Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1053 Visitors
In the following days, the number of people coming in and out of Qu'a City gradually began to increase.

The reason for this is that all the people in Qu'a have fled. Yuan Xi asked Zhuge Liang to use some means to attract the people around him.

In the early days, people in many surrounding areas were still somewhat apprehensive, but Yuan Xi adopted a divide-and-conquer policy, that is, to crack down on the die-hard forces who resisted and win over local people and Shanyue people who were willing to join him.

In particular, the measures to restore the Shanyue people who were bought as slaves to their civilian status and give them land to make a living made the local Shanyue people extremely happy. As Yuan Xi expected, many leaders in the Shanyue area sent people to negotiate. .

Regarding the attitudes and methods of dealing with the Shanyue group, Yuan Xi has accumulated rich experience and methods when facing foreign tribes such as the Qiang, Hu and Xiongnu in the north over the past few years. He is able to understand the demands of the Shanyue people, so he is familiar with the Shanyue people. A series of negotiations took place.

Although there were some unsatisfactory moments in the process, thanks to a completely different attitude of equality from Jiang Dong and Yuan Xi taking the initiative to let the Shanyue people understand his thoughts, the progress of the negotiations between the two parties was unexpectedly smooth.

This made Yuan Xi sigh that everything a person has done in this world is actually meaningful. Just like in the past two years in Bingzhou, although he missed some opportunities to compete for hegemony in the Central Plains, it did not make him fall much behind. On the contrary, it made him He has more experience to face unknown things.

A few months later, the negotiations basically came to an end. Yuan Xi and most of the Shanyue tribes reached a preliminary cooperation agreement. He provided farming and shipbuilding technology to Shanyue, and Shanyue provided labor and copper mines to Yuan Xi, and opened roads to ensure the safety of trade routes.

In the near future, if Yuan Xi can fully occupy Wu County, he can retreat to Kuaiji in the south until he fully occupies the southeast coast.

He now uses Qu'a as a nail to occupy the cities around the Yangtze River outlet in Wu County. Together with Xuzhou Guangling on the north bank, the de facto Yangtze River outlet has fallen into Yuan Xi's hands.

Of course, Jiangdong still has the power to counterattack. The two sides are currently facing off in Danyang County. There are still many Jiangdong nobles who support the Sun family. Yuan Xi does not have many troops to invest in the west for the time being. He only needs to maintain the status quo and go all out to occupy the coastal area in the east. Can.

"Liang believes that what you do is more important than what you say. To relieve the people's troubles, make the people live in peace, and save the world from fire and water. At this point, no one in the world is more qualified than the lord."

Yuan Xi and Zhuge Liang stood at the top of the city, looking at the bustling crowd below. Yuan Xi smiled at Zhuge Liang and said: "Sun Quan, the king of Wu, lost his seat on the day he was granted the title. Now his territory is slowly being eroded. This king's title is very important to him." It’s a bit ironic.”

"If you are obsessed with the name of the Han Dynasty, abandon the Ming Dynasty you are attached to, and rely on the Han Dynasty clan who don't know what the future will be like, if you are like Huan Ling and poisoning the world, isn't that putting the cart before the horse?"

Zhuge Liang shook his head and said: "No, this has nothing to do with my lord. In the past few years, what Liang has seen and felt has gradually solved the contradictions in Liang's heart."

Yuan Xi couldn't help laughing after hearing this, "Military advisor, you know, I've been waiting for the military advisor's words for a long time."

"Although Cao Cao and Sun Quan were the first to overstep their bounds, if my lord wants to follow the same path, won't he be regarded as the same by everyone in the world?"

"So these years I have been walking on thin ice, fighting for the world. There is not so much lofty ideals, but more painful choices. What power brings to people is not all pleasure, but torture like poison. "

"Speaking of which, I once mentioned to the military advisor that the original slogan of pacifying the world is related to my future righteousness. Has the military advisor thought about it?"

He is not too worried. Now he has transferred some Jianghuai generals to Wu County, and with the cooperation of the Wu generals headed by Wu Jing, he has initially built a defense line in Wu County. As long as Sun Ce is not resurrected on the opposite side, it will not be a problem to defend Wu County.

Facing Zhuge Liang's rhetorical question, Yuan Xi smiled bitterly and said: "That's what I say, but sooner or later we have to take this step. We can't attack the two of them in the name of continuing Han Zuo. I can't change my surname."

"Liang gradually came to understand that in the fight for the world, who would win is actually a matter of time. Compared with the Han Dynasty where the people were in dire straits like Emperor Huanling, from now on, as long as the world is peaceful and prosperous, and the people live and work in peace and contentment, then why should we stick to one family? What’s your last name?”

This is equivalent to Jiangdong's fate being strangled by Yuan Xi. In fact, more than half of the maritime territory he envisioned has been completed.

Zhuge Liang heard this and said: "This is also the problem that my lord will face next."

"For people with great ambitions, this process is accompanied by moral self-blame and self-awareness, which is definitely not a pleasant thing."

Zhuge Liang nodded heavily, "Liang can more or less understand what my lord is thinking."

Zhuge Liang secretly scolded him for being cunning. Didn't he just put the problem on himself?
He thought for a while and then said: "Liang would like to ask my lord to understand that when he first took refuge in his lord, Liang was actually very hesitant."

All that is left to do is to let the Jiangdong forces slowly bleed out and fall into chronic death.

"I have always been afraid that what I have done will not be recognized by the military advisor. If the military advisor abandons me one day, wouldn't it mean that I have taken the wrong path?"

Yuan Xi subconsciously said: "This is my fault."

"At that time, Liang's ambition was to revive the Han Dynasty, but in the past few years, my lord has been slowly killing this ambition in Liang's heart."

