Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms
Chapter 1481: Road of No Return
Chapter 1481: Road of No Return
The backwardness of the Southern Barbarians lies in their isolation from the outside world, which not only blocked cultural exchanges, but also blocked the progress of social structure. As a result, for thousands of years, the Southern Barbarians were in a tribal state, and a considerable number of the lower class people still retained the status of slaves.
Under such circumstances, the ruling environment became increasingly closed. During this period, the central government also wanted to change this situation, but after several attempts, it gave up because the investment and benefits were not proportional. It was not until modern times that there was an improvement.
During this era, although the seven counties of Nanzhong nominally belonged to Yizhou, they were in fact in a state of being abandoned. The previous regimes, including Liu Yan and Liu Zhang, did not take the initiative to pacify Nanzhong. Instead, they were overwhelmed by the invasion of the southern barbarians and were finally forced to block the plank road leading to Nanzhong from Chengdu, and the two regions became irrelevant from then on.
In later generations, when the Shu Kingdom governed central Sichuan, it spent a lot of effort to solve this problem. In addition to the Northern Expedition, Zhuge Liang spent most of his energy on pacifying the Southern Barbarians. The conciliatory policy he adopted was gradually accepted by the Southern Barbarians.
However, with the death of Zhuge Liang and the drain of Shu's strength in years of war, the relaxed policy towards Nanzhong could no longer be sustained. By the end of Shu's reign, the southern barbarians had already shown signs of rebellion again.
This is also the reason why Liu Chan did not flee to Shu for refuge when he was beaten to Chengdu by Wei State, because the loyalty of the Southern Barbarians could not compare with that of the old ministers of Shu State. Did he know whether they would present Liu Chan's head to Wei State?
So Liu Chan finally chose to surrender, and the Nanman in the south also tactfully submitted to the Wei State, which was exactly what the Wei State wanted, so it retained the status quo of the Nanman and put its energy into the conquest of the Wu State.
The social evolution of the Southern Barbarians also stopped there. Although there were relatively bright periods such as the Dali Kingdom in the following years, overall, their social system was always far behind that of the Central Plains.
Yuan Xi naturally took this into consideration before attacking Yizhou. The best outcome he had anticipated was to force Sima Yi into a desperate situation and have him flee to the south.
To this end, he went to Nanchang twice to negotiate with the Kingdom of Hannan, which not only showed his sincerity, but also showed his bottom line. In the end, under the combination of kindness and force of the Jin State, especially the implicit warning of tens of thousands of Jin troops on the border of Hannan, the king and minister Liu Chan and Xu Shu of the Kingdom of Hannan finally gave up their desperate attempt to turn against each other and reluctantly stood on the side of the Jin State, blocking the Wei army's attempt to break through Jingzhou.
Last year's attack by Sima Yi, which used the former generals of Cao Wei, might not seem very powerful, but it was actually the best effort he could make. After several attacks failed to break through the defense lines of the Jin Army and the Hannan Army, Sima Yi had actually decided to abandon the Jiangling line and turn to Nanzhong.
However, Sima Yi's actions were extremely covert, so much so that the Jin army and the Hannan army thought that Wei still had enough strength to prepare for the next attack next year. They did not expect that Sima Yi had already returned to Chengdu and began to mobilize the entire country, using extremely cruel and ruthless means to open up Nanzhong.
Yuan Xi read the battle report over and over again, and was still amazed, not only at Sima Yi's decisive judgment, but also at his ruthless means. This kind of approach, which was almost a massacre, would not be possible for anyone else in the world to do without any worries, but Sima Yi did it and achieved very good results.
Sima Yi treated the southern barbarians as slaves, and the southern barbarian soldiers seemed to accept this approach. This made Yuan Xi sigh. Could it be that the reason why the policy of appeasement failed was because these southern barbarians were not resisting being slaves, but not being able to become slave owners?
But no matter what, Sima Yi's approach undoubtedly completely overturned the current situation of the Southern Barbarians in disguise. After that, it became much easier for Yuan Xi to do things, so he thanked Sima Yi for his jokes.
Cao Jie said, "It is just as Your Majesty expected. The Wei Kingdom is about to fall. Sima Yi is also interesting. He has killed most of the Cao Wei clan and seized power. Yet he has not yet usurped the throne. I don't know what he is thinking."
Yuan Xi said, "Everyone has different pursuits. When he was young, he pretended to be sick and refused to take up a government post. This shows that he is not someone who likes to be busy."
"He has been forced to fight all over the country over the years. I don't know if he can still stick to his original intention after going through so many things. Otherwise, as you said, if he wants to usurp the throne now, who can stop him?"
He suddenly fell into deep thought. Yes, everyone's thoughts will be influenced by their own experiences and encounters. Sima Yi in this life was not subject to suspicion and suppression like Cao Wei in later generations, nor had he experienced such a long period of dormancy and tempering. What reason did he have to believe that the other party would definitely rebel?
In fact, if possible, Yuan Xi initially wanted to recruit Sima Yi. Given the other party's ability, if he honestly served as a capable minister, he would probably be no worse than Kong Ming and Lu Xun.
