Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 660 The bottom line in doing things
Regarding Yuan Xi's question, Ju Shou and Lu Xun smiled bitterly because it was really difficult to answer.

The answer here is complicated at the same time and simple at the same time.

Of course, there was a reason why Cao Cao promised generous conditions. Either Yuan Xi could not provide these conditions, or if he did, his reputation would be ruined.

To put it metaphorically, it is probably like the Anshi Rebellion in later generations. In order to regain Chang'an and Luoyang, Emperor Suzong of the Tang Dynasty asked the Uighur army to help him in the battle. He actually promised them that "if Chang'an is captured, the land will belong to the Tang Dynasty, and the treasures of his children will belong to the Uighurs." This is The conditions are similar.

"Zizhi Tongjian": At the beginning, Emperor Suzong of the Tang Dynasty wanted to capture the capital quickly and made an agreement with the Uighurs, saying that on the day the city was conquered, the land, scholars and common people would return to the Tang Dynasty, and the gold, silk, and children would all return to the Uighurs.

Later, after the Uighurs captured Chang'an, they were blocked by Li Yu, the king of Guangping, who later became Emperor Daizong of the Tang Dynasty. The target of the plunder was changed from Chang'an to Luoyang.

So after Luoyang was captured, the Uighur cavalry burned, killed, looted, raped, and looted for three days, and the people were in ruins. It was not until the people of Luoyang collected tens of thousands of pieces of brocade and handed them over that the Uighur cavalry was satisfied and retreated.

In the past few days, Tang Suzong, who was supposed to speak for the people, had been watching with cold eyes. Perhaps in his eyes, these people who surrendered during the attack on Anlu Mountain were as hateful as the rebels?

But who knows, in the eyes of the people of Luoyang, whether the Tang army that rescued them from the rebels was uglier than the Anlushan rebels?
However, no one expected that a few years later, Luoyang would fall into the hands of the rebels again, and Tang Suzong once again asked the Uighur cavalry to regain Luoyang. During this period, Tang Suzong died and Tang Daizong ascended the throne, but the Uighur cavalry still captured Luoyang.

But this time, not only was the robbery not stopped by Tang Daizong, but it intensified.

"Old Book of Tang·Biography of Uihe": At the beginning, when Uihe arrived in Tokyo, they suppressed thieves and acted cruelly. Scholars and women were afraid of them, so they all climbed to the two pavilions of Shengshan Temple and Baima Temple to avoid them. Uihe set fire to the two pavilions and injured the dead. With tens of thousands of plans, the flames continued for ten days. Shuofang's army, Guo Yingyi, Yu Chaoen and other armies were unable to restrain the violence. They and the Uighurs plundered Fangshi, Ru, Zheng and other prefectures, destroying all the houses. Everyone knew that they used paper as clothes or had clothing scriptures. By.

Judging from the history of the Han and Tang Dynasties, Luoyang is undoubtedly a city with a long history and profound heritage, but its heritage contains the history of countless people's suffering.

In just a few hundred years, the ancient city of Luoyang has experienced dozens of major and minor wars. The lives of the civilians inside are as humble as dust, and they are harvested one after another like wheat.

They are unable to save themselves, and no one cares about their humble lives. The people in power who control their destiny only regard them as a series of cold numbers.

The process of a feudal dynasty from prosperity to decline is inevitable, but you can find ways to delay this process. However, the Tang Dynasty gradually came to an end in the process of casually destroying the people's hearts again and again.

Just like Tang Suzong's behavior of "borrowing troops from foreign barbarians to expand his military power", it completely eliminated the people's sense of belonging to the prosperous Tang Dynasty and marked the complete failure of the Tang Dynasty's national integration policy.

Yuan Xi knew this period of history, and he naturally knew the meaning behind Ju Shou and Lu Xun being speechless.

That's what Cao Cao did. Can you, Yuan Xi, do the same?

Just think of the farming system like slavery. Why does everyone know how to do it, but only Cao Cao dares to do it?

Just like the Xiliang rebels who joined forces with Ma Teng and Han Sui, Cao Cao must have paid a high price. Yuan Xi could also guess the price, which included the ownership of Liangzhou and Sili areas, which naturally included the people inside.

Ma Teng and Han Sui had a very bad reputation in Liangzhou, and he would not change his nature when he arrived in Sili. Yuan Xi could even imagine what the people of Sili would be like next.

Yuan Xi also had no doubt that this was Cao Cao's expedient measure. After all, judging from later generations, Cao Cao still had a tight control over the Xiliang army and was willing to be ruthless. The same was true for Wuhuan Xianbei and other Hu people.

Then before completely falling out with him, Cao Cao also tried to delay until the time was right, and the price he paid was the safety of the people during this period.

Yuan Xi knows that he currently has no responsibility to protect the people of the world. That is Liu Xie's business in Huaicheng. But as a person who is on the road to conquer the world, if his inability to do what he wants is used as an excuse again and again, he will still be able to do so in the future. Can you face the people of the world calmly?

This is the gap between the concepts of the times. As a modern person, Yuan Xi should not be so benevolent in various major decisions in this era, otherwise he would not be led by Cao Cao several times in a row.

What Yuan Xi longs for most is for someone to truly understand his thoughts and work with him to come up with the best solution.

In this regard, he is actually not very compatible with Guo Jia Jushou. Lu Xun, who is close to him in age, has a completely different outlook on life. Yuan Xi thought to himself that as a superior, he is afraid that this kind of loneliness must be faced, right?
Seeing that Yuan Xi remained silent, Jushu immediately said, "Sir, the situation in Huaicheng is irreversible."

