Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 793 Behavioral Style

As soon as Zhuge Liang and Yuan Xi discussed business issues, the two became very interested, because for both parties, the other party was an extremely rare discussion partner.

Yuan Xi's later economic system was too advanced, and few people could understand it. A few were smart enough to understand it, but they had no interest, such as Guo Jia, Lu Xun and others, who had no ambitions.

Of course, there are also those who are curious but unable to understand, such as Lu Lingqi.

At first, Yuan Xi once told her how currency and commodities circulated. Lu Lingqi listened for half an hour with her big eyes flickering. Yuan Xi thought she had found a confidant. The more she talked, the more interested she became, and she was all spitting. .

Finally, he felt that he was done and asked Lu Lingqi to answer a question. Lu Lingqi made a sound, then came back to her senses and said, "I was still thinking about those few words of my husband, but I didn't hear the rest clearly."

Yuan Xi asked: "Those words?"

When Lu Lingqi finished retelling, Yuan Xi almost spat out a mouthful of blood, "Aren't these the first few words I said?"

"Didn't you hear the rest?"

Lu Lingqi blushed for a rare moment and said harshly: "I just don't understand, what can I do?"

"Why don't you accept and come to fight?"

Yuan Xi became angry and had a fierce fight with Lu Lingqi. Finally, he threw his helmet and took off his armor at the end of the bed and never mentioned the matter again.

In fact, among the female relatives around Yuan Xi, Zhen Mi is the one who can best understand some of Yuan Xi's ideas because she manages a trading company. However, she only relies on her experience in business. If she tries to find the rules at a deeper level, she will be unable to catch them. .

So now that Yuan Xi met Zhuge Liang, who was eager for knowledge and could understand his own thoughts, he felt like a fish in water and expressed his thoughts without reservation.

The most valuable point among them is that Zhuge Liang has his own persistence and does not blindly follow Yuan Xi's ideas. He has always advised Yuan Xi on practices that go against his own principles.

In this regard, Yuan Xi smiled at Zhuge Liang and said: "Someone once said that using copper as a mirror, you can dress your clothes; using history as a mirror, you can know the ups and downs; using people as a mirror, you can know gains and losses. Now Kong Ming is my mirror. ah."

Zhuge Liang was puzzled and said: "My lord made a ridiculous compliment, and Liang was frightened. However, these words are extremely alarming and must be very famous. Why has Liang never heard of it?"

Yuan Xi could only say: "Stargazing."

Zhuge Liang was speechless. He often deceived Huang Yueying like this when he encountered things that were difficult to explain. Is co-author Yuan Xi the same as him?

Zhuge Liang is currently analyzing the situation in the Jianghuai region and said: "It is easy to make money, but it is actually very difficult to break the barter status quo within the territory and find a suitable currency to replace the five baht coins as my lord said. of."

"Currently, grain and silk cloth are mostly used in transactions. Grain is not easy to preserve and is affected by the weather. After all calculations, only silk cloth is the most suitable."

Yuan Xi nodded and said: "Yes, to be able to make money, you need to have several factors."

"First, it is suitable for long-term preservation, second, it is easy to divide, third, it can be recycled, and fourth, its value is stable."

"Although food is in short supply, it is not easy to store, and it fluctuates too much with wars and famines, so it is difficult to stabilize the price as an exchange."

"The use of silk cloth as a currency demarcation object is actually a helpless move. The most suitable currency is copper, iron, or even gold and silver, which are not easily lost minerals."

Zhuge Liang replied: "Liang admitted that it would be quite suitable if silver could have a stable output of ore, but it is not easy to mine silver mines today. My lord said that the Japanese slaves own the mines, but the two sides have been cut off from information for many years, and they need to form a stable trade route. , it will take several years or even more than ten years, let alone whether the minerals can be mined."

Yuan Xi is also very helpless. Monetary constitution does not happen overnight. He needs to make plans in advance. Unfortunately, he does not have the extra energy and financial resources to do it now. Compared with doing business, it is more important to stabilize the situation in his own territory first and at least weaken the threat of Cao Cao. Just fine.

Zhuge Liang said: "As a substitute, silk has become the most suitable at the moment."

"There are many famous brocades in the world now, but the most famous one is Shu brocade. It has its own unique weaving technique and can be said to be unique."

"The value of the entire brocade is high enough and can be used for exchange. Unfortunately, Yizhou is too far away from us, and there is nothing we can do for the time being."

Yuan Xi nodded and sighed: "Yes, we can only find something else."

Zhuge Liang said: "It's not a big problem that we can't get the Shu brocade, but the cotton that my lord mentioned earlier made Liang quite concerned."

"If this thing is really as my lord said, its warmth retention is several times or even ten times better than that of mage, then this thing's value is inestimable and it is enough to change the world."

"Not only that, I have seen the masks worn by soldiers during the Chaohu War. They are very effective in protection and will have many uses in the future."

"And its production is not difficult. If it can be sown on a large scale, it will be a major source of wealth for us in the future."

Yuan Xi sighed: "We can only wait for the trial planting in Youzhou and Xuzhou in the past few years. Once a suitable variety can be grown, I will promote it on a large scale and let the craftsmen improve the looms."

"By the way, Kong Ming's mechanism skills are self-taught?"

Zhuge Liang nodded, "I used to have some books at home that related to craftsmanship. I often read them, and gradually I became familiar with them."

Yuan Xi was stunned, thinking that Taoists and people are really different. Zhuge Liang's understanding is really enviable.

