Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1412 World Affairs
The next morning, when Yuan Xi and Lu Xun went to the residence where Xiahou Yuan was imprisoned, they did not let the guard notify them, but walked in directly. As a result, they found a chubby fat man practicing push-ups under the tree in the courtyard.

He was practicing so hard while lying on the ground that he didn't notice anyone coming in. Yuan Xi tried hard to identify them for a long time and confirmed with Lu Xun again and again before he was sure that the round people were none other than Xiahou Yuan, the once powerful and famous commander of the Wei army in the Central Plains.

He couldn't help but complain: "Was he this fat before?"

It was normal for Yuan Xi to ask this question. After all, many generals were big, broad-shouldered and thick-bellied men weighing 200 pounds. Without this body shape, they could not afford to wear armor weighing dozens of pounds to charge into battle and kill the enemy.

Lawrence Lu’s expression was also very interesting, and he said aloud: “Compared to three years ago, he has gained at least 60 kilograms.”

Yuan Xi couldn't help but gasp, "Isn't his appetite too good?"

Xiahou Yuan had already heard the conversation between the two men, but he had never met them before. He thought that the guards had been replaced. He raised his head angrily and shouted, "It's your turn to be locked up for more than three years with no place to move around. Look what you have become!"

"I used to walk a hundred miles a day and could only eat two meals and four loaves of bread. Now I'm stuck here with nothing to do, and the only thing that has increased is my appetite and waistline!"

"Although I was born in Jianghuai, I have never had a full meal since I was a child. Is the food here so good?"

After hearing this, Yuan Xi laughed at Lu Xun and said, "It seems that the food you arranged is really good."

Xiahou Yuan then jumped up with a grunt. Seeing his agile figure, Yuan Xi subconsciously took a step back.

This was the sense Yuan Xi developed after years of fighting on the battlefield. He could see the explosive power hidden under Xiahou Yuan's fat. Although he had gained weight, his muscles had not decreased. On the contrary, his strength had increased as his weight increased. If he went into battle to kill the enemy, he would be no worse than before.

Seeing that Lu Xun still had a confused look on his face, Yuan Xi pulled him to his side and asked Sun Li and several other personal guards to stand in front of him. Only then did he feel relieved.

All of this fell into Xiahou Yuan's eyes, and he showed a mocking look on his face, "With this little courage, you still want to look after me?"

"Aren't you afraid that I could take advantage of your unpreparedness and break your neck?"

Just as Lu Xun was about to speak, Yuan Xi stopped him and said with a smile: "I believe you naturally have this ability."

"But what good will it do you?"

"Aren't you afraid of death?"

Xiahou Yuan burst into laughter, "What am I afraid of?"

"Being locked up here is worse than death. I might as well take a few people with me!"

"But your king has locked me up here, I'm afraid he wants to use me, right?"

"Go back and tell the person who sent you, no way!"

Yuan Xi suddenly said, "The Wei Kingdom has been destroyed."

Xiahou Yuan was startled, then angrily said: "Impossible!"

"I think the Wei Kingdom is about to destroy you, so you came to me for help, right?"

Yuan Xi turned to Lu Xun, “Bo Yan, tell him what happened in the past few years.”

As Lu Xun spoke, Xiahou Yuan's expression changed from surprise to disbelief, shock, disbelief, pain, confusion, and finally anger. He roared, "Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

"Where did you come from, you liars? How dare you deceive me?"

"The King of Wei will die?"

"How could he die?"

"Fuck your mother, I'm going to fight you!"

He wanted to pounce, but Sun Li and other guards were already extremely alert and immediately drew their swords to stop him. Several ring-handled swords were swung out and Xiahou Yuan was forced to retreat.

Xiahou Yuan's sleeve was cut off by Sun Li's sword, and he calmed down and said, "Why are you telling me this?"

"who are you?"

Yuan Xi said calmly: "You guys call me fierce tiger."

"The man who defeated the Wei Kingdom that usurped the Han Dynasty and left only Yizhou."

Xiahou Yuan opened his eyes wide in surprise. Lu Xun said, "I am Lu Xun, the governor of Jianghuai. I have dealt with the general before."

"The one in front of you is indeed the Emperor of the Great Jin. Now that the Great Jin has pacified the world, the Wei Kingdom has retreated to Yizhou and is about to be destroyed."

"Cao Cao also died three years ago. His son Cao Pi succeeded him and forced the emperor of the Former Han Dynasty to usurp the throne. However, the emperor of the Former Han Dynasty handed over the legal system to Your Majesty. Now the Wei Kingdom has lost all its legal system and is at the end of its rope."

After hearing this, Xiahou Yuan calmed down and said in a deep voice: "Even if all this is true, I am no longer of any use to you."

"Do you think I can persuade the Xiahou clan to rebel against Wei and serve Jin?"

"Stop dreaming!"

When Yuan Xi saw this, he thought to himself that Xiahou was worthy of being a commander. The news had been kept secret for three years, but he was still able to remain calm when he heard the shocking news. His intelligence was far beyond that of ordinary people.

He said aloud: "You guessed right."

"Now I have many talented people under my command. Any one of them can defeat the State of Wei."

Xiahou Yuan snorted coldly after hearing this. Just as he was about to retort, he heard Yuan Xi say, "Just like the general Huang who defeated and captured you last time, I have at least a dozen more people like him."

"And how many generals in the current Wei State can compare with you?"

"When Cao Cao was alive, he had many generals under him, but he still couldn't defeat me. Now that Wei is short of talent, how can it fight against Jin?"

