Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1445 Departure
When Xu Huang was supervising the soldiers to repair the road, his men reported that Wei Yan from the mountains had returned.

After hearing this, Xu Huang returned to the tent, ushered Wei Yan in, and said, "General, you have worked hard."

Over the past six months, Wei Yan has been eliminating the Wei army's scout outposts in the Qinling Mountains and Migang Mountain near Hanzhong. During this period, dozens of outposts around Hanzhong were uprooted by him one by one.

However, Wei Yan's face did not look happy, and he said: "The Wei army is cunning. They only put a small number of people at each scout point, and they immediately fled to warn after being attacked, and then came out to rebuild. It seems that the results here are good, but in fact, the results are very small."

"Given the Wei army's level of defense, it will be impossible to attack Hanzhong by sneaking through the dense forest. It seems that we have to attack from the front."

Xu Huang listened and comforted him: "It's okay, we still have plenty of time to prepare. The Prime Minister has issued an order, saying that this year is over. Next year he will personally lead the army to conquer Hanzhong with all his strength."

Wei Yan was quite surprised when he heard this and asked, "We're not going to fight this year?"

Xu Huang said, "It's almost winter now, and there are still more than a hundred miles of mountain roads that have not been repaired. It's too cold to dig the soil, so we have to wait until next summer."

Wei Yan shook his head and said, "Why do you have to be so persistent in building roads?"

"A hundred-mile march would take three or four days even with baggage. Do we have to repair to the city?"

Xu Huang smiled and said, "The Prime Minister must have his own ideas. Wen Chang can ask him in person when he meets him in the future. Anyway, a winter has passed in the blink of an eye."

"The Prime Minister asked us to take turns to go back to Wuzhangyuan to set up defenses and prevent the Wei army from coming out to destroy the roads. By next year, we will have completed our mission."

After hearing this, Wei Yan had no choice but to replenish supplies and go to ambush in the mountains. If the Wei army destroyed the mountain road while the Jin army was retreating, he could cut off their retreat from the mountain and deal a severe blow to the Wei army.

However, his expectation was dashed. Until the winter snow, the Wei army did not leave Hanzhong again. As the weather got colder, Wei Yan had to lead his soldiers back to Xiegu City near Wuzhangyuan to spend the winter.

Although the journey was nearly three hundred miles long, it was extremely smooth, so Wei Yan only took seven or eight days to return. He couldn't help but sigh that having a flat and wide road was so convenient for marching.

In Hanzhong City, Sima Yi's military advisor had been replaced by Du Xi. Du Xi had previously followed Xiahou Dun, and later was transferred to Hanzhong and became an important aide to Sima Yi.

At this time, he said to Sima Yi: "General, the Jin army has retreated to Wuzhangyuan. Should we send troops to destroy the road, so that they will waste time next year and delay their arrival in Hanzhong?"

Sima Yi shook his head and said, "No need. It's freezing cold. I once sent people to investigate the road built by the Jin army. When it rained in spring and summer, it could still support the passage of baggage vehicles, which shows how solid it is."

"It's cold today, and the road is as hard as stone. How much damage can be done?"

"Besides, the Jin army might be waiting for us to attack. They can rush to our destination in a few days over hundreds of miles. The roads here are difficult to travel, so we should just defend Hanzhong City."

Du Xi was unwilling to accept this and said, "Then next year we can only wait for the Jin army to push down to the city?"

"According to the timetable, the Jin army will besiege Hanzhong during the summer harvest. By then, the farmlands around Hanzhong will be greatly affected."

Sima Yi said in a deep voice: "Yes, next year will be the most difficult time, so we must prepare for a rainy day from now on."

Du Xi subconsciously asked: "How to do it?"

Sima Yi said in a deep voice: "Fortify the city and clear the fields, burn down Hanzhong, and leave a blank area for the Jin army."

Du Xi thought Sima Yi had a good plan to defend the city, but he never expected that the other party would withdraw as soon as he opened his mouth!
He was surprised and asked: "General, if Hanzhong is lost, the enemy will attack all the way to Chengdu, right?"

Sima Yi said leisurely: "Even if we defend Hanzhong, how long can we hold it?"

"Rather than defending the city and being slowly consumed by the Jin army, it is better to preserve our manpower, fight while retreating, and extend the supply line for the advance."

"It's really impressive that they can build a road to Hanzhong. I want to see if they can build it to Chengdu. It will take them at least five or six years to build a thousand miles of mountain road. This time is enough to produce too many variables."

Du Xi said in a hoarse voice: "But the soldiers and civilians in Hanzhong, including their families, are probably not less than 200,000 or 300,000. If we take all of them to Chengdu, not to mention the long journey and the lack of food, even if we can take them to Chengdu, we won't be able to accommodate them, right?"

Sima Yi nodded and said, "Well said, I have thought about this too."

"In the spring of next year, we will mobilize everyone to launch a surprise counterattack on Xiegu and Wuzhangyuan. Don't worry about the food reserves. Use everything you can, even if it means sacrificing lives."

"If we can capture Wuzhangyuan, that would be great. If not, we will retreat with our young and strong soldiers, and then burn Hanzhong. The remaining old, young, women and children will be the headache for Jin State."

Du Xi couldn't help but feel horrified. This was simply a plan to destroy the entire family. Even if Jin State captured Hanzhong, it would only be capturing a piece of vacant land that needed to be rebuilt. With the burden of hundreds of thousands of disaster victims, the pace of its attack on Hanzhong would be greatly slowed down.

