Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 152 Undercurrent
The days passed day by day, and soon came the days of warm spring and flowers blooming, and the busy spring plowing began.

In Tancheng, Xuzhou's governing place, everyone sat down separately, and Liu Bei was listening to Chen Dengyan talk about Xuzhou's busy farming.

Seeing that Chen Deng arranged the sowing and cultivation of fields in an orderly manner, Liu Bei couldn't help nodding slightly, and praised: "With Yuanlong's help, Xuzhou must be able to recover in the past few years."

In the past, Xuzhou was known as a prosperous world, with a household registration of one million and 10,000+ hectares of fertile land. Not only is it rich in fishery and salt resources, but it is also famous for mulberry and hemp.

Xuzhou was attacked twice by Cao Cao, and three counties were poisoned by Ruo Rong. Now its vitality is seriously injured, and it is far less prosperous than before.

Mi Zhu said: "Now we have negotiated with Yuan Shi, the coastal trade routes from Qingzhou to Jizhou have all been restored, and the two sides can exchange goods and make a lot of money."

Everyone nodded. Xuzhou's sea transportation is also very developed. Originally, there were sea trade routes with Yangzhou, Qingzhou, Jizhou and Youzhou, but after Yuan Shao acquired Jizhou and Qingzhou, the route to the north was cut off.

Now that they have negotiated peace with the Yuan family, the trade routes have been restored, and the Mi family has also invested in building sea ships to help Xuzhou regain blood as soon as possible.

Chen Qun said: "The next step is to face Qingzhou in the north and Yanzhou in the west, but we will be the pawns of the Yuan family and face Yuan Shu in the south."

"Although Yuan's Cao Cao is an ally, it may not be completely reliable."

What Chen Qun said was true. The place of the Fourth World War in Xuzhou was destined to be peaceful. Thinking of this, everyone's plans for the way forward began to diverge again.

Some people suggested sticking to Xuzhou's development first, and some thought that we could take the opportunity to expand, otherwise, when the surrounding princes became stronger, the opportunities would be even less.

Seeing that everyone started arguing again, Liu Bei thought that it would be difficult to have a clue if this went on like this, if only he had a counselor who could make a final decision!
He said, "How is the situation in the world today?"

Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Chen Qun said, "First of all, Chang'an was in chaos. Li Jue and Guo Si fought against each other day and night, setting fire to each other and looting each other. Tens of thousands of people were killed and injured in Chang'an."

Everyone was shocked when they heard the sermon, so many people?

Chen Qun sighed: "If this continues, I'm afraid that Chang'an, like Luo Yang, will be destroyed by war."

"A few years ago, Sili was still a prosperous place with a large population. Now that several major cities have been destroyed and the Southern Huns plundered it, it has become a desolate place with no people in it."

Liu Bei sighed: "It's a pity that Xuzhou is too far away. If we were in Yuzhou now, we would be able to rescue the emperor and help the world!"

Chen Deng said in a deep voice: "Now Xuzhou is out of reach, and has too much time to take care of himself, so he can only draw it slowly."

Chen Qun said: "Speaking of which, I heard that Lu Bu's army no longer attacked Dongjun, but stuck to Chenliu, and instead began to expand westward."

Everyone was taken aback when they heard this, isn't that unreasonable?
Although Lu Bu can't beat Cao Cao, is it a bit indiscriminate to fight in the direction of Sili?

With that kind of force, wouldn't it be good to fight the most affluent Jingzhou?

Sun Qian said: "Lu Bu is from Bingzhou, so does it mean that he wants to take down Sili, go north to Bingzhou, and glorify his ancestors?"

Jian Yong shook his head and said: "These prefectures have suffered from military disasters and wars repeatedly, and they were also plundered by the Huns. It is a mess to occupy them. How can Yanzhou and Yuzhou be better?"

"Not to mention anything else, but among these two states, which one is easier to deal with, the Baibo bandits, the Black Mountain bandits, or the Southern Huns?"