Although he has been searching for Ma Jun's whereabouts, since the war in Sili Liangzhou continued, this matter has been put on hold. Now that Zhuge Liang is here, he can also improve a lot of craftsmanship, right?

Zhuge Liang said: "We still have to capture Qingzhou."

"Only by capturing Qingzhou can the lord's territory be connected and have a stable rear."

"Now the time is ripe." Yuan Xi sighed in the letter. Now, almost all counselors, including Zhuge Liang, believe that Yuan Tan will be attacked next.

Because Yuan Tan is too unreliable.

Compared with the princes who have become mortal enemies, sometimes the forces on both sides are more troublesome, because you don't know when they will stab you in the back.

This is the case with Yuan Tan. Although he did not start a war with Yuan Xi on the surface, in fact, his small actions in private were far beyond the bottom line here. Now that he has betrayed the Yuan family and defected to Cao Cao, Yuan Xi already had the opportunity to send troops. Excuse.

Yuan Xi was silent for a while and said, "I heard that he went too far in Langya."

Zhuge Liang said solemnly: "Liang has no selfish motives."

Yuan Xi replied: "Of course I know, that's why I said that."

"Yuan Tan's ambitions have become swollen now. I'm not afraid of going to war with him, but if I invade his territory, I'm afraid the local people, including Langya County, will be tortured."

"Is the military advisor prepared?"

This time it was Zhuge Liang's turn to hesitate, but he thought for a moment and said: "As long as we fight for the world, casualties are inevitable."

"Liang can't say anything on their behalf, but if it doesn't end as soon as possible, it will only make their end more miserable."

"Indecisiveness leads to disaster."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi breathed a sigh of relief, "It's best for the military advisor to think so."

"I plan to attack Qingzhou from the third route of Huaishui, East China Sea and Youzhou to put an end to him."

"The sooner the war starts, the easier it will be to force him to turn back. Otherwise, when the day comes for a complete breakup, both sides will fight to the death."

"What happens next depends on the military advisor."

Zhuge Liang accepted the order and then paid homage to Yuan Xi: "In the battle of Chaohu, Liang was incompetent with his troops. Many soldiers were killed and General Taishi was seriously injured. I am really ashamed."

Yuan Xi comforted him: "Why do the military advisors say that?"

"For the first time on the battlefield, being able to be as good as a military advisor is far beyond my expectations. I might not be able to do as well as a military advisor on my own."

Zhuge Liang shook his head and said: "No, I reviewed it afterwards and found that what I did was too risky. Putting the bet of the enemy's retreat on General Taishi was no different from gambling, and it did not leave an alternative for myself. From now on, I will I will learn from this painfully and will never let this happen again.”

Yuan Xi thought to himself that he had actually predicted it, because when later generations read history, he discovered that Zhuge Liang's military style was very different in the early and later stages.

Especially the first battle out of Qishan in his sixth battle was full of all-or-nothing adventure, which was very different from the cautious style of Zhuge Liang's military use that Sima Yi evaluated during the last battle at Wuzhangyuan.

This was also the most controversial time. Many later history books attributed the key to Ma Di's loss of Jieting and Zhuge Liang's unclear knowledge of people. However, in fact, this evaluation did not restore the truth of Zhuge Liang's strategic intentions at that time. For both Zhuge Liang and Zhuge Liang, Ma Su, it's all unfair.

Compared with the main force of Cai's attack on Wei from Longxi, Ma Di went to Jieting not to attack, but to defend. To say that there were indeed mistakes, Zhuge Liang calculated the time just right and did not leave enough for Ma Di. reaction time.

Because Ma Su rushed to Jieting and walked on a mountainous road. Calculated by distance, it was about 800 miles, and he walked for less than a month.

This is equivalent to walking thirty or forty miles of mountain roads in one day, which is extremely difficult for soldiers to do, and there are no supplies along the way!

This is equivalent to the fact that the soldiers bring their own weapons and armor, as well as at least fifty or sixty days of logistics and food, all of which are almost carried on the soldiers' two legs. Calculating the weight of this is jaw-dropping.

In the end, Ma Di was able to arrive on time, which was already much stronger than most generals in the world. Although some people would say that Zhang He, who rushed to stop the attack, traveled 1,400 miles in about the same time. Isn't it even more powerful?

However, in fact, Zhang He was walking on a plain road, and there must have been mules and horses to help him. This was much less difficult than walking on a mountain road.

This gave rise to a question that has been criticized by later generations. Was it because Ma Su camped on the mountain? Is it really because he didn't know how to fight?

And this involves a piece of military common sense that almost no one has mentioned.

The time when the Shu Kingdom sent troops was in spring. Although the weather was getting warmer at this time, the temperature should not be high, and the soldiers might have just changed out of their winter clothes.

However, on Ma Su's march route, the soldiers carried many and heavy things, so it was impossible to wear heavy clothes. Long marches would cause sweating, so the soldiers were most likely to choose thin and breathable clothes.

The question is, if the soldiers wear spring clothes, can they camp in the valley?

The answer is yes, but the consequences are difficult to predict.

Because of the concave structure of the valley, there is a lot of wind in the mountains, which is called downwind. In the middle of the night at the turn of spring and autumn, the temperature in the valley will be more than ten degrees lower than in the mountains.

People are very sensitive to changes in temperature. Let alone more than ten degrees, even a few degrees can cause discomfort to the human body, let alone a long-distance attack, and the physical condition is not as good as that of ordinary soldiers.

If soldiers are allowed to camp in the mountains with such a low temperature, the consequences of the next day are obvious. Not to mention fighting, even whether they can stand up is a problem.

(End of this chapter)