Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1372 Introspection
The situation in Liangzhou is very bad now, and the increasingly cold winter has caused a considerable impact.

Although war has caused great harm to both countries, the most miserable people are naturally the civilians in the war-torn areas. Faced with this disaster beyond their ability, they can only bear it with their bodies and lives.

No matter how prosperous a dynasty is, it is always the common people who suffer, while those in upper positions always have something to eat even in the most difficult years, so there are so many people who try every means to climb up.

Yuan Xi's original position was actually high enough. After all, he was born into one of the largest families. Although bastards were not welcome, he could guard a city alone and had nearly a thousand soldiers at his disposal. It could be said that his start was at least much better than Liu Bei's.

Therefore, when I stand on the high platform in Yecheng and think back on how my life has come to this day, I will think that even if I had the help of knowledge from my previous life, if I were reborn into a lower-class family, I am afraid I would not be able to live to see the New Year.

It is precisely because of this that he is well aware that in this era, the class gap between people is still very deep. It is not possible to narrow this gap as much as possible in one or two generations. Moreover, as a new dynasty, the most violent way for the bottom to leap upward is almost impossible, so they can only look forward to top-down reforms.

This is also the only way for a dynasty to get rid of the old and bring in the new and improve itself in peacetime. If those in high positions do not have this awareness, the dynasty will sooner or later decay, and then facing the anger of the whole world, uprisings from the bottom up will occur, followed by a change of dynasty and a new cycle.

After Yuan Xi finished speaking these words to Yuan Rui in front of him, he asked, "Can you understand?"

Yuan Rui had just reached the age of 18, but because of his environment, he had been exposed to various theories on state governance at an early age. Therefore, he could understand a lot of Yuan Xi's words and nodded immediately.

When Yuan Xi saw this, he said, "Then use what you have seen and heard to prove what I said is wrong."

Yuan Rui was nervous for a while, but he tried to calm down and began to quote classics and cite supporting evidence to explain Yuan Xi's words. Yuan Xi heard that the Confucianism in the classics he quoted was more like Xunzi, and the Legalism was more like Shen Han School. Knowing that this was taught by Zhuge Liang, he asked: "What did Mr. Dezu teach you?"

Yuan Rui answered honestly: "I taught him some stories about Shangshu Ouyang."

Ouyang Shangshu is a type of ancient text Shangshu, which is a collection of ancient text fragments that were lost and rediscovered. It contains the words of ancient emperors and ministers, used to express their political philosophy. It is a classic that cannot be avoided in the Four Books and Five Classics of later generations.

Although the Four Books and Five Classics studied by the ancients were Confucianism, from a modern perspective, they were actually a combination of political science and law. The selection of officials depended on whether the scholars' understanding of these concepts was consistent with the views of those in power.

Because these ancient classics are extremely obscure, the final distillation of ideas may have different interpretations in different eras, so the interpretation of classics in every dynasty is the most critical part of governance.

After listening to Yuan Rui, Yuan Xi asked, "Among these, which ones are your own ideas?"

Yuan Rui mentioned a few places, and Yuan Xi was surprised and asked, "So many?"

Yuan Rui replied: "Both teachers said that what they taught may not be correct. People in different positions may have different ideas, so let the child think for himself as much as possible."

"My mother is sometimes quite worried and often tests her child's ideas."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi laughed and said, "This incident just shows that your mother and the two gentlemen are in different positions, so their responses are also different."

"You still have a long way to go. Go ahead and learn from these two gentlemen."

Yuan Rui responded but did not move. "Father, I have something to ask you."

"What my child said just now, my father must have a different opinion, but why did he remain silent from beginning to end?"

Yuan Xi asked in return: "Do you think the emperor would make a mistake?"

Yuan Rui said without hesitation: "Of course, isn't it true that the chaos in the world is largely caused by the emperor's lack of justice?"

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Me too."

"I can only show you different ideas, but I can't guarantee that these things will not change in the future."

"If you want to be in this position in the future, you must never stop thinking, because the world is constantly changing. If you can't keep up with it, you will be at a loss."

"And you won't know who is right. A hundred ministers will have the same idea. You will inevitably be forced into this painful choice in the future, but you have to face it."

"Just remember that listening to both sides will lead to enlightenment, while only believing in one side will lead to blindness. Remember and understand everyone's opinions, compare and judge them, discard obviously wrong answers, and strive to find the most suitable answer that suits you and the world."

"This choice will accompany you throughout your life. If you can't bear the burden, you can naturally pass it on to others."

"But before you can hold on any longer, I hope you can hold on as long as possible. This is your responsibility and awareness as the heir of the emperor."

After hearing this, Yuan Rui bowed his head and said, "Father, I will remember what you said."

Yuan Xi nodded, "Go ahead. You don't need to push yourself too hard. Relax if you can. Just like your father, it's okay to find some harmless hobbies."

