Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1330 Pay off the debt

After staying in Yecheng for two days, Liu Xie decided to return to Hannan Kingdom.

Although Yuan Xi asked him to stay longer, Liu Xie thanked him and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty. I have seen enough things in Yecheng along the way."

"In contrast, Hannan is lagging behind in everything. When I return, I will report the situation of Jin to King Hannan so that Hannan can speed up its pace a little."

"The barbarians south of Hannan have not been civilized for thousands of years. Now the King of Hannan wants to open up a road to Siam, and Xie also wants to help."

The King of Hannan that Liu Xie mentioned was the newly enthroned Liu Chan, who was only five or six years old at that time. Even though he had Xu Shu in literature and Guan Yu in military affairs, he was still just a kid. How could he have such clear ideas?

Yuan Xi guessed that these words should be Liu Bei's last wishes and thoughts, and that they were specifically spoken to him through Liu Xie's mouth, implying that the Hannan Kingdom had no intention of competing for the Central Plains, and hoped that Yuan Xi would give it some leniency because of their past friendship.

Yuan Xi sighed inwardly at this, and said to Liu Xie: "Please help me tell you that no matter when and where Hannan needs help, Jin will do its best and will not refuse."

Liu Xie bowed deeply and said, "Then I would like to thank Your Majesty on behalf of King Hannan."

Yuan Xi escorted Liu Xie's convoy to the gate of Yecheng. Liu Xie got off the carriage and said goodbye to Yuan Xi, then got back on the carriage. Fu Shou came up and bowed, saying:
"Your Majesty, I will always remember your kindness in saving my life, but unfortunately I have no way to repay you. We will part today, and we may never meet again. I hope all your wishes come true."

Yuan Xi said solemnly: "Madam, you are as heroic as any man. We bid farewell to each other and have a safe journey."

Fu Shou bowed in return and got on the carriage. The convoy slowly set off, leaving Yecheng and heading into the distance.

Yuan Xi looked at the rolling dust raised by the convoy, and thought to himself that this world is full of ups and downs. This couple has experienced countless thrilling separations and deaths. Now they can live out the rest of their lives in peace, escaping from this vicious vortex of the world. This is a relief.

Yuan Xi did not think that the matter of Hannan was something he needed to consider in the long run. The world would eventually unite after a long period of division, and would eventually divide after a long period of unification. Sooner or later, Hannan would return to China. Before that, he only had to do what he could, spread Jin's footprints overseas, and face the arrival of the Age of Discovery in advance.

He took a carriage back to the city and went directly to Zhuge Liang's official residence.

When Zhuge Liang saw Yuan Xi coming, he hurried out to greet him. Yuan Xi held his hand and said, "Prime Minister, you have worked hard these days. I will go to Jiangdong for an inspection in a few days and look for a place to build a port. It may take more than half a year to go back and forth. Yecheng will be handed over to you."

Zhuge Liang bowed quickly and said, "Your Majesty, rest assured. I will act with caution."

He thought to himself that his lord was really an anomaly. Other lords had such a large territory and faced countless affairs. They must have to do everything themselves every day and were so busy that they couldn't sleep.

However, Yuan Xi adopted the method of having the prime minister set up his own government office, and let Ju Su, Zhuge Liang, Lu Xun and others each take charge of the affairs of several states, simplifying things. In this way, Yuan Xi could leave at any time without worrying about delaying government affairs.

Zhuge Liang felt that Yuan Xi's behavior was deliberate, and it seemed to be vaguely close to what was said in the Book of Changes: "When there is no leader, all will be well with the world."

The monarch is like the head of a group of dragons, seeming to be everywhere and yet seemingly never existing. This seems to go against the ideas of kings for thousands of years. However, the State of Jin is not greatly affected at present. Instead, it is thriving and full of vitality.

Zhuge Liang couldn't help but sigh that there were so many things he wanted to learn and see through from his lord. Perhaps, as the prophecy said, his lord could create a whole new era.

He said, "During the days when the lord is away, it is unlikely that Cao Wei will raise an army, but if the Xianbei invade the north, who will lead the army?"

Yuan Xi knew that Zhuge Liang understood this very well. Ju Shou and Zhuge Liang were both counselors, so they had to prioritize priorities, otherwise military orders would not be conveyed smoothly during the war.

He thought for a moment and said, "As a general, Zilong has the responsibility to guard the northern border. I will have him temporarily stationed in Yijing and responsible for mobilizing troops in Jizhou and Youzhou. All generals will follow his orders."

"You and Gong Yu do not need to go to the battle in person for the time being. If Zilong cannot hold out, he will decide where to send reinforcements."

Zhuge Liang agreed immediately, and Yuan Xi laughed and said, "To be honest, I think the Prime Minister's ability in handling domestic affairs is no less than his ability in fighting wars."

"Next, Jizhou will try to issue silver to replace copper coins. As long as the Prime Minister does this well, his name will be recorded in history."

Zhuge Liang agreed to all of them. Yuan Xi thought for a moment and said, "I will leave in a few days, but there is something I have been holding back for more than a year, but I have never been able to tell you, Prime Minister."

"But considering that the guy is not young anymore, I can only shamelessly mention it to the Prime Minister."

Zhuge Liang was confused. After Yuan Xi said a few words, he finally understood the whole story and said in surprise: "How can this be possible?"

