Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1060 Feint
The news that Yuan Xi was proclaimed king could reach Sun Quan's ears, and naturally it also reached Xudu.

Also coming was the news that Liu Bei was proclaimed king according to the imperial edict.

Now the world has become one of four kings, but strictly speaking, Cao Cao and Yuan Xi are fighting for the world. Liu Bei and Jiangdong are relatively weak, and they can only be considered one side together. Unless there is a big change, it can only be Cao Yuan. A foil for the two.

Most of Cao Cao's subordinates did not understand the inside story. After they heard the news that Yuan Xi and Liu Bei were crowned king, they all guessed that the two were arrogant and self-reliant, so they petitioned Cao Cao one after another, asking him to ask the emperor to issue an edict to designate the two as the king. If you rebel against the thieves, then you can justifiably raise troops to attack them!

But these letters they wrote were undoubtedly flattering. Cao Cao felt more and more excited when he saw these hundreds of letters full of flattery, piled high on the table in front of him, like tombs. Unfortunately, the headache also took the opportunity to attack, and Cao Cao couldn't help but kick the table over, causing the watch and stamps to roll all over the floor.

Cao Cao expected the two to become kings, and it was a matter of time, but the process and truth of the two becoming kings were something Cao Cao did not expect.

The two of them obeyed the imperial edict, and it was an edict that had not been handed over by Cao Cao. Cao Cao was extremely certain of this and roughly guessed what was going on. Moreover, when he asked Xun Yu to go on an envoy, he obviously did not attach any Such conditions!

This unexpected edict showed the resistance of Emperor Liu Xie. He was still trying every means to undermine himself, and he managed to do it!

This further shows that there are still people who support Liu Xie in Xudu, and this force is not weak. At least it can send the edict out of Xudu and into the hands of the two!

Of course, Cao Cao suspected that Yuan Xi's edict might be related to Xun Yu, but apart from Xun Yu, no one from Liu Bei's side had ever sent an envoy. This showed that there were many people who supported Liu Xie, and they also had many methods.

Cao Cao had extremely complicated feelings about this. He and Xun Yu had also trusted and supported each other, but how did they get to this point in the end?

"Did you not see clearly the general trend of the world until your death, or did you see it clearly but not be able to accept it?"

At the moment, neither Cao Pi nor Cao Zhi is qualified to be a fierce tiger opponent!
Cao Cao resisted his headache and thought about it. On the one hand, he must conquer Yizhou as soon as possible and leave a good way out. On the other hand, he must find talents who can compete with Yuan Xi as soon as possible in order to save the future of the Cao family.

The fierce tiger Yuan Xi.

But there is no regret medicine in the world, and time cannot be turned back. What Cao Cao has to do now is to completely eliminate the ferocious tiger while his mind is still clear and he can still act!
Cao Cao knew that his time was running out, and it was unclear whether his body could last for several years. If he died, who in the camp could fight against the fierce tiger?

But on the other hand, Xun Yu and Cao Cao broke up, and it was not impossible to do such a thing. What's more, Xun Yu died in Shouchun. This behavior is more like an explanation and relief.

Tao Qian, Lu Bu, Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao, Liu Bei, the Emperor, Yuan Tan, and Yuan Shang were all defeated by him. Sun Quan was used by him like a clown and almost lost everything. Now there is only one opponent left.

He retracted his thoughts. Now that he and Yuan Xi were in a situation, the two sides were fighting. Conspiracies and tricks were secondary. If he wanted to determine the outcome, he had to compete with pure strength. He could not just sit back and wait for death, but had to take the initiative and attack fiercely. Tiger must have thought so too.

A name appeared in Cao Cao's mind. This was a good young man, very similar to himself. Let's see if his quality can be tested by attacking Yizhou this time.

The incident involving Xun Yu made Cao Cao feel mixed emotions. Although Xun Yu was highly suspicious, Cao Cao was still unwilling to believe that Xun Yu, who had followed him for so many years, would betray him.

Cao Cao recalled that in the past ten years, he climbed out of the quagmire step by step, climbed higher and higher, and trampled all his once powerful opponents under his feet. The process was full of twists and turns, accidents, and desperate gambles. Fortunately, I won the bet myself.

But precisely because this person looked like himself, Cao Cao had a layer of gloom on his face. It might not be a good thing if he looked like himself.

But this is also the most troublesome and troublesome opponent for him. The two began to fight openly and secretly when Yuan Shao was still alive. Over the past seven or eight years, not only has the other party not been suppressed by him, but he has become stronger and stronger. Now he has become his A serious problem!
Cao Cao felt extremely regretful every time he thought about it. If he had known this, he might as well have surrounded and killed the ferocious tiger when he exchanged Cao Song in Xuzhou. In that case, where would these things have happened?

Who is the right candidate?
The names of Xun You, Chen Qun, and Yang Xiu were all denied by Cao Cao. These people were all good at internal affairs, but they were not good at fighting.

"Wen Ruo, you are confused!"

For a court that was about to collapse and a useless emperor, was it necessary for Xun Yu to do this?
Cao Cao walked slowly to the window and said sadly: "Wen Ruo, do you hate me so much?"

The key is, where is the next battlefield where a war is most likely to break out?
The other side will definitely look for its weak points to attack. On the border that stretches for thousands of miles on both sides, which place is the best to break through?
Thinking of Yuan Xi's title, Cao Cao had a clear understanding in his heart. The other party might want to fight him in Jizhou, and have a decisive battle around Jizhou, right?

Because Yuan Xi's title is King of Jin, this is not only because the three families are divided into Jin, overpowering himself, the King of Wei, but also to declare his ownership of Jizhou. After all, although Yecheng was founded by Qi State, it later became Jin State and A fiefdom of Wei State.

