Yuan Shu's funeral has been completed, and Sun Ce's return date has not been decided, but Yan Xiang has to go back. He is the prefect of Nanyang and there are many things to do. Zhang Xun, Qiao Rui and others also have their own destinations, such as Feng Fang wants to go back to his hometown in Guanzhong.

Except for Yan Xiang, Sun Ce was not very concerned about the other destinations. He was not the master anyway, so they just said goodbye to Yuan Quan. However, Qiao Rui was moved by the idea that Sun Ce could not return to Nanyang for the time being, but wanted to stay in Yuzhou and take over the governor of Yuzhou, who acted as Sun Jian.

The Qiao family was from Suiyang, Liang State, and within the boundary of Yuzhou. Moreover, Suiyang is in the northern part of Yuzhou, and has always been a place for military strategists to fight. If Yuan Shao does not obey the imperial edict and Zhu Jun wants to conquer with force, Suiyang will inevitably become a battlefield. If a large army is stationed, there are only two ways to avoid damage: one is to escape quickly, and the other is to rely on a certain force that can protect himself.

For him, this force is undoubtedly Sun Ce. Others don’t know Sun Ce’s ability, but he knows it clearly. Even Sun Jian may not be able to eliminate Xu Rong’s 20,000 elite Xiliang soldiers. At that time, Sun Ce had only one county under his command. Now he is in charge of Yuzhou and is stronger. At this time, he left him and went to find a more suitable protector than him.

So Qiao Rui decided to stay.

Zhang Xun didn't want to stay, but he didn't want to stay in Yuzhou. He still felt that Nanyang was safer. Yuzhou had no geographical advantage. Once it was against Yuan Shao, it would be difficult for Sun Ce to resist the enemy from abroad, and he would inevitably have a hard battle. It would be better to go to Nanyang to watch the situation. If Guanzhong was pacified, he could go home at any time.

Feng Fang was relatively simple. He neither wanted to stay in Yuzhou nor Nanyang, but he wanted to go back to Guanzhong. Feng Wan was very distressed, but her arm could not twist her thighs, so she couldn't change Feng Fang's idea. What's more, she was also hesitant. Sun Ce already had his wife Yuan Heng and concubine Yin Yu, and with Huang Yueying, who would definitely marry Sun Ce as her concubine, even if she married Sun Ce, she could only be ahead of Yin Yu. Not to mention that Feng Fang refused, she was not willing to accept it.

Sun Ce knew nothing about this, and he was thinking about how to deal with Yuzhou.

This matter is not that easy. Sun Jian has been the governor of Yuzhou and the governor of Yuzhou for nearly a year, but the effect is limited to not opposing him, and of course he did not pay attention to him. The most obvious thing is that Yuan Shu was buried, the Sun family father and son came to attend the funeral, and the prefect of Runan never showed up, while Pingyu County, the capital of Runan County, is only fifty or sixty miles away from Ruyang.

In other words, so far, the Sun family's father and son have almost zero influence on Yuzhou, and the powerful families have chosen to ignore them.

To get Yuzhou, you must first deal with Runan. Runan is the well-deserved largest county in Yuzhou, with a population of nearly half of Yuzhou, which is even more than Nanyang County. More importantly, Runan has many families and many famous scholars. Ruying has half the famous scholars in the world, referring to Runan and Yingchuan. Even if Sun Ce has no appeal, he cannot let these people collude with Yuan Shao, at least to keep them neutral.

Of course, if you have followed Yuan Shao, don’t blame me for being rude. I’m so busy lately. I have no money and no food. Since you have become enemies, who will do if you don’t attack you?

However, Sun Ce had no idea where to start. He was very unfamiliar with Runan, and he could be said to be in darkness. The Yuan family was the largest clan in Runan, but the Yuan family ignored Yuan Wei and Yuan Feng, and it was even more impossible to pay attention to him.

At the critical moment, Qiao Rui found Sun Ce and made a suggestion: first control the Pingyu, the capital of Runan County.

