Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1093: Gathering Strength
While the two were talking, Da Qiao came out with a wooden basin to fetch water for washing. Seeing Yuan Xi sitting in the yard, she exclaimed, "I haven't put on makeup yet. How rude of me."

Yuan Xi and Xiao Qiao both laughed. Yuan Xi smiled and said, "No, it looks good this way too. You must have been very tired yesterday, right?"

Da Qiao casually tucked her hair around her temples and said softly, "I really didn't expect farming to be so tiring."

"What surprised me even more was that the women in the north could do so many farm chores and were not inferior to the men. It was truly unforgettable."

"Women in Jiangnan mostly farm and weave, mainly embroidering. There are also some who do farm work, but they are much fewer."

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "It's just that there are fewer in Jianghuai, but there are still a lot in Xichuan and Jiaozhou."

"Jianghuai is rich and has a lot of laborers. Most of the time, women are not needed to work in the fields. However, in the north, the grain harvest is only a few days long, so the whole family has to work. Otherwise, if the best season is over or there is a heavy rain, today's grain harvest will be ruined, which means a year's work will be wasted."

"It's just like the northerners defending the city. In the end, the men couldn't hold on any longer, so the women had to go up to defend the city. After all, if the city was breached, their fate would be worse than death. Naturally, everyone fought to the death."

Da Qiao seemed to be thinking about something, and said, "Is this the purpose of my husband asking officials and their families to participate in farm work?"

After hearing this, Yuan Xi was pleased and said, "Madam has a high level of understanding."

"This is exactly my original intention. I want to let officials know through labor that their fate is linked to that of the people. If we suffer together, we suffer together. If we prosper together, we prosper together. Without the hard work of the people, there would be no prosperous life for the officials."

"They can live a better life, but they should and must understand who gave them such a good life. If they forget their roots, they will be alienated from the world and the people."

Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao were both thoughtful after hearing this. Xiao Qiao said, "I have never heard such a statement before."

Da Qiao said, "I'm afraid other princes in the world wouldn't do this either. It's my husband who is really special."

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "I am not such a noble person, I just see a little more than others."

"And I believe that there is no fundamental difference between people in the south and the north. They all have common enemies. The reason they are in opposition now is that they fail to see the life and death they will face together in the future."

"It is such a pity that such a beautiful country was wasted in internal strife, countless lives were lost, and finally it was taken advantage of by foreign enemies."

"As long as there is no war, the people will work hard and sooner or later create a new world. What I have to do now is to try my best to make this era come as soon as possible."

"We may have to use our troops again next year. By then, both the Central Plains and Jianghuai will be unsafe. You should bear with it for the next two years. When the world is at peace, I will send you back to a warmer place."

Xiao Qiao and Da Qiao looked at each other and said in unison, "Wherever my husband goes, I will go."

As they were talking, Cai Zhaoji came in holding a zither. Seeing Yuan Xi was there, she came over to greet him. However, Yuan Xi stood up, helped Cai Zhaoji sit down, and said, "I told you not to greet me. You are not feeling well now. Be careful not to slip."

Cai Zhaoji smiled and said, "I am not that precious. I was captured that day and walked hundreds of miles here on foot. These few steps are fine."

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "It's always better to be careful. After all, she just gave birth last year, and getting pregnant again this time is also a pleasant surprise."

Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao looked at Cai Zhaoji's slightly bulging belly with some envy. They had known for a long time that Cai Zhaoji was the first to follow Yuan Xi, but due to various reasons, she took a long time to get pregnant. As a result, she started to get pregnant in recent years and this is her third child.

Seeing Yuan Xi's insistence, Cai Zhaoji had to promise to be careful in the future. She saw the new zither in front of Xiao Qiao and said with a smile, "I came at an unfortunate time. A few days ago, I wanted to make a zither for Madam as a wedding gift, but I couldn't find good sycamore wood in Jicheng. I finally bought some good materials from Madam Mi's caravan, and asked the craftsmen to make it carefully, which delayed some time. In the end, I didn't make it until Madam's wedding."

"The zither was just delivered today. I thought it was a little late, but I just gave it to her shamelessly. I didn't expect that Madam had already made it."

Xiao Qiao happily took the zither and said, "You are too polite, Madam. I have been looking forward to it."

"How about I play a piece for you, Madam?"

After Xiao Qiao finished playing the song, Cai Zhaoji smiled and said, "There is no problem with the fingering and rhythm. Although Madam is young, her piano skills have already reached a high level. What remains is the skill."

"Given time, Madam will surely surpass me."

Xiao Qiao said a few humble words, and Yuan Xi saw Cai Zhaoji's hand under the table pressing her abdomen, so he stood up and said, "You two go ahead, I'll walk with Madam Cai."

Xiao Qiao and Da Qiao escorted the two women out of the door. Yuan Xi asked the two women to go back, and then he helped Cai Zhaoji walk back and asked, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Cai Zhaoji smiled and said, "My husband is still so considerate. The child just kicked twice, but he's fine now." Yuan Xi reminded her, "Don't worry about the charity school for now. I'll find someone else to teach the children at home."

"Otherwise, you'll have to take care of several children every day, which will be exhausting and not good for you."

There are many children in the mansion now. After Lu Lingqi came back, Yuan Xi's three children, plus the marquis's daughters Gongsun and Sun Shangxiang, were all taught by Cai Zhaoji. So Yuan Xi felt that Cai Zhaoji was too tired on weekdays and was afraid that it would affect the children.

