From the moment Xun Chen entered Beixin City, he began to observe the city's scenery.
He could discern seven or eight aspects of how a city was managed with just a glance.
Speaking of Yuan Xi, Xun Chen remembered that when he joined Yuan Shao, Yuan Xi's reputation was not prominent; on the contrary, it was said that his personality was somewhat weak.
Three years ago, it was said that Yuan Xi and Yuan Shao had significant disagreements over certain matters, and Yuan Xi had rarely contradicted Yuan Shao, which made Yuan Shao very unhappy.
Afterwards, whether out of pique or to prove himself, Yuan Xi actually proposed to lead troops to the Youzhou front to confront Gongsun Zan!
This was not a joke. It should be known that although Gongsun Zan was defeated in the Battle of Jieqiao, he still retained most of his strength and was still the overlord of the northern lands.
To deal with Gongsun Zan and his White Horse Fellows, even famous generals would be filled with regret if they were slightly careless, let alone a scion of an aristocratic family who had never led troops before?
However, to everyone's surprise, Yuan Shao finally agreed.
Initially, the officials who supported Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang's factions were shocked when they heard the news, wondering if Yuan Shao intended to support his second son, Yuan Xi?
However, after the appointment was made, they breathed a sigh of relief in unison.
Yuan Xi was given a nominal position as the city guard of Beixin City, similar to a county commandant, with a salary of only two hundred shi.
He was also allocated thirty cavalry and three hundred infantry for city defense.
When Yuan Shao's staff learned of this news, they once suspected whether Yuan Xi was his biological son.
Otherwise, giving Yuan Xi so few soldiers and horses was really not trying to kill him?
After hearing about it, Xun Chen just smiled slightly. As Yuan Shao's chief strategist, he knew Yuan Shao's personality quite well.
Yuan Shao's personality was different from ordinary people. In times of crisis, he could often make resolute decisions, but in ordinary trivial matters, he seemed somewhat indecisive.
This was the case with Yuan Xi's matter.
Yuan Shao actually doted on his sons, but he was also very concerned about saving face, so Xun Chen could tell at a glance that Yuan Shao did not really want Yuan Xi to guard the city.
After all, facing Gongsun Zan's army was too dangerous.
In the Battle of Jieqiao, even Yuan Shao himself was almost killed by a scattered cavalry unit of Gongsun Zan's army.
According to Xun Chen's idea, Yuan Shao wanted Yuan Xi to retreat in the face of difficulties and obediently stay in Yecheng.
Later, facts proved that Xun Chen guessed correctly. Yuan Shao once drank too much and confided to Xun Chen in private, revealing that he had indeed thought so at the beginning.
But to Yuan Shao's surprise, Yuan Xi was a stubborn young man who agreed very readily and set off with the seal of office the next day!
Yuan Shao couldn't bring himself to stop him, and watched Yuan Xi leave Yecheng like this, and it had been three years.
Later, when Xun Chen and Yuan Shao met privately several times, Yuan Shao expressed regret about this matter, after all, Yuan Shao only had a few sons, and if anything happened to them, it would be a loss to the Yuan clan.
Xun Chen kept silent about this, just listening, never expressing a single word of opinion.
Because he later learned that the falling out between Yuan Shao and Yuan Xi was due to their attitude towards Cao Cao.
At that time, Cao Cao, as Yuan Shao's partial general, contributed a lot, and because he was defeated by Yu Du, Bai Rao, Sui Gu, Yu Fulu, etc. in Dongjun, Yuan Shao appointed him as the governor of Dongjun. It can be said that the relationship between the Yuan and Cao families was very good at this time.
But it was also at this time that Xun Yu left Yuan Shao and went to Cao Cao.
Xun Yu did not communicate much with Xun Chen beforehand about this matter, which made Xun Chen's situation quite embarrassing.
Fortunately, Yuan Shao did not pursue Xun Chen's matter. After all, at the beginning, Yuan Shao was just a nominal Bohai prefect, but he did not have his own territory and urgently needed a place to start an army.
