Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 782 Taking a break from the busy schedule

Just when Sun Quan was trying to save Zhou Yu in Dantu and was on the defensive, Yuan Xi was already preparing for the next step.

On the one hand, he began to collect labor on a large scale for the first time under his rule and widened the gap.

The gap at this time was not Wei Honggou and Wuhang Gou, which had the same names, but Chu Honggou, which was Feishui "out of Jiming Mountain, twenty miles north". Later generations also called Chaofei Canal, which is the backside of Chaohu Lake. That canal is narrow and difficult to navigate.

Due to the height difference, the Feishui riverbed has a steep slope, making it difficult to sail against the current. Many weirs and dams were built in the middle, and they were easily blocked. Therefore, improvements and repairs have been made in successive dynasties.

But for this era, Feishui was not suitable for large-scale fleets, which was why Jiangdong had the confidence to attack Chaohu.

Although it is true that Yuan Xi's army had a naval force in the Huai River, its large ships could not pass through the Feishui River southward to Chaohu, and the remaining small ships could not form a combat force. Later facts also proved that Yuan Xi did give up the naval decisive victory and instead used land forces to win the battle. The Jiangdong navy suffered a big loss in the battle.

Of course, the cost of this battle was also extremely staggering. Not to mention the mobilization of food and fodder for the soldiers, the modification of the hundreds of catapults alone cost Yuan Xi the income from the Shouchun victory.

Fortunately, Lu Xun and Tai Shici started hoarding military supplies a winter early. Otherwise, even if Zhuge Liang had a way to reform, Yuan Xi's army would not be able to collect so much supplies in a short period of time.

After this battle, although the Youzhou Army suffered thousands of casualties, it also captured a large number of Jiangdong Navy prisoners and baggage, so Yuan Xi was able to make the next plan.

Expand fertilizer and water.

Although he did not want to waste people and money like Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, the strategic location of Feishui was too important for Jianghuai. Controlling key waterways was much more cost-effective than controlling ten land march routes.

In addition, Yuan Xi went south and captured several surrendered troops from Yuan Shu, Cao Cao, and Jiangdong forces. Yuan Xi originally thought that with a little training, he could add these people to his army to fight. However, along the way, he and Zhuge Liang discovered that these surrendered troops The soldiers are incompatible with Youzhou soldiers.

In several battles, in addition to Yuan Shu's surrendered general Zhang Xun who was able to suppress the previous Yuan Shu soldiers with his prestige, Cao Jun and Jiangdong soldiers were mostly from the Yellow Turban Army and bandits. They were extremely unruly and unruly. Fighting and breaking military discipline became commonplace. Zhuge Liang inspected Several times later, he told Yuan Xijian that if things continued like this, it would only have a negative impact on the Youzhou Army.

Yuan Xi also knew that his previous eagerness to fight was too much, so he put away the labor education, gathered the surrendered troops, and recruited some civilians together to build roads and dig rivers.

Of course, these people all need to eat food, which is also a great test for Yuan Xi's logistics, so he is now asking Zhuge Liang for advice on how to use the rich land of Jianghuai to restore production as much as possible to support today's mining. River road construction.

Zhuge Liang has been forced to have a headache these days. He is conceited and resourceful, and he is also tortured by Yuan Xi's economic problems. He simply lives in the study of the official residence and thinks hard all night just to solve Yuan Xi's problem. proposed financial plan.

He couldn't help but curse in his heart. He came out as a counselor and it was just a matter of taking up the post of military advisor. Why did he even entrust internal affairs and finance to himself? Where did Yuan Xi's inexplicable trust in him come from?

Although Huang Yueying did not go to the battlefield, she still followed Zhuge Liang in the disguise of a book boy. At this time, she brought the freshly cooked tea and said: "Husband, please take a rest first. This is not a day." In two days, money can be transformed from the sky."

Zhuge Liang smiled bitterly and said: "You have never seen my master like this. It seems that I can move a gold mountain in front of him tomorrow."

"I know he is in a hurry, eager to capture Huainan and advance to Yanzhou and Qingzhou, but he seems to be too anxious."

"After this battle, we have to recuperate and recuperate for a few months. I judge that there will not be a war in Guandu for the time being. In the near future, confrontation will still be the main thing."

"But it's not easy for me. In the past few months, I not only have to prepare supplies before the next war, but also don't have a big impact on people's livelihood in the Jianghuai area near Shouchun. I also have to dig rivers and build roads. We hope that the migrant workers and soldiers involved in digging the river will have food to eat."

"And according to the lord's request, it would be best to open a profitable trade route and turn this place into an important trade town that connects all parties."

Huang Yueying was stunned when she heard this, and lost her voice: "How can he have the nerve to mention it? Is the husband a god?"

"This is too shameless!"

Zhuge Liang smiled bitterly and said: "Be careful and don't criticize the lord, he is also under a lot of pressure."

"I saw him either patrolling the city or leading people to dig rivers himself all day long. It's rare to see him take such a hands-on approach to everything."

Huang Yueying said angrily: "I see that he is also very busy at home. Just after the war, he went to find those concubines hiding in the golden house!"

Zhuge Liang was about to say that this was not a big deal, but Huang Yueying changed the topic, "If I can't give birth to a child, will my husband become like him in the future?"

Zhuge Liang thought to himself, you are really in the mood to cause trouble for me. I am tired enough, and you still ask me such a question!

