Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 813 Not a Saint

Seeing the convinced expressions of all the counselors, Yuan Tan was also full of confidence and said: "It seems that what the second brother is doing now is to divide the troops into various cities and then control all the roads so that we have nowhere to go." Build a defensive line.”

"It is difficult for us to counter this plan. We can only use attack to attack to occupy the city first and take the initiative!"

Guo Tu also echoed: "We really can't wait any longer. We must rush to Beihai as soon as possible to fight for the city with the fierce tiger!"

"If he controls most of the cities in Qingzhou, he can come out of the city to harass us at any time. We won't even have a foothold!"

"And at this time, we should send an urgent message and strictly order the people in Beihai County of Qi State to mobilize troops immediately, and all of them will enter the cities and towns to defend against the fierce tiger until our reinforcements arrive!"

After hearing this, all the counselors agreed, and Yuan Tan immediately agreed, "Okay!"

"In this case, deploy the minimum number of soldiers in the cities on the plains, and retain thousands of cavalry to deal with the harassment of the cavalry on the northern route. Everyone else will travel lightly and simply into Beihai to prevent them from occupying the city!"

After hearing this, a group of counselors and generals stood up to accept the order, and the entire Qingzhou began to mobilize intensively.

But what they never expected was that Yuan Xi had another idea.

This idea was too unreasonable and risky, and it may not be effective. It was not in line with the purpose of quick victory in the art of war, so all the counselors under Yuan Tan miscalculated.

"No," Zhuge Liang sighed: "I feel that with my ability, I cannot realize the lord's idea."

Yuan Xi encouraged: "Just give it a try, just give it a try."

Zhuge Liang looked collapsed, "But I don't see the point of doing this. The risks are high, but the benefits are very limited."

"If I were the opponent, I would probably come up with a strategy to defeat them one by one and gradually collapse our battle line!"

Yuan Xi replied: "But I don't think the other party will be more powerful than the military advisor. They will definitely defend the major cities and connect the routes of mutual support, and will not use the coping methods mentioned by the sergeant."

Zhuge Liang shook his head and said: "In the final analysis, the bet is still on the opponent's mistake."

"I don't think the counselors on the opposite side, whether they are Guo Tu or Xin Ping, are any worse than me. What if they use methods beyond my expectation?"

"Then they will make the people of Qingzhou completely erupt." Yuan Xi replied.

"Under Yuan Tan's rule in Qingzhou, taxation and corvee increased, and it was already difficult for the people to hold on. Now if they continue to target the vast number of people in the fields, it will be like sending themselves to a dead end. Will a few nobles be able to save him then? "

Zhuge Liang suddenly said: "So this is what my lord had in mind!"

"My lord's thoughts are really different from ordinary people's. When others attack a land, they think about how to capture it, but my lord has already thought about the people's livelihood issues after capturing the land."

Yuan Xi sighed: "I am also forced to have no choice. I really want to make good use of the territory I have conquered, instead of fishing in the swamp and killing the goose to get the eggs. If I smash them, even if I get Qingzhou, what's the use?"

"The Yuan family originally implemented benevolent policies in Qingzhou and won the hearts of the people, but Yuan Tan was eager for quick success and imitated Cao Cao's farming methods. He did not even think about it. Cao Cao relied on strong means to suppress it. Does he have that ability?"

"Others will only regard him as a traitor who betrayed the Yuan family's benevolent government, and will be even more disappointed with him. However, this is my opportunity, so I need to use a sharp contrast to completely lose the support of the people so that the people of Qingzhou can Be willing to surrender to me.”

Zhuge Liang shook his head and said: "So it turns out that my lord is not planning for a quick victory, but for a long-term stalemate with blunt knives, causing his people's morale and internal affairs to completely collapse."

Yuan Xi nodded and said: "Yes, but this time should not be as long as the military advisor thought."

Zhuge Liang blurted out: "Because the summer harvest is about to begin in Qingzhou!"

"That's right," Yuan Xi smiled, "This is the advantage of fighting on someone else's territory. This is why I advise Yuan Shang to exert pressure on Yanzhou as much as possible even if the damage is more."

"The summer harvest is the most important harvest season of the year, and it is also an important source of military rations. Neither Yanzhou nor Qingzhou will give up this harvest. This is why I want to set the main battle venue in the countryside instead of in various big cities. s reason."

Zhuge Liang hesitated for a moment and said, "Wouldn't this kill many people?"

He immediately said: "No, if the food is taken away by the other side and used for military rations, and the war spreads, I'm afraid more people will die."

Yuan Xi sighed: "Yes, that's it."

"Now in my eyes, human life is just a cold number. I have to make a choice based on the number, because I don't have a second set of criteria and I don't have time to make a screening."

"So the person who conquers the world, how can his hands be clean? It's just a matter of how much blood they have."

After hearing this, Zhuge Liang shook his head and said: "No, you have the world in mind and have a low opinion of yourself. It's just that Liang is incompetent as a military advisor and cannot provide a better strategy for the Lord." "So this time, Liang will take the blame. My lord has taken it upon himself."

Yuan Xi smiled and scolded: "Come on, you want to rob me for this too?"

"The most important thing the military advisor has to do now is to think carefully about how to surround the big city with the countryside and turn it into isolated cities that can be destroyed without attack."

