As Liu Bei made his moves, the situation in the south grew ever more tense. In contrast, the north had not been idle either.
You Province, Zhuo Commandery, Yi County—strictly speaking, this place was the gateway to You Province.
In later generations' impressions, the site of Gongsun Zan's decisive battle with Yuan Shao should have been Gongsun Zan's hometown.
But in truth, Yijing lay right on the border of Ji Province.
The reason for this dated back four years. Gongsun Zan had once served under Liu Yu.
Later, after the two fell into conflict, Gongsun Zan took the opportunity to kill Liu Yu and seize the entirety of You Province.
But Liu Yu was no simple man. Having governed You Province for many years and adopted a conciliatory policy toward the foreign tribes, he enjoyed tremendous prestige among both the tribes and You Province's scholars.
Gongsun Zan, meanwhile, was no true lord of greatness. After entering You Province, he favored treacherous flatterers and heavily employed mediocrities.
So long as someone could curry favor with him, he would befriend them wholeheartedly. He had even sworn brotherhood with the fortune-teller Liu Weitai, the cloth peddler Li Yizi, and the merchant Le Hedang.
With such a contrast between the two, the people of You Province and the various Hu tribes naturally loathed him deeply.
Thus, in the second year of the Xingping Era, Yuan Shao sent his great general Ju Yi to join forces with the Hu tribes and Liu Yu's former subordinates, raising an army of one hundred thousand to attack him.
Gongsun Zan suffered a crushing defeat in that battle and fled to Yi County, where he faced Ju Yi in stalemate for more than a year.
By the first year of the Jian'an Era, Hebei was gripped by severe drought,