Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 959 Drawing fire from the bottom of the cauldron
Since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the Han court lost control of Bingzhou and was occupied by the Southern Xiongnu forces. After many years, Jinyang City finally returned to the hands of the Han people on New Year's Day in the fifth year of Jian'an.

Most of the Han people in Jinyang City are very happy about this. The reason why I say most is because a considerable number of them are still uneasy.

Most of these people are the surviving Bingzhou merchants. Generally speaking, it can be said that they made a loss-making business in the Battle of Jinyang. More than half of the families were confiscated by the Southern Huns under the pretext of confiscating their property and became prisoners.

After Yuan Xi's army entered the city, they released these people. Because their previous homes had already been occupied by the Southern Huns, the Youzhou army was unable to conduct a thorough investigation for the time being, so they had to find another place to place them.

Because these families were all imprisoned, they did not participate in the rebellion on the night of the final battle of Jinyang. However, these elders were still lucky and wanted to take the opportunity to get their property back, so they jointly submitted a letter asking Yuan Xi to remove them. Return their mansion to them.

In the temporary official residence, Yuan Xi saw that the letter contained a lot of arrogance and ignorance of current affairs. He couldn't help but feel angry and threw the bamboo slip out.

Everyone present was so angry that they didn't dare to express themselves, and they were all sitting quietly. The dozen or so people in this group rebelled against the enemy on the night of the siege, summoned servants and Han people, and cooperated with the dozen or so men outside the city who were attacked by Yuan Xi's army. Representative of the family.

When Yuan Xi saw it, he softened his tone and said: "I am not a person who is unclear about rewards and punishments. I will remember all your achievements."

Everyone was happy and heard Yuan Xi say: "But everyone understands that you all participated in the previous battle between the Southern Xiongnu and my men. There were many casualties on both sides. From now on, I will send troops to garrison here. If there is a conflict, I will I don’t want to see it.”

After listening to Yuan Xi's words, everyone felt bitter. Yuan Xi was right. They did have merit, but they were finally forced to rebel against the Southern Xiongnu. As early as half a year ago, they had been fighting against Youzhou. The army is at war.

Someone immediately replied: "The common people have long heard that under the rule of the envoy, Youzhou's business has developed by leaps and bounds in recent years. Whether it is maritime trade routes or land freight, they are advancing rapidly."

"This may not be a good thing for you."

"I can still give you land, but not in Bingzhou."

After hearing this, the rest of the people kowtowed. Seeing that the purpose of intimidation had been achieved, Yuan Xi asked everyone to stand up and said: "I said, I am not the kind of person who doesn't take credit. You all have contributed to helping me conquer Jinyang, and I will do the same." Will not ignore it.”

"The other two are the Xianbei outside the Pass and the Qiang in Liangzhou. These two sides rely on camels and horses. The time cycle is very long and they are easily affected by future wars."

Someone who knew the opportunity immediately leaned over and worshiped: "We are willing to spend all our wealth to save our lives, and hope that you will be able to fulfill your wish!"

After everyone heard this, they all understood. Yuan Xi's meaning was very clear. In the future, Jinyang's share of the pie would not be shared with everyone.

Yuan Xi said: "I can protect your current family property and clan members."

"As for Bingzhou, there are actually three main directions."

"Compared to Youzhou, the prospects for doing business in Bingzhou may not be better than in Youzhou."

"At the moment, under my rule, there are still large areas of open space on the coasts of Xu Wushan and other places at the junction of Yuyang and Liaoxi under my rule, which can be used to build seaports. It is very good for building ships to go to sea, or for overland trade with the Gongsundu family and Wuhuan. route."

"So after much thought, I have a solution."

Yuan Xi nodded, "Yes, over in Youzhou, due to the vigorous development of salt and iron, sea routes have also been opened. Whether it is to trade with Liaodong, the Korean Peninsula or even outside the customs, there are many routes, and there is a lack of trade route manpower. when."

Yuan Xi said: "In the next period of time, Bingzhou will become a military fortress. Its main responsibility is to train soldiers to resist the barbarians outside the pass. Therefore, all trade routes will be included in strategic considerations. Even if you stay, Businessmen will also be greatly affected.”

Yuan Xi nodded, "Have you ever heard that business in Youzhou is very prosperous now?"

Yuan Xi's words are not to scare them. Any of his generals who govern Jinyang will inevitably have friction with these merchants. There will be countless ways to make life worse than death for these merchants.

Everyone hurriedly said: "Please make it clear!"

"One is going south to Sili. When Bingzhou was in the hands of the Southern Xiongnu, the two sides were able to establish trade routes. But now that Jinyang is in my hands and we are hostile to Sili, this road is naturally cut off."

"Now is the time when Youzhou is short of people. Are you willing?"

"But Jinyang City needs a thorough cleaning. If you all stay here, I'm afraid that after I leave, if there is a misunderstanding in the city's inspection, it will turn into a pity."

Someone said: "May I ask the envoy, where should we go?"

The Bingzhou Shang clan had no other choice at the moment. They knew that Yuan Xi was trying to give them a chance. If they didn't know how to praise him, they would be seeking death. They immediately kowtowed and said, "I am willing to serve you!"

Tian Yu stood aside and watched with cold eyes, thinking that the Lord was really good at deceiving Bingzhou. In fact, Bingzhou's potential was not as bad as Yuan Xi said.

Because Heishan in the eastern part of Bingzhou is also in Yuan Xi's hands, the future of the Bingzhou trade route is actually quite bright if it can connect Heishan and Jizhou through Heishan and transport and trade the mineral deposits in Heishan.

