Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 950 Seeking profit and forgetting one's righteousness
When Yuan Xi received the news from Xudu in Bingzhou, the Chinese New Year was approaching. After several months of hard work, he finally captured all the cities around Jinyang and blocked all roads leading to the outside of Jinyang. The siege of Jinyang was completely completed.

Yuan Xi sent people to establish camps and strongholds at all the entrances and exits, forming a long line of defense. All soldiers and baggage and supplies could be mobilized along with this line of defense.

In this way, Jinyang became an isolated city. The Southern Huns in the city wanted to solve their dilemma. Unless all nearly a hundred strongholds were removed, Yuan Xi's army could launch attacks from any direction.

In the future, after Yuan Xi captures Jinyang, even if he faces an enemy raid, whether it is an attack from the northern part of the Great Wall or from the Sili Central Plains direction, as long as he relies on this line of defense, he will be able to ensure that there will be a steady stream of supplies in the Taiyuan Basin of Datong. It can protect the city and at the same time cut off the local advance route.

Although this line of defense requires a large number of people to protect, and a large number of Han people must be mobilized as garrison troops at the frontier, the history of later generations has proved that these are all worthwhile, because Bingzhou is the most important channel to prevent foreigners from entering the customs, and its governance is Jinyang, later known as Taiyuan, was the critical second line of defense within the pass, which was the Great Wall defense line within Shanxi Town in the Ming Dynasty.

After this line of defense is established, it can not only serve as the first line of defense formed by the five northern counties of Bingzhou, that is, the insurance of the Yinshan defense line, but can also timely reinforce and mobilize troops, control pass trade at the same time, and defeat the enemy without fighting.

Although there are indeed a lot of people stationed at this defense line, using the form of a military town allows the border residents to rely on half soldiers and half species in the Hetao Plain. If the plan is good, even if they cannot be self-sufficient, they can also significantly reduce costs, which is very important to the current border situation. That said, it is already the most cost-effective and reasonable solution.

Having said that, it is also cost-effective to use a full day's tax revenue to support the Bingzhou military town to prevent the invasion of foreign barbarians. After all, if the barbarians go south to the Central Plains, the losses caused may be dozens or even hundreds of times the cost of these taxes.

After Yuan Xi got the news that Cao Cao had declared himself a prince, he called Tian Yu and Zhao Yun and said, "Cao Cao wants to trick me again."

He told the news that Liu Biao refused and Sun Quan agreed, and finally said: "Among the three, I am the only one who has not responded."

Yuan Xi sighed: "My sister gave birth to a son a few months ago. As a result, Brother Zilong is unable to go home. I feel guilty."

Zhao Yun said worriedly: "My lord, I am afraid that the world will criticize me if I claim the title of duke. It is not the right time."

Yuan Xi sighed: "There are not as many wars this year as last year, but they have not stopped throughout the year. I hope these days will become less and less in the future until the world is peaceful."

Tian Yu smiled bitterly and said: "There were quite a few people who proposed marriage, but they were busy with the war and didn't have time to have in-depth discussions with other families, so they put it aside."

Yuan Xi thought for a while and then said: "This is the only way."

Zhao Yun smiled and said: "It happened earlier and later. Yun hadn't had time to congratulate my lord. I heard that Mrs. Lu gave birth to a son safely in Wuyuan. I'm so happy and congratulated."

Zhao Yun left first. When Tian Yu was about to go out, Yuan Xi stopped him and asked, "Last year you said you wanted to get married. Have you found a suitable family?"

Yuan Xi thought for a long time, but still rejected Tian Yu's suggestion and said: "The emperor is in name only. Even if he knows, what can he do? Will Cao Cao allow him to speak?"

"I regret not bringing him here now. I wanted to deal with the Southern Huns before the year, but ended up wasting a lot of time on Xianbei."

