Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1130 Stalemate
After hearing Yuan Xi's words, although Ju Shou and Tian Feng showed some emotion on their faces, what they were thinking in their hearts was, that is what he said, but if there is no practical solution, wishes alone will not accomplish anything, right?

Throughout the dynasties, floods in the Yellow River have always been a major problem to control. My lord has good intentions, but now that the Yellow River has burst its banks, it will take decades to control the breach. If we have the manpower and resources to control the flood, we should use them to pacify the world. Otherwise, won't we be unable to do both well?
Tian Feng spoke frankly and immediately raised the question in his mind. Yuan Xi said, "Mr. Yuan Hao said it well."

"I will certainly not waste money and effort just to gain fame."

"I have done some research on the situation of the Yellow River. Although it cannot completely solve the current dilemma, if we act according to my ideas, we can significantly alleviate the flood in Qingzhou within one or two months."

He took out a map and pointed to a section of the upper reaches of the Yellow River. He said: "Diverting tributaries at a dozen points along the way can significantly reduce the amount of water in the Yellow River."

"The tributaries flow into the local area and can be used for irrigation. If too much is released, it will burst, but only a small amount is released in one place. It's okay."

"If you keep pulling the strings like this, by the time the river water reaches the lower reaches, most of it will have already flowed away."

Tian Feng and Ju Su looked at where Yuan Xi's finger was and suddenly realized, "There is such a way!"

That place was the Hetao Plain in Bingzhou. After Yuan Xi conquered Bingzhou, he began to divert the Yellow River water into tributary canals to expand the irrigation range of the Hetao Plain.

This was to allow the Hu and Han border residents to shift from nomadic farming to farming so as to feed more people, so the practice of expanding grain production was speculated, and water diversion and irrigation were one of the key measures.

Yuan Xi was not just imagining things. The place where diversion was safest and had the highest utilization rate was not chosen randomly by him. Instead, it was determined based on the collective wisdom and research of later geologists and hydraulic engineers. Now Yuan Xi just took it and used it.

When he conquered Bingzhou, he took the initiative to dig ditches in order to increase the population of the Hetao Plain. The original purpose was purely for agricultural water conservancy, but he did not expect that it would accidentally lay the groundwork for solving the problem of digging rivers in Caoying today.

Ju Shou and Tian Feng stood in front of the map and marveled at it. In their hearts, they believed that this was the result of Yuan Xi's star observation. This gave them a great boost of confidence. If this was true, did their lord's confidence come from the good outcome of his star observation?

Yuan Xi had never expected this inexplicable confidence, but Tian Feng still had doubts. "Even if most of the water can be diverted, the river water in Qingzhou downstream has already begun to flood and has merged into other tributaries, and may even cause disasters in Xuzhou."

Yuan Xi said confidently: "I have thought about this as well."

"Over the past few hundred years, the Yellow River has flowed into the sea many times, causing disasters in the lower reaches."

"Why not take this opportunity to mobilize the people of Xuzhou to dig more ditches and divert the overflowing Yellow River water into the Huai River area!"

Tian Feng and Ju Shou were completely shocked. Is it really possible to achieve such a grand plan?
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "It was not possible in the past, but in the past seven or eight years, every time I conquered a place, the most important and first measure was to build water conservancy projects."

"The water network under my jurisdiction is dense now. If we divert a little, it will add up to a lot. Although it cannot completely solve the flood problem downstream, it can still alleviate most of it."

"I think the disaster can be alleviated to some extent by diverting water upstream and clearing the downstream."

He thought that if there were a reservoir dam in this era, everything would be solved by opening the floodgates. Unfortunately, this thing was beyond the times, and all he could do now was patchwork.

Tian Feng and Ju Su were completely convinced. According to Yuan Xi's order, they immediately gathered water conservancy officials from Youzhou, Jizhou and other places, and sent them to Bingzhou and Qingzhou to take charge of water conservancy affairs.

After Yuan Xi sent the two away, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had done what he should do, and all that was left was to concentrate on the battlefield.

In the next half month, several major battles broke out between the two sides, resulting in casualties on both sides. Just when Yuan Xi thought that Cao Cao was going to continue to stalemate with him, he heard that Cao's army had concentrated most of the troops in Yanzhou and Yuzhou and headed towards Xuzhou and Qingzhou.

When Yuan Xi received the news, his first reaction was that Cao Cao had received the news and wanted to sabotage his flood control operations?
But he immediately realized that Cao Cao might want to take advantage of the flood to occupy Qingzhou and cut off the logistical channels between his northern and southern territories!

Yuan Xi felt a headache when he thought about Cao Cao's concentration on the battlefield. Fighting the war and controlling the flood at the same time was like fighting with one hand tied. But if he didn't control the flood, the consequences would be too serious and might even lead to the breaking of his entire arm.

Now that Cao Cao has sent troops to Qingzhou and Xuzhou, Yuan Xi is forced to make a choice again. He is controlling the floods in Qingzhou, and Cao Cao wants to occupy Qingzhou. Should he continue?

If we fail to win on the battlefield, flood control will only be a waste of time for Cao Cao. If we don't control the flood, even if we defend Qingzhou, it will still be a mess.

Yuan Xi felt that what he had said not long ago had hit him like a boomerang. If it were a peaceful time, he could have made some compromises, but with a powerful enemy at hand and his trump cards almost used up, it seemed that he no longer had the energy to have his cake and eat it too.

Lu Lingqi was serving food at this time. Seeing that Yuan Xi was frowning all day, she said after hearing the situation: "My husband can't think of a good solution, so I can't think of one either."