And Xun Chen, with just one mouth, persuaded Han Fu, the governor of Jizhou, to hand over Jizhou, allowing Yuan Shao to arrive in Jizhou, this wealthy base, without spending a single soldier, thus making great contributions and becoming Yuan Shao's chief strategist.
With Jizhou acquired, its gentry strategists flocked to him, and the Four Courtiers and Eight Counselors gathered under Yuan Shao's command. For a time, Yuan Shao was unparalleled in prestige.
But these strategists and generals under Yuan Shao were not monolithic, and began to form factions with various thoughts.
Unlike ordinary aristocratic families, these strategists from large families regarded themselves very highly, had great appetites, and the large families they originally belonged to were large landlords in various states, with considerable power.
Their goals would not be limited to a city, a commandery, or a place, but rather governors and ministers!
Therefore, Yuan Shao had to offer very high prices to make them loyal, but fortunately, many strategists at that time were optimistic about Yuan Shao, believing that he had the appearance of a hegemon of the world, so there were no major problems for the time being.
But Yuan Shao's current territory could not satisfy these large family scholars.
Xun Chen guessed that Xun Yu also saw that there were too many capable people under Yuan Shao, and it would be difficult to have a chance to stand out, so he went to Cao Cao.
And Cao Cao at that time was relatively miserable, because most of the aristocratic children went to Yuan Shao, so he could only vigorously appoint poor scholars and civilians.
But this also had a benefit. These people were of humble origin and did not have big appetites. A small official position of one hundred or two hundred shi could make them loyal to death. In terms of cost performance, it was much higher than the group under Yuan Shao.
After Xun Yu went over, he was immediately treated as a distinguished guest by Cao Cao. It can be said that it is better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of an ox.
Xun Chen knew Yuan Shao's personality well. He could be said to hate those who betrayed him extremely and would kill them quickly.
Therefore, after Xun Yu went to Cao Cao, Xun Chen began to be cautious in his words and actions, deliberately keeping a low profile, so as not to be implicated by Yuan Shao.
So in the past few years, Xun Chen's original limelight has been overshadowed by Tian Feng, Ju Shou and others.
Xun Chen spent three years in a low-key manner.
Until news came again from Beixin City that Yuan Xi had actually made a few big things!
One was to kill Liu Bao, the son of Yu Fulu, the Southern Chanyu, and the other was to defeat hundreds of White Horse Fellows.
Yuan Shao found several strategists to analyze this matter. Everyone finally felt that it was extremely incredible.
If it was fake, it would be troublesome.
If it was real, it would be even more troublesome.
At that time, due to the Yecheng Rebellion last year, Yuan Shao rectified internally and attacked Zhang Yan of the Black Mountain bandits externally. He finally stabilized the situation in Bingzhou. The next step was originally to start from Qingzhou and attack Tian Kai, Gongsun Zan's ally.
But there was a problem in the neighboring Youzhou. If it was not investigated clearly, it would not be easy to send troops. Whether Yuan Xi was falsely reporting military information or suspected of colluding with Gongsun Zan, there must be an explanation. Yuan Shao finally decided to send Yuan Tan, Xun Chen, and Gao Lan to Beixin City with troops under the pretext of defending against the Southern Xiongnu and Gongsun Zan's army to investigate this matter.
This appointment was very intriguing. Xun Chen belonged to the middle faction and had not yet expressed support for anyone. Gao Lan privately leaned towards Yuan Shang!
With these three people together, no one could guess what Yuan Shao was planning.
So now Xun Chen could only focus his attention on Beixin City, striving to first verify the truth of the matter, and then he would have an explanation when he went back.
He did not expect at this time that while he was observing the streets of Beixin City, Yuan Xi was also secretly observing him.
While Yuan Xi was talking to Yuan Tan in a lukewarm manner, he was also thinking about Xun Chen's affairs.
This person, Xun Chen, from persuading Han Fu to hand over Jizhou in 191 AD to serving as the chief strategist in the Battle of Guandu in 200 AD, there was no record of him for nine years.
After the Battle of Guandu, Xun Chen disappeared directly, and there was no trace of him in the history books.
What exactly happened to this person?