In the Han Dynasty, the county had county soldiers, concentrated in the county and was directly controlled by the prefect. The county seat was divided into inner and outer cities, and the inner city was an official institution. In addition to the prefect's office, there were also county warehouses, arsenals, etc., which were strictly guarded. There were no soldiers in each county except the county seat, and the county seat was not divided into government office areas and residential areas. The defense ability was much worse than that of the county seat.

Controlling the county government is almost equivalent to mastering the main force of a county, and what remains is the private armed forces of each manor. Of course, Runan manors are everywhere and there are many private armed forces, but after all, it is not as neat as the county soldiers. With Sun Ce's current military strength, it is impossible to attack the manor one by one. Seizing the county government is the most direct shortcut.

Sun Ce thought it made sense. Although Qiao Rui had limited military ability and had lived for half his life, he still had experience. Pang Tong was about to leave by Sun Jian. He is fighting alone now, and he really needs to check for the missing one person.

He did what he said, while Sun Ce ordered Qin Mu to send knights to investigate the situation in Pingyu County, he asked to see Yuan Quan. He lacked enough troops. If he wanted to quickly conquer Pingyu County, he needed to include the Yuan Shu troops led by Lei Bo and others in command. These people were escorted Yuan Shu's coffin back to Ruyang, but now the mission was completed. Except for some people who continued to guard the tomb, everyone else could be mobilized.

In theory, this is the inheritance left to him by Yuan Shu. At best, it is a dowry left to Yuan Heng. The ownership definitely does not belong to Yuan Quan. Yuan Quan is already married, she is the Huang family, not the Yuan family.

Before Sun Ce came, Yuan Quan had already known the general situation. Zhang Xun and Feng Fang mentioned it when they said goodbye. Feng Wan said it in more detail, but Feng Wan herself had limited understanding, so Yuan Quan was not clear about the entire situation. After Sun Ce said that, she realized that Sun Ce's troubles are even greater than she thought.

In other words, although Yuan Shu has been buried, the court has not yet made a decision. Yuan Shu may be deemed a rebellious at any time. In extreme cases, he may even be dug out of the coffin and beheaded and exposed to his body. To avoid this situation, the most direct way is to quickly improve Sun Ce's strength.

But she couldn't help anything, and all she could do was not help.

Yuan Quan readily agreed to Sun Ce's request, leaving twenty old and weak to guard the tomb for Yuan Shu, and all the others were handed over to Sun Ce. In front of Sun Ce, she asked the three of them to swear allegiance to Sun Ce, just like they were loyal to Yuan Shu at the time.

Chang Nu, Lei Bo, and Chen Lan had already seen Sun Ce's Xinyi, and did not say anything nonsense, and swore allegiance on the spot.

"What else can I do?" Yuan Quan said politely: "Don't be polite, just say it."

"Runan may become a battlefield at any time. I hope my wife will be better off going to Nanyang. If it really doesn't work, you should also follow the army. Only in this way can I guarantee your safety."

Yuan Quan hugged Yuan Heng and pondered for a long time. "I will follow the army to act. When the war in the Central Plains is over, I will return to Ruyang to guard the tomb for my father."

Sun Ce agreed.

"There is one more thing, which may be a bit difficult, but I still hope that the general can keep his promise."

"What's up?"

"Appoint a posthumous name for my father."

Sun Ce had a headache. He had promised this, but now Wang Yun is in charge of the government, and he might be the rebellious ones. Isn’t it a boring thing to ask for a posthumous title for Yuan Shu at this time?

"Madam, it's not that I don't want to, it's really..."

Yuan Quan raised his hand lightly and told Sun Ce not to refuse in a hurry. "Although my father did a lot of ridiculous things, he did not betray the court. Dong Zhuo was executed, and my Yuan family died tragically for more than 200 people. The court should give us justice. If we can't do this, the general's father and son may not be recognized by the court. This matter is not so much for the ancestor's father, but for the general. I hope the general thinks twice."

Sun Ce woke up from his dream and agreed immediately. "Madam is right, I will do my best."
Chapter completed!