Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1336 Difference
Yuan Xi did not stay in Nanchang for a long time, because this small city gathered so many talented people, and repairing the city was not a difficult task.

The only thing that bothered him was the situation in Jiaozhou, south of Yuzhang County. Jiaozhou was originally incorporated into the Wu State when Shi Jie surrendered, but after that Shi Jie was killed. Sun Quan placed his trusted officials in Jiaozhou and imposed heavy taxes, which led to dissatisfaction among the local people in Jiaozhou and frequent rebellions.

With the fall of the Wu Kingdom, Jiaozhou's original bureaucratic system completely collapsed. Wu officials died or fled, and Jiaozhou returned to a chaotic period of leaderlessness and mutual attacks.

Yuan Xi did not rush to send soldiers to occupy the area. Instead, he took Nanchang as the center and pacified the border areas of Yuzhang. Now, more than half a year has passed, Yuzhang County has been completely pacified, and the forces entrenched in the remaining cities have realized that there is no future in resisting stubbornly, so they have come to surrender one after another.

After seeing this, the rebellions in Jiaozhou also ceased, and they secretly sent people to negotiate with Jin State, while also observing the situation in Nanchang. Seeing that Nanchang had regained its prosperity in such a short period of time also gave them a great shock. In addition, since Jin State did not use its power to suppress them, they also began to consider surrendering.

This is the method of playing hard to get. As long as the State of Jin improves its own production, the turbulent areas will naturally become attached to it. After all, people need to eat, and no one wants the chaos to continue.

After Yuan Xi spent several days reading all the official documents, he had a rough idea of ​​what was going on. He said to Lu Xun and Lu Su who followed him, "I have a general understanding of the situation here."

"We must definitely take Jiaozhou next, but how to take it is very particular. If we force it, although we can get the city for a while, it will leave many hidden dangers afterwards, and surrender and then rebel will happen from time to time."

"So, we should focus on negotiation and appeasement with Jiaozhou, promote Nanchang's approach to the entire Yuzhang area, and then slowly spread it to Jiaozhou, and they will naturally be attracted to it."

"Many areas in Jiaozhou are so-called southern barbarians. Many people say that they are savage and difficult to tame because of their different education. This is true, but it cannot be changed overnight. Moreover, mobilizing troops in southern Xinjiang is still a heavy burden for Yuzhang."

"So I agree with Zijing's opinion just now. We should focus on appeasement and education, and at the same time build a good defense line in Yuzhang to dispel the idea of ​​plundering by the southern barbarians."

"Of course, if there are any who are blind, Jiang Qin, Xu Sheng and the others here are capable enough to lead the troops to teach them a lesson."

"As for Boyan, he will follow me to Shouchun. In the future, we will attack Xudu from Yuzhou, then go to Nanyang, and surround Cao Wei in the south, in preparation for forcing Cao Wei into Xichuan."

When Lu Su and Lu Xun heard this, they were both shocked. It turned out that Yuan Xi was so anxious!
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Don't worry, we have fought too many battles before. We have been resting for the past two years. Once all regions have recovered, we can send troops from Bingzhou, Jizhou, Jianghuai and other three routes, and we will be able to defeat Cao Wei in one fell swoop."

"In the final analysis, the most important problem of Jin State is no longer Cao Wei, but the Xianbei outside the Great Wall."

"So this time I will go all the way north and personally take charge of both Yecheng and Jicheng."

"The key areas of Jin State today are the inner and outer lines from south to north."

"The so-called external route is the coastal trade route, from the Korean Peninsula to Qingzhou, then to Guangling, and finally to the sea transportation route to Dong'an, Kuaiji. If it is smooth, it will greatly shorten the cargo transportation time between different places."

"The so-called inner line is the central line from Jicheng to Yecheng, then to Shouchun, and finally to Nanchang. This line spans the Central Plains and is the most important strategic line in China."

"In the past, although this line was connected by water, it had to pass through the Yangtze River and the Huanghuai River, so it was not smooth."

"Now, as the speed of water conservancy construction in various places has greatly accelerated, these four important cities are now connected by rivers running north and south. With the help of steamships, there is no obstruction."

"Although these ditches are not spacious and will need to be widened sooner or later, they can at least meet most of the needs now. The direction of the road has been pointed out, and the rest is left to future generations."

Lu Xun and Lu Su gradually understood Yuan Xi's ideas. They couldn't help but marvel at the magnitude of Yuan Xi's move, but they didn't know Yuan Xi's other considerations.

Yuan Xi had his reasons for doing this, because although the Grand Canal from Beijing to Hangzhou was convenient in later generations, it also had many problems.

First, it was too costly and labor-intensive. The Sui Dynasty almost exhausted its national strength in order to build this canal, which was one of the reasons for its rapid demise.

Second, the Grand Canal will be seriously affected by the flooding of the Yellow River at certain times.

Over the long years, the Yellow River flowed into the sea several times, causing floods in the middle and lower reaches. As a result, the Grand Canal required a huge amount of manpower and material resources to maintain and repair it. This was almost a bottomless pit, and it led to the decline and collapse of dynasties several times.

Therefore, after careful consideration, Yuan Xi came up with the idea of ​​replacing the Grand Canal with two lines, the outer sea line would be used to transport bulk goods and large-scale operations, while the inland line would be used to communicate information, transfer important commodities and carry out rapid military operations.

