Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1371 Imperial Decree
Before Hong came in, Yuan Xi knew why she came. Sure enough, when Hong came in, she said that she learned that Liu's body would arrive in Yecheng soon, and as Yuan Shang's widow, she had the responsibility to welcome and bury Liu's body, so she asked to go back to Yecheng with him.

Yuan Xi was also quite sad about Hong's situation. Before Yuan Shang died, he said that as long as Hong could find a child willing to be adopted by Yuan Shang's branch, she could remarry.

Afterwards, Hong escaped from Yecheng and came to Jicheng, where she took refuge in the Yuan family's mansion. During this period, she also tried hard to find the descendants of the Yuan family, but at that time, the Yuan family had been scattered after several wars, and it was difficult to continue the family line, let alone adopt it to others.

What's more, if the child is adopted, it will definitely be better than the current family situation. Yuan Shang's branch was completely wiped out, and Yuan Shang himself was a commoner, far inferior to Yuan Wei and Yuan Ji who were three highest officials. Who would be willing to adopt a child to a family that has no resources at all?

In addition, Hong was a single woman and was restricted by the practices of the Hong family behind her. The Hong family felt that remarrying would bring disgrace to the family and was also afraid of Yuan Xi, so they allowed Hong to waste seven or eight years and there was no explanation in the end.

Yuan Xi has been busy with the war in recent years, and due to his status, he cannot get deeply involved in this matter. He has met with Hong a few times, but every time he asks for Hong's opinion, Hong says that she has nothing to do. Yuan Xi has no choice but to let it go.

Now he suddenly remembered that the last time he saw Hong was more than two years ago. He couldn't help but feel guilty and said, "I neglected your matter."

"My brother's last wish for his offspring is my responsibility as the head of the family, but it has fallen on a woman like you. This is really inappropriate. From now on, I will do it. You can put down the burden."

"I have no objection to you returning to Yecheng, but it is impossible for you to preside over the burial of Liu's body, so I will arrange it together."

After hearing this, Hong was about to bow down to express her gratitude, but Yuan Xi stopped her and said, "We are all family, don't be so distant."

"Today I will gather the clansmen to discuss the adoption. The ceremony will be held tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow I will let him go to Yecheng with you."

"Although the descendants of Lord Benchu ​​are few and far between, I remember that there are still some illegitimate sons in several families of Lord Gonglu's branch."

"By the way, all of us have been crowned kings over the years, but Xianfu's title of marquis has never been given up by imperial decree. I will do it today."

After hearing this, Hong hurriedly thanked him. Yuan Xi sighed, "It's really sad to think about it. Although Xianfu was confused at first, he finally held Yecheng and did not lose his integrity. It's a pity that he died young. Since he left a will, you don't have to be so wronged."

Hong bit her lip and whispered, "I am doing fine now."

Yuan Xi couldn't figure out Hong's thoughts, so he said, "It's up to you. When you've made up your mind and are ready to remarry, I'll help you with the dowry."

Hong thanked him with a complicated expression and left. Yuan Xi then called Sun Li and asked him to gather the heads of the Yuan family branches in the city. He himself spread out the silk book and wrote an edict to posthumously confer the title of marquis on Yuan Shang.

Madam Du witnessed the whole process. As she was grinding ink, she couldn't help but ask, "Madam Hong has lived here for so many years. Can't Your Majesty see what Madam Hong is thinking?"

Yuan Xi didn't even raise his head. "I don't know what you're thinking."

Madam Du was so angry that she laughed, "How come after your majesty became emperor, your courage is not as good as when you were an envoy?"

"Your Majesty, are you playing dumb?"

Yuan Xi stopped writing, looked up at Madam Du, and sighed, "Since I sit in this position, I am a role model for the world. There are some things that can be done in private, but cannot be done in public, and cannot even be thought of."

Madam Du whispered, "Your Majesty, are you restraining yourself too tightly?"

"From the history books, there have been dozens of emperors in the Han Dynasty, but none of them were as cautious as Your Majesty."

"On the contrary, Your Majesty is brave and diligent on the battlefield, charging forward without hesitation, as if he is a completely different person."

Yuan Xi lifted Mrs. Du's chin and asked, "Only on the battlefield?"

Madam Du blushed and said angrily, "Your Majesty, are you trying to avoid answering?"

Yuan Xi withdrew his hand, scratched his head, and sighed: "I dare not be careless."

"After all, less than half of the emperors of the Han Dynasty were qualified. If I act recklessly and leave a bad reputation behind me, that's fine. But if some of my wrong actions are imitated by others, then the world will be in chaos."

Madam Du pouted and said, "Why do I always feel that Your Majesty is deceiving yourself?"

"Didn't I also remarry? Didn't Your Majesty not care about it?"

"Your Majesty said that he was afraid of the world's criticism of his plotting to seize his brother's wife, but this matter is legitimate in terms of status, and after all these years, does anyone really care?"

Yuan Xi had already finished writing the edict and said, "Let's do this for now. There are some things that are not wrong, but it's still hard to do them." "In life, even if you are the emperor, you can't do whatever you want. Otherwise, if I start this, sooner or later I will become one of those who do whatever they want."

Madam Du stopped talking. She thought to herself, even though His Majesty had said so much, why did she always feel that he still had some reasons that he hadn't said?
Yuan Xi was very efficient in his work. The next day, Liu Bei posthumously conferred the title of Marquis of Loyalty and Friendship on Yuan Xi, and selected a child from Yuan Shu's clan to adopt to Yuan Shang, letting him inherit the title and handing him over to the Hong family for upbringing.

