Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1373 Fortune
Yuan Xi smiled bitterly and said, "Military Advisor, do you have any other good ideas?"

"Military nobility has been a big problem since the Qin Dynasty and was still a big problem during the Han Dynasty. In the early days, how many emperors and ministers knew each other well, but fell out after or even before the death of one of them?"

"In the past, ministers who were determined to leave their names in history all targeted Yi Yin and Huo Guang. However, since the Eastern Han Dynasty, foreign relatives have often monopolized power, and the position of general has repeatedly gone wrong. Who dares to mention targeting Huo Guang now? In the eyes of others, isn't this just a desire to rebel?"

Zhuge Liang smiled bitterly and said, "But I have not seen how Your Majesty guards against me and General Zhao."

Yuan Xi said leisurely: "You are naturally different. I still believe in my own judgment."

"I am even very confident about other people. What I am worried about is that some people with ulterior motives are just taking advantage of the relationship between the monarch and his subjects to make trouble."

"So I simply blocked this loophole and portrayed myself as an emperor who was eager to win merits. This was better than having subordinates who were anxious and worried about their own merits and were always thinking about tarnishing their reputation."

After hearing this, Zhuge Liang shook his head helplessly, thinking to himself that it was true. It would be better for the lord to plug this loophole himself than for his ministers to take the initiative to propose it.

He stopped dwelling on this issue and told Yuan Xi about the battles he had fought with the Wei army this year.

The Jin army's tactics were mainly stable. They did not resort to surprise attacks, but instead built a defense line and advanced step by step. As a result, Sima Yi had almost no chance of attack and was ambushed and counterattacked by Zhuge Liang several times. Therefore, the Jin army suffered much fewer casualties than the Wei army.

After hearing this, Yuan Xi was extremely satisfied and said, "Very good. In this case, there is no need to fight a decisive battle with the Wei army. We just need to slowly bleed them."

Zhuge Liang said regretfully: "That being said, Chang'an was supposed to be taken this year. Now it will be delayed for another year or two."

"No hurry," Yuan Xi said, "War is for balance, and farming is for peace. Now that Jin's rear is stable, farming and manufacturing are thriving, it has already pulled far ahead of Wei."

He thought that because the production cost of the matchlock gun without the support of an industrial system was too high and it was not as cost-effective as the bow and crossbow, he did not waste the precious manpower of craftsmen on this aspect. Perhaps the situation on the battlefield would have changed a lot long ago.

Zhuge Liang thought for a moment and said, "However, General Wei Yan in Jiangling has attempted several long-range raids, but because there are too many dense forests and swamps on the roads near Jiangling, he has been frustrated and returned empty-handed."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi said, "Wen Chang is a man who bears grudges and is also very loyal. His chief clerk died at the hands of Sima Yi. No wonder he has always been obsessed with revenge."

"I will write him a letter to remind him that as long as Jiangling is well defended, Wei will have no chance, and it is only a matter of time before they lose the gateway to Nanyang."

While the two were talking, in another place in the mansion, Zhen Mi was also talking to someone, and the guest was Huang Yueying.

Although Zhen Mi was of higher status, she seemed a little guilty at the moment. She always looked away unconsciously when facing Huang Yueying. Huang Yueying knew what was going on when she saw this and said, "I came here this time to thank the Queen."

Zhen Mi shuddered, exclaimed, and subconsciously asked, "Thank you?"

"Thank you for what?"

She had long known from Yuan Xi that Zhuge's wife had a strange temper and was smart, and she could not hide anything from her, so she was afraid that Yuan Xi's persuasion for Zhuge Liang to take a concubine had been exposed.

In Zhen Mi's view, it was all her who pushed for this, and doing such a thing without informing his wife was obviously not in accordance with etiquette, so she felt even more guilty and did not dare to look Huang Yueying in the eye.

Huang Yueying sighed when she saw this and said, "Queen, I have been married to your husband for almost six years."

"Although my husband and I have been together for a long time, we have been together for several years. However, I have not had any children yet, so I naturally have some understanding of this."

Zhen Mi said with difficulty: "Madam, you are still young and will have plenty of opportunities in the future."

Huang Yueying shook her head and said, "No, I have already asked Mr. Yuanhua, it is indeed my own problem. I can only say that there is no such thing as perfection in the world."

"I have met my husband, we know each other well, we are in harmony, and we are connected. My life has been worthwhile. Now I don't want to make my husband regret it for the rest of his life because of the issue of offspring."

"I came here this time specifically to thank the Queen. I also hope that Your Majesty can help persuade my husband that state affairs and family affairs do not conflict with each other. We must wait until the world is at peace. I say that I am still in my prime, but who knows what will happen?"

"My husband's two elder sisters both married their ideal husbands a few years ago, but both lost their husbands in the war and became widows. Now that I heard about it, I feel sad too."

Zhen Mi opened her eyes wide in surprise when she heard this. "Prime Minister Zhuge's sister?"

"Prime Minister Zhuge is very young. Is his sister very old?"

Huang Yueying shook her head and said, "No, she is only two or three years older than my husband. One of her husbands was from the Kuai family of Jingzhou, and the other was from the Pang family of Jingzhou. However, they were involved in the war between Wei and Hannan in Jingzhou. They belonged to two different parties and ended up not escaping the disaster. They died young. It can only be said that God did not give them a long life."

"So I came here this time to thank the Queen. If the Zhuge family lost their offspring because of me, I would not be able to face my husband in my grave."

