Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1120 People’s Livelihood
At the same time, in Yuan Xi's official residence in Yijing, Zhuge Liang was standing on the map with a sour face, deducing the situation to Yuan Xi.

Yuan Xi put on an apologetic smile, leaving Zhuge Liang, who was filled with anger, with no place to vent his anger.

The reason for this is naturally because Yuan Xi instigated the Qiang people to attack Ji County. Although Yuan Xi and Zhuge Liang had mentioned this matter roughly before, because this matter was not within the scope of Zhuge Liang's responsibilities, Zhuge Liang did not know too many details and did not expect Yuan Xi to do it so ruthlessly.

Zhuge Liang naturally had his objections to this. He could see that although Gao Shun's army in Ji County only participated in the siege and did not take part in the subsequent events in the city, they were obviously intentionally condoning the Qiang people.

Gao Shun must have done this on Yuan Xi's orders. Zhuge Liang was quite dissatisfied afterwards, but Yuan Xi acted like a dead pig that was not afraid of boiling water, leaving Zhuge Liang with no place to vent his anger.

Zhuge Liang naturally understood that Yuan Xi did this on the one hand to give an explanation to the people of Jizhou, and on the other hand to undermine the morale of Cao's army. It can be said that this was a direct and effective means at the moment.

But for some reason, Zhuge Liang felt a little uncomfortable. He knew that for other princes, this kind of thing might not be a big deal at all, but when it happened to Yuan Xi, Zhuge Liang felt a little uncomfortable.

Because Zhuge Liang's expectations for Yuan Xi were actually very high, so high that Zhuge Liang himself did not realize it.

Under such expectations, Yuan Xi's actions this time made Zhuge Liang quite angry, but things had come to this point and everything was irreversible, so Zhuge Liang could only keep it to himself.

Opinions are opinions, and Zhuge Liang will not miss the matter at hand. What he and Yuan Xi are now deducing is the various response strategies to be taken against Cao's movements on the battlefield in Jizhou in the future.

The most important thing is the offensive and defensive strategy on the border between Qingzhou and Yanzhou and the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River.

As the war unfolded, an action that Cao's army was very likely to take emerged.

Zhuge Liang pointed to the border of Qinghe and Yanzhou and said, "This should be the place where Cao Cao is most likely to dig the Yellow River."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi frowned and asked, "Is there any way to stop it?"

Zhuge Liang said without hesitation: "Impossible."

Yuan Xi was unwilling to give up and said, "Is it impossible for me to use the navy, infantry and cavalry to advance along the Yellow River?"

Zhuge Liang replied: "My Lord, how many troops do you plan to use?"

"I estimate that Cao Cao's army will probably send at least 10,000 people, 20,000 or 30,000 is also possible."

"In this case, if we want to prevent the other side from digging the river, we need to mobilize several times the number of troops, and there is only a small chance of success."

"How many people do you want to send, lord?"

"Our troops are already at a disadvantage. How can we fight on the front battlefield in Jizhou?"

"And the possibility of successfully stopping it is also very slim. Don't forget, if Cao's army wants to dig a river, they may not dig it in the lord's territory. The same is true if they dig it in Yanzhou."

"When the river mouth is dug up, the downstream area will be a disaster area for thousands of miles, it will be the same."

"My lord, it is impossible that at the beginning of the war, you would lead your army thousands of miles to occupy the entire section of the Yellow River in Yanzhou, right?"

"Even if Cao's army loses Yanzhou, they will still dig a river upstream of Yanzhou, causing heavy losses to the lord's army downstream, and forcing the lord to divide his troops. This should be Cao Cao's wise plan."

"Cao Cao was not afraid that the lord would not see through it, but that the lord would not be fooled. He was prepared to use the lives of the people of Jizhou to hold the lord hostage, thereby gaining a local advantage on the battlefield."

"My lord, don't forget that the north-south line from Yecheng to Yijing, Weijun, Qinghe, Anping and Hejian, is the main battlefield."

"The army Cao Cao has launched will definitely be far more than 100,000, and the battle will take place in Jizhou. My lord, you are bound to be restricted in your actions, and now you have to protect the lower reaches of the Yellow River. The chances of winning will be greatly reduced."

Yuan Xi sighed, "That's true, but on the one hand, the military advisor understands that the battlefield is cruel and cannot fully take into account the lives of all the people, but on the other hand, he is still worried about the affairs of Ji County."

Zhuge Liang blushed and said, "I think that since you have great ambitions, you should be aware of your role as a wise ruler. Although some things can be done, they will hurt your reputation and the people's hearts."

Yuan Xi sighed and said, "I understand. The meaning of military affairs is to do good deeds even if they are small, and to do evil deeds even if they are small."

Zhuge Liang pondered over this for a while before nodding his head and saying, "That's right, lord, your words have fully captured the essence of being a lord."

"It seems that the lord understands everything."

He then bowed and said, "What I am worried about is not only the behavior of my lord, but also my own self-blame for my incompetence."

"If Liang were not so incompetent, he would have been able to think of a better way to resolve this matter and would never have put the lord in an unjust situation."

"If the Lord is criticized by future generations, it is all because of Liang."

Yuan Xi helped Zhuge Liang up and said, "Military Advisor, don't blame yourself too much. There are some things that you must take care of yourself, my lord."