But after countless considerations, Yuan Xi finally gave up this option, because compared with Kong Ming and Lu Xun, Sima Yi obviously had greater hidden ambitions, and he also expected higher returns for his efforts.
If Yuan Xi became the emperor, he could still suppress Sima Yi with his personal prestige. But what if one day Yuan Xi and Zhuge Liang did not live as long as Sima Yi?
By that time, no minister in the court will be able to suppress Sima Yi. Will he become the second Huo Guang or He Jin by relying on his family connections and personal abilities?
Yuan Xi did not dare to bet that Yuan Rui could suppress Sima Yi, just as no one expected that the Jin Dynasty would collapse so quickly in later generations, leading to the Five Barbarians' Invasion of China. Therefore, Yuan Xi would try his best to eliminate possible hidden dangers.
Just like Sima Yi himself, from the very beginning, Yuan Xi, under the joint planning of many advisers, hinted through actions and words that he would not accept Sima Yi's surrender.
Naturally, these rumors would reach Sima Yi's ears. In addition, officials within the Wei State who secretly defected to Yuan Xi also inadvertently spread and encouraged such rumors. All these various signs finally reached the ears of the suspicious Sima Yi.
Sima Yi was an extremely suspicious person, so he thought a lot. After various judgments, he came to the conclusion that the State of Jin would never accept his surrender. Instead, it was very likely that the State of Jin would use him as a target to suppress the Yingchuan faction and establish its authority.
Therefore, Sima Yi finally chose to fight to the death and flee to Tianzhu. After all, the current Jin State has already embarked on a brand new path. Whether one or two people are missing or not, it will not change the general trend of the world. Yuan Xi stood up, stretched, and said, "He is the last major threat to the Jin State. Now he chooses to flee, which is really a cause for celebration."
"Today is a good day. Tell the queen and all the ladies to have a banquet tonight to celebrate."
This so-called banquet was nothing more than a family gathering organized by Yuan Xi. To put it simply, it was just that the ladies brought their own food plates to the dinner. The only thing that was added compared to usual was a few dried vegetable side dishes and a big bucket of steaming northern milk tea.
Yuan Xi and his female relatives' daily food was different from the extravagant delicacies from the mountains and sea, candied fruits and fine wines of the Wei and Wu states. There were few sweets and drinks, but more coarse grains and vegetables. The food was just porridge, pancakes,
As for the small proportion of meat, it is mainly common fish and pork. After several generations of improvement and processing, the pigs of Jin State have been castrated and selected and bred for many generations. The taste of them has surpassed most of the delicacies from mountains and seas. In the market, they are more popular than game.
This kind of simple style would not be acceptable in the homes of middle-level officials in the former Wu and Wei states, let alone the emperor.
But by doing this, Yuan Xi undoubtedly set an example for the officials of the State of Jin. The State of Jin today not only does not have the extravagant and competitive spirit of later Jin Dynasty, but also does not have the habit of idle talk and alchemy. It can be said that the so-called Wei and Jin style of later generations will no longer appear in this era.
Yuan Xi did not feel any regret about this. Literature was indispensable, but there was no need to stimulate it with some abstract actions. The State of Jin was now taking a practical and pragmatic approach, and the court's behavioral orientation was a model for the people of the world, so Yuan Xi had to pretend to be worthy of it.
He picked up the pancake and took a bite. The still warm crumbs gave off a faint wheat aroma in his mouth, so he handed it to Zhen Mi who was beside him.
Although Zhen Mi knew that Yuan Xi was not particular about trivial matters, she still felt a little embarrassed in front of the other girls, so she stretched out her sleeves to block Yuan Xi's hand, then leaned over to take a small bite, and glanced at Yuan Xi with a reproachful look.
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Yuan Xi laughed out loud and looked around, seeing the ladies were either whispering or chatting and laughing. Lu Lingqi drank two glasses of fruit wine and became more interested. She drew her sword and started dancing in the courtyard, winning cheers from the ladies.
Yuan Xi shifted his gaze to Yuan Rui, the attacker, and Crown Princess Zhang. The young couple had just gotten married and were very much in love. Yuan Xi couldn't help but think of the time when he married Zhen Mi, and he became absent-minded.
Zhen Mi followed Yuan Xi's gaze, and her eyes, which had been somewhat resentful, softened a lot. She said softly, "I have been married to my husband for seventeen years, and it seems like yesterday."
"In my eyes, my husband is still exactly the same as he was back then, without any change, but I have wrinkles on my face and my appearance is no longer the same."
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "In my eyes, Madam is still as charming and beautiful as ever. She is even more charming and far better than before."
Zhen Mi's eyes curved up, like the bright crescent moon in the night sky, "Although I know that my husband is just trying to make me happy, I really love what you said."
She glanced down and said, "Although Rui'er is the oldest, I am also envious of the ladies who have come later and have both sons and daughters."
"Especially Madam Cai's little daughter, she looks so cute, I want one too."
Yuan Xi was sweating, "I'll spend more time with my wife these days."
He wanted to change the subject quickly, but found that someone was missing, so he said, "Xiang'er didn't seem to be here today?"
"I haven't seen her recently, what is she busy with?"
(End of this chapter)
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