Although this approach is troublesome, it can maximize the use of local population and water resources without wasting manpower and money to open a new canal. The manpower and material resources saved can be used to develop production.

Yuan Xi had this idea because he relied on his knowledge from later generations.

From the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, there was always a strange circle, that is, it was difficult to form large-scale cities, and often a few hundred thousand people was the limit. When the Tang Dynasty was at its most powerful, it was estimated that the population was between 500,000 and more than 1 million, but with so many people, several serious problems arose.

One was the shortage of fuel. As the population increased, the demand for living fuel was also quite huge. However, the trees outside the city were gradually cut down, and people were forced to go far away to find firewood. The poem of the charcoal seller reflected this.

Second, the huge population produced a large amount of domestic waste. At that time, these wastes were buried underground and gradually infiltrated into the groundwater system. Over time, by the middle and late Tang Dynasty, most of the well water in Chang'an was no longer suitable for drinking.

Coupled with the disasters of war, Chang'an gradually declined. As the population decreased, nature purified itself, getting rid of the old and bringing in the new, and it gradually recovered over hundreds and thousands of years.

By the Song Dynasty, the upper limit of the population of large cities was only 1.5 million, and this was when coal mines were mined and used on a large scale. However, there were only a few cities in the country that could reach this number.

This is the upper limit of agricultural society. Before fully entering industrialization, it is a ceiling that cannot be reached by human power. Although the industrial revolution requires hundreds or thousands of years of accumulation of scientific knowledge, Yuan Xi still has things he can do.

People of this era did not know what sustainable development was, but Yuan Xi knew it, so he selectively made several important cities under the rule of Jin State as development priorities, using points to lead lines and lines to lead areas, and using trade and water transportation to drive the towns along the inner and outer lines. This was the limit of what he could do in this era.

Population concentration also has its advantages. Both free schools and industrial shops can absorb a large number of talents. Only when there are more talents can they in turn promote technological progress.

Nowadays, craftsmen from all over the country are treated much better than before, so technological progress within Jin State, including smelting and manufacturing, is advancing with each passing day and is showing a momentum of vigorous development.

According to people who came from Cao Wei, the current climate on both sides already makes people feel like the difference between countries under the same sky.

Yuan Xi held a scroll of observations sent by the Procuratorate from Jingzhou and said, "You two are the backbone of our Great Jin, so what I want to talk about is the key to the prosperity of our Jin. Their various policies are certainly important reasons, but the important backing is the development of science and technology."

"Steamships, balloons, rockets, and mines are actually the initial applications of science and technology in war. Their greatest potential is to be brought into play in production and life."

"An important backing for the improvement and progress of science and technology is the improvement of fuel."

"As a fuel, wood is bound to lose to coal. Coal is inferior to oil in some aspects, but it will be difficult to make a breakthrough in the deep development of both in the next hundred years."

"Even so, we still need to do some preliminary work to pave the way for future generations. Besides, coal is more than enough to beat firewood in terms of combustion efficiency alone."

"That's why I advocate the vigorous development of the mining industry. Only by making good use of these gifts from God can we move into a better era as soon as possible."

While Yuan Xi was expressing his ideas in Nanchang, at the same time in Xudu, Xun You was coughing while sorting out the information that Wei had obtained from Jin in recent years.

Most of these materials were collected by spies from the School Affairs Office, and many of them were descriptions of the current situation of the State of Jin, including steam engines, coal mines and other things.

The more Xun You looked at the situation, the more alarmed he became. So in the six months since he moved to Chang'an, he devoted all his energy to analyzing the fundamental reasons why Jin had surpassed Wei, in an attempt to find a way out of the impasse.

Suddenly he couldn't help coughing violently, so he had to press his mouth with his sleeve. It was a long time before he put his hand down, and there were a few dark red spots on his sleeve.

Although Xun You knew that he was dying soon, he still felt a little unwilling in his heart. He had been ill for a long time when he was in Xudu, and then an epidemic broke out. Although he barely managed to hold on, the two serious illnesses completely destroyed his body, and now he doesn't have much time left.

However, what made him feel relieved was that his memorial, which was written on five or six volumes of bamboo slips, had been sent to Cao Pi's desk.

It analyzes the reasons for the strength of Jin State. If Wei State imitates Jin State, although it is unlikely to defeat Jin State, if Wei State uses Jing Yi as its backing and imitates Jin State in developing technology, it may not be without a chance when Xianbei enters the pass in the future.

He was just about to pick up the pen to write another memorial to emphasize the importance of the previous one, but his vision gradually turned dark and the vitality in his body gradually faded away.

Inside the palace, Cao Pi frowned as he looked at Xun You's long memorial. Xun You was exaggerating too much. The State of Jin was just warmongering, and the State of Wei could only survive by recruiting troops with all its might. If Xun You's suggestion was followed, a large amount of military expenditure in the next few years or even decades would be used to bribe those lowly craftsmen. If the State of Jin attacked, how could the State of Wei resist?
A guard came in hurriedly and said, "Your Majesty, Xun Lingshi has passed away!"

Cao Pi heard this, sighed, stood up and said: "Prepare the car, I will go to pay my respects."

He casually threw Xun You's memorial into the corner of the room, walked out, and never looked back.

(End of this chapter)