After Tian Yu and Zhao Yun thought about it, they realized that it was really possible. Tian Yu said, "How about I mobilize Xu Duzhong's dead soldiers to report to the emperor to clarify this matter?"

Earlier, news came from Jicheng that Yuan Xing gave birth to a son to Zhao Yun. However, the war has continued until now, and Zhao Yun can only wait until after the new year to go back.

"How about I send him a letter and ask him how to deal with it?"

"There are still a few months of food storage in Jinyang City. They won't give up until the end of the day. It seems that we have to celebrate the New Year here. It's been a hard work for you two."

Yuan Xi heard this and said, "Is that the girl you haven't fallen in love with yet?"

The two men quickly accepted the order. Jinyang City was built on a mountain, and the terrain was uneven. Now this kind of shrinking and enveloping offensive was already the least costly approach.

Last month, Lu Lingqi also gave birth to a boy. Lu Bu finally had a successor. Yuan Xi could not go to take care of her, so he had to send Zhang Liao to protect Lu Lingqi's safety.

Both of them smiled and replied: "It's all within the scope of my subordinates, isn't it the same for my lord?"

"Cao Cao just used this incident to disgust me. He was wrong and wrong. There is no need to let the secret agent die in vain for this kind of thing. The top priority is how to deal with the backlash from the world's opinions in the future."

Yuan Xi nodded and said, "I think so too, but Cao Cao is a very insidious person. He will most likely forge a written form to falsely claim that I agree without waiting for me to submit it to ruin my reputation."

In fact, neither Tian Yu nor Zhao Yun were very good at palace strategy. They proposed several ideas, but none of them satisfied Yuan Xi. Finally, Zhao Yun said helplessly: "My lord, don't you admire Military Advisor Zhuge very much?"

"You two go back and set up defenses quickly, continue to shrink the encirclement, and build the walled city to the bottom of Jinyang City. This is the day they will die."

"I do have someone of the right age here, but no one dared to marry him, so we delayed it."

"This girl's identity is a bit sensitive. After much thought, I still dare not marry her to someone I am worried about. You are my most powerful confidant, and only you can make me feel relieved."

Tian Yu was startled. He said it as if the woman was disliked. Is there some extremely bad inside information?
Yuan Xi looked at Tian Yu's expression and smiled and said: "Don't worry, I have seen this girl, and her talent and appearance are a perfect match for you. Even though I killed his father and his brother, many people were worried and did not dare to come to propose marriage. "

"Although this kind of hatred is nothing in my opinion, as the leader of the clan, I can't justify not finding a better marriage for her." After hearing this, Tian Yu reacted and said in surprise: "My lord said that. , is the daughter of Yuan Gongli?”

Yuan Xi nodded and said: "The state minister guessed it right. When I conquered Shouchun, I sent Yuan Shu's family members to Yecheng. After that, the female family members all lived in Yecheng. Before Cao Cao flooded Yecheng, Yuan Shang sent a group of people away in advance. A group of female relatives came to Jicheng, and this woman was among them."

"After all, she has passed the marriage age for several years. Now that I am in charge of the Yuan family, it is logical that I am in charge of her marriage, but it is really hard to find the right person. Guorang is already the best person I can think of. Chosen."

Tian Yu said hurriedly: "Yu has reached such a high level, but with Yu's background, he really doesn't deserve it."

Yuan Xi said: "Don't think too much. In the world we build in the future, there won't be so many identity barriers between people. Even if there are, I will break them."

"It's up to you. If you don't want to, I won't force you."

Tian Yu had no reason to refuse at this time and immediately knelt down to thank him. Yuan Xi pulled him up and said with a smile: "When Jinyang is captured, I will help you organize the wedding!"

When Yuan Xi's letter was sent to Anping County, Zhuge Liang had just transferred Chun Yuqiong from Bohai County to cooperate with Cen Bi Yanjing to repel several waves of Xiahou Dun's offensive from Jizhou.