"But Military Advisor Zhuge will be returning to Yijing to change guard in a few days, so why not ask him?"

Recently, in the middle road where Zhuge Liang and Zhang He were stationed, a stalemate was formed with Cao's army. In the end, both sides adopted the same tactics.

Fortification warfare.

Both sides built a large number of camps and tunnels, with fortifications and siege equipment piled up behind them. Every day, a large number of catapults and arrow towers attacked and defended each other. The consumption was so great that most of the hundreds of miles of trees on the border between Anping and Julu were cut down. This is almost exactly the same as the fortification warfare between Yuan and Cao in the middle of the Battle of Guandu in later generations. The difference is that Yuan Xi's siege equipment has been improved many times and is more powerful and has a longer range than Cao's camp.

But this was not enough to decide victory or defeat on the battlefield. Cao's army lacked power and made up for it with numbers. They only cut down trees more frantically to make equipment, and engaged in a tug-of-war with Yuan Xi's army.

This situation, which had turned into a pure war of attrition, no longer allowed Zhuge Liang to play to his strengths, so Yuan Xi sent Ju Shou instead. After all, when Ju Shou was under Yuan Shao, he was already good at fortification warfare.

Yuan Xi suddenly realized that the stalemate between the two sides was just like Yuan Shao's army attacking Bai Ma in later generations, and now Cao Cao's sneak attack on Qingzhou was just like the surprise attack on Wuchao in later generations. Both were also the weak points of the Yuan family, but on a larger scale.

He was very depressed. Apart from the different location, was this really a replica of the Battle of Guandu?

Facing Lu Lingqi's suggestion, he thought about it and said, "Alright, this battle will take a long time anyway, there is no need to rush. How is your martial arts recovery going?"

Lu Lingqi said angrily: "It's less than 70% of the previous level."

"After giving birth, I feel like I'm not as strong as before and I feel a lot looser. Although I've been training my strength over the past few months, it still feels difficult to get back to my old form."

Yuan Xi sighed, "I told you before that giving birth in a cold and bitter place would cause great harm to the body, but you didn't listen to me and insisted on giving birth in Jiuyuan. But logically speaking, if you take good care of yourself during the confinement period, there shouldn't be such a big problem, right?"

Lu Lingqi felt a little guilty. She felt suffocated at first and went for a walk in the snow several times before the end of her confinement period. But how could she dare to tell Yuan Xi about this?

She had no choice but to run away, saying before leaving: "I have been too tired from training these days, so I will not accompany my husband. My husband, please find some maids to relieve your sexual desire."

Looking at Lu Lingqi's back, Yuan Xi couldn't help laughing, thinking that after so many years, Lu Lingqi still had such a childish mind. But after all, she is only over 20 years old now.

Two days later, Zhuge Liang had not returned yet, but someone came from Jicheng.

Yijing is located at the junction of You and Ji, only two or three hundred miles away from Jicheng, which is closer than the front line of Anping County. What was sent from Jicheng this time were clothes, shoes, hats and other items made by Zhen Mi and a group of ladies in Yuan Xi's mansion for Yuan Xi.

But when Yuan Xi saw that the person coming was Mrs. Du, he was still a little surprised and asked with a smile: "Why are you here?"

Madam Du smiled and said, "Most of the ladies are busy taking care of their children. It just so happens that Madam Lu and my children are both weaned, and I don't have much to do on weekdays, so I came to visit the king on behalf of the queen and the ladies."

These days, Lu Lingqi was busy practicing martial arts, and Yuan Xi was unwilling to look for a maid. He saw that Madam Du's appearance was extremely attractive, and now her face seemed to be more beautiful than before. He couldn't help but hold Madam Du's hand and whispered, "Since you are here, stay for a while."

Mrs. Du blushed slightly, lowered her head and hummed softly.

In the following days, Yuan Xi's fatigue and depression from dealing with miscellaneous tasks for days were finally relieved, but the worry weighing on his heart could not be completely eliminated. After all, the military situation in Jizhou did not seem to have the possibility of further easing.

Two days later, Zhuge Liang finally rushed back to Yijing. He entered the city and went straight to Yuan Xi's residence to report the situation on the front line. Finally, Zhuge Liang said: "The abundance of Cao's army's reserves was somewhat beyond Liang's expectations."

"At present, the forces of both sides are similar, and neither side has an absolute advantage. The trench tactics can only exert their greatest power during an attack. I think now is not the best time, so after repeated consideration, I still did not use the steam excavator."

Yuan Xi nodded and said, "I also agree with the military advisor's idea. Cao Cao is very well prepared this time. I guess he wants to have a thorough fight with me before his health deteriorates."

"Is there any news about Cao Cao from the front line?"

Zhuge Liang shook his head and said, "That's not the case. I heard that Cao Cao is very secretive about his health, and his subordinates dare not discuss it. The spies have not sent us any intelligence so far."

"But the battle for fortifications was extremely fierce during this period. Generals Zhang and Xu were both injured. Of course, Xiahou Dun and his men on the opposite side were also seriously injured. After all, the arrows and stones were too threatening, and the soldiers on both sides did not dare to come out."

"Xu Chu was trapped and survived, but his legs were broken. I'm afraid he won't be able to fight for a year or so."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi said, "It doesn't matter. He is just a warrior and can't change anything."

"Gao Lan and Zhang Liao are also engaged in a fortification war. Now both sides are just wasting time. We can only wait patiently."

"What I'm worried about now is Qingxuzhou."

"The Tibetan tyrant Chen Deng may not be able to stop Cao's army. What do you think, military advisor?"

(End of this chapter)