Everyone heard this, but they couldn't figure it out, but Lu Bu was acting strangely, so I guess only he himself understood what he was planning.

Chen Qun continued: "Cao Cao's army has temporarily stopped, but there are gossip that the Cao family has contacts with Yuan Shu and Liu Biao, and there are inexplicably many more soldiers, probably sent by Chen Guo."

Chen State is located between Yanzhou and Yuzhou. Chen Wang Liu Chong is the current monarch. He is the great-great-grandson of Han Ming Emperor Liu Zhuang and the son of Chen Xiaowang Liu Cheng. , inherited the title of King Chen.

During the Zhongping period, the Yellow Turban Uprising caused a famine all over the world. The princes and princes no longer enjoyed rent and taxes, but were repeatedly robbed, and some even died in the wilderness.

Only Chen Guo was still very prosperous and powerful, and people from neighboring counties went to seek refuge one after another. Chen Guo had more than [-] troops. Since then, Liu Chong led his troops to station in Yangxia, calling himself the General of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Bei and others were slightly startled when they heard this. If Cao Cao and Liu Chong join forces, it will be a big trouble!
Liu Bei sighed: "Cao Mengde is an outstanding person in the world. Even when he reached the point where there were only three cities left a few years ago, he was allowed to survive. If I hadn't had to, I really wouldn't want to be my enemy."

Jian Yong said: "Even so, Cao Cao's vitality is seriously injured. Compared with us, he is attacked on three sides. He will not easily attack Xuzhou in the short term."

Chen Qun thought that this was not necessarily the case, but since Liu Bei took Xuzhou without telling him, Chen Qun started to keep three points when he spoke, and now he pretended not to hear and continued to talk.

"There is also Yangzhou in the south. Liu Yao and Yuan Shu are attacking each other. I heard that Yuan Shu's subordinate Sun Ce is so brave that he beat Liu Yao into a mess and even lost Jiujiang County."

Jian Yong sighed: "Then Sun Ce is the son of Sun Jian. I thought Sun Jian would be difficult enough, but I didn't expect his son to be so powerful."

In the third year of Chuping, Yuan Shu sent Sun Jian to conquer Jingzhou and attack Liu Biao. Sun Jian defeated Huang Zu, and was ambushed while chasing him, and died with an arrow.

After Sun Jian's death, his son Sun Ce kept his filial piety for one year, and then defected to Yuan Shu's tent as a general, trying to win over his father's old troops.

However, Yuan Shu was afraid of him and asked him to go to Danyang to recruit soldiers for a test.

So Sun Ce went to Danyang to recruit hundreds of soldiers, and then returned to Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu returned more than 1000 of the thousands of Sun Jian's former troops to Sun Ce's command.

With these more than 1000 soldiers and horses, Sun Ce invaded Yangzhou and confronted the governor Liu Yao.

Chen Deng said: "Sun Ce is good at employing people, and he is very popular among the people. I heard that people are constantly defecting to him. Now he has as many as five or six thousand soldiers. If Yuan Shu wins Yangzhou, Xuzhou must be next. We have to guard against it." .”

Chen Deng was from Xuzhou, and like Mi Zhu, he was naturally most worried about the safety of Xuzhou, but the others were not as worried as he was, and they just comforted him: "Don't worry about Yuanlong, I don't know how long it will be."

Chen Qun said again: "Never mind these things, the biggest event today should be Yuan Shao's attack on Gongsun Zan."

After hearing this, everyone felt rather complicated. One was a former ally and the other was a current ally. Although they only needed to sit back and watch the tigers fight, they still felt a little embarrassed.

Chen Qun thought for a while and added: "Yuan Xi, the son of Yuan Shao who came to Xuzhou last time, has returned to Beixin City, Zhuojun County, Youzhou, and is said to be farming."

When everyone heard Yuan Xi's name, they all listened intently, because now Yuan Xi's reputation as a fierce tiger is quite resounding.

Moreover, everyone knew Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's abilities, and both of them suffered a great loss under Yuan Xi's hands, which shows that they are also very talented in strategy.