“The more ambitious your goals are, the more you fear that the road ahead will suddenly be cut off when you are looking for the way.”

"That's why Liang is willing to accompany his master to see if his ideas that have never been published before can be realized, or whether he can see the hope of realizing them in his lifetime."

Yuan Xi was moved, held Zhuge Liang's hand tightly and said: "Xi will never let the military advisor down!"

The news that Wu County had been captured by Yuan Xi's army soon spread to all directions. People all over the world understood that Jiangdong was over, and all that was left was to survive. Because this not only means that Yuan Xi controls more than seven percent of the world's waterways, but also cuts off the Yangtze River, the lifeblood of Jiangdong's livelihood. From then on, Jiangdong will no longer be synonymous with Sun Quan's power, but will become the territory occupied by Yuan Xi. Eastern seaboard area.

In a secret mansion somewhere in Xudu, Xun You said to Chen Qun: "This ferocious tiger is really unexpected. It has taken a path that no one has ever walked before."

"Half of the country mentioned before was bounded by the Yangtze River, occupying half of the Central Plains, and occupying the east side of the Yangtze River. But this one is better, not horizontally, but vertically."

"Right now, the entire world and the mouths of all long rivers and rivers are under his control. This is a route that has never been imagined before. This fierce tiger is worthy of being the only one in the world who can compete with Duke Ming in terms of strategy. "

Chen Qun also looked solemn, "Yes, this fierce tiger's eyes are really different. We still underestimate him too much!"

"What follows is not a struggle between north and south, but a struggle between east and west. It occupies the Qingxu Yangzhou River and Huaihe River, and all waterways downstream are controlled by it."

"And the Lord occupies Yanzhou, Yuzhou and Jingzhou in the Yongliang Pass, plus the Yizhou that may be obtained, it is the upper reaches and the lower reaches. The key to the competition is the hinterland of the Central Plains along the Jizhou line!"

The reason why Chen Qun mentioned Jingzhou is because during this period, after several battles, Cao Jun finally crossed the Han River and occupied Xiangyang, forcing Liu Bei to retreat to Guiyang, Lingling, Changsha in the south.

This is not to say that Liu Bei is incompetent in combat, but that the Jingzhou nobles have begun to fully surrender to Cao Cao, causing Liu Bei to be attacked from both sides. Seeing that the surrender of Jingzhou's strength may help Cao Cao cut off his retreat, Liu Bei can only be forced to retreat south to save himself. strength.

However, although Cao Jun took advantage of the situation and occupied the southern county of Jingzhou, he also began to plot against the three counties on the south bank of the Han River to prepare for crossing the Yangtze River. However, this step was not easy, because the Yangtze River was not as good as the Han River, and the naval forces of Guan Yu and Yuan Xi's army on this river were extremely fierce. , which was beyond what Cao Jun could achieve within a short period of time.

Therefore, Cao Jun also slowed down, training his navy on the river, and confronting Liu Bei across the Yangtze River, implying that the direction of his lord's attack would be Yizhou.

However, although this situation was not very good for Liu Bei, Sun Quan was actually even more uncomfortable, because after Liu Bei retreated to Lingling, Changsha, he bordered Yuzhang where Sun Quan was located.

In other words, Sun Quan is now caught in the middle by Liu Bei and Yuan Xi, and he looks like he is about to be doomed no matter how he looks at it.

Chen Qun continued: "Every battle that follows is extremely critical. It can be said that whoever gets the Central Plains will determine the ownership of the world."

Xun You said: "Yes, what comes next may be the last and most critical battle in the world, and it may also be the most tragic war."

He lowered his voice, "On normal days, I would have great confidence in Ming Gong. When it comes to fighting in this world, no one can be better than Ming Gong. But Ming Gong's current body..."

Chen Qun also looked solemn, "This is what I'm most worried about."

"The Fierce Tiger has so many talented men, except Ming Gong, who else in the world can fight against him?"

"But if Ming Gong cannot go into battle in person"

Xun You sighed: "So although it seems to be doing well now, there is a danger of the house collapsing at any time."

"What's more troublesome is," he lowered his voice, "about the crown prince..."

Both of them were silent. As the strongest partner, Chen Qun naturally told Xun You about Cao Pi's injury. Xun You was shocked after hearing this. He felt that his faction was going to be doomed. If Cao Zhi came to power, his faction would probably die. Lose everything!
So after countless discussions, the two finally came to a decision that was close to betraying Cao Cao.

We should continue to think of ways to support Cao Pi in ascending the throne, and we must not let Cao Zhi become the heir to the Cao family!

The reason for this is that many of their demands in the future will fall on Cao Pi. As for how to persuade Cao Cao, it depends on how hard the two of them work.

Even if Cao Pi cannot have children, it will not delay his rise to power. At worst, he will adopt a son from Cao Cao's clan or inherit his brother's legacy. No matter how outrageous it is, as long as Cao Cao can nod, everything will not be a problem!

The two discussed for a long time, and then they finally decided on the matter. They went out separately. When they left, Xun You said to Chen Qun: "Uncle Clan is about to die soon. You have to do some things to save face."

Chen Qun understood that Xun You was talking about Xun Yu, so he nodded and said, "I understand."

The two of them parted ways and disappeared into the vast night. At the same time, an uninvited guest came to Xun Yu's mansion.

Xun Yu supported his sick body and rolled under the couch. He saluted the visitor and said, "I am seriously ill and cannot welcome you from far away. Please forgive me for your majesty."

The visitor turned out to be Liu Xie.

He quickly stepped forward to help Xun Yu up and choked with sobs: "Your Majesty... I have failed to live up to your Majesty's expectations."

(End of this chapter)