This title has made Yecheng's plot obvious. From the opponent's standpoint, they also need to take back Yecheng to inherit Yuan Shao's political legacy! Thinking that Xiahou Dun, who was stationed in Yecheng, was not powerful enough to fight against the fierce tiger, Cao Cao began to summon his subordinates to discuss a plan to increase troops in Yecheng and strengthen Jizhou's defense line.

While Cao Cao was preparing for war intensively, Yuan Xi in Jicheng was living a short and shameless life.

Jushou arrived that day and said that there were signs of launching troops in the direction of Cao Cao from Jizhou. He suggested that Yuan Xi should respond early to avoid being passive.

At this, Yuan Xi smiled and said: "Did Mr. Gong Yu think that I have been too idle these days? Did he feel complacent because he became king and stopped making progress?"

Jushou naturally had this intention. Yuan Xi had been king for two months, but he had no plans to use troops. This made Jushou wary and wondered if Yuan Xi had gotten carried away. This could be a sign of defeat. For thousands of years, there had been Countless people fell to this step when they were expected to take over the world, just like Xiang Yu.

Yuan Xi smiled and said: "Thank you sir for reminding me, I know it well."

"I also want to pacify the world as soon as possible, but in the past two years, I have launched too many and frequent wars, and the burden on the people under my rule is also heavy, so at least harvest in the summer and plant in the autumn, and I want to rest and recuperate with the people for a while."

Jushou hesitated and said: "It's good that my lord has a good idea, but Cao Cao is attacking Yizhou and dividing his troops in Jizhou at this time. He must not have tried his best. This is a good opportunity. If he misses it, he can wait until he captures Yizhou and turn around."

Yuan Xi sighed: "I understand, so Cao Cao went on the defensive."

"Cao Cao is very smart and wise. If he takes the initiative to attack, I might be able to find a loophole. But if he lowers his profile and defends the city, how many troops will I have left even if I capture Ye City?"

Jushu had to admit that Yuan Xi was right. No one dared to win with Cao Cao's troops. He was unwilling to accept it and said: "Isn't there anything that can be used?"

Yuan Xi spoke up: "It's my problem that sir has this question. I didn't explain to him the direction of using troops for the next year."

"My idea is to go from Goguryeo in the Liaodong Peninsula to the Wonu Kingdom, and then to the coastal line of Kuaiji in Jiangdong."

Seeing Jushou's confused look, Yuan Xi knew that it would be difficult to change this mindset for a while. After all, in this era, the Central Plains represented labor and food production areas, and the coasts were all wild and uncivilized lands. Instead of taking the Central Plains, take the border areas. Obviously it is difficult for people to figure it out.

But Yuan Xi knew that the potential of maritime transportation was very large. As long as enough maritime routes were built, it could greatly promote the development of industry and commerce, which in turn would drive the development of agriculture.

In other words, what is in front of Yuan Xi is a primitive land. Although it needs to be developed, if it is on the right track, Yuan Xi can mine more mines and suppress Cao Cao with his economic strength.

Moreover, when the monetary system collapsed at the end of the Han Dynasty, the world lacked anchor currencies and even copper mines. However, the copper-producing areas were in Kuaiji and Jiaozhou in Jiangdong. Although Yuan Xi had made some efforts in this regard, his influence had not yet penetrated deeply. The mineral resources of the Korean Peninsula and the Wonu Kingdom can solve the current urgent needs.

In other words, what Yuan Xi and Cao Cao will fight next is not only an open war, but also an economic war. Yuan Xi's reliance on sea routes to develop commerce and accelerate the mining of mineral deposits is a move planned in advance.

Even if Cao Cao takes Yizhou by then, the transportation there will be inconvenient and it will be difficult to convert output. Compared with Yuan Xi, who relies on water and sea routes, which greatly shortens transportation time, they are already two completely different social stages!
Even if Cao Cao's soldiers are better than Yuan Xi's by then, when the economies of the two sides are fundamentally different, what chance does Cao Cao have of winning?

What's more, Yuan Xi can afford to wait, but Cao Cao cannot afford to wait. The longer he delays, the more rapidly Cao Cao's physical condition will deteriorate. He might be able to kill Cao Cao in a few years, and the remaining forces in Cao's camp will be easier to deal with. In this case , why bother to start a war with Cao Cao at this time?
After Yuan Xi's explanation, Ju Shou suddenly realized that Yuan Xi's title as King of Jin was to dazzle Cao Cao. What a waste!
After seeing off Ju Shou, Yuan Xi stretched his body and walked towards the back courtyard, thinking that although what he just said was true, it was an indisputable fact that he had been a little indulgent these days.

After all the way down the road, when he was crowned king, Yuan Xi suddenly discovered that there seemed to be too many women around him. After he brought all Mrs. Wu and Feng from Shouchun to Jicheng to be crowned, he suddenly discovered that he The position of this lady and concubine is almost not enough.

As soon as he entered the back courtyard, the sound of Yingying Yanyan's words was like a summer rainstorm rushing towards his face.

In the distance, Cao Xian was taking his two younger sisters and Xiao Qiao, Sun Shangxiang, swatting butterflies. Under the tree, Da Qiao was accompanying Kong's embroidery. On the other side, Mrs. Hou and Mrs. Wu were leading their children to learn to walk. The originally quite large yard seemed a bit awkward. It was crowded.

Yuan Xi didn't want to meet everyone, otherwise he would go through the etiquette process, and he didn't know how long it would take. After defeating everyone's fun, he slipped against the wall and went back to the house.

Zhen Mi, who was reading the memorial by the window, heard the sound of the door opening and saw Yuan Xi sneaking in. She couldn't help but laugh and said, "Who are you hiding from, husband?"

(End of this chapter)