Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1348 Bait
The premise for Yuan Xi to formulate this strategy is that the water level in the current era makes it impossible to develop the chemical industry in a short period of time, nor is it possible to make fertilizers and increase the upper limit of grain yield per mu. Therefore, he can only find another way to tap the potential of the industrial and mining industries. Although this is a helpless move, it is also the most likely path to be realized within decades or even hundreds of years.

Breakthroughs and developments in science and technology are inseparable from advanced technologies on the technological front, and China's technological advantages in metal smelting since ancient times are the basis for Yuan Xi to dare to do so.

Until the 16th century, except for the development of some small-scale forging technology in the Arab region of Central Asia, China's steel smelting has always been in an absolute leading position, and even iron pots are subject to export restrictions. The rise of the northern ethnic groups in this thousand years is inseparable from the development of metal smelting technology, which has reached the point where it can be compared with the Central Plains, and even surpass it in some places.

The later Song Dynasty did not pay enough attention to this and sent a large amount of metal smelting technology to the Liao and Jin Dynasties in the north. As a result, the Liao and Jin Dynasties absorbed the ore forging technology from the Central Plains and the Western Regions and combined them, so that they could make metal products in some aspects that were on par with the Song Dynasty.

The Jin people's Iron Pagoda is one example. In addition, from siege cannons to weapons and blades, they were all able to match or even suppress the Song army. This was one of the important reasons why the Song Dynasty could not win foreign wars.

As Youzhou is a place rich in salt and iron, the importance of its geographical location is self-evident. Yuan Xi didn't know whether the ancestors of the Chinese people in later generations knew this, which is why they occupied this place so tightly during the Ming Dynasty. But in the end, they failed to prevent the Jurchens from discovering large amounts of iron ore south of the Xianbei Mountains, resulting in failure.

Therefore, in this life, he must take advantage of the few short decades he has left to expand the Youzhou border northward to the area north of Liaodong County and directly to the Xianbei Mountains, so as to completely cut off the hope of the Hu people outside the Great Wall to rise.

Given the climatic conditions of this era for thousands of years, the area north of the Xianbei Mountains would not be able to carry out mining and smelting unless it entered industrial society.

In this sense, Youzhou is the real dragon vein of the Chinese nation. As long as we occupy it, the Hu people outside the pass will be able to do nothing but graze.

Yuan Xi didn't know whether Kobe saw any sign of danger, or simply because of the bad climate outside the Great Wall, he invaded Youzhou at all costs, but what he had to do was to completely crush his plot and then annex the territory of Eastern Xianbei. As for Budugen's Western Xianbei, it was the least important.

He said to Tian Yuqian, "Spring is only two months away, so we can continue to advance in Liangzhou."

"Prime Minister Zhuge has now redeployed defenses in the triangle area between Xudu, Luoyang and Yecheng, and replanted crops in this area to make it a logistical supply area for future attacks against Cao Wei."

"The next thing is when Cao Wei can no longer defend Chang'an."

Qian Zhao said, "I'm afraid Cao Wei won't be able to retreat so easily, right?"

"Chang'an is a key node connecting Jingzhou, Sili and Liangzhou. If Cao Wei abandons Chang'an, the passages to the three states will be cut off and they will have to fight on their own. The hope of stopping your majesty's army will be even slimmer."

Yuan Xi nodded, "That's right."

"But if Cao Wei were to fight a desperate battle in Chang'an, I'm afraid hundreds of thousands of lives would be lost in the next few years."

"That's why Prime Minister Zhuge went to Luoyang to prepare for a tentative confrontation with Cao Wei. I'm afraid that within this month, the two sides will start fighting."

"In Liang Province, I have arranged for Zilong and Gao Gan to enter Liang Province. Both sides will advance simultaneously. Let's see how Cao Wei will deal with it."

"And this period is a rare opportunity for Youzhou, but also a very dangerous morale."

"I predict that when spring comes, Kirby will see me deploying troops and will definitely send Xianbei cavalry to harass and test me."

"And my response was the most fierce counterattack, so fierce that Kobe couldn't even guess what I was going to do."

"That's why I transferred both of you here."

"This time we will not only strike at their cavalry, but also at their tribes."

Tian Yu was surprised and asked, "Plowing the courtyard and sweeping the holes?"

Yuan Xi said, "It's slightly different."

"We try not to kill anyone, but take the defeated tribes back inside the pass."

Qian Zhao asked in confusion, "Hu and Han people living together?"

"I'm afraid that within a few decades, the effect will be minimal."

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Don't let them stay in the north. I will use a ship to transport them directly to Jiangdong."

"Then we need a lot of manpower to open up the wasteland in Kuaiji and open up the sea route. It's just right that education has begun there, and the people can also learn to read and write. Let these Xianbei people learn Chinese from a young age, and within ten years, there will be no difference."

Qian Zhao pondered and said, "Then their patriarch might have some resistance..."

Yuan Xi said, "So only women and children were relocated this time."

"As for the men who surrender, I will try to find another place to settle them, but there should be very few families like this, because most of the young and strong men go out to fight, and have already made preparations to abandon their wives and children. If their place of residence is attacked, they will not come back to rescue, but will only go to the north, marry another wife and have children, and then try to make a comeback."

"But here comes the key question: if their wives were sent to Jiangdong, where would they find so many suitable women of marriageable age?"

