Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 159 Chaos
Yuan Xizai stared at Guo Jia.

Yuan Xi looked innocent, while Guo Jia angrily held up a scroll of bamboo slips, trembling with anger.

There are nearly a hundred bamboo strips in a roll of bamboo slips, and a very troublesome question is written on each bamboo strip!

He angrily threw the bamboo slips in front of Yuan Xi: "Is this still owed?"

"It's your own fault if you don't ask, what does it have to do with me?"

"I haven't come back for more than half a month, so you brought me this? Is it a gift for you?"

"There is no such thing as you in gift giving!"

"And what's wrong with this?"

"Where can I find iron ore in Zhuojun?"

"How to let the Black Mountain Army deal with the Southern Huns?"

"Why do some rice degenerate into weeds?"

"Are you thinking that I know everything, everything?"

Yuan Xi found out the door of the back room, quietly revealing half a pretty face, this is the concubine Ji that Guo Jia took in, in exchange for one question every day.

The deal looked like a good deal at the time, and Guo Jia probably regretted it now.

Yuan Xi laughed and said, "Isn't this brainstorming? What is Mr. Xiangkan's opinion on these matters?"

What he is worried about recently is that there are not enough resources for just one Zhuo County.

Take iron ore as an example, there is only one small iron mine in Zhuojun County, and the output is very small.

Among the large iron mines, the closest to Zhuojun is Zhongshan State in Jizhou, near Beiping, only a hundred miles away from Beixincheng.

But it happened to be in Jizhou, and now Yuan Shang is in charge, and he is often harassed by black mountain bandits, and Yuan Xi doesn't expect to get money from him.

There is a big mine in Yuyang County of Youzhou, but it is a pity that Guangyang County is separated from Zhuo County.

At that time, a major factor restricting the combat power of the army was the quality of weapons.

At least in the late Spring and Autumn Period, the technology of iron-making and carburizing steel appeared. One of the steel daggers unearthed from a Chu tomb was forged from seven to nine layers of iron, but it should be quite valuable and has not been popularized.

In the early Warring States period, there were batches of steel long swords, which evolved from decorative and self-defense daggers in the Spring and Autumn Period to practical weapons equipped in batches for the army, which were extremely lethal and offensive.

However, the proportion of iron soldiers in this period was far less than that of copper soldiers. Although Qin, which finally unified the six countries, had a small number of iron soldiers, copper soldiers still dominated.

The reason is not only the relatively troublesome technical aspects, but also the lack of production.

Until the Western Han Dynasty, the development of the iron smelting industry and the progress of forging steel technology provided sufficient conditions for the development of steel weapons.

The Han court’s policy of specializing in the manufacture of weapons, the establishment of the Chang’an arsenal, and the monopoly system for iron officials from Emperor Wu strongly promoted and guaranteed the development of the steel weapon manufacturing industry.

But even so, by the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were still many bronze swords after the army, and iron was still a relatively precious resource, especially for agricultural tools and household utensils, bronze was still the majority.

Therefore, finding an iron mine is very important for local development. What Yuan Xi regrets now is that he did not know much about the location of the ancient iron mine in his previous life.

He only remembered reading "Shan Hai Jing · Zhong Shan Jing" before, which recorded that there were dozens of iron mines in the world, and there was a large mine in Liguo, Xuzhou.

It is mainly iron, with associated copper, cobalt, gold, silver and other associated ores. It contains high-copper magnetite rich ore, high-copper hematite rich ore, and the shallow buried conditions are very suitable for mining and ironmaking. A factor.

Yuan Xi was very envious, Xuzhou is a good place!

But Yuan Xi himself is not very envious of Liu Bei in Xuzhou now, because there is news from the south that Liu Bei is in a very bad situation now.

Yuan Tan clashed with the Taishan thieves in Qingzhou, and the Taishan thieves were blocked from the north, and most of them went south to plunder and entered Xuzhou.