The Bingzhou Shang clan may not know the specific situation in Montenegro, or they may be pretending to be stupid if they know it. After all, Yuan Xi clearly wants to establish a new atmosphere in Bingzhou.

However, Yuan Xi did not tell lies on the Youzhou side. As many wealthy families from Jizhou came to Jicheng to take refuge, the demand for various goods increased sharply. The Bingzhou merchants who went to do business in the past could indeed accomplish something.

But the most critical point is that Yuan Xi controls almost all of Youzhou's raw material and cargo channels. In this way, even if the Bingzhou merchants want to be evil in the future, they will not be able to control the stakes.

Tian Yu's shady evaluation of Yuan Xi took this to a new level.

Seeing the Bingzhou Shang clan thanking them one after another, Yuan Xi said: "There are still some things." "Your slaves last night were all meritorious. I want to reward them, so naturally I have to release them from their status as slaves."

The Bingzhou Shang clan responded quickly. Knowing that Yuan Xi was not discussing, but informing, he immediately agreed. After all, the ownership of these one hundred slaves was not as important as the lives of his own family.

Yuan Xi was quite satisfied, "I won't treat you badly. When you arrive in Youzhou, I will give you land of equal value, but you need to open up wasteland yourself. There are many refugees in the area, so there is no shortage of manpower, but they are all registered. So we can only use the employment relationship, and there will be no more domestic slaves.”

"This is not aimed at you. Youzhou banishes domestic slaves, and all families, big and small, are treated equally."

"From now on, you will be rewarded based on your merits. We will grant you corresponding virtual titles. Although there is no salary, it is useful in Youzhou. You can be regarded as a noble family and enjoy the corresponding treatment."

The Bingzhou Shang clan were overjoyed after hearing this. This was actually what they longed for most. After all, the Shang clan crossing into the gentry clan might be a gap that several generations could not cross.

Moreover, when other princes do this, the Shang people have to consider whether they can fulfill it. However, Yuan Xi now occupies many rich areas in the North and the Central Plains, and is very likely to seize the world in the future. His promise is more effective than most other princes in the world. too much!
Tian Yu secretly admired Yuan Xi again. He followed Yuan Xi all the way. He naturally knew exactly what Yuan Xi was thinking.

Yuan Xi granted a large number of false titles to farmers and merchants, which indeed improved the status of farmers and merchants, but on the other hand, it also invisibly lowered the status of the gentry.

In the past, the gentry were at a high level. There was no official with two thousand shi in our ancestors, and they did not dare to call themselves gentry. They could only be regarded as good family members. Nowadays, the number of people who are treated as gentry is increasing, which has undoubtedly lowered the nobility of the gentry. Sooner or later, there will be When it becomes a commodity on the street, the gap between scholars, farmers, industry and merchants will become indistinguishable.

This is Yuan Xi's plan to remove people's salary from under the cauldron. In a few decades, when everyone will be eligible to study for free and become an official, who will care about the name of the noble family?
Seeing that Yuan Xi had said everything he should say, everyone thanked him profusely and left one after another, but after a while, another person was brought back.

The man paid homage to Yuan Xi and said, "Young man Lu Kang, I would like to pay my respects to the envoy."

Yuan Xi nodded, "You did a great job in capturing Jinyang this time."

"How long have you been in the prosecutor's office?"

Lu Kang replied: "Three years."

Yuan Xi glanced at Tian Yu and said with a smile: "This is not the same time as the prosecutor's office, you can be considered a veteran. How did the state find you in the first place?"

Lu Kang told what happened, and Yuan Xi found that his identity and experience were quite similar to his own. As a concubine, his mother died early and he was not taken seriously, so he wanted to get ahead.

Yuan Xi couldn't help but sigh, as expected, most of the time, only difficulties can bring out people's potential.

He said aloud: "You have two choices now. One is that I will give you a formal official position and clear your name."

"The other thing is that you are still working in the prosecutor's office, but you cannot be rewarded openly for your merits, and you can only be promoted privately."

Lu Kang said without hesitation: "The villain chooses the second one."

Yuan Xiqi said: "There are risks in doing things in the prosecutor's office."

Lu Kang smiled and said: "With the villain's current situation, it might be safer to hide in the dark."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi smiled and said, "You are a sensible person."

"Okay then, I'll upgrade you to two levels and give you another mission."

"You go with the Bingzhou Shang clan to establish trade routes in western Liaoning, and at the same time secretly monitor them to prevent them from collaborating with the enemy."

Lu Kang quickly accepted the order, then hesitated for a moment. When Yuan Xi saw him, he said, "If you have anything to say, just tell me."

Lu Kang quickly said: "There should be a spy among the Bingzhou merchants."

Yuan Xi waved his hand and said: "Don't worry, I will handle it properly and your identity will not be revealed."

After Lu Kang left, Yuan Xi smiled at Tian Yu and said, "Your subordinate is very cautious and is indeed suitable for this line of work."

"The spy in the prosecutor's office should be the one Yang Feng mentioned before. What's going on?"

Tian Yu said hurriedly: "I arrested him when I entered the city last night and interrogated him all night. The situation has been clarified."

"This man is greedy for wealth, and he thinks that Jinyang may not have fallen, so he misjudged the situation. The most important thing is that he has the blood of the Southern Huns, and he has a natural affinity with the Huns nobles such as King Guli."

"This is because I was not strict in selecting people and did not check their backgrounds. Please punish me."

Yuan Xi shook his head and said: "Forget it, there are many secrets in this business. We are not saints, how can we completely understand people's hearts."

"But since he did it, he has to pay the price and give him a good time."

Tian Yu agreed, and just as he was about to go out, he heard Yuan Xi say: "Wait a moment, I have something to tell you."

(End of this chapter)