Xiahou Yuan's face became even uglier after hearing this. He opened his mouth, but found that he could not refute it. Even though he had doubts about what he had just said, he could judge that the other party was not lying to him. He was afraid that Wei State could not stand it anymore! He said in a muffled voice: "As the emperor of Dajin, why did you come to me, a useless person who has been imprisoned for several years?"

Yuan Xi stared at Xiahou Yuan and suddenly had the idea of ​​playing a prank on him. He said, "You raised General Zhang Fei's widow, Xiahou, right?"

Xiahou Yuan nodded subconsciously, then asked in surprise: "Zhang Fei is dead?"

"impossible!"

"Who can kill him?"

Yuan Xi said: "When he was attacking the State of Wu, he was assassinated by an assassin sent by the State of Wu."

After hearing this, Xiahou Yuan suddenly realized, "So that's how it is. Jin wants to deal with Wu, so they want to recruit me?"

Lu Xun said, "The Kingdom of Wu has been destroyed by your majesty."

"Sun Quan has also died in the North."

Xiahou Yuan was dumbfounded. His brain couldn't process this information for a while. What on earth had happened during these years that he was imprisoned?
Lu Xun briefly added a few words about the general situation in the world. Xiahou Yuan then realized that Jin had defeated even the Xianbei outside the Great Wall. He looked incredulous, "When I was imprisoned, even Wei occupied Yecheng. In more than three years, they have lost Yanzhou, Yuzhou, Jizhou, and Sili?"

Yuan Xi said: "There is also Liangzhou."

"After all, after Cao Cao's death, there are not many people in Wei who can fight against Jin."

"When Cao Cao was alive, he also supported most of the Wei Kingdom. If it weren't for him, how could the Cao and Xiahou clans have the possibility to fight against the Yuan clan?"

Xiahou Yuan fell to his knees, looked up to the sky and screamed, "Why?"

"God is blind. Why did he let you die so young?"

"The heaven is blind!"

Yuan Xi said coldly: "It is indeed blind. Otherwise, how could Cao Cao survive so long when Cao Wei massacred so many people?"

"What you have done in Xuzhou, Jizhou, and even Yanzhou has already angered the heavens and the people. Do you think you are innocent?"

Xiahou Yuan snorted coldly: "Who wouldn't be like this in troubled times?"

"In order to survive, everyone will do whatever it takes. Even if Cao Wei doesn't do it, won't others do it?"

"Do you dare to say that what Jin did is beyond reproach at all?"

Yuan Xi said calmly: "Although I dare not say that I did everything right, at least I didn't make human meat, at least I didn't hold the emperor hostage, at least I didn't massacre innocent people in the city."

"Let me not talk about it. Lord Xuande, the King of Hannan, has been fighting against Cao Cao all his life. Can you find any fault with him?"

Xiahou Yuan was speechless, then he realized, "Liu Bei is dead too?"

Seeing Yuan Xi nod, he smiled bitterly, "Is that so."

"The previous generation has all passed away. It seems that the future will not belong to us old guys."

"In that case, what are you doing here?"

Yuan Xi said, "Two years ago, your clanswoman Xiahou came to me to beg for burial of your body, not knowing that you were still alive. I sent her away."

"She has been writing to me every year since then. I am so fed up with her that I am thinking of nailing you in a coffin and sending you over."

Xiahou Yuan's face changed. He naturally knew that if the man in front of him was really a fierce tiger, he might really do such a thing!
He stood on the ground with a gloomy expression, "What exactly do you want me to do?"

Yuan Xi said leisurely: "I heard that when you were in Jingzhou, you had a lot of ideas about the navy, and even Cai Mao and Zhang Yun admired you very much."

"Are you interested in ocean voyages?"

After Yuan Xi explained a few words, Xiahou Yuan and Lu Xun were both shocked. Yuan Xi actually wanted Xiahou Yuan to be the commander of an ocean-going fleet to explore the outer seas!

Xiahou Yuan was confused for a moment and could only say that he would consider it, so Yuan Xi said, "Okay, I'll give you a day."

"Of course, I am not without reward. If you achieve something, and if I unify the world in the future, I will also treat Xiahou family well."

This Xiahou family, of course, does not refer to Zhang Fei's widow, but the Xiahou clan of the Wei State. After hearing this, Xiahou Yuan sat under the tree in silence, watching Yuan Xi and Lu Xun leave.

When Yuan Xi led Lu Xun out of the door, Lu Xun was still full of disbelief. Finally, he couldn't hold it in any longer and said, "There are so many naval commanders in Jianghuai. Why do you have to recruit Xiahou Yuan?"

He really couldn't understand, did Jianghuai lack water talent?

Moreover, for ocean voyages, why did they choose Xiahou Yuan, who once served as a military commander, to be the captain?
Why am I increasingly unable to keep up with His Majesty's ideas?
Yuan Xi said, "The reason is actually very simple. Xiahou Yuan has a close relationship with Hannan of Wei State, so I will naturally not let him lead the troops. Besides, I have no shortage of commanders and generals under my command."

"But apart from Cao Cao, Xiahou Yuan actually has the strongest overall ability in Wei. He can command troops, lead by example, and even think about surviving when faced with desperate situations."

“This is an extremely valuable and rare quality in an ocean voyage that is full of dangers, and it is also a necessary factor for success.”

"Moreover, ocean voyages are a life-threatening undertaking. Jianghuai does have naval commanders. If you ask them to abandon their wives and children and sail for several years or even more than ten years, with little chance of returning, how many of them would be willing to do so?"

“Even if you are willing, can you stick to it?”

"Xiahou Yuan is different. He has no way out. He can either be locked up here for life or take a chance to find a way out for the Xiahou family. Apart from this, does he have any other choice?"

After hearing this, Lu Xun had to admit that his Majesty was very good at judging people and really used them to the fullest.

(End of this chapter)