On the other side of Xuzhou, Yuan Shu turned to attack Yangzhou because he couldn't start the situation in Yuzhou. At the same time, he went north to covet Xuzhou.

What made Yuan Xi even more uneasy was that Cao Cao, who coveted Xuzhou the most, seemed to remain silent.

This must be abnormal, until a few days ago the news came from Yecheng spies that Lu Bu and Yuan Shu seemed to join forces!
At this time, Yuan Shu and Lu Bu teamed up, which was somewhat beyond Yuan Xi's expectations. According to his thinking, Lu Bu had the conditions to join forces with Yuan Shu only after he backstabbed Liu Bei and captured Xuzhou, in order to guard against Cao Cao.

Earlier, Lu Bu was in Chenliu County, Yanzhou, and had already gone west to attack Sili according to what his vest Yinhu had said, occupying several cities in Yin, Henan.

This is in line with Yuan Xi's expectations. In the next step, Lu Bu will be able to open up Hanoi County and get closer to Shangdang County in Bingzhou.

In this way, Yuan Xi could find a way to use Lu Bu to suppress the Heishan Army and the Southern Xiongnu in the three counties of Yanmen, Taiyuan, and Shangdang in Bingzhou, and finally bordered Youzhou.

In this way, not only can it block Cao Cao's route to welcome the Han Emperor, but it can also create a buffer barrier for Youzhou. It is not impossible for Yuan Xi and Lu Bu to do something together.

The idea is good, but there are many problems in operation.

Just like the fact that Lu Bu's Chen Liu and Yuan Shu's territories are still separated by a country of Chen, why did they unite?

and many more!

Yuan Xi suddenly thought of an extremely terrifying fact, and he became more and more uncertain, so he said to Guo Jia: "I don't need to ask these questions for now, I will only ask one question today."

He told Guo Jia the news of Lv Bu and Yuan Shu's alliance, as well as his own conjectures, and finally said: "Mr.'s hometown is in Yingchuan, next to Chenliu and Chen Country. If something happens, I'm afraid that Mr.'s hometown will be affected. "

Guo Jia's expression changed several times after hearing this, and he lowered his head in thought.

After a while, he raised his head and said, "Young master's idea is indeed very possible."

"On the surface, Lu Bu is allied with Yuan Shu, but in private, he may have contacts with Chen Guo and even Cao Cao!"

Yuan Xi originally had some vague ideas, but Guo Jia's reaction was quick, and he came out so clearly that he couldn't help breaking out in a cold sweat.

If the combination of Lu Bu and Yuan Shu is an inevitability of history, Yuan Xi can still accept it, but if Cao Cao is mixed in, the situation will be completely different!

If such a few parties really joined forces, wouldn't this be like lifting a rock and shooting yourself in the foot, purely cocooning yourself?

But if you think about it, it's really possible. Lu Bu and Cao Cao are now restraining each other. If they want to expand in another direction, they will definitely worry about backstabs from the rear. At this time, peace talks are the best choice at present.

But in this way, Lu Bu is okay, but Cao Cao's direction is likely to be Liu Bei, and this will be troublesome.

There is another variable in the middle, Chen Guo.

Chen Guojun Liu Chong and Guoxiang Luo Jun were supposed to be assassinated by Zhang Kai sent by Yuan Shu in history, but Zhang Kai was shot to death by Yuan Xi in Fei County. Naturally, they would not die in Zhang Kai's assassination, so Yuan Shu The response will also change at the same time.

Yuan Xi had a headache. The power of the Three Kingdoms is a mess. It is by no means simply standing in line to the end. If it is strong, annexation, and if it is weak, alliance is the way for the princes to survive. No one is stupid.

He said to Guo Jia: "According to my opinion, how to drive a wedge between these parties?"

Guo Jia listened, and sneered, "You really worry about it, Youzhou is so far away from Yanzhou, what can you do, and what benefits can you get?"

