Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 865: Ambition

Zhao Yun squinted and looked at Huaicheng in the distance. Outside the city, tens of thousands of Xiliang cavalry were camped to resist Zhao Yun's attack and harassment.

When Yuan Xi started the war in Qingzhou and Jizhou, Zhao Yun was not idle, but came to Heishan to contain Zhong Yao and Ma Teng and Han Sui.

In order to act secretly, he did not lead many Youzhou soldiers, only two to three thousand. The other more than ten thousand were militiamen recruited from Heishan. The digging of fortifications was acceptable. If they went into battle, they would have to deal with the experienced Xiliang cavalry. , then the strength is exhausted.

However, Zhao Yun did not let them fight. Usually, as long as the civilians formed a formation at the exit of Heishan, or stayed on the wall to guard, it was enough to contain Cao's army inside and outside Huai City and make them suspicious. Zhao Yun also took the opportunity to occupy the nearby Heishan. Some areas in Changshan, Jizhou, pretended to have sufficient troops.

Relying on this tactic of suspecting soldiers, Zhao Yun dragged Cao Ying's troops near Heishan with only thousands of Youzhou soldiers. The other Youzhou soldiers were thrown into Yuan Xi's command, ensuring the strength of the troops and ultimately laying the foundation for this protracted war. Come to an end.

Although the result was not satisfactory, Cao Cao still occupied half of Jizhou, but in Zhao Yun's view, Yuan Xi's benefits this time were the most in recent years, and the territory he had acquired was almost as much as the total of Yuan Xi's previous territories.

Zhao Yun knew that many people might take several steps forward to reward based on their merits this time. His main task was to contain them, and he did not participate in the most critical battle of Jizhou. He was afraid that he would not receive many rewards this time.

But he didn't think much of it, because Zhao Yun was already the commander-in-chief of the first army, and other generals had not been able to lead troops as long as him alone. Now the fact that Zhao Yun is Yuan Xi's second-largest man is almost unshakable.

Next, the Black Mountain Theater will be in a long-term confrontation process. Yuan Xi's idea is to continue to contain the Sili area, consume the reserves of Cao Ying and the Ma Teng-Han Sui coalition, and let it gradually collapse.

However, in densely populated cities, in order to provide the daily needs of the people, the forests around the city have to be cut down, which leads to the gradual desertion of vegetation.

The mountain roads that were difficult to travel a few years ago have been widened and renovated. The mud was compacted, gravel was laid on it, and then covered with a layer of clay. In some places, it was also mixed with large rocks. The passage gradually connected the interior of Montenegro, making villages that were originally difficult to reach easily accessible.

Looking at Huaicheng, which was motionless in the distance, Zhao Yun knew that the opponent would not leave the city today. Since Zhong Yao was assassinated, he has been much more cautious. It is not easy to catch the opponent's flaws.

Wood has many disadvantages as a fuel. The main drawback is that it grows slowly and cannot be used by a large number of people. In order to avoid depleting the lake for fishing, people often try to avoid it and pick up dead branches under the trees.

Just like when Yuan Xi blocked Cao Cao in his previous letter, there was an epidemic in the city, and most people suffered from diarrhea and dysentery, which required a large amount of water. However, the water had to be boiled to kill the virus. However, there was a lack of fuel in the city, so most patients could only drink raw water. Water, this raw water already contains germs. Drinking it will not relieve the condition, but worsen it. Yuan Xi knows the reason, but he can't avoid it, because the houses in the city are almost demolished, and he can't change anything. Fuel comes.

This phenomenon is especially seen in dynasties with population explosion. During the period of population growth in the Tang Dynasty and even the Qing Dynasty, there were no trees for more than ten or even dozens of miles around large cities. People had to go to the mountains to find firewood and charcoal. .

But if the city reserves coal in advance, these problems will be easily solved, and it will play a vital role in the iron smelting and salt boiling in Heishan. Therefore, Yuan Xi was very happy when he learned that Heishan began to produce coal in small batches. This will be his first A trump card that will completely suppress the enemy in the future.

Even Zhao Yun could see that this kind of thing was much more efficient as fuel than firewood.

Of course, Zhao Yun would not be idle. He returned to the Black Mountain. Now this Qianli mountainous area, known as the Taihang Mountains in later generations, is very different from before.

At the end of the road connection, there are not only villages where people gather, but also several salt lakes and even a newly discovered open-pit coal mine.

After this battle, all parties were seriously injured, especially the Ma Teng-Han Sui coalition who dispatched tens of thousands of cavalry. The supply of food and grass was seriously insufficient, and they had to plunder some midway, which made the Sanfu area, which was already sparsely populated, even more Deserted.

However, this time Sili's feigned attack was not fully successful, and it was still the fault of Gao Gan, the governor of Bingzhou. He and the Xiongnu allied forces could not withstand Ma Chao's attack. While struggling to hold on, Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang came to attack each other. After hearing the news of his death, the high-ranking cadres were unsettled and retreated to Bingzhou.

However, what Zhao Yun is most worried about now is Yuan Xi's condition. Only people at his level know that Yuan Xi's condition is actually very serious this time. This is also a test for the internal stability of Yuan Xi's army. Zhao Yun is even prepared to rush to the hospital at any time. Return to Jicheng and prepare to support Yuan Xi's youngest son.

Now that Yuan Xi and Cao Cao have entered a long recovery period after the war, it may be a year or even several years before the war starts again.

Although the population is declining in today's troubled times, trees cannot be cut down without restriction. Coal, as an important fuel, has been mined on a large scale since the Song Dynasty, which has also promoted the rapid development of industry and commerce, especially for large cities with large populations, which is of extraordinary significance.