"Besides, my enemies are not human beings. If there is a punishment from heaven, I will bear it myself."

"I can only promise the military advisor that I will do my best to ensure that this kind of thing never happens again."

"Of course, the most fundamental solution is to end this chaos as soon as possible." Zhuge Liang nodded heavily, "I will keep it in mind."

He then said: "This battle is extremely critical. Although we have Mr. Gong and Mr. Yuanhao, Mr. Fenghua and Boyan of Shouchun, my lord..."

Yuan Xi said: "Not yet. Jizhou mainly fights on the plains. Jizhou has enough counselors for now. Besides, Jiangdong is not honest either. We need to suppress Boyan at all times to prevent him from making any small moves."

He then said, "It seems that the military advisor is under a lot of pressure this time. He never said such things before."

Zhuge Liang thought to himself, how could I not be under a lot of pressure? According to this estimate, the total number of troops deployed by both sides on the battlefield in Jizhou in the next year may exceed 300,000!
This number was so heavy that it weighed on Zhuge Liang's mind, making him unable to sleep day and night. On the map in front of him, every route of advancement represented the attack and defense of tens of thousands of people. If there was any omission and a county was invaded and occupied by the enemy, there would be several times more casualties among the people.

Thinking of the five or six million civilians in Jizhou whose lives were constantly threatened by war, how could Zhuge Liang not think about it day and night and try his best?

Yuan Xi knew what Zhuge Liang was thinking and sighed, "Military Advisor, don't push yourself too hard."

"It's true that Jizhou has a population of millions, but the people under my rule total over ten million. If I kept thinking about these things all day, I would have been crushed a long time ago."

"As the lord, when I make important decisions, I can only put aside my human emotions as much as possible and treat the people as a series of numbers, and make cold and ruthless comparisons and assessments."

"This is helpless and sad. The fault is not you or me, but the chaos in the world itself."

"I know this is not entirely the Lord's fault, but the Lord undoubtedly has to bear all the sins and responsibilities. All I can do is end this war as soon as possible to comfort the people who died in the war."

Zhuge Liang nodded heavily, "I understand."

"Liang will do his best to help his lord."

He pointed to the map and listed more than a dozen possible marching routes. Yuan Xi asked questions and Zhuge Liang answered them one by one.

Finally, Zhuge Liang said: "Unless the enemy launches a surprise attack, this should cover most of the possibilities. After all, Jizhou is mostly plains, and Cao's army can only attack along rivers and roads."

"After the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry that they infiltrated last time were discovered, they probably won't try similar methods again. After all, the lord's reconnaissance capabilities are much stronger, and they will hardly be able to escape after being discovered, so they are unlikely to use this method again."

"What Liang is worried about is things outside the battlefield."

Yuan Xi raised his eyebrows, "What's the matter?"

Zhuge Liang said in a deep voice: "My Lord, you have mobilized a large army, and the number of civilians behind you is unprecedented. This has caused considerable pressure on the people's livelihood in Jizhou, Qingzhou, and Youzhou."

"The Han court's copper coins were already in short supply due to years of war. Not only could the copper from the copper-producing areas in the south not be transported here, but the existing copper coins were all melted down for other uses."

"Now, trade has become barter, mostly with cloth and grain. The market prices are in chaos, and people's lives are extremely inconvenient."

"In the Wei and Wu territories, the market price of coins is constantly changing. The situation under your rule is relatively better because some food is forcibly rationed at a fair price, but this is still only a temporary solution and does not address the root cause."

"Increase revenue and reduce expenditure. Reducing expenditure can only alleviate the problem. The key is to increase revenue."

"You should know that the war in Jizhou will not end soon. It may last for more than a year or even several years."

"In this situation, whoever persists longer will have a chance of winning. How long they persist depends on the stability of their respective territories."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi thought for a while and said with a headache: "Things have all happened at the same time. If Cao Cao had launched the rebellion three years later, I wouldn't have been so embarrassed."

"Just the currency issue is very troublesome. Most of the copper-producing areas within the Han court are in Jiangdong, and even in Jiaozhou. I cannot develop them in a short period of time."

"There are many copper mines on the Korean Peninsula, but Tian Yu is still attacking the Three Kingdoms of Korea, so we can't rely on them in the short term."

"Wa Nu is good, not only producing copper, but also silver. But Mi Tai seems to be at a standstill."

Zhuge Liang had also heard about this and said, "When I was in Qingzhou a few days ago, I got the news that Mi Tai's negotiations with the Yamatai Kingdom were fruitless. The Yamatai Kingdom only wanted to take advantage and put forward extremely harsh conditions."

Yuan Xi nodded and said, "I know, so I can only let Mi Tai build a mountain city and a seaport, and take it slowly. After all, there are more than just Yamatai Kingdom in the Japanese slave country."

"But in this case, distant water cannot quench nearby thirst."

Zhuge Liang said: "There is another variable that we need to pay attention to."

"Liang heard that the Yamatai Kingdom and Mi Fang's forces had contact, and it seemed that the two sides had a conflict."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi felt a little headache. Why did Mi Fang get involved?

It seems that wherever Mi Fang is, nothing good ever happens, right?

(End of this chapter)