Yuan Xi thought to himself that he couldn't tell Guo Jia that he was making arrangements in advance to prevent Cao Cao from coercing the emperor to order the princes. This matter has not yet been written off.

He had no choice but to say: "I suspect that Cao Cao is plotting Yecheng."

His words are well-founded.

There are two introductions to the Battle of Guandu in later generations. What subverts most people's perception is that these two incidents were initiated by Cao Cao.

First, Cao Cao took the lead in occupying Hanoi County and outflanked the back road of Jizhou.

The second is to attack Yecheng.

"The Spring and Autumn Annals of Xiandi": Cao led the army to build a river, and used words to help the introduction, and actually planned to attack Ye, thinking that Zan would help.Hui Zan was destroyed, and Shao also felt it, so he withdrew his army and stationed himself in Aocang.

"Three Kingdoms Zhang Fan Chuan": At that time, the Taizu was about to conquer Jizhou, and (Yuan) Shu asked again: "Cao Gong wants to use thousands of soldiers against one hundred thousand, which can be said to be beyond his capabilities! What do you think?
When Yuan Shao attacked Gongsun Zan, Cao Cao wanted to attack Yecheng first, but was discovered by Yuan Shao, so Yuan Shao killed Gongsun Zan and quickly retreated, forcing Cao Cao to retreat. Then Yuan Shao sent someone to question Cao Cao about it.

This was the direct cause of the outbreak of the Battle of Guandu the following year.

It can also be highlighted here that Cao Cao will never let go of any opportunity, and dare to attack when he is at a disadvantage, instead of waiting for the opponent to attack.

The so-called war is not launched when you are ready, but will be launched at the most suitable time.

In contrast, Yuan Shao, who had an advantage in military strength, was always conservative and passively defended in the Battle of Guandu, so that Cao Cao found a loophole and made great achievements in one fell swoop.

Attack is always the best defense. Only when the enemy is too tired to deal with it can they not spare their hands to deal with themselves.

Cao Cao is worthy of being a master. As soon as Yuan Xi left Jizhou, he took advantage of him. Now he has made friends with Lv Bu and Yuan Shu, relying on Yuan Shao's unwillingness to turn against him, and began to plot Xuzhou.

Xuzhou is indeed a hot potato, and it is not easy for anyone to hold it in his hands, but if it is placed in Cao Cao's hands, it will be the worst situation.

In this way, Yanzhou and Xuzhou in Hanoi became a line, and the south of the Yellow River was occupied by Cao Cao, who could advance, attack and retreat.

But Yuan Shao was different. Yecheng, his base camp, was too close to the defense line of the Yellow River, and he would be threatened at any time.

If Yuan Shao loses, Yuan Xi can only do nothing in Youzhou, and will repeat the mistakes of history.

That's why he came to Guo Jia eagerly, thinking of a way to break the situation.

Guo Jia snorted: "Today's questions have been asked!"

Yuan Xi said with a shy face: "Then it will be tomorrow, and the previous problems will be wiped out."

Guo Jia still couldn't bear to reject Yuan Xi, and thought for a long time before saying: "Now that Gongsun Zan is defending Yi Jing, it is impossible for him to go east and plot against Fan Yang and Yuyang before he is defeated."

"If Yijing is captured in the future, the son will occupy Yuyang to control the sea route, and from Bohai County of Jizhou to Qingzhou, it can still help Xuzhou, but it is obviously impossible now, and we can only rely on Liu Bei to support himself."

"What needs to be guarded against right now is the Black Mountain Army entrenched in Bingzhou."

When Yuan Xi heard this, he asked in confusion: "The Black Mountain Army is hiding in the Taihang Mountains. Let alone fighting, it's hard to find them. How can we deal with them?"

He had a basis for saying this. When he was in Beixincheng for three years, Yuan Shao personally led the army, and spent half of the time fighting the Black Mountain army, but in the end they could only be repelled and could not be eliminated.

Guo Jia said: "The complete elimination of the Black Bandit will still fall on Lu Bu."

(End of this chapter)