However, he also admired Sima Yi's decision and couldn't help but praise him: "In this way, Hanzhong can buy a lot of time. I heard that Shangyong has already made a breakthrough. If General Xiahou can attack Changsha and destroy Hannan, the situation in Wei will be completely revitalized."

Sima Yi was noncommittal, thinking that it was not that easy. Fangling was taken at the cost of Cao Zhen's death, but Xiahou Shang's troops were not strong enough to threaten Nanyang. Xiahou Dun's situation was even more worrying. Although Xin Pi helped, the Wei army could not defeat Guan Yu. Now that winter was approaching, the Wei army might have to retreat to Baidi City or even Fuling, which meant that the battle for more than a year was in vain.

As long as Xiahou Dun cannot break through Yiling Gong'an and threaten Nanjun Jiangling, the State of Wei will not be able to destroy Hannan. His memorial has already been sent out. Whether the Wei court can find a glimmer of hope through a ceasefire depends on the game between the three countries.

Inside Jicheng, Yuan Xi had already received Wei's request for peace. At the same time, the Procuratorate also reported Wei's private contacts with Hannan.

Yuan Xi attached great importance to this. He summoned his advisers to discuss the matter and analyzed the latest intelligence about Hannan. Finally, he commented on Yang Xiu and concluded that Hannan would most likely negotiate a ceasefire with Wei.

Of course, some people disagreed. Yang Xun said, "Hannan and Wei have a great feud and have been fighting for a long time. How can they just stop fighting?"

Ni Heng also expressed doubts, "Guan Yu is extremely hostile to the Wei Kingdom. He has now returned to Changsha for the winter, which will definitely affect the King of Hannan. With him around, the Hannan Kingdom will never give in, right?"

Xin Ping said in a deep voice: "The person who carries the most weight in Hannan right now is Xu Shu. His goal is not simply to destroy Wei, but to restore the Han Dynasty."

"And according to intelligence, Hannan's ruler Liu Chan has not been in good health in the past six months. Not only has he suffered from two serious illnesses, but he has also been addicted to alcohol and sex. Xu Shu is in charge of the government."

"Under this situation, it is still unknown how much effect Guan Yu, a general, can have."

Yuan Xi pondered for a moment, and asked, "What's the situation on the northern grassland now?"

Yang Xiu said: "Although the alliance created by the lord has many internal conflicts, most of the forces are still on our side. They control the direction of the alliance through the parliament. Now, with the material support of Dajin, the forces have retreated more than 700 miles to the north in one year."

"If everything goes well, in three years, we will be able to overthrow Suiye and completely control Rehai Qingchi."

Rehai Qingchi is the Issyk-Kul Lake in later generations. It is near Suiye, the birthplace of Li Bai. If the alliance controls this area, it can guide the northern grasslands to expand towards the easier west and north, and will no longer pose a threat to the Central Plains.

Yuan Xi nodded, "What about Bingzhou?"

Yang Xiu immediately replied: "Zi Jing and Zi Bu used thunderous means in Jinyang to stabilize prices. At the same time, they took action against a group of Shang people with solid evidence of crimes, which frightened the remaining Shang people."

"But the situation in Jinyang has not been completely reshuffled yet, so the two of them will need another year."

"But it seems that the Bingzhou merchants can't cause any trouble in the near future."

Yuan Xi pondered for a long time and said, "I must go to Jiangdong in person."

"The attitude of Hannan is crucial. If it sides with Wei, the unification of the world may be delayed by at least ten years."

"Kong Ming in Yecheng also needs me to meet him in person. If the situation in Hanzhong goes wrong, Cao Wei will be forced to fight to the death, and Yizhou will collapse, and the people will suffer and leave us a mess."

No one had any objection to this. Currently, among the ministers under Yuan Xi, there was no absolute core, but all of them were centered around Yuan Xi. At this time, the one who could preside over the overall situation and make the final decision was none other than Yuan Xi.

After Yuan Xi sent his advisers back, he went to the back house and told the ladies about his plans. Cai Zhaoji asked, "When will Your Majesty leave?"

Yuan Xi said, "This matter cannot be delayed. It is a good opportunity to make arrangements during the winter break. The sooner the better."

"So I will leave before the New Year, and I will also hold ancestor worship in advance. But don't worry, if everything goes well, I will be back in a year or so."

Seeing that the women all seemed unconvinced, Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Really, if this succeeds, maybe the world will be pacified earlier, and I won't have to run around anymore."

After hearing this, the ladies were relieved and went their separate ways. Lu Lingqi secretly found an opportunity and whispered to Yuan Xi, "Your Majesty, here is the engagement letter. When we get to the south, can you find a suitable family to help me deliver it?"

Yuan Xi took it and looked at it, and couldn't help laughing, "Our child is not even ten years old, and you are in a hurry to become a grandparent?"

"Isn't this a bit too hasty?"

Lu Lingqi glared at Yuan Xi and said, "What do you know, my husband? Girls from good families are very popular nowadays. If you don't hurry up, you'll lose them."

Yuan Xi said helplessly: "Who do you like?"

Lu Lingqi said: "I heard that the girls from the Guan and Zhang families have practiced martial arts since childhood, which is very much to my taste, so why not..."

Yuan Xi was even more speechless. Do you think it is so easy to marry the daughter of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei?

(End of this chapter)