Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1328 Situation
Yuan Xi was wearing coarse linen clothes, with his trouser legs rolled up and straw sandals. He stood in the middle of the field, raised the hoe high in his hand, and swung it at the ridge in front of him.

Behind him were Empress Zhen's daughters and some officials and generals, who were also using tools to loosen the soil. It was now autumn and the autumn harvest had just been completed. In order to plant next year's wheat, they replaced the ridges for planting, which is called the ridge method.

This is a farming method discovered by the Chinese since the Western Zhou Dynasty. Crops are grown on soil that is higher than the ground to increase ground temperature, prevent drought and flood, and thus increase yields.

In order to maintain soil fertility, low ridges and high ridges are cultivated alternately, and the ridges and furrows are interchanged, which is also more conducive to sowing. This method can greatly increase yields. More yields mean more population and more developed productivity, which is also the reason why the Chinese people have a fine tradition of farming.

The West did not invent the ridge cultivation method for 1,500 years from the same period, and they simply scattered the seeds on the ground and left the seeds to fate. Therefore, for a long time, their output was less than one-fifth of that of the same land in China.

This is also the reason why Europe has large tracts of land suitable for farming and the arable land area is larger than that of China, but the population ceiling is less than half of that of China.

Now Yuan Xi is following the tradition left over from the Han Dynasty, which states that the emperor and all officials must go to the fields themselves during the farming season. He leads court officials to preside over the autumn planting ceremony outside Yecheng. This is a tradition that Yuan Xi has been following over the years as long as he is not fighting a war. The family members and civil and military officials have long been accustomed to it.

Since the last capture of Luoyang, Yuan Xi did not send out any more troops. Instead, he returned to Yecheng and spent the entire summer there, allowing the soldiers and civilians to recuperate and usher in a peaceful autumn harvest and planting season.

During these few months, due to Yuan Xi's various tactics, Jin and Wei did not launch any more military campaigns. It was really because both sides were tired of fighting.

During this period, under the pressure of losing Luoyang, Cao Wei finally moved the court west to Chang'an, taking advantage of the geographical location to block the next offensive of the Jin army.

Today, only Cao Ren is left with his troops stationed in Xu Du, which serves as Cao Wei's frontline fortress against the Jin State.

Yuan Xi was not surprised by the development of this situation. This was all within Zhuge Liang and his calculations. Cao Wei's response was not bad, but they still walked step by step into the trap set by Zhuge Liang.

Chang'an seems safe, but there are several critical passages, among which the one leading to Liangzhou is the most difficult to defend.

In the next few years, Yuan Xi will encroach from Bingzhou to Liangzhou along the Tianshan and Yinshan mountain ranges, making a circle to surround Chang'an. The ultimate goal, of course, is to force Cao Wei completely into Yizhou.

What Yuan Xi had to do next was to slowly erode the Jingyi region around Chengdu, forcing Cao Wei to retreat to Yizhou, and fight with the local nobles and southern barbarians in Yizhou to make poison.

As long as Cao Wei was trapped in Yizhou, it would not be a problem when to conquer it. By then, Yuan Xi could even cut off the Hanzhong passage, leave tens of thousands of people in Chang'an, and concentrate on developing other parts of China.

With the improvement of steam power technology, travel time across China will be greatly shortened, and with it will arise developed industry, commerce and water transportation. Yizhou alone will no longer have any value.

As for Cao Wei's counterattack, it is certainly not impossible, but considering the power comparison between the two countries at that time, if Sima Yi grows up to be as powerful as three Zhuge Liangs in later generations, there might be some chance, right?
So now, after more than ten years of fighting, Yuan Xi can finally settle down and farm. Of course, there is another factor that makes him feel at ease.
He stood up, wiped the sweat off his face with his sleeve, and looked at Mrs. Mi who was bending over to sow seeds behind him.

She had a snow-white linen scarf wrapped around her head, she was wearing mourning for Liu Bei.

A few days ago, Liu Bei finally died of his injuries.

Yuan Xi's manipulations did play a role in Cao Cao's premature death, but Liu Bei also died more than ten years earlier than later generations, which was indeed beyond Yuan Xi's expectations.

Thinking of this, a faint sadness welled up in Yuan Xi's heart. Without Cao and Liu, the Three Kingdoms no longer had any meaning. This heroic era, which should have shined brightly in later generations, has come to an end prematurely.

But Yuan Xi felt that this was a good thing for the common people of the world. Without the brutal attacks and epidemics caused by war, more people would survive.

These farmers, craftsmen, nobles and merchants will be able to devote more energy to production activities, adding bricks and tiles to the future of Chinese civilization. An ordinary and peaceful life is also another kind of happiness, right?

However, the aftermath of Liu Bei's death caused quite a stir. At that time, Guan Yu brought Liu Xie back to Changsha not long after, and Liu Bei died after meeting him. Before Liu Bei's death, he should have entrusted Liu Xie with some things.

Some ministers of the Jin State also expressed their concerns about this, because Liu Bei's youngest son Liu Chan would inherit the throne of Hannan Kingdom. They felt that Hannan Kingdom would use Liu Xie's name to do something detrimental to the Jin State.

In response to this, Yuan Xi said calmly in the court: "What can they do?"

"At most, it's just proclaiming himself emperor. Hannan is also Han. Let them do whatever they want."

