Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1363 Deception
After hearing what Yang Xiu said, Yuan Xi couldn't help but joked: "You don't have to flatter me, Dezu. I know that my reputation is not that good."

"I have been using the military for many years, especially in winter. I am afraid that my reputation for warmongering will be even worse than that of Emperor Wu of Han in the writings of future historians."

Yang Xiu's eyes flashed, "Since Your Majesty knew, why did you do this?"

"Some people say that Emperor Wu of Han was willing to sacrifice the country's resources and resources to fight against the Xiongnu in order to achieve success in both civil and military affairs. This led to the country's exhaustion, which was really not worth the loss."

Yuan Xi laughed and said, "This is what Taishigong said, what does Dezu think?"

Yang Xiu said in a deep voice: "If Han Wudi was unaware of the bad reputation he would receive after his death, then Your Majesty must have known it. But Your Majesty still insisted on doing this, and it is obviously not because of his desire for glory and success."

"Xiu thought about it and came up with only one answer, which is that Your Majesty believed that the trouble caused by the Xianbei was far worse than that caused by the Xiongnu. To the extent that Your Majesty abandoned Wei and chose the Xianbei when the world was not yet pacified, it was obvious that Your Majesty had made a great decision and must have seen something that I, the ministers, could not see."

Yuan Xi laughed, "Dezu is very smart. No wonder Cao Cao was so wary of you when he was alive. If you help someone other than the crown prince, I'm afraid no monarch would be at ease."

Yang Xiu smiled bitterly and said, "Your Majesty, you are joking. I am just arrogant because of my talent, but I am not seeking death."

"Meng Degong's incident has already alerted me a lot. I don't want to test my neck with a knife again."

"Your Majesty, have you ever heard of stargazing? What did you see?"

In the eyes of Yang Xiu and others, Yuan Xi is actually a bit of a charlatan. After all, his legendary stargazing technique is very effective and has invisibly shocked many people, including Yang Xiu. Otherwise, with his talent, it would be difficult for him to be convinced by someone so easily.

Yuan Xi looked to the north, "I saw some things that might happen if the Xianbei entered the pass."

"For example, right now in China, the Han population is about 20 million, right?"

Yang Xiu nodded and said, "That's right. At the peak of the Han Dynasty, there were almost 60 million people. But after a hundred years of war, especially the Yellow Turban Rebellion, nearly half of the people died. It was really terrible."

Yuan Xi sighed: "This is not the most terrible thing."

"From what I've seen from stargazing, if the Xianbei invade the country, other foreign tribes will follow them southwards and start slaughtering the Han people. Coupled with the epidemic, the Han people will eventually be reduced to only four or five million, almost on the brink of extinction."

Yang Xiu cried out in amazement: "How could this be possible!"

"Then our Han people are even fewer than the Hu people, and we are in danger of extinction at any time!"

Yuan Xi said in a deep voice: "That's right, so for the sake of future generations, I will never let this happen."

"The three Xianbei tribes, plus the scattered tribes in the north, have at least five to six million people."

"The potential threat posed by this number of people is too great, so I must push the defense line northwards by a thousand miles, reduce their numbers, and make them completely give up the idea of ​​entering the country. It would be best if they were forced to flee westward or northward."

After hearing this, Yang Xiu smiled bitterly and said, "Millions of people... Your Majesty is really generous."

Yuan Xi said: "So Dezu needs to help me think about how to achieve this goal at the lowest cost."

"Among the Xianbei, the most dangerous one is Kobinen. If he dies, the Central Xianbei will become a mess, and we can then proceed with the next plan."

Yang Xiu said, "Your Majesty, didn't you make arrangements long ago? Didn't Marquis Anle surrender in disguise?"

Yuan Xi laughed and said, "Dezu's guess is indeed accurate, but I am not optimistic about whether Sun Quan and his people can succeed. We still need to make preparations for both scenarios."

Yang Xiu thought for a moment and said, "Why not spread a rumor that Jin has sent assassins to kill him, so that he will be suspicious?"

Yuan Xi frowned and said, "Wouldn't that alert the enemy?"

Yang Xiu said, "It's just a trick to tire out the enemy. It will make Kobe suspicious. He won't give up everyone. When the time comes, we can just give up a few pawns and let them gain his trust. It will be easier to start with."

Yuan Xi thought that Yang Xiu was really ruthless. He gave up just like that. It was true that he could accomplish great things without being too particular about small details. He thought for a while and said, "Let me think about it. We may not need to give up the real assassin. We can just frame a few people who look suspicious."

Yang Xiu expressed his agreement, and the two exchanged a few more words. Yang Xiu then took his leave and got on the carriage. He thought to himself that although the emperor spoke harshly, he was not so cruel as to destroy his own people. It would indeed be much safer for him to follow him in the State of Wei.

Kirby listened to the letter brought back by the envoy in the tent. He felt annoyed and stood up and walked around, and finally sat down again.

More than a year ago, he had secretly sent envoys to Wei State, asking the two sides to join forces to deal with Jin State. In his mission, Kobineng had already lowered his attitude sufficiently. He did not even put forward any conditions for territory, but only said that after defeating Jin State, Xianbei would occupy the grasslands outside the Great Wall.

Of course, his ambitions certainly go beyond this, but in order to persuade Wei State to make temporary concessions, Kobe naturally would not tell the truth.