Cai Zhaoji smiled and said, "Does my husband have a suitable candidate?"

Yuan Xi said with a headache: "Let me think about it carefully. Now Ziyi's children have also come to the mansion to accompany him to study. When there are more people in the future, I think I should just let them all go to the charity school."

Cai Zhaoji said softly: "But in this case, how to protect the children's safety is a big problem."

Yuan Xi had to admit that this was the most troublesome thing. If there were an assassin with ill intentions, something could easily go wrong.

He sighed and said, "We need to think about this matter in the long term. Let Madam Wu take care of you for now. If there are any questions that cannot be answered, let them come to you."

Cai Zhaoji nodded in agreement and said, "I have seen Taishi Xiang before. He has a good understanding. It is obvious that General Taishi has put in a lot of effort."

"General Taishi really retired and returned home?"

Yuan Xi nodded with a heavy heart, "His injuries are not good, but all I can do is ask Mr. Yuan Hua to prescribe some medicine for him."

"According to Mr. Yuan Hua, I'm afraid General Taishi will have a hard time holding out for more than a year or two. It's said that the best place for a general is on the battlefield, but I hope they can live a few more days."

"But if a war breaks out with Cao Wei next year, I don't know how many more people will die."

Cai Zhaoji's face flashed with worry. The war that Yuan Xi mentioned must be a full-scale war with a wide range of implications and extremely tragic. Yuan Xi saw it and comforted her: "Don't worry, Cao Cao may not choose to go to war with me."

However, Yuan Xi's idea ultimately failed. As winter approached, the world entered a brief period of peace, but news came that Cao Cao had mobilized tens of thousands of troops from Yanzhou and Yuzhou in Sili to garrison in Jizhou, apparently in preparation for the coming year.

As for Xiliang, it is unknown what means Cao Cao used, but he actually appeased Ma Chao, appointed him as the General of Four Directions, the Governor of Liangzhou, and made him the inheritor of Ma Teng's title of marquis.

You know, Ma Teng died in Xu Du before, and many people thought that Ma Chao would be determined to oppose Cao Cao, but Cao Cao was quite cunning this time. He announced to the outside world that Ma Teng died of illness. The charge of his imprisonment was treason, which was of course a frame-up by Chen Qun. After Ma Teng's death, the charge was dropped.

This was equivalent to Cao Wei admitting that Ma Teng was innocent and giving Ma Chao a way out. More importantly, Cao Cao allowed Ma Chao to inherit Ma Teng's title of marquis, which was equivalent to actually acknowledging that Ma Chao was the rightful head of the Ma family, which was what Ma Chao wanted most.

Ma Chao naturally returned the favor. He integrated the forces left behind by Ma Teng in the name of Cao Cao, and then personally led 20,000 Xiliang cavalry from Liangzhou to Jizhou to deploy defenses.

This series of actions, coupled with the fact that Cao Cao is still in charge of Yecheng, proves that even if Yuan Xi does not take action next year, Cao Cao will take action against Yuan Xi.

On the other hand, Cao's army captured Xichuan very smoothly. After Xiahou Yuan and Sima Yi broke through Jiange, they continued to advance like a hot knife through butter and were about to reach the city of Chengdu.

The reason why it went so smoothly was certainly due to the use of Cao's army, but the most important factor was that Zhang Lu offered Hanzhong, and then Cao's army immediately marched south, leaving Liu Zhang, who was facing internal and external troubles, with no time to organize an effective resistance.

Under Liu Zhang's rule, although Xichuan seemed stable, there were many people who did not submit to Liu Zhang and there were occasional rebellions. In addition, Zhang Lu's Tianshi Dao forces had already infiltrated deeply, and a lot of intelligence and military information were leaked. Some people even opened the city to surrender.

Although the Jinniu Road seemed dangerous and difficult to walk on, the key points were in several cities that were easy to defend but difficult to attack. As a soldier, Sima Yi adopted the method of strong attack and the emperor's edict to surrender, which led to the low morale of the defenders and the cities were breached one by one from the inside.

The surrender faction in Xichuan was already quite powerful. Seeing that Liu Zhang could not hold out, they became even more aggressive and surrendered and offered the city. As a result, the people of Yizhou became even more panic-stricken.

When this news reached Xu Du, it undoubtedly gave everyone in Cao's camp a reassurance. Judging from the current situation, it would only take Liu Zhang half a year to surrender, which would be the beginning of next spring. With the two major rear bases of Yizhou and Liangzhou pacified, Cao's army would be more confident in launching an all-out war with Yuan Xi in Jizhou!

Moreover, Cao's camp has been preparing for this battle for several years. Many generals from the Cao family and other families have already set out for Jizhou. It is expected that Cao Cao will be able to gather an army of more than 100,000 people next year, and this is in pure terms of the number of soldiers!

In contrast, Yuan Xi's army fought several major battles with Jiangdong during the year. Although Jiangdong was severely damaged, they also lost tens of thousands of people in the constant fighting. It is still unknown how much troops they can gather next year.

If Yuan Xi was allowed to recuperate, he would be able to recover in two years, but Cao Ying was obviously not going to give Yuan Xi this opportunity!

Yuan Xi knew this very well, so when the New Year came, he called back Zhuge Liang from Qingzhou, and at the same time convened a banquet with his subordinates and generals to discuss the military plans for the coming year.

(End of this chapter)