"I have already received my husband's affection, and I have no other extravagant requests. I only hope that the Zhuge family can continue its lineage, which is my greatest wish."

After hearing this, Zhen Mi sighed and said, "Madam can think like this, which shows how well she knows the Prime Minister. When His Majesty comes back, I will find a way to let him persuade the Prime Minister."

Zhen Mi sent Huang Yueying away and sat by the window in a daze. After a while, she heard Yuan Xi coming into the room from behind. She quickly stood up to greet him and took off his outer robe. Yuan Xi and Zhen Mi sat side by side, looking at the scenery under the high platform outside the window. She shrugged her nose and said, "I have never smelled this perfume before."

Upon hearing this, Zhen Mi smiled and said, "Your Majesty really has a keen nose."

"Prime Minister Zhuge's wife has been here."

Yuan Xi was startled, "Mrs. Huang?"

He immediately became embarrassed. "Could it be that my persuasion for the Prime Minister to take a concubine was exposed, and she came here to settle accounts with the Queen?"

Zhen Mi shook her head and said, "Quite the opposite."

She finished her story and finally said, "I seem to see my own shadow in her."

"She must have been under a lot of pressure over the years."

Yuan Xi hugged Zhen Mi and sighed, "It has been hard for you these years."

"Speaking of which, Prime Minister Zhuge's two sisters also have bad luck."

"The two men they married were both good husbands, but who would have thought that the internal fighting in Jingzhou, which was the least likely to cause trouble, would actually lead to the casualties of so many children from big families."

He had heard about Zhuge Liang's two sisters being widowed a long time ago. That was two years ago.

At that time, Jingzhou surrendered to Wei, Liu Bei sent Guan Yu to attack, and Jin also sent people to help. It was in those battles that Xiahou Yuan led his troops out of Yizhou and was defeated, Cai Mao was captured, and the situation of the Wei army in Jingzhou collapsed.

But later, because Guan Yu's army was weak, the Wei army did not withdraw from Jingzhou completely. Moreover, half of the eight major families in Jingzhou still supported the Wei Kingdom. As a result, several battles of varying sizes broke out between the various forces in between.

Originally, Cai Mao and Zhang Yun were the most powerful in the Jingzhou faction. When they joined forces, they could suppress the different voices in the Jingzhou faction. However, when one of them defected to Hannan and the other to Jin, the Jingzhou faction no longer had a backbone. It became a situation where each fought for itself.

The eight major families were divided into two sides to fight each other because of the uneven distribution of interests, but no one expected that the war would escalate inexplicably.

Zhuge Liang's eldest sister married Kuai Qi, and there were also Kuai Yue and Kuai Liang in the family. All three were talented and guarded the gateway from Yizhou to Jingzhou for the Wei State. But when the Wei army entered Sichuan, the Yizhou army on the east wanted to fight outward. Kuai Qi was ordered to stop them, but ended up dying at the hands of the Yizhou army.

After that, Liu Zhang surrendered, and the Yizhou army also surrendered to the Wei Kingdom. As a result, both sides went to their own side, leaving the Kuai family with nothing to say. They couldn't seek revenge on the Yizhou army, right?
As for Zhuge Liang's second sister, she married Pang Shanmin, the son of Pang Degong. Pang Tong was Pang Degong's adopted son, so Pang Shanmin was Pang Tong's cousin.

Since the relationship between the two sides was so close, the Pang family naturally joined the Hannan Kingdom when Guan Yu attacked.

But this one was even more unlucky. Before he even left Jingzhou, he was involved in the infighting among the eight major families and died inexplicably. From then on, Zhuge Liang's two sisters both became widows.

When Yuan Xi finished explaining the whole story, Zhen Mi was surprised and asked, "This Zhuge family doesn't seem to have very good luck?"

Yuan Xi was thinking more than that. In later generations, members of the Zhuge clan all became important officials in the Three Kingdoms period, but almost all of them did not have a good ending. Zhuge Liang had a good ending, but he died in depression with his ambitions unfulfilled. Others either died in battle or were killed. It is unknown whether the Zhuge clan was passed down to later generations.

Yuan Xi said, "Mrs. Huang probably saw what happened to Zhuge Military Advisor's two elder sisters, and felt something for them, so she decided to arrange for Zhuge Military Advisor to take in a concubine."

"Since she has agreed, there is no obstacle. We just need to let nature take its course."

"But Zhuge Junshi is conservative by nature and very modest about military affairs. He talked to me for a long time, always saying that he was not good at fighting. In fact, in my opinion, he had defeated Wei and was just missing the final blow."

"If all goes well, I'll be able to visit Chang'an next year."

Zhen Mi was surprised: "So fast?"

"I heard a few days ago that the Wei Kingdom held a grand ceremony in Chang'an, as if they were treating Chang'an as their capital. Will they give up?"

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "You can fake your face, but you can't fake your battle lines and the people you employ."

"They have even transferred Sima Yi back to Chang'an. How can this look like they have confidence?"

"Military Advisor Zhuge should have seen it, but he is naturally cautious and is afraid that Wei is cheating, so he dare not guarantee me."

"But the situation in Liang Province is almost out of control. It has become so corrupt that Wei has probably lost confidence in controlling Liang Province. Once Liang Province turns against us and Chang'an is surrounded, Wei may not even be able to retreat to Yi Province. If it is destroyed like this, it will become a joke."

"So I'm sure Cao Pi is already planning a way out."

Just as Yuan Xi had expected, Cao Pi was now in the palace, summoning officials from the Yizhou and Dongzhou factions.

(End of this chapter)