"Cao Cao is holding the emperor hostage, and we are throwing a rat weapon. We don't have enough strength to break into Huaicheng and defeat Cao Cao, let alone Han Sui and Ma Teng."

Yuan Xi hesitated and said: "You, Sir, do you want me to give up Huaicheng?"

Jushou said in a deep voice: "Even if we don't retreat, we shouldn't defend the South Pass. On the one hand, the Youzhou soldiers are tired, and on the other hand, the supply line is too long."

"We must at least retreat to the northern part of Montenegro, so that at least the enemy cavalry cannot be used in Montenegro, and then we can advance and retreat freely."

Yuan Xi said softly: "But in this way, it is equivalent to giving up the emperor and the ministers." He paused, "There are our people inside, both overt and covert. If Cao Cao retaliates, the losses to us will be extremely heavy. Yes, it is possible that from now on the Emperor will no longer have any of our people around him."

Jushou was also a little hesitant and said: "In that case, we can stay for a few days to find out the news in the city and see if we can pick up some ministers who want to escape."

Seeing Yuan Xi nodding, Lu Xun listened and quickly took the order and arranged for spies to go into the city to find out the news.

Lu Xun knew what Yuan Xi was in trouble. Someone around the emperor had indeed conveyed the news. If they were killed by Cao Cao, it would be a big blow to Yuan Xi's intelligence network. If Yuan Xi gave up on them completely, he would also lose them. of trust.

In fact, what they guessed was not wrong. In Huaicheng, Zhong Yao took the lead and Ding Chong assisted, and they were discussing the capture of the traitor.

On the list in front of the two of them, there was a long list of names, all of which were extremely suspicious people, and they were also hidden dangers that had to be eliminated this time.

At the front of the queue are Kong Rong, Liu He and others.

Regardless of Kong Rong, the two of them ranked his name first, which was somewhat of a public revenge. After all, Kong Rong's most powerful person is his mouth. It's not certain what he can do in private. After all, he has all the clothes and belts. There is no name for him.

But Liu He is different.

His life trajectory is very clear. Although his grievances with the Yuan family are very complicated, he has always had a close relationship with Yuan Shao's group. Especially since he once served under Yuan Xi, he has become the primary suspect of Zhong Yao and others.

The reason why Zhong Yao wants to find out the traitor so much is because his and Ding Chong's previous plan was almost completely destroyed. If Cao Cao hadn't personally led his troops there, the success might have failed this time.

The previous plan of the two people was to let Zhang Yan who was at the Black Mountain Pass rush back to Huaicheng first, and then cleanse other forces. However, what they did not expect was that Lu Bu, who was blocking Han Sui and Ma Teng at the Sili border, suddenly returned to the army for some unknown reason. Duan Xuan was left alone to block the border. He had obviously learned some news in advance!
This scared Zhong Yaoding to death, because if their plan was leaked, Lu Bu would not let them live!

Fortunately, at the right moment, Zhong Yao took advantage of Liu Xie's launch of the Belt Edict and did not want the matter to be exposed in advance. He used Liu Xie's hand to appease Lu Bu and let him go south to stop Yuan Shu.

In this way, not only did he avert danger, but he also diverted Lu Bu away, which can be called Zhong Yao's proud work.

The reason why Zhong Yao succeeded was that he mastered the information about the Yidai Zhao and thus accurately grasped Liu Xie's psychology.

The most important thing about Liu Xie's real idea was to go south to the Jianghuai River and get rid of the control of the Yuan family and Cao Cao's forces.

Therefore, Liu Xie not only did not dare to completely trust Lu Bu, who was related to the Yuan family, but was also wary of him, and finally placed his treasure on Zhang Yan, who was related to his father, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty.

From Liu Xie's perspective, Zhang Yan is the one he can truly rely on, right?

Zhong Yao sneered in his heart. Although Zhang Yan was his adoptive father and changed his surname, in the final analysis, what drove him was power and desire.

Therefore, after Zhong Yao offered a higher price, Zhang Yan decisively abandoned Liu Xie, who had long been ignored, and changed his family privately.

Although Kuang Fu Hanshi is a help in times of need, if it becomes a success, the rewards will be very rich, but the risks are also much greater. For Zhang Yan, who can abandon the Black Mountain Army and escape, he is a rebel. How can he fight against a powerful person for the sake of a neglected emperor? Too much Cao Cao?

Thinking of this, Zhong Yao sneered in his heart, the little emperor is still too young and too impatient!

He thought of people too simply. Cao Cao's power was the countless disciples connected to his grandfather Cao Teng. If he just regarded Cao Cao as an ordinary prince, it would be a big mistake!

Moreover, Zhong Yao admired Cao Cao's strategy. Before he knew that there was a traitor who notified Lu Bu to return to the army, he came to Huaicheng to personally preside over the overall situation like a prophet, and eliminated the resisting forces one by one. It can be said that This is the final word!

Zhong Yao took out his pen, first put a big cross on Kong Rong's name, and said with a smile: "Killing the chicken to scare the monkeys, Kong Wenju committed suicide out of fear of crime, which was quite suitable for him, and it also allowed him to be stigmatized after his death. "

"His death should shock many people on both sides."

He immediately drew a circle on Liu He's name, "Secondly, this person is the most suspect."

Ding Chong hesitated and said: "Liu Yu was once the leader of the Han Dynasty. If I kill his son, I'm afraid..."

Zhong Yao said indifferently: "The Zongzheng of the Han Dynasty, like Liu Yan, are just rebels who want to establish themselves as emperors. As his son, Liu He already has a way to kill himself."

(End of this chapter)