Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1092 Portal
After listening to Zhou Yu's advice, Sun Quan was a little disappointed. He came here in person to ask for advice, but after all this time, you gave me this idea?
What is the way out for Jiangdong? Is the way out for Jiangdong to surrender?
Seeing Sun Quan's hesitation, Zhou Yu sighed inwardly and continued, "I am originally from Jianghuai. I was able to establish my career in Jiangdong thanks to Lord Sun's recognition. I was also able to meet the king's love. I am deeply grateful to the Sun family. I have been very cautious in everything I do and dare not make the slightest mistake."

"However, what makes Yu ashamed is that although he has made some small achievements in recent years, he has been repeatedly frustrated by Xionghu and his men. It is Yu who is to blame for causing the Sun family to such a state."

"Jin Yu's injuries are lingering, and medicine can't cure him. I'm afraid he won't live long."

"Although I am not talented, I also hope that the king's foundation will be forever solid. However, Cao Cao is now a fierce tiger and is difficult to shake."

"With Jiangdong's strength, it is already difficult to please both sides, so the king should compromise and seek the best for himself."

"Especially that fierce tiger..." Zhou Yu hesitated for a moment, "It has a complicated relationship with the king. If the king can put aside his prejudice and make peace with it, it will give the king a way out."

Zhou Yu had said it tactfully enough, but Sun Quan understood what Zhou Yu meant. He was probably guessing something about Madam Wu. He couldn't help but feel extremely embarrassed and angry. Xionghu was only a few years older than him, but after all this, he was a whole generation older than him. How could Sun Quan swallow this?

Zhou Yu knew that Sun Quan had some reservations, but he still tried to persuade him: "Although there is no news about Zi Jing, he is not an ungrateful person. I guess that in the future, Zi Jing may be able to open up the road between the two sides."

"I am seriously ill and cannot fight for the king and die loyally. I am truly ashamed. I have only a few words to say. Whether the king accepts them or not is up to the king to decide."

After saying this, Zhou Yu fell to the ground, kowtowed heavily and could not get up.

Sun Quan felt bad, helped Zhou Yu up, and said, "I know Gongjin is loyal, you can just rest and recuperate, I will wait for the day when the governor gets better."

"As Gongjin said, I will gather my subordinates and make a long-term plan."

Zhou Yu watched Sun Quan walk out the door, then returned to the couch and sighed softly.

He knew that Sun Quan had great ambitions and was unwilling to bow to others. In this respect, he was very similar to his brother Sun Ce.

But in this chaotic world, ambition alone is not enough, strength is also needed. Sun Quan is still growing, and if he is given another ten or twenty years, he may be able to surpass Sun Ce.

However, the situation in the world is now accelerating rapidly. This torrent will not wait for anyone. The rolling waves will swallow up all those who cannot keep up. Jiangdong is struggling in it and is in danger. The enemy it faces directly is the ferocious tiger at the highest point of the waves.

Thinking of this name, Zhou Yu felt extremely complicated. The other side seemed to have seen through the trend and had the world situation completely in his hands. Every one of the subordinates he found made it difficult for Jiangdong to deal with them.

As the enemy of Xionghu over the years, Zhou Yu had a deep understanding of this. From Taishi Ci to Lu Xun, from Zhuge Liang to Gan Ning, Jiangdong had gradually fallen behind in the confrontation with this group of people, just like a big ship full of holes, which had now been patched up and was no longer sustainable.

In these battles, Jiangdong not only suffered heavy casualties, but even the Wu family rebelled. If Sun Quan can't see the situation clearly now, he might not be able to defend the remaining territory.

The image of Madam Wu appeared in Zhou Yu's mind. He had roughly guessed what was going on, but every time he thought about it, he still found it absurd.

Is there anything that the ferocious tiger dare not do?

Since there is a ferocious tiger, why do we need ourselves?

He turned his head and looked out the window. A gust of wind blew over, and the leaves of the sycamore tree fell one after another. Zhou Yu looked at the yellow leaves flying in the sky, and suddenly felt relieved.

Forget it. After all, I am not the destined person in the world. With or without me, the world will still move forward.

So let it be. I have done almost everything I wanted to do in my life. When it comes to regrets, who doesn’t have them?

Bofu, although it’s a little late, I’m here.

A yellow leaf swirled and fell in the wind, drawing a long arc, passing through the open window, and gently falling, covering the face of Zhou Yu, who had already lost his breath.

Thousands of miles away in the north, Yuan Xi was sitting under a phoenix tree in a small courtyard, listening to Xiao Qiao playing the newly made harp.

The wood needed to make the piano was cut down from the sycamore tree in the yard. The sycamore trees in this world are planted all over the country. They are completely different from the so-called French sycamore in later generations, which is actually the false sycamore tree of Platanus oxyphylla.

This native Chinese plane tree is also known as the green plane tree. Although it is not as lush as the French plane tree and is not very cold-resistant, the fact that it can be planted and survive in Jicheng is the result of Yuan Xi's great efforts.

But the sycamore also has its advantages. Its fruit is not like the thorns of the sycamore, which cause allergies. On the contrary, it can be used as a medicinal herb and is also practical. It tastes similar to peas.

It does not have serious insect pests like the French plane tree, so its trunk is straight and solid, making it a good material for making musical instruments. It is also called the tree where the phoenix lives. In Chinese culture, the phoenix is ​​a symbol of good luck, but it only chooses the paulownia tree to roost. Therefore, the Chinese people, both ordinary people and the gentry, are very fond of planting paulownia trees.