"The general trend of the world is that it will eventually be unified. If we win the hearts of the people, we will win the world. All we have to do is do our own thing well."

After hearing this, all the ministers were convinced. Yuan Xi had now established an unshakable prestige in the hearts of the people. The things he had done had gradually spread, and the expectations of the common people for the Han Dynasty had slowly shifted to the new dynasty.

Yuan Xi cherishes his current life very much. After all, this short peace is hard-won. With the expansion of Jin's territory, the southern barbarians and the southern Yue peoples to the south will also be a long process of enlightenment. However, these two parties are unlikely to threaten the Central Plains. The biggest trouble is still the Xianbei outside the pass. But this year, Kobineng seems quite honest.

Because the Jin Dynasty proclaimed itself emperor ahead of time and obtained the title of the orthodox Chinese dynasty, it forced Goguryeo, which was still wavering, to take sides and was incorporated into the territory of the Jin Dynasty.

Not to mention the Wuhuan and Gongsun clan. The attitudes of these three parties forced Suli of the Eastern Xianbei to express goodwill towards the State of Jin. After all, his royal tent was in the Xianbei Mountain area, and the Jin army could break into his base camp through Goguryeo at any time.

In Bingzhou, Budugen, who was ready to make some moves, was also frightened by Jin's capture of Luoyang and its move to encroach on Liangzhou to the west. Like Suli, he would help the stronger ones, and Jin's handling of the Southern Xiongnu also pointed out another path for him.

Therefore, under the instruction of Yuan Xi, the Eastern and Western Xianbei began to encroach on the territory of Kebineng, the Central Xianbei. In order to cope with the advance from both sides, Kebineng was forced to mobilize troops for defense, so the possibility of him entering the pass again this year was greatly reduced.

Yuan Xi was naturally happy to see this happen. With Jin's current development momentum and direction, as long as he was given time to develop, victory would definitely be on his side.

As Jin State became increasingly prosperous, charity schools sprang up everywhere. The previous classics, history, and miscellaneous works were extremely obscure, with no special annotations or explanations. Even if one could read, one could not understand their meaning, so they became the patent of the aristocratic families, leading to the monopoly of the dissemination of knowledge.

But now, the textbooks that Yuan Xi has people compile use the simplest words to explain the principles, which removes the barriers to teaching knowledge.

Moreover, Yuan Xi was also very smart in not touching the bottom line of the gentry. The mathematics and physics subjects he taught were all blind spots of the aristocratic families. As for those obscure ancient classics, Yuan Xi was happy to let the gentry who had money and free time to study them.

However, Yuan Xi felt that as the number of officials in charge of technology increased in the Jin court, the gentry would sooner or later bow their heads and learn mathematics, physics and chemistry.

The day passed quickly, and as it grew darker, Yuan Xi stood up and led everyone to set up an altar by the field to worship heaven and earth, announcing the end of the autumn planting ceremony.

Yuan Xi took Zhen Mi and other girls and got on the carriage first, returning to Yecheng.

After the carriage left, the officials and generals who had seen it off followed it back. By this time, many officials were so tired that they could not even straighten their backs. They supported themselves with their hands and feet, and rolled and climbed onto the carriage under the gloating gazes of the generals, and then collapsed into a heap.

Zhen Mi was just lifting the carriage curtain to look out. Seeing this scene, she couldn't help but smile, "Your Majesty has been in good health recently, and has been working hard in the fields. The officials dare not be lazy either, but they are all very tired."

Yuan Xi laughed and said, "I don't know how they will secretly criticize me when we go back."

Zhen Mi smiled and said, "They should thank Your Majesty for letting them move more. Exercise is the key to longevity and life."

Yuan Xi stretched his arms and legs and said, "After years of fighting, my daily routine has been disrupted, which has really destroyed my lifespan. After resting for a few months, I feel much better."

"I feel like I haven't had enough fun tilling the fields today. How about the Queen call a few ladies over tonight to do some activities with me?"

Zhen Mi blushed slightly and complained, "Your Majesty is the emperor, why do you speak so frivolously?"

Yuan Xi laughed, "Don't people also say that Emperor Gaozu is a rogue emperor?"

"To be honest, although being the emperor is tiring, I still feel a sense of accomplishment. After all, the situation in Jin is getting better day by day."

"As for the Wei State, I don't know what Cao Pi is thinking right now. He has been defeated in battles over and over again, and has been retreating again and again. If it were me, I would probably be very depressed."

Zhen Mi whispered, "I heard a few days ago that the Emperor of the Former Han Dynasty was going to come to Yecheng?"

"He's quite open-minded."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi sighed and said, "It's not easy for him to persist to this extent in troubled times. If it weren't for his position, he should be able to become a good friend of mine."

Some time ago, Liu Xie sent a letter to Yuan Xi, saying that he would go to Shouchun to welcome Fu Shou, and at the same time come to Yecheng to meet Yuan Xi to express his gratitude.

Yuan Xi was quite surprised. Although he invited Liu Xie to come and see the scenery of Jin State when he was free, he did not expect the other party to be so generous and actually come over like this.

In response, he immediately wrote back and asked Lu Xun to send several steamships to pick up Liu Xie. According to the time, Liu Xie would arrive in the next few days.

(End of this chapter)