At this time, Zhang Fei behind Liu Bei changed his face, and angrily hummed: "It's nothing to win with more!"

Guan Yu tilted Zhang Fei likewise: "If you win, you win. Why don't we win with more?"

Zhang Fei heard this, and murmured, "Second brother always builds up the ambitions of others and destroys his prestige."

Guan Yu shook his head helplessly. Zhang Fei's temper was too bad and his words were too straightforward. Even if he treated his own brother like this, he could easily offend others.

Chen Deng said: "Yuan Xi is not an ordinary person. I heard that he is farming in Zhuojun, and many people around him are loyal to him."

Mi Zhu said: "Didn't the Cao family also engage in farming?"

"Ten six out of ten, for the people from generation to generation, how is it different from slaves?"

"Your Madam Yuan is not afraid of the world's criticism for doing this?"

Chen Deng shook his head and said, "No, there should be a big difference inside, otherwise there wouldn't be so many people going to him."

"However, that location is at the junction of Youzhou, Bingzhou and Jizhou. It is not peaceful. It is said that the Black Mountain Army has already fought once, but was repelled."

Zhang Fei snorted coldly: "The black mountain army is a mob, it would be strange if they could beat Yuan Xi."

Liu Bei said: "The Black Mountain Army is not simple."

"When Marquis Wen was under Yuan Benchu's command, he led dozens of cavalry into the battle for more than ten days, and only after gaining some gains each time did he repel the Black Mountain Army. It can be seen that the Black Mountain Army is not easy to deal with."

Guan Yu praised: "That Zhang Yan is the same as Zhao Yun. He is also from Hebei Zhending. He is strong and agile. He is called Feiyan. He is indeed capable."

When Zhao Yun was mentioned, Liu Guanzhang felt a sinking heart. The matter of Zhao Yun taking refuge in Yuan Xi has been a concern among the three of them.

Sun Qian said: "Will Yuan Xi join forces with the Black Mountain Army?"

All the officials laughed when they heard this, and said, "Zhang Yan was almost killed by Yuan Benchu, how could he join the Yuan family again?"

"Furthermore, the chaos in Yecheng caused by the Black Mountain Army is an inextricable knot with the Yuan family. Even if Zhang Yan is willing, the Yuan family will definitely not be willing."

"Besides, the Black Mountain Army has a yellow scarf background, and it is extremely difficult to subdue, just like the Baibo bandits in Hedong and the Taishan bandits in the north of Xuzhou."

Chen Deng sighed: "Speaking of which, Xuzhou not only has Tianshi teaching, but also Buddhism. If things go on like this, the common people will easily be coerced and encouraged like the yellow scarves."

Everyone heard this, and they were also worried. If the aftermath of the Yellow Turban Rebellion could be resolved so easily, there would be no sign of recovery in the chaos that started in Zhangjiao and has not been seen for more than ten years.

While everyone in Tancheng was talking about Yuan Xi, Yuan Xi was also summoning his subordinates in Beixin City. He said to Zhao Yun, "The Black Mountain Army is too insidious this time, thanks to Brother Zilong."

This surprise attack by the Black Mountain Army was also far beyond Yuan Xi's expectations. Thousands of them trekked through the Taihang Mountains for many days, and only then did they attack the soldiers and civilians in the dense forest outside Beixin City.

Although Yuan Xi's side had been prepared long ago, with hundreds of soldiers on guard at all times, the enemies on the opposite side were still in a hurry.

Fortunately, Zhao Yun led the cavalry to patrol around the city every day, and rushed to the rescue. After several fights, the leading general of the Black Mountain Army was killed, and the rest surrendered.

Zhao Yun said: "It seems that this kind of harassment will increase in the future, and it is not easy to arrange for the captured laughing bandits. There must be many spies among them."

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Speaking of which, I already have some ideas."

"I decided to punish them with hard labor for a month and then send them back."

Zhao Yun was startled, what is this for?
　Two more chapters are added today for some reason

　　
　
(End of this chapter)