Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1135 Infighting
Yuan Xi and Lu Lingqi stood at the bow of the boat. The schools of fish that were looming on the sea surface suddenly moved back and forth, and when they encountered the waves created by the fleet, they fled away.

There were also dozens of small fishing boats moving away from the fleet. They were afraid of blocking the fleet's route, so they had already moved away from it and only fished a few miles away from the fleet.

Because Xuzhou had been at peace for several years and Yuan Xi's navy patrolled regularly, pirates and bandits along the coast were basically extinct, so these fishermen were not afraid of seeing the warships, otherwise they would have escaped without a trace.

At the end of the Han Dynasty, although the fishing industry was quite developed, not everyone could own a fishing boat. Those who could go fishing in the open sea needed expensive boats, and only a landlord could afford one. Ordinary people could only find ways to collect wood, build a sampan that was more than one person long, and choose to fish near the coast.

Although the fish resources along the coast at that time were far more abundant than in later generations, fishing is a business that depends on the weather and luck plays a big role. If the weather is bad, it is common to get nothing.

There were hundreds of people gathered on the distant coastline. Yuan Xi picked up a telescope and saw that many women and children were picking up shells on the beach to fill their stomachs. If the male owner of the family did not catch any fish, these shells would be all their food for the day.

So if a family owns land, no one would want to make fishing their main occupation. After all, the dangers and uncertainties in the sea are much greater than on land.

Some brave children stood in the sea water that was above their thighs to catch fish. They buried their heads in the water, and after a while they suddenly stood up, holding a sea fish high in their hands and cheering loudly.

Some of the children became excited and gradually waded into the deep water. When their mothers saw this, they quickly pulled them back and spanked them hard on the buttocks.

Yuan Xi laughed when he saw this. This was a caring act of a mother who was worried that her child might drown. After all, no matter how good a person is at swimming, when encountering a capricious creature like the sea, one would still be in awe.

There were only a few children who were very good at swimming. They dived into the sea with bamboo spears in their hands. After a cup of tea, they suddenly surfaced. Most of the bamboo spears in their hands were stuck with fish, and there were even sea cucumbers as thick as arms.

Yuan Xi thought that since these children were good at swimming, if they were recruited into the army, they could become excellent soldier leaders. It would be better than risking their lives in the sea and snatching food from God's mouth, right?

He then burst out laughing, thinking that he was being ridiculous. Is there any other profession in the world more dangerous than being a soldier?

Seeing a smile on Yuan Xi's face, Lu Lingqi couldn't help but wonder, "What is my husband looking at?"

Yuan Xi handed the telescope to Lu Lingqi and said, "Look at how they catch fish. It's not easy."

Lu Lingqi looked through the telescope and said, "Those kids are quite amazing. I remember when I was a kid in Jiuyuan, the kids at home also ran around outside like crazy, and some even tried to catch wild horses. Not only did the families not stop them, they were proud of it."

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Bingzhou values ​​martial arts. The bravery of the next generation represents the future of the family, so naturally we should praise them more."

"But these fishermen have no choice but to do so. After all, they rely on the sea for their livelihood and their goal is to survive."

Lu Lingqi nodded slightly. When she saw the women on the shore in the distance through the telescope, she couldn't help but wonder, "I never noticed before that the women on the beach are more open-minded than those in the north?"

Yuan Xi understood that Lu Lingqi was referring to those women who only had strips of cloth wrapped around their key parts, exposing large areas of their limbs, and looked like they were naked, so he explained, "This is also a helpless act."

"Seawater is highly corrosive and contains a lot of salt. Clothes will rot easily if soaked for a long time. After drying, they will be stained with salt and difficult to wear. Wet clothes will also affect movement."

"So for convenience, fishermen on the coast usually only wear a few pieces of clothing to cover themselves. Over time, this style of clothing has been formed, which is really helpless."

After hearing this, Lu Lingqi couldn't help but sigh: "My husband is really knowledgeable and talented. He knows everything."

Yuan Xi sighed, "It's just because what I said happened to be something I understand. I also have a lot of knowledge that I don't understand, so I won't comment on things I don't understand."

Lu Lingqi had been following Yuan Xi for a long time and knew that the rumors about Yuan Xi's so-called stargazing were really exaggerated. After all, she had never seen Yuan Xi actually stargazing.

But she didn't care about it, she just whispered: "When I followed my mother, I only talked about family matters, and my father didn't say much to me. It was only when I followed my husband around the world that I realized there were so many different things in this world."

"Every time I think about it, I feel that meeting my husband is the greatest luck in my life."

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "The scenery we see is less than one ten-thousandth of this world."

"When the world is pacified in the future, I will take everyone to travel around the world and see this beautiful land."

Lu Lingqi chuckled, "My husband, you are just lying. By then, my husband will be very busy and will not have time to accompany me."

Yuan Xi felt a little headache. "It's really not that easy to be an emperor, especially a founding emperor. It's always difficult. I do have some ideals."

"Unless there is a team in the court that shares the same ideals as mine, I will probably be content to be an emperor."

Lu Lingqi smiled and said, "The Supreme Emperor?"

"This name is fresh, but my husband didn't go to the battlefield to see the beautiful scenery, did he?" Yuan Xi smiled bitterly and said, "Of course not. In fact, if I could, I wouldn't want to do everything myself. Who doesn't fear death?"

"But if we don't do this, we won't be able to convince the people, and the world won't be convinced."