"How can a girl from the Yuan family be Liang's concubine?"

Yuan Xi sighed, "Identity is not a problem. The key is that she has chosen the prime minister. If I force her to marry someone else, I'm afraid she will hate me for the rest of her life."

"This girl is very stubborn. After she saw the Prime Minister that day, she refused to change her mind. Now it has been three or four years. She will soon be twenty-nine years old, and it seems that she will continue to wait."

"I'm not forcing the Prime Minister. I'm just delivering the message on behalf of the Queen. As for whether the Prime Minister asks her to wait or directly refuses, I don't care. It's really hard to report the Queen's request."

Zhuge Liang also smiled bitterly, "How can I be so worthy of your care? I think I have some wisdom, but I am helpless about this."

Yuan Xi laughed loudly, patted Zhuge Liang on the shoulder and said: "Kong Ming, you have both virtue and talent, but the most important thing is that you are so outstanding in appearance. As a result, I miss you till now."

"It's the same as mine. I relied on a decent appearance to get into trouble with many women in the past few years. Wasn't I forced to pay for it in the end?"

"In life, it's not a big deal for a man to have more wives and concubines. The main thing is to convince Madam Huang." Zhuge Liang felt even more helpless after hearing this, and couldn't help complaining: "My lord, you haven't returned all of them, right?"

"I remember that the lord had been avoiding the Princess Qinghe, but she ended up running to the Korean Peninsula to seek refuge with Marquis Cao. Did the lord let her stay there for the rest of her life?"

Yuan Xi, who had just been gloating over someone else's misfortune, froze up and coughed, "Kong Ming, I thought you were honest and loyal, but I didn't expect you would expose other people's shortcomings."

Seeing Yuan Xi being humiliated, Zhuge Liang showed a little satisfaction on his face, "My lord, you are a carefree person. How can you have a headache when encountering such a thing?"

"Cao Wei is not a big threat now, and the grudges of the previous generation have been settled by the lord. What are you worried about?"

Yuan Xi was furious, "Then the Prime Minister is different, what is he worried about?"

The two of them stared at each other, and finally couldn't help but smile bitterly at each other. It turns out that every family has its own difficulties.

At the same time, in Cao County, Handong County, Cao Qing was rubbing his hands and complaining, "Why is the weather so cold at this time?"

Cao Ang at the side smiled and said: "According to the locals, the weather in the north has indeed been colder in recent years than before."

"Last year, the snowstorms were very severe, and they came suddenly in the blink of an eye. If we don't respond in time, livestock and even people will be frozen to death."

"It's like this here, not to mention the areas outside the Great Wall. This is why the barbarians from outside the Great Wall frequently go south. They have no food to survive the winter, so they naturally go out to plunder."

"But fortunately, Goguryeo in the north surrendered, creating a buffer between the border areas outside the Great Wall and Handong."

"And the most important thing is that the king asked General Tian to send craftsmen to the Eastern Xianbei Suli outside the Great Wall to teach the locals how to dig underground caves to keep warm."

"This half-buried house, supported by wooden beams, can create a large space and is much warmer than a tent on the ground, allowing people and livestock to cope with blizzards."

Cao Qing said angrily: "Wouldn't it be better to let them all freeze to death? If they have enough food, won't they still go south to plunder?"

"I think that fierce tiger is mentally ill!"

Cao Ang knew that his sister still hated the King of Jin for some reason, so he smiled bitterly and said, "No, this just shows how wise the King is."

"As long as they can survive, who wants to fight? If the barbarians outside the Great Wall can find another way to survive, the border may be able to maintain long-term peace, which is a good thing."

"After all, the Xianbei people numbered several million. If they really fought against the Jin State, no one could predict how many people would die on either side. In the end, the poor border residents would be the ones to suffer."

Cao Qing pouted, "Brother, you are right. If you were the King of Wei, how could the State of Wei be like this now?"

"Won't you regret it, brother?"

Cao Ang said calmly: "What is there to regret? If I hadn't left Wei, I wouldn't have seen these new developments."

"Little sister, to be honest, the King of Jin has a bigger vision than my father."

"It will be a good thing for the people of the Central Plains to be under his rule. You should know what the situation was like when Father was here."

Cao Qing was speechless and snorted, "Criticizing my father is unfilial!"

Cao Ang was helpless and changed the subject: "You are not a child anymore, are you going to live like this?"

Cao Qing said angrily: "Don't worry about it, brother. I'm fine the way I am now!"

Cao Ang had never been able to do anything with his sister, so he could only say, "Okay, okay, whatever you want."

"By the way, I have something for you to do."

"This year, the taxes in Cao County have been collected. I bought some furs and wild ginseng, as well as some Silla maids sent by the landlords."

"I don't plan to keep these. I've divided them into two parts. You can bring one part to my mother in Jicheng."

"As for the rest, they are gifts for the king. You can decide whether to deliver them to Yecheng in person or stay in Jicheng with your mother."

Cao Qing muttered, "Why would I go to Yecheng? I'm not going!"

Cao Ang said, "Okay, okay, you should go to mother's place, right?"

"I can't leave here, so I can only ask you to say hello to my mother for me."

Cao Qing had no choice but to agree. Cao Ang took her to sort the goods, but in his heart he was thinking about his sister and didn't know when the knot in his heart would be untied.

(End of this chapter)