After several exchanges of offense and defense, Cao's army fell into Zhuge Liang's plan, lost troops and generals, and was forced to retreat to Wei County. Zhuge Liang also successfully established prestige among the generals in Jizhou.

After all, the results on the battlefield speak for themselves. As a strategist, the generals still have to look at the results to be appreciated by Yuan Xi. Now Zhuge Liang has gradually proved himself in front of the generals of Jizhou. After all, Chunyu Qiong and others had suffered consecutive defeats against Cao Jun before, so he led them. Helping them win the battle is more convincing than anything else.

Now that Zhuge Liang has deployed a defense line in Anping County, he calculated that Cao Jun would be unlikely to launch an offensive before the winter, so he wanted to return to the plains to prepare for spring plowing in Qingzhou next year. At this time, he received a letter from Yuan Xi from Bingzhou. .

Zhuge Liang had already heard about Cao Cao's request to become a public official, but Yuan Xi didn't ask, so he couldn't come up with any ideas. Now that he saw that Yuan Xi had thoughts about this, he asked Huang Yueying on the side to take out a pen and ink and prepare it for Yuan Xi. reply.

Huang Yueying had previously discussed Cao Cao's conspiracy with Zhuge Liang. She was indifferent and said: "My husband said, could Cao Cao have faked a letter from the envoy and agreed on his behalf?"

Zhuge Liang sighed: "It's very possible."

"After all, it is Cao Cao himself who wants to be crowned an official the most. These tricks are just to build momentum for himself."

"I didn't expect that Cao Cao would do it in such a hurry. He shouldn't have been in such a hurry."

Huang Yueying said: "Did something happen to Cao Ying, or did something happen to Cao Cao himself?"

Zhuge Liang said: "This possibility cannot be ruled out."

"But if Cao Cao really got an incurable disease and died suddenly, I'm afraid that his internal body would fall apart immediately."

"If we deal with it properly, the entire Central Plains, and even the entire world, will be captured by the lord within a few years."

Huang Yueying smiled and said, "That's a good deal for him. Maybe he can go down in history and compete for the title of the emperor who conquered the world the fastest."

She and Zhuge Liang talked openly in private. She had known Yuan Xi's ambition for a long time, so she didn't shy away from it.

Zhuge Liang said: "After all, it's just an unfounded guess. When planning for victory, the temple must consider the worst-case scenario."

"Cao Cao did this because he might have a chance of winning Jingzhou. You must know that Jingzhou accounts for nearly a quarter of the thirteen states in the world, and its wealth is the highest in the world. If he captures Jingzhou, Cao Cao will be considered to have occupied it. Half the world."

"Based on Jiangdong Sun Quan's reaction, I am afraid that Cao Cao and Jiangdong have joined forces in private to carve up Jingzhou."

"In this matter, the most stupid person is actually Sun Quan. He is willing to be a pawn and seems to have received a lot of benefits. In fact, he has become the first target of verbal and written criticism from all over the world. Sooner or later, he will suffer backlash."

Huang Yueying covered her mouth and smiled and said: "The Jiangdong nobles have always been like this. They forget their loyalty when they see the benefits. When they see the benefits, they ignore whether the bait is poisonous or not."

"They died like this because they were afraid that they would end badly in the future. They didn't even think about it. Is Cao Cao willing to divide Jingzhou with them?"

Zhuge Liang nodded and said: "Yes, Cao Cao is not an ordinary person. He has already played Jiangdong on his hands."

"But with Jiangdong's strength and vision, no matter how you choose at the beginning, the result will be almost the same."

"I guess there will be a follow-up later. Cao Cao may secretly promise the lord quite generous terms to join forces and encourage the lord to fight Jiangdong."

Zhuge Liang's idea was soon confirmed. Before he could finish writing the letter, he received another letter from Yuan Xi, saying that Cao Cao had privately sent a secret letter to Yuan Xi.

(End of this chapter)