From the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to the Qin and Han Dynasties, which lasted for thousands of years, the rulers of a country would personally go to the battlefield, especially the founding monarchs. There were very complicated reasons why they had to conquer the world with their own hands.

There is an element of royal power involved here. The king is trying to seize the world for himself, so naturally he has to do it himself to demonstrate the legitimacy of his seizure of the world. This seems to have become an established tacit understanding since the early Spring and Autumn Period.

During the Warring States Period, due to the escalation in the intensity and professionalism of wars, monarchs began to stay away from battlefields. Qin Shihuang, the first emperor of a unified country, only went to the battlefield once in his entire life, which was the least.

But I don’t know if it was a coincidence, the Qin Dynasty soon collapsed, and then at the end of the Qin Dynasty, the appearance of Liu Bang and Xiang Yu set an example for future generations, that is, the founding monarch must be the one who goes to the battlefield in person and is the best at fighting against the enemy.

Liu Bang's final victory was also due to his having been at the front line and having established a great reputation.

Moreover, unlike the records in the Records of the Grand Historian that he was defeated by Xiang Yu, in real history, Liu Bang was only truly defeated once by Xiang Yu, and all other times it was Xiang Yu who suffered setbacks.

In the early days, Xiang Yu could still rely on his cavalry to suppress Liu Bang's army, but after Liu Bang formed his own cavalry, Xiang Yu never won again. No matter how the historical records brag about the encounter, the map cannot be false, and the actual battle line has always been pushing towards Xiang Yu's hometown.

The Battle of Pengcheng was indeed Liu Bang's worst defeat, but the undeniable fact is that Pengcheng was the capital of the State of Chu, and Xiang Yu was driven back to his hometown. His so-called successive victories in previous records are quite absurd, as recorded in later generations, in which he annihilated millions of enemies and occupied Taiwan.

After the Battle of Pengcheng, tactical victory could not cover up the strategic failure. In the end, Xiang Yu was defeated and killed, and Liu Bang established the Han Dynasty.

From the time when Liu Bang started his army to the time when he later put down the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms, his ability in using troops was demonstrated. This also laid a solid foundation for the Han Dynasty to promote Confucianism as the only doctrine of the Han Dynasty and to endow the emperor with the divinity of the Son of Heaven.

Since you are the one chosen by heaven, you must be the one who sweeps the world in the name of heaven. You don't even dare to go to the battlefield and you can't win a war. How can you have the face to say that you are carrying the will of heaven?

Therefore, the tradition passed down from the Han Dynasty also set the tone for the next two thousand years. The founding monarch must be the most capable fighter, otherwise he would not be able to win the support of the people. The theory of destiny entangled in this martial spirit has also become the vein of Chinese heritage. This is one of the reasons why the Chinese nation is named Han.

Lu Lingqi only knows about Liu Bang and Liu Xiu, but she doesn’t know that in later history, from Li Shimin to Zhao Kuangyin, from Genghis Khan to Zhu Yuanzhang, and then to later generations, which one of them did not have military capabilities far superior to their peers?
Whether it is superstition or coincidence, those who do not seize the world by force will more or less leave major hidden dangers. First there was Wang Mang, then there was the Jin Dynasty of Sima, and finally the Song Dynasty. The Jin and Song dynasties almost led to the extinction of the Chinese nation.

Therefore, it was neither reasonable nor moral for Yuan Xi to follow the old path of the Sima family. Although he was named King of Jin, he still followed the same approach as Liu Bang. This approach of personally leading the army could at least guarantee general stability within the first hundred years of the founding of the country, and that was enough.

Whether he is the King of Jin, the King of Qi, the King of Wei, or the King of Wu, it does not matter. As long as the world can be peaceful and prosperous, that is what the heart of a Chinese person desires.

Yuan Xi pointed to the sea in the distance and said to Lu Lingqi: "If everything goes well, it should take less than ten years for the world to be unified again."

"The ships we have at that time will probably be much more powerful than the ones we have now. I will definitely take you to see the scenery of the overseas islands."

Lu Lingqi smiled happily and said, "I will remember what you said, my husband. I will ask you to pay me back when the time comes!"

As the two were talking, a spy came over and handed Yuan Xi a secret letter.

When Yuan Xi opened the letter, his face immediately turned unhappy. Lu Lingqi leaned over and saw that it was written by an official from the Procuratorate.

It said that Chen Deng was bedridden and Bu Zhi was in charge of government affairs, but the officials and gentry of Xuzhou were dissatisfied and went to the procuratorate to complain that Bu Zhi was colluding with Jiangdong. At one time, there were dozens of letters.

Bu Zhi also went to the Procuratorate and reported that some officials in Xuzhou were in cahoots with Cao, but he did not name any names.

Yuan Xi clenched his fists. Although he didn't know whether Bu Zhi was wronged or not, when his territory was fully committed to fighting against Cao Cao, Xuzhou, as the most stable rear base, was actually engaging in collective infighting at this time!

He tended to think that given Bu Zhi's character, it was impossible for him to collaborate with the enemy at this time, but he could not draw a conclusion without evidence.

The matter needs to be investigated, but if it is investigated openly, I am afraid that people's hearts have already destroyed the evidence, and it will be difficult to find out anything.

Yuan Xi thought for a while and asked Sun Li behind him, "How long will it take to get to Guangling?"

Sun Li said: "There is still more than half a day."

Yuan Xi said decisively: "Let's get off the ship early and go see what happened in Guangling."

(End of this chapter)