“So they only have two options.”

At this time, Tian Yu and Qian Zhao suddenly realized what was going on. They were surprised and thought that he was indeed worthy of being the emperor. He could come up with such a vicious plan to cut off the firewood from the bottom of the pot! Because if it was really as Yuan Xi thought, the Xianbei outside the pass would inevitably have more men than women. If they wanted to reproduce, they would either have to fight fiercely to obtain the right to distribute women, or they would be forced to march north or west to plunder. This was a plan to shift the disaster eastward.

Qian Zhao sighed, "Your Majesty really has a brilliant idea. This is equivalent to sending the wounded soldiers back from the battlefield to hinder the enemy's logistics. Making their men redundant is also a similar idea."

Yuan Xi sneered and said, "They forced me to do this."

"They have repeatedly entered the country and abducted Han women. Now we can take revenge on them in any way we can. It is not excessive."

"I'll leave the rest of the matter to you two. Try your best to hold back the invading cavalry, and then take the opportunity to attack their camp in the rear. I'll ask Yan Rou and Xian Yu Yin to help. I want to see how Kobe can handle it!"

The winter snow melted, and the rivers on the northern grasslands began to flow again. As the weather warmed up, spring returned to the earth. On the battle line that stretched for thousands of miles in the north, all parties had endured for a whole winter and finally took action again.

As Yuan Xi expected, extremely frequent small-scale battles broke out in Liangzhou and Sili areas at the same time. Facing Zhuge Liang's offensive, Cao Wei finally re-employed Sima Yi and asked him to lead troops to confront Zhuge Liang.

On the other side of Liang Province, facing the imperial edict personally issued by Cao Pi, Ma Chao could no longer delay and had to cooperate with Han Sui to resist the offensive of the Jin army. However, compared to resisting the Jin army, he wanted to see Han Sui suffer a defeat and weaken his strength. So he used the excuse that his Xiliang soldiers were short of trees and only provided support on the flank.

But as a result, the pressure on the Xiliang coalition led by Han Sui increased greatly. Originally, if it was only Zhao Yun and Gao Gan's army, Han Sui would have been more relaxed. But at this time, the Xiongnu soldiers of Qubei, and even Budugen's Western Xianbei, were harassing and attacking the area north of Yinshan Mountain, which threatened the rear of Xiliang. Han Sui had to retreat hundreds of miles and re-establish the defense line.

But in this way, Ma Chao's flank became the main target of attack. After suffering a great loss, he was almost furious and had to give up the Wuwei area and retreat towards Tianshui County. During this period, he and Han Sui separately submitted memorials to Chang'an, criticizing the other side for fighting passively and trying to shirk the responsibility for losing Wuwei.

The two memorials were placed on Cao Pi's desk. After reading them, Cao Pi threw them aside and said with a gloomy face, "Liangzhou is really unreliable!"

Guo had been crowned as the Queen by this time. She went over, bent down, picked up the bamboo slips and put them away, saying, "But Your Majesty still needs them to resist the Jin army in Liangzhou. If the two of them have a quarrel, one of them will definitely want to join the Jin army, which will be troublesome."

Cao Pi said coldly: "The Queen is right, so how can we guard against it?"

Empress Guo said: "The simplest way is to summon one party to the capital so that the other party can do his job freely."

"But in this way, if the remaining party has different intentions, no one can stop them."

Cao Pi said, "That's right. If we have to recruit someone, we should recruit Ma Chao. Han Sui will not listen to orders."

"But it would be a bit of a waste to let Ma Chao come. As a general, he is good at attacking, but defending Chang'an is not his strong point, and we can't make full use of his talents."

Queen Guo said: "Then we can only send a minister to mediate the relationship between the two sides."

Cao Pi said: "This person must have high prestige and a good relationship with the two. Now after all the considerations, there is only one person who is suitable."

Empress Guo smiled and said, "Yes, it is Master Zhong."

"If he can't settle the dispute between the two, Liangzhou will be lost sooner or later, and Chang'an will be in danger by then."

Cao Pi sighed and said, "The queen is really my good wife. If it weren't for the queen, I wouldn't know how to clean up this mess."

"If I had known this would happen, I would have let my fourth brother do it."

Empress Guo covered her mouth and laughed, "I'm afraid the Wei Kingdom has already perished."

Cao Pi said, "Then I won't be able to stop you in the future, won't it be the same?"

Empress Guo spoke up: "Your Majesty, this is different."

"First, it is better to control life and death in your own hands than in the hands of others."

"Second, if you surrender easily, you will be ridiculed. On the contrary, if you resist to the end, you can get more favorable conditions."

"Finally, Your Majesty, don't you think that this life should be worthwhile if we do something wonderful?"

Cao Pi laughed and said, "Well, the queen is just like me, a lunatic!"

"Then let me see how many lives the Jin State can fill. As for the hatred, after I die, I won't care about the flood!"

When the conflict broke out on the border of Cao Wei, Jicheng also received news of the Xianbei's unrest. Yuan Xi was sitting at his desk, and it was beyond his expectations that Xiliang would easily give up Wuwei. It seemed that the conflict between Ma Chao and Han Sui was extremely deep.

He finally set a trap and waited for the Xianbei people to fall into it.

The bait of the trap is spring plowing.

(End of this chapter)