After finishing all the work, Yuan Xi prepared to leave. Before leaving, he found Tian Yu and said, "Guorang has made great contributions in pacifying the Three Kingdoms of Korea and Goguryeo. He deserves to be crowned king."

"Does Guo Rang want to return to Yecheng to receive his title?"

Tian Yu listened and shook his head, saying, "Your Majesty, please don't mention this. The king of a different surname is prepared for those foreign vassal kings. I am just one of your majesty's generals."

"The border has not been pacified yet. Although the Central Xianbei have dispersed, the Eastern and Western ancestors have their own thoughts and may cause trouble in the future. I am willing to lead the way for Your Majesty and guard the northern border."

Yuan Xi was deeply moved. He held Tian Yu's hand and said, "Without the help of Brother Guo Rang, I would never be in the situation today."

"The world is full of people fighting for their own benefit, and for the sake of the world. Everyone has no choice but to risk their lives. Many talented people may not be able to make it to the end."

"Those of us who survived can only keep going, pacify the world, and realize their wishes. Then, perhaps, they can rest in peace in their graves."

"Since Guo Rang has no intention of doing this, he will temporarily guard Liaoxi and integrate the Wuhuan and Eastern Xianbei tribes."

"I may not be back right away this time. After all, what's next is the feud between us and Cao Wei."

Tian Yu said goodbye and thought that when he first met His Majesty ten years ago, he would never have thought that things would reach this point in such a short period of time.

He suddenly remembered Tian Kai who died in battle in Yijing, and his mood became even more complicated.

My brother, if you were to know about this in the afterlife, would you be able to see that the world today has changed a lot from what it was back then?

The streets of Jicheng today are completely different from what they were ten years ago. Tian Yu walked on the street, looking at the people with smiling faces. Among them were not only Han people, but also a considerable number of Wuhuan people, Southern Xiongnu people, or Goguryeo people.

Tian Yu had lived in the north for a long time and was very familiar with faces of various ethnic groups, so he could tell where they were from at a glance.

The reason for this is that the previous method of identification based on hair and clothing is no longer feasible, because the hairstyles of these people and the clothes they wear are no different from those of the Han people, but from their appearance, it is very difficult to distinguish them.

Yuan Xi promoted the unification of the Han area, and one of his requirements was to adopt Han clothing. Although it was not mandatory, if foreigners wanted to integrate and their descendants were to be regarded as Han people, it was naturally impossible for them to continue to adhere to their previous living habits.

In recent years, with the accelerated pace of integration, more and more people of different ethnic groups have begun to learn Chinese characters, and some have even become officials serving the State of Jin. Jicheng has truly become a city integrating various ethnic groups, and in the near future, it will welcome more people who come here to visit.

Tian Yu couldn't help but look up at the sky and let out a long sigh, "Brother, you asked me to see for you what the world would become. Today I have seen it for you, and I will continue to see it for you in the future to see how wonderful this world will become."

Yuan Xi set off as scheduled. The convoy first had boats, then carriages, and finally they got on the boats. Now that several river routes have been opened between Youzhou and Jizhou, and there are large ships that can transport carriages, the travel speed is several times faster. Before Yuan Xi finds the asphalt mine and finds a way to produce asphalt on a large scale, water transportation is still the most convenient and stable way to travel.

When Yuan Xi arrived in Yecheng, it was already late autumn, and the wars in the world had almost stopped temporarily in anticipation of the coming of winter.

Although Yuan Xi had asked Zhuge Liang to return to Yecheng before, Zhuge Liang was indeed delayed due to some matters, so he has been staying in Luoyang until now and is expected to come back in a month.

After reading the letter sent by Zhuge Liang, Yuan Xi realized that a famine had occurred in Liangzhou. Many Liangzhou soldiers fled and became bandits. Most of these people fled to the Sili area to plunder, which had seriously affected the stability around Luoyang. Zhuge Liang saw that he could not take Chang'an before the New Year, so he temporarily retreated to Luoyang to focus on stabilizing the situation.

The Wei State was naturally happy to see this happen. They were also troubled by the Liang Province rebels because over the past hundred years, the Liang Province soldiers were the most unruly and difficult to manage among the three northern provinces.

Although Ma Chao and Han Sui nominally represented Liangzhou in surrendering to Wei, in the final analysis they were only two of the hundreds of military leaders of all sizes in Liangzhou. The other forces were local emperors who ruled their own territories and chose to surrender only because their strength was temporarily inferior to that of Ma Chao and Han Sui.

But they have always been eyeing Ma Chao and Han Sui's positions, and when the two men's power weakens, they will replace them. This is Liang Province, the most troublesome of the thirteen states in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Even the trouble it has caused in the past twenty years exceeds the sum of the other twelve states.

Ma Chao and Han Sui had never gotten along before, and Yuan Xi hired someone to alienate the two. He gave them some true and false evidence to make them suspect and accuse each other. Under this defensive mentality, the two's control over Liang Province was greatly weakened. As a result, during the war between Jin and Wei, many powerful people in Liang Province did not work hard, or even secretly condoned the looting by their private soldiers, which led to the current uprising of bandits in Liang Province.

Ma Chao and Han Sui naturally didn't care about this as they were already accustomed to such behavior. But Zhuge Liang was different. His logistics line built with Luoyang as the center was affected a lot, so he ordered the army to retreat and sweep the area, forcing the Liangzhou bandits back to Liangzhou.

(End of this chapter)