After hearing this, Zhuge Liang's face fell again, "It's easy for me, my lord. Do you know how big Qingzhou is, how many villages and towns there are, how difficult it is to connect between them, and how difficult it is to mobilize and command hundreds of important places and cavalry and infantry teams." Something?"

Yuan Xi laughed, "I believe the military advisor can do it."

"And I have mobilized Youzhou craftsmen to make gunpowder and supply it to the military advisors."

"For the shell, we improved the papermaking technology and replaced the bamboo tube that was too strong to explode easily with straw paper. This made the rocket lighter and used less gunpowder to explode, and it can achieve the same effect as before."

"As long as sufficient rockets are prepared at each strategic location, whether it is a joint attack or a warning to prevent incoming enemies, we can respond as quickly as possible. As long as the speed of transmitting messages is several times faster than the opponent's, we will be invincible. place."

Zhuge Liang was speechless, that's what he said, but the manpower and material resources that needed to be mobilized, the instructions that needed to be issued, and the factors that needed to be considered were several times more troublesome than simply leading a large army into battle!

Before he left, Yuan Xi said with concern, "Although the military situation is important, military advisors must take care of themselves and never stay up late. This is the way to live longer."

Zhuge Liang was even more speechless and turned around and said: "There is something I haven't told my lord yet. At my age, it doesn't hurt to be a little lecherous. After all, heirs are a big deal."

"But in addition, my lord often stays up late to deal with government and military affairs, and has to patrol the camp the next day, and he doesn't have a good rest after several battles. Is this the way to live a long life according to my lord?"

"I heard that Hua Tuo was a healer in the camp. I have seen his Five Animal Plays, which are indeed exquisite, but is this how he keeps his lord healthy?"

Yuan Xi sweated profusely and said: "The military advisor is right. There have been many things going on recently, so I have been a little careless. I must pay attention to it in the future."

Zhuge Liang then nodded and advised: "My lord has a young heir. At this time, it is all up to me to support the overall situation. As a lesson learned from the premature death of Yuan Benchu ​​and Sun Ce, my lord must be vigilant."

Zhuge Liang left with satisfaction after Yuan Xi repeated his assurances. However, Yuan Xi thought to himself that he was only in his twenties, so it would be fine for him to stay up late at the construction site for several years in later generations. In this life, his health was pretty good, and he had never been seriously ill so far, so he should be fine, right?

And it's not that he doesn't want to rest now. The military situation is really critical. A slight negligence will lead to the death of hundreds or thousands of people. He can't and doesn't dare to slack off now.

Yuan Xi quickly put these thoughts behind him and began to lead his army to attack Beihai. At the same time, he and Zhuge Liang implemented the previously conceived plan of surrounding the city in the countryside.

The reason why Zhuge Liang agreed with Yuan Xi's idea was because controlling the summer harvest grain production in the countryside was really a clever plan to draw out the firepower.

If Yuan Tan's harvest of Qingzhou grain is not prevented, it will be able to sustain it for at least two more months. The two sides still don't know what the fight will be like, but if Yuan Tan's army is short of food, the outcome will probably be decided before the autumn harvest. .

The reason Zhuge Liang did not think of this was because he was not as cruel as Yuan Xi and did not include the people in the whole chess game.

What Yuan Xi relies on is much stronger logistics than Yuan Tan. In the past few years, he has kept a minimum number of soldiers under his rule in order to accumulate enough foundation to launch a war. Now Yuan Xi has Strength does this.

Not to mention Youzhou, on the basis of building roads and water conservancy, they vigorously developed the salt and iron handicraft industry, which led to prosperous commerce and earned a lot of money for armor and luggage.

After Yuan Xi blocked Cao Cao and Yuan Shu's invasion, Xuzhou's people's livelihood recovered quickly. Xuzhou was already prosperous. When Zuo Rong built the temple, it was full of incense and expensive, but the people flocked to it, which shows the prosperity of the place.

As long as there is no war, Xuzhou can reach a very high level of production and living in a short period of time. Under Chen Deng's management, Xuzhou has also accumulated a lot of military resources, and can finally support a full-scale war.

Not to mention Jiujiang and Lujiang, which Yuan Xi conquered earlier, it was the richest area in Jianghuai. In addition, many nobles fled from Jiangdong. After Yuan Xi scraped off several layers of oil and water from them, the wealth he accumulated in a short period of time was unexpectedly... No less than the other two states.

Now Yuan Xi is planning to use his operations in nearly three states in total, and use the foundation he has accumulated in the past few years to invest all in the present at once, dragging Yuan Tan who only lives in Qingzhou to death.

All in all, I haven't fought such a rich battle for a long time. The last time this happened was when I attacked Qingzhou with Yuan Tan, right?

Thinking of this, Yuan Xi also felt a little hypocritically sad. On the one hand, it was because of his brother's feud, and on the other hand, he discovered that he was not actually a saint. In his heart, he seemed to be vaguely looking forward to the development of the current situation.

Because indeed, as counselor Yuan Tan said, the location of Qingzhou was too important to Yuan Xi and it was a must-win place, so much so that Yuan Xi was conniving at Yuan Tan's death intentionally or unintentionally.

Today, the time has finally come.

Yuan Xi thought mockingly to himself, maybe I really am not a good person.

Of course, Yuan Xi did not dare to be careless. If there were only him and Yuan Tan, everything would be easy. But on this battlefield, there are still two parties, Cao Cao and Yuan Shang.

(End of this chapter)