However, this behavior also shows that Ma Teng and Han Sui do not regard the Sili area as their own territory. This approach will lose people's hearts sooner or later. Until then, Yuan Xijun only needs to wait.

The location of Black Mountain is part of Shanxi in later generations. It not only has open-pit coal mines, but also open-pit sulfur mines. However, due to mining conditions, Yuan Xi's men have only discovered one coal mine very close to the surface, but the mined coal , but it made Yuan Xi and his men extremely happy.

These new things are quite unfamiliar to Zhao Yun, but he can only try his best to adapt, because as a subordinate of Yuan Xi, he must not only be able to lead troops to fight, but also be in charge of local production, otherwise he will not be able to take charge of himself. This is Yuan Xi The biggest difference between subordinates and subordinates of other princes.

Now Yuan Xi's territory has been gradually divided into experimental fields by Yuan Xi, each with its own focus. Youzhou is trying to integrate Hu and Han, Heishan is responsible for mining, Qingzhou is trying out land distribution, Xuzhou is focusing on sea trade, and Jianghuai is conducting grain experiments. In these areas, the prototype of booming industry and commerce has gradually emerged. Unlike some other princes who resorted to militarism, the lives of the people under Yuan Xi's rule were obviously higher, which also led to many refugees starting to move to Yuan Xi's territory.

Over time, Yuan Xi's strength will gradually increase. Not without a war, he will gradually establish an advantage over Cao Cao. Of course, Cao Cao also had his own response. The military strategy he adopted was to continuously capture cities and territories, replenish his own forces, and then conquer the opponent's territory in one fell swoop.

What can be seen is that in the next few years, there will be a duel and collision between these two completely different strategies.

Zhao Yun sighed. He had talked with Yuan Xi many times. It was difficult for even Zhao Yun to understand the other party's whimsical ideas and many opinions. Zhao Yun could not imagine that if something happened to Yuan Xi, his rule would be in chaos. No matter what it looks like, now we can only hope that it will be auspicious.

Mrs. Wu, a disciple of Wu Jun Dan, was holding the secret letter, her face was pale, and she recognized from the handwriting that it was Yuan Xi himself.

This was originally something that made her happy, but the content inside frightened her.

In fact, Yuan Xi wrote very simply and his tone was very plain. He only said that he accidentally contracted the wind and cold and it was a minor illness. If possible, he wanted Mrs. Wu to send Hua Tuo back to the north.

Mrs. Wu thought to herself: How could this be a minor ailment? How could it be a minor ailment that forced Yuan Xi to find Hua Tuo?

He immediately found out some inside information about the Jizhou War, and the news that came made her even pale. The reason why both sides stopped the war was that they were infected with a large-scale epidemic at the same time. This is extremely dangerous!

She immediately ordered someone to come to Hua Tuo and briefly told Yuan Xi's affairs, but did not mention the specific illness. After hearing this, Hua Tuo wondered: "I should go back due to emotion and reason, but Madam should know that I am now with you." With Jiangdong soldiers guarding us, it’s not easy to leave the house, let alone leave the city.”

"General Sun had his soldiers warn me before that if I try to escape, I can be killed on the spot."

After hearing this, Mrs. Sun became more and more irritable. She could no longer control Sun Quan, especially after Sun Quan saw Hua Tuo's medical skills, she would not let him go. If he came to force him, Sun Quan might really kill him. It’s Hua Tuo!

She could only say: "Sir, please go back first, and I will think of a solution first."

Just as Hua Tuo walked out, Mrs. Wu suddenly came to her senses, stopped him, and said, "No, we can only leave now."

"May I?"

Hua Tuo laughed and said, "It doesn't matter. I have almost everything in the medicine box anyway."

Mrs. Wu nodded, and soon found someone to go out to deliver the message. At the same time, she called a carriage, and she and Hua Tuo got in.

When the carriage went out, Jiangdong soldiers who were responsible for monitoring Hua Tuo came in. Several people were still waiting for Hua Tuo to come out.

Mrs. Wu's carriage went straight to the dock. There was a boat waiting there. Mrs. Wu asked Hua Tuo to enter the cabin, and the boatman prepared to set sail. Soldiers had already come to inquire.

Mrs. Wu took out the token and the soldiers retreated, but the informant had already reached Sun Quan. After hearing this, Sun Quan rode all the way to the dock, only to find that the ship was already several miles away from the shore.

When he saw Mrs. Wu on the dock, he frowned and said, "Hua Tuo has great medical skills, how can I let my mother go?"

"If it is used by others, I will have trouble sleeping and eating."

After saying that, he was about to mobilize warships to chase Hua Tuo, but Mrs. Wu stood on the shore and said coldly: "If you send someone to chase him, I will jump down now."

When Sun Quan saw that the soldiers nearby were looking over, he could only smile bitterly and said, "Why is my mother doing this?"

Sun Quan still had ways to deal with Mrs. Wu's methods in private, but now in public, he didn't want to be labeled as unfilial.

Seeing Sun Quan's hesitant expression, Mrs. Wu's heart dropped. Sun Quan had really grown up, but he had grown up too fast. His character now had the appearance of a hero. As his biological mother, she It’s hard to influence him!

Thinking of this, Mrs. Wu said sadly: "If Quan'er doesn't think about his mother, doesn't he think about his sister?"

"Don't you care about blood ties?"

Sun Quan saw that half of Mrs. Wu's feet were in the air, so he had to say: "I understand, please go back first, I won't pursue you."

Watching Mrs. Wu get on the carriage, Sun Quan felt a little irritable. In his opinion, Mrs. Wu was just a hindrance.

(End of this chapter)