Isn’t the public food provided once every two days enough?

He casually said a few words, "I will ask my wife for permission for anything that happens at home, okay?" Huang Yueying nodded with satisfaction, "I don't object to my husband taking concubines. I don't want Long Yang." As long as it’s good.”

"I see many people looking at my husband with strange looks in their eyes?"

Zhuge Liang stretched out his hand and knocked Huang Yueying on the head, "Go, go, go, think about something all day long, go back and rest quickly, I will read some books."

Huang Yueying said that she would wait under the quilt, and then left pitifully with her head in her arms. Zhuge Liang laughed dumbly, and then fell into deep thought.

Yuan Xi asked him to find a way to make money. Now the only thing he can think of is to use the Huaihe River and the Yangtze River waterway to connect the seaports of Jingzhou, Yizhou and Xuzhou. Although the intermediate transshipment is quite difficult, there is still a certain profit.

The key problem is that Zhuge Liang has never seen the sea. The idea of ​​a maritime trade route mentioned by Yuan Xi earlier was not a complete concept in Zhuge Liang's mind. It seems that if there is a chance in the future, he would still go to Xuzhou Haixi and other seaports to take a look.

Zhuge Liang suddenly remembered that if he arrived in Haixi, wouldn't he be very close to his hometown of Langya County?

When the Zhuge family was massacred in Xuzhou, they fled separately. Zhuge Liang couldn't help but think of the people he was riding with in the car.

Uncle Zhuge Xuan died of illness, and both sisters are married. When Zhuge Xuan was seriously ill, his elder brother Zhuge Jin did not go to Jingzhou, but chose Jiangdong. There has been no news yet. How is he doing now?

In Shouchun City, Yuan Xi's mansion.

Yuan Xizheng knelt obediently behind Lu Lingqi and rubbed her shoulders. Lu Lingqi made sounds of pain or moans of comfort from time to time.

Next, Xiao Qiao, who was playing the piano and harp, seemed to turn a blind eye and stared intently at the piano in front of him. In fact, he was trying his best to hide the strange look on his face.

Mainly because Lu Lingqi's occasional screams are so imaginative!

The two girls' pretty faces were slightly red, and they almost plucked the wrong strings on their hands. However, compared to the two girls who were delicate in thinking, the careless Lu Lingqi didn't think much about it.

Because her arms and shoulders were really hurting. It had been more than ten days since the war, and the pain still hadn't reduced much. It was obvious that she had injured her hand tendon by pulling the bow too hard last time.

At first, Yuan Xi was the only one without a general. Although Zhang Xun was known as a general under Yuan Shu, under Yuan Xi's subordinates, either Zhao Yun Taishi Ci or Zhang Liao Xu Huang, Zhang Xun could only endure. It can be regarded as second-rate.

Second-rate generals also have second-rate uses. Zhang Xun's task was to entangle Dong Xi. Although many of Yuan Shu's weaknesses in surrendering troops were exposed in the process, Zhang Xun finally completed the task with all his heart, leading the infantry into the formation throughout the whole process. In the end, it looked like There aren't any notable results when you go up there, but at least it's a lot of hard work.

But under this situation, it was obviously difficult for him to face Cheng Pujun who came for reinforcements, so Lu Lingqi stepped forward without hesitation.

She had gone through so many battles and already knew how to use her strengths and avoid her weaknesses. Naturally, she would not engage in close combat with Cheng Pu, who was a top-notch person. So the two sides exchanged shots for a whole night.

The general's performance has a great impact on morale. Lu Lingqi was able to persist until the end, which also boosted the morale of the Youzhou Army. However, in the end it was difficult for her to even stand.

So she has been recuperating recently. It just so happened that Yuan Xi came back early today and found that Xiao Qiao was playing the piano to Lu Lingqi to calm her mind, so she came over to massage Lu Lingqi's shoulders.

Lu Lingqi was very happy, but the intimate behavior between the two of them seemed a bit unacceptable to outsiders like Xiao Qiao, an unmarried girl.

Xiao Qiao, who had secretly had an affair with Yuan Xi for a long time, was just short of the last step. Fortunately, Da Qiao was always dignified, self-respecting, gentle and polite, and she felt a little at a loss. She didn't know what Xiao Qiao and Yuan Xi had done. , otherwise I'm afraid blood will spurt out.

Da Qiao was stroking the piano absentmindedly. In fact, at this point, she had almost recognized the reality and understood that even being Yuan Xi's concubine might be better than being the first wife of most scholars.

But in the past, she had some fantasies in her heart. She wanted to find a husband who understood her, Qin Se and Ming. Now, thinking about the possibility of sharing a husband with more than a dozen other women, Daqiao always felt a little weird in her heart. of.

But my father didn't seem to object to this idea before he died. Does it mean that in my father's opinion, Yuan Xi is still worthy of entrustment?

But it seems that the other party has ambitions in the world. Unlike Mrs. Lu, I can't help him. I heard that the female relatives around him are also outstanding people. Women like me who can only do needlework and play the piano, They are everywhere in Jiangdong, what’s the use?

She raised her head slightly and saw Xiao Qiao next to her, with a hint of spring in her eyes, secretly glancing at Yuan Xi, and she was slightly shocked.

It's okay to be a concubine, but no matter what, you have to let your sister marry a good family and live a happy life as a real wife, right?

It’s inappropriate for sisters to serve the same husband together, right?

(End of this chapter)