Zhen Mi's angry voice sounded at the side, "Rui'er is still young, what is Your Majesty teaching the child?" She had been listening nearby. Now she saw that Yuan Xi acted like a father at the beginning, but his true colors were revealed in one sentence. What is a harmless hobby? Is he going to expand the harem?
Yuan Xi looked innocent, "What is the Queen thinking? Did I say that?"

"There are many interesting things to find in life. I have been teaching him to be a gentleman from the beginning to the end, right?"

Zhen Mi was speechless. Isn't this obviously a denial?
Yuan Xi let Yuan Rui leave first, and then he sighed to Zhen Mi: "In fact, this child is not easy. Although he has a high family background, he is destined to endure the loneliness that ordinary people cannot face."

"In the future, he will have great power, but also great responsibility and pressure. I'm afraid he will spend most of his life in this deep palace, which is much more miserable than me."

"When I was young, I traveled all over the world and saw all the sights. My life was much more exciting than his."

Zhen Mi glanced at Yuan Xi, and then couldn't help laughing, "Indeed, wherever you go, you attract noble ladies to throw themselves at you. Just based on this ability, Your Majesty is unrivaled in the world."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi said proudly, "I will take this as the Queen praising me."

Zhen Mi leaned forward and held Yuan Xi's hair, "Your Majesty, your hair has turned a lot white in the past few years. I see it with my own eyes and it hurts my heart."

"Your Majesty is in the prime of life, but you have toiled too much for the sake of this empire. I hope that Your Majesty will live a long life and take good care of yourself. Your Majesty is also the owner of the empire, but this also belongs to me and to Your Majesty himself."

Yuan Xi was touched and held Zhen Mi's hand and said, "Don't worry, the days ahead will be much easier."

"You don't know the shadow that the Xianbei have cast on my heart over the years. Now that you have dispersed millions of Xianbei so smoothly, it is beyond my expectation."

"The disintegration of the Central Xianbei has eliminated China's greatest threat for the next hundred years. We can only say that God blesses China."

"It will be much easier to face Wei alone next time. Now Wei has lost the ability to counterattack on all three fronts. Cao Pi even recalled Sima Yi back to Chang'an. I suspect Wei has already planned to move its capital."

"If nothing unexpected happens, in the next ten years, even if Wei does not perish, it will lose most of its territory and can only hide in Yizhou to survive."

"Next, Jin will use military force as a supplement and focus on developing people's livelihood. Once the ports on the southeast coast are opened, the shipping routes are explored, and Wei is destroyed, I will hand over the business to Rui'er, and we will go out to sea to enjoy the scenery."

Zhen Mi chuckled, "Your Majesty, it seems as if you are treating Jin as a burden. No wonder you said so many righteous words to Rui'er just now."

"But has your majesty forgotten that there is also a country called Hannan?"

"I heard that they are now fighting against the southern barbarians, and even have intentions to move towards Jiaozhi. Will this not affect your husband's plans?"

"You know, there is a former Han emperor over there."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi smiled bitterly and said, "If you want to say that I am completely relieved, that is of course impossible."

"But both Guan Yu and Liu Xie are people who want to save face. They are grateful to me, so at least there won't be any major problems in this generation."

"Fight Jiaozhi if you want. I don't have the time to care about that place anyway. But my sea routes will intersect with theirs sooner or later, but maybe that will be a matter of Rui'er's generation."

"But there are still a lot of things waiting for me, a lot of red tape, but I have to do it."

Zhen Mi smiled and said, "Your Majesty, this time you defeated the Xianbei, your achievements are comparable to those of Emperor Wu of Han. In a few days, you will announce it to the world and enfeoff your ministers."

"For such a big event, there are naturally many rituals and etiquettes. We cannot be careless. The Central Plains has been following the Zhou rituals since ancient times. If we are careless, people in the world will naturally not know the significance of this great victory."

Yuan Xi sighed: "The Zhou rituals are indeed unavoidable."

"The monarch-subject system, or even in the future when equality is more present, it is impossible to completely avoid the hierarchy between superiors and subordinates, and the order of seniority and the young. Without this order, there is no equality."

"Where we need to work hard is how to evaluate people based on their moral character and ability. This is the key point."

"When Prime Minister Zhuge comes back, I will discuss with him how to simplify the benefits, preserve the bones and blood vessels, remove unnecessary rotten flesh and skin, and lead the world to form a frugal atmosphere."

When Zhuge Liang rushed to Yecheng, the enfeoffment of Yecheng had already ended. All the heroes who had made contributions in the battle against the Xianbei were rewarded with titles and territories. This made the generals who had not participated in this battle a little anxious, because with the arrival of peace, the chances of making contributions were visibly reduced, and now the only thing left was to destroy Wei.

Zhuge Liang said to Yuan Xi: "Will Your Majesty personally lead the attack on Wei in the future?"

"Your Majesty has participated in all the wars of annihilation of nations by all forces. This achievement has never been missed. I'm afraid many generals are beating their chests and stamping their feet."

(End of this chapter)