A gust of cold wind blew by, and Yuan Xi saw Xiao Qiao shaking her shoulders, so he stood up, took the cloak, and put it on Xiao Qiao, saying, "The north is a little colder than Jianghuai. Are you not used to it?"

Xiao Qiao kept her hands busy and said, "It's not bad. The ladies have been here for many years. If they can endure it, I can do the same."

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "People have different physiques. Don't try to be brave. Wait a few months and I'll let you see what real coldness is."

"Have you ever seen the Huai River freeze over?"

Xiao Qiao nodded and said, "I have heard of it, although it doesn't happen every year. But I heard that in the coldest year, the ice on the river was nearly a foot thick, and even the well water in the yard was a finger thick. The servants took a lot of effort to break it open."

Yuan Xi sighed, "However, in the north, there is a saying that a three-foot-thick ice does not form in a single day." "When the cold wave comes here, the river surface freezes several feet thick. A few hundred miles further north, when it is the coldest, even poured water can freeze instantly in mid-air."

Xiao Qiao was shocked and said, "So scary?"

“Can people survive?”

Yuan Xi laughed and said, "Of course you can. Don't underestimate humans. In order to survive, humans can be said to be the most tenacious creatures in the world."

"The people who survived this kind of environment were also very determined. Most of them were Han-Hu border inhabitants, and they were also the main force of the Youzhou army."

"In harsh environments, they can withstand pressure better than the Jianghuai soldiers. This is why I win every battle and why I place my base in Youzhou."

"Although the climate in the south of the Yangtze River is good, it is difficult to have the perseverance to resist foreign enemies if we have not experienced harsh environments before."

"Especially since the foreign enemies they encountered at that time were fierce enemies who defeated the northern border troops and marched south, it was even more difficult to resist."

Xiao Qiao felt the same way. "Yes, Jianghuai and Jiangdong are indeed relatively rich, with fish and rice everywhere. Some of the noble women I know all think that if they encounter foreign enemies, they may be able to save their lives by spending some money and goods."

Yuan Xi laughed in silence, "Let me tell you a story."

He changed the name of the story of the Jingkang Shame and told it to Xiao Qiao. When he talked about the miserable condition of the women abducted by the Jin army, Xiao Qiao turned pale and cried out, "Is there such a terrible thing?"

Yuan Xi sighed, "You and Da Qiao are well protected by Qiao Gong. You have not yet come into contact with the darkness of this world. You don't know how cruel the blood of the Hu people outside the Great Wall is."

"In fact, after the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the Han court lost control of the north, and the fate of the people in You and Bing was not necessarily better than that of the people in my story just now."

"That's why I want to block the gate of Youzhou, just to buy time and space for the stability of the Central Plains. If the barbarians outside the pass break through this light card, I don't think Jiangdong can withstand it."

After hearing this, Xiao Qiao looked at Yuan Xi with admiration in her eyes, "In my eyes, my husband was the only hero at that time."

Then she said angrily: "It's hateful that those people in Jiangdong don't know what's good for them. They always hold my husband back. It's so hateful!"

Yuan Xi shook his head and said, "It's not their fault. After all, they haven't experienced the hardships of the North firsthand."

"But sooner or later this will give them the illusion that the barbarians outside the Great Wall are the same as the Han people in the north, and that they will be spared if they win. So they may completely give up resistance during the massacre and allow themselves to be slaughtered."

"In the North, such a situation where an entire city is massacred rarely occurs, because they have long understood the cruelty of the enemy. So after the city is captured, they either choose to resist or flee, rather than waiting to be captured and wait for the enemy to show mercy and let them go."

"Just like Cao Cao's massacre in Xuzhou, after the first few cities were massacred, other cities responded. Some people would rather die in battle than be slaughtered."

"Of course, there are people who surrender to the enemy in advance everywhere, and the North is no exception. Compared with the tough people, the weak ones are more likely to survive."

"The consequence of this is that the northerners are getting tougher and tougher. The number of Youzhou soldiers has decreased in recent years."

"So if I can conquer Jizhou next, I will have to move the population northward."

Xiao Qiao was surprised and said, "There have been many wars in the north. I have only heard that it is difficult to escape to the south. I am afraid it is not easy for my husband to do this, right?"

Yuan Xi smiled and said, “Of course it’s not easy, but if we abandon the gate and wait for the wolves to come in, no one will be able to escape.”

"Protecting the country's borders is everyone's responsibility. When I conquer the world, I also have to take on the responsibility of protecting the people of the world. It doesn't mean that I can just occupy the territory and that's it."

"In this regard, Sun Quan's vision is naturally inferior to mine and Cao Cao's, so they can only see the immediate benefits and fail to see the long-term external enemies. Therefore, failure is inevitable."

"I brought you, Da Qiao and the others here, on the one hand, for the ceremony of crowning the king, and on the other hand, I also wanted you to see with your own eyes that there is still a group of people guarding the border in this world."

"Whether it is the peace in the Central Plains or Jiangdong, a large part of the reason is that they have blocked most of the threats outside the Great Wall. This must not be forgotten."

"If we ignore or even laugh at this, friends who could have become family members will sooner or later turn against each other and become enemies."

"So it would be best if you could hold out during tomorrow's reeducation through labor."

Xiao Qiao stuck out her tongue, "Sis, if you can hold on, I can handle it too!"

At the same time, she was also worried. Da Qiao came back from labor education yesterday and fell asleep immediately. It was almost noon and she didn't get up yet.

The last time Da Qiao got up so late was when she married her husband. Is labor education really that terrible?

(End of this chapter)