However, what was unexpected was that the envoys stayed in Chang'an for two months, and the matter was debated several times in the Cao Wei court. In the end, the alliance was not reached due to opposition from some ministers.

The Wei State only gave a verbal promise, saying that if the Xianbei could capture Youzhou, the Wei State would send troops to cooperate.

Seeing that they could not delay any longer, the delegation sent someone back to report the news. Because there was a war in Bingzhou on the way, the envoys went around the outside of the pass and took several months to return.

Kobe slammed the table hard. If he could conquer Youzhou on his own, why would he need the help of the Wei version?

He looked up and asked the envoy, "Why doesn't Wei agree to join forces?"

The envoy said, "According to the information gathered by the envoys, the ministers of Wei State think that we are barbarians and that joining forces with me would be beneath the status of the Son of Heaven."

Kobe sneered and said, "The Han people look down on us. It seems that only by using our swords to make them kneel down will they listen to us!"

The envoy hesitated for a moment and said, "Sir Chanyu, at the beginning, Jin also proposed that the two sides would not attack each other, and the conditions were not worse than those of Wei, and they could even trade with each other. Why do we have to attack Jin?"

Kobe snorted coldly: "What do you know!" "That King Jin is extremely insidious. The things he gave us to trade were all extravagant things of the Han people. He was guarding against the things I really wanted!"

"Mining, forging, smelting, and balloon rocket manufacturing methods, these are what I want!"

"Can he give it?"

"He gave us wine, gold and silver toys, and let us learn Chinese characters!"

"He wants to cut off the roots of our Great Xianbei. He is more sinister and cunning than any other Han monarch. If we fall into his trap, the Xianbei will be exterminated sooner or later!"

"Get out!"

The envoy didn't dare to answer and hurried out. Kirby suddenly snorted, "Who are you?"

Jia Xu's voice rang out from outside, "Xu saw that the king was in trouble, so he waited outside for a while."

Kirby ordered someone to bring Jia Xu in, staring at him unkindly, "Did you hear everything just now?"

Jia Xu smiled and said, "I heard something. My Lord, you are not in a good mood recently."

"Xu is a Han Chinese. Aren't you on guard, sir?"

Kobe could snort coldly, and then he heard Jia Xu say: “Even if the king is on guard, he will not admit it.”

"After all, if you want to enter the pass, you can't help but ask the Han people for help. For example, Lord Sun, I'm afraid the condition you negotiated with him at the beginning was to divide the Central Plains equally, right?"

Kobe Neng looked unhappy. "This has nothing to do with you. You just need to give me advice honestly. As long as you have made contributions, I can help you to the throne regardless of whether you are a Han Chinese or not."

Jia Xu smiled and shook his head, "I just want to find a place to spend the rest of my life after this is done, and I will be satisfied."

"As for what happens in the Central Plains in the future, I don't want to be involved anymore."

Kobe's expression softened, "As expected of Wenhe of Chaos, all the plans are for survival, without worrying about anything else."

"Back then, you planned the rebellion in Chang'an and killed millions of people. If you stayed in the Central Plains, your end would not be good. Only I, the Xianbei, can protect you."

Jia Xu smiled bitterly and said, "That's true. The King of Jin obviously hates me, so I fled early."

"He will definitely not let me go, so I have no choice but to find a way to protect myself."

"Prince Jin is now in Jicheng. This is actually a good opportunity for you, my Lord."

"If we kill the King of Jin, everything will end. Would you consider it, sir?"

Kobe snorted coldly: "King Jin is not that easy to kill. It's not like I haven't sent people before."

"But the King of Jin has the same idea. I called you here to ask about the recent rumors on the grassland, saying that the King of Jin sent some assassins to plot against me."

"Mr., do you think this news is true or false?"

Jia Xu said, "Of course it's true."

"But there shouldn't be that many assassins. They want to create confusion and make the king unprepared, thus creating an opportunity for assassination."

Kirby could say, "Oh?"

"How do you say this?"

Jia Xu spoke up, “There is a story about a thief who wanted to steal his master’s valuables, but he didn’t know where his master had hidden them, so he shouted in the middle of the night, saying that a thief was coming.”

"After the owner woke up, he immediately went to check where the valuables were, but he was seen by the thief who was hiding nearby. He waited for the owner to leave and easily stole the valuables."

"The other party's move is to scare the enemy. If you want to deal with it, it is actually very easy, but the next step is to take advantage of this move."

Kirby's eyes flashed, "Please give me some advice, sir."

Jia Xu said, "Your Majesty can pretend to be injured and then make the Jin army lose their vigilance. Then, you can attack the interior of the country unexpectedly."

"Of course, there are other ways to use it. It depends on how you do it."

Kobe frowned and said, "The false news of my assassination has spread, and the tribes are in a panic. How can they send troops with peace of mind?"

Jia Xu thought that Kobe was indeed very capable and would not be fooled so easily, so he said, "So the timing and location of the assassination of the lord are very important."

"It's best to do it a few days before the big attack. The time and distance should not be too far from Jicheng. This way, when the troops receive the news of the attack, the king can show up in time."

Kirby could only say: "You mean you want me to lead the army myself?"

Jia Xu laughed and said, "Your Excellency, you don't think that you can wait for the news of the demise of the Jin State by sitting in this royal tent, right?"

(End of this chapter)