not expect to hear Yuan Shao muttering to himself in a low voice, and did not bother to ask for Yuan Shao's permission, and immediately declared that the cauldron was a fake made by Gongsun Zan. In fact, Ju Shou could immediately tell that the Bronze Cauldron was real, but he couldn't admit it now. He could only say that it was a fake against his will, in order to minimize the impact of the Bronze Cauldron.

Guo Tu followed behind him. He stared at the Jizhou Cauldron with shining eyes, with his eyes filled with greed and anticipation.

Before Gongsun Zan could answer, Guan Jing shouted angrily: "Ju Shou, you are also a dignified scholar, to actually turn black and white like this, you are truly the shame of our Confucianism! Just yesterday, when the cauldron was unearthed by the river, Master Hou had invited many people to examine it and they all agreed that this was one of the genuine nine Da Yu cauldrons, the Jizhou Cauldron! The will of Heaven and the will of the people all belongs to the Marquis